Category: Song in Struggle

DEATH BY GARDA VIOLENCE — CAMPAIGNERS STILL LOOKING FOR JUSTICE

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Ireland, Police Violence, Political Analysis, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 5 mins.)

Two members of the Irish Parliament1 and four Dublin municipal Councillors2 accompanied Wheelock family members, neighbours and other campaigners in a march to Store Street Garda3 Station, where Terence Wheelock had received fatal injuries.

The event took place on the afternoon of Saturday 12th September and commenced with a rally outside the GPO. Despite the passing of an anti-Trump visit demonstration of reportedly 25,000 a little earlier, tens of supporters were present for the Wheelock protest.

Terence Wheelock was a young man of 20 years from a working-class area in Summerhill, in the north Dublin inner city in 2005. Leaving his home to purchase some paint brushes to decorate his room, he stopped to talk to some youths beside a recently-stolen car.

When a group of Gardaí arrived, the youths scattered, Terence among them, the Gardaí chasing and detaining four youths including Terence, bringing him to Store Street Garda station. When he left that station apparently some hours later, it was in a coma to the Mater Hospital.

He never recovered consciousness and died three-and-a-half months later.

According to the Wheelock family, the Gardaí who came to inform them of the young man’s whereabouts misinformed them of the location, therefore denying their ability to obtain Terence’s clothes or demand crime scene security of Terence’s cell, which was quickly redecorated.

Relatives and supporters of the Terence Wheelock campaign in front of Store Street Garda station a week ago on Saturday. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

OUTSIDE THE GPO ON SATURDAY

At the rally outside the iconic GPO building in Dublin’s O’Connell Street in the north city centre, one of Terence’s older brothers, Sammy, announced the purpose of the gathering to those present and the many curious passers-by, both resident and visiting.

Sammy took over as coordinator of the campaign for justice regarding Terence from an older brother, Larry, after the latter died of brain cancer in 2019.

Called first to speak was elected Dublin City Councillor Marie Sherlock, a member of the Labour Party, who commiserated with the Wheelock family on their loss and remarked on their persistence in the campaign over the years, vowing to continue supporting them until justice was achieved.

Marie Sherlock speaking at the rally outside the GPO. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Less welcome to my ears and probably to at least some others were her words that she would ‘support the Gardaí’ and ‘the Minister for Justice’ in seeking an inquiry into the cause of Terence Wheelock’s death. ‘Support’ for the Gardaí was far from the tone of most campaign demands.

Next to speak was Daniel Ennis, until fairly recently an elected Dublin City Councillor of the Social Democrats party, which he now represents as a TD (elected representative to the Irish Parliament). Ennis spoke mainly as a resident of primarily a working-class area of Dublin city.

Daniel Ennis TD addressing the pre-march rally at the GPO. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Sammy Wheelock also introduced Gemma Dunleavy, the petit rapper from Sheriff Street background on the north-eastern side of the city centre, who has highlighted the Terence Wheelock case in the past.

Dunleavy performed one of her pieces organised around numbers such as ‘Thirty-seven, the number of photographs taken of injuries on Terence’s body’ and ‘zero, the number of people held accountable for Terence’s death’.

Rapper Gemma Dunleavy outside the GPO performing her piece about the killing of Terence Wheelock. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

After Dunleavy’s performance, Sammy Wheelock announced the intention to march to Store Street Garda station, detention location for two hours of his younger brother Terence in September 2005 before admission to the Mater Hospital in a coma, followed by death three-and-a-half months later.

Sammy also referred to the harassment by Gardaí of the Wheelock family wanting to intimidate them from campaigning.

The march, with banners and placards, proceeded along O’Connell Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, chanting call-and-answer: Say his name: Terence Wheelock! For Justice to be imposed, the guilty must be exposed! What do we Demand?Answers! When do we demand them? Now! What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! Guilty: Garda!

Reaching the Liffey river that bisects the city, the march turned left along Eden Quay,4 then left at Butt Bridge, passing Liberty Hall5 and the monument to James Connolly.6 As they neared Store Street, Sammy pronounced it ‘one of the most corrupt Garda stations in Ireland.’

One of the banners, seen here outside the GPO during the pre-march rally. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

OUTSIDE THE GARDA STATION

Family relatives lined the steps of and with their backs to the Garda station, displaying the campaign’s placards and banners while supporters gathered facing them to listen to speakers.

Dublin City councillors Conor Reddy of the People Before Profit party, Madeleine Johannson (non-party) and Janice Boylan of the Sinn Féin party addressed the crowd, along with James O’Toole of Red Media and, for the second time, Daniel Ennis TD (Soc. Dems).

Conor Reddy speaking outside the Garda station (Paul Murphy, TD may be seen behind, caring for his child which is out of shot). (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Reddy, Ennis and O’Brien all related their origins in working-class areas of Dublin and their familiarity with the hostile attitude of the authorities, especially the Gardaí, to the residents of those areas, particularly the youth. Reddy mentioned another family campaign around Garda violence.

James O’Toole referenced ‘the thin blue line’ used to describe the police and their defence of democracy but pointed out that people’s experience of that ‘blue line’ differed remarkably according to upon which side of the line they found themselves.

O’Toole pointed out that although people from working class areas tend to find themselves universally on the ‘wrong’ side of the ‘blue line’, at times, due to taking militant action, people normally on the ‘right’ side of that line can find themselves subjected to Garda violence.

Boylan, speaking briefly, apologised for her absence from the campaign heretofore but promised support for the future. Reddy spoke about the need for youth social provision, justice system diversion programs and drug prevention treatment facilities for young people.

Sammy Wheelock, brother of Terence and chairperson of the campaign, addressing the crowd outside Store St. Garda station. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Both Sammy and Robert Wheelock, another brother, spoke eloquently from their prepared speeches about the loss of their brother, the effect on their family and in particular on their mother, unable to be present for health reasons but who sent her thanks to those present.

The brothers spoke about the future that Terence never had a chance to experience and the loss also to the daughter he left behind. Both of them also pointed out that although their campaign sought justice in relation to Terence, it implied the need for justice across Irish society.

Sammy called Vera Lynch from Tallaght forward to speak about her own struggle for justice around the killing of her son Stephen Lynch by a hit-and-run driver but the Gardaí, who failed to investigate the crime with any rigour.

Speaking outside the Garda station, Lynch said her son, a father of three, had been knocked down by a car ten years ago and then reversed over but neither multiple phone calls attempting to speak to the investigating Garda nor an email to the Minister of Justice had achieved any result.

Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin in front of Store Street Garda station singing “Summerhill” by Sammy Wheelock. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Sammy introduced Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin to sing Sammy’s lyrics of Summerhill, his song to the air of Spancil Hill.7 Ó Ceannabháin of the PBP party sang the song well, which was no surprise as he is a talented singer in the traditional sean-nós style, from a musical family from Connemara.

At conclusion of the song, Sammy led the crowd in a few more chants directed at the Gardaí, thanked all for their attendance and promised to keep pushing for an independent inquiry into the killing of Terence Wheelock and for measures to ensure no similar experience for anyone in future.

Some youth supporting the rally outside Store Street Garda station – the next generation of Garda targets? (Photo: D.Breatnach)

FOCAL SCOIR

The State’s defenders tend to hope that the grind of the passing years will sap the energy of campaigners or that they will die of ill-health, trauma or old age before any question arises of acknowledging guilt over the behaviour of those defenders and responsibility of the State itself.

In July this year Osgur Breatnach received from the High Court, after decades campaigning, a Certificate of Miscarriage of Justice for his 1978 Sallins Mail Train robbery conviction on the basis of a ‘confession’ obtained, Breatnach has always maintained, through Garda ‘Heavy Gang’ torture.

End.

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FOOTNOTES

1Often incorrectly referred to as ‘the Dáil’ from the also incorrect official title of ‘Dáil Éireann’ (‘Parliament of Ireland’); it lost any claim to that title held since 1919 when in 1999 the State sponsored successfully an amendment to the Constitution of the State to abandon its claim to sovereignty over the Six Counties of the British colony. The two TDs included Paul Murphy, who was not one of the speakers.

2Including Ciaran Perry, non-party, who was present but did not address the crowd.

3An Garda Síochána is the official title of the police force of the Irish State, an officer of the force is a Garda (plural: Gardaí).

4Ironically this street was the scene of a fatal (to two workers) police (DMP) attack on a street rally of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union at the beginning of the Dublin Employers’ Lockout to break the ITGWU. Buildings along this street were damaged and partly demolished by British artillery during the repression of the 1916 Rising.

5Liberty Hall was the title of the HQ of the ITGWU which was demolished after artillery destruction in 1916; it is now the title of the successor to that union following a number of amalgamations leading to the creation of SIPTU which is a far cry from the militancy of even the post-1913 ITGWU.

6One of the Signatories of the 1916 Proclamation of Independence, Commander of Dublin in the 1916 Rising, for which he was one of the 16 executed leaders of the 1916 Rising. Also a leading official of the ITGWU during the Lockout and in the union’s recovery. But also a leading revolutionary socialist, anti-imperialist, historian, author and songwriter.

7Written by Sammy as a tribute to his brother Larry who had founded and chaired the campaign in 2005 until his death in 2019 from brain cancer, Sammy donated the song for all proceeds to go to the Irish Cancer Society.

USEFUL LINKS AND FURTHER READING

Summerhill, Sammy’s lyrics sung by Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin: https://sammywheelockjr.bandcamp.com/track/summerhill

Previous Rebel Breeze articles on the Terence Wheelock campaign:
https://rebelbreeze.com/2023/08/26/protesting-death-of-youth-at-hands-of-garda/

MARCHERS PROTEST TERENCE WHEELOCK’S DEATH, AS YET ANOTHER DIES IN GARDA CUSTODY

Wikipedia entry (not thoroughly sanitised): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Wheelock

ABOUT THE 1981 IRISH HUNGER STRIKES

On By rebelbreezeIn British imperialism, Cultural Comment, History, Indigenous or Original People, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, Irish Republicanism, National Liberation, Palestine, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: mins.)

The last person of the 10 Republican prisoners to die in the 1981 Hunger strikes died on August 20th but hunger strikes continued for a while until relatives began instructing the doctors to give the strikers alimentation.

What can be said about those strikes? Clearly, a tremendous sacrifice requiring immense courage and determination in a non-violent protest by national liberation fighters in jail in a struggle against British colonialism.

Certainly we lost individuals of great worth in that struggle. It may be asked whether the gain was worth the sacrifice or whether the prison struggle might have been fought in some other way.

The medieval Irish society practice of fasting as a means of protest may or may not have been original but it was an important part of the people of India’s struggle against English colonial rule. Palestinian prisoners have used mass and individual hunger strikes on a number of occasions.

The effects of the Irish 1981 hunger strikes were many and wide, most probably far beyond the intentions or expectations of the prisoners. The news went around the world, bringing expressions of solidarity from many regions, including actions by parliaments of various states.

The Islamic Republic of Iran sent delegates to Bobby Sands’ funeral and renamed the street in which stood the British Embassy in Teheran ‘Bobby Sands Street’. The British Embassy to Iran had to give that as their address until they moved their main entrance around the corner.

Bobby Sands Street in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran (Photo sourced: Internet)

Hunger strikers stood in parliamentary elections in Ireland on both sides of the British Border, winning some seats and coming very close to winning some others. One result was that the British changed their electoral laws so that convicted prisoners could no longer stand in elections.

In the Irish state there has not been an outright majority government since that year – every single Irish government since then has been a coalition of one kind or another.

In Britain, the hunger strikes made a huge difference amongst the Irish community there. The 1974 Birmingham Pub Bombings massacre had been jumped on by the British Labour Government to pass the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1974 (now the Terrorism Act 2000).

Probably already drafted, it was brought before Parliament and passed within days, giving the police power to hold suspects for seven days without charge, wide-scale powers of stop and search and interrogation, usually without legal representation for the victim.

Within the year a score of people from the community had been framed on serious charges, convicted and jailed: Birmingham Six, Guildford Four, Maguire Seven, Judith Ward. Subsequently many Irish people stayed away from Irish solidarity marches and meetings – just in case.

The hunger strikes of 1981 blew away much of that fear and the Irish community came out in their thousands in an attempt to save the lives of the hunger-strikers — and have never been cowed down to the previous degree since.

The Irish in Britain Representation Group was formed in 1981 after the refusal of the Federation of Irish Societies to even pass a motion of sympathy for the family of Bobby Sands, who had died only days earlier; the IBRG provided radical and resolute leadership for the next 20 years.

One of a number of songs arising from the 1981 hunger strikes was the Ballad of Joe McDonnell, by Derek Warfield. It is a good song in general but what is most excellent is its chorus, where it turns the accusation of terrorism away from the Resistance and back to British Imperialism.

And you dare to call me a terrorist,
While you look down your guns!
When I think of all the things that you have done:
You have plundered many nations,
Divided many lands,
You terrorised their people,
Ruled with an iron hand …
And you brought the stain of terror to my land.

And it could just as well apply to US Imperialism, EU imperialism and their NATO military alliance.

I have sung the song many times over the years and did so again recently at the weekly Dubs For Palestine gathering outside Leinster House. And more recently still outside the British Embassy. I changed only a couple of words to provide a more optimistic line at the end.

End.

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NATIVE COW AND PATRIOTIC SONG

On By rebelbreezeIn Cultural Comment, Folk Custom, Gaeilge, Indigenous or Original People, Ireland, irish history, Irish Language, National Liberation, Poetry, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: mins.)

It is well known that many Irish patriotic songs contain a figure metaphorically representing Ireland, usually a woman, very often young and beautiful though sometimes elderly.1 But unusually, in one such song the metaphor is a species of cow.

A woman is understandable, of course, after all the land and the nation are of feminine gender in Irish.2 But a cow? Well, perhaps, however strange, it reflects the values of a largely pastoral society as Ireland’s was during the early centuries of its invasion and gradual conquering by England?

Perhaps – but there is a strange modern story there too, of which more later.

Droimeann cattle, cow and probably calf (Source: Internet)

THE SONG

The song in question is An Droimeann Donn Dílis,3 thought to date from the early 1700s (i.e. early 18th Century). In the first of three short verses that have come down to us, the singer addresses the cow, asking where s/he goes at night and where remains during the day.

The Droimeann replies that s/he is in the woods with her/his boy (herder) but that he left her/him in tears. She seems to go on to speak in completely unbovine terms of lacking a domain, wines, music, educated company, drinking only water while her/his enemies enjoy whisky and wine.

The speaker has become a person. Were s/he free to do so and gain sight of the Crown, s/he says, s/he would thrash the English as one might an old shoe, through hill, through cliffs and dark foggy glens and that’s how s/he would woo or please his/her fair young Droimeann (i.e Ireland).

It is not difficult to decipher the meaning. The man4 has been deprived of his lifestyle and patrimony, physical and cultural, social interaction and is now living in primitive conditions, in hiding even in the woods. Who was he and what was his position? Who dislodged him?

The details of the song indicates he was victim of one of the English campaigns of occupation of Ireland and dispossession of the native Irish, while its assumed timing places it in the aftermath of the Williamite War (1689-1691) and the final defeat of the remains of the Gaelic Order.5

But it could just as easily refer to Oliver Cromwell’s military and land confiscation campaign of 1649-16536 for the English Parliament, or to English Queen Elizabeth I’s Plantation of Munster in 1586, confiscating roughly 300,000 to 500,000 acres of land to bring in English settlers.7

And in relation to the latter, there seems to be a Munster connection in the song also, of which more later also.

The Gaelic Order is often described as a ‘pre-feudal’ social and political organisation of Irish society, with a political and social elite in ownership of sections of land for their clan, along with the herds upon them, but an ownership that implied management, dispensation and allocation.8

The ‘freemen’9 were allocated cattle by the elite, to whom they were obliged to repay in kine and dairy products and to render military service when required. The ‘freemen’ in turn took on others to help manage the herds and milking, making cheeses etc.

Rule and social order was not arbitrary but was regulated not only by custom but by the codified Brehon Laws and in more ancient and pre-Christian times in Ireland interpreted by a branch of the Druidic Order.

The removal of the Gaelic Order elite by death, imprisonment, banishment or exile meant the removal of Irish society’s political and cultural leadership, for it was they who organised the economy, made alliances, gave leadership and also patronised poets, musicians and scholars.

The human narrator in An Droimeann Donn Dílis is well aware of the source of his ills (the English conquest) and of the need to defeat it in arms throughout Ireland.

A Dhruimfhionn Donn Dílis, a shíoda na mbó
Cá ngabhann tú san oíche, is cá mbíonn tú sa ló?
Ó bím-se ar na coillte is mo bhuachaill im’ chomhair
Agus d’fhág sé siúd mise ag sileadh na ndeor.


Níl fearann, níl tígheas agam, níl fíonta na ceol;
Níl flathaibh im’ choimhdeacht, níl saoithe ná sló;
Ach ag síor-ól an uisce go minic sa ló,
Agus beathuisce is fíonta ag mo naimhde ar bord.

Dá bhfaighinn-se cead aighnis nó radharc ar an gcoróin,
Sasanaigh do leidhbfinn mar a leidhbfinn sean-bhróg
Tré chnocaibh, tré fhaillte, tré ghleannta dubh-cheo,
Agus siúd mar a bhréagfainn-se mo Dhroimfhionn Donn Óg.

… AND THE COW

But what of the cow? It turns out that the adoption of an Droimeann as a metaphor for Ireland is much more appropriate than we might have imagined, for it is an ancient native Irish breed, though that was not formally recognised until 8 January 2020 following DNA profiling.

A Droimeann with men beside it to indicate its height. (Source: Irish Rare Breeds)

The tests showed that it was genetically distinct from other breeds, whether Irish or imported. “Animals may be black, red or roan, but most have a white stripe along the back. In 2020, there were 243 breeding females and 23 breeding males registered.”10

The ‘white stripe’ is indicated in its name, Droimeann, i.e Drom Fhionn: “Fair/ Light-coloured back.” And there are many references to the breed in surviving ancient literature. Today the pronunciation varies from ‘drimunn’ to ‘dromeen’ (approximately).

As for the Munster connection, the breed is particularly associated with the south-west of Ireland. It produces both meat and milk and, being a native breed, it is hardy and thrives on poor quality forage even in winter when most other breeds in Ireland require food brought to them.

Droimeann cattle are know for maturing early and being prolific breeders.

I do not know how the song survived the centuries unless it was orally, in the main, which testifies to the power of its imagery and the retention of the Irish language in the Irish population, the majority of which did not become English-speaking until some time between 1850 and 1870.11

And even then, persisted in being retained as a first language in the Gaeltacht12 areas (despite their continual shrinking) for the following two centuries and undergoing ‘revival’ at least three times during that period. We may be witnessing currently her fourth revival period.

End.

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Footnotes

1The use of young woman to represent Ireland could of course be used to disguise a patriotic song as one about romantic love but also meant that the latter could morph into patriotic song, with perhaps the addition of some lines or verses. We may consider however that there is more than convenience at play here in this interchangeability, some emotional attachment to the land in the poet and presumably among their supportive audience.

2And in a great many parts of the world represented by a goddess. The very name Éire (and Éire-land = Ireland) is thought to derive from a goddess Éiriú, while the goddess Banba (sometimes her sister) also represents Ireland, with her (sometimes sister) Fódla. In poetry and song Ireland has also been represented by female figures Róisín Dubh (in a love song), Caitlín Ní hUallacháin (in a patriotic play) and Gráinne (in myth, legend and song).

3Also spelled Druimfhionn in Irish – The Faithful Brown Droimeann.

4Presumably but not necessarily.

5The Gaelic Order describes an Irish-speaking society of custom and law enduring centuries prior to the English invasion and also in consecutively smaller regions of Ireland for a little over five centuries afterwards.

6Though the native Irish could go ‘to Hell or to Connaught’ accurately reflects the policy it is uncertain whether Cromwell or his officers actually said those words.

7https://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/secondary-students/history/tudor-ireland/the-plantation-of-munster/

8Clan leaders, petty kings and even ‘High Kings’ were elected, albeit from and by an elite group.

9‘Freemen’ is not a very accurate term, since women could own land under the Gaelic Order and, upon marriage, retained that ownership and, if divorcing, removed what they owned with them.

10The Droimeann Cattle Society was established on 11 September 2016 at a meeting of breeders and others interested in the preservation of the breed. A Droimeann Cattle Herdbook was launched on 22 August 2018. To be eligible for inclusion in the herdbook, all animals will have to be genetically tested, and newborn calves will need to be tested before being eligible for inclusion. By January 2020 there were 243 breeding females and 23 breeding males included in the herdbook.

11The Irish elite after a century of occupation were perforce English-speaking (but most bilingual with Irish too), since the legal system was in French first, then in English. In 1366 the ruling class of England, considering themselves English after three centuries of Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England, called their Norman-Irish relatives, ‘the degenerate English’ who had ‘become more Irish than the Irish themselves’ and enacted the Statutes of Kilkenny to halt and reverse their integration into Irish society. By comparison, the Norman English rulers and nobility considered themselves English by 1366, though their culture and language had evolved from a mix of French and Anglo-Saxon roots. King Edward III, who ruled in 1366, spoke English, promoted it in law courts, and identified fully as an English monarch engaged in the Hundred Years’ War against France. The Irish did not become mainly English-speaking until over two centuries of occupation and only then by the incremental use of wars and English-speaking plantations.

12Areas of Ireland where Irish is the first language of the home may be found in, Cos. Meath (Rath Chairn and Baile Ghib), Galway (Conemara), Mayo (various pockets), Donegal (various), Waterford (Rinn), Cork (various), Kerry (Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulas). In addition some families in other areas raise their children with Irish being the language between at least one parent and the children.

Sources

https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/press-releases/the-droimeann-cattle-breed-recognised-as-a-native-rare-irish-breed

https://irbs.ie/traditional-irish-breeds/droimeann/

and the website of the Droimeann Cattle Society (of which link I am unable to post here for some reason).

PROTESTER BLOCKS NATO CHIEF’S ARMED GUARDS CONVOY

On By rebelbreezeIn Cartoon, Cartoon comment, Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Imperialism, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, National Sovereignty, NATO, Political Analysis, Song, Song in Struggle, US ImperialismLeave a comment

Clive Sulish

(Reading time: 3 mins.)

An Irish Palestine solidarity activist momentarily blocked NATO ‘Supreme European Commander’ Alexus Grynkewich’s armed convoy as he left the Dublin US Embassy on Wednesday, escorted by his bodyguards.

The activist was bashed against a wall by Gardaí, arrested and taken to Irishtown Garda station, released on Garda bail to attend court 2nd September.

The protest action appears to have been unplanned and came at the end of a weekly event, an hour of displaying flags and singing songs of resistance in front of the US Embassy’s main entrance organised by singer-musician Jimi Cullen which moved from the Israeli Embassy over a year ago.

A recent one of the weekly Wednesday musical protests at the US Embassy organised by Jimi Cullen (on extreme left of photo), this one on 5th September 2025 (Wk 158)

The event began as usual with a handful of people gathering at their usual spot at the triangular junction of Pembroke Road and Elgin Road. It appears that an RTÉ (national broadcaster) team were noted entering the Embassy from the Elgin Road side which alerted the activists to some unusual Embassy activity.

The activists moved down to direct shouts at the Embassy staff and military, shouts such as “US military out of Shannon!”, “US military baby-killers!” and “Free Palestine!”. A car collecting a leaving official was momentarily blocked by an activist who was removed by Gardaí.

Some time later the event was coming to an end with the usual group singing of An Dord Féinne with the chorus “Óró sé do bheatha ‘bhaile” etc and some of the group dispersed. Those who had not yet left however noticed a convoy of Garda and unmarked vehicles arrive.

It was at that point that Alexus Grynkewich, the NATO supremo, emerged from the Embassy building, escorted by his bodyguards and entered one of the vehicles. Before the convoy could take off, the activist ran in front of it, waving a Palestine flag and was grabbed by Gardaí.

After the activist’s detention and removal to Irishtown Garda Station and other activists attended the station, the activist was charged and bailed in his own recognisance and another activist arrived to give him a lift back to where his car was parked near the US Embassy.

Cartoon on the incident by D.Breatnach

NATO & IRELAND

Alexus Grynkewich is no stranger to US Imperialism/ NATO’s wars in the Levant and in Ukraine and his role in Ireland is to push for Ireland to join NATO and continue facilitating US military flights through Shannon. As far as the Gombeen class is concerned he’s pushing an open door.

Not so with the general Irish population, however, who have made it clear on a number of occasions that they wish the Irish State not to be a part of any external military alliance. The campaign to retain the ‘Triple Lock’1to prevent the Government abandoning official neutrality is ongoing.

While the occupied colony of the Six Counties is part of NATO, the Irish State is not. However it was revealed not long ago that the State has given permission to the Royal Air Force to patrol Irish skies and for many years, US military plains have been observed refuelling at Shannon Airport.

General Alexis Grynkewich, Supreme European Commander NATO (US/EU imperialist military alliance). (Photo source: Wikipedia)

In addition, the Ditch online media has logged planes being permitted to fly towards ‘Israel’ through Irish airspace while carrying weapons-grade material. NATO warships dock at Irish harbours a number of times a year.

Ireland’s current Presidency of the EU seems to be accelerating the State’s slide towards foreign militarisation and has already seen restrictions on the right to protest, with Gardaí closing a part of Dame Street to protest one day and moving protesters from in front of Trinity on another day.

A number of organisations have stated an intention to increase their protests against NATO and US imperialism while some regular broad pro-Palestine groups have indicated they will move their regular protests to outside the US Embassy in solidarity with the arrested activist.

Resistance is often met with State repression but in turn that too often generates more resistance. Voices of broad support for the activist have called for assembly outside the US Embassy at 2pm Wednesday 19th proceeding thereafter to the British Embassy to at 3pm where Jimi Cullen has temporarily relocated.

End.

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FOOTNOTES

1Before more than 12 Irish military may be sent on an external mission, it has to be 1) a formal Government Cabinet decision, 2) with Irish Parliamentary approval and 3) on a UN mission.

MARCHERS PROTEST TERENCE WHEELOCK’S DEATH, AS YET ANOTHER DIES IN GARDA CUSTODY

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Ireland, Irish Left, Police Violence, Political Analysis, Song, Song in Struggle1 Comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 3 mins.)

As campaigners marched in Dublin on June 6th seeking justice for the death of Terence Wheelock in a Garda station in 2005, yet another death in Garda custody was announced in the media.1

Crowd gathering beside Remembrance Garden before Terence Wheelock protest (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Terence Wheelock was a young man from Summerhill, a north Dublin inner-city area housing many from a working class background. On that fateful day he set out to buy a paintbrush for a painting job but was ambushed by Gardaí lying in wait for youths who had stolen a car.

Terence had nothing to do with that but his protests were ignored and it may be that his insistence on his innocence merely infuriated the Gardaí further. In Store Street Garda station Terrence acquired his fatal injuries which the Gardaí claimed resulted from attempted suicide.

However, the Gardaí directed the family to the wrong hospital for Terence, which gave them the time and opportunity to dispose of his clothes (which were never produced in evidence) and quickly redecorated the cell in which Terence had been held.

Tension between youths and police is a well documented social fact but when the youth are from working class areas a certain dimension is often added to that antagonism. In addition, the Gardaí are aware that the families of the youths lack access to middle-class sources of social influence.

MARCH THROUGH CITY CENTRE TO GARDA STATION

Saturday’s protest began at Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance with a rally addressed by Sammy Wheelock, brother of the deceased Terence and campaigner for justice for the family over many years, taking over a leading role from another brother, Larry Wheelock who died a few years ago.

Campaign banner held up beside Remembrance Garden by (R-L) Sammy Wheelock and Mary Lou McDonald. (Photo supplied by S.Wheelock)

The march set off down along Parnell Square and into O’Connell Street, Dublin city’s main thoroughfare, down to the quays and left along to the Busáras, turning left again there and up to Store Street Garda station, the location where Terence Wheelock received his fatal injuries.

In front of the station Conor Reddy and Boyd Barrett of PBP both spoke, as did Janice Boylan of Sinn Féin, James O’Toole of Red Media and Sammy Wheelock again. Róisín Tracy read a poem and Jacob Guerin sang a song, both compositions regarding Terrence’s death.

Sammy Wheelock commented also on the harassment and rough treatment meted out to young men from the area on their way to or from work or college, when they are identified by their casual street clothes of tracksuits, etc. This is also a theme taken up in an article by the Aontacht media.2

A clip posted on Facebook recently (believed to be from the Coolock area) shows two plainclothes Gardaí treating a youth roughly while they search him.3

According to a report published by Fiosrú, the office of the Police Ombudsman,4 incidents in or following Garda custody accounted for eight referrals in 2024, involving five deaths and three serious injuries. The report for 2005 is awaited.5

The Gardaí have also killed before any arrest, as with George Nkencho who was shot dead during a mental illness episode in the family garden in 2020, Mark Hennessy in a car park in 2018, Gareth Molloy (2009) and Ronan Mac Lochlainn (1998) both shot by undercover Gardaí.

In each of those cases and in others the Gardaí have been officially exonerated of any blame.

Solidarity with Palestine protesters, housing activists occupying empty property and anti-NATO protesters have all been subjected to Garda violence6 and humiliation7 during the past year.

As the State feels a growing necessity to increase repression and as economic conditions worsen, Garda violence will be on the increase with a probable increase also in deaths at their hands.

It is essential for all revolutionary, progressive and civil liberty sectors of society to unite against Garda violence, to protest incidents of Garda violence and to keep alive the memory of past incidents of violence by the police force of the Irish State.

There will be another public event in the campaign on Saturday September 19th with details to be announced nearer the time.

end.

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FOOTNOTES

SOURCES

https://www.fiosru.ie/news-and-publications/latest-news/fiosru-publishes-inaugural-report-on-incidents-of-death-and-serious-harm

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HCQNVHE6a

PROTESTING DEATH OF YOUTH AT HANDS OF GARDAÍ

https://aontachtmedia.ie/the-blue-wall-of-silence-around-terence-wheelock

1https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2026/0607/1577165-garda-custody-death/ Fiosrú said that they would not comment as an investigation was underway but that did not prevent a number of media outlets and the Gardaí from making public remarks about the deceased’s alleged character and alleged crimes, the subtext seeming to be that it’s all right that he died in Garda custody or at least that no-one should worry too much about where and how he died.

2https://aontachtmedia.ie/the-blue-wall-of-silence-around-terence-wheelock/

3https://www.facebook.com/share/1HCQNVHE6a/

4This agency is funded through the Department of Justice but claims to be independent, i.e not biased towards the Gardaí, a claim disputed by people including myself (from personal experience).

5https://www.fiosru.ie/news-and-publications/latest-news/fiosru-publishes-inaugural-report-on-incidents-of-death-and-serious-harm/

6Baton blows, rough handling such as throwing to the ground, handcuffs cutting circulation, pepper-spraying into the face from very close proximity and even breaking a foot.

7Strip-searched in each case.

THE 1994 CHINOOK CRASH — AIRCRAFT MALFUNCTION, PILOT ERROR OR INTER-INTELLIGENCE ASSASSINATION?

On By rebelbreezeIn Assassination, British imperialism, History, Ireland, irish history, National Liberation, peace processes, Political Analysis, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 4 mins.)

A group mainly of relatives of the deceased are seeking an official inquiry into the Chinook helicopter crash at the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland in 1994 killing 25 intelligence experts and four special forces crew on their way to a conference.

The crash wiped out almost all the top officers in command of intelligence gathering and operations in the occupied Six counties of Ireland from MI5, Army, RUC Special Branch and state Security Service.

Photo of the crashed Chinook helicopter on the Mull of Kintyre 1994. (Photo: Sky News)

The first crash inquiry failed to confirm pilot error which was then overruled by State reviewers who blamed the pilots on the basis of supposition without any evidence. After campaigning by a number of people including families of the deceased pilots, a 2011 inquiry exonerated the pilots.

The current campaign wants to focus on questions as to the reliability of the aircraft but an alternative and darker interpretation developed at the time, alleging that the different departments of British spooks, MI5 and MI6 had a fatal falling out over territory and policy.1

The remit of MI5 is of domestic ‘UK’ matters while that of MI6 is external. However, the Six Counties, though being under the rule of the UK, was also geographically part of a foreign country, Ireland — and the Irish State, just across the border, a government foreign to the UK.

In addition, the Republican armed resistance groups frequently had contacts abroad and many people with connections to other resistance organisations in the world; both parts of Ireland were visited by representatives along with many media agencies in the pursuit of their reporting work.

Whereas a resort to assassination as a result of rivalry or difference in objectives between different arms of a state’s security service is no doubt extreme, the existence of the rivalry itself is quite likely and the stakes in terms of funding, staffing and operational management can be high.

If the rivals are working towards opposing ends, that will raise the stakes much higher. The secrecy of the State’s reaction to the event did nothing to dispel such theories and the mismanaged attempt to blame the pilots only lent added credence to such suspicions and belief.

The fact of the collusion of British secret service with Loyalist murder squads in the 6-Counties colony is well known and has been documented by a number of investigations. Such collusion from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, especially its Special Branch, is well known too.2

Quite a few familiar with the British colonial security forces in the Six Counties believe that there was an ‘inner force’ inside the RUC with the support of MI5 and British Army Intelligence, all colluding with or even managing assassinations and Loyalist sectarian murder gangs.

The British ruling class had set their sights on achieving the cooperation of the Provisionals in a pacification process and MI6 was in favour of this initiative. It is posited that MI5, the Inner Force inside RUC and Army Intelligence opposed this, believing that they could defeat the IRA.

It was the clash of these radically different approaches (albeit with the same ultimate objective of ending Republican armed resistance) that is believed by some to have culminated in the assassination of the anti-pacification section in the Mull of Kintyre crash.

We may never know for certain and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) sealed key files relating to the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash for 100 years, locking them away until 2094

‘HEROES’?

Sorcha Eastwood calls those who died ‘heroes’,3 confirming herself and the Alliance political party she represents as on the side of British colonialism and its violent repression of Irish resistance, repression in the forms of internment, no-jury trials, assassinations and sectarian murders.

Those features are the reality of colonial repression and were very much in evidence in the colonial war of three decades which was approaching an end at the time of the crash.

The leadership of the Provisionals had accepted that although they could not be beaten, nor could they win the war4 and so were ready to participate in a pacification process.

British Intelligence had compromised or recruited elements of that leadership at highest and medium levels and had targeted assassinations of the less malleable individuals.5 The leadership was heading for the process culminating in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

Up to 3,500 people had died violent deaths 1969-1994 as the hands of of British military, colonial police, colonial proxies and Irish Republican resistance.

There were no tears shed for the dead at Mull of Kintyre among the subjected population of the colonial entity nor in many quarters of the Irish community at home or abroad and resistance culture soon produced a dark mocking parody to the air of Paul McCartney’s ‘Mull of Kintyre’ song.6

Confirmed assassination and suspicious deaths by aircraft crash are not unknown, among UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld’s 1961 plane crash on his way to negotiate peace in the Congo,7 General Zia-ul-Haq8 and commander of Russian mercenary force Yevgeni Prigozhin.9

end.

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FOOTNOTES

SOURCES

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/truth-being-withheld-over-raf-chinook-disaster-families-say-1907193.html
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jun/14/northernireland.comment

1What is more often but inaccurately called ‘the Irish peace process’; inaccurate because it was not designed to address the underlying reasons for the conflict and approaching three decades later has not done so. It resulted in The Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998.

2See for example the Stevens Inquiries, Barron Tribunal, Dirty War by Martin Dillona (1990), also Lethal Allies (2013) by Anne Cadwallader.

3https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/truth-being-withheld-over-raf-chinook-disaster-families-say-1907193.html

4The war against a major imperialist power was concentrated in a territory one-sixth of Ireland and with a population divided along sectarian lines.

5See the cases of Denis Donaldson and Scappaticci (British Intelligence code name Stakeknife) for example and there are well-founded suspicions of a number of others that were never publicly exposed. See also the elimination of Volunteers Jim Lynagh and Padraig McKearney and their unit in the Loughgall Ambush/ Massacre.

6‘Mull of Kintyre, oh Brits falling into the sea’ etc

7https://www.un.org/en/delegate/63-years-later-mystery-still-surrounds-death-dag-hammarskj%C3%B6ld

8https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-25-mn-1417-story.html

9https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/05/hand-grenade-explosion-caused-plane-crash-that-killed-wagner-boss-says-putin

PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE IN PALESTINE

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Genocide, Human Rights, Indigenous or Original People, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, Israeli Zionism, National Liberation, Palestine, peace processes, Political Analysis, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

(Reading time: 4 mins.)

Two famous people addressed a crowd outside Leinster House, home of the Parliament of the Irish State on 25th May. Rami Elhanan, an Israeli graphic designer, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian scholar, had forged a remarkable friendship.

Section of participants in the Dubs for Palestine noontime event outside Leinster House 27 May 2026. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Bassam Aramin, now a Palestinian scholar, had been sentenced to a 7-year term of imprisonment for throwing a grenade at Israeli soldiers when he was 17 and had lost his daughter later to a plastic bullet fired at short distance by an IOF soldier.

Rami Elhanan, an Israeli graphic designer, had also lost his daughter Smada but to a suicide bomber in 1997. Both men became advocates of peace and dialogue and friends to one another.

Their audience was the weekly Dubs for Palestine gathering outside Leinster House on Wednesdays 12 noon to about 1.00 pm, with speeches, songs and poetry and David Hickey as MC. This week’s was the 113th such weekly gathering and the duo had been invited to speak.

The broad group has of late been concentrating on parting the Gaelic Athletic Association1 from its sponsor and insurance underwriter, the former Nazi and since Zionist-friendly Allianz company, along with now campaigning for the Irish soccer team not to play the ‘Israeli’ team.

Rami Elhanan (L-R) and Basam Aramin addressing the Dubs for Palestine noontime event outside Leinster House 27 May 2026. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Rami Elhanan referenced his descent from Holocaust survivors and outlined the different living standards of the Palestinian and Israeli Jewish communities, commenting on the sickness in Israeli society, that they did not want to know what is being done in their name to the Palestinians.

Basam Aramin’s contribution was against the Occupation and claimed that without that, Palestinians and Israelis could live in peace (it was not clear whether he was referring to the ‘Two State’ proposal2). David Hickey, the MC of the group presented them with an Arum Lily each.3

After their speeches had been applauded, they were asked to comment on the recent Leinster House debate and the Government’s refusal to endorse a boycott of Israel. Rami Elhanan replied that boycotts entrenched opposing sides and that continuing to talk was the answer.

Singer and activist Emma Browne, invited next to the microphone, sang Keep the Little Flame Alive, among the lyrics of which Faye, Dolores, Bernadine, Table grapes and gasoline, Homemade rifles, kitchen knives, Kept the little flame alive riposted the previous speakers.

Soon afterwards, Paul Lynch read a poem of a Palestinian father mourning the killing of his child. Poet and activist Dorothy Collin declared that in order to have peace there must be justice first and that we must support the oppressed in whatever way they choose to resist.

Áine Ruttley reading her poem while addressing the Dubs for Palestine noontime event outside Leinster House 27 May 2026. (Photo: D.Breatnach)

Áine Rutley also upheld our duty of solidarity and the right of the Resistance movement to choose its own methods, as did Jimi Cullen who then performed his own song composition The Freedom Fighter about a fighter from Gaza.

As I was called to the microphone, I commented that my views had already been well expressed in song and speech and that one of the forms of resistance is song, of which we had more than probably any other people in the world and sang An Dord Féinne,4 which is banned in Germany.

A little later the event came to an end with another song from Emma Browne, Never Again Is Now and with group chanting for Palestine, against Allianz and against playing the ‘Israeli’ team.

IN CONCLUSION

It is a popular proposition in certain circles that all social conflicts can be resolved by discussion, by understanding our opponents’ view. It is an attractive idea but flies in the face of history and of contemporary reality.

The interests of Occupied and Occupier are opposed and cannot be reconciled through understanding. The Occupier understands that the Occupied wish to be rid of them. The Occupied do understand that the Occupier wishes to continue appropriating their land and resources.

In this kind of situation one must win and the other lose. Far from understanding leading to peaceful resolution, the more the oppressed understand the nature of their oppressor, the more resolutely they are likely to resist and this is surely true of the Palestinians resisting the Zionist settlers.

The false proposition of resolving irreconcilable interests through discussion is usually of liberal or social-democratic origin when applied to anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and anti-racist struggles and though appearing even-handed, always ends up disempowering the victimised.

The journeys of both these men is extraordinary and interesting but it should not be presented as representative of the Palestinian struggle against Occupation, Theft and Genocide. Each father lost a child but the Palestinian is losing a lot more on top.

Furthermore, a just resolution can only come about through the total defeat of the Zionist forces and the dismantling of their State, so that if we really want that kind of resolution we are called to support the Palestinian side, unequivocally and resolutely.

Of course, in reality there is no question of real peace without justice, for ultimately the oppressed (unless wiped out) will rise in struggle again and again. The proposition of accommodation of opposites by discussion can only undermine or distract the struggle of the oppressed.

We cannot take the story of Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, however remarkable, as even a metaphor for a just resolution nor allow ourselves to be seduced from resistance nor our struggle undermined by it.

End.

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FOOTNOTES

1The management of the Gaelic games, including hurling and Gaelic football. The GAA has teams in every one of the 32 counties of Ireland, crossing the colonial border and is the biggest community sports association not only in Ireland but also in Europe and perhaps in the world.

2This proposal came out of the Oslo Accords, to give the Palestinians 20% of their land for peace with the Zionist settlers who would own the remaining 80%. Apart from its basic injustice the proposal was never realistic since Zionist settlers continued to construct settlements on additional land. Despite this, supporting that proposal is the formal position of most western imperialist states and the Irish State and of most parliamentary political parties.

3In Ireland these are often viewed as symbolic of the 1916 Easter Rising.

4Also known as Gráinne Mhaol and Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile, an Irish traditional song of some antiquity refashioned into an Irish resistance song by Patrick Pearse, a martyred leader of the 1916 Rising.

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apeirogon_(novel)

DUBLIN GERMAN EMBASSY PICKETED IN SOLIDARITY WITH ULM FIVE

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Internationalist Solidarity, Ireland, Irish Language, Irish Left, Israeli Zionism, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, Song, Song in StruggleLeave a comment

Clive Sulish

(Reading time: 3 mins.)

Outside the German Embassy in Dublin speakers denounced the German State’s repression of Palestine solidarity activists and their treatment as terrorists in solitary confinement in dispersed locations, increasing the visiting difficulties for relatives.

Organised by the broad group Dubs for Palestine, scores of people attended a lunchtime picket of the Embassy on Monday 27th April.1 In addition to the speeches and chants, songs were sung with particular relevance to the occasion and location.

The focus of this rally was in support of a group of five activists that includes a young man formerly of Dún Laoire, Daniel Tatler-Devally and have become known as the Ulm Five. They were alleged to have broken into an Elbit Systems facility in Ulm, Germany and caused damage inside.


Lynn Treacy, of the Devally-Tatler family support grou, speaking outside gates of the German Embassy, Dublin on Ulm Five solidarity rally April 29th. (Photo: R.Breeze)

Their action was in protest at the Israeli military systems company and its part in the genocide of Palestinians supported by the German state. One of the speakers was Daniel’s father, Conor Devally while Lynn Treacy, a friend of Daniel’s mother spoke on her behalf too.

Jimi Cullen, accompanied by Dermot outside gates of German Embassy, Dublin on Ulm Five solidarity rally. (Photo: R.Breeze)

The activists are being treated as terrorists, in seven months of solitary confinement, separated and dispersed throughout different jails long distances apart. Their trial is scheduled for separate days over a period from April to July, also causing relatives and friends great difficulty.

Jimi Cullen singing and playing guitar performed his own We Are All Palestinians, developed from the well-known chant on Palestine solidarity demonstrations, accompanied by Dermot Sheehan on drum.

Two prominent members of People Before Profit spoke, Richard Boyd Barrett TD and Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, a political and cultural activist and noted singer in the sean-nós style. Raymond Deane, composer and founding member of the IPSC spoke too as did political activist and singer Diarmuid Breatnach.

Richard Boyd Barret speaking at Ulm Five solidarity rally at German Embassy April 29th. (Photo: R.Breeze)

Ó Ceannabháin spent some time demolishing the discourse that Germany has an excuse for its repression of pro-Palestine solidarity because of alleged guilt due to its perpetration of the Hollocaust. He pointed to its genocidal history in Namibia and its leadership of EU imperialism.

The PBP member and election candidate for a councillor vacancy in DCC told the rally of Germany’s banning not only some Palestinian solidarity chants2 but also the song known as ‘Óró Sé do Bheatha Abhaile’3 which he proceeded to sing, the participants joining the chorus with gusto.

Ó Ceannabháin at Ulm Five solidarity rally at German Embassy April 29th. (Photo: R.Breeze)

Diarmuid Breatnach pointed out that the German working class had a strong history of struggle and at one time led the world in socialist and social-democratic representation, even recording a vote of 4.8 million votes for the Communist Party in the midst of Nazi repression.

Hans Beimler, a communist trade union activist, Breatnach said, escaped from a Nazi concentration camp, went to Spain to fight in the Anti-Fascist War there and was killed. In his honour Breatnach sang two verses of The Peat Bog Soldiers4 followed by the ballad about Beimler.

Breatnach was accompanied on drum by Dermot Sheehan, a regular attendee at the weekly Wednesday Dubs for Palestine event outside Leinster House, seat of the parliament of the Irish State. An anti-Zionist Jewish activist spoke against Israeli Zionism and its support by Germany.

Naoise Dolan speaking at Ulm Five solidarity rally at German Embassy April 29th. (Photo: R.Breeze)

Speaking in German, Irish and English, Naoise Dolan, novelist, supporter of Palestine Action who was captured in piracy action by the IOF on the October 2025 Gaza aid flotilla, also spoke to denounce the attitude and actions of the German Government and Berlin police.

Ken Powell of Dubs for Palestine, who had acted as MC throughout, led the rally in chanting slogans of solidarity with Palestine including calling for the freedom of each of the Ulm Five by name before thanking all for their attendance and concluding the event.

end.

Early view of Ulm Five solidarity rally outside German Embassy April 29th as people are still arriving. (Photo: R.Breeze)

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FOOTNOTES

1The day the trial began in Germany but however did not proceed due to the presiding judge refusing to allow the Defence lawyers to sit with their clients and the lawyers’ refusal to proceed under those restrictions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/27/pro-palestine-activists-face-trial-attack-israel-arms-factory-germany

2“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,” which they claim is ‘anti-Semitic’; also “Globalise the Intifada.”

3An Dord Féinne is the actual title given by Patrick Pearse in his adaptation of a traditional song in Irish.

4A translation from the German song of the Communists in Nazi concentration camps which was eventually banned by the camp authorities under pain of death.

OUTSIDE DUBLIN’S BRITISH EMBASSY: GARDAÍ SCUFFLES, ‘BLOODY CORPSES’, SPEECHES, SONG AND POETRY

On By rebelbreezeIn Current Affairs Comment, Current Event Report, Human Rights, Imperialism, Ireland, irish history, Palestine, Political Analysis, Political Prisoners, Song, Song in Struggle, ZionismLeave a comment

Clive Sulish
(Reading time: 3 mins.)

There were lively scenes today outside Dublin’s British Embassy in solidarity with the hunger strikers in British jails awaiting trial on charges arising out of Palestine Action’s operations against the Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems UK.

Two of the six hunger strikers are in their 50th days without food and approaching the point where fatal seizures are possible or suffering irreversible damage to body systems. Their demands are release on bail, a fair trial, de-proscription of Palestine Action and the closure of Elbit Systems.

Early shot of hunger-striker solidarity protesters outside the British Embassy compound today. (Photo: R.Breeze)

There have been daily solidarity protests in Britain, including those led by the Irish Brigade1 in London amid general mass media silence but the arrest of Greta Thurnberg today on ‘terrorism’ charges may bring a focus on the hunger-strikes for a change.

Today also The National newspaper revealed that Barclay’s had asked the British Government to ban Palestine Action and already the question is being asked: How is it that was not admitted by the Government when Huda Ammori took the Palestine Action banning to judicial review?

(Greta Thurnberg about to be arrested earlier in Central London). Photo source: Internet)

The rally today, like that outside the British Embassy last week, was organised by the Peadar O’Donnell Socialist Republican Forum, while another solidarity rally in Dublin last week but on College Green, in the City Centre, was organised Communities for Palestine.

The ‘corpses’ in the road outside the British Embassy compound today. (Photo: R.Breeze)

The chants led outside the Embassy today included the usual ones heard on Palestine solidarity marches, including those referencing the Intifada, the occupation of Ireland and the Irish-language Saoirse don Phalaistín! But there were also new ones and additions to older slogans.

A new Four, Five and Six was added to a previous only One, Two and Three: One – We are the people; Two – We won’t be silenced; Three – Stop the bombing now, now, now! Four – Free our people; Five – Free our land; Six – Kick Zionism out, out, out!

Some other changed and new chants included: One, Two, Three, Four – Support the Filton 24! Five, Six, Seven, Eight – Israel is a terrorist state. We are all Palestine Action! Victory to the hunger-strikers! Brick by brick, wall by wall – all the colonies will fall!

Slogans also castigated British Government collusion in the Israeli genocide, Irish state collusion through militarisation of Shannon Airport and Gardaí collusion through their defence of the British Embassy.

Numbers of Gardaí and one of their vehicles actually inside the British Embassy compound today. (Photo: R.Breeze)

On two occasions the MC asked demonstrators to line both sides of the road outside the Embassy, which is one of the main Dublin routes from and towards the South. Passing traffic frequently sounded their horns in solidarity, passengers often signing thumbs-up or with clenched fist.

But at one point, most of the demonstrators occupied the road, blocking traffic in each direction. The Gardaí moved quickly to break this up and were soon violently shoving demonstrators off the road, one in particular screaming with wild eyes so that he was twice seen restrained by colleagues.2

However part of the northbound road remained occupied in front of the Embassy entrance and at this point a new group of protesters arrived and, unpacking white curtain material, began to squirt red paint on it, then to lie down in the road under the material like massacre victims.

A number of speeches were made during the event and later a man called the crowd to remember also the 1981 hunger strikes in Ireland, for which he sang the Joe McDonnell3 Ballad, with its wonderful chorus lines: You dare to call me a ‘terrorist,’ while you look down your guns!4

Another man recounted the story told by Bobby Sands5 of the caged lark which would not sing for its captor and how that bird came to represent Sands himself, before reciting a poem of an Irish migrant in London in anguish as Bobby Sands lay dying.

The ‘corpses’ were moved from the road to immediately in front of the British Embassy compound today. (Photo: R.Breeze)

The current hunger-strikes are sometimes referenced as “the first coordinated hunger strikes in Britain” since those of the Irish Republicans in 1981. Of course, those strikes were not in Britain but in occupied Ireland and therefore currently part of the United Kingdom.

There are important differences of course. The Irish Republican hunger strikers were convicted, albeit by special non-jury courts, of armed resistance to British occupation; the current hunger strikers have not yet even been tried and none of the charges against them include armed action.

And the motivation of the Palestine Action accused is purely internationalist solidarity against a regime committing daily massacres in a programmed genocide.

Nevertheless, the British ruling class may yet come to regret the day they permitted anti-Zionism to become so strongly linked to anti-British colonialism, and anti-genocide internationalism so closely linked to the memory of Irish colonial resistance.

End.

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FOOTNOTES

1An ad-hoc broad Palestine solidarity organisation composed of Irish migrants and diaspora in London.

2This may possibly be the same Garda who was seen wildly striking with his baton and pepper-spraying peaceful participants at a Palestine solidarity march to Dublin Port some weeks ago.

3One of the Ten hunger strike martyrs of 1981.

4And you dare to call me a terrorist, while you look down your guns!
When I think of all the things that you have done:
You have plundered many nations, divided many lands,
You have terrorised their people, ruled with an iron hand –
And you brought the stain of terror, to my land.

5Bobby Sands relinquished his elected post of Officer Commanding the Republican male prisoners in Long Kesh in order to lead the hunger strikes of 1981. On 5th May he was the first of the Ten to die.

REFERENCES

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25716637.barclays-urged-john-swinney-crack-palestine-action/

COLONIAL PROXY MILITIAS, FROM IRELAND TO PALESTINE

On By rebelbreezeIn British imperialism, Current Affairs Comment, Imperialism, Indigenous or Original People, Ireland, irish history, Israeli Zionism, Middle East, National Liberation, Palestine, Political Analysis, Song, Song in Struggle, ZionismLeave a comment

Diarmuid Breatnach

Reading time main text: 5 mins.)

Currently the Palestinian Resistance is engaged in an important struggle to eliminate four Israeli-proxy militias. This type of militias of colonial and imperial powers have a long history, not least in Ireland from the 1800s to the present.

SETTLER AND NATIVE MILITIAS IN IRELAND

The British colonial occupation of Ireland had an army to quell native resistance but many settlers also organised themselves into armed bands (as in Palestine), such as the Hearts of Steel or Hearts of Oak in the late 18th Century in order to resist the big landlords.

The United Irishmen were successful in uniting a number of these, both native and settler bands such as the Whiteboys and Hearts of Oak, particularly in Antrim but the Peep O’Day Boys went mostly with the sectarian and royalist Orange Order.

The settlers also organised yeomanry militias which they labelled ‘Volunteers’, initially to defend against a feared invasion from Napoleonic France. Some of those contained Republican sympathisers and some quite the opposite.1

In response to the successful uniting efforts of the mostly Protestant-led United Irishmen, the Orange Order was founded by British loyalists and soon received official support in organising anti-Catholic pogroms and in exposing United supporters, especially among the Protestant communities.

LOW INTENSITY OPERATIONS AND “PSEUDO-GANGS”

During the three-decades war towards the end of the 20th Century mostly in the 6 Counties, the British Occupation also organised proxies such as the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association. These were recruited among the Protestant/unionist community.

But not only among civilians.

As has been a pattern among colonial possessions, the occupying power organised a gendarmerie, i.e an armed police force under central command of the occupying power. In Ireland that was the Royal Irish Constabulary which came to prominence in the suppression of the 1867 Fenian rising.

After the partition of Ireland by the British in May 1921, the RIC within the remaining direct colony of the Six Counties was renamed the Royal Ulster Constabulary2. British Intelligence used this force to channel intelligence, arms and recruits into the Loyalist gangs.

In addition, many members of the disbanded RUC’s semi-militia, the part-time B-Specials, were reorganised into the RUC Reserve of the colonial police or recruited into the British Army as the newly-formed Royal Ulster Regiment, from which the Loyalist militias could be supplied as before.

Brigadier Frank Kitson was a leading colonial counter-insurgency strategist who had served in Kenya and Malaya before he was sent to the Six County colony to coordinate the Loyalist militias and the official armed forces and gendarmerie, no doubt in coordination with MI5.

Kitson published Gangs and Pseudo-Gangs (1960) and Low Intensity Operations (19713) based on the experience of colonial resistance repression in Malaya and Kenya, going on to introduce these ideas organisationally in the occupation of the Six Counties.

Pseudo gangs give the occupying power deniability and, being generally from the occupied country,4 have local knowledge. They can carry on terrorism and assassinations at ‘a remove’ from the occupying power.5 In the case of criminal gangs, they have an existing organisation.

Such gangs may have family or other social relationships with some in the targeted community, introducing allegiances and communal fragmentation as has been occurring to some extent in Gaza. However, in Ireland, the gangs were all originating from the unionist community.

Frank Kitson (now Brigadier) in 1971 (Photo source: Internet)

Jeffrey Sluka summarises6 “… beginning in 1972, there has been a vicious, continuous campaign of sectarian assassination against Catholics in Northern Ireland waged by Loyalist paramilitary groups (the Ulster Defence Association [UDA] and Ulster Volunteer Force [UVF]) …

“… and their associated death squads (the Ulster Freedom Fighters [UFF], Red Hand Commandos, Protestant Action Force, etc.), who have killed nearly 700 innocent Catholic civilians – the largest category of casualties in the war.

“Thousands of other Catholics have survived Loyalist attempts to murder them.

“The existence of this campaign has never been publicly acknowledged by the British authorities, who have ignored it, downplayed it, and actively misrepresented it …

“… to influence the media and public in this regard, both at home and abroad, as an integral part of their counterinsurgency strategy.

“The official position of the British authorities is that there is no state terror in Northern Ireland, and certainly no death squads. When pressed, they admit that there is Loyalist terror against Catholics, but insist that they have nothing to do with it.

“When pressed with evidence such as the fact that hundreds of members of the Security Forces have been convicted of involvement with Loyalist paramilitaries, they claim that this collusion is informal – individual acts by rogue soldiers and policemen

“- and not a reflection of government policy or military strategy. All of these are political lies.”7

SEPOYS

The use of military forces recruited among the occupied people dates back further even than the Roman Empire and the British Empire used them extensively in India, where they called them ‘Sepoys’,8 which is what the Basque pro-independence people call the Basque Autonomous Police.9

In India, one of the most serious uprisings against British rule was sparked by a mutiny of its Sepoys.10

In Palestine, the ‘Zipaios’ equivalent are the police of the Fatah-controlled Palestine Authority. They are bad enough, brutally suppressing dissent, spying on and even attacking Palestine organisations in the West Bank, arresting and even killing critics.

The Royal Irish Constabulary in Ireland were a gendarmerie mostly composed of sepoys and of course there were many Irish regiments in the British Army and Irishmen also served in other British Army units, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.

WORSE THAN SEPOYS

The militias in Gaza are however even worse. Based on criminal gangs and social groups, they have consistently looted aid trucks coming into Gaza before Israel closed all the gates, then selling the goods at high prices to the hungry population as Gaza starved and medicine became scarce.

According to reports there are currently four Zionist-linked militias in Gaza: Abu Shabab around Rafah in southern Gaza; Husam al-Astal in Khan Younis, Ashraf al-Mansi in Beit Lahia in the North, and Rami Heles in eastern Gaza.

Sourced from The Cradle based on Sky News investigation.

Their looting, supported by the Zionist state, was even used to try to blame on the Resistance, with Israeli spokespersons claiming that Hamas was stealing the aid. Conversely, as the Resistance strove to counter the proxy militias, the fighters were targeted by the Israeli Occupation Force.

Consequently it was almost impossible for the Resistance to suppress the proxy militias – until the current ‘ceasefire’. Now, able to operate to some extent more openly, the Resistance is settling accounts with the proxy militias. And it is very important that they do so.

Not only for what they have done, the plundering of emergency aid, attacks on displaced persons, torture and murder of famed journalist Salah al-Jafarawi.11 But because they are a serious infection, injected into Gazan society by the Zionazi occupation in order to cause serious harm to the society.

According to reports, undercover operatives of the Resistance have infiltrated the gangs and managed to appropriate a large number of weapons and vehicles of the gangs donated by the IOF or by the United Arab Emirates.12

Hamas advertised a truce for gang members to hand over their weapons and surrender themselves to the authorities, which some have done but many have not. The Resistance has operational clashes with the militias and has captured many. Some were publicly executed by gunshot.

Whether full-scale war returns to Gaza after this ‘ceasefire’ (full of IOF bombings, shelling and shooting) or not, their presence in Palestinian society cannot be tolerated, not by the civil government, nor by the broad community, nor by the armed resistance.

End.

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APPENDIX:

A Sky News investigation has revealed that Israel is backing four Palestinian militias inside Gaza to weaken Hamas as part of what militia leaders call “Project New Gaza.” Hossam al-Astal, head of one of the groups, said the militias are coordinating their efforts to remove Hamas from power.

He claimed that Yasser Abu Shabab and Ashraf al-Mansi, leaders of other groups, have also joined the project. All four militias are reportedly positioned along the yellow line in areas under Israeli control.

Astal told Sky News his headquarters is only 700 meters from an Israeli military outpost and that an Israeli coordinator had agreed to establish a “Green Zone” free of shelling or gunfire. Footage reviewed by the outlet showed militia vehicles with Hebrew markings scratched off.

Astal admitted the group receives logistical support and ammunition from outside Gaza and has bought Hamas weapons on the black market. A senior fighter in the Abu Shabab militia also said Israel had enabled the smuggling of guns, cash, and vehicles.

The militias reportedly coordinate their movements with Israeli forces at Kerem Shalom to bring in supplies, while western powers are said to provide indirect material support. Two of the militia leaders are former Palestinian Authority security officers.

While the Mansi militia denied direct contact with the Israeli military, it acknowledged coordination with Israel’s District Coordination Office. Abu Shabab previously told Army Radio he was open to working with Israel, calling Trump’s ceasefire plan “a way to end the war.”

“Soon we will achieve full control of the Gaza Strip,” he told Sky News.

(Summarised by The Cradle online news updates on Telegram 26 October 2025).

FOOTNOTES

1The yeomanry militias deployed in Wexford, such as the North Cork, proved to be the most vicious and indisciplined of the Occupation’s forces and are noted in a number of songs in English and Irish:
“… He led us on against the coming soldiers,And the cowardly yeomen we put to flight…” (Boolavogue, Patrick McCall, 1898);

“… Is go gcuirfeam yeomen ag crith in a mbrógaibh
Ag díol a gcomhair ar Shliabh na mBan.” (Sliabh na mBan, believed by Mícheál Óg Ó Longáin, 1798).

2Since then renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland (sic).

3The same year that mass internment without trial was introduced by the British Occupation and that the Ballymurphy Massacre of protesting nationalist civilians was carried out by the Parachute Regiment.

4Sometimes even from the oppressed native community.

5They are more easily dispensed with too, should they be no longer needed or their relationship become too public.

6In his own chapter For God and Ulster: The culture of terror and Loyalist Death Squads in Northern Ireland in Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror, Ed. Jeffrey Sluka (200), USA.

7Excerpt from ibid, sourced in https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/violence/docs/sluka00.htm

8The term in Persian originally denoted ‘soldier’ but borrowed into Urdu and Hindi and under British rule, denoted native soldiers and their units in the British armed forces.

9The Ertzaintza. The Navarran police (‘Forales’) could also be called ‘Sepoys’ but are more usually called by other uncomplimentary names.

10https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-40528129

11https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/12/palestinian-journalist-saleh-aljafarawi-shot-dead-in-gaza-city-clashes

12Weapons, warlords, and wasteland: Israel’s new strategy for Gaza

SOURCES

Weapons, warlords, and wasteland: Israel’s new strategy for Gaza

https://news.sky.com/story/revealed-the-plan-for-a-new-gaza-and-the-four-militias-israel-is-backing-to-defeat-hamas-13456416