The Killing of Kieran Doherty

May all the Gods rest Kieran Doherty. I never knew nor heard of the man while he was alive but, his family and friends will grieve with all the genuine heartache and sorrow that the sudden and horrific loss of a loved one brings. Thankfully I cannot begin to imagine the pain they must be enduring at this time and the pain that will stay with them for a long time to come but, I hope they find the strength somehow to bear it.

The organisation calling itself The Real IRA has tonight, (Thursday) admitted that it was responsible for the killing. It offered information to the media about Mr Doherty, which it claimed was true and which it believed justified the killing.

Enough bodies were disappeared or dumped on border roads and city streets in the past to make it clear that even if you then agreed with a strategy of executing certain people for certain alleged activities - plenty of mistakes were made. One mistake is one far too many. That’s not even beginning to take into account the terrible fact that in the very dirty war that went on here, MI5 and all the other British security services were wading knee deep in the blood of those they wanted out of the way and they had huge success in recruiting agents from within organisations to accuse and execute members of their own organisation. Nothing justifies the killing of Kieran Doherty. Those days are gone and not soon enough.

I don’t know who The Real IRA are, or what their ideology is and I sometimes get them confused with The 32 County Sovereignty Movement and yet another new group calling itself Oglaigh na h-Eireann. I am aware that all of these relatively new groupings have at some time or another said that their aim is to remove Britain from Northern Ireland by the use of armed struggle. The fact that something is said does not always make it so.

To have an ideology you must have all three elements that constitute an ideology. Without all three elements you cannot have an ideology:

(1) You have to know and understand the situation that you find yourself in at present.

(2) You have to know where you want to be and what achievements you want to attain in the future.

(3) You have to have a REALISTIC plan of action that will take you from the present to the future you desire.

It’s very clear that the third and most important element of having an ideology is missing from any public statements so far from any of these organisations and so we have no real way of knowing for sure if they actually have an ideology or not. Unless and until they produce one, it’s fair to assume they don’t have one. Without one it seems impossible for this or any other group to allege that it has a higher political purpose that justifies the use of violence.

Of course there will be an even bigger crowd of politicians and commentators tomorrow, rushing red-faced to get on television and radio to churn out yet more crocodile tears for a man they never knew nor heard of. For the vast majority of them, their only interest is publicity for themselves or a free kick at their opponents. Trying to make political capital out of someone else’s distress is sickening. It was true for all those years of the war and it's just as true today.

The family and friends of Kieran Docherty have asked the media to stay away from their home and not to contact them. Let’s hope they are afforded that.

My hope is that there are no more left like Kieran Doherty was and no more families left to pick up the pieces. The hope is that the people who carried this attack out will stop and think of all that has passed and all that was achieved. Maybe they will even stop and think of all that was NOT achieved and cannot be achieved now.

There are huge differences of opinion among republicans since the ending of the armed struggle and the beginning of the campaign for Stormont by New Sinn Fein. It’s perfectly healthy and in-keeping with being a good republican to debate and fiercely disagree – even fundamentally – on the direction New Sinn Fein have travelled. There are many who could never vote for a DUP/New SF ticket and all that that means but, the truth is that armed conflict will not improve on the situation and will only bring more misery and darkness to those utilising it and those who are victims of it.

Jesus Christ Gerry - What Next?!

Big Gerry Adams kicked off the Channel 4 series, The Bible: A History last night and kicked off His big shoes that He had been “ploughing in all day” to swish His big sweaty kebs around in the filthy, polluted waters of the River Jordan. It was a strange thing to watch and kind of uncomfortable. I was reminded of David Frosts’ comment regarding President Nixon, “The man suffered from total lack of any real personality outside of politics”.

Big Gerry cut a linear one-dimensional figure that parroted and regurgitated old republican clichés about Sinn Fein being once an underground movement and the tomb of Jesus being like a Long Kesh Tunnel. He seemed totally unable to think outside His own narrow experience of Northern Ireland. It was a case of me; me, me, me, me, me and did I remember to mention ME?!

Jesus and the bible did get a bit of a look in with Big Gerry reading drone-like from the Gospels and talking about how Christmas was ruined now that it was revealed that Jesus was most likely born in Nazareth and not on December 25th. He also commented on how Barrabas could be seen by some as freedom fighter and not a terrorist. A bit like Big Gerry Himself again really, me, me, me!

I can’t say with any certainty how flattered Jesus and Barrabas must feel to be talked about and compared to Big Gerry Himself but, I’m sure that Big Gerry feels a lot better about Himself now that He has given some credit to these two biblical dudes for all His own achievements in Northern Ireland.

He told us how He had forgiven those who had hurt Him and how we all need the capacity to forgive and be forgiven. Wonder where He heard that one?

It’s not difficult to see why this man has never given too much away about His private life or why He has never given any insights into His personality outside of His military and political life. He has nothing to say that’s interesting and if He hadn’t had the constant prepping and guidance of those behind Him and above Him pulling His strings all these years, then He may well have been found today having been promoted from glass-washer to pulling pints in the Duke of York Bar where He would talk, talk, talk to any punter who would listen to Him about er, um, er, um, Himself.

To be honest though I can’t say I blame Him – if someone had offered me a free all expenses paid holiday in the Holy Lands and ten grand spending money, I would have been away in a shot , (blank cartridge of course) to talk complete shite too! Nice work if you can get it.

Myths and Claims

Recently in the media it has been inferred that IRA volunteers and members of the republican family/community were forbidden to contact the RUC under any circumstances about anything. Some commentators inferred that this was the position of the republican leadership and was understood and accepted by all in the republican community. This myth was offered as a reason why certain alleged crimes by certain alleged republicans and those who were aware of them, were kept secret. I have never been aware of an actual IRA volunteer or leader who has expressed this law at ay time during the conflict. In fact quite the opposite was true in numerous circumstances.

IRA volunteers were correctly and actively encouraged to make complaints to their solicitors against the RUC and Special Branch when they had been abused and tortured by them. This was intended to result in court cases against the RUC/Special Branch/British Army. This tactic was intended to maximise the amount of cases won in court against them so that international opinion could be influenced and mobilised against British torture. It was also a means to clog up the legal system and often resulted in financial rewards for successful compensation claims. A further benefit was that it could put pressure on the interrogation staff and their masters to reduce the amount and extent of torture used on volunteers. Utilising the Northern Ireland legal system itself to fight against the inherent injustice of the Northern Ireland legal system was a perfectly good strategy and no one had any problem with that after the "Refuse to Recognise the Court" days were over.

IRA volunteers and supporters were also encouraged to claim for social security payments to increase their personal security after they had been contacted by the RUC to inform them that they were officially being informed that loyalist death squads intended to kill them. The volunteer would have to make a statement that the RUC were aware that loyalists now had their personal details. The volunteer or community member would have to tell the social security staff that the RUC would be the witness to confirm the death threat and this would secure a payment for security equipment to be installed at the intended victims’ home.

During the conflict anyone who ever had their car stolen or hijacked or their house broken into, had to go to the RUC to make an official complaint and to give all information pertaining to the crime or it would be impossible to have an insurance claim or any kind of financial reimbursement. This was also the case for the thousands of houses that were taken over by the IRA for operations - if there had been any damage caused to the property. The same was true of anyone whose giro social security payment went missing in the post – the RUC had to be contacted and a statement made or no new giro could be issued.

All these examples and more were common knowledge and commonly utilised as the norm. All volunteers and all members of the community and anyone else were of course expressly forbidden under any circumstances to contact the RUC with information about IRA operations or activities. That was very different indeed from the everyday necessary registering of civil complaints about everything from a drunken husband punching his wife in the face, or a drunken wife utilising her stiletto heel shoe to leave her husbands head like a golf ball, to even more serious civil crimes. Everyone knew and understood the difference.

There never was a law prohibiting contacting social services or the RUC when it came to civil offences or compensation claims would never have been the big industry that it was and still is here. So there must be some other reason why certain alleged crimes by certain alleged republicans were kept secret by other alleged republicans who claim that they knew all along about the allegations.

Car Bombs Will Not Achieve Freedom

Militant republicans seem sure to be responsible for the car bomb which exploded outside Newry court house last night. The huge bomb neither killed nor injured anyone which is at least something to be thankful for. The mortar bomb attack mounted by militant republicans in Newry in February 1985 and which resulted in the deaths of nine RUC personnel, did not free Ireland and this latest attack won’t achieve that either. The people who planned and engineered last nights device and those who risked their own and others lives delivering it to the courthouse where it was detonated, are at best misguided.

Violence by republicans achieved many things in Northern Ireland. In seventy years of the olde Unionist Stormont the only piece of legislation that a nationalist was ever able to succsessfully get passed, was regarding the protection of birds. Many people still choose to pretend that blatant sectarianism against catholic/nationalists did not exist. There are also many who would say that all those things are in the past and should be forgotten so that we can all make money and prosper happily together now.

The fact remains that we can get a clearer understanding of our present and where we hope to be in the future by taking account of our past. That’s not to say we should forever dwell in it but, it’s vital that we acknowledge it, learn from it and move on.

Catholic/nationalists were discriminated against in; Housing, education, employment, health and all aspects of life here. Nothing would ever have changed had it not been for the campaign by militant republicans. Those who try to minimise the positive achievements of the conflict are either British/unionist propagandists or are deluding themselves.

Those who profess to be nationalists and who attempt to belittle the achievements of the conflict here are numerous also and they have their own selfish interests for this. Tugging the forelock and bending the knee to the landlord can get a guy a good job still in this day and age. If he/she continually minimises and tries to rubbish republican efforts and successes then it can keep him/her in a job or secure further promotion. This is all the more ironic since they more than likely would not have had access to a university education or a career in the first place had it not been for the sacrifices of militant republicans. Still, for some it is better to live in self-imposed denial rather than accept that all that they own is the direct result of the sacrifice of those who own nothing.

That having been said, it is now obvious that the campaign for a 32 county socialist republic was never going to succeed and it is more than highly doubtful now that it was ever genuinely intended to. That ideal was surrendered along with IRA weapons and all the other sacrificed golden cows of republican ideology, and was replaced by a campaign for parity of esteem and the acceptance of Northern Ireland governed by locals on Britain’s behalf. As soon as the hunger strikers had been deemed to have sacrificed enough and reached the point where enough votes could be delivered for the New Sinn Fein leadership to get elected, then it was a forgone conclusion that the IRA would be disbanded and dumped. Jobs in Stormont would be the new goal.

This achieved, the New Sinn Fein leadership held yet another meeting and decided that it would be best to make a clear differentiation in the publics' mind between those who professed to fight for Irish freedom in the past and those who profess to fight for Irish freedom in the present. The Sinn Fein leadership which had always condemned the “politics of condemnation”, now labelled militant republicans as “Dissidents”. The British Government; MI5, RUC/PSNI, unionist politicians and all elements of the embedded media fell into line and agreed that this label would be used at all times and in all reports. This was no small achievement by New Sinn Fein and one that is worth thinking about.

So the embedded media and all the usual suspects in politics and the British security services rushed to comb their hair for the cameras and to rant and rave about the Newry court house bomb. Dissident this and dissident that was the order of the day. The old tactic of telling us how lucky the old pensioners were, not to be blown to bits and the children playing nearby and the disabled people who had just passed the spot was rolled out. They even added a new Polish element where a young Polish couple and their baby were interviewed about how lucky they were not to be killed! How all these people had been outside Newry court house late at night and had miraculously survived without a single scratch is beyond me, but it was on television so it must be true!

That car bomb should not have been left outside that court house. Not one more single shot should be fired by any republican of any hue. Ireland sadly will not be freed from British shackles (chains and monetary) by more violence and more loss of life. An Ireland completely free from British control and influence is impossible. No amount of car bombs or mortar tubes will change that now.

It is a tragedy that British/unionist leaders could not have brought themselves to give universal suffrage equally to all here in 1969. They would have never voluntarily given civil rights and equality to catholic/nationalists. It had to be fought for and achieved on the backs of the thousands of dead from all sides involved in the dirty, filthy conflict. All those dead and injured victims could have been avoided it now seems.

Given two choices in relation to Ireland, Britain has historically always chosen that which is worst for the Irish. Sadly it now seems that the New Sinn Fein leadership were slowly but, surely negotiating to ensure that there could be no viable alternative to their new arrangement with the British. Violence is no longer an option to achieve freedom and it is highly doubtful that it was ever intended to achieve anything other than New Stormont.