Marina Ovsyannikova: The Bravest Russian in the World

Marina Ovsyannikova is a true Russian patriot.

Say her name with pride.

 

An editor of the state-controlled flagship Channel 1 television station, she ran onto the set of its live evening news programme yesterday (Monday) shouting: “Stop the war. No to war" and holding a handwritten sign with the script "No war, stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here."

Sadly she could have paid the ultimate price for speaking out against Putin's war machine and invasion of Ukraine as possibly torture and a harsh imprisonment sentence could have awaited her under recent draconian legislation enacted by the Duma. But the reality of what she could have suffered did not deter her.

Marina's bravery should never be forgotten and her message against the destruction of Ukraine by the neo-Nazi Putin regime should be spread far and wide.

She also released a pre-recorded video on the OVD human rights group in which she spoke of her shame at working for Channel One and facilitating the propaganda of the Putin regime in brainwashing the Russian people.

“Regrettably, for a number of years, I worked on Channel One and worked on Kremlin propaganda, I am very ashamed of this right now. Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed the zombification of the Russian people. We were silent in 2014 when this was just beginning. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny”

“We are just silently watching this anti-human regime. And now the whole world has turned away from us and the next 10 generations won’t be able to clean themselves from the shame of this fratricidal war.”

“What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor”

“The responsibility of this aggression lies on the shoulders of only one person: Vladimir Putin.”

Marina pleaded with her fellow Russians to join the anti-war protests so that the brutal invasion and destruction Ukrainian;s peoples and their cities would end. “Only we Russians have the power to stop all this madness. Go to the protests. Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t imprison us all.”

Thousands of Russians & Belorussians arrested in protests against Putin's war.

According to the United Nations, 12,700 people were arrested up until Sunday for taking part in anti-war street demonstrations across Russia as Putin's regime introduces emergency legislation to criminalise peaceful protests against his invasion of Ukraine in order to stifle the country's growing anti-war movement.

A similar situation is happening in Minsk and other Belorussian cities as many young Belorussians protest against the dictator Lukashenko' participation in Putin's war.

These people are the bravest of the brave, facing the threat of years in prison and deserve our respect and admiration.

So too do the populations of Russian-occupied Ukrainian cities who are regularly protesting against Putin's soldiers, telling them to leave their country and go back to Russia.

Like Bush and Blair who organised an illegal invasion of Iraq based on lies about weapons of mass destruction, Putin is a war criminal who fabricated a litany of lies to justify an illegal war. The results are the same- militarisation, destruction, economic collapse, civil conflict and population collapse.

The result of this ultra nationalist dictator who wants to recreate the Tsarist Empire is that thousands of Ukrainians and Russians have already being killed, cities destroyed by land and air bombing and circa 2 million people have had to flee their homelands. So many of these refugees fleeing west to Poland and other European countries are Russian speakers hence belittling Putin's propaganda that he came to Ukraine as their liberator to save them from genocide.

 

We will not be assimiliated

 

Message to Putin from the people of Ukraine: "WE ARE UKRAINIANS, WE WILL NOT BE ASSIMILIATED, RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE!"

Solidarity with the brave men and women of Ukraine in their fight against the huge invading army, air and naval forces of the anti-democratic tyrant who wants to wipe their country off the face of the Earth and absorb it into a 'Greater Russia'.

Civilians stand unarmed in front of Russian tanks and soldiers. Women and children make Molotov cocktails to defend their homes and neighbourhoods against one of the world's largest military.

Solidarity too with the brave ordinary men and women of Russia who have protested on the streets of Moscow, St Petersburg and dozens of other Russian cities against the invasion and 4000+ of whom were arrested and face punishment from a brutal regime.

 

Solidarity with the brave journalists, artists and politicians in Russia such as Katerina Kotrikadze, Tikhon Dzyadko, Dmitry Muratov, Yelena Kovalskaya, Elena Chernenko, Alexey Navalny, Lisa Peskova, Tatyana Yumasheva, Valery Meladze, Oxxxymiron and Ivan Urgant who spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine.

 

Solidarity with the sports players and fans from all across the world who at tournaments and matches over the weekend proudly held and applauded flags and banners in support of the Ukrainian resistance and against the imperialist Putin.

 

Freedom to all nations. No to dictatorships

This is a dark day for Europe and the world

The invasion of Ukraine shows clearly that the anti democratic Putin, who suppresses human rights and assassinates opponents in Russia, to be an imperialist. The excuses given and lies told by this dictator, supported by his fellow dictator in Belarus, have so many similarities to those of the Hitlerite regime for justifying the Nazi invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland which involved portraying a brutal invasion as a war of ‘self defence’ but with the clear intention of wiping a nation or nations off the face of the Earth.

 

90% of the people of Ukraine voted in 1991 for full independence. Their wishes should be respected. Now sadly thousands of these freedom-loving peoples could die and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians will become refugees far from their homeland. 

 

My thoughts and prayers are with my Ukrainian friends and their families at this dangerous time.

I was against the invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan (both Soviet & US), Cyprus and Yemen, the decades long sanctions against Cuba as well as the ongoing occupation and colonisation of Palestine.

I have been to Russia, have great respect for the Russian peoples, their struggles against Nazi tyranny and a deep love of Russian culture particularly its traditional music. But I have no time for Putin or any autocrat. Nor do many ordinary and prominent Russians who are bravely protesting against Putin's invasion of a fellow Slavic neighbouring country even when it means arrest and probably worse.

Whilst democratic Ukraine should have every right to be part of EU if that is what its peoples want, in my humble opinion it should nevertheless have declared itself neutral as Austria did in the 1950s and remain outside both NATO and Russian military blocs.

 

There is no justification whatsoever for the brutal invasion, occupation and suppression of any independent nation. Putin is trying to roll back history and reestablish the colonial Tsarist Empire.

Noel Treacy TD, a personal tribute to a Hero of Science & of Education

Noel Treacy TD, Brendan Smith, Tom Hyland, Galway Science & Technology Festival 2012

 

For twenty years I have been an educational science and technology officer working with third level colleges, schools, businesses, NGOs and local communities in Galway, Ireland, the Middle East and Africa. I consider myself extremely fortunate and blessed to have served in this fascinating role. During that period, I have worked with, learnt from and being inspired by so many fantastic transformational men and women. Thanks to them and to the people that I serve, nearly every day at work is a joyful experience and a challenge to do better. But the origins of my involvement in science education is due to three great individuals that I will be eternally grateful to.

I was not too long back from Iceland where I was involved in the hospitality sector for a number of years and continued to do so for a while after my return to Ireland.

But I had a yearning for a move back to my former professions of teaching and information technology. In their respective roles as chairperson, secretary and patron of the Galway Science and Technology Festival, Dr Jimmy Browne (then Deputy President NUI Galway), Bernard Kirk (Director, Galway Education Centre), and Minister Noel Treacy TD gave me in late 2001 an unbelievably exciting opportunity to manage a pilot scheme that we later named ‘Fionn’ which was about utilising digital technologies to support the introduction from 2004 of science as a new subject into Ireland’s Primary School curriculum.

‘Fionn’ is an amazing story that needs to be told and will be in the not-too-distant future. Suffice to say for the moment that it was Noel Tracey, who as Minister of State for Science, secured funding from Minister of Finance Charlie McCreevy within the 2001 government budget to support this pioneering initiative.

Sadly Noel died a few weeks ago. I have read the many warm and heartfelt tributes from journalists and politicians that have been written about him. What they all said about Noel is so true. He was kind, charming, honest, hardworking, family orientated, ever loyal to his party of Fianna Fáil, possessing a deep affinity of the Irish language, of Irish heritage and of the GAA. He was the consummate grassroots politician who cared deeply about his constituents, the people that he served from morning to night, seven days a week. He entered politics not for personal gain but for a greater societal good. On the many occasions I saw him at local events, I never witnessed a politician to ‘work a room’ as well as he did. He would go from person to person giving each and every one a strong firm handshake and an intense warm look, remind them of previous times when they met and often astonish as well as delight them with stories of their family members going back generations. As my wife Cepta is from east Galway, I would attend family funerals with her over the years where I would often meet Noel at these communal gatherings which are so deeply ingrained into the fabric of Irish farming and village life. One can be cynical about politicians attending funerals in their constituents. But for Noel his presence was sincere and all those present knew and respected that.

Whenever I heard him speak at a event in his role as a government minister, I was always so impressed in how he started his speeches with a great flourish in the Irish (and not just a token cúpla focail) language that he so loved, and admired how he always went out of his way to individually name and thank everyone in the audience that contributed to the success of proceedings.

Yet there is a side of him that has been rarely mentioned in the glowing references. Though he was renowned as the archetypal rural grassroots politician, Noel had an impact on Irish educational and business development that has been long lasting but is rarely mentioned and maybe not fully appreciated.

Ever the networking diplomat, in his capacity as Minister of State for Science, Noel in 1998 brought together in a small hotel room, an influential but disparate group of individuals drawn from third level colleges, schools, health, development agencies, state organisations, local government, media and business. Noel told them that he wanted to make Galway a science and technology hub second to none and this meant encouraging young people to value it as a worthy career choice. He told the audience that in a recent trip to the Hebrides he encountered a very successful festival of Science and Technology aimed at the islands’ school-going population. He saw no reason why Galway could not replicate this Scottish model and he formed there and then a multisectoral committee to organise Ireland’s first Science and Technology Festival with the dynamic Bernard Kirk as its secretary. Twenty four years later under its wonderful manager Anne Murray, chairperson Paul Mee and their brilliant team of movers and shakers, the festival is as vibrant as ever and has in the intervening period spawned a myriad of similar festivals nationwide.

For a man that did not go to third level college for a degree, Noel was passionate about encouraging children to consider further education and employment in science. As aforementioned he acted as a catalyst in the introduction of science into the primary school curriculum. The subject was actually taken out of the curriculum during the early 1920s by the Free State government to make way for the Irish language. With state funding secured by Noel, I was hired by the Galway Education Centre in late 2001 to prepare a pilot programme that would help schools transition over a four year period into the teaching of science in the classroom and in their hinterland. Our mantra was “All Science is Local”.

Later Noel became Minister of State for European Affairs and continued to do so much good, encouraging the fostering of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) with creativity, arts, innovation and enterprise, as well as in developing educational connections between Ireland and the rest of Europe.

For a number of years after his retirement from government ministry, I continued to meet Noel, along with Marie Mannion of the Galway county council Heritage Office, in his role as Cathaoirleach (Chair) of the Galway GAA via the schools/communities BEO online local heritage archives project that he also supported due to his love of preserving using digital technologies the stories of the past.

Like so many members of the original festival team that he established which included Bernard Kirk(Galway Education Centre), Tom Hyland(IDA), Jimmy Browne(NUIG), Sean O’Muircheartaigh(GMIT), Pat Morgan(NUIG), Simon Lenihan and John Cunningham(Connacht Tribune), Noel was a visionary that facilitated the building of a resilient modern, outward-looking, collegiate, educated, sustainable Galway and Ireland that was at the vanguard of meeting the global challenges that we faced. More than ever before we need that “we are all in this together” spirit and scientific/community ethos to tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crises which requires a sustained united active approach.

Finally the photo shows me in 2012 at the Galway Science Fair standing between two legends of our times, namely Noel and his good friend Tom Hyland (RIP) with whom he worked closely alongside over many years in encouraging industrial and educational development. Tom was at the helm of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) of Ireland Western Region for much of the period from the 1970s to the early 2000s, helping attract high profile global investment and corporations to the city and county, ensuring that it became one of the country's key hubs of and business.

Let’s not forget the accomplishments and impact of Noel as a politician. We need such ‘role models’ today. His legacy should be preserved, possibly through the establishment of an annual educational or enterprise award for young people.

"When We Were Young": Student Days & Nights at UCG’s Rag Week

 

I feel really sorry for the present generation of students at GMIT & NUIG including my son Dáire.

For this is the week, when in my student days (& nights!) at UCG we hosted College Week (aka Rag Week), a wonderful fun 7 days events programme before most (well some!) of us began the serious stuff of study and exam preparations.

And what an action packed week it was!

There was the Mr & Ms College Week auditions in the Skeff; live music from the best local/national/international bands every night in Leisureland; the clubs in Salthill bursting at the seams dancing to the disco sounds of DJs Gerry Sexton, the K-Tel kids..; Kissing Competitions in the Concourse (Mike Jennings - didn't you win it one year?), the Crazy Boat Race; the Greasy Pole competition over the Eglinton Canal; the male & female Pub Crawl (on stretchers!) Races, the Tug-of-War & other field sports; the kidnappings of bishops and college lecturers held until a ransom (for charity- all good fun though!) was paid over; the streakers running through crowded lecture halls; the myriad of 'social action' activities provided by SAM (Social Action Movement); the crazy ‘pogo’ lunchitime dancing in the (canteen) basement; and the grand finale- the 'Fancy Dress Ball' on the Saturday Night with musical acts such as Bob Geldof & the Boomtown Rats, U2.....

All coordinated by a College Week Director- Ollie Jennings was director one year and Patrick Gillespie another year(I was lucky to be Pat's assistant!) with Padraic Boran, UCG SU Ents Officer securing the big music acts.

The city was rocking!! In spite of the craziness though, there was very little alcohol consumed per student. Unless we won a beer keg in a competition we did not have the money then to afford more than a few beers per night. Outside Rag Week, for most of us it was alcohol, the pub & the dance club only on Thursday nights. Overall the week was all good (largely clean!) fun with no violence and, except for small amounts of cannabis, no drugs. There were great prizes for the winners of the competitions. In 1981, our house in Hazel Park enjoyed a party night when 2 kegs (prizes!) of beer were enjoyed by residents and guests! I never got a drop though- I was dancing the night away in the 'Beach' nightclub!

In 1978 one of my house mates won Mr College Week- it meant free tickets to all of the main gigs!

The photo shows the cover of the independent student Unity magazine in the year that I was editor. The brilliant artwork was done by my good friend of the time Marie Drumgoole, a Medical student with an extraordinary artistic touch.

Decision by 14 Galway City Councillors to overrule the Public Consultation on the Salthill Cycleway Undermines Local Democracy

 

Decision by 14 Galway City Councillors to overrule the Public Consultation on the Salthill Cycleway harms Local Democracy. In September, 17 Galway City councillors voted in favour of a temporary cycling infrastructure for Salthill. Only one voted against. This was welcomed by so many of us as a major step in finally implementing a 2002 policy to develop a safe citywide cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. In the largest ever consultative process organised by Galway City Council in January, nearly 7000 submissions were received from the public on the options put forward on the type of Cycleway that would be installed next month and which would remain in place until September. The cost of this infrastructure would be funded by the National Transport Authority. Much of these monies could later be recouped if the Cycleway became, with critical reconstructs, a permanent cycle way. Now 14 city councillors have signed a motion to revoke their backing for the Salthill cycle path trial before the results of the public consultation has even been published. Mayor Colette Connolly, Deputy Mayor Martina O'Connor, councillors Owen Hanley and Niall Murphy are not part of the 14 councillor grouping. I am shocked at this decision and in all my years since the mid 1980s when I started engaging with Galway City Council as a community activist, I have never seen such arbitrary action. This in my opinion is a slap in the face to every person that took the time and effort to submit their views in the consultation process. It undermines trust in City Hall, makes a mockery of public engagement and puts a question mark over every future local government consultation. Every person that took part did so in good faith and felt that the option favoured by the majority would be implemented on a trial basis. For councillors to change their opinion, based on new information etc, is their right and is good in many cases. But no matter how people voted, it is only respectful to wait for a new motion until the results of the consultation are published. I know most of the 14 councillors involved and some of them I consider good friends who have done great things for the city over the years. Even if the consulation is non-statuary, their present action harms local democracy. Our great city and its citizens deserves better than this. There are renowned practitioners in the arts, science, technology, education, health, small business, corporate business, sports and amongst NGOs in Galway that serve as inspiring role models to people all over the world. Their perseverance, innovation and pioneering spirit is respected by so many and has given Galway an international reputation second to none. But sadly governance in some parts of City Hall is seriously stagnating. The European City of Culture 2020, the Pálás Cinema and Eyre Square episodes were badly handled and cost the taxpayers millions. We are now falling behind other cities in terms of genuine community engagement and in not implementing the polices that are needed to create a sustainable economy and society to tackle the Climate and Biodiversity Crises. The council also recently voted not to include the Galway National Park City initiative, and a Waterways Strategy, in the City Development Plan 2023-2029 that would laid the foundations post COVID to build our city back greener and better. These decisions defy logic in the 21st century. Does our city now need a new generation of MichaelDs who have the courage, vision and passion to provide the political leadership that is soo desperately needed to fulfill our United Nations (17 Sustainable Development Goals), EU (Green Deal) and national (walking/cycling/public transport) commitments? None of the options presented represented the solution that could have been designed to meet the needs required and sadly have turned good people, that should have been natural allies, against each other. I voted for Option 2 but it was a question of Hobsons Choice for so many of us. Much more thought should have been given to the planning of these proposals before they were issued. The councilors and officials collectively could have worked together to come up with something much better. The people of Galway urgently require a city wide safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. We have waited 20 years and we need a sustainable way forward.

St. Brigit's Day - a sign of the remarkable status of early Irish Celtic Women

February 1st is the first day of Spring in the Celtic calendar, the season of birth and re-birth that follows the cold barren months of Winter. In Ireland, it is known as Lá Fhéile Bríde as it is dedicated to a female, St. Brigit (or Bridget, Brigid, Bride), the country's most famous native born saint. Children in schools across the country mark the occasion by making a distinctive traditional four armed cross woven out of reeds that is named after the saint. Her name also has a strong affinity with a Celtic deity associated with fertility and symbolised by 'fire', the element that offered humankind protection from the natural deadly forces of winter.

Brigit is second only in the Irish saints' calendar to St. Patrick who was born in Roman Britain.

The fact that Brigit was female is quite significant as the early Celtic Church in Ireland was unique in contemporary Christian Europe in giving considerable recognition to the role of women. Irish society was not as patriarchal as their Roman, Greek or Germanic neighbours. According to the historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín in his book 'Early Medieval Ireland', a woman could divorce her husband for a variety of reasons (including if he failed to satisfy her sexual needs!), could own and inherit property and was treated as an individual in her own right with inherent protections under Celtic law. Women fought on the battlefield as warriors until this was banned by the church.

Celtic female influence extended as far as Iceland....
Even outside Ireland, the influence of Irish women at this time (5-7th century) was felt- St. Ives in Cornwall is called after an Irish female saint (a.k.a. Eva or Aoife), St.Grimonia & St. Proba lived in France (Gaul) in the 4th century, St. Dardaloch in Pavia, Itay (c.300ad) and the nunnery in Austria made famous in the film and musical 'The Sound of Music' was probably founded by an Irish female missionary (Erintrude). In Iceland the hero of one of the great Icelandic Sagas is the Irish female slave Melkorka, a stong willed woman who refused to be coerced by humiliation, rape and brutality. In fact it has been noted by some that the status of women in Iceland (where I lived for a number of years), which was higher than in contemporary Scandinavian societies, possibly owed its origins to the impact exerted by the high number of Irish women living amongst the country's early Viking settlements- they were brought to the country as slaves and wives from the Viking towns of Ireland. It has been said that it was their influence that persuaded many of their pagan husbands to vote in favour of the country's adoption of Christianity at the famous 'Althingi' (parliament) of 1000AD.

This independent-minded spirit must have left a lasting legacy as Icelandic women were amongst the most successful in securing equal rights for women's during the course of the 20th century.

Female Celtic Warriors

Celtic mythology provides ample evidence of the power of women in pre-Christian Ireland. The country itself -Éire ('Ire(land)' in English)- is named after a goddess; the names of most of the great rivers with their life-giving waters are associated with nymphs, goddesses and female animals; the Celtic God of War (Morrigan)- the most masculine of activities- is female. Some of the most powerful Celtic rulers were women such as Queen Maeve and Queen Boadicea. (Bó = Cow in Irish) 

The fiercest and most macho hero in Celtic mythology is 'Cuchulainn'. Yet he was actually totally female-dominated(!):

• trained in martial arts and weaponry by Scathach

• first defeated in battle by Aoife

• protected by the War Goddess Morrigan

• kept on the 'straight and narrow' (most of the time!) by his strong-willed wifeEmer

• nursed back to health from near fatal battle wounds by his mistress Niamh

• and killed by the army of Queen Maeve.

High Status of Brigit in Celtic Church & pagan associations 
Brigit was also a powerful Celtic goddess of fertility associated with the birth of animals and symbolised by fire. Hence her links with one of the four great pagan festivals of the seasons- the Spring Festival of 'Imbolc' which occurs in February and the time of 'lambing'.It is therefore quite possible that St. Brigit was originally a high priestess of the pagan goddess Brigit who converted along with her female followers to Christianity during the time of St. Patrick.

According to legend St. Brigit was the daughter of Dubhthach, an Irish chief, and one of his 'Picttish' (from modern Scotland) slaves. She was made a bishop by St. Mel (whom the actor Mel Gibson was named after) and founded one of the most famous Irish monasteries beside an Oak tree on the plains of Magh Liffe thereafter known as 'Cill Dara' or Kildare- 'the Church of the Oak Tree'.In the Celtic pagan religion, trees were considered sacred, none more so than oak trees which were prime locations for spiritual worship.The monastery also was the repository of a 'holy flame', another clue to its possible pagan origins as a temple of Druid priestesses in a sacred woodland. It also has striking similarities to the story of the 'Vestal Virgins' of Ancient Rome whose primary task was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta, the goddess of the 'hearth'.Under Bridget's leadership as Abbess and bishop, Cill Dara became a great place of spiritual learning and of the arts/crafts particularly metal work and illumination. For centuries thereafter, each succeeding Abbess of Kildare took the name of 'Brigit' and was regarded as a person of immense stature thoughout Ireland with the monastery being second only to Armagh in its ecclesiastical importance.

Rape of Brigit & decline in the status of Women in Irish society 
But over time, the importance of women in society was reduced as Viking raids, wars and the growing influence of the patrician 'male only' Vatican took its toll. The death knell came in 1132 when it seems troops of the King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough sacked the monastery, raped the abbess Brigit, carried her off and forcibly had her married to one of his followers. As is the case throughout the history of humanity, 'rape' is used as the ultimate weapon against female independence and the physical symbol of man's power over womankind. McMurrough is the same man who invited the British Normans to Ireland to aid him in his wars; they of course soon decided to conquer the country for themselves staying in the process for over 800 years.

Bloody Sunday massacre in January 1972 was part of a wider campaign of oppression against the nationalist community of Northern Ireland

Six months before the deliberate shooting of 26 unarmed civilians in Derry, the same elite unit of the British Army had shot dead at least 9 civilians over the course of three days in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast whilst at the same time hundreds of homes were being raided across Northern Ireland by the British military with hundreds of people arrested and imprisoned without trail in internment camps, many of whom were tortured.

More reminiscent of contemporary scenes from the streets of South American cities during the brutal coups and authoritarian regimes of military junta, this state terrorism was happening though in a modern democratic European state which was a member of the European Economic Community (now the Europan Union)

See the article below that I wrote on the subject for the Galway City Tribune last May.

 

After 50 years, the truth finally come out yesterday in a British court that the British Army shot dead nine innocent people over three days in west Belfast during August 1971. All the victims of the Ballymurphy massacre were members of the nationalist community. 

 

At the same time as these murders were being carried out hundreds of homes were being raided across Northern Ireland by the British military with hundreds of people arrested and imprisoned without trail in internment camps. Many were immediately humiliated and tortured by their captors. Very few of these prisoners were associated with the IRA (the supposed reason for their arrest); many were members of the civil rights movement and left-wing organisations. 

 

7,000 people mainly nationalists at this time were forced from their homes in the North due to burnings and attacks by mobs. Thousands fled over the border with refugee camps being set up in the South. In spite of the fact that British Loyalist paramilitaries were targeting Catholics and carrying out indiscriminate bombings in the period, not one member of these Unionist sectarian gangs was arrested and interned. The Unionist government in Northern Ireland made sure of that.

Over the full period of internment that continued until 1975, of the estimated 1,981 people interned; 1,874 were nationalist, while 107 were loyalist.

 

During the course of the killings in Ballymurphy that included a priest holding a white flag attending to a wounded person, the British Army press officer on the ground was telling the media that those shot were IRA gunmen. That officer, belonging to the First Parachute Regiment, was Mike Jackson who was head of the British Army (Chief of the General Staff) during the illegal invasion of Iraq by British-American forces in 2003. A few months later (January 1972) he was in Derry when the same regiment shot 26 civilians (13 died immediately) during a peaceful Civil Rights march.

 

Boy on the Border

As a young boy living a few kilometres inside the border in Carrickmacross county Monaghan at the time, I witnessed the families fleeing for safety, victims of vicious pogroms in Belfast and elsewhere. I use to listen to the BBC/UTV television channels and the British mainstream media telling the world that the British military in the North were a peacekeeping force protecting the ordinary people of the North from the terrorism of Irish republicans. As a member of a Catholic family living in Ulster (Monaghan), I would hear Ian Paisley being quoted at Loyalist rallies stating “(Catholics) breed like rabbits and multiply like vermin" and that “Catholic homes caught fire because they were loaded with petrol bombs; Catholic churches were attacked and burned because they were arsenals and priests handed out sub-machine guns to parishioners”. I knew then what was being said and written were pure lies. I realised even as a young teenager that the British media were very much part of the propaganda war effort. Censorship applied. Fake news was continuously being spread. An example was the front page of a News of the World newspaper in 1977 showing a (false) image of a Soviet (Russian) submarine off the coast of Donegal (supposedly delivering weapons to the IRA).

 

As a student activist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was painfully aware of the dirty tricks and terror campaign being organised by the British state. Bombings and bank robberies took place in the Republic and in the North carried out by British military, their spy network, their special forces such as the SAS, their allies in the Loyalist military and agent provocateurs (e.g. Littlejohn brothers) which were blamed on the IRA. Other covert operations involving collusion between British clandestine security forces in Northern Ireland and loyalist paramilitaries led to killings on both sides of the border. According to witnesses including some former members of the British forces and of loyalist gangs, this included the Miami Showband massacre (July 1975) and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 (33 deaths). During the 1980s and 1990s I was involved in the campaigns to release the imprisoned Birmingham Six, Maguire Seven and Guildford Four, innocent mainly Irish people living in the UK framed by the British police for the murderous IRA bombing campaign in Britain.

 

British Heroes of Justice and Truth

But there were the courageous few in Britain who were not afraid to speak out and demand justice and truth even though they were subsequently ridiculed, lied about, harangued and even framed for crimes that they never committed by the British media and British state. These heroic people included ex-British soldiers such as Colin Wallace and Fred Holroyd (who also exposed the British Intelligence cover-up of abuse of children in the Kincora Boys Home Belfast by Unionist paramilitaries) and those unnamed squaddies who gave evidence of the psychopathic behaviour of some of their fellow soldiers involved in the shooting of unarmed civilians; British politicians such as Tony Benn, Ken Livingstone, Jeremy Corbyn and Clare Short; British investigative journalists such as Chris Mullin; lawyers such as Michael Mansfield and Gareth Pierce; artists such as Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Vanessa Redgrave; and British police officers such as Deputy Chief Constable John Stalker who exposed the shoot-to-kill actions of the security forces under which suspected IRA members were deliberately killed without any attempt to arrest them.

 

Why A Reign of Terror in Northern Ireland?

So the question has to be asked, why was such a brutal system imposed by the British establishment? The answer was partly due to the desire to protect a right wing corrupt sectarian elite in Northern Ireland because they were loyal to a British state that still had 'big power' imperial aspirations. But it was also because of the situation happening globally during the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. It was a time when all across the world (United States, Vietnam, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Algeria, South Africa, Palestine, Iran, Czechoslovakia, Poland…) peoples and the youth in particular were rising up against racism, discrimination, tyranny, occupation and colonialism. In the case of this island, there was a fear amongst the powerful elite in Britain that a ‘Catholic’ Ireland could go the way of a ‘Catholic’ Cuba and become a bastion of communism that could spread to neighbouring countries.

 

This is Cork! Why is it not Galway?

I took this photo in Cork city a few months ago and deeply regret that no similar scene exists in Galway city.
But it was agreed twenty years ago that such a cityscape would be part of the fabric of our own city.

In  2002, the “Strategy for Economic, Social and Cultural Development 2002-2012” for Galway City was published after two years of deliberations and discussions by the Galway City Development Board which grew out of EU and national directives to reinvigorate local government in Ireland. It comprised all of the major stakeholders of the city including Galway City Council, the community and voluntary sector, IDA, Chamber of Commerce, health board, state agencies, education bodies, trades unions, the Western Development Commission, An Garda Síochana, Ireland West Tourism, Galway City Partnership and Údáras na Gaeltachta whose Vision was to have a Galway that was ‘Inclusive, Progressive, Historic, Sustainable, Accessible, Equitable, Creative and People-centred’. I was a member of that collaborative board in my capacity as a community forum (now GCCN) representative. One of its key objectives was to “Develop a Safe Citywide Pedestrian-friendly, Cyclist-friendly, Disability and Child-friendly infrastructure” with an agreement to “explore the feasibility of having a sustainable integrated transport infrastructure based on the following hierarchy: 1. Pedestrians. 2. Cycling 3. Public transport 4. Private motor car.” It was also agreed to review the possibility of having a light rail system into and around the city. There was a shared sense of positivity, respect and a belief that we together could create something really special.

Much progress was undertaken in the early years towards achieving the Strategy’s goals. But in the last decade as more and more cities across the world enthusiastically reimagined their cities where walking, cycling and public transport were prioritised, we still seem to have an outdated health-damaging greenhouse gas emitting car-centric culture. The recent furore about the temporary Salthill cycleway is understandable as it is a prime example of Hobson’s Choice with both options in their present form not coming up with viable solutions and causing in the process serious problems to pedestrians, cyclists, bus users and disabled parking permit holders. Galway City Council could and should have done better and consulted more in advance before coming up with these alternatives that are pitting good people against good people. The taxpayers and citizens of this great city deserve better from our public servants. The so-called third option of ‘no change’ is though unacceptable as the present situation represents a serious barrier to creating a healthy sustainable future for our increasingly urbanised world. In spite of a myriad of attractive facilities such as Galway Atlantaquaria, Quincentenary/Circle of Life Park, Salthill Park, large children’s playground, fine pubs and restaurants as well as possessing one of the most famous scenic seascape views on the planet, Salthill needs a major revamp in order to reclaim its status as the country’s leading seaside resort both for locals and tourists alike. 

Making the locality walking and cycling-friendly is fundamental to this transformation. I have taken part in all of last year’s Galway Urban Greenway Community mass cycles to Salthill involving people of all ages and have seen how these events have made the ambiance of the area more relaxed and more family-friendly. 

On the other hand, I was working last weekend in Salthill and the contrast to the cycling days could not have been more starker. Over much of last Saturday and Sunday it was bumper-to-bumper traffic belching out smoky toxic fumes with the harsh noises of cars revving a constant unwelcome disturbance.

Therefore I am making a submission to City Hall this week supporting Option 2 that includes a two way cycle lane on the Prom with two way vehicular traffic along the R336 (from the Grattan Road Junction to the Pollnarooma West Junction) but with the proviso of supporting disabled parking at Ladies Beach, and a pedestrian and a bus flow. A properly planned two way cycleway in Salthill can become part of the promised safe citywide pedestrian and cycling infrastructure that we have waited decades for. 2022 is the year that Galway has to redirect its transport infrastructure towards pedestrians, cyclists and mass public transport. There is no future otherwise.  

Dancing to Music from Hell

Part of my youth died yesterday on hearing of the sad passing of Meatloaf. The man was a force of nature. During my student days at UCG(NUIG), his operatic voice, Wagnerian ballads, music pulsating with pent-up passion captivated so many of our hearts, souls and bodies transforming us at the discos into demonic creatures dancing madly to the strains of 'Paradise by the Dashboard' and then, as if by magic, becoming lovable sweet angels gently holding our partners swaying slowly to the tender sounds of 'Heaven Can Wait'.

Thank you Meatloaf- you were a gift from heaven during that halycon era of the late 1970s-early 1980, giving us so much love, fun and joy. Godspeed agus ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam

A final word of praise to Gerry Sexton, his disciple on Earth who served him so well in his role as Galway's finest college DJ, pumping out the good vibrations at the Beach, the Aula, the International....

The world this week lost one of the great iconic figures of the anti-apartheid movement. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a leader of the struggle against racist white minority rule in South Africa, and was for decades at the forefront of peaceful mass resistance against the regime. A rebellious priest he steered the Christian churches away from a lukewarm stance on apartheid towards a strong proactive opposition and a recognition that it was evil and immoral to tolerate it. When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he spent his first night of freedom with Desmond at the bishop’s residency in Cape Town. When he died in 2013, it was Tutu that gave the final prayers at his memorial service. Mandela would refer to him as the people’s archbishop and it was Tutu who  came up with the term ‘Rainbow Nation’ to describe the ethnic mix he wished for in a post-apartheid inclusive South Africa. It was to be a country for all its peoples and a recognition that many white South Africans over many years such as Helen Suzman, Archbishop of Durban Denis Hurley (his parents were Irish), Kathleen Murray (her father was Irish) and Joe Slovo were in positions of leadership in the progressive movement for liberty, equality and fraternity. A supporter of sanctions and boycotts, Tutu in the 1980s derided western leaders such as US President Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for their backing of the South African government whilst also condemning the Soviet Union and China for their anti-democratic anti-religious authoritarianism.  Throughout his life he was a strong opponent of Israel, demanding an international boycott of the country, seeing its treatment of Palestinians and the military occupation and colonial settlement of their lands as ‘apartheid’. Desmond also opposed the illegal invasion of Iraq by a US/UK lead coalition, spoke out against political corruption in post-apartheid South Africa, was a strong advocate for gay rights and campaigned for tough action on Climate Change.

From: International Defence & Aid Fund for Southern Africa, 1978

 
During my student and post student days I was involved in the global campaign against institutionalised racism in South Africa, setting up a branch of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement (IAAM) in UCG (now NUIG) during 1977, inviting its founder Kader Asmal to address the university’s Students’ Union assembly and being a participant in USI-led activities when student leaders from Galway such as Mike Jennings, Padraic Mannion and Grainne McMorrow were part of the movement during an era when powerful interests in Ireland tacitly viewed apartheid as a ‘necessary bastion’ against ‘godless’ communism. The IRFU arrogantly supported sporting tours from and visits to South Africa, and businesses such as Dunnes Stores sold their farm produce in their supermarkets. I demonstrated outside the Lansdowne Road stadium in the early 1980s during rugby matches alongside activists such as Michael D. Higgins, now President of Ireland; stood on the picket line at the Dunnes Stores branch on Henry Street in the mid 1980s with brave workers such as Mary Manning, sacked because they would not handle South African oranges and vegetables. These pickets were largely ignored by amongst others the wider Irish trade union membership until Bishop Desmond Tutu gave them international recognition by inviting the strikers to visit him in London during 1985 to thank them for their courageous efforts. In the 1980s I proudly wore my ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ tee-shirt dancing to the song of the same name by the Specials at alternative discos. I joined Michael D. and Sabina Higgins with other Galway anti-apartheid activists as well as Labour supporters in the Atlanta Hotel Dominick Street Galway on February 11 1990 as we emotionally watched on a big television screen Nelson Mandela being released from Victor Verster Prison after 28 years imprisonment.

Over recent years during my work visits to South Africa, I often met ANC veterans who talk admiringly of the grassroots support that they had from Ireland during the dark days. Some  would proudly inform me that they, from many different religious faiths, had been given their education by Irish clerics who regaled them with stories of the centuries-long struggle for Irish independence. Many viewed the conflicts in Northern Ireland and their own country as part of the wider global movement against imperialism, based on overcoming political establishments that used racial/class discrimination and police brutality to keep indigenous populations under control. Sinn Féin and the African National Congress (ANC) saw themselves as brothers-in-arms and Gerry Adams was part of the official guard of honour at Mandela’s funeral in 2013. Kader Asmal, Trinity law lecturer and IAAM co-founder who later become a Minister in Mandela’s government, had in the 1970s and 1980s arranged meetings between the IRA and the ANC’s military wing. But Desmond Tutu was always against armed conflict and consistently called for a peaceful settlement to the ‘Troubles’.

 

From: International Defence & Aid Fund for Southern Africa, 1978

These ANC veterans would have agreed with Tutu though that the country still has so much to do to live up to the vision that both he and Mandela had of an egalitarian non-sexist non-racist Rainbow Nation, and that inequality, poverty, corruption, crime, femicide, xenophobia and racism were still prevalent.

 

During the apartheid era I, as a young impatient social activist, personally did often feel that Tutu, who was viewed internationally as the publicly acceptable tolerant face of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality in South Africa, was not radical enough and was too willing to cool the righteous anger of the oppressed masses. But in hindsight I admit that I was wrong and have over the years come to greatly admire the charming, smiling, gregarious, friendly, witty socialist churchman who was courageous beyond measure, willing to speak out against human rights abuses by the governments of Israel, USA, China, Soviet Union, UK and Myanmar.

A hero to so many over so many generations Desmond Tutu, throughout his long eventful life, saw himself first and foremost as a Christian priest rather than a politician who tried to live and to follow in the footsteps of his own hero, namely Jesus Christ. May he Rest in Peace/Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

An Irish Christmas, Past and Present -Part 1

Was Christmas more exciting for children and more satisfying for adults in days gone by? In my humble opinion, the answer at so many levels is an emphatic “No”. But it was different.

In a 21^st century  Christmas the gregarious Santa, the bearer of gifts, becomes king of the festive season and the cold dark winter nights transform into bright multicolour light shows. 

The spirit of caring and helping others is now part of the fabric of the modern Christmas with tens of millions of euros being collected for good causes every December in Ireland. There is a wonderful emphasis on volunteering and taking part in fund-raising events for those who are disadvantaged both at home and abroad. Inclusivity and diversity takes centre stage with children of special needs, disabilities, ethnicity and faiths being given respect and prominence in the media such as on the Late Late Toy Show and other festive television delights. The renowned generosity and openness of the Irish is there for all to see.

Pop-up Xmas markets are hosted in every city enticing the visitor with amongst other things, live entertainment, an array of Irish handmade produce, fair trade gifts, mouth-watering craft beverages and tasty homegrown organic foods. Every town and village across the country is decorated with colourful sparkling bunting and lights, and the gardens and buildings of many private houses look like Las Vegas at night-time. 

It is a time when fun family events promoting quality of life tend to be held such as the mass public cycle ride through Galway city of two weeks ago promoting the Salthill Cycleway when participants of all ages dressed up in thematic fancy dress (I was Super Mario!) and rode their blinged-out bikes!

Over the last few years, the Irish people are encouraged like never before to Buy Irish,  Buy Local, Buy Sustainably, Buy Organic and support jobs and innovation in Ireland

Thanks to online shopping and special festive product releases, the selection of toys for children as well as electronic gadgetry, clothes, toiletries and jewellery for adults has never been more wide ranging.

Up until COVID, all age groups could celebrate at Christmas with their peers, from work parties for the adults , to clubbing for the teens/younger adults, and to school concerts for the children and parents. The cinemas, streaming and online media libraries such as Netflix as well as music services explode with much anticipated seasonal movies and music blockbusters.

Children happily write cards to Santa and more likely than not he delivers their requested and oftentimes very expensive gifts. Boys and girls wake up early on Christmas morning to rush down to the tree to be overwhelmed with an array of toys. Thank you Santa!

Christmas during my childhood was more frugal, more serious, less bright and less festive than that of the 21^st century. But it was nevertheless every bit as magical and joyful for children then as it is for today’s young generation. In fact…(Part 2 to follow tomorrow).