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Subject: RMD971102 Irish news and features for Weekend 1/2 November

     IRISH NEWS ROUND-UP
     Weekend, 1/2 November, 1997
 

1.   McAleese victory hailed
2.   No justice for Hamill family
3.   US Congressional Committee passes Human Rights Resolution
4.   Analysis:  Election answers the right questions 

________________________________________________________

     FEATURES

5.   Book Review: Derry's rare oul times
6.   CD Review: Rebels are singing

________________________________________________________


>>>> McAleese victory hailed

The Irish President-elect Mary McAleese received a hero's welcome
when she returned to her tiny home town of Rostrevor in County
Down today to celebrate her victory with friends and neighbours.

Hundreds of people packed the streets to greet Mrs McAleese, who
made history by becoming the first President of Ireland
from the Six Counties.

But the deep political ironies of her election were reflected in
the fact that she had to ask the permission of the Irish Prime
Minister Bertie Ahern before she could cross the border to go
home.

The Belfast-born academic was cheered by Protestant and Catholic
wellwishers as she walked with her husband Martin the short
distance from their large home on the banks of Carlingford Lough
to the local Catholic church, where she gave a reading. An Irish
pipe band accompanied her along the street.

Earlier she spoke of her hopes that Ulster Unionist leaders would
attend her inauguration ceremony.

The Belfast-born law professor, who scored an easy victory in
Thursday's election to succeed Mary Robinson as Ireland's head of
state, also looked forward to a first state visit by the Queen of
England as a gesture of reconciliation.

Ms McAleese said it meant something very special to become the
first Irish president from the North.

Speaking on Irish radio, she said she hoped her elevation would
be "an encouragement to those people who are firmly of the
conviction that violence was never, ever the answer here -- and
those who, more latterly, have moved in that direction.

"All of us who have lived through these awful times, the real
ambition we have is for a peaceful Ireland, where relations are
no longer based on contempt, but are the comfortable, neighbourly
relationships that a sensible community would want to have for
its children."

Sinn Fein's President Gerry Adams and Mid-Ulster MP Martin
McGuinness both congratulated the President-elect. Mr Adams said
all people of goodwill would wish her well in her Presidency.

"I believe that Mary McAleese's Presidential term will see great
challenges for all the people of this island. Her election
success was a stunning achievement."

Sinn Fein Chairperson Mitchel McLaughlin said the victory on
Friday by the north Belfast native was "a stunning success",
achieved in the face of a vicious dirty tricks smear campaign.

He said: "She takes office at a difficult but enormously
challenging time for the Irish people. I am confident that she
will seek to build a bridge of understanding and trust and to
embrace all the people of this island as equals".

Mr McLaughlin expressed his party's desire for new debate on the
Irish identity.

"The narrow, partitionist and neo-unionist approach of Mr Bruton
and others during the campaign opened up an important debate on
how we, the people of Ireland, see ourselves. Now that the
election is over Sinn Fein hopes that this debate will continue
in a more reasoned, inclusive and informative fashion.

"As we seek to move beyond conflict toward the new millenium it
is important that we determine whether Ireland is a narrow,
partitionist, factionalised and dysfunctional society, which has
never come to terms with our own history, or do we have the
potential to grow in an inclusive and equitable way?

"Do we have an all-Ireland view which tries to embrace all the
people of this island as equals? Have we a vision of an island
with people at peace with ourselves and our neighbours,
developing our own society in a way which reflects our diversity
as a nation ? Or does 'official' Ireland stop at the border?
These and many more questions need to be answered as we negotiate
a new future for all the people of this island."



* A referendum on cabinet confidentiality also held on Thursday
was passed by just five percent after counting was completed
yesterday -- the same level of spoilt votes.  Voters expressed
their fury with the lack of information on the referendum by
writing on their ballot papers.  The huge number of spoilt votes
was described as "utterly disgraceful" by returning officers.


________________________________________________________



>>>> No justice for Hamill family


Four sisters of Catholic murder victim Robert Hamill, who was
beaten to death in Portadown last April, broke down in tears on
Friday as three men accused of his murder walked free.

Charges of murder against the men were dropped after the court
heard that the evidence of certain witnesses "would no longer be
available".  The witnesses in question are the same members of
the RUC police who watched from their jeep and did nothing as
Hamill was repeatedly kicked in the head.

The case has only added to the cynicism of the Portadown
nationalist community, who have no faith that any of Hamill's
killers will be punished for the crime.

Nationalists from the Garvaghy Road area currently risk their
lives entering the centre of Portadown, a town dominated by
loyalists and their allies in the British crown forces.  The
murder of Hamill is seen as an extension of the refusal of the
Protestant Orange Order marching organisation to discuss their
contentious parades through the nationalist Garvaghy Road with
residents,  The annual 'siege of Drumcree' dispute has led to
serious disturbances for the past two summers.

Hamill died in May two weeks after he and three relatives, two of
whom were women, were set upon by a loyalist mob.  His head was
"danced on" by loyalists screaming "Fenian bastard" as they
kicked him to death, according to witnesses.

Local residents' activist Breandan MacCionnaith called for a full
impartial and independent inquiry into the killing.  Meanwhile,
members of the Hamill family are due to hold a press conference
next week to draw attention to the RUC "investigation".

Yesterday Rosemary Nelson, the solicitor for the Hamill family
said they have asked her to pursue private prosecutions against
all those involved in the case, including members of the RUC.

Commenting on the RUC, she said: "Not only did they fail to
intervene (at the time), but they are incapable of providing any
identification evidence, which is amazing.

"The chief constable said last night it was his prime duty to
protect people's lives, but the signal failure to do so in this
case does not bode well for the people of Portadown.

"To say that faith in the RUC has been substantially eroded by
this is an understatement," Mrs Nelson said.

She added that her requests for video footage from a building
society at the scene of the murder had been ignored by the RUC.


________________________________________________________


>>>> US Congressional Committee passes Human Rights Resolution

by Padraigin Newell

The International Relations Committee of the US Congress passed a
human rights resolution on northern Ireland on Friday.  The vote
was nearly unanimous, the one dissenting vote coming from
Congressman Amo Houghton, a New York Republican. The resolution
will now go before the full House of Congress, where passage is
expected.

The resolution is sponsored by Congressman Chris Smith,
Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations
and Human Rights.  Under the leadership of Congressman Smith
the Subcommittee has twice held hearings on human rights in
the north of Ireland since June 1997.

In the resolution, Congressional members are seeking:

"A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress
that all parties to the multi-party peace talks regarding
Northern Ireland should condemn violence, adequately address
outstanding human rights violations and fully integrate
internationally recognized human rights standards as part
of the peace process."

Representatives from the US State Department were in attendance
expressing their opposition to the Resolution stating that
"It was not a good time for this type of legislation."

Congressman Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the House International
Relations Committee and a sponsor of the Bill, heatedly
dismissed the suggestion with "It hasn't been a good time for
over 700 years."

The British government is undoubtedly lobbying hard to prevent
the passage of this Resolution.  Key components of the resolution
being opposed by the British government are:

* Position of the U.S. Congress to condemn violence "by agents of the
British Government" as well as paramilitary groups.

* Position of the U.S. Congress that "a truly independent complaints
mechanism for the review of citizen inquiries regarding alleged abuses
of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and other
security forces should be established."

* Position of the U.S. Congress that "plastic bullets should be
withdrawn from use in accordance with the recommendations of the
European Parliament and many other international and local bodies."


Passage of the Resolution is being credited to Congressmen Smith, a
fierce proponent of human rights in the north of Ireland and
Congressman Gilman, who in 1995 held the first hearing on human
rights in the north of Ireland after the government's ban in 1972.

In his statement issued shortly after the debate today, Congressman
Gilman said "The need for respect for human rights as an essential
part for finding lasting solutions for the northern Ireland issue,
is self evident."

Urging adoption of the Resolution "by all those concerned about
securing lasting peace and justice in Northern Ireland," Mr. Gilman
added "We can not neglect fundamental respect for human rights.  The
need for reform, especially in the treatment of the minority
nationalist community, should not be overlooked."


Note: Readers can support the Resolution and ask their Congressman to
vote "yes" - by going to the online letter at:
http://www.gmu.edu/org/ireland32/
All letters will be printed and delivered to Congressional Members.


________________________________________________________


>>>> Analysis:  Election answers the right questions 


By Bill Delaney

The popular election to the Presidency of Ireland of a northern
nationalist and devout Catholic, Mary McAleese, as the successor
to a left-wing feminist, Mary Robinson, is posing headaches for
many.

Not least among these are the international media, now faced with
the task of explaining an apparent sea-change in Irish politics
to their respective audiences.

But there has been no great swing of popular opinion - Ireland
has not entered a "post-liberal" age, as one Irish newspaper
claimed.  We are simply seeing the inevitable results of
Ireland's increasing self-confidence.

The confidence shown by the Irish people in slapping down the
forces of anti-nationalism and revisionism on Thursday was
tremendously significant -- possibly more significant than the
election of Mary Robinson in 1990.

We have learned as a people that the Presidency can be used to
reflect our aspirations in a way that party politics can not. In
the 1990 election, the Irish electorate took possession of the
Presidency by electing a political outsider who presented an
opportunity, at the very least, to break the mould of party
politics. The President is no longer chosen by cosy consensus
among the main political parties, but by the people of the 26
Counties, to reflect how they would like to see themselves and
how they would like to be seen.

The Robinson Presidency marked an awakening which went far beyond
the plans of her Labour party sponsors.  But if anything, her
election was a conscious decision by the Irish electorate to
express its independence from the control of the Catholic church
of that time.  The people of the 26 Counties elected a radical
because they could, and, perhaps for the first time, because they
felt capable of change.

But the election of McAleese is a tangible rejection of other
historical baggage.  McAleese's election confronts Ireland's
post-colonial mindset, preached by a small but powerful minority
who encourage us to blame ourselves for the diastrous legacy of
British misrule in Ireland.

And we have leading reactionary and unionist John Bruton to thank
for making the issue clear to us all in this campaign.  His
party's transparent attempt to demonise McAleese as a northerner
and as a nationalist turned the election into a referendum on the
north. The "Sinn Fein smear" -- based on a distorted
interpretation of conversations with a Dublin government official
-- was entirely in the worst tradition of Section 31-era Ireland,
when anti-Republican censorship was the order of the day.

But the McCarthyite witch-hunt mounted against McAleese for her
lack of hostility to Sinn Fein exceeded the worst tyrannies of
religious fundamentalism. In crying 'Enough' on Thursday, the
Irish people may have spelled out to the world that we are ready
to shake off our fears and self-doubt on the national question.

The reactionaries have not been defeated, however -- leading
media figures began to play down the significance of Thursday's
election even before it had taken place. But they find themselves
less relevant and more marginalised than ever. And in Mary
McAleese they appear to have a significant foe.

Ireland's eighth president seems willing to express the identity
of the broader Irish nation -- including, in particular, her own
long-neglected community -- with conviction and resolution.   Her
homecoming to Rostrevor, County Down today was a triumph for
northern nationalists, who must be greatly heartened by her
victory and will as a result renew their demands for equality.
High among these will be the right to fully express their
Irishness -- including the right to vote for McAleese's successor
in the next Presidential election, presumably in 2004.

The election seems certain to spell the demise of Dick Spring,
leader of the Irish Labour Party, who entirely failed to
understand the meaning of the Robinson success.   Election
campaign manager Fergus Finlay has already resigned, and
understandably so. The choice of anti-nuclear campaigner Adi
Roche was well-intentioned, but could never capture the
imagination of an Irish nation looking to make a more reaching
statement than the 'right-on' issues of Chernobyl and Sellafield.
The self-styled liberals must now grapple with the revelation
that the lion's share of the 18-34 age group plumped for frumpy
Mary over trendy Adi.

Entirely more successful was Dana -- wife, mother, entertainer,
as she described herself on the ballot papers -- whose sizeable
vote was an expression of support for her own challenge to the
political status quo.  She impressed many with her novel route to
a Presidential nomination via Ireland's County Councils, but she
won a well-deserved third place with her plain-spoken sincerity,
a scarce commodity in Irish politics.

But the biggest headache is now faced by John Bruton. And even
the shameful and dramatically inept attempt by his Fine Gael
party to smear Mary McAleese may yet be overshadowed.  A light
has now been thrown on parallel efforts by Fine Gael operatives
to destroy the northern peace process through the leaking of
other highly sensitive and potentially damaging Irish government 
documents.

Despite denials, a wealth of evidence has been accumulated by the
Irish police to show that a leading member of Fine Gael was
responsible for the leaks, with the belief that he was acting on
instructions from the very top.

Many unionist leaders, privately or publicly, are opposed to the
Stormont negotiations. Mary McAleese rightly pointed out that to 
build bridges, one cannot begin in the middle, but only with strong
foundations on both sides.  

The recent leaks have raised the spectre of a pan-unionist front 
determined to destroy the peace process and the growing confidence 
of nationalists, as expressed in the election of Mary McAleese.  
It must not be allowed to succeed.


________________________________________________________


>>>> Book Review: Derry's rare oul times



From Civil Rights to Armalites: Derry and the birth of the Irish
Troubles

By Niall O'Dochairtigh
Published by Cork University Press.





As a very specific, step by step, map through the events of the
late 60s and early 70s this book can hardly be faulted. The
wealth of information provided makes it a very useful resource
for students of the war in the Six Counties.

The book also outlines the early political pedigree of political
figures of that time. Although in doing this O'Dochairtigh is
content to define them in terms of moderate and extremist with
republicans tending to be slotted into the latter category.

And of course extremists are the ones who use violence, except
that O'Dochartaigh's description defies reality. After all, it
was the state that introduced violence into the equation from day
one when the Civil Rights marchers were beaten off Duke Street.

I also felt uneasy that the author seemed to want to present a
work that was an objective analysis of a conflict whose cause and
effect boiled down to how events impacted differently on either
the Catholic/Nationalist people and the Protestant/Unionist
people.

So when Sammy Devenny was beaten by the RUC in his William Street
home in 1969 (he would eventually die from his injuries)
O'Dochairtigh describes the dramatic effect this had on
nationalist thinking and behaviour. Devenny's death was also
another factor that led nationalists into conflict with the
state. Therefore when, later in the book, O'Dochairtigh talks
about William King - a Protestant man who died of a heart attack
after Catholics assaulted him in Derry city centre -- the author
maintains this had the same effect on Protestants as did the
death of Devenny on the Catholic community. I'm sure,
emotionally, it had, but the politics of both deaths are
completely at odds -- Devenny's killing was carried out by state
forces who invaded the Bogside and then covered up the whole
affair, something that couldn't have happened without the
political support of the then Stormont government and the British
government whose Scarman Tribunal was limited at the outset.

This all comes from the author's analysis of the conflict as an
ethnic conflict. This is not an ethnic conflict; it is a struggle
born out of 800 years of British colonial rule in Ireland. When
Ireland was partitioned in 1922 it was not partitioned along
ethnic lines where a separate people were given a state based on
their national, religious or cultural differences. Firstly
Ireland was partitioned because it gave the British the best deal
they could get and secondly it was partitioned where it was
because it gave the unionists the best deal they could get. It
was pragmatism not ethnicity that dictated the deal.

It is mostly on this wrong analysis that the book fails as the
author looks for a balance based on the two tribes theory, a
balance that can't exist if the colonial question remains
unresolved.

By Dominic Doherty.


________________________________________________________


>>>> CD Review: Rebels are singing





A Rebel's Heart: A Collection of Ireland's Most Popular Rebel
Songs

By Terence O'Neill and Cormac O'Moore
Price #12.99.

Available at The Green Cross Art Shop 51\53 Falls Road, or
through An Phoblacht, Belfast

Also available on tape.
To order from record shops, the CD number is IRB 1998

By Maire Nic Maolain


When I heard that this CD was in the making I knew it would be
great and I was right.

A Rebel's Heart, featuring Terence 'Cruncher' O'Neill and Cormac
O'Moore, is a selection of some of the best Republican songs.
There are some from the current phase of struggle such as Joe
McDonnell and Joe McCann and some -- like The Three Flowers and
the Boys of Wexford -- from the years when republican songs,
taught to us by republicans, helped to keep the clarity of the
struggle to the forefront of our minds when there was little
else. A Derry man I was talking to said that he hadn't heard
Eamonn Lafferty for 20 years.

Indeed the song " A Rebel Heart" which forms the title of the CD
and sadly not included in the collection, describes this
tradition of learning songs as a way of keeping alive our
history.

There are modern songs like Croppies Who Will Not Lie Down which
uses wry humour to place republicanism alongside other freedom
struggles throughout the world and makes the term "Croppie" a
byword for those struggling for their national independence and
human dignity.

Only Our Rivers Run Free and all the songs from the Hunger Strike
and Plastic Bullets show that this is a living tradition and
records events in our lifetime.

Of course Soldiers of Cumann na mBan is included in recognition
of the women who have been involved in every part of the
struggle. (Wouldn't a CD of Republican womens' songs be a fine
addition to your collection?)

What is great about CDs like A Rebel's Heart is that it clearly
illustrates the legitimacy and richness of this song tradition as
a way of reflecting the life of republicans as other song
traditions  represent for example rural life, industrial
development and workers struggles.

And just on that point, I remember years ago in a folksong club
in England, I sang "James Connolly" and the "Wind that Shakes the
Barley" only to be informed that they were not true folk songs. 
Well, I looked at their definition of folk song and found that
indeed our songs not only met the criteria of "true folk song"
but surpassed it in a way that good songs should -- they spoke not
just to the specific generation, time and place in which they
were written but to people living in other times and other
countries. Indeed the comment was a fair indication of the
speaker's politics.

Republican music has over the years, like republicans themselves,
been vilified, devalued and marginalised as "aul come-all-yas".
But "come-all-yas" (come all you and listen) have been the
traditional songs of popular culture describing the issues of the
day and reflecting the lives and interests of ordinary people --
for centuries sung where they are understood most, that is
amongst the ordinary people themselves. Dismissing a song as a
"comeallya" says more about your politics than your musical
sense!

In any case the tradition has continued to develop as part of
cultural struggle telling the history of republicanism to anyone
willing to listen -- a history of ordinary people doing
extraordinary things -- and in so doing resisting the propaganda
and censorship emanating from the powerful media of Britain and
its allies.

The stories captured in the choice of songs on this CD not only
illustrate the many phases of the struggle but they are
beautifully told by the singers who are clearly committed to the
tradition. The sleeve notes by O'Moore are intriguing snippets of
information.

I recently found an old book of songs " Ballads from the Jails
and Streets of Ireland" published in 1966 by Red Hand Books and
priced five shillings. The first song is called "Songs of Our
land" by Frances Browne, "the blind poetess of Donegal" in which
she writes of the Republican song tradition,


  "It will waken an echo in souls deep and lonely,
  Like voices of reeds by the Summer breeze fanned;
  It will call up a spirit for freedom when only
  Her breathings are heard in the songs of our land."


The singers on "A Rebel Heart" have added their voices to the
tradition at a time when there is an opportunity to make sure as
many people as possible hear of our history and struggle.  This
is a very enjoyable way to do it.







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