<HTML><PRE>Subj:	 RMD971019 Irish news and features for Weekend 18/19 October
Date:	97-10-19 16:43:59 EDT
From:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (RM_Distribution)
To:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (Multiple recipients of RM_Distribution - Sent by)

     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
     Weekend 18/19 October, 1997


1.   Leaks push exclusion agenda
2.   Question marks remain for parades legislation
3.   Video cameras to be installed in interrogation centres

_______________________________________________________

     FEATURES
     
_______________________________________________________
     
4.   Theatre: Sean Penn's Irish play distorts reality
5.   History: The most unfair trial

_______________________________________________________


>>>> Leaks push exclusion agenda


Supposedly secret documents on the Irish peace process written by
Dublin's Department of Foreign Affairs have been delivered to the
desks of political editors of a number of Irish Sunday
newspapers, with two publishing the full text of memoranda
dealing with the opinions of the Dublin government's candidate in
the forthcoming 26 County Presidential election.

The documents published today consist of political intelligence
reports gathered through informal conversation by a senior
Department of Foreign Affairs official, Dympna Hayes.  The leaks
have apparently been engineered to maintain a sense of scandal
over dealings with Sinn Fein while embarrassing the Irish
government in the run-up to the Presidential election.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams this evening described the
controversy as an effort to whip up anti-northern and nationalist
feeling in the 26 Counties.

Two of the three memos published today indicate the leading
Presidential candidate, Queen's University Pro-Vice Chancellor
Mary McAleese from Ardoyne in North Belfast, was actively
supporting a ceasefire and a joint nationalist approach to the
May elections in the North by Sinn Fein and their nationalist
(SDLP) Social Democratic Labour Party rivals.  But in a third
memo, it is clear McAleese's cross-party peace efforts were
regarded with suspicion in the run-up to the election by Brid
Rogers, the SDLP candidate in the unionist stronghold of Upper
Bann.

As a participant in a Redemptorist peace initiative to help to
restore the peace process, McAleese had meetings with both Gerry
Adams and SDLP leader John Hume. A tense and testy Brid Rogers
complained to Hayes just before the elections -- which saw record
gains for Sinn Fein -- that the SDLP's campaign strategy was poor
and that a McAleese and colleagues Fr Alex Reid and Irish News
editor Jim Fitzpatrick were working to promote a nationalist
consensus "which owes more to Sinn Fein than the SDLP".

In a separate dinner conversation with McAleese, Hayes recorded
that McAleese had "no interest in participating in the upcoming
elections in any shape or form in the absence of an SDLP-Sinn
Fein joint election platform."  McAleese was later reported by
Hayes to have been "very pleased" with Sinn Fein's performance in
the Westminster general election. The Presidential front-runner,
who continues to express her support for the SDLP and the
Adams-Hume peace initiative, has challenged Hayes's account of
their conversations.

Much had been made of the leaked documents, with opposition
politicians suggesting the failure of McAleese to shun Sinn Fein
and party President Gerry Adams indicating that the law professor
represents a danger and a subversive threat to the 26 County
state.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has said those involved in
creating and sustaining controversy around the presidential
election want to "whip up anti-nationalist and anti-Northern
feeling" in the South.

Accusing opposition leader John Bruton of leading the
charge on these matters, the West Belfast MP said "such people
have no vision of a new Ireland and no sense of a new future for
the people of this island."

On Friday, Bruton, leader of the Fine Gael party, described an
expression of support by Mr Adams for Prof McAleese as a
"calculated endorsement" which was "deeply disturbing". Senior
figures in Fine Gael have also described Mr Adams comments in a
radio interview as unwanted "meddling" in the Presidential
campaign.

Adams responded by describing Mr Bruton's remarks as "dishonest"
and said the former Irish Prime Minister was anxious to get his
endorsement when he was elected as PM at a critical time in the
peace process.  "He should not now condemn me for expressing an
opinion," he said.

"If John Hume had allowed his name to go forward and if I had
responded in the same way to his candidacy, would Mr. Bruton have
been so forthright? His position is inconsistent and dishonest.

"Mr. Bruton and his colleagues should withdraw their criticism
and accept that Irish people whether from the north or south have
a right to stand in this election and that everyone, and not just
him or his party, has a right to express an opinion on who is
best suited for the challenging role of Irish President."

Well-heeled northern professionals such as McAleese who have been
sounded out by Dublin officials are also highly alarmed at the
prospect of their unguarded dinner-table remarks appearing on the
front page of the Sunday papers. One Derry accountant said he
felt "betrayed", adding that if the leaks continued they could
endanger lives.

Other documents reportedly received but not published this week
by the Sunday Independent newspaper contain an account of a
confidential meeting betwen Irish and British ministers in 1994
which the paper claimed would "rock Anglo-Irish relations".

Irish Garda police have launched an investigation into the leaks,
with concern growing that a significant archive of secret
documents is available for use as ammunition by figures intent on
damaging the peace process and/or the premiership of Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern.

_______________________________________________________


>>>> Question marks remain for parades legislation


Britain's governor in Ireland Mo Mowlam will still have the power
to order anti-Catholic parades to be forced through nationalist
areas even after a new parades commission is up and running, it
was announced on Friday.

But although the commission will be able to rule on contentious
parades, the chief constable of the 93% Protestant RUC police
will still be able to ask Mowlam to overturn their decision.

And ill-defined "aspects of cultural identity" are now in the
remit of the Parades commission legislation, it was confirmed.

Sinn Fein's Mitchel McLaughlin said while he was concerned by the
extent to which the RUC retained control over marching decisions,
he welcomed the underlying intention of the bill -- "that is to
secure people's rights and to do so without curbing parades or
providing a charter for coat-trailing exercises."

He welcomed the assurance that the remit of the commission would
not cover sporting events. "There was understandably concern that
pressure from unionists would lead to restrictions being imposed
on GAA [Gaelic Athletic Association] activities and other
expressions of Irish culture," he said.

"However, I am concerned that the RUC ultimately retains the
power to decide whether a parade will go ahead or not. It is not
clear from the bill who has the primary responsibility on the
question of re-routing."

Breandan Mac Cionnaith,  spokesman for the residents of
Portadown's nationalist Garvaghy Road where an anti-Catholic
parade is brutally forced through every July, said that one
clause would mean that the RUC would still have the final say in
all circumstances.

He said: "Ronnie Flanagan will still be able to say that because
of a threat he has to take action to protect the nationalists of
Portadown and impose martial law on the people of the Garvaghy
Road."

Mr Mac Cionnaith said he had not totally dismissed the validity
of the Parades Commission, but he insisted he had no confidence
in the existing commission as it is presently constituted.

"They have shown themselves to be simply puppets of the RUC and
the Northern Ireland Office, they have not shown any degree of
impartiality and in the eyes of nationalists it is extremely
handicapped.

"The government has to take on board the danger to the public of
these parades, they have tried to back away from that, the
government has to take a stand on parades."

Mo Mowlam confirmed on Friday that the remit of the Commission
had been widened to include "other manifestations of cultural
identity." Although Gaelic games and other sporting activities
would not be affected, she refused to be drawn on what those
manifestations might be.

Irish language signs or national flags could come under this
category, along with Irish music and language festivals and ceili
dancing.  Mowlam said it was up to people to approach the
commission with their "grievances", and admitted that the
cultural element had been introduced under pressure from the
Protestant Orange Order. Among the activities targeted by the
Orangemen are the murals and flags which adorned the Garvaghy
Road for the "Feile na mBoithre" street festival, organised this
year on the same weekend in July in which the Orange Order march
was violently forced through the nationalist enclave.

The new legislation is to be put to the Westminster parliament in
London within the next six months with the goal of being on the
statute books in time for next year's marching season.


_______________________________________________________


>>>> Video cameras to be installed in interrogation centres

Cameras are being installed in the torture chambers of the
notorious Castlereagh interrogation centre in Belfast. The RUC
police has said it is also intended to fit cameras at Gough
barracks, Armagh, and Strand Road, Derry.

The demand for cameras inside the RUC interrogation centres have
been a major issue for civil rights campaigners and legal
organisations for many years. But Belfast Sinn Fein councillor,
Michael Browne, has described the news as being "much too little
too late".

Mr. Browne said: "This measure will be of little comfort to the
many thousand people who over the years have been brutalised at
the hands of RUC Interrogators in these notorious centres.  Many
of these people were forced into making false but nontheless
self-incriminating confessions and on the basis of these
convicted by a corrupt judiciary to long years of imprisonment.

"The RUC need not think that this measure will make them any more
acceptable.  Their role in a legal and judicial system which has
been condemned the world over leaves them with no part to play in
future policing arrangements in this country."

_______________________________________________________

     FEATURES
     
_______________________________________________________



>>>> Sean Penn's Irish play distorts reality



By Trisha Ziff


Sean Penn recently produced a play in Los Angeles which is set in
Belfast. Cast in the leading roles are his parents, actors Eileen
Ryan and Leo Penn. The play 'Remembrance', written by Irish
playwright Graham Reid sadly would have been best forgotten. But
to write a damning review of this production in this context
serves little purpose.

Few readers will have the opportunity to see this play here in
Los Angeles and make up their own minds. However, I think it is
worth pausing for a moment to try and understand the implications
of staging this play at this time given that there are so many
other more worthy contemporary works which directly address
cultural and political differences in the North.

The story in brief is about an elderly Protestant man who meets a
Catholic woman in a graveyard. Both are widowed and have lost
their sons under tragic circumstances. The Catholic son, murdered
in a sectarian killing, the Protestant for his apparent loyalist
connections, are buried near one another -- an unlikely scenario
in itself. The mother and father strike up a romance in the
apparent neutral territory of the dead, meeting regularly over
tea and sandwiches at the graveside. When they attempt to share
their new found romance with their adult children they are met
with bigotry, suspicion and ridicule and as a result they are
forced to "stay apart" for the sake of the children -- a new twist
on the broken home theme. The play ends with all the children
leaving Belfast and they (the parents) remain in touch by letter
despite the fact they both chose not to leave.

The theme of ageism and sexuality and the disgusted response by
their adult children at their parents' desire and love could be
explored under any backdrop, it is a universal theme; the
children being more narrow minded than the parents, again a twist
on traditional visions of love; however the backdrop of the
"troubles" adds little to what could be an interesting plot in
itself. In this context it produces an underlying theme that
bigotry belongs to the younger generation, and the older
generation as a result of experience are by definition more
tolerant; if this were the case, one can only wonder where the
present generation learnt its values?

The dialogue moves back and forth from the Catholic household
(complete with outside toilet) to the more well off (DIY'ed)
Protestant home which allows for every stereotype imaginable to
be explored. Each parent has reared its hot headed child -- the
father's remaining son is a bigoted cop, and the mother has two
daughters, one of whom is married to a POW in the Kesh. These
characters are juxtaposed again as basically the same; the
sex-starved cop whose marriage has broken down complains about
how his nice wife is frigid while the prisoner's wife is bursting
with libido, she has nothing but resentment for her husband
despite her alleged politics and is even ready to abandon her own
children to get away to England. Just before the play ends the
cop meets the wife of the prisoner and he asks her on a date. It
is hard to imagine this play ever being staged in Ireland. But
there is something very sinister here: the childless marriage of
the cop (whose wife is an open-minded woman but the stress of his
job breaks their marriage) is juxtaposed with the republican
woman who beats, then abandons her children.

But how at a moment where in the very place this play is set --
where dialogue is finally taking place and the war has moved
beyond the bounds of painting the situation with such crude
simplicity -- could a play like this which determines everything
in terms of equal-opposites find a home?

Having worked as a member of a group of cultural activists (Irish
Ethos) in Los Angeles in bringing issues of the north to the
attention of broader audience here in the southern California, I
think it becomes legitimate that we ask ourselves, how could this
play amongst so many others have been chosen at this time? Sean
Penn is known as a progressive, himself a loyal supporter of
Californian Senator, Tom Hayden; in 1994 he met Gerry Adams
during his visit to Los Angeles, so how could he have chosen this
play, other than that it offered him the opportunity to work
closely with his parents in the leading roles? While I am sure
that experience for all of them must have its rewards it cannot
excuse such a dreadful choice which does absolutely nothing to
further an understanding of the last 30 years, nor does it throw
any light on the peace process. On the contrary, it is
destructive. It is hard to imagine this was Penn's intention.

Sinead O'Connor created music specifically for the play, again
lending a credibility that this production does not deserve; and
the media, because of Sean Penn's association with the play, has
ensured that despite poor reviews the play has been seen by
packed houses.

There is I think an assumption that with regularly visits to the
United States by leaders in the Republican Movement, that we have
all moved beyond the need to debate again the misconception of
religious war and that American people have a deeper
understanding of what the issues in the North are about.  While
on the one hand we are dealing with more sophisticated issues
around the struggles of dialogue and peace, the fact remains that
a play like this can be endorsed by people of such cultural
prominence, consequently giving the credibility to its
misrepresentation of the north only shows us that there is still
an immense amount of  political education and cultural work to be
done.

It would be easy to write glibly, that perhaps Sean Penn should
stick to acting -- but I think what would be more productive,
would be to invite him to next year's West Belfast Festival and
for him to have the opportunity to look at new material being
produced in the North, this way Los Angeles audiences would have
the opportunity to see something which truly reflected people's
lives instead of this crude and distorted attempt which only
obscures reality.


_______________________________________________________


>>>> History: The most unfair trial

---------------------
In the second of three articles, Aengus O'Snodaigh marks the
200th anniversary of the judicial murder of United Irish leader
William Orr.
---------------------


William Orr was married to Isabella Greer and was the father of
five children (Isabella gave to birth to another daughter five
months after his hanging). He was arrested when attempting to
visit his sick father on 17 September 1797. He had been a marked
man once Samuel Turner from Newry informed on him and once the
Crown began to move against him.

Orr's crime was that he was said to have administered the United
Irish oath to two English soldiers at a meeting on his farm in
Farranshane in County Antrim in April 1796. Hugh Wheatley and
John Lindsay were introduced to the secret meeting as
sympathisers. Among those also present were Jack Gourlay (the
Orrs' herdsman and whose barn it was); Dick Roy; Andy Parker;
David MacQuillan; David Campbell and others. Dick Roy didn't
trust the two soldiers and stayed concealed. Despite what later
emerged at the trial it is said that they were sworn in, not by
William Orr but by a William MacIvor.

This did not deter the two soldiers, obstensibly of the Fife
Fencibles, and post haste they were knocking at the door of
George MacCartney, local magistrate and vicar of Antrim. Their
declarations were taken and sent to Dublin Castle where the
decision to further proceed against Orr was a mere formality.

It later emerged that neither of the two 'soldiers' were of the
Fife Fencibles, but were agents in the pay of the authorities in
Dublin Castle on an entrapment mission. It spoke volumes at Orr's
trial that their supposed colonel, who was in Belfast at the
time, or the several Fencible officers in court, were not called
to vouch for their characters as was common in such trails.

After Orr was incarcerated in Carrickfergus for a year his trial
date was chosen to reinforce General Lake's brutal campaign
against a populace suspected of being sympathetic to the United
Irishmen. The trial date was also chosen for a time when all the
elements of the judicial conspiracy were in place.

The judges, Barry Yelverton (Lord Avonmore) and Tankerville
Chamberlaine, were mere yes men in the game. Yelverton was chief
baron of the Court of Exchequer and member of parliament for
Carrickfergus. He was seeking higher office and did the
government's bidding accordingly. Chamberlaine, one of the
justices of the King's bench, was a backer of verdicts otherwise
decided on.

The Attorney-General Arthur Wolfe (later Lord Kilwarden) was
looking forward to a seat on the bench. He was considered to have
been the adviser of most, if not all, of the repressive laws
introduced into Ireland that year. In 1798 he was made Lord Chief
Justice and later sought the Lord Chancellor's job in 1802. In
1803 Kilwarden, who was rushing to Dublin Castle with news of a
rising, was dragged from his carriage and stabbed to death in the
one incident of note during Robert Emmet's failed rising.

The solicitor-general in the case was John Toler, later Lord
Norbury the 'Hanging Judge'. In one assize (court session) he is
said to have hanged 197 out of 198 men who'd come up in front of
him. The one who survived was a yeoman who killed a rebel.

In 1798 he prosecuted as attorney-general John and Henry Sheares.
He said of the 'Walking Gallows' Lieutenant Hampenstall of the
Wicklow Militia that "he had done no act which was not natural to
a zealous, loyal, and efficient officer" when finding him not
guilty of literally hanging a suspect over his shoulders. It was
he who sentenced Robert Emmet to his doom in 1803.

One of the main cogs in the case was the sherrif, Chichester
Skeffington, afterwards Lord Massereene. It was he who arranged
the jury which tried Orr, and it was under his personal
supervision that the execution was carried out. He was paymaster
for the informer named Newell, who was paid the vast sum in those
days of #22.15s on 2 February 1798.

While Orr had gathered together what appeared to be a formidable
defence team, with the United Irish counsels John Philpot and
William Sampon, his attorney who instructed counsel was a pious
Catholic from Belfast, James MacGucken. McGucken also happened to
be 'managed' by the crown solicitor John Pollack who paid him
hundreds of pounds for services rendered. It was Pollack who was
paymaster after the case for the 'Fencibles' Wheatley and
Lindsay, who received for their troubles over #175 and #120
respectively.

As one Protestant clergyman put it after the 'trial': "In the
ordinary system of espionage, which formed a leading feature in
the administration of the day, no means were too vile, no
intrigues too low, no teaching or deception too base for some of
the highest official characters to stoop to; nor was it
considered incompatible with the public duties of these officers
of the State to intrigue with the lower and most abandoned of
society."

Orr's counsel John Philpot Curran had this to say:

"Informers are worshipped in the temple of justice, even as the
devil has been worshipped by pagans and savages, even so in this
wicked country is the informer an object of judicial idolatry;
even so is he soothed by the music of human groans; even so is he
placated and incensed by the fumes and by the blood of human
sacrifice."


*Next week: Orr is tried and executed



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Subject: RMD971019 Irish news and features for Weekend 18/19 October

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