Irish History Synopsis: Troubles to Tiger 1990-2007
As the stagnant island passed into the 1990's the north still hotly contesting which malitia controlled its territory ,the south passed from the control of Charles Haughey of FF into the hands pf Albert Reynolds in an FF/Labour coalition with Dick Spring as Taniste by
An agreement brokered by Bertie Ahern than a Dial Eirean member and a Haughey loyalist.
During this historic alliance occuring John Hume began a dialogue with Gerry Adams, one the leader of the constitutional SDLP party and the other now leader of Sinn Fein, on ways to end armed struggle and have peace in the north.
Such notable figures as Gordon Wilson a Senator who had lost his daughter in the 87 Enniskillen bombing worked to achieve some sort of peace in the north meeting with IRA personel to try and get them to stop their campaign.
In the south the new Reynolds government offered a tax amnesty to evadors.
The wealthy were allowed to settle with the government on millions of undeclared or evaded back taxes much to the chagrin of ordinary taxpayers and labour voters.
This corrosive influence annoyed the compliant taxpayers leaving a nasty memory of the amnesty well into the 21st century.
With the coming in the early 90's of low intrest rates coupled with grants from the Brussels EU of sugnificant capital and an increased employment a new economic prosperity began developing in the Republic.
A growth rate of 7% occurred in Ireland increasing in the second half of the 90's to 9%.
Irish consumers arose purchasing some 23 billion in goods and services.
International companies were attracted to Ireland with low tax rates and preferred status providing much needed skilled jobs throughout the Republic.
Over 800 foreing firms were invited into the country employing over 1/2 of the Irish workers.
These firms also exported over 80% of the workers manufacture.
High tech companies have achieved an impressive sucess in Ireland.
In 1990 Ireland had a 50% gap between its living standard and that of other EU countires.
Most of the Irish owned companies had little competative edge over 3rd world contries who could produce the same item at a low labor cost.
However a combination of money availability and available consumer goods led Ireland almost overnight into a progessive updated economic upturn under the auspices of its 1st woman President Mary Robinson of the Labour Party.
Ms Robinson took a modern progressive stance on such social conserns ad contraceptive use, divorce, homosexuality and such national matters as peace, meeting directly on this problem with both Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein and the British Monarch.
Maried to a prodistant she manifested a spirit of tolerance in matters of religeous conscience.
The Reynolds opposition to the X Case of a 14 year old pregnant by rape to abtain an abortion won a barrage of critizim both nationally and internationally which lead to an IIrish Court ruling forbidding the girl exit from Ireland to have her abortion.
[the girl was later reported to have a miscarriage]
In the north meanwhile an effort towards a lasting peace was being envisioned by the 3 leaders Albert Reynolds the Taoiseach of the Republic, John Major the British PM and Bill Clinton the US President.
With efforts by diplomatic servies in all 3 countires and the ever online John Hume a way forward was explored .
Indirect talks were teniously begun between and amogst the sides.
Clinton took a particular open role in promiting a negociated peace in his appaointment of George Michell a the US Senator from Maine as negociator to the all party talks peace effort.
tiger pg 2
On October 1993 the IRA bombed a fish fry shop in the Shankill and the Ulster Freedom Fighters retaliated by shooting 7 dead at the GreySteel Bar in Derry.
During these continious violent outbursts talks were ongoing between parties, between Irish government and republican dissentors, between British and Sinn Fein representatives, between Adams and Hume, all trying to create agreement on a peace process.
On December 15 1993 a joint statement called the Downing Street Declaration was issued by Taoiseach Reynolds and Prime Mininster Major outlining agreed terms of nationalist and republican,unionist and loyalists.
It reaffirmed the British governments lack of any selfish strategy or ecnomic interest in North Ireland.
It affirmed self determination attached to Irish acceptance of consent of significant groups to a constitutional settlement and a pledge to undo the causes of conflict.
On this note and the advise of John Hume and the Irish Republic government Clinton offered Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein a 48 hour visa to the US.
By this time the US National Security Council had become invlolved inthe Irish/American affair for some reason still classified.
London was not happy at this offer.
Adams however was viewed as dependant to the crutial inclusion of Sinn Fein and the IRA to the Peace process, was allowed the visit in mid winter, January 1994.
During the Washinton summit attended by Clinton, his National Security Council Kennedy, Senator for Massachutes.
He was advised of the importance of convincing the Republicans to abandon political violence.
This arm twisting did however produce an IRA ceasefire at midnight 31 August 1994, eight months after the Adams visit.
On October 13 1994 the Combined Loyalist Military Command consisting of the UDA ,UFF, UVF,the Red Hand Commandos called a cease fie.
Out of the cease fire both Briish and Irish governments were able to enter direct talks with Sinn Fein, UDP and PUP ,all 3 having para military links.
The Republic set up a Forum for peace and reconsiliation which held a meeting at Dublin Castle on 28 October 1994.
The unionist boycotted these meetings but the rest of the political parties on the island attended helping the dialog of all.
In September '94 Gerry Adams was issued a permanent US visa allowing him free travl in the US. His central message to the American cousins was to opt for a peaceful solution to the Irish Question.
In the meanwhile in the midst of the unbelievable good times in the economic south the nation was beset by a Church sex scandal.
Eamon Casey ,Bishop of Galway, suddenly resigned his prestigious and comfortable position and fled the country when it became known that he had had an affair with an American woman, Annie Murphy, who had borne him a son and she, as she had not been paid child support, was interviewd on national Irish television in 1992.
A more shocking scandal ensued when Fr Brendan Smyth was interviewed by Belfst police when he was charged with sexual abuse of minors.
Fr, released on bail promptly fled to his Abby in County Cavan in the Republic where he avoided the efforts of north Irish police to extradite him back across the border for 3 years.
In January of '94 Fr Brendan surrendered to northern justice and in June pleaded guilty to 17 counts going back to 1960.
He was given a northern jail sentence and when he compleated this was sent to Dublin for further trial in the Republic where he was also convicted and jailed.
However Fr Smyth died of heart attack in 1997 after one month of this incarceration.
Counterpoint a UTV program kept the case in public view also clarifying the lenth of time RUC extradition warrents hasd taken to be acted upon by Dublin.
This delay of 7 months was brought up when Taoisech Albert Reynolds went to appoint his Attorney General Harry Whelehan [ ofthe X Case] to President of the High Court.
Labour was intent on having Whelehan explain the handling of the Smyth matter.
When Reynolds supported Whelehan anyway without the concurrance of the Labour Ministers and his Taniste Dick Spring they left the coalition cabinate.
In November Spring and his Ministers resigned the government.
No longer having a parliamentary majority Reyonlds resigned as Taoisech and leader of the FF.
Labour entered a new coalition with Fine Gael getting enough Dial votes to elect John Bruton in 1994 known as the Rainbow coaltion.
No general election was held.
Under the rule of FG Bruton regime Ireland continued to enjoy economic prosperity and a high export rate.
It also sustained an assortment of Dial tribunals set up to investigate various corrupt practices.
There was a Beef Tribunal to investigate fraud and illegal acivies in this industry.
The McCracan Tribunal to invesstigate payouts by supermarket millionare Ben Dunne to Charles Haughey.
The Moriaraty Tribunal investigated payments to Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry and off shore Ansbacke dispensations again involving Charles Haughey.
This report however was not made public till July 2002.
Foreigners making a million pound investment in the Rebublic were entitled to apply for an Irish passaport.
Holders of an Irish passport are also citizens of EU which includes them with residenecy rights in any EU country.
Kickback schemes invloving a Minister fromthe Planning Commission were revealed.
Minister Burke resigned as the Flood Tribunal was being established.
tiger pg 3
A committment to human rights was made and a pledge to submit talk results to a referendum both north and south.
Sinn Fein's Adams was again invited to Washington and allowed a fund raising drive in the US.
Clinton invited him to the White House St Patricks Day in 1995.
Out of these friendly visitations Great Britain announced an exploritory dialogue with Sinn Fein.
John Major visited Washington in April and was praised by Clinton for inniciating dialogue with SF.
Clinton also reaffirmed Anglo/American relations.
The British insisted the IRA would need to decomission their weopons to allow Sinn Fein into all party talks.
In May a North Ireland Investment Conference was held in Washington which was attended by most of the N Irish parties.
Both UK and Republic officals as well as 100 buisness people attended.
It was a first high level meeting between Britain and IRA leaders in 75 years.
In November 95 Clinton himself visited Belfast. The first US President to ever do so.
He was warmly welcomed by a crowd of over 100.000 at Belfast City Hall.
A reception for all sides was held at Queens University where everyone came together.
There were no armed soldiers in the streets, Roadblocks were gone along with the barbed wire baracades.
In that same year in the spate of good will Prince Charles, Crown Prince of Great Britain made an official visit to the Republic. The first royal visit since 1922.
David Trimble Unionist Party leader went to Dublin, the first Unionist leader to visit Dublin since 1922.
During the summer of 95 the Orange Order marching season had been menacing.
Portadown in County Armagh became a focal point as Orange marchers confronted catholics residents on the Garvey Road which ran through their housing estate over a traditional prodistant march through that estate.
The Reverand Ian
Paisley and David Trimble marched together with mutual followers down the tense road.
When Goerge Mitchell, US envoy of President Clinton and the Secreatary of State arrived in Belfast he was struck by the 30 ft 'peace line' wall topped with barbed razor wire separating the catholic Falls Road from the prodistant Shankill and remarked that it was one of the most depressing structures he had ever seen.
In 1995 Seamus Heaney Poet won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
George Mitchell was to chair a new Presidential initative Body on Arms.
The British who were nervous of this creation nominated to this body General John de Chastelain of Canada.
The Republic nominated a retired Prime Minister of Finnland Harri Hokeri.
This Body drew up 6 principles called the Mitchell Principles which included the total and verifiable decominssioning of all paramilitary weopons.
At 7:00 PM 9 February 1996 the IRA ended its ceasefire with the Canary Wharf bomb on the loading dock. 100 were injured 2 died.
Great financial damage was inflicted.
The IRA demanded an inclusion in negociation settlements accusing the British of Bad Faith and the Unionist of squandering the unpresidented opportunity to resolve the conflict.
On June 15 1996 a tonand 1/2 bomb distroyed the city center of Manchester ,England.
Garvey Road became a flash point of violence.
In October '96 IRA exploded 2 bombs in a British Army Barracks in N Ireland.
As the Westminster government depended on Unionist votes to hold its majority in the House of Commons the Conservative government procrastinated on North Ireland.
The Mitchell talks continued but no progress was made as Sinn Fein was still excluded.
In May 1997 Labor won the British general election with Tony Blair at its head.
Unionist MP's no longer held the balance of power in Commons.
Mo Mowlan became N Ireland Secretary and laid less stress on decomissioning than did the Conservative government.
In June 1997 the IRA killed two policemen in Lurgan, Armagh.
In 1997 Loyalists killed 13.*
Although no official ending of either sides cease fire had been discaded.
The GarveyRoad parade again became a flash point as N Irish police and the British Army forced Orange marchers threw the hostile resisting catholic native residents.
On July 20 1997 the IRA announced a resumtion of its cease fire.
Sinn Fein was admitted to the peace talks on 9 Sept 1997.
Tony Blair went to Belfast and antagonised much of Unionists mainstream by shaking hands with the resolute Gerry Adams.
In January 1998 the Governments of Dublin and Great Britain, and Belfast and Dublin, and Dublin and London ,and between all parties ,and between Bertie Ahern now Taoisech as of 1997, as part of the Irish negociating team came together with Tony Blair British PM and were able to complete an agreement.
George Mitchell ,The Chair had set a deadline of 9 April 1998 to complete the Agreement.
Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern all the N Ireland Parties and President Clinton were involved.
Seventeen hours after the midnight deadline on April 10, Good Friday, 1998 the parties all agreed to end the 30 years of violence in the north.
The Agreement officially known as the Belfast Agreement was signed.
A referena was held on 22 May 1998 both north and south endorsing the Agreement.
All the island people voted together to decide their future.
The first all Ireland vote since 1918.
* very little figures and records of unionist killing are available nor have their malitia organizations been scrutinized and studies like th IRA has been.
tiger pg 4
In the Republic the voters also voted to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the 1937 de Valera Constitution giving up the Republics natural political right to the north 6 counties.
In the Republic with the fall of John Bruton in the 1997 general election FF came back to power with 77 seats over FG 59.
Forming a governemtn with the Progressive Democratic Party founded by O Malley as an offshot of FF with Mary Harney as TAniste.
Dick Spring resiged the leadership of the Labour Party.
Under the new leader Ruari Quinn the weakened Labour Party merged with theDemocratic Left.
Mary Robinson the popular President of Ireland resigned before her term ended to take a post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rightes on 12 September 1997.
Bertie Ahern persuaded Professor Mary MC Aleese to stand for election for FF.
She won the Presidency and did not overshadow her predicessor.
Mary quickly established her own style.
Mary McAleese being a north Irish girl worked in her first term to build bridges between the 2 communities.
She was reelected to a second term in 2004.
The continuing transformation of the Republic economy from a low producer, high inflation and fiscal irresponsible in the preceeding decades developed rapidly with a polcy of Central Bank reduction of interest rates, an influx of some 7 billion pounds from Brussels EU ,negociated by Albert Reynolds and a favorable investment policy for international investment, bringing in such high employers as Intel, IBM, Dell Computers, Microsoft, Glaxo- Smithkline, Bristol Myers Squibb, call centers and service centers for American and European companies.
Ireland also had developed in the 90's a good trade economy exporting much of its agricultural and manufacture produce giving it a competative status in a global free trade economy.
Some native start up companies such as Ryan Air held their own against larger corporate structues and stae owned companies.
A status symobl of automible ownership among the populous rose steadily during the 90's with puurchase of elite Eurupean neuve riche vehicles such as BMW and Mercedes Benz and such status symbols as 4 wheel drive and jeep appearing in urban streets.
An unprecidented number of jobs became available in Ireland necessitating at a later date govenment issuance of foreign work permits which has caused hostile reaction to Ireland Celtic purity.
The governments exchecker funds grew alowing the Republic to have a budget surplus.
These excess funds were not evenly distributed ,the nations hospitals and health services being one of the major sufferers.
Socially the Irish Republic made great strides in housing.
The traditional white limed thatched cottge disapearing from the landscape in favor of modern ranch style bungaloes with large windows, state of the art kitchens, heavy window drapery replacing the ubiquitous famous lace curtain and modern up to date cars graced the door yard.
Dublin expidited a moderazation program with many of the old slum riden Georgian mansions of the 18th century giving way to new suburban estates north and south of the city.
On November 24 1995 a new referenda on divorce removed the constitutional ban.
The new legislation provided for divorce if the parties had lived appart for 4 years of the previous 5.
Throughout the 90's cultural developments accured such as the Field Day Theater Company project in Derry.
Productions to remaking of the Irish past such as Dancing at Lugnasa.
The Mai and the Stewart of Christendom were produced on stage.
Frank McCourt's Angelas Ashes recalling the stuggles of 1940 Limerick, was written and later made into a dvd.
Samus Deane contunied his critique of Irish life in such books as Reading in the Dark and his Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing exploredthe relationship of modern Independant Irish writers to the colonial past.
tiger pg 5
The Irish Arts Council established the Irish Museum of Modern Art and several Art Centers around the country at regional and county levels.
The Lane Collection at Dublin was enlarged and in 1995 Kathy Prendergast a Dublin girl, won the Premio Demila award at Venice Bienale where Ireland had not exibited for 30 years.
The cooperative efforts of the Art Council of Northern Ireland to bring arts to the Ireland schools throughout the island gave writers and artists opportunity to visit schools to read or show their works and discuss these with the students.
The National College of Art and Design functioned to assist these activities during the 90's
With the revival of the National Film Board with support from the European Script Fund financial assistance, such films as The Last of the High Kings, and Words upon the Window Pane, a Mary McGuckian work among other new women entrants into directing annd writing films were produced.
The most famous film producued was Jordons Michael Collins which recieved accolades in Ireland as well as in the overseas market as did In the Name of the Father.
Most of the Sheridan Hells Kitchen films have been sucessful and the Irish Film Bord continues to produce home grown films and dvds for the general market.
As the university system improved and updated its facalty and curiculum Ireland experienced a new crop of well educated technically proficient workers who could handle the complicated ideas and processes of the marketplace and the word of comuters.
Ireland still lags behind other nations in scientific research and development graduates which leaves it left out of the future participation in these global areas.
Ireland experienced a tourist boom with tourists proceeding into the troubled north as well.
Over 5 million mostly American cousins looking for lost roots within the Republic in an average year with 1 million venturing into the troubled northern 6 counties.
The Good Friday Agreeemnt laid out principles of consent and self determination for the people of the north
as set down in the Downing Street Declaration of 1993.
It provided for a new Assembly ,a north south council and a British Irish Council.
It provided for equality of opportunity and rights and a committment of all parties to work in good faith and influnece to achieve decommissioning of weapons within 2 years.
It provided for normalization of security arrangments, a program to release prisoners and a reveiw provision was provided.
On 28 June 1998 elections for the new Northen Ireland Assembly took place.
The Body met on July 1 .David Trimble was elected 1st Minister with Seamus Mallon of SDLP designate 2nd Minister.
During this year violence contunued.
Loyalist petrol bombed a private home in Balymoney,County Antrim killing 3 children age 8,9,10.
28 were killed in Omagh County Tyrone on a catholic holiday, August 15 ,Assension Day.
The bomb ,a 500 pound was placed by a splinter group called the Real IRA.
Known as the Omagh bombing a later video film was made.
The Assembly was suspended several times during the ensuing years when Unionists could not tolerate Sinn Fein inability to deliver IRA decomissioning.
The Assembly was suspended again on October 14 2002 by the then Secreary for N Ireland John Reid, perhaps prematurly, when Unionist refused to share power with Sinn Fein followig a N Ireland police raid on SF offices at Stormont alledging a spy ring.
DUP and SF the biggest electoral parties inthe north continued to wrangle over IRA decomissining through 2004.
Ahern won the 2002 general election forming a coalition government with Progressive Democrats with Mary Harney as Taniste.
tiger pg 6
Struggles between the forces at hand in the north continued with such incidents as the 2005 Great Northern Bank robbery neting 26 million pounds attributed to the IRA and the explosive McCartney murder in 2005 leading to expultion of SF Gerry Adams from the American White House acceptability by George W Bush and a congressional condemnation of the murder by US Sentors Hilary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and John McCain.
FF Bertie Ahern aslo participated in these shallow elitist internal attacks on these two sensational condemnations of the IRA and Sinn Fein leadership.
No evidence was ever produced to charge either nationalist organizations in each of these much touted accusations.
In the south further Dial Tribunal Inquirys continued now including the HIV Hepatatis C Inquiry of 1999
The Clerical Sexual abuse Lafferty Commission
the DIRT Parliamentary Inquiry of 2000 and 2001
The Donegal Garda corruption scandal Morris Tribunal 2002
The 2002 Barr inquiry into the fatal shooting of John Carthy of Abbylara
The National Irish Bank Financial Services Ltd investigation.
The Ansbacker Cayman Island Affair
In 2004 Ireland took the Presidency of the EU and advanced the adoption of European integration and the European Constitution suceeding in getting the 25 member nation states to prepare a draft Constitution.
Much of the success accredited to the negociating and interpersonal skills of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
This Constitution however fell to rejection when France and the Netherlands voted to maintain their national soverenty over a united European State in 2005.
George Bush attack with US forces of the country of Iraq in the middle of March 2003 hightened tension between the EU and Washington/London
The war was begun by the Admininstration with out UN Security Council Resolution and without a Declaration of WAr by the US Congress as required by the US Constitution of 1776.
The Congress had only issued a Resolution for the Admininstration to persue intervention in Iraq and Afganistan to defeat what the Admininstration termed a 'terrorist network' responsible for the distruction of the NY City based World Trade Center Buildings in 2001 which resulted in great loss of life as the buildings were struck on a week day when workers where present.
This split the EU between British, Italy and Spain supporting the US , with Gernamy and France leading the inclusive oppostion.
Ireland sought to maintain her neutrality status as had deValera during WW2 but allowed the US airspace and Shannon Airport as a refuling stop.
The Irish people objected to this concession to the US and generally opposed the war.
The FF admininstration made unpopular cut backs in public service funds which cost them the 2004 local elections when FF lost badly.
Fine Gael achieved 5 seats in the European Parliament and FF lost 2 seats.
A referendum was passed in this election removing the automatic right of citizenship to the children born in Ireland of non Irish parentage.
The new provision restricted citizenship to one Irish parent being an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen ,but maintained an ex post facto provision for those born before the new provisions were made in 2004.
In 2004 a general election was held in May returning B Ahern to the Taoisech with 81 seats. The coaltion government with Progressive Democrats continued with Mary Harney retaining her position as Taniste.
A referndum in October 2004 reversed a previous rejection of the EU Nice Treaty and revising Irelands position to accept European Unity of EU's now 27 members as against soverenty and self determination.
At Easter 2006 a commemoration of the 1916 Rebellion was held in dublin 2,500 Irish soldiers marched down O Connell St.
In 2006 Charles Haughey died and was given a state funeral.
In Setember Mary Harney fell as the leader of her party and Michael McDowell replaced her as Taniste.
On October 13 2006 the St Andrews Agreement was reched by Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, DUP ,Ian Paisley and SF Adams to restore the suspended 2002 Assembly .
SF agreed to accept the police service
DUP committed to power sharing
Devolution of police and justice powers are to occur in 2 years of Assembly reactivation
Royal Assent was given on 22 November 2006
Great pomp and cerimoney attended British Parliament and press and American grandstanding for this occation.
tiger pg 7
In the 2007 election FF again won at the polls capturing 78 seats and forming a coaltion government with the new Green Party espousing environmental issues and expecting the enactment of a carbon tax and climate change legislation.
The Green Party is also opposed to Irelands membership in the EU.
Ahern is the first FF polititian since De Valera to survive sucessive elections beginning his 3rd term presently.
Ireland in 2007 sustains a 4.3 unemployment rate. Has a 12.5 corporate tax benefit and a 33% GDP rate.
Its people maintain a prosperous full modern life style that can include travel, savings accounts, full use of modern science and technological development and the benefit of planned families with no fear of excomunication.
Golf has become one of its major sports along with Irish football and revival of the old hurling games.
It still grapples with high inflation ,overly inflated property and land values, lack of natural fuel resourses, the problem of reuniting the island into one nation and its soverignty within the EU state ecomomic complex.
The north must still format its reestablished Assemby into a non secular working Body dedicated to the building of its internal government and peoples.
Dissident forces are still quick to condemn each other for imagined or real differences and to act out old traditional force over reason.
The newly constructed PSNI[ Police Service North Ireland] has an extensive job defining sectarian happenings from ordinary criminal acts as does the Republic Gardai.
The North today is beset with unrest and dispondency among its young people having a high suicide rate, a high drinking rate, and a high disregard for sexual norms among its young people.
Both north and South face shootings , murders and other acts of violence within its communitys which cannot be solved by police action.
The society as a whole has rejected politics for sports and soap operas taking great pride in its teams and team players, stars and financial success over its future state in the world or the political scene.
Tourists flock to the island each year both north and south helping the general economic security and inhancing the return of roots and history as values the Irish and the Diaspora desire.
The internet is full of family history and family roots and family names changed back to Irish spelling from the English phonetc renaming of the Country.
The language suffers throughout the country and raises emotional hackles with the northern prodistants.
All Ireland programs are being tackled in both political jurisdictions regarding areas where the people are benfited.
Several all Ireland useges such as transportation, electrical usage, fishery resourses, water useage, sports events ,goods exchange and protection of the islands cattle and sheep from deseases coming from abroad such as hoof and mouth are in place.
The de population of the west must be addressed in future where the small farm has disapeared and the general economy has been built around Cork, Dublin ,Limerick,Derry and Belfast with a pooosible inclusion of Galway on the Atlantic.
There are still issues in health care and elderly care in both jurisdictions.
The north still tends to its secrtarian stereotypes which will probably not go away until a generation die of old age and a new generation in raised in the spirit of tolerance.
The same clique exists in the Repulblic with viewpoints formulated from 100 years ago separating the unity of the people of the island.
As Ireland grapples with its hard won soverenty under the protective hand of EU surzanity and the 6 Counties grapple with devolved government under the hand of Buckingham Palace and the still present barracked 5000 strong British Army and its still extant umbrella of loyalist malitias, the future sometimes seems repressive and sometimes frustrationally slow.
Its economy is still dependent both north and south on global fortunes and as it goes forward to the year 2016, 100 years since the Rising it slowly faces and emotionaly adresses the problems before it, above and below it, around it, under it in the tradition of St Patrick an island surrounded with its own self intent and a sea of greater more overpowering interests.
The Ahern govenment is considering a Committee for Nothern Ireland parties to send representatives to the Dail.
A joint committe on implimentation of a Parliamentary committe being established which will allow Westminter MPs elected from north Ireland to debate motions in the Dial and sit in on proceedings without a vote or making motions or amendments.
At present the implimentation does not include northern Assemby MLA's.
Currently the north Irish Assembly is considering implimentation of a joint Ministry of Justice to restore confidence in the provincal government to render justice.
The future of Ireland may or may not provide the long term stability it seeks as it had in the days of pagan kings.
It may or may not adhere more and more to the militarizm of the world around it or revert to the ideas of chieftanship with common lands and tribal values
It strives to keep in its memory.
Keeping the name on the land and discarding the English system of fee simple and landlords it so tenaciously fought in the 19 century.
Its future will depend on its young and their capacity to continue the new with the old DeValeras 'keep the sheep' in line with the advantages of space technology and applied science, economic soundness and hopeful and respectful consern for each other and the tiny singular green island tethered to the waves of the North Sea.
Judi Donnelly
Copyright 23 October 2007
CRIOCHNAIGH
[TheEnd]
Coming next month:
http://poetryoririshkings.blogspot.com
sourses: Twentieth Century Ireland,DermotKeogh with Andrew McCarthy, Gill & McMillan Ltd., 2005
Ireland a Social and Cultural History, Terrence Brown,Harper Perennial,2004
Writing in the Irish Republic, edited Ray Ryan,McMillan Press Ltd,2000
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Irish history Synopsis:1970-1990 the Troubles to th Celtic Tiger
Irish History Synsopsis: 1970 -1990 The Troubles to the Celtic Tiger
As the north of Ireland decended into communal violence the American Irish had fianaly achieved a degree of acceptance, middle class respectability and conformity to American thought,speech and life styles.
The old ancestrial parish inner city neighborhood had been abandoned for suburban comforts and technology along with a diversified neighborhood rather than the close nit bronx style village life the Irish had known since arrival in Nortt America.
Consumerism vied with traditional - differences for neighbors were supressed.
A Career was an accepted goal. Religious tolerance although not racial tolerance was a watch world of the new and prosperious life.
The consept of church schooling lessened as a necessity where surburban public schools were new, well equiped, well staffed, served a nice lunch, had yearly bus service and charged no fees.
The American Irish thought of themselves as chick and cynical, knowledable rather than as backward and medieval.
They held jobs in politics, civil service, journalism, educated in the traditional professions of doctor and nurse and resting on their Hollywood laurals of such stars as Helen Hayes, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and the faboulous dancer Eugene Kelly of Pittsburg Pa.
John Ford had already made the award winning 'Quiet Man' with Mareen OHara and John Wayne in Irleand capturing some of the old customs of a rural community.
Spencer Tracy, James Cagney and Hal Roach along with such famous actors as Barbra O Neil who had played Scarlett O Haras mother in the 1939 production 'Gone With the Wind'.
They had acieved university fame in such institutions as Fordam,Villanova, HolyCross and Indiana's Notre Dame.
When pictures on their color TVs came in along with the Viet Nam war shots of black figures running the streets and bludgionings coming out of a place called North Ireland which they had forgotten existed- most being decendants of Famine Irish or unemployement emmigrants from the depressed south-
they had no idea of what theis was all about.
A few old line Bostonian and New Yorkers percieved that the oppression and represssion had finally exploded with a violent hysterical backlash and made arrangements to clue in their diversified contrymena that Ireland had onceagain 'struck for her Freedom'.
As the violence continued in '69 on a daily basis the Lynch government in theSouth made a conscious desion to keep the 26 county Republic free of the northern disruptions.
The Republicof Ireland all through the August crisis were absorbed in themselves.
Interested in their own economic progress and careful of the continuance of their own Free State Republic.
The north had again been forgotten and the government moved to keep it that way.
By August 1969 the new English Labour government sent in troops to quell the street fighting and snipers in the north where barracades had gone up in catholic estates to defend the homes from local prodistant mobs burning them out with the collusion of armed prodistant police form RUC and B Special forces.
Mobs and tanks once more ruled the major towns with the regiments.
The Catholic
Defence Associations at first welcomed the troops to relieve there outright distress but when the regiments began selectively raiding and distroying homes ,frisking people in the streets, shooting the young defenders and generally exibiting favoratism to there fellow prodistant coherts the nationalist catholic people turned on them and the northen command of the old IRA was revived.
This brought out an equal and opposite force in loyalist defence associations with para militarys joining these to defend the prodistant community from a 1641 percieved massacre drilled into their heads for 300 years.
The Lynch FF after a failed attempt by the Mininster for External Affaairs to bring in a UN peace keeping force issued an August 28 1969 statement ruling out force for the sothern government as a solution and calling for a federal Ireland.
Lynch however had stated that the Irish government could no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse.
When Irish refugeees of women children and old burned out of their homes came over the border in late 69 the Lynch government did extend to refugees accomidation by setting up camps at Kilworth ,Cork ,Gormantown in Meath ,Kildare Barracks , Finner in Donegal and Collmoney in Wicklow.
In the north the giant lamberg drums of the Orange Order boomed day and night to inject fear into the enemy, the natives.
70 pg 2
In 1969 an election was called in the south to establish the Lynch government as he had acquired the Taoiseach in the 66 retirement of Sean Lemass from poiitics.
Some Ministers Haughey of Finance and Blaney of Agriculture are accused of improperly and illegally inporting arms with government money at their disposal.
These reports had surfaced at the reports o f Gardai and Army military intelligence.
This information was brought to Lynch's attention by Liam Cosgrave of Fine Gael the party in opposition to Fianna Fail.
The papers had lain in the open on the Minister of Justice O Morain' s desk. He had been ill and was not able to funtion at his job.
The three involved Mininsters were sacked in May of 1970.
Haughey was beaten up by annonymous opponants and had to be hospitalized with a fractured skull, broken eardrum and injured clavicale.
Papers were prepared and Captain James Kelly and a Belgium Albert Luykx were arrested on 27 May 1970.
Next day Blayney and Haughey joined them all charged with a conspiracy to import arms and ammunition into the State.
On July 2nd charges were dropped against Blaney by Dublin District Court and he was hand carried from thecourt on the shoulders of his supporters.
The conspiracy trials went on against the other 4.
This trial was dismissed when the jury was tainted and a new trial took place in October 6 lasting 14 days.
The jury found a not guilty verdict on October 23 causing mayhem in theCourt room.
The supporters sung' We are a Natrion Once Again' at the Four Courts Hotel.
Lynch was not in Ireland at the acquittal but was aappearing before the UN General Assembly on his request that a UN peace keeping force be sent into Northen Ireland.
There were calls for his resignation from his party.
On December 4, 1970 he restored internment in the south.
In the north NICRA continued its street protests for housing and voting rights.
The volitile Peoples Democracy founded at Queens University Belfast by student Bernadette Devlin marched and supported social reforms.
Sinn Fein backed the old physical force reform methods upheld by the IRA which had continued rebuilding its amrs supply and its recruiting.
In June 1970 the Conservative [Tory] Party replaced Harold Wilsons Labour government with Edward Heath at its head.
The new policy was to rely on military might in subduing the north.
Sir Ian Freeland Comanding the British forces.
In 1971 some 17,265 houses were searched by the Army.
Freeland imposed a Belfast curfew.
The policy of harsh law and order had alienated the nationalist population who suffered from it.
In August 71 Internment was reintroduced in the north now making the entire island a virtual police state of phsycial force government.
By January 1972 the First Parachute Regiment had shot 13 unarmed civil rights marchers.
This provoked the Dublin Trade Unions and others to march on the British Embassy in Dublin.
The building was fire bombed by PIRA representatives who directed traffic in their military uniforms and maintained crowd control with the helpless Gardai standing by.
In 1970 the IRA forces split over doctrine and proceedure into the old Official IRA and the smaller more directed PIRA formed from the northern command.
The Official IRA conducted some operations in the north until 1972 when it ordered a cease fire leaving PIRA in complete charge of the war against the British occupation forces.
By this time propaganda had been carefully laid encouraging the fray as a secular hatred between old Elizabethan purists prodistants and the Popery of catholics as being the insane pursuit of medieval values.
An American airline landing in Belfast even managed to announce the planes arrival with
'Welcome to the 16th Century'
70s pg 3
In America NORAD was founded to collect funds allegedly to help catholic displacement.
The US governemtn promptly and probably on behest of the British Intelligence put any Irish person they came across under FBI surveilance as suspected gun runners and terrorist sympathisers creating fear in the American Irish now cut loose from their fomer secure communities.
Many of them refused to admit their religion or their ethnicity as did the Jews of WW2 Europe and as today the Muslim populations and as the US did also as national policy in WW2 against thousands of Japanesse Americans who were intered with out suspicion and held for the duration with no compensation for the loss of property or family.
And so futher Old World tarnish slipped about the Statute of Liberty which called out 'give me your tired your weak your huddled masses'.
The nothern nationalists could expect no help from anyone in their statelessness being a people without a country.
There southern cousins had rejected them in favor of self progress by government and people.
Tthe American kin had no power to help them other than throwing money into the coffers.
The United Nations had rejected them as Britains problem and the Briths Army itself rejected them in the stereotype of the 17th Century plantation.
The settler population regected them and avenged itself by shooting and beating and harrassment and lack of necesssities encouraging them to pack up and leave.
Without PIRA these 1/2 million souls outnumbered and diserted would probably have fallen to the old obliteration ideas of Cromwell.
PIRA protected them as well as disaplining them and extorting them and became heros in this endgame of survival.
In retort to this the prodistant settlers fearing the IRA might suceed this time in distroying the total control mini state' A Prodistant State for a Prodistant People' had reformed the old UVF of Carson days and a new 1971 group called the UDA[Ulster Defence Association] with its malitia the very violent U FF
[UlsterFreedom Fighters] and several sub groups such as the Red Hand Defenders.
These two forces went at it constantly killing at will on both sides 'tit for tat ',civilian as well as malitia members and sometimes its own personell suspected of 'grassing', stealing or doing other activities not ordered by their commanders.
The malitias expressed a young wild enthusiasm for the new political cause.
On one side the upholding of the loyalist elders on the other the campaign to get rid of the colonial British army.
Of the sectarian killings and bombings over 3700 were finally accounted for by the press collaboration book 'Lost Lives',[Kitrick, Kelter, B Feeney, Thornton, Mainstream Press 1999] without pre prejustice of all the reported and documented killings in this mini province of 1 1/2 million souls.
In that book are the facts of this authors Uncle, sprayed at 11 Pm in his night cloths with some 34 bullets along with his wife and two year old son.
For God's sake the child survived.
When the news reached his sister my mother she simply stated:
'They shot my brother"
The eternal 'they'of the annonymous unknown enemy.
70s pg 4
In the early 70s Ireland was hard hit by the international oil crisis.
Companys not being able to operate began laying off workers.
Unelmployment rose.
Economic growth slowed. Demands for welfare assistance rose. There was no money in the state pocket. Public corporations began to stagnate.
In 1969 there was a maintainance strike in the Republic where social Democracy and Labour felt threated by FF's failure to support workers demands and self protection.
They asked for and got a 20% pay riase.
FF in an angry mood again passed a wage ceiling in 1970 under the Prices and Wages Bill.
Inflationw as higher than the 6% and ICTU objected.
The bill was withdrawn after a negociation between ICTU and FF and the employers came to a national Wage Agreement.
This restored the old social partnership idea of the 60's with committees to handle grievances and a monthly meeting of an Employer/Labor Conference to monitor and control wage demands.
The government continued to enact legislation in Dublin to enhance the security and stability of theRepublic.
A Prohibition of Forcable Entry Act was passed in 1971 to remove any labor 'squatting' or sit in take over of factory premisis to achieve demands.
This followed by legislation in allowing detention at the Curragh of rebellion prisoners.
Censorship of television under the Broadcasting Act under Section 31 forbidding any Republican access to the airwaves.
Non jury special courts were established.
The primary effects of these measures were thought to be in defence of the state, the old Free State mentality taking presidence over any other quest.
During the 60s and 70s Ireland continued on its discovery of itself and its conflicting integration of its past with new thought and ways.
Popular books and pamphlets on craftwork, national history, folklore, music and such raised the public awareness of itself and helped to integrate the national attempts to understand the past within the context of modern living conditions.
Ireland now had in addition to a mystic celtic history a half remembered cultural and material collection of contemporary literature and arts in her midst.
By January of 72 John McQuaid Arch Bishop of Dublin for 30 years and confidant of Eamon De Valera retired.
He died on August 29 1975.
In the north 1972 began in a pivoted way with the killing of 13 civilians protestors at Derry by a British Parachute Regiment, all faithfully captured by world press photographers including the pitifal shot of Fr Daly slowly crawling out into he street his white hankerchief afloat to get to a dying man in order to admininster last rites to his soul.
Outrage reigned throughout the entire north and its flames were wifed by atrocity upon atrocity descending the entire reigon into a state of anarchy and fear.
Fear of the British Army.Fear of the prodistant community.Fear of the malitias. Fear of the IRA gunmen and bombers and most distructive fear of itself.
An ailiment it still suffers from today.
During 1972 the old Stormont government in the north was brought down and direct rule was imposed from Westmininster. After 51 years of misrule the unionist total control had been dissamated.
This did not decrease the violence between the 2 opposing political opponents ,nationalism and loyalism Their respective physical force malitias continuing their campaigns against each other and any one esle who got in their way.
The Official IRA continued its campaign against British and Stormont officials killing the Stormont House speaker Ivan Neill in December;
On February 22 1972 bombing the Parachute Regiment responsible for the Bloody Sunday killings headquarters at Aldershot in Hampshire England.
The hard line Unionists MP John Taylor was shot 6 times on February 25 1972 at Armagh but he survived.
The Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast was targeted in March by the PIRA force and a no warning left 136 injured and 2 dead mostly women and children.
By Novemeber of 72 Sean McStiofain[Stephens] of PIRA was arrested and went on hunger strike.
He was convicted in a juryless court of army officer judges but gave up his hunger strike.
In December 72 2 bombs were exploded in Dublin injuring 127 and killing 2.
This provided Fine Gael and Labor who were standing
for elections in introduce an Offences Against the State Amendment bill allowing for conviction of a suspect on testimony of a senior police officer that he believed the suspect was a member of an illegal organization.
'
After the Dublin bombings the Bill was passed next day and signed by President De Valera the same day.
The Official IRA declared a cease fire.
70s pg 5
In 1973 a change of governemnt occured with FG/Labour coallition under Garrett Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald took power after 16 years for FF.
Both Ireland and Great Britain were admitted to theEEC [European Economic Community] supported by all parties but Sinn Fein.
The Long Kesh interneees were opposed.
A referendum had been held in May 72 amist the voilitile activities of that year with a 5-1 vote for entry, over 1 million voting for entry.
At the general election in the south a plebicite was held in the north as to whether they wished to remain part of the UK.
SDLP, a political party formed by John Hume in 1970 encouraged people to stay away from the polls.
In a 60% turnout the remain in the Uk poll won the plebicite.
Throughout 1974 violence continued unabated between the three forces the British Army, now sustaining a presence of over 30,000 soldiers,
the combined militia forces of several UDA and UVF prodistant forces and the PIRA forces of the IRA smattered with new malitia groups such as INLA and the Real IRA.
The people of the north tried to continue their normal daily lives of work, school, shopping and such under the ever present watchful eye of patrolling troops , instant searches and the eternal awareness that a bomb might explode at any time or place or that a gunman might appear in the street shooting down any one out there.
Children wer upset in their natural inclination to be free and to trust.
Most of them needed guarded protection to go to school and school was disrupted in its orderly progession of learning by anxiety and stress in the students mind always present.
In 1975 old Archbishop McQuaid died leaving his post to Fr Ryan, followed by his former pupil Eamon De Valera.
The secrtarian systematic killing in thenorth continued.
The Republic under thecoalition government continued to maintain its policy of detachement from the 'Troubles' arresting and prosecuting with tribunals those who showed up in its territory.
The PIRA forces declared a cease fire in 1975 for a short while but it was not honored by the opponents and soon ended.
The Armalite arrived surepticiously from its Illinios USA shops and beceme a favorite weapon fothe dissident group over the old Thomson sub machine gun.
This along with plastic explosives made the PIRA a formidable force.
The south during this period from 1970 to 2002 had a change in leadership 12 times with thier assorted Mininsters.
Eight Dials were convined.
Jack Lynch 66-73 FF
Liam Cosgrave 73-77 FG
Jack Lynch 77-79 FF Lynch retired in 79 and the Taniste George Colley served as Taoiseach till
Garrett Fiszgerald was reelected June 81-March 82
Charles Haughey served as Taoiseach from March 82- October 82 FF
Garrett Fitzgerald again for Dec 82-March 87 FG
Haughey March 87-July 89 FF
A second term Jan 89-92 FF
Albert Reynolds Jan 93- 94 FF
John Bruton 94-97 FG
The present Premier Bertie Ahern assumed Office in 1997
Under Liam Cosgraves FG/Labor coalition verdicts were brought back from the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg saying 'degrading and inhuman treatment practiced by the British Army interogation proceedures were used at Castlereagh Center in Down.
The suit had been brought by FF under the Lynch government.
Court had ruled that there was a role to play by the US President.
Its determination was not welcomed by London.
The people of Ireland, England or the US paid no attention.
In 1978 PIRA bombed the le Mons restaurant in
Down killing 16.
In November five bombs were detonated in Armagh and 13 other north Irish towns.
Bombing attacks in Belfast ,Armagh ,Dungannon, Enniskillen, Cookstown and Castlederg had been conducted in October 78.
Margaret Thatcher elected as English PM in 1979 had expressed an even stronger security pattern in the north than her predissors taking a typical Brisish stance of aggressive pursuit against percieved enemies.
This motive was never attached to prodistant para military associates whose outrages and attrocities were as great but were not direced at the British Army or theBritish Westminster administered civil structure.
In 1979 INLA[Irish National Liberation Association] killed Aire Neave the North Irish spokesman by placing a bomb under his car which exploded as he drove to the house of Commons.
Its leader Seamus Costello had been killed in September 1977 in Dublin.
70s pg 6
In the north there wes no petrol, no mail, very little affinity to shop for necessities and constant fly bys and patrols by British helicopters and tanks.
In the south when FF was returned to power under Jack Lynch there were 106,000 unemployed.
The Earl Mountbattan , his grandson and Lady Brabourne were killed by an explosion in their pleasure craft in August 1979 off the coast of Sligo.[Lord Louis Mountbatten christened Prince Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicolas Battenberg born in 1900 at Winsor Castle, mother Victoria of Hesse}
PIRA took credit for this killing and the same day killed 18 British soldiers stationed at Narrow Water Castle in County Down.
When Lynch attened the Mountbattan funeral - the Earl being a cousin of the Queen and former Vice Regal of the colony of India at the time of its release from colonial status under Nerhu and Gandi in 1948 - he granted greater cross border security to British forces in 'hot persuit'.
In September Pope JohnPaul II visited Ireland and was attended by a crowd of 2.5 million.
He was unable to attend St Patricks Cathederal in Armagh the Holy See of Irleand for both prodistant and catholic faiths due to death threats but did say Mass at nearby Drogheda where he pleaded on his knees for a return to peace by the north Irish saying:
'further violence will only drag you down to ruin the land you claim to love and the values you claim to cherish.'
The Church customerily excomunicated men who had taken up the gun and served in active service units, denying them the Sacraments.
The general Election of 1979 gave the reigns of government to Charles Haughey who did not change the previous governments military and containment policy towards the systematic never ending violence in the north under the direct rule of Westminster civil government and the presence of 70,000 British troops fully equiped, including the Queens Own Rifles, and Her Scottish Borderers.
Nothing but the best for an Irish cousin after 6 years of occupation.
In 1976 the British government had replaced the old Long Kesh air training camp for WW2 with a brand new state of the art prison with updated electronic equipment at a cost to the British taxpayer of several million pounds.
This facility was known as the Maze housing a special unit for 'terrorists' and locally known as the H block.
Most of the hard core IRA members had been intered there along with several political leaders such as Sinn Fein representatives.
A separate block was maintained for the nationalist prisoners and the loyalist prisoners.
During 1980-81 several prisoners went on a dirty protest refusing to wash or wear prison cloths or to empty their chamber pots.
This caused a rather unsanitary and smelly codition inthe republican H block sections necessitating the guards to periodically empty the cells and power spay wash them down.
But the protest was begun anew amist sanitary surrroundings .
In '81 8 prisoners decided to go on hunger strike.
As this progressed the world stood in shock at Margaret Thatchers absolute refusal to deal with the mundane demands they made of having their own cloths and being considered political prisoners not criminals.
One by one the men died all to no avail
.One being saved by his distraugh mother who committed his body to intravenous feeding after he had become unconsious from lack of nourishment.
Bobby Sands became a world figure when he was elected to the Westmininster Parliament by his south Tyrone constituancy.
When he died his spot was taken by his campaign manager Owen Carron
who in true keeping with republican philosophy refused to take his seat in the British Parliament.
By 1983 the program began by Brisih intelligence of 'grassing had taken its toll in both paramilitary forces.
Grassing meant telling locations and identities of fellow miltia men or their planned operations in exchange for a pardon.
This being similar to the system used by the US Federal police in getting evidence on mob figures and bosses.
Many UVF and IRA personell were picked up.
Internicene kiling dropped by 1/2 from 97 in 1982 to 50 in 1983.
The IRA bombed Harrods
Departmetn Store in London during the Christmas Season of 83 frightening shoppers.
In '84 Brighton Seaside Hotel was struck when Margaret Thather was there with several of the British Mininsters severl of whom weer killed but Margaret, the Iron Lady, was not injured.
The Republic ratified the European Convention of Terrorism providing for extradition of those charged.
Charles Haughey visited US President Ronald Reagan in 1982 but Reagan maintained a strict non involvement in the Irish Question.
On December 14 1982 a new Irish Forum was formed.
The Forum had several meetings of its base the north Ireland nationalists and the souther parties having attended.
In 1883 Fitzgerald had again come to power with Fine Gael/Labour coalition governement.
In 1985 the Anglo Irish Agreement was signed 15 November at Hillsborough Castle by Garret Fitzgerald and Margaret Thatcher providing a structure for London and Dublin on the problem of northern Ireland.
A Secretariat was set up near Belfast at Maryfield with both British and Irish staff altohough hotley opposed by the northen Unionists.
70s pg 7
During the 70's Ireland both north and south suffered economic recession as the World Oil Crisis stagnated many productions.fuels were unavailable and high priced.
Because of the early struggle to maintain the gains it had achieved in the 60s and 50's both political governments of the island had in place social programs, unemployment, welfare programs health programs and family allowances and with these were able to hold their economic heads above water.
Emigration picked up again but this time to England and Europe not to Canada and the US.
the Eu came into both Great Britain and the Republic with grant benefits for both building ,infistructures and farm programs.
In the 80's the earnings of the south remained stagnant while in the north the continual 'Troubles'
prevented any newly motivated companies coming inand those already in leaving the north and reland altogether.
Labor strikes had been contained in theRepublic by FF legilslation to control militant action.
The society began to seiously consider its laws and attitudes towards contraceptives.
A controvercial Bill allowed contraceptives to be sold through a chemist shop[pharmacy] with a doctors presciption for family planning.
The Bill did not define distribution to named couples .
Condoms
were included as a prescription appliance.
The Bill passed in 1979 when Charles Haughey was Mininster of Health under FF government.
the Church Encylical of 1971 had stated that any contraseptive means was immoral and they would decrease the quality of life in theRepublic and encourage promiscuity.
A great deal of emotiona soul and social serching was done to update this technical improvement to sex, in update capacity and in removing the subject from the Ciminal Law Code of 1935.
The Church held a nulity power regarding marriges in Cannon Law and social teching which was accepted by the Irish Courts.
However the proceedure nullified the marriage with no dispensation to remarry. The matter of creating a state divorce law was put to a referendum of the people in 1986 but failed to pass as no provision for property rights, welfare attitutes and provision for childen caught up by divorce were clearly defined.
A referendum on aboortion being submittd in 1983 to remove the question from article 44 of the Irish Constitution.
This amendment was put to referendum and passed in 1986 but the Irish High Court held in ' 88 that it was unlawful to provide counseling or abortion information to Irish women in Britain or elsewhere. [i e US or say Germany]
The Irish Supreme Court in 1989 restricted that phone numbers or and address' of British abortion clinics be given to students.
These major social changes although not brougt in line with thinking and legislative acts of other countries did begin an enlightened discussion of these national issues between Chruch State and People.
As the south tarried on in this 20 year discussion of its self and its relationship to past politics and past culture while integrating with modern Europeanism, the north equally ' carried on' the amost the now accepted systematic almost daily expression of sectarian atrocitys.
Althought groups and efforts continued to find a way forward to peace the bombs and the gunmen ruled the society.
No great effort was made by any world powers to resolve this open wound.
The south Ireland 26 county Republic considered itself a separate nation entirely as it had during the Free State era.
The international Press like hugh hawks scencing a story continued to permiate its editions with proaganda relative to the outrageous hatreds of catholics and prodistants toward each other- thereby enflaming their co religionists elsewhere -to the defence of the faith.
The Church within Ireland ajusted itself to the agitated state.
The Church revived its policy in censorship promoting unintelligent blind peasant faith in a educated middle class society.
It was aware that a new social cultural ethos was developing in the land questioning basic medieval catholic theology and pracice.
It addressed the self interest problem of obtaining new priests and breathern from the dwindling poor. Recruits dwinding between 1966 and 1978 some 8,000.
Rejection of celabicy and the loss of secular comfort and consumerism allianating youth from a religious life.
It was predicted that the religious vocation in Ireland would decresed by 1/3 over 25 years.
This drop in religious orders particulary affected the education system and gave a increase of lay teachers in the Order schools.
A survey of Religious practicioners and belivers found in 1973 that 25,000 singele young men and women 18-30 no longer went to weekly mass.
A Dublin University Study in 76 also indicted that the well educated young were less endowed to faith.
The Church no longer held supernaturalist status to them and they compartmentalazed religion not letting it penetrate the rest of their daily life.
Because the Catholic Church still insisted that mixed marriage children should be raised Catholic many places were left open in prodistant schools which were eagerly taken up by catholic parents,
causing a grass roots school integration inthe south whereas in the volitile north a rigid segregation by force separted not only the fearful school children but also the housing estates ,now ,for safety if nothing else ,being all catholic or all prodistant.
Whole areas of the towns and cities of the north became' no go' areas for the 'other' and in the north whole towns were either catholic towns or prodistant towns.
In 1983 2 million people were on welfare in Ireland.
70s pg 8
Following the deaths of 10 H Block hunger strikers, Sinn Fein, which had formerly declined electorial participation began standing for electoral positions int he north and winning.
In October 1981 this party Ard Feis held in Dublin abondoned its obstructionist policy saying it would contest local elections and occupy those seats.
Seats in the Dial, Stormont and Westminster would be contested but not occuppied if won.
Their national publicity director Danny Morrison made the now famous remark:
'with the paper ballot in this hand and the armalite in this hand we take power in Ireland.'.
The SDLP , the traditional non violent nationalist party in the north ,would suffer from this decision.
Sinn Fein new desire to participate also invalidated the 50 year old stability of the Republic established between DeValera's FF and Cosgrave's FG coalition.
The general election in the north in June 83 with Sinn Fein standing candidates won 13% of the north natiolaist vote to SDLPs 17.
Gerry Adams won a west Belfast seat.
The new Ireland Forum met in 1983 with FF, FG, Labour, and SDLP participating.
Unionist parties were invited but refused to participate.
Sinn Fein was not invited.
In 11 months the Forum made its report and proposed a Federal State, a Unity State or a Joint Authority but did not deal with Unionist no acceptance of any of these solutions.
The Forum report acknowledged the great suffering and disruption of the people of the north.
Mrs Thatcher in November of '84 however curtly rejected all the recomendations with her 'OUT OUT OUT' speech as unaceptable to the British government again expressing the covoutous attitude Great Britain had always expressed to her sister Island.
Following the Forum
Sinn Fein agreed to take any seat it won in the Dial in 1986.
During the 80s new endevors were made in the north to create a new thinking in Irleand.
A Derry Theater offered a play called 'Transitions' and later Field Day Theater under the direction of Brian Friel.
Seamus Deane continued his critique of society and its culture.
A more modern music sound found its way into the culture through groups like U 2.
In the late 80s Ireland had again secumbed to pockets of grinding poverty.
This time in the urban areas not the countryside.
The national debt stood at 22 billion pounds.
Public works were cut, hospital servics were cut, public servant jobs wer made redundant.
Explotation, political corruption drug addiction and abandoned ideals became fixed in Republic life.
In the north the institutionalised disruption and violence continued unabated with no vision of an ending as though this would contiinue on forever.
Emigration continued.
Judi Donnelly
copyright October 19 2007
sourses: Twentieth Century Ireland, Dermot Keogh with Andrew McCarthy, Gill MacMillan,2005
Fianna Fail and Irish Labour, Kieran Allan,Pluto Press, 1997
Ireland a Social and Cultural History, Terrance Brown,Harper Perennial, 2004
The World Today Series Western Europe,Wayne Thompson,Stryker-Post Publications, Harpers F Ferry WV, 2003
Internet: Google Search Engine, &Yahoo Search Engine
.
As the north of Ireland decended into communal violence the American Irish had fianaly achieved a degree of acceptance, middle class respectability and conformity to American thought,speech and life styles.
The old ancestrial parish inner city neighborhood had been abandoned for suburban comforts and technology along with a diversified neighborhood rather than the close nit bronx style village life the Irish had known since arrival in Nortt America.
Consumerism vied with traditional - differences for neighbors were supressed.
A Career was an accepted goal. Religious tolerance although not racial tolerance was a watch world of the new and prosperious life.
The consept of church schooling lessened as a necessity where surburban public schools were new, well equiped, well staffed, served a nice lunch, had yearly bus service and charged no fees.
The American Irish thought of themselves as chick and cynical, knowledable rather than as backward and medieval.
They held jobs in politics, civil service, journalism, educated in the traditional professions of doctor and nurse and resting on their Hollywood laurals of such stars as Helen Hayes, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and the faboulous dancer Eugene Kelly of Pittsburg Pa.
John Ford had already made the award winning 'Quiet Man' with Mareen OHara and John Wayne in Irleand capturing some of the old customs of a rural community.
Spencer Tracy, James Cagney and Hal Roach along with such famous actors as Barbra O Neil who had played Scarlett O Haras mother in the 1939 production 'Gone With the Wind'.
They had acieved university fame in such institutions as Fordam,Villanova, HolyCross and Indiana's Notre Dame.
When pictures on their color TVs came in along with the Viet Nam war shots of black figures running the streets and bludgionings coming out of a place called North Ireland which they had forgotten existed- most being decendants of Famine Irish or unemployement emmigrants from the depressed south-
they had no idea of what theis was all about.
A few old line Bostonian and New Yorkers percieved that the oppression and represssion had finally exploded with a violent hysterical backlash and made arrangements to clue in their diversified contrymena that Ireland had onceagain 'struck for her Freedom'.
As the violence continued in '69 on a daily basis the Lynch government in theSouth made a conscious desion to keep the 26 county Republic free of the northern disruptions.
The Republicof Ireland all through the August crisis were absorbed in themselves.
Interested in their own economic progress and careful of the continuance of their own Free State Republic.
The north had again been forgotten and the government moved to keep it that way.
By August 1969 the new English Labour government sent in troops to quell the street fighting and snipers in the north where barracades had gone up in catholic estates to defend the homes from local prodistant mobs burning them out with the collusion of armed prodistant police form RUC and B Special forces.
Mobs and tanks once more ruled the major towns with the regiments.
The Catholic
Defence Associations at first welcomed the troops to relieve there outright distress but when the regiments began selectively raiding and distroying homes ,frisking people in the streets, shooting the young defenders and generally exibiting favoratism to there fellow prodistant coherts the nationalist catholic people turned on them and the northen command of the old IRA was revived.
This brought out an equal and opposite force in loyalist defence associations with para militarys joining these to defend the prodistant community from a 1641 percieved massacre drilled into their heads for 300 years.
The Lynch FF after a failed attempt by the Mininster for External Affaairs to bring in a UN peace keeping force issued an August 28 1969 statement ruling out force for the sothern government as a solution and calling for a federal Ireland.
Lynch however had stated that the Irish government could no longer stand by and see innocent people injured and perhaps worse.
When Irish refugeees of women children and old burned out of their homes came over the border in late 69 the Lynch government did extend to refugees accomidation by setting up camps at Kilworth ,Cork ,Gormantown in Meath ,Kildare Barracks , Finner in Donegal and Collmoney in Wicklow.
In the north the giant lamberg drums of the Orange Order boomed day and night to inject fear into the enemy, the natives.
70 pg 2
In 1969 an election was called in the south to establish the Lynch government as he had acquired the Taoiseach in the 66 retirement of Sean Lemass from poiitics.
Some Ministers Haughey of Finance and Blaney of Agriculture are accused of improperly and illegally inporting arms with government money at their disposal.
These reports had surfaced at the reports o f Gardai and Army military intelligence.
This information was brought to Lynch's attention by Liam Cosgrave of Fine Gael the party in opposition to Fianna Fail.
The papers had lain in the open on the Minister of Justice O Morain' s desk. He had been ill and was not able to funtion at his job.
The three involved Mininsters were sacked in May of 1970.
Haughey was beaten up by annonymous opponants and had to be hospitalized with a fractured skull, broken eardrum and injured clavicale.
Papers were prepared and Captain James Kelly and a Belgium Albert Luykx were arrested on 27 May 1970.
Next day Blayney and Haughey joined them all charged with a conspiracy to import arms and ammunition into the State.
On July 2nd charges were dropped against Blaney by Dublin District Court and he was hand carried from thecourt on the shoulders of his supporters.
The conspiracy trials went on against the other 4.
This trial was dismissed when the jury was tainted and a new trial took place in October 6 lasting 14 days.
The jury found a not guilty verdict on October 23 causing mayhem in theCourt room.
The supporters sung' We are a Natrion Once Again' at the Four Courts Hotel.
Lynch was not in Ireland at the acquittal but was aappearing before the UN General Assembly on his request that a UN peace keeping force be sent into Northen Ireland.
There were calls for his resignation from his party.
On December 4, 1970 he restored internment in the south.
In the north NICRA continued its street protests for housing and voting rights.
The volitile Peoples Democracy founded at Queens University Belfast by student Bernadette Devlin marched and supported social reforms.
Sinn Fein backed the old physical force reform methods upheld by the IRA which had continued rebuilding its amrs supply and its recruiting.
In June 1970 the Conservative [Tory] Party replaced Harold Wilsons Labour government with Edward Heath at its head.
The new policy was to rely on military might in subduing the north.
Sir Ian Freeland Comanding the British forces.
In 1971 some 17,265 houses were searched by the Army.
Freeland imposed a Belfast curfew.
The policy of harsh law and order had alienated the nationalist population who suffered from it.
In August 71 Internment was reintroduced in the north now making the entire island a virtual police state of phsycial force government.
By January 1972 the First Parachute Regiment had shot 13 unarmed civil rights marchers.
This provoked the Dublin Trade Unions and others to march on the British Embassy in Dublin.
The building was fire bombed by PIRA representatives who directed traffic in their military uniforms and maintained crowd control with the helpless Gardai standing by.
In 1970 the IRA forces split over doctrine and proceedure into the old Official IRA and the smaller more directed PIRA formed from the northern command.
The Official IRA conducted some operations in the north until 1972 when it ordered a cease fire leaving PIRA in complete charge of the war against the British occupation forces.
By this time propaganda had been carefully laid encouraging the fray as a secular hatred between old Elizabethan purists prodistants and the Popery of catholics as being the insane pursuit of medieval values.
An American airline landing in Belfast even managed to announce the planes arrival with
'Welcome to the 16th Century'
70s pg 3
In America NORAD was founded to collect funds allegedly to help catholic displacement.
The US governemtn promptly and probably on behest of the British Intelligence put any Irish person they came across under FBI surveilance as suspected gun runners and terrorist sympathisers creating fear in the American Irish now cut loose from their fomer secure communities.
Many of them refused to admit their religion or their ethnicity as did the Jews of WW2 Europe and as today the Muslim populations and as the US did also as national policy in WW2 against thousands of Japanesse Americans who were intered with out suspicion and held for the duration with no compensation for the loss of property or family.
And so futher Old World tarnish slipped about the Statute of Liberty which called out 'give me your tired your weak your huddled masses'.
The nothern nationalists could expect no help from anyone in their statelessness being a people without a country.
There southern cousins had rejected them in favor of self progress by government and people.
Tthe American kin had no power to help them other than throwing money into the coffers.
The United Nations had rejected them as Britains problem and the Briths Army itself rejected them in the stereotype of the 17th Century plantation.
The settler population regected them and avenged itself by shooting and beating and harrassment and lack of necesssities encouraging them to pack up and leave.
Without PIRA these 1/2 million souls outnumbered and diserted would probably have fallen to the old obliteration ideas of Cromwell.
PIRA protected them as well as disaplining them and extorting them and became heros in this endgame of survival.
In retort to this the prodistant settlers fearing the IRA might suceed this time in distroying the total control mini state' A Prodistant State for a Prodistant People' had reformed the old UVF of Carson days and a new 1971 group called the UDA[Ulster Defence Association] with its malitia the very violent U FF
[UlsterFreedom Fighters] and several sub groups such as the Red Hand Defenders.
These two forces went at it constantly killing at will on both sides 'tit for tat ',civilian as well as malitia members and sometimes its own personell suspected of 'grassing', stealing or doing other activities not ordered by their commanders.
The malitias expressed a young wild enthusiasm for the new political cause.
On one side the upholding of the loyalist elders on the other the campaign to get rid of the colonial British army.
Of the sectarian killings and bombings over 3700 were finally accounted for by the press collaboration book 'Lost Lives',[Kitrick, Kelter, B Feeney, Thornton, Mainstream Press 1999] without pre prejustice of all the reported and documented killings in this mini province of 1 1/2 million souls.
In that book are the facts of this authors Uncle, sprayed at 11 Pm in his night cloths with some 34 bullets along with his wife and two year old son.
For God's sake the child survived.
When the news reached his sister my mother she simply stated:
'They shot my brother"
The eternal 'they'of the annonymous unknown enemy.
70s pg 4
In the early 70s Ireland was hard hit by the international oil crisis.
Companys not being able to operate began laying off workers.
Unelmployment rose.
Economic growth slowed. Demands for welfare assistance rose. There was no money in the state pocket. Public corporations began to stagnate.
In 1969 there was a maintainance strike in the Republic where social Democracy and Labour felt threated by FF's failure to support workers demands and self protection.
They asked for and got a 20% pay riase.
FF in an angry mood again passed a wage ceiling in 1970 under the Prices and Wages Bill.
Inflationw as higher than the 6% and ICTU objected.
The bill was withdrawn after a negociation between ICTU and FF and the employers came to a national Wage Agreement.
This restored the old social partnership idea of the 60's with committees to handle grievances and a monthly meeting of an Employer/Labor Conference to monitor and control wage demands.
The government continued to enact legislation in Dublin to enhance the security and stability of theRepublic.
A Prohibition of Forcable Entry Act was passed in 1971 to remove any labor 'squatting' or sit in take over of factory premisis to achieve demands.
This followed by legislation in allowing detention at the Curragh of rebellion prisoners.
Censorship of television under the Broadcasting Act under Section 31 forbidding any Republican access to the airwaves.
Non jury special courts were established.
The primary effects of these measures were thought to be in defence of the state, the old Free State mentality taking presidence over any other quest.
During the 60s and 70s Ireland continued on its discovery of itself and its conflicting integration of its past with new thought and ways.
Popular books and pamphlets on craftwork, national history, folklore, music and such raised the public awareness of itself and helped to integrate the national attempts to understand the past within the context of modern living conditions.
Ireland now had in addition to a mystic celtic history a half remembered cultural and material collection of contemporary literature and arts in her midst.
By January of 72 John McQuaid Arch Bishop of Dublin for 30 years and confidant of Eamon De Valera retired.
He died on August 29 1975.
In the north 1972 began in a pivoted way with the killing of 13 civilians protestors at Derry by a British Parachute Regiment, all faithfully captured by world press photographers including the pitifal shot of Fr Daly slowly crawling out into he street his white hankerchief afloat to get to a dying man in order to admininster last rites to his soul.
Outrage reigned throughout the entire north and its flames were wifed by atrocity upon atrocity descending the entire reigon into a state of anarchy and fear.
Fear of the British Army.Fear of the prodistant community.Fear of the malitias. Fear of the IRA gunmen and bombers and most distructive fear of itself.
An ailiment it still suffers from today.
During 1972 the old Stormont government in the north was brought down and direct rule was imposed from Westmininster. After 51 years of misrule the unionist total control had been dissamated.
This did not decrease the violence between the 2 opposing political opponents ,nationalism and loyalism Their respective physical force malitias continuing their campaigns against each other and any one esle who got in their way.
The Official IRA continued its campaign against British and Stormont officials killing the Stormont House speaker Ivan Neill in December;
On February 22 1972 bombing the Parachute Regiment responsible for the Bloody Sunday killings headquarters at Aldershot in Hampshire England.
The hard line Unionists MP John Taylor was shot 6 times on February 25 1972 at Armagh but he survived.
The Abercorn Restaurant in Belfast was targeted in March by the PIRA force and a no warning left 136 injured and 2 dead mostly women and children.
By Novemeber of 72 Sean McStiofain[Stephens] of PIRA was arrested and went on hunger strike.
He was convicted in a juryless court of army officer judges but gave up his hunger strike.
In December 72 2 bombs were exploded in Dublin injuring 127 and killing 2.
This provided Fine Gael and Labor who were standing
for elections in introduce an Offences Against the State Amendment bill allowing for conviction of a suspect on testimony of a senior police officer that he believed the suspect was a member of an illegal organization.
'
After the Dublin bombings the Bill was passed next day and signed by President De Valera the same day.
The Official IRA declared a cease fire.
70s pg 5
In 1973 a change of governemnt occured with FG/Labour coallition under Garrett Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald took power after 16 years for FF.
Both Ireland and Great Britain were admitted to theEEC [European Economic Community] supported by all parties but Sinn Fein.
The Long Kesh interneees were opposed.
A referendum had been held in May 72 amist the voilitile activities of that year with a 5-1 vote for entry, over 1 million voting for entry.
At the general election in the south a plebicite was held in the north as to whether they wished to remain part of the UK.
SDLP, a political party formed by John Hume in 1970 encouraged people to stay away from the polls.
In a 60% turnout the remain in the Uk poll won the plebicite.
Throughout 1974 violence continued unabated between the three forces the British Army, now sustaining a presence of over 30,000 soldiers,
the combined militia forces of several UDA and UVF prodistant forces and the PIRA forces of the IRA smattered with new malitia groups such as INLA and the Real IRA.
The people of the north tried to continue their normal daily lives of work, school, shopping and such under the ever present watchful eye of patrolling troops , instant searches and the eternal awareness that a bomb might explode at any time or place or that a gunman might appear in the street shooting down any one out there.
Children wer upset in their natural inclination to be free and to trust.
Most of them needed guarded protection to go to school and school was disrupted in its orderly progession of learning by anxiety and stress in the students mind always present.
In 1975 old Archbishop McQuaid died leaving his post to Fr Ryan, followed by his former pupil Eamon De Valera.
The secrtarian systematic killing in thenorth continued.
The Republic under thecoalition government continued to maintain its policy of detachement from the 'Troubles' arresting and prosecuting with tribunals those who showed up in its territory.
The PIRA forces declared a cease fire in 1975 for a short while but it was not honored by the opponents and soon ended.
The Armalite arrived surepticiously from its Illinios USA shops and beceme a favorite weapon fothe dissident group over the old Thomson sub machine gun.
This along with plastic explosives made the PIRA a formidable force.
The south during this period from 1970 to 2002 had a change in leadership 12 times with thier assorted Mininsters.
Eight Dials were convined.
Jack Lynch 66-73 FF
Liam Cosgrave 73-77 FG
Jack Lynch 77-79 FF Lynch retired in 79 and the Taniste George Colley served as Taoiseach till
Garrett Fiszgerald was reelected June 81-March 82
Charles Haughey served as Taoiseach from March 82- October 82 FF
Garrett Fitzgerald again for Dec 82-March 87 FG
Haughey March 87-July 89 FF
A second term Jan 89-92 FF
Albert Reynolds Jan 93- 94 FF
John Bruton 94-97 FG
The present Premier Bertie Ahern assumed Office in 1997
Under Liam Cosgraves FG/Labor coalition verdicts were brought back from the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg saying 'degrading and inhuman treatment practiced by the British Army interogation proceedures were used at Castlereagh Center in Down.
The suit had been brought by FF under the Lynch government.
Court had ruled that there was a role to play by the US President.
Its determination was not welcomed by London.
The people of Ireland, England or the US paid no attention.
In 1978 PIRA bombed the le Mons restaurant in
Down killing 16.
In November five bombs were detonated in Armagh and 13 other north Irish towns.
Bombing attacks in Belfast ,Armagh ,Dungannon, Enniskillen, Cookstown and Castlederg had been conducted in October 78.
Margaret Thatcher elected as English PM in 1979 had expressed an even stronger security pattern in the north than her predissors taking a typical Brisish stance of aggressive pursuit against percieved enemies.
This motive was never attached to prodistant para military associates whose outrages and attrocities were as great but were not direced at the British Army or theBritish Westminster administered civil structure.
In 1979 INLA[Irish National Liberation Association] killed Aire Neave the North Irish spokesman by placing a bomb under his car which exploded as he drove to the house of Commons.
Its leader Seamus Costello had been killed in September 1977 in Dublin.
70s pg 6
In the north there wes no petrol, no mail, very little affinity to shop for necessities and constant fly bys and patrols by British helicopters and tanks.
In the south when FF was returned to power under Jack Lynch there were 106,000 unemployed.
The Earl Mountbattan , his grandson and Lady Brabourne were killed by an explosion in their pleasure craft in August 1979 off the coast of Sligo.[Lord Louis Mountbatten christened Prince Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicolas Battenberg born in 1900 at Winsor Castle, mother Victoria of Hesse}
PIRA took credit for this killing and the same day killed 18 British soldiers stationed at Narrow Water Castle in County Down.
When Lynch attened the Mountbattan funeral - the Earl being a cousin of the Queen and former Vice Regal of the colony of India at the time of its release from colonial status under Nerhu and Gandi in 1948 - he granted greater cross border security to British forces in 'hot persuit'.
In September Pope JohnPaul II visited Ireland and was attended by a crowd of 2.5 million.
He was unable to attend St Patricks Cathederal in Armagh the Holy See of Irleand for both prodistant and catholic faiths due to death threats but did say Mass at nearby Drogheda where he pleaded on his knees for a return to peace by the north Irish saying:
'further violence will only drag you down to ruin the land you claim to love and the values you claim to cherish.'
The Church customerily excomunicated men who had taken up the gun and served in active service units, denying them the Sacraments.
The general Election of 1979 gave the reigns of government to Charles Haughey who did not change the previous governments military and containment policy towards the systematic never ending violence in the north under the direct rule of Westminster civil government and the presence of 70,000 British troops fully equiped, including the Queens Own Rifles, and Her Scottish Borderers.
Nothing but the best for an Irish cousin after 6 years of occupation.
In 1976 the British government had replaced the old Long Kesh air training camp for WW2 with a brand new state of the art prison with updated electronic equipment at a cost to the British taxpayer of several million pounds.
This facility was known as the Maze housing a special unit for 'terrorists' and locally known as the H block.
Most of the hard core IRA members had been intered there along with several political leaders such as Sinn Fein representatives.
A separate block was maintained for the nationalist prisoners and the loyalist prisoners.
During 1980-81 several prisoners went on a dirty protest refusing to wash or wear prison cloths or to empty their chamber pots.
This caused a rather unsanitary and smelly codition inthe republican H block sections necessitating the guards to periodically empty the cells and power spay wash them down.
But the protest was begun anew amist sanitary surrroundings .
In '81 8 prisoners decided to go on hunger strike.
As this progressed the world stood in shock at Margaret Thatchers absolute refusal to deal with the mundane demands they made of having their own cloths and being considered political prisoners not criminals.
One by one the men died all to no avail
.One being saved by his distraugh mother who committed his body to intravenous feeding after he had become unconsious from lack of nourishment.
Bobby Sands became a world figure when he was elected to the Westmininster Parliament by his south Tyrone constituancy.
When he died his spot was taken by his campaign manager Owen Carron
who in true keeping with republican philosophy refused to take his seat in the British Parliament.
By 1983 the program began by Brisih intelligence of 'grassing had taken its toll in both paramilitary forces.
Grassing meant telling locations and identities of fellow miltia men or their planned operations in exchange for a pardon.
This being similar to the system used by the US Federal police in getting evidence on mob figures and bosses.
Many UVF and IRA personell were picked up.
Internicene kiling dropped by 1/2 from 97 in 1982 to 50 in 1983.
The IRA bombed Harrods
Departmetn Store in London during the Christmas Season of 83 frightening shoppers.
In '84 Brighton Seaside Hotel was struck when Margaret Thather was there with several of the British Mininsters severl of whom weer killed but Margaret, the Iron Lady, was not injured.
The Republic ratified the European Convention of Terrorism providing for extradition of those charged.
Charles Haughey visited US President Ronald Reagan in 1982 but Reagan maintained a strict non involvement in the Irish Question.
On December 14 1982 a new Irish Forum was formed.
The Forum had several meetings of its base the north Ireland nationalists and the souther parties having attended.
In 1883 Fitzgerald had again come to power with Fine Gael/Labour coalition governement.
In 1985 the Anglo Irish Agreement was signed 15 November at Hillsborough Castle by Garret Fitzgerald and Margaret Thatcher providing a structure for London and Dublin on the problem of northern Ireland.
A Secretariat was set up near Belfast at Maryfield with both British and Irish staff altohough hotley opposed by the northen Unionists.
70s pg 7
During the 70's Ireland both north and south suffered economic recession as the World Oil Crisis stagnated many productions.fuels were unavailable and high priced.
Because of the early struggle to maintain the gains it had achieved in the 60s and 50's both political governments of the island had in place social programs, unemployment, welfare programs health programs and family allowances and with these were able to hold their economic heads above water.
Emigration picked up again but this time to England and Europe not to Canada and the US.
the Eu came into both Great Britain and the Republic with grant benefits for both building ,infistructures and farm programs.
In the 80's the earnings of the south remained stagnant while in the north the continual 'Troubles'
prevented any newly motivated companies coming inand those already in leaving the north and reland altogether.
Labor strikes had been contained in theRepublic by FF legilslation to control militant action.
The society began to seiously consider its laws and attitudes towards contraceptives.
A controvercial Bill allowed contraceptives to be sold through a chemist shop[pharmacy] with a doctors presciption for family planning.
The Bill did not define distribution to named couples .
Condoms
were included as a prescription appliance.
The Bill passed in 1979 when Charles Haughey was Mininster of Health under FF government.
the Church Encylical of 1971 had stated that any contraseptive means was immoral and they would decrease the quality of life in theRepublic and encourage promiscuity.
A great deal of emotiona soul and social serching was done to update this technical improvement to sex, in update capacity and in removing the subject from the Ciminal Law Code of 1935.
The Church held a nulity power regarding marriges in Cannon Law and social teching which was accepted by the Irish Courts.
However the proceedure nullified the marriage with no dispensation to remarry. The matter of creating a state divorce law was put to a referendum of the people in 1986 but failed to pass as no provision for property rights, welfare attitutes and provision for childen caught up by divorce were clearly defined.
A referendum on aboortion being submittd in 1983 to remove the question from article 44 of the Irish Constitution.
This amendment was put to referendum and passed in 1986 but the Irish High Court held in ' 88 that it was unlawful to provide counseling or abortion information to Irish women in Britain or elsewhere. [i e US or say Germany]
The Irish Supreme Court in 1989 restricted that phone numbers or and address' of British abortion clinics be given to students.
These major social changes although not brougt in line with thinking and legislative acts of other countries did begin an enlightened discussion of these national issues between Chruch State and People.
As the south tarried on in this 20 year discussion of its self and its relationship to past politics and past culture while integrating with modern Europeanism, the north equally ' carried on' the amost the now accepted systematic almost daily expression of sectarian atrocitys.
Althought groups and efforts continued to find a way forward to peace the bombs and the gunmen ruled the society.
No great effort was made by any world powers to resolve this open wound.
The south Ireland 26 county Republic considered itself a separate nation entirely as it had during the Free State era.
The international Press like hugh hawks scencing a story continued to permiate its editions with proaganda relative to the outrageous hatreds of catholics and prodistants toward each other- thereby enflaming their co religionists elsewhere -to the defence of the faith.
The Church within Ireland ajusted itself to the agitated state.
The Church revived its policy in censorship promoting unintelligent blind peasant faith in a educated middle class society.
It was aware that a new social cultural ethos was developing in the land questioning basic medieval catholic theology and pracice.
It addressed the self interest problem of obtaining new priests and breathern from the dwindling poor. Recruits dwinding between 1966 and 1978 some 8,000.
Rejection of celabicy and the loss of secular comfort and consumerism allianating youth from a religious life.
It was predicted that the religious vocation in Ireland would decresed by 1/3 over 25 years.
This drop in religious orders particulary affected the education system and gave a increase of lay teachers in the Order schools.
A survey of Religious practicioners and belivers found in 1973 that 25,000 singele young men and women 18-30 no longer went to weekly mass.
A Dublin University Study in 76 also indicted that the well educated young were less endowed to faith.
The Church no longer held supernaturalist status to them and they compartmentalazed religion not letting it penetrate the rest of their daily life.
Because the Catholic Church still insisted that mixed marriage children should be raised Catholic many places were left open in prodistant schools which were eagerly taken up by catholic parents,
causing a grass roots school integration inthe south whereas in the volitile north a rigid segregation by force separted not only the fearful school children but also the housing estates ,now ,for safety if nothing else ,being all catholic or all prodistant.
Whole areas of the towns and cities of the north became' no go' areas for the 'other' and in the north whole towns were either catholic towns or prodistant towns.
In 1983 2 million people were on welfare in Ireland.
70s pg 8
Following the deaths of 10 H Block hunger strikers, Sinn Fein, which had formerly declined electorial participation began standing for electoral positions int he north and winning.
In October 1981 this party Ard Feis held in Dublin abondoned its obstructionist policy saying it would contest local elections and occupy those seats.
Seats in the Dial, Stormont and Westminster would be contested but not occuppied if won.
Their national publicity director Danny Morrison made the now famous remark:
'with the paper ballot in this hand and the armalite in this hand we take power in Ireland.'.
The SDLP , the traditional non violent nationalist party in the north ,would suffer from this decision.
Sinn Fein new desire to participate also invalidated the 50 year old stability of the Republic established between DeValera's FF and Cosgrave's FG coalition.
The general election in the north in June 83 with Sinn Fein standing candidates won 13% of the north natiolaist vote to SDLPs 17.
Gerry Adams won a west Belfast seat.
The new Ireland Forum met in 1983 with FF, FG, Labour, and SDLP participating.
Unionist parties were invited but refused to participate.
Sinn Fein was not invited.
In 11 months the Forum made its report and proposed a Federal State, a Unity State or a Joint Authority but did not deal with Unionist no acceptance of any of these solutions.
The Forum report acknowledged the great suffering and disruption of the people of the north.
Mrs Thatcher in November of '84 however curtly rejected all the recomendations with her 'OUT OUT OUT' speech as unaceptable to the British government again expressing the covoutous attitude Great Britain had always expressed to her sister Island.
Following the Forum
Sinn Fein agreed to take any seat it won in the Dial in 1986.
During the 80s new endevors were made in the north to create a new thinking in Irleand.
A Derry Theater offered a play called 'Transitions' and later Field Day Theater under the direction of Brian Friel.
Seamus Deane continued his critique of society and its culture.
A more modern music sound found its way into the culture through groups like U 2.
In the late 80s Ireland had again secumbed to pockets of grinding poverty.
This time in the urban areas not the countryside.
The national debt stood at 22 billion pounds.
Public works were cut, hospital servics were cut, public servant jobs wer made redundant.
Explotation, political corruption drug addiction and abandoned ideals became fixed in Republic life.
In the north the institutionalised disruption and violence continued unabated with no vision of an ending as though this would contiinue on forever.
Emigration continued.
Judi Donnelly
copyright October 19 2007
sourses: Twentieth Century Ireland, Dermot Keogh with Andrew McCarthy, Gill MacMillan,2005
Fianna Fail and Irish Labour, Kieran Allan,Pluto Press, 1997
Ireland a Social and Cultural History, Terrance Brown,Harper Perennial, 2004
The World Today Series Western Europe,Wayne Thompson,Stryker-Post Publications, Harpers F Ferry WV, 2003
Internet: Google Search Engine, &Yahoo Search Engine
.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Irish History Synopsis: 50's to the Troubles 1969
Irish History Synopsis: 50's to the Troubles 1969
The Inter Party government met the 50's wit the beginning controversy created by the introduction of a Mother and Child health scheme by Mininster of Health Dr Noel Browne, a member of Clann na Pobhlacta.
Dr Browne proposed legislation that would provide free universal health and pre natal care to all pregnant women and continuing health care for the child until it reached the age of 16 years.
The proposed legislation would provide no means test for applicants.
This proposal met with opposition from the Bishops as being obstructive of the rights of the family and the individual to chose what medical proceedures they wanted without state intervention.
Both the Church and the Irish Medical Association opposed any form of socialized medicine.
The proposed Act also included empowering the state to provide inforamtion and educate women in health care, gynocolgical care-which included information on birth control proceedures-
these, original and far sighted attempts to improve the health of woman and children.
Opposition by the Church Hierarchy caused so much havoc as to bring down the coalition goverenment in 1951, Noel Browne refusing to give in on any aspects of his plan or to resign when asked to do so by his party chief, Sean Mc Bride.
However, Dr Browne in his short tenure did succeed in establihsing a successful TB program,that deadly desease being rampant in Ireland.
Dr Browne found the sanataria used for these patients to be unsanitary with open sewers in the yard, poor roofing, no bathing facilities and freqeuntly no knives and forks to eat with.
He himself suffered from TB, His father mother and sister had all died from it.
Dr Browne, to combat the desease liquidated the Health Dept assets of 20 million pounds morgaging another 10 million expected from his Hospital Sweepstakes and set out to rebuild and restaff the TB sanatoriums going so far as to refuse appointment to headship to unqualified Nuns replacing them with skilled admininstrators and nursing staff.
His program was successful TB death droping from 3100 in 1940 to 580 in 1958 and 460 persons in 1961.
Dr Browne was however ostrasized from appointments after his controversy with the Church.
He joined Fianna Fail for time than founded National Progresive Democratic Party in 1958 which was unsuccessful ,finally joining the Labour Party in 1964.
When the Independents and Dr Browne voted with Fianna Fail thus breaking the interparty coalition at the general election of '51, Fianna FAil was again put in office in the new Republic.
This government under De Valera lasted until 1954 during which time there was 80% unemployment in the country.
There was little increase in national output.
Taxation was high.
Expenditures of the governement exceeded revenues.
The Suez problem created credit restrictions and tighening of bank loans.
Public works programs were discontinued.
Even though Ireland had benefited after the War from the Europeans Recovery Fund and its Bord Failte hardly needed to advertize the tourist potential of Ireland as it has self generation in this field.
Ireland being a respit for the hard knocks world and high prices of the outside world and its remaining air of Bohemian pre war order sustained by its nuetrality sold itself.
50s pg 2
Industrial production was curtailed by Ireland because of inability to pay for raw materials which needed to be imported.
Employment in industy fell with a increase in emigration of over 40,000 persons a year.
Ireland GNP[ Gross National Product] grew only 8% while the post war boom in Europe under the European Economic Cooperative Organization grew 41%
FF confrontation withthe mojor unions and civil service continued.
The Party opposing
equal pay for men and women or other pay benefits, agricultural workers increases, or civil service pay increases.
In the meanwhile the outside world had settled comfortbly into the cold War with mutually assured distruction by the ever increasing supply of Atomic and Hydrogen weapons assembled bewteen the two giant States communist Soviet Russia and capitalistic USA.
In the North the Stormont government continued in its discriminatory and stultifying way as the US troops stationed under Operation Magnet withdrew to their own continent.
The old pattern of sectarian isolation was revived.
The Unionist Party kept absolute control over all govenment activity through gerrymandering districts throughout the 6 counties assuring perpetual Unionist government for the dominant prodistant party.
The nationalists were politically and economically isolated having been disciminated against for housing and jobs available.
The major employers of the north shipbuilding [Harland and Wolfe] Shorts Aircraft refused to hire Catholics even for unskilled work such as janitor.
All industry was located in the major prodistant areas of Antrim, Down and Belfast where a Unioist majority was 25% over that of nationalist populations.
Derry, Armagh reflected a 50/40 ratio in favor of prodistants.
Fernmanagh and Tyrone being the only counties having a nationalist majority both showing 55/40 ratios in favor of the nationalist population.
The city of Belfast contained a nationalist ghettos where poverty, crime and ill health prevailed.
A high birth rate among nationalist Irish did not equalize the divide as emegration took of the difference.
Education was totally segregated to Church oriented schools and most higher level education was denied Catholics ,if not by outright exclusion, by lack of funds for children to continue beyond basic learning.
Only property owners and their tenants held the vote.
Prime Minister Basil Brook, 1st Viscount Brookborough and Baronnet, granduate of Sandhurst and veteran of WW1 a commandant of Ulster Special Constabulary in the fight against the IRA, a Knight of the Garter and totally opposed to relations with the Republic of Ireland, made the famous remark with regard to the catholic native plight that he'would not have one about the place' meaning his demesne of Colebrooke in Fernmanagh.
The National Health Service Act passed by the British Parliament in 1946 had been extended to North Ireland through Agreements with that conservative Unionist government with the Brisih taxpayer picking up the tab.
This cradle to grave legislation helped relieve exteme poverty in the north not yet obliterated in the Republic.
However, housing and voting rights continued to be discriminatoy.
Admininstrarial corporations were allowed up to 6 extra votes and gave the Unionist Party contol as all the corporations were prodistant owned and their Directors Unionist Party members.
Proportional Representation in the north had been discontinued in 1929 leaving the Unionist Party in total control of all government funtions for 50 years of one party rule.
The welfare benefits extended after WW2 helped keep the province peaceful even during the Border Campaign launced by the IRA from 1956-1962.
During this peiod the Orange Order- a private religious club which had mingled and assimilated with the Unionist Party - excluded catholics in genneral even catholic unionists from government participation.
Sinn Fein was banned as a political party and other small nationalist parties simply disbanded and became shells.
Labour was fractured but maintained a party organization.
When the Labour Party gained control of Great Britain in 946 it soon passed the National Health Service Act .
However this British party success did not extend to the Labor Party in Ireland.
Even thought the conservative unionist government under Basil Brook did not countinence the socialistic view of care it accepted the labour legislation.
This Act releived a great deal of suffering and indadequate care for both the nationalist and poor prodistants alike and gave a standard then more beneficial then the Rebublic.
The extension of social legislation had been arrived at under the white paper prepared by Beveridge and the laobur government executed the Beveridge recomendations.
An additional housing program was planned in the north to update degraded locations and to include the ghetto in Belfast.
These housing estates although built, were still not being distributed equitably between the sectarian groups in need causing the formation of the North Ireland Civil Rights Association which the Ullster Volunteer Force physically resisted.
In the south FF's continued confrontational economic and social policys caused a vote of no confidence and an election was held in May 1955.
A new government was formed under Fine Gael and Costello was once again at its head .
FG held 7 cabinit seats this time Finance, Justice,Defence ,Agricluture,Educaation , Local Government and Health.
The Taniste was a member of Labour William Norton who also held the Industry and Commerce portfolio.
This Cabinate however was obstucted when McBride pulled Clann na Poblatchta support and put a vote of no confidence in the governments handling of economics and partition.
50s pg 3
An election was held in March 1957 and FF as reinstated with 78 seats.
In 1956 the IRA Chief of Staff Tom Mangan called a campaign against the north infrastructure and government forces called Operation Harvest.
This operation also known as the Border Campaign was conducted mostly against customs posts and RUC barracks with a goal to bring the British government to a nogociation over partition.
During the Fine Gael government in 1955 Ireland was finaly accepted as a member of the United Nations.
Liam Cosgrave, the Mininsters of External Affairs for Fine Gael was well recieved.
Ireland played a major UN role with the US in condeming the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956 and the French expedition into Egypt.
A forward agenda was set up for the Irish delagation under the leadership of Frank Aikin when Fianna Fail again took the reigns of Irish government in 1957 under a coalition with the Labour Party.
Aikin from Armagh County in the north was a close associate and comrade of De VAlera.
Such world changing events as the China invasion of Tibet and Chinas admission to the UN body with the Irish delegation voting on the Indian Resolution to discuss Chinas admission.
This topic became a hot issue for several years under Aikins's watch and also invaded the political climate in Ireland as to whether the China Question should be discussed the United States having taken a strong posture against debate to admit communist China to the body.
Ireland stuck to its innicial 1957 vote that the China Question should be discussed in the General Assembly.
In Ireland a White Paper was released by civil servant T Kenneth Whitaker outlining an economic plan for Irleand called Economic Development published in May 1958.
The government immediately adopted this Plan called the Program for Economic Expansion changing government policy from a rigid reliance on gold held by the banks,changing loans for short term investment to long term investments and long term productive investments to suppy new industrys and private enterprise.
James Ryan , De Valera's Mininster of Finance and DeValera himself embrassed this plan wholeheartedly the responsibility for implimentation falling to the old practical control F Sean Lemass.
Lemass went with constructive ideas toward the future rather than recrimination of the past.
He brought in new faces.
In the Election of 1959 Lemass succeeded DeValera who after 30 years in power retired from politics.
Two days later 'Dev' was installed as the 2nd President of the Rebublic suceeding the colorful T P Kelly.
As the nation passed into the 60's both the 26 counties and the 6 counties experienced some economic improvements and social contracts with these governments.
No longer beset with the cares of obtaing wages sufficient to buy food or having to resort to the fields to find shelter Ireland generally began to have her place at the table of World Affairs.
Through her place in the UN and the Aikin Mission the human and liberal attitudes of the nation were put forth.
50s pg 4
On November 22 1960 Irish peace keeper forces killed in the Congo were given a funeral of these ten dead. Irish troops had been sent in July as a Peace Keeping Force by the UN.
This was the first time in Irish history that State troops had been sent abroad although pre Christian era Irish kings had gone with their forces into continental Europe, England and Scotland.
Ireland was also becoming a member of the European Common Market.
Lemass modified the hard policy on NATO membership previously taken by De Valera that NATO membership would not be entertained by Ireland as long as partition existed.
New trade pacts were made with Great Britain in 1960.
Ireland applied to join the EEC [ European Economic Community] on August 1 1961.
In 1963 trade unions were opened in Dublin by Czech and Polish missions.
Ireland traded with the comunist block nations of Czechoslavakia, Russia, Poland and E Germany.
Meanwhile in America John Fitzgerald Kennedy a Bostonian descendant of 2 Famine emigrant grand parents sucessfully campaigned and won the US Presidential election.
The first Irish/American catholic to achieve this accomplishment.
'Jack' campaigned on a program of social improvement at home and diplomacy abroad.
His natural charisma , charm and boyant personality overrode any distain of his politics and wore away the resistance to his liberal ideas.
He won the popular vote against conservative Richard M Nixon hands down but the electoral vote was close.
Kennedy entered the White House and was sworne in on January 20 1961.
Kennedy's inspired inaguration speech that
'the Torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans.Born in this century, tempered by war, disaplined by a hard and bitter peace' enamored his vision to the American people and the world.
Kennedy visited the Republic of Ireland in June 1963 on a 4 day visit.
Five months later he was brutally shot in Dallas Texas on 22 November 1963 ending the euforia in America that it was once again on the joyous road to progress and prosperity and the world fell into 4 days of mourning for this angelic man shot on Thansgiving weekend.
Almost every American remembers exactly where they were when this occurred.
A moment fixed in time.
In 1964 Ireland updated its banking structure with the Central Bank Act of 1964 allowing the Bank to deal in securitys of any international financial institutions.
This change allowed Ireland to purchase shares in the World Bank.
The Bank Board has a Governor appointed by the President by advise of the Irish government.
Eight Directors appointed by the Mininster of Finance.
The Central Bank has 8 associate public banks.
The Irish Social Services allow for compusory pension payments includign non contributory pensions for the blind and the unemployed as well as widows.
A means test allows any one udner 1200 pounds income a reduced rate hospital treatment.
Maternatiy services and care for the babies are applied in 1966, 15 years after the same idea brought down the Inter Party government in 1954.
Social Insurance contributions are made by workers, employers and state.
All parents are entitled to a childrens allowance regardless of income.
The Church still maintains educational and rehabilitative works.
In December 1965 Ireland signed a Freee Trade Agreement with Great Britain abolishing all tariffs between the two countries.
Exports to Britan of butter, sheep, pig meat, cattle and horticultural produce will be increased to 100%.
Social Partnerships arose during the 60's combining organised labor, employers and State cooperation.
Class warfare ended in the 60's Ireland.
New Ireland was appearing less conserned with itself, less antagonistic to the rest of the worlds views, less absorbed in its own problems.
Such publications as Irish Writing, Dublin Magazine and the Bell began printing works of newer more modernistic writers.
Such poets as Thomas Kinsella, Benedict Kiely, James Plunkett and John Montague of the north were published in Poetry Ireland, Irish Writing and Envoy.
This benefit of being able to publish Irish writing in Irish mediums a luxury not seen sicne 1900.
They were able to critique their mentors such older writers as Joyce , Audin and Yeats and express an outward view leaving behind the old antagonisms and bitterness.
Ireland was between provincialism and urbanism.
New media radio and in the 1960's ,TV greatly influenced attitudes, tolerance and national consepts of the language.
No more the old gathering about the fireside to hear the Shanashee tell his memorized tales or the litling soul rendering tunes of ancient Ireland.
Although a revival of these skills might well occur today in the new mediums including computer and video both in Irish and in English.
In 1956 the Irish Association of Civil Liberties organized a petition to the Taoiseach T A Costello of another Inter Party government, to establish a Commission on the Censorship Bord.
A meeting was held at Mansion House Dublin and the Minister of Justice having responsiblity for the Bord put 2 liberal members to it.
A dissent of philosophy followed between the 2 new members and the 3 older ones which became so acute that the 3 older members resigned in 1957.
By this time a new FF government was again in power and this new Minister of Justice appointed 3 new individuals who were 'open minded'.
This new Bord compostition did not see itself waging a war againt cultural and moral contamination but as restrictive of books and movies which were pornographic and without literary merit.
50s pg 5
In 1959 with the coming of Lemass as PM and the retirment of DeValera to the Irish Presidency Ireland took off into the new Economic Development Program of Whitacher put in place by the FF Lemass government.
The gross national product[GNP] under the First Program increased by 15%; production by 28%; imports by 30% personal expenditures by 5% and car registration by 29.5 %
Over 350 foreign owned companies were attracted to Ireland by tax breaks and lack of import export duties.
A peaceful social rebvolution was occuring.
Television was introduced to the nation in 1962 with the opening of a state television station. RTE
Modern Catholisizm was absorbed from abroad following the Second Vatican Council.
A new generation not out of the revolutionary mode appeared in offices in the civil service, in privte business, in farming and in the streets of bohemian pub oriented Dublin.
Ireland assumed enthusiasm for its new social , cultural and economic progressions just tolerating the old traditional Ireland of conservative national ideology.
As Ireland remolded itself economically and governmentaly into an efficient streamlined corporate state where decisiions were made on managerial level, canditions in the north once more came to the fore.
The English Exchecher in its returned and subsidised residual tax payments suppressed the populous with its National Insurance payments, welfare benefits and agricultural subsidies.
Industry was productive.
Personal income in the north was 38% higher than in the Republic.
Secondary school compleation in the north was higher than in the south.
In the north University attendance was greater and more available to the qualified poor student.
unemployment benefits were twice as high as in the south.
Old age pensions were granted in the north at 65 as compared to 70 in the Republic and a higher pound rate was paid.
Childrens allowance rates were higher in the Republic than in the north.
Health benefits were greater in the north than in the south.
The north allowed a burial grant of 25 pounds. In the south none were allowed.
8000 new state assisted houses were built in the Republic and 9000 in the north.
Taxes in the north were much higher than in the Republic.
The north still maintained a Builders taxpayers subsidy applied by Lord Randolf Churchhill in 1888 contributing 100 milion a year towards the support of the political state in the north.
The north through the 50's and 60's continued to suffer from institutionalized discrimination through out its constituancys in education, housing, religious tolerance, job opportunites , government consern and voting privileges with total Unionist control over local affairs.
When Terrance O Neill of the Antrim O Neills ,became Prime Minister of the north in 1963 and moved into the Prime Mininsters residence at Stormont Castle a new attempt was made between north and south to hold discussions.
These talks were being encouraged by both Whitaker in the south and Harold Wilson of London.
As a go between T K Whitaker negociated between the 2 leaders the historic O Neill/Lemass meeting at Stormont in 1965.
Within a month O Neill returned the visit arriving in Dublin on Febrary 9 1965.
By midsummer these inter island visits became so frequent they no longer made headlines.
The North Ireland Border Commission began a review of electoral borders in 1965.
At Dungannon ,County Tyrone agitation was begun in 1963 for a fairer distribution of housing mushrooming into the Campaign for Social Justice.Major General Montgomery and such sages as Goerge O Brien of University College Dublin and the trade unionist Louie Bennett continued its work under the leadership of Dr J Dempsey General Manager of Aer Lingus and Earnest Blythe a southern prodistant former Finance Minister in Cumman na nGaedheal and Director of the Abby Theater.
This group with other individuals both north and south worked to improve relations and understanding of the two geographical regions of the island.
The Belfast Telegraph ran an editorial line favorable to ending the absolute rule of the Unionist political party in the north encouraging its readers to vote labor and encouraging a 'New Departure' in the north from its fastened and bigoted thinking.
The two governments spurred on by the successful Lemas/ O Neill innicative began cooperative ventures in agriculture, veternary medicine, marketing and agrarian development and other joint schemes were approached.
Border crossing 'Checkpoint Charile' routines were removed.
Power useage and common fuel supplies were set for exchange the south running out of peat and the north dependant on imported coal.
A nuclear reactor project was canceled.
50s pg 6
At the 50th aniversary of the Rising, Easter 1966 the south suffered some setback in that credit restrictions and private controls on high prices and sluggish prodiction rates led to cut backs on developmental programs for the poor rural areas giving greater accent to the twilight of rural thatched covered cottage Ireland.
However in the mid 60s English was no longer a given as rural poor flocked not to England or America but to their own urban centers.
A more inclusive attitude had gripped the general public of Ireland reflecting the 4 Ps play, prayer progress and partition.
Ireland young are expressing a new sence of realism ,enlightened in world view ,aware of the world outside and exibiting a sober constructivness as to their own future taking the reigns of this in hand themselves from within the embronic country.
The Church itself began to change as the social status entry of poor country boys to the Brothers or the Fathers was removed
[although I wouldnt be to sure about that on a picture produced by my son in 2007 visit showing a large group of young priests strolling along a street with the Bishop in full regalia.]
During 1965 and 66 several major strikes took place in the Republic which FF characteristicall opposed.
A confrontation began in October '65 when the ITA [Irish Telephonist Association] picketed to gain recognition.
An injunction was put out by the courts but the strikers paid no heed.
Three were jailed which provoked the ITA rank and file to picket the Dial itself.
FF invoked the Offences Against the State Act as Lemas considered the strikers involving themselves in anti state behavior.
The National Busworkers however pleged support for the ITA along with dock workers and the workers of Goulding Fertilizer walked off the job challenging the ITGWU to join them.
The jailed ITA members began a hunger strike provoking a 1500 man march on their behalf threw the streets of Dublin demanding the National Council of Civil Liberties seek the realease of the jailed hunger strikers.
This was accomplished by an agreement between the Attorney General and the strikers that they would not picket the Dial.
In January 1966 The ICU advised its membership to accpt a 1 pound a week wage increase only.
At this time Lemass had resigned from the PM office and politics in 1965 and the acting Prime Mininster was Jack Lynch who won the election and took this office in his own right in January 1966.
Several trade groups like the confectionary workers, enginering crafts and dock workers went on strike.
FF announced a 3% ceiling on wage increases further antagonizing the rank and file union members and escalating the strikers work stoppage.
During that period General Electric Co, an American multi national known for its anti union views was challenged to accept a union shop.
ITGWU was organizign in the Shannon Industrial Estates subsidiary EI but company management refused to negociate with the union.
380 members walked out-mainly female workforce.
Nearby Aer Lingus workers refused o move goods for EI.
When Court issued an injuntion it was ignored.
EI hired strike breakers.
The IRA intervened burning the buses used to bring in the strike breakers.
FF tried neutrality but more or less sided with the Company viewing the strike as an impediment to the industrialization program of the government which gave the tax breaks and outright grants in aid to the incoming multinationals.As well as
the lower wages paid to women workers under the FF program to keep women in the home-part of the Catholic Social Doctrine-.
When ITGWU threatened to call a national work stoppage a hasty arbitration was arranged wherby EI took back the striking workers giving the union recognition and reversing FF's policy of givng grants to any multinational not accepting pre existing unions.
ESB [Electricity Suppy Board] workers went on strike followed by the Day Workers Association.
Hillery, the FF Mininster of Labor immediately invoked the Special Powers Act which provided a 5000 pound fine for the union support in a strke, 100 a day fine for the union and a 25 pound fine for individual strikers.
Some 50 of the strikers were jailed.
A national shutdown of electrical supplies was threatened and FF capitulated beginning negociations to release the jailed strikers.
It was agreed that managment should pay their fines and provide taxis at MountJoy jail to take the strikers to their homes.
Ff continued to find ways to legislate against strikes but the rank and file union members remaned militant forcing the union leaders to weaken suppor for Fianna Fail.
By 1967 NICRA [North Ireland Civil Rights Association] demanded improvements in the provinces living conditions.
A one man one vote was demanded with an end to gerrymandering local voting districts.
A housing points system to fairly distribute housing allotments was stated.
In October the Civil Rights march to Derry was attacked by a mob consising of hysterical hard line unionists and RUC militants smattered with violent B Special forces.
The south Irish labor front backed the NI demands sending a pristegious delagation to the north.
The violence associated with repressing the NI march brought rection from the IRA forces still intact and on cease fire but not disbanded from its 56-62 border campaign in the north against British targets.
The IRA had failed to achieve its objective during those 6 years of bringing Great Britain to the negociating table over partition of the island.
With escalation of the frustrational sectarian rebel violence in the streets of Derry spreading eastward to Belfast and about the countryside the Labor government of Great Britain sent in the British Army in 1969 to quell the rebellion and re establish stability.
This however was not to be the decade ending with the now famous 'You are entering Free Derry' signs appearing in the Bogside Catholic ghetto and Citizens Defence Councils springing up in both Belfast and Derry.
With the IRA reconstuting itself into split factions represeted by the Official IRA based in the south and the Provincial IRA devolved from the northern command.
In America the dispersed Irish Americans assimilated and urbanized- almost vanished- saw television pictures of the north and the batoning but had no understanding or consept of what was happening in the north of Ireland.
In the republic people held their breath not wanting their lives disrupted.
IOn 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped from his space capsule on the moon sending back the message
'One small step for Man. One giant step for Mankind.
Judi Donnelly
Copyright October 10 2007
sourses: Ireland a Social and Cultural History, Terrance Bron,Harper Perenial,2004
Fianna Fail and irish Labor, Kieran Allen,Pluto Press,1997
Ireland Since the Rising, T P Coogan, Frederick Praeger Publishing 1966
The Inter Party government met the 50's wit the beginning controversy created by the introduction of a Mother and Child health scheme by Mininster of Health Dr Noel Browne, a member of Clann na Pobhlacta.
Dr Browne proposed legislation that would provide free universal health and pre natal care to all pregnant women and continuing health care for the child until it reached the age of 16 years.
The proposed legislation would provide no means test for applicants.
This proposal met with opposition from the Bishops as being obstructive of the rights of the family and the individual to chose what medical proceedures they wanted without state intervention.
Both the Church and the Irish Medical Association opposed any form of socialized medicine.
The proposed Act also included empowering the state to provide inforamtion and educate women in health care, gynocolgical care-which included information on birth control proceedures-
these, original and far sighted attempts to improve the health of woman and children.
Opposition by the Church Hierarchy caused so much havoc as to bring down the coalition goverenment in 1951, Noel Browne refusing to give in on any aspects of his plan or to resign when asked to do so by his party chief, Sean Mc Bride.
However, Dr Browne in his short tenure did succeed in establihsing a successful TB program,that deadly desease being rampant in Ireland.
Dr Browne found the sanataria used for these patients to be unsanitary with open sewers in the yard, poor roofing, no bathing facilities and freqeuntly no knives and forks to eat with.
He himself suffered from TB, His father mother and sister had all died from it.
Dr Browne, to combat the desease liquidated the Health Dept assets of 20 million pounds morgaging another 10 million expected from his Hospital Sweepstakes and set out to rebuild and restaff the TB sanatoriums going so far as to refuse appointment to headship to unqualified Nuns replacing them with skilled admininstrators and nursing staff.
His program was successful TB death droping from 3100 in 1940 to 580 in 1958 and 460 persons in 1961.
Dr Browne was however ostrasized from appointments after his controversy with the Church.
He joined Fianna Fail for time than founded National Progresive Democratic Party in 1958 which was unsuccessful ,finally joining the Labour Party in 1964.
When the Independents and Dr Browne voted with Fianna Fail thus breaking the interparty coalition at the general election of '51, Fianna FAil was again put in office in the new Republic.
This government under De Valera lasted until 1954 during which time there was 80% unemployment in the country.
There was little increase in national output.
Taxation was high.
Expenditures of the governement exceeded revenues.
The Suez problem created credit restrictions and tighening of bank loans.
Public works programs were discontinued.
Even though Ireland had benefited after the War from the Europeans Recovery Fund and its Bord Failte hardly needed to advertize the tourist potential of Ireland as it has self generation in this field.
Ireland being a respit for the hard knocks world and high prices of the outside world and its remaining air of Bohemian pre war order sustained by its nuetrality sold itself.
50s pg 2
Industrial production was curtailed by Ireland because of inability to pay for raw materials which needed to be imported.
Employment in industy fell with a increase in emigration of over 40,000 persons a year.
Ireland GNP[ Gross National Product] grew only 8% while the post war boom in Europe under the European Economic Cooperative Organization grew 41%
FF confrontation withthe mojor unions and civil service continued.
The Party opposing
equal pay for men and women or other pay benefits, agricultural workers increases, or civil service pay increases.
In the meanwhile the outside world had settled comfortbly into the cold War with mutually assured distruction by the ever increasing supply of Atomic and Hydrogen weapons assembled bewteen the two giant States communist Soviet Russia and capitalistic USA.
In the North the Stormont government continued in its discriminatory and stultifying way as the US troops stationed under Operation Magnet withdrew to their own continent.
The old pattern of sectarian isolation was revived.
The Unionist Party kept absolute control over all govenment activity through gerrymandering districts throughout the 6 counties assuring perpetual Unionist government for the dominant prodistant party.
The nationalists were politically and economically isolated having been disciminated against for housing and jobs available.
The major employers of the north shipbuilding [Harland and Wolfe] Shorts Aircraft refused to hire Catholics even for unskilled work such as janitor.
All industry was located in the major prodistant areas of Antrim, Down and Belfast where a Unioist majority was 25% over that of nationalist populations.
Derry, Armagh reflected a 50/40 ratio in favor of prodistants.
Fernmanagh and Tyrone being the only counties having a nationalist majority both showing 55/40 ratios in favor of the nationalist population.
The city of Belfast contained a nationalist ghettos where poverty, crime and ill health prevailed.
A high birth rate among nationalist Irish did not equalize the divide as emegration took of the difference.
Education was totally segregated to Church oriented schools and most higher level education was denied Catholics ,if not by outright exclusion, by lack of funds for children to continue beyond basic learning.
Only property owners and their tenants held the vote.
Prime Minister Basil Brook, 1st Viscount Brookborough and Baronnet, granduate of Sandhurst and veteran of WW1 a commandant of Ulster Special Constabulary in the fight against the IRA, a Knight of the Garter and totally opposed to relations with the Republic of Ireland, made the famous remark with regard to the catholic native plight that he'would not have one about the place' meaning his demesne of Colebrooke in Fernmanagh.
The National Health Service Act passed by the British Parliament in 1946 had been extended to North Ireland through Agreements with that conservative Unionist government with the Brisih taxpayer picking up the tab.
This cradle to grave legislation helped relieve exteme poverty in the north not yet obliterated in the Republic.
However, housing and voting rights continued to be discriminatoy.
Admininstrarial corporations were allowed up to 6 extra votes and gave the Unionist Party contol as all the corporations were prodistant owned and their Directors Unionist Party members.
Proportional Representation in the north had been discontinued in 1929 leaving the Unionist Party in total control of all government funtions for 50 years of one party rule.
The welfare benefits extended after WW2 helped keep the province peaceful even during the Border Campaign launced by the IRA from 1956-1962.
During this peiod the Orange Order- a private religious club which had mingled and assimilated with the Unionist Party - excluded catholics in genneral even catholic unionists from government participation.
Sinn Fein was banned as a political party and other small nationalist parties simply disbanded and became shells.
Labour was fractured but maintained a party organization.
When the Labour Party gained control of Great Britain in 946 it soon passed the National Health Service Act .
However this British party success did not extend to the Labor Party in Ireland.
Even thought the conservative unionist government under Basil Brook did not countinence the socialistic view of care it accepted the labour legislation.
This Act releived a great deal of suffering and indadequate care for both the nationalist and poor prodistants alike and gave a standard then more beneficial then the Rebublic.
The extension of social legislation had been arrived at under the white paper prepared by Beveridge and the laobur government executed the Beveridge recomendations.
An additional housing program was planned in the north to update degraded locations and to include the ghetto in Belfast.
These housing estates although built, were still not being distributed equitably between the sectarian groups in need causing the formation of the North Ireland Civil Rights Association which the Ullster Volunteer Force physically resisted.
In the south FF's continued confrontational economic and social policys caused a vote of no confidence and an election was held in May 1955.
A new government was formed under Fine Gael and Costello was once again at its head .
FG held 7 cabinit seats this time Finance, Justice,Defence ,Agricluture,Educaation , Local Government and Health.
The Taniste was a member of Labour William Norton who also held the Industry and Commerce portfolio.
This Cabinate however was obstucted when McBride pulled Clann na Poblatchta support and put a vote of no confidence in the governments handling of economics and partition.
50s pg 3
An election was held in March 1957 and FF as reinstated with 78 seats.
In 1956 the IRA Chief of Staff Tom Mangan called a campaign against the north infrastructure and government forces called Operation Harvest.
This operation also known as the Border Campaign was conducted mostly against customs posts and RUC barracks with a goal to bring the British government to a nogociation over partition.
During the Fine Gael government in 1955 Ireland was finaly accepted as a member of the United Nations.
Liam Cosgrave, the Mininsters of External Affairs for Fine Gael was well recieved.
Ireland played a major UN role with the US in condeming the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956 and the French expedition into Egypt.
A forward agenda was set up for the Irish delagation under the leadership of Frank Aikin when Fianna Fail again took the reigns of Irish government in 1957 under a coalition with the Labour Party.
Aikin from Armagh County in the north was a close associate and comrade of De VAlera.
Such world changing events as the China invasion of Tibet and Chinas admission to the UN body with the Irish delegation voting on the Indian Resolution to discuss Chinas admission.
This topic became a hot issue for several years under Aikins's watch and also invaded the political climate in Ireland as to whether the China Question should be discussed the United States having taken a strong posture against debate to admit communist China to the body.
Ireland stuck to its innicial 1957 vote that the China Question should be discussed in the General Assembly.
In Ireland a White Paper was released by civil servant T Kenneth Whitaker outlining an economic plan for Irleand called Economic Development published in May 1958.
The government immediately adopted this Plan called the Program for Economic Expansion changing government policy from a rigid reliance on gold held by the banks,changing loans for short term investment to long term investments and long term productive investments to suppy new industrys and private enterprise.
James Ryan , De Valera's Mininster of Finance and DeValera himself embrassed this plan wholeheartedly the responsibility for implimentation falling to the old practical control F Sean Lemass.
Lemass went with constructive ideas toward the future rather than recrimination of the past.
He brought in new faces.
In the Election of 1959 Lemass succeeded DeValera who after 30 years in power retired from politics.
Two days later 'Dev' was installed as the 2nd President of the Rebublic suceeding the colorful T P Kelly.
As the nation passed into the 60's both the 26 counties and the 6 counties experienced some economic improvements and social contracts with these governments.
No longer beset with the cares of obtaing wages sufficient to buy food or having to resort to the fields to find shelter Ireland generally began to have her place at the table of World Affairs.
Through her place in the UN and the Aikin Mission the human and liberal attitudes of the nation were put forth.
50s pg 4
On November 22 1960 Irish peace keeper forces killed in the Congo were given a funeral of these ten dead. Irish troops had been sent in July as a Peace Keeping Force by the UN.
This was the first time in Irish history that State troops had been sent abroad although pre Christian era Irish kings had gone with their forces into continental Europe, England and Scotland.
Ireland was also becoming a member of the European Common Market.
Lemass modified the hard policy on NATO membership previously taken by De Valera that NATO membership would not be entertained by Ireland as long as partition existed.
New trade pacts were made with Great Britain in 1960.
Ireland applied to join the EEC [ European Economic Community] on August 1 1961.
In 1963 trade unions were opened in Dublin by Czech and Polish missions.
Ireland traded with the comunist block nations of Czechoslavakia, Russia, Poland and E Germany.
Meanwhile in America John Fitzgerald Kennedy a Bostonian descendant of 2 Famine emigrant grand parents sucessfully campaigned and won the US Presidential election.
The first Irish/American catholic to achieve this accomplishment.
'Jack' campaigned on a program of social improvement at home and diplomacy abroad.
His natural charisma , charm and boyant personality overrode any distain of his politics and wore away the resistance to his liberal ideas.
He won the popular vote against conservative Richard M Nixon hands down but the electoral vote was close.
Kennedy entered the White House and was sworne in on January 20 1961.
Kennedy's inspired inaguration speech that
'the Torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans.Born in this century, tempered by war, disaplined by a hard and bitter peace' enamored his vision to the American people and the world.
Kennedy visited the Republic of Ireland in June 1963 on a 4 day visit.
Five months later he was brutally shot in Dallas Texas on 22 November 1963 ending the euforia in America that it was once again on the joyous road to progress and prosperity and the world fell into 4 days of mourning for this angelic man shot on Thansgiving weekend.
Almost every American remembers exactly where they were when this occurred.
A moment fixed in time.
In 1964 Ireland updated its banking structure with the Central Bank Act of 1964 allowing the Bank to deal in securitys of any international financial institutions.
This change allowed Ireland to purchase shares in the World Bank.
The Bank Board has a Governor appointed by the President by advise of the Irish government.
Eight Directors appointed by the Mininster of Finance.
The Central Bank has 8 associate public banks.
The Irish Social Services allow for compusory pension payments includign non contributory pensions for the blind and the unemployed as well as widows.
A means test allows any one udner 1200 pounds income a reduced rate hospital treatment.
Maternatiy services and care for the babies are applied in 1966, 15 years after the same idea brought down the Inter Party government in 1954.
Social Insurance contributions are made by workers, employers and state.
All parents are entitled to a childrens allowance regardless of income.
The Church still maintains educational and rehabilitative works.
In December 1965 Ireland signed a Freee Trade Agreement with Great Britain abolishing all tariffs between the two countries.
Exports to Britan of butter, sheep, pig meat, cattle and horticultural produce will be increased to 100%.
Social Partnerships arose during the 60's combining organised labor, employers and State cooperation.
Class warfare ended in the 60's Ireland.
New Ireland was appearing less conserned with itself, less antagonistic to the rest of the worlds views, less absorbed in its own problems.
Such publications as Irish Writing, Dublin Magazine and the Bell began printing works of newer more modernistic writers.
Such poets as Thomas Kinsella, Benedict Kiely, James Plunkett and John Montague of the north were published in Poetry Ireland, Irish Writing and Envoy.
This benefit of being able to publish Irish writing in Irish mediums a luxury not seen sicne 1900.
They were able to critique their mentors such older writers as Joyce , Audin and Yeats and express an outward view leaving behind the old antagonisms and bitterness.
Ireland was between provincialism and urbanism.
New media radio and in the 1960's ,TV greatly influenced attitudes, tolerance and national consepts of the language.
No more the old gathering about the fireside to hear the Shanashee tell his memorized tales or the litling soul rendering tunes of ancient Ireland.
Although a revival of these skills might well occur today in the new mediums including computer and video both in Irish and in English.
In 1956 the Irish Association of Civil Liberties organized a petition to the Taoiseach T A Costello of another Inter Party government, to establish a Commission on the Censorship Bord.
A meeting was held at Mansion House Dublin and the Minister of Justice having responsiblity for the Bord put 2 liberal members to it.
A dissent of philosophy followed between the 2 new members and the 3 older ones which became so acute that the 3 older members resigned in 1957.
By this time a new FF government was again in power and this new Minister of Justice appointed 3 new individuals who were 'open minded'.
This new Bord compostition did not see itself waging a war againt cultural and moral contamination but as restrictive of books and movies which were pornographic and without literary merit.
50s pg 5
In 1959 with the coming of Lemass as PM and the retirment of DeValera to the Irish Presidency Ireland took off into the new Economic Development Program of Whitacher put in place by the FF Lemass government.
The gross national product[GNP] under the First Program increased by 15%; production by 28%; imports by 30% personal expenditures by 5% and car registration by 29.5 %
Over 350 foreign owned companies were attracted to Ireland by tax breaks and lack of import export duties.
A peaceful social rebvolution was occuring.
Television was introduced to the nation in 1962 with the opening of a state television station. RTE
Modern Catholisizm was absorbed from abroad following the Second Vatican Council.
A new generation not out of the revolutionary mode appeared in offices in the civil service, in privte business, in farming and in the streets of bohemian pub oriented Dublin.
Ireland assumed enthusiasm for its new social , cultural and economic progressions just tolerating the old traditional Ireland of conservative national ideology.
As Ireland remolded itself economically and governmentaly into an efficient streamlined corporate state where decisiions were made on managerial level, canditions in the north once more came to the fore.
The English Exchecher in its returned and subsidised residual tax payments suppressed the populous with its National Insurance payments, welfare benefits and agricultural subsidies.
Industry was productive.
Personal income in the north was 38% higher than in the Republic.
Secondary school compleation in the north was higher than in the south.
In the north University attendance was greater and more available to the qualified poor student.
unemployment benefits were twice as high as in the south.
Old age pensions were granted in the north at 65 as compared to 70 in the Republic and a higher pound rate was paid.
Childrens allowance rates were higher in the Republic than in the north.
Health benefits were greater in the north than in the south.
The north allowed a burial grant of 25 pounds. In the south none were allowed.
8000 new state assisted houses were built in the Republic and 9000 in the north.
Taxes in the north were much higher than in the Republic.
The north still maintained a Builders taxpayers subsidy applied by Lord Randolf Churchhill in 1888 contributing 100 milion a year towards the support of the political state in the north.
The north through the 50's and 60's continued to suffer from institutionalized discrimination through out its constituancys in education, housing, religious tolerance, job opportunites , government consern and voting privileges with total Unionist control over local affairs.
When Terrance O Neill of the Antrim O Neills ,became Prime Minister of the north in 1963 and moved into the Prime Mininsters residence at Stormont Castle a new attempt was made between north and south to hold discussions.
These talks were being encouraged by both Whitaker in the south and Harold Wilson of London.
As a go between T K Whitaker negociated between the 2 leaders the historic O Neill/Lemass meeting at Stormont in 1965.
Within a month O Neill returned the visit arriving in Dublin on Febrary 9 1965.
By midsummer these inter island visits became so frequent they no longer made headlines.
The North Ireland Border Commission began a review of electoral borders in 1965.
At Dungannon ,County Tyrone agitation was begun in 1963 for a fairer distribution of housing mushrooming into the Campaign for Social Justice.Major General Montgomery and such sages as Goerge O Brien of University College Dublin and the trade unionist Louie Bennett continued its work under the leadership of Dr J Dempsey General Manager of Aer Lingus and Earnest Blythe a southern prodistant former Finance Minister in Cumman na nGaedheal and Director of the Abby Theater.
This group with other individuals both north and south worked to improve relations and understanding of the two geographical regions of the island.
The Belfast Telegraph ran an editorial line favorable to ending the absolute rule of the Unionist political party in the north encouraging its readers to vote labor and encouraging a 'New Departure' in the north from its fastened and bigoted thinking.
The two governments spurred on by the successful Lemas/ O Neill innicative began cooperative ventures in agriculture, veternary medicine, marketing and agrarian development and other joint schemes were approached.
Border crossing 'Checkpoint Charile' routines were removed.
Power useage and common fuel supplies were set for exchange the south running out of peat and the north dependant on imported coal.
A nuclear reactor project was canceled.
50s pg 6
At the 50th aniversary of the Rising, Easter 1966 the south suffered some setback in that credit restrictions and private controls on high prices and sluggish prodiction rates led to cut backs on developmental programs for the poor rural areas giving greater accent to the twilight of rural thatched covered cottage Ireland.
However in the mid 60s English was no longer a given as rural poor flocked not to England or America but to their own urban centers.
A more inclusive attitude had gripped the general public of Ireland reflecting the 4 Ps play, prayer progress and partition.
Ireland young are expressing a new sence of realism ,enlightened in world view ,aware of the world outside and exibiting a sober constructivness as to their own future taking the reigns of this in hand themselves from within the embronic country.
The Church itself began to change as the social status entry of poor country boys to the Brothers or the Fathers was removed
[although I wouldnt be to sure about that on a picture produced by my son in 2007 visit showing a large group of young priests strolling along a street with the Bishop in full regalia.]
During 1965 and 66 several major strikes took place in the Republic which FF characteristicall opposed.
A confrontation began in October '65 when the ITA [Irish Telephonist Association] picketed to gain recognition.
An injunction was put out by the courts but the strikers paid no heed.
Three were jailed which provoked the ITA rank and file to picket the Dial itself.
FF invoked the Offences Against the State Act as Lemas considered the strikers involving themselves in anti state behavior.
The National Busworkers however pleged support for the ITA along with dock workers and the workers of Goulding Fertilizer walked off the job challenging the ITGWU to join them.
The jailed ITA members began a hunger strike provoking a 1500 man march on their behalf threw the streets of Dublin demanding the National Council of Civil Liberties seek the realease of the jailed hunger strikers.
This was accomplished by an agreement between the Attorney General and the strikers that they would not picket the Dial.
In January 1966 The ICU advised its membership to accpt a 1 pound a week wage increase only.
At this time Lemass had resigned from the PM office and politics in 1965 and the acting Prime Mininster was Jack Lynch who won the election and took this office in his own right in January 1966.
Several trade groups like the confectionary workers, enginering crafts and dock workers went on strike.
FF announced a 3% ceiling on wage increases further antagonizing the rank and file union members and escalating the strikers work stoppage.
During that period General Electric Co, an American multi national known for its anti union views was challenged to accept a union shop.
ITGWU was organizign in the Shannon Industrial Estates subsidiary EI but company management refused to negociate with the union.
380 members walked out-mainly female workforce.
Nearby Aer Lingus workers refused o move goods for EI.
When Court issued an injuntion it was ignored.
EI hired strike breakers.
The IRA intervened burning the buses used to bring in the strike breakers.
FF tried neutrality but more or less sided with the Company viewing the strike as an impediment to the industrialization program of the government which gave the tax breaks and outright grants in aid to the incoming multinationals.As well as
the lower wages paid to women workers under the FF program to keep women in the home-part of the Catholic Social Doctrine-.
When ITGWU threatened to call a national work stoppage a hasty arbitration was arranged wherby EI took back the striking workers giving the union recognition and reversing FF's policy of givng grants to any multinational not accepting pre existing unions.
ESB [Electricity Suppy Board] workers went on strike followed by the Day Workers Association.
Hillery, the FF Mininster of Labor immediately invoked the Special Powers Act which provided a 5000 pound fine for the union support in a strke, 100 a day fine for the union and a 25 pound fine for individual strikers.
Some 50 of the strikers were jailed.
A national shutdown of electrical supplies was threatened and FF capitulated beginning negociations to release the jailed strikers.
It was agreed that managment should pay their fines and provide taxis at MountJoy jail to take the strikers to their homes.
Ff continued to find ways to legislate against strikes but the rank and file union members remaned militant forcing the union leaders to weaken suppor for Fianna Fail.
By 1967 NICRA [North Ireland Civil Rights Association] demanded improvements in the provinces living conditions.
A one man one vote was demanded with an end to gerrymandering local voting districts.
A housing points system to fairly distribute housing allotments was stated.
In October the Civil Rights march to Derry was attacked by a mob consising of hysterical hard line unionists and RUC militants smattered with violent B Special forces.
The south Irish labor front backed the NI demands sending a pristegious delagation to the north.
The violence associated with repressing the NI march brought rection from the IRA forces still intact and on cease fire but not disbanded from its 56-62 border campaign in the north against British targets.
The IRA had failed to achieve its objective during those 6 years of bringing Great Britain to the negociating table over partition of the island.
With escalation of the frustrational sectarian rebel violence in the streets of Derry spreading eastward to Belfast and about the countryside the Labor government of Great Britain sent in the British Army in 1969 to quell the rebellion and re establish stability.
This however was not to be the decade ending with the now famous 'You are entering Free Derry' signs appearing in the Bogside Catholic ghetto and Citizens Defence Councils springing up in both Belfast and Derry.
With the IRA reconstuting itself into split factions represeted by the Official IRA based in the south and the Provincial IRA devolved from the northern command.
In America the dispersed Irish Americans assimilated and urbanized- almost vanished- saw television pictures of the north and the batoning but had no understanding or consept of what was happening in the north of Ireland.
In the republic people held their breath not wanting their lives disrupted.
IOn 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong stepped from his space capsule on the moon sending back the message
'One small step for Man. One giant step for Mankind.
Judi Donnelly
Copyright October 10 2007
sourses: Ireland a Social and Cultural History, Terrance Bron,Harper Perenial,2004
Fianna Fail and irish Labor, Kieran Allen,Pluto Press,1997
Ireland Since the Rising, T P Coogan, Frederick Praeger Publishing 1966
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