In tribute of a gallant life long Irish Republican and patron of Republican Sinn Féin Óglach Dan Keating, Born on the 2nd January 1902

Dan Keating was born on a small farm near Castlemaine, in Kerry. Dan joined Na Fianna Éireann in 1918 and in 1920, during the era of the Irish War of Independence, he joined the 3rd Battalion, 1st Kerry Brigade of the Irish Republican Army. Like a majority of the Kerry IRA, he rejected the sellout Anglo-Irish treaty that enacted the partition of Ireland in 1921 and went on to fight on the Republican side in the Irish Civil War. He was involved in operations in Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary, before his column was arrested by Free State Forces. He spent seven months in Portlaoise Prison and the Curragh internment camp before being released in March 1923. Dan remained an active IRA volunteer for a long time after the Civil War. He was arrested several times during the 1930s on various charges. He was active in London during the 1939/1940 IRA bombing campaign.

He was under constant surveillance by the Irish Free State special branch and involved in virtually every twist and turn of republican politics, over time he acquired iconic status. But he always remained an active, rather than a mere honorary presence. In 1933, he was involved in an attempt to assassinate the leader of the Irish free state fascists Blueshirts, Eoin O’Duffy, during a visit to County Kerry. The attack was to happen at Ballyseedy, where Free State forces had carried out the Ballyseedy Massacre during the Irish Civil War. However, the plot failed when the person travelling with O’Duffy refused to divulge what car the latter would be travelling in. He retired and returned to his native Kerry in 1978, living out the rest of his life with relatives in Knockbrack. He remained loyal to the Irish Republic and refused to accept a state pension because he considered the 26-county free state an illegitimate state which usurped the 1916 Irish Republic.

“All the talk you hear these days is of peace. But there will never be peace in Ireland until the people of the 32 counties elect one parliament without British interference.” Dan Keating.

At the time of his death he was Ireland’s oldest man and the last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence. He was buried in Kiltallagh Cemetery, Castlemaine.

In memory of Dónal Céitinn 1902 – 2007

With many thanks to: McKelvey Steele Cumann for the original posting.

RUC/PSNI POLICE STATION CUTS

Security guards being reduced to ONE at Dungannon RUC/PSNI Police base

SECURITY at Dungannon Police Station is to be reduced next month with the number of front gate security guards dropping to only one at any given time, it is claimed.

Dungannon RUC/PSNI Police Station

Fermanagh South Tyrone UUP MLA Rosemary Barton said there are currently two guards on duty at any one time, but the new situation could leave lone, unarmed security officers guarding the gates at Police Stations overnight.

“Prominent RUC/PSNI Police Stations like Dungannon, Cookstown, Enniskillen and Omagh will be reduced to just one civilian security officer at all times from the middle of next month, due to Tory and DUP cuts to the policing budget” she explained.

“The potential security implications are unthinkable and the morale depression for staff, I assume, has not been considered.” The UUP MLA understands that cuts have left the RUC/PSNI almost 1,ooo officers short of the Patten recommendations, the number of stations greatly reduced, and public access to officers “greatly diminished”.

Bye 👋👋👋👋😢😢😢😭😭😭😭

However this is ” another penny clinching exercise, which will come at a serious security risk” she added. Police Federation chairman Mark Lindsay (another unionist spokesperson) said the bottom line must be the security integrity of stations. “How that is handled, and the nature of the contacts that are agreed, are a matter for the RUC/PSNI. ”

However, in any contract, adequate weight has to be placed on contractor resilience and numbers (so long as they aren’t Catholics) of personal deployed to undertake the work (Protestant work for Protestant boys) no change there then? “Safety of officers is uppermost and nothing should be done that calls that into question. ” I appreciate there are budgetary constraints, but nothing should be done that weakens security (so keep the Catholics away and only give the jobs to loyalists) or undermines the quality of the services provided.” The RUC/PSNI said it does not comment on specific security arrangements.

With many thanks to the: Tyrone Courier for the original story.

 

‘Paisley out’ billboard unveiled

Sinn Féin launched a billboard campaign in North Antrim yesterday to mark the final week of a petition that could unseat Ian Paisley.

The party unveiled a large advertisement in Ballycastle, stating: ‘Paisley out’. The petition opened last month. Centres in Ballymena, Ballymoney and Ballycastle will remain open until next Wednesday.

If 10 per cent of registered voters sign, Mr Paisley must resign and a by-election will be triggered. The first recall petition in UK parliamentary history was launched following the DUP MP’s suspension from the House of Commons.

Mr Paisley was suspended for 30 sitting days after he failed to declare two luxury family holidays to Sri Lanka, paid for by the country’s government. Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan said: “We have been campaigning since the petition was launched and it is very clear that there is a huge deal of anger right across the constituency at both the DUP and Ian Paisley jnr. “However, it’s important that people turn that anger into action by signing the petition and ensuring there are real consequences for a lack of integrity in public office.”

With many thanks to: Suzanne McGonagle and The Irish News for the original story.

Syria war: Israel accused of strikes on Iranian airbase

Israeli soldiers at an army base in the Israeli – annexed Syrian Golan Heights look out across the border

A military base in eastern Syria used by Iranian drone operators and air-defence systems has been hit by a series of missiles, in an attack Damascus blamed on Israel.

State media said one Israeli jet was hit and others “repelled” as its armed forces responded to the attack last night on the Tiyas base near Palmyra.

However reports from the ground said that a number of soldiers at the base, either from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or allied militias, were killed. The regime confirmed damage to the base.

There was no comment from Israel but nor were there any reports of Israeli planes having been brought down.

Tiyas, also known as T4, is a key way-station for Iranian advisers operating in Syria and for the co-ordination of loyal militias, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah. Russia also operates at Tiyas but its facilities are separate to Iran’s and have never been targeted by Israel.

Tiyas was previously hit in February after an Iranian-operated drone entered Israeli airspace, and in April, when the target was reportedly a recently delivered advanced anti-aircraft system.

On the latter occasion, the Iranian authorities made a rare admission that seven of its men, including an officer, had been killed, and they took revenge in an attempted missile attack on Israeli positions in the Golan Heights in May.

It is not clear what prompted the attack last night. The Syrian regime is currently besieging and negotiating a surrender agreement for a major rebel enclave in southwestern Syria on the border with Jordan and the Golan.

Israel has demanded from Russia guarantees that Hezbollah and other Iranian-aligned forces will be kept away from the border. However, it is not clear whether Russia has accepted that or been able to force agreement from either Iran or the Syrian regime.

Israel has not objected in principle to Damascus resuming control of the border but has said that it will not tolerate an Iranian military presence in Syria, and particularly not in the border area. This latest raid may have been a message to show Israel’s seriousness.

The Syrian army was laying siege to the rebel-held part of the city at the heart of the enclave, Daraa, this morning. Under a deal announced over the weekend rebels agreed either to surrender or to be transferred to the last major rebel pocket, in Idlib to the northwest but that deal has yet to be implemented.

The United Nations said that an informal encampment on the Jordan border of 60,000 people fleeing the latest bout of fighting and aerial bombardment had dispersed after the area fell to regime troops. However, hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced elsewhere.

With many thanks to: The Times and The Sunday Times for the original story.

 

 

 

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Number of homes paying ‘Bedroom Tax’ in the north trebles in six months.

THE number of homes in the North of Ireland hit by the ‘bedroom tax’ has more than trebled in six months – despite Stormont pledges to prevent the controversial welfare cut.

Top-up payments to mitigate against the cut ended for 86 housing benefit claimants in the period between October and March. It comes after The Irish News revealed last October, right, the bedroom tax had arrived in the north, as it emerged 35 claiments were no longer receiving the top-ups.

The British government policy sees housing benefit claiments have their payments reduced if their home is deemed to have more bedrooms than they need. In the North of Ireland, mitigation measures were passed before Stormont’s collapse so that claiments have their benifits topped up from a separate fund.

The funding was supposed to protect people from being financially worse off due to the tax until 2020. However, under the provisions, people stop receiving the extra money if they move to another Housing Executive or Housing association property that has the same or more bedrooms than their previous home.

The payments are cut unless the claiment has ‘management transfer status’ due to issues such as being intimidated out of their home. SDLP deputy leader Nichola Mallon, who received the details in a letter from the Department for Communities, expressed her concern.

“The latest official figures from the Department for Communities show that number of households being hit with the bedroom tax across the north has more than trebled in a few short months, with people in West Belfast worst hit,” she said. “More and more individuals and families already struggling to make ends meet will be forced to pay this tax on any spare bedroom in their home.”

The constituencies most affected in the six months to March were West Belfast, where supplementary payments ended for 15 claiments; South Belfast with 13 claiments impacted; and Foyle with eight. The tax was introduced in Britain back in 2013 and came into force in the North of Ireland in February last year. It applies to tenants in Housing Executive or housing association houses.

Funding to mitigate against it was pledged in November 2016 under the ‘Fresh Start’ deal between the DUP and Sinn Féin, after the party pulled out of the earlier Stormont House deal in 2015. Sinn Féin had initially claimed the Stormont House measures would protect “current and future” claiments but amid criticism walked away saying it was not what they thought they had agreed to.

Mrs Mallon, an MLA for North Belfast added: “Sinn Féin and the DUP jointly promised people no-one would have to pay the bedroom tax. The question these 89 households will rightly want answered is why were they misled?”

The DUP and Sinn Féin did not respond yesterday, but a Sinn Féin spokesman last year said the party is “totally opposed to the Tory bedroom tax”. ” That is why we provided a £585m found to mitigate the impact of Tory welfare cuts,” he said. “We have made our position known to the department and we are absolutely opposed to the decision to impose this tax on a small number of households.”

With many thanks to: The Irish News and Brendan Hughes for the origional story.

Luke Jolly (21) – Paedophile Alert – St Neots, Cambridge.

THIS offender has begged not be named on our database – NOT named in the press

A pervert has avoided a prison sentence after he was convicted of grooming what he believed were two young children online

Luke Jolly, 21-years-old of St Neots, appeared at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child

The court was told that Jolly had contacted several profiles online, of which he believed were young girls. He proceeded to send sexually explicit messages describing that he hoped to have sexual intercourse with them. He told the ‘girls’ that they should keep their contact with each other secret.

Jolly had in total contacted four profiles which he believed were aged – 12, 13, 13 and 14 year old girls.

However, the profiles actually belonged to online child protection team Totnes Justice and were infact adult women posing as children.

– Jolly was handed a suspended sentence.

– He was given a two year Sexual Harm Prevention Order

– He was told that he must sign on the sex offenders register for seven years

– Payment of £85 towards the crown prosecution service and a victim surcharge payment to the court of £115 was also made

With many thanks to: UK database for the origional posting.

Army veterans may be protected for alleged historic offences as MPs announce official inquiry

A consultation document drawn up by the Northern Ireland Office on how to handle legacy killings has ruled out protection for Armed Forces veterans.

MPs are to launch a formal inquiry into whether British Armed Forces veterans could be granted amnesty from prosecution for alleged historic offences, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The Commons defence select committee will investigate the possibility of introducing a time limit on prosecutions and will call on high-ranking officials, including the Secretary of State for Defence, Gavin Williamson, and the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright QC, to give evidence.

Currently, veterans from the Troubles face prosecution for alleged historic offences committed nearly fifty years ago, and some MPs have claimed that recent prosecutions of former British soldiers amount to a “witch-hunt”.

The disclosure follows proposals made last month by the Northern Ireland Office on how to handle deaths during the Troubles that included ruling out a time limit on prosecutions of servicemen.

Theresa May has previously labelled the treatment of North of Ireland veterans as “patently unfair” but has so far refused to commit to introducing a statute of limitations.

Four senior Cabinet members have expressed their misgivings over the exclusion of an amnesty and Theresa May has labelled the treatment of Northern Ireland veterans as “patently unfair”, but has so far refused to commit to introducing a statute of limitations.

The inquiry, which is expected to last around six months, could put further pressure on the government to include such a provision in any proposals addressing the legacy of the Troubles.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, who has called for the introduction of a statute of limitations on a UK-wide basis which would also cover other conflicts including Afghanistan and Iraq, said he “welcomed” the inquiry.

Sir Jeffrey, a senior DUP member, said: “It’s appropriate that the defence committee should be looking at this rather than the Northern Ireland office … the MoD should be taking the lead in terms of putting in place the kind of protections armed forced needs when going into combat.”

Timeline | The Troubles

• 1969

  The British Army deploys to Belfast and Londonderry after serious riots. The Irish Republican Army splits into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA.

• 1971

  Internment begins. 7,000 people flee, 14 are shot dead and more than 300 arrested.

• 1972

  Bloody Sunday: 13 civilians are shot dead by the Army during a civil-rights march in Londonderry.

• 1974

  The Provisional IRA kill 21 in the Birmingham pub bombing, and five in Guildford. Prevention of Terrorism Act introduced.

• 1975

  Ceasefire between Provisional IRA and UK government until July. Internment ends.

• 1979

  Airey Neave, shadow spokesman on Northern Ireland, is murdered by an Irish National Liberation Army car bomb as he leaves the Houses of Parliament.

• 1981

  Republican prisoners in the Maze prison go on hunger strike. MP Bobby Sands dies.

• 1984

  Provisional IRA bomb the Conservative Party conference in Brighton, killing five.

• 1985

  Anglo-Irish Agreement signed, accepting that the Dublin government had to have an input into Northern Ireland.

• 1987

  Remembrance Day service in Enniskillen bombed.

• 1994

  Loyalist paramilitaries announce a ceasefire negotiated by members and activists across Northern Ireland. It lasts for 17 months.

• 1996

  Political talks at Stormont begin with Sinn Féin. A bomb in London’s Docklands kills two, ending the ceasefire.

• 1997

  The Provisional IRA renews the ceasefire in July. Sinn Féin signs Mitchell Principles to start taking part in peace talks.

• 1998

  Good Friday Agreement ends 30 years of violence. Ulster Unionist David Trimble is elected First Minister. The Real IRA kills 29 civilians in a bomb attack in Omagh. Small-scale violence continues.

Institutions to deal with the legacy of the conflict, including a Historical Investigations Unit to take forward outstanding investigations into Troubles-related deaths, were agreed in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement, although an amnesty was not among them.

However, the agreed proposals have been put on hold due to a small number of outstanding disputes and a public consultation was launched last month by Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to try and break the political impasse.

With many thanks to the: Daily Telegraph for the origional story.

British Secretary of State refuses to meet Derry’s council to discuss release of republican prisoner Tony Taylor

The British Secretary of State Karen Bradley has refused to meet a delegation from Derry’s council to discuss the release of the republican prisoner Tony Taylor.

It comes after Derry City and Strabane District Council agreed to send a letter to Ms Bradley seeking a meeting to discuss the ongoing incarceration of Mr Taylor, who has spent over 800 days in jail since his licence was revoked in March 2016.

However, the Secretary of State has said she will not be meeting with the delegation.

The news came at yesterday’s monthly meeting of the local council, where the Chief Executive John Kelpie read out Ms Bradley’s response to the council’s letter.

With many thanks to: Derry Now for the origional story.

The British Government Planned Genocide of the Irish–in 1972

Edward Heath

FOR CENTURIES THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT have tried to suppress and exterminate their neighbours the Irish. But that’s all ancient history, isn’t it? Unfortunately, no. A formerly secret document outlines a brazen plan by the British government to commit what can only be described, in international legal context, as genocide against the Protestant and Catholic populations of the British mini-statelet of Northern Ireland, created in 1921.

Admirers of Britain’s ruling class will have a tough time explaining away a shocking top-secret document from July 1, 1972 released in 2003 by Britain’s Public Records Office. The 21-page document, or appendix—of which there were only 10 copies produced—was a closely held “contingency plan” by the then-government of “Conservative” British Prime Minister Edward Heath (PM from June 19, 1970 to March 4, 1974).

The plan would have ordered the forcible removal of 200,000 to 300,000 Irish Catholics out of Northern Ireland and into the Republic of Ireland. Protestants would also be forced to migrate. A total of one-third of Northern Ireland’s population would be shuffled around.

The appendix states categorically that such a plan could not be accomplished peacefully and would require complete ruthlessness “in the use of force.”

The document, Redrawing the Border and Population

Transfer, was signed by Sir Burke Trend, Heath’s cabinet secretary (in office from 1963 to 1973). It was written jointly by representatives of the foreign secretary, the defence secretary and the British secretary for Northern Ireland, among others.

Evidently, the British rulers did not bother consulting with Ireland’s prime minister, Jack Lynch (served 1966-1977), about the drastic measure, nor with Catholic or Protestant leaders.

The officials advised Heath: “We have, as requested, considered the possibility of redrawing the border with the republic and effecting compulsory transfers of population within Northern Ireland or from Northern Ireland to the republic.”

Under the terms of this scheme, which the drafters said should be considered only in case of an “extremely grave emergency,” London’s ruling class intended to cede some territory on the border to the Irish Republic, from which land some 200,000 Protestants would then be moved into what remained of British Northern Ireland. At the same time, some 300,000 Catholics would be forced into the Republic of Ireland.

British officials noted that “military planning [was] well in hand” for the purpose of effecting the dual transfers, but recognized that there was the possibility of “outrage from the United States and other British allies” and that the scheme would be problematic in terms of implementation.

However, the fact remains that the so-called “democratic” government of Britain was actually considering such a plan. The only reason the plan was rejected was due to practical grounds, rather than any principled objection to the forced resettlement of half a million people.

Had the plan been carried out, both the Irish Catholics and the Irish Protestants could have charged the British government with genocide under the terms of the international Genocide Convention.
Genocide is defined in the convention as the commission of any of a number of enumerated acts “with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.”

The acts specifically cited in implementing legislation for the convention include killing, inflicting serious bodily injury, or causing mental impairment through torture or drugs of members of the group.

Also cited is the subjection of the victimized group to conditions of life designed to bring about its demise, restricting births within the group or transferring, by force, children of the group to another group.

Certainly, the forced and forced transfer of the Irish people would therefore constitute the crime of genocide.

It is interesting to note that in 1999, the Tony Blair government of Britain faked “outrage” over allegations that the Yugoslavian government of Slobodan Milosevic had drawn up a plan to forcibly relocate Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian population.

No evidence of this claimed plan, designated “Operation Horseshoe,” was ever presented.

Yet the British ruling class asserted that the very possibility of the existence of such a plan justified NATO’s ensuing bombardment of Yugoslavia, which inevitably killed at least 500 civilians (some sources say 1,200 to 5,700).

There has been no call by the present British government for the 1972 British genociders to be held to account.

ENDNOTE:
1. Incidentally, 1972 was the bloodiest year of Northern Ireland’s 25-year civil war. On “Bloody Sunday,” January 30, British troops shot 27 unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry, 14 of whom died.

MICHAEL COLLINS PIPER is a prolific author, journalist, media critic, talk show host and marketing professional residing in Washington, D.C. He has been active in the Revisionist movement for 28 years.

With many thanks to: Fairsociety.ie written by: Michael Collins Piper

Source : http://www.fmotl.com/BritsPlannedGenocideOfIrishIn1972..htm

New fears over Brexit timetable

A secret report warns that Britain’s borders and databases will not be ready for the EU trade deal at the end of 2020

MPs on the Brexit Select Committe are seeking an extension of the article 50 process beyond next March.

Britain’s customs system will not be ready in time for the start of its new relationship with the European Union at the end of 2020, according to a damning report presented in secret to senior cabinet ministers last week.

The readiness assessment, drawn up by senior civil servants, was given to Theresa May’s Brexit war cabinet on Tuesday afternoon. But ministers did not get a chance to study it properly before the meeting was cut short by a Commons vote.

The cabinet was told it would have to sign up in Brussels this week to a transition phase lasting 21 months from the date of Brexit next March, with a new trade deal kicking in at the end of December 2020. David Davis, the Brexit secretary, announced on Thursday that Britain would accept the EU’s target date of March 29, 2019.

Cabinet sources, however, said a study of readiness across a whole range of sectors revealed that not enough work has been done to prepare key organisations, computer systems and staff for the end of the transition phase.

A cabinet source said: “The paper was on the end date for the implementation period. It was only circulated to ministers at the meeting with 15 minutes’ reading time. It was the EU that has offered December 31, 2020. Nothing else is negotiable. But we won’t be ready on everything by then, notably customs.”

Another said: “The readiness updates showed there were problems with borders and databases, which won’t be ready in time.”

Details of the cabinet paper emerged after MPs on the Brexit select committee called for the prime minister to request an extension of the EU’s article 50 process beyond next March.

The move led to a split in the select committee, with dissenting Tory and Democratic Unionist Party Brexiteers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, writing their own “minority report” that contradicted the rest of their colleagues.

Davis will travel to Brussels today and meet the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to discuss the final terms of the transition deal. May will attend a summit there on Thursday and Friday where the other member states are expected to rubber stamp that deal and issue instructions for negotiating the trade deal.

Today senior Eurosceptics, including the former cabinet ministers David Jones and Owen Paterson, have written to Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president. The letter warns them to stop bullying Britain during negotiations — or risk the UK walking away without paying the £40bn exit bill.

“No amount of threats, scaremongering and bullying will make us change our mind” on Brexit, says the letter, which has been copied to the European Council president, Donald Tusk, and the European parliament’s Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt. “The alternative is that we just leave, in which case the people of the UK will simply not tolerate paying to the EU the very large sums being talked about.

@shippersunbound

With many thanks to: The Times, The Sunday Times for the origional story.