<HTML><PRE>Subj:	 RMD971030 Irish news and activist bulletins for Thursday 30 October
Date:	97-10-30 11:37:39 EST
From:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (RM_Distribution)
To:	rmlist-reply@irlnet.com (Multiple recipients of RM_Distribution - Sent by)

     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
     Thursday 30 October, 1997
     

1.   Bomb attack in Derry
2.   Feuding loyalists pose increasing threat
3.   Visit to Portlaoise prisoners
4.   Analysis: McAleese victory would be a defeat for anti-nationalist faction
5.   Irish Neutrality and a Nuclear Arms free Europe
6.   The Irish Brigade Remembered in the U.S.
7.   Events in Ireland, England and Scotland

__________________________________________________________________


>>>> Bomb attack in Derry


A bomb left in a holdall at a British government office building 
in Derry today was defused in a controlled explosion.  
A Republican paramilitary organisation opposed to the peace 
process, the "Continuity Army Council" (CAC), has claimed
responsibility for the attack.

The masked man who planted the Derry bomb raised the alarm by
shouting: "This is a bomb". The building and surrounding area was
evacuated and nobody was hurt. Over 300 civil servants use the
Orchard Building, home to a number of administrative and taxation
offices.

The device contained between one and two pounds of commercial
explosive and could have done considerable damge to the building.
A small blast some fifteen or twenty minutes after the bomb was 
planted was attributed to the controlled explosion by a British 
Army bomb disposal team.

There was also a bomb alert in Armagh City this afternoon
after a hoax warning was telephoned to news rooms.

The CAC was responsible for a sizeable van bomb attack on a Crown
force base in Markethill in County Armagh last month, just days
after the start of peace negotiations at Stormont Castle in
Belfast. 

The CAC is firmly opposed to the peace process and has virtually
no support within the nationalist community. Today's bomb is
believed to mark the first attack in any urban area by the
organisation.

__________________________________________________________________


>>>> Feuding loyalists pose increasing threat


Republicans and nationalists have been warned to be
extremely vigilant following confirmation that the Combined
Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) has split.

Feuding loyalist gunmen were to blame for an incident in Belfast
on Monday when shots were fired from a moving vehicle at a car in
the West Circular Road  around 8pm. The bullet-riddled maroon
Ford Orion car was later discovered in the Taughmonagh estate on
the other side of the city.

And recent street brawling - at times involving up to 150
young loyalists - in Belfast and Derry, may have the potential
to snowball into open gang warfare.

Sinn Fein Chairman Mitchel McLaughlin has queried Ulster Unionist
Party David Trimble's silence on the latest loyalist bomb attack
in Bangor on Saturday which killed a known loyalist, Glenn Greer.

Greer was fatally wounded when an undercar bomb exploded as he
drove through the Kilcooley housing estate. Greer had been living
in Bangor for over two years after leaving Belfast under a UDA
death threat.

"The killing in Bangor on Saturday is a most worrying
development, but it cannot be a coincidence that the killing came
so soon after the announcement of the disbandment of the CLMC,"
McLaughlin said.

"Yet David Trimble's silence on both these events exposes the
hypocrisy of his claim that he will not sit down to talk with
those he believes are involved in violence. He had and has no
difficulty about sitting down with the self-admitted
representatives of the UDA, UFF and UVF, organisations
responsible for at least six killings, including the Bangor one,
a number of attempted murders and dozens of shootings in the last
three years. Trimble will not refuse to use them in order to
exercise the veto which he, this past weekend, so publicly
boasted of."

McLaughlin's warning about the rise in loyalist death squad
activity comes at a time when the media has almost casually
ignored the increase in the number of incidents involving known
loyalists targeting republicans and nationalists.

"The most recent that we have confirmed," continued McLaughlin,
"is the targeting of Gerry Adams at his book launch at the Sinn
Fein bookshop on the Falls Road in West Belfast on 15 October."
He described this as a very worrying development and praised the
vigilance of republicans who had spotted the occupants of a car
acting suspiciously. It was later chased towards the loyalist
Shankill Road area.

Commenting on the last few days of loyalist activity, Gerry Adams
said, "the factional fighting within loyalism and unionism which
has witnessed the CLMC coming apart at the seams and unionist
parties fighting like alley cats has in the past led to vicious
periods of sectarian attacks on nationalists.

"There is currently an anxiety and nervousness within unionist
ranks. David Trimble's leadership has fed into this mood. His
refusal to properly engage in the talks has had the knock-on
effect of detaching sections of loyalism and unionism from the
process." 


__________________________________________________________________

>>>> Visit to Portlaoise prisoners

A Sinn Fein delegation is meeting Republican prisoners in
Portlaoise jail today to update them on developments in the peace
process.

The delgation will include Party Vice-President Pat Doherty,
Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness, Martin Ferris, Gerry Kelly
and Navan councillor Joe Reilly.

"We will be giving them an assurance that their release and the
transfer and release of prisoners from England is a priority for
us and that there will not be a peace settlement without the
release of all political prisoners," he said.


__________________________________________________________________


>>>> Analysis: McAleese victory would be a defeat for 
               anti-nationalist faction


---------------------
  Voting is reported slow today in the 26-County President election
  and referendum on cabinet confidentiality. SEAN Mac BRADAIGH
  writes on the significance of Mary McAleese's expected victory in
  the Presidential race
----------------------

A poll in Wednesday's Irish Times, taken with three days
remaining in the Irish Presidential election, showed further
consolidation of Mary McAleese's lead.

In the poll McAleese stood at 46%, sixteen points ahead of her
nearest contender, the Fine Gael candidate Mary Banotti.
Independent candidate Dana, the Labour, DL and Green Party
supported candidate Adi Roche and Independent Derek Nally stood
at 10%, 8% and 5% respectively.

All candidates apart from McAleese and Dana lost voter support
since the previous poll.

The Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll also showed that a majority of
the transfers from the bottom three candidates would go to
McAleese who now seems set to be elected on the second count.
Among those aged under 24 and also 25 to 34, support for McAleese
exceeds the total of all the other candidates put together.

The scale of this McAleese support has dealt a severe body blow
to the anti-national political faction in the 26 Counties. The
attempt to destroy McAleese's bid for the Presidency by a
sustained and determined smear campaign has backfired badly
leaving the small but vociferous group of anti-nationalists an
increasingly isolated and beleaguered group within Irish
political life.

The efforts to link McAleese to Sinn Fein, the pathetic staged
outrage of John Bruton over remarks by Gerry Adams that he would
vote for McAleese, the manipulation of Derek Nally's campaign by
such as Eoghan Harris and John Caden for purposes of character
assassination of McAleese, and the leaking of confidential
government documents aimed at damaging her campaign and more
importantly the entire Peace Process, have all done the opposite
to what was intended. They have backfired for John Bruton and
Fine Gael in particular ensuring that his own level of public
support has dropped massively and ensuring that the Fine Gael
candidate, Mary Banotti will not be elected President.

All of this has been highly significant in political terms. It
demonstrated that association with Sinn Fein or support from
leading republicans is not a political 'kiss of death'. John
Bruton and Eoghan Harris are exposed as inhabiting a political
world which is a million miles from where most Irish people are
at. It shows that anti-republicanism is increasingly rejected by
the younger generation in the 26 Counties. And it indicates that
the phoney liberalism espoused by the most reactionary political
elements in the 26 Counties is entirely transparent to most of
the population here.

What is also clear is that many people will now vote for Mary
McAleese who would not have done so had the political climate of
the Presidential race not been raised to such temperatures by the
attacks made against her. McAleese can in particular thank John
Bruton for this. She can also thank those, whoever they were, who
thought they were being clever by leaking Department of Foreign
Affairs documents. As we go to press a file has been sent to the
DPP in relation to a Fine Gael adviser to Gay Mitchell TD who was
arrested in relation to the leaked documents.

For many who had serious reservations regarding McAleese's
political links with the Catholic hierarchy and her conservatism
on a number of issues in the past, the fact that McCarthyite
anti-nationalists had declared war on McAleese changed everything
and made voting for her a realistic option.

The election which started out as a dull affair has now marked
what could become a watershed in Irish political life. The leader
of the Labour Party has been exposed as not such a clever Dick
after all. Having attempted to arrogate the Robinson Presidency
for themselves, Spring and the Labour Party thought they had
another winning formula this time around. But their lack of
imagination and patronising attitude towards the electorate has
been thrown back in their face. The Adi Roche campaign has been a
disaster for Labour and DL and has also put a large dint in Dick
Spring's armour. The Roche campaign was obsessed with emphasising
terms such as 'young', 'modern', 'European' to such a simplistic
and repetitive extent that it seemed those behind the campaign
were convinced that anything old, traditional or national was
bad. They believed this had worked in the Robinson campaign and
it would work again. But such simplistic rubbish showed a
complete lack of understanding of the complexities and maturity
of the Irish electorate. Couple all this with the serious
miscalculation of John Bruton and Fine Gael, it seems that a
political realignment is called for in the 26 Counties.

Fine Gael, Labour and DL have been shown to be seriously out of
touch with the electorate, particularly when it comes to
attitudes towards the North. They are being made to pay for
pursuing an ideological crusade which is very much out of date
and out of synch with the people. Younger voters in particular
have no time for this tired old excuse for political debate and
those parties who continue to trot it out must now seriously
reconsider their position. Unless they change they will continue
to suffer at the polls. For these parties, the 1997 Presidential
campaign could well prove to be a turning point on the learning
curve for a new political era.


__________________________________________________________________


>>>> Irish Neutrality and a Nuclear Arms free Europe



By Roger Cole



The Peace & Neutrality Alliance was established to help build
support for Irish neutrality which is being destroyed slowly as
the EU is transformed into a nuclear armed superstate.

Many groups as diverse as the Workers Party, Sinn Fein and the
Green Party have affiliated with PANA, along with most solidarity
groups such as the East Timor Solidarity Group, Church groups
such as Pax Christi and peace groups like CND. PANA clearly
reflected a desire that we should remain committed to a policy of
positive Irish neutrality.

If a key demand of the Irish Peace Process is to take the gun out
of Irish politics then the PANA demand is to take the gun out of
European and international politics.

Indeed it would be ironic if the Irish Peace process was to be
declared successful on the basis of Ireland's integration into a
nuclear armed superstate. To exchange the armalite for a finger
on a nuclear bomb is not peace with justice, and in the ongoing
negotiations of new constitutional arrangements PANA will
continue to highlight its objectives. Since the SDLP proposes a
three member executive in Northern Ireland, one of whom would be
appointed by the EU Commission, this interlinking of the EU with
a potential outcome of the Peace Process needs to be examined in
the context of Ireland's overall relationship with the EU in such
a way as to maximise Irish democracy rather than diminish it.

The main battle ahead will be the Referendum which the
governments promised on the Amsterdam Treaty which will be held
ironically enough in 1998, the 200th anniversary of the 1798
Rebellion. PANA seeks to crystallise opposition to the embryonic
nuclear armed superstate and to develop our own future vision for
Ireland and Europe, which is democratic, free of nuclear weapons
and anti-imperialist.

The strategy for our victory in the Referendum has to be based on
a number of basic concepts. PANA has to build as wide a base of
support as possible and has to develop a strong international and
European dimension to our campaign so that we are not accused of
being isolationist. We have therefore linked with TEAM, The
European Anti-Maastricht Movement, and our efforts to build links
with the Irish diaspora needs to accelerated.

PANA has to clearly focus on the issue of nuclear weapons and the
arms industry as the reason why the Amsterdam Treaty should be
amended to stop Ireland from becoming further involved with the
nuclear armed Western European Union.

While the recent election produced a minority Coalition
government whose declared policy is closer to that of PANA than
the defeated Rainbow Coalition, one should not underestimate the
difficulties. The Fianna Fail manifesto clearly opposed any moves
to further integrate the State with the WEU more than the
existing observer status, yet the Fianna Fail Minister for
Foreign Affairs has uncritically welcomed the Treaty.

However, the establishment cannot now spend State money, it
cannot promise the people millions of punts; many politicians are
genuinely not supporters of a nuclear armed superstate. Because
of party loyalty they might not support us but will not actively
help the Euro-bullies. If those political forces who would
support PANA both at home and abroad can be mobilised early
enough then the possibility of a victory for those of us who seek
a democratic and nuclear free Ireland and Europe is very real.

The key lies in PANA's ability to project the idea that its
values of positive neutrality are part of Ireland's future not of
its past; that it grows out of the democratic nationalist
tradition of the United Irishmen rather than the imperial
traditions of the Unionism or Home Rule.


__________________________________________________________________


>>>> The Irish Brigade Remembered in the U.S.

By Cari Zall

It was a cold, drizzling day as a crowd of over 800 people
gathered at historical Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg,
Maryland for the unveiling of the long-awaited Monument to the
Irish Brigade.  But the weather hardly mattered to those who had
come from as far as Massachusetts and New York to commemorate the
sacrifice of the 540 Irishmen slaughtered on that bloody
September 17, 1862.  On that day, the Brigade, composed of four
regiments: the 69th New York, 29th Massachusetts, the 63rd New
York and the 88th New York, led the assault on the North Carolina
Brigade, which was holding out in its entrenched position of what
is now known as "Bloody Lane."  The Irish Brigade, it's green
flags riddled with bullets, standard bearers falling one after
the other as they marched forward, kept on until the Union
soldiers pushed the Confederates from Bloody Lane.  But they paid
a terrible price. Two regiments of the Brigade suffered 60%
casualties in 20 minutes, and the other two were missing half
their compliment.  The Irish Brigade losses were proportionally
higher than any other brigade that day.

Made up of mostly native Irishmen who fled the Great Famine, and
their sons, the Brigade was formed in New York City by Thomas
Francis Meagher.  Meagher, a Jesuit educated orator born in
Waterford, found himself in trouble with the British over his
involvement in the New Ireland  Movement of the 1840's.  A
seditious speech he gave advocating Irish independence finally
prompted his arrest and sentencing to death.  But due to
international pressure, Queen Victoria instead banished him from
Ireland in 1849 to an Australian penal colony.  He escaped three
years later to become a leader in New York City's Irish
community.  After forming the Irish Brigade, President Lincoln
commissioned Meagher as a brigadier general in February 1862. 
After the Civil War, because of his military accomplishments
during the conflict, he was appointed territorial Secretary of
Montana.  He was acting governor when he drowned in 1867.

One hundred thirty five years later, on that same soggy hill,
Meagher and his men were finally given their due honor.  Matthew
Hannon, the Chairman of the Irish Brigade Monument Project opened
the ceremony.  "This is a monument to all men, north, south,
black, white, Protestant and Catholic, who cherish equality and
freedom . . . I hope that this memorial will inspire everyone who
sees it to search into their own history and discover the
richness of their own heritage."  Professor John McCormack, Irish
Brigade Historian, added that "always when people in America were
in trouble, those of Irish descent were there to fight for them."

The Battle of Antietam was a watershed in the Civil War.  Before
that day, Britain was posed to pledge support to the South.  But
because of the Union victory, the European Parliament decided NOT
to support the Confederacy. More than 22,000 men were killed and
wounded, more than on any other day of the entire Civil War.  The
heroic sacrifices at Antietam inspired President Lincoln to issue
the Emancipation Proclamation, guaranteeing the freedom of all
slaves.

Irish Ambassador Sean O'Huiginn was on hand to unveil the
Monument, the last Civil War monument ever to be erected at
Antietam.  Of the brave Irishmen who'd fought on this soil, he
said, "they survived the Famine and the coffin ships, arriving
destitute and in despair.  Yet they still gave their best to
their adopted country.  They added a new chapter to the brave
history of the Irish Soldier.  Their battle was about Values. 
Theirs was the ultimate rebuke of the philosophy of slavery."


__________________________________________________________________


>>>> Events in Ireland, England and Scotland

PROTEST: Second anniversary of the Repatriation of Prisoners
Bill. 1pm Friday 31 October, outside the British Embassy, DUBLIN

HALLOWEEN PARTY: Disco and fancy dress. Friday 31 October. Phone
Dublin Sinn Fein on 8724858/8724460

SAOIRSE PROTEST: Assemble 2pm Saturday 1 November, Daunt Square,
Grand Parade, CORK CITY, County Cork

SAOIRSE MARCH AND RALLY: Six-County mobilisation. Assemble 2pm
Saturday 1 November, Francis Street, NEWRY, County Down.
Prominent speakers.

SINN FEIN FUNCTION: 8pm Saturday 1 November, the Furry Bog pub,
Whitechurch, RATHFARNHAM, County Dublin. Ballads by Clann Ri.
Taille #2.50, including raffle for spot prizes. Organised by the
Martin Forsythe Sinn Fein Cumann

FUNDRAISER: For the Ahern/Crowley Memorial RFB. Saturday 1
November, Top of the Hill bar, CORK CITY, County Cork. Ballads by
the Hairy Bowsies. Taille #3

BENEFIT NIGHT: For legal defence fund of Dr Peadar O'Grady.
8.30pm Sunday 2 November, Mother Redcap's, Christchurch, DUBLIN.
Disco and Raffle. Taille #5/3

MONTHLY PICKET: For the transfer of all Irish POWs. 12-1.30pm
Sunday 2 November, Downing Street, LONDON, England.

PUBLIC MEETING: With Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams. 7.30pm
Monday 30 November, Guildhall, DERRY

SAOIRSE SCOTLAND: Next meeting at 7.30pm Wednesday 5 November,
City Halls, Albion Street, GLASGOW, Scotland. New members welcome

FUASCAILT MEETING: 9pm Wednesday 5 November, Lewisham Irish
Centre, Davenport Road, LONDON, England. All welcome

PUBLIC MEETING: Transfer the POWs and benefit social. Saturday 8
November, Red Lion, 202 Walworth Road, LONDON, England. Taille
#2/3

FUASCAILT MEETING: 8pm Thursday 13 November, Camden Irish Centre,
52 Camden Sq, LONDON, England

DERRY PROTESTS: Calling for the demilitarisation and disbandment
of the RUC: 1.30pm Saturday 1 November, Fort George, DERRY;
12.30pm Friday 7 November, Courthouse; 7pm Friday 14 November,
Rosemount Barracks

LEWISHAM IRISH FESTIVAL: Saturday 1 November to Sunday 16
November Lewisham, LONDON. You can pick up your free programme
from Lewisham Irish Community Centre, 2a Davenport Road, Catford,
London, SE6

CONFERENCE: Annual Connolly Association conference. 11am-5pm
Saturday 15 November, Britannia Street Conference and Meeting
Centre, Off Gray's Inn Road, LONDON, England. Function to follow
at the Calthorpe Arms, Gray's Inn Road. 8pm til late. Music by
Tom Lynch. Tickets available from Four Provinces Bookshop, #5/3

MARCH AND RALLY: Take down the spy post. 3pm, Sunday 23 November,
New Lodge Road, BELFAST, County Antrim. From Ardoyne assemble at
2pm Ardoyne Avenue

PUBLIC MEETING: Against the renewal of the Prevention of
Terrorism Act. 7-9pm Thursday 27 November, Islington Library,
LONDON, England. Benefit function on same night in Victoria pub,
Holloway Road. Music by Banna Strand. Taille #3/2

VOLUNTEERS COMMEMORATION: Volunteers Jeremiah and Cornelius
Delaney (77th Ann) and Volunteer Sean O'Donoghue (75th Ann).
Assemble 2pm Sunday 7 December, Blackpool Bridge, CORK CITY,
County Cork and march to monument on Dublin Hill. Speaker: Martin
Ferris

ANYONE wishing to contact the West of Scotland Band Alliance can
do so at Box 25 1353, Dumbarton Road, GLASGOW, Scotland. Also
anyone wishing a republican flute band for a function, march or
prison picket etc can contact the secretary at the above PO Box




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