BEIR BUA

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement yesterday released a national issue of our newsletter Beir Bua. It contained the following article:

The 32CSM offers political analysis to the Irish people and to republicans in particular, concerning the strategic development and direction of politics on this island. In discharging this role we would like to draw attention to particular patterns of political manoeuvring aimed at criminalising republicans.

All republicans and most Sinn Fein supporters would agree that during the pre-1994 phase of the war, the IRA had a reputation for telling the truth and shouldering responsibility, even when that meant facing political difficulties. The British, however, were quick to tell lies and cover-up their military and dirty tricks operations. They were experts at conducting misinformation campaigns and legal whitewashes when the weight of evidence became too much.
The key difference between the IRA’s approach to truth-telling and the British Government’s approach was that the IRA had no material interest in the Six County political establishment; they were not concerned about the jobs or reputations of politicians or what the next milk-round of funding might bring.

Since 1994, republicans have been asked to swallow lie after lie as the compromised, corrupt leadership of the Provisional movement busied themselves with the task of administering British rule in Ireland while at the same time feathering their personal nests, be it holiday homes in the Free State or property portfolios abroad. There seems little need to rehearse the list of lies about decommissioning, Stormont, or internal settlements. Most people are also aware of the cover-up lies and spin doctoring that accompanied the killing of, Joe O’Connor, Paul Quinn and others. And who can forget the desperate flurry of lies following the Columbia 3 affair and the Northern Bank robbery. Add to this such dirty tricks as the use of the Red Hand Defender codeword to claim the killing of Ex Pow Barney McDonald in Dungannon and the ongoing process of sending themselves bullets in the post and only one conclusion is possible: the transformation from revolutionary republicans to reactionary British ministers is complete.

For the record, republicans have nothing to gain from threatening or attacking Sinn Fein members, indeed, it would be a counterproductive exercise. Examples of this was the despicable attempts by Gerry Adams to try and blame republicans for the death of Martin Meehan. Weather or not these threats exist is another story, if they did they were wrong and republicans would have nothing to do with them. The mysterious saga of how bullets in the post obligingly turn up every time Sinn Fein needs to divert attention or gain sympathy is best understood by asking yourself the question: Who benefits? It’s certainly not ‘dissidents’ and probably not even loyalists. There is a possibility that MI5 is behind the operation as their interests are best served by a well-bonded Sinn Fein united against (imaginary) external threats. However, if this were true, it would effectively be a matter of one branch of the British Government sending bullets via the Royal Mail to another branch of the British Government. Stranger things have happened.

At present, the 32CSM is concerned that this pattern of devious political behaviour is discernable in attempts to criminalise republicans. The recent use of the cover-name the “Irish Republican Liberation Army” to spuriously claim an IRA operation and to issue threats to Sinn Fein is worrying. Information in the possession of the 32CSM strongly suggests that the IRLA label has been devised by a few loosely linked criminal gangs in the Strabane, E-Tyrone and Belfast areas. The 32csm would like to disassociate ourselves from the following individuals and their activities; Frank Nolan and Joe Clarke (Dublin), Paddy Fox and Kevin Sutton (E-Tyrone), Ben Brady and Ben Stewart (Strabane) these people are in no way connected with the republican movement.
The activity of these individuals serves the combined interests of Sinn Fein and broader British establishment, including MI5. Whatever their agenda is, it is not a republican one and it should be noted that they have done nothing to challenge British rule either militarily or politically. Another gang, claiming to be members of the Official IRA recently attacked an anti-drugs republican activist in Bundoran. These individuals were protecting the interests of loyalist and criminal drugs dealing network that the 32CSM had uncovered along the border.

The obstacles facing republicans are enormous but we are determined to surmount them and to rebuild the strength of the movement. We have tried to show in this article that careful analysis of the techniques of our enemies is crucial to counteracting their attempts to criminalise and ultimately destroy republicanism.