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Crucial words Real IRA statement missed out
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
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Confusion surrounds whether or not the Real IRA publicly claimed responsibility for the murder of former Sinn Fein administrator Denis Donaldson at an Easter commemoration event held in Londonderry yesterday.
Around 200 people turned up for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement ceremony at the City Cemetery in Creggan, when a masked man appeared from the crowd and read a statement on behalf of the dissident terror group.
The event came just a day after the Dublin-based Sunday Tribune carried full details of the statement expected to be read out to the crowd, publicly admitting responsibility for shooting the west Belfast man in Co Donegal some three years ago.
However, when the statement was read out, a line outlining its claim that it “fell to the volunteers of Óglaigh na hÉireann (the Real IRA) to carry out the sentence and punishment demanded in our Army Orders and by the wider republican family”was omitted.
The Sunday Tribune also carried an interview with a Real IRA leader, alongside the full statement, in which they claimed to have been involved in Mr Donaldson’s murder and alleged details of his final moments after the gunmen burst into his remote home.
Mr Donaldson, the former head of Sinn Fein's administration at Stormont, was murdered at a remote Glenties cottage after leaving Northern Ireland when he admitted to years of work as a British informer.
The only reference to Mr Donaldson in the statement read out yesterday described him as a “traitor”, as the group also issued a thinly-veiled warning to Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
The terrorist organisation also threatened to carry out armed attacks in mainland Britain as part of its campaign for a united Ireland. And it warned young police officers they would be considered targets.
Youths were seen carrying petrol bombs at yesterday’s event. There was no visible security presence and the event passed off without incident. A colour party bearing flags and wearing berets was at the centre of the event.
Martin Galvin, a former director with the Irish/American Noraid, which helped support the IRA’s campaign during the conflict, was present along with Francis Mackey from the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.
The Real IRA’s use of the term ‘traitor’ came after Martin McGuinness branded dissidents traitors when they killed two |soldiers last month at Massereene army barracks in Antrim.
The terror group’s Easter statement said: “A former comrade, (McGuinness), has come full circle and with a knight of the British realm (PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde) at his shoulder he has labelled our gallant volunteers as traitors to justify his Redmondite stance and home rule politics. Let us remind our former comrade of the nature and actions of a traitor. Treachery is collaborating with the enemy, treachery is betraying your country.
“Let us give our one-time comrade an example. Denis Donaldson was a traitor and the leadership of the Provisional movement, under guidance from the British government, made provision for Donaldson to escape republican justice. No traitor will escape justice regardless of time, rank, past actions. The republican movement has a long memory.”
The Real IRA spokesman claimed, in an interview with the newspaper, that two of its members armed with a sledgehammer and a shotgun broke down the door of Donaldson's cottage.
“He just ran into the back room. There was a struggle and he ended up on the ground. He didn't cry out or plead for mercy. He remained silent,” he said.
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Comments
28 Comments
I notice the character assasination of "Mickey". Quite the text book behaviour of some nationalists that dont like what he has to say because they don't agree with his pro-Union, anti terrorist politics. Yawn, change the story boys and girls...the Unionist arguement is as legitimate if not more as the nationalist one, its about time it sank in. We aren't going away you know.....
BTW before some cretin says it, no this isn't Mickey, this is another one of the natives, one of your neighbours that shares Northern Ireland with you.
Posted by Gary | 15.04.09, 15:21 GMT
Aye, dead on seamus
Posted by KC | 15.04.09, 02:44 GMT
Belfast's 'Newsletter' complained about the lack of visible policing at the commemoration event.
I'd just like to point out that any police presence would be highly irresponsible and would only provoke the crowd - of which some of them were armed with petrol bombs.
Posted by Ciaran Gallagher | 14.04.09, 21:12 GMT
Wise Up says "ignore them and they might return to their dungeon" the stress here has got to be on "might". Sadly I feel that it would be a case of ignoring them at our peril. Let the powers that be both in Belfast and Dublin nip this murderous conspiracy in the bud. Referring to them as "clowns" "has-beens" yesterdays-men" is all well and good but let us not for one moment forget that these "clowns" are prepared to gun down soldiers, policemen and pizza delivery-men all for the sake of a "United Ireland".
MacMór
Posted by séamus macclelland | 14.04.09, 18:43 GMT
What a bunch . I agree wholeheartedly with Chris, they give the word Army a bad name.
Posted by robin | 14.04.09, 14:55 GMT
I find it very hard to take anyone wearing a gimp mask seriously. The dissidents are obviously all attention seekers and sadomaoschists of the sort that also like to inflict pain on others. Ignore them and they might return to their dungeon.
Posted by Wise Up | 14.04.09, 14:09 GMT
"This channel will act as the true voice for real Irish Republicans on YouTube. No matter how unpopular we are, no matter how much people despise or criticise us, no matter how insane or fanatical our words and actions make us appear to 99.99% of Irish people, we will be heard and we will ALWAYS believe we are right."
Found that on Youtube there now on a channel taking the mickey out of the people in the article above. Summed it up perfectly for me ha!
Posted by Rob | 14.04.09, 13:49 GMT
32 county sovereignty movement..... ha ha what a joke. Like thast ever going to happen. Unionsts are a massive majority in Antrim, north down, east londonderry, and north armagh. Simply put there will never be a united 32 counties
Posted by Rob | 14.04.09, 13:40 GMT
leave the politics to the elected representatives of the people !!
Posted by james | 14.04.09, 13:05 GMT
What a load of ****! Brave men??? show your faces!!!
Seems there were more press invited than supporters!
There is no room for you in our land ....... get out now!!
Posted by Nee-Naw | 14.04.09, 13:05 GMT
Update on Mickey's whereabouts..
He's currently in the process of being carbon-dated to discover his age....News just in, it turns out Mickey IS from the dark ages!
I'd also heard he was posting as 'Wesley' these days!
Posted by mark | 14.04.09, 12:40 GMT
Arrest those donkeys in the Real and Continuity IRA groups, that is the only answer.
p.s. Where is Mickey, I pray to all the saints in heaven that he is all right.
Posted by patrick | 14.04.09, 12:26 GMT
What rubbish is Democrat spouting, no one in any school teaches a mandate of hate, it sounds like you have been watching to much Oirish American garbage. No one ever taught me hate.
If these mugs are so proud of the job they are doing and have the support they claim, why hide behind masks? You never spotted Castro wearing a balaclava. Just a bunch of thugs with a daft biased sense of history. 200 people turned up, i'd like a proper head count as i'd say 200 means much less with a good few photgraphers chucked in.
Posted by MiHe | 14.04.09, 12:18 GMT
These people call themselves an “army”. If you dropped them in a field in Afghanistan, they’d wet their pants and cry for their mammies.
It makes me sick.
Posted by Chris | 14.04.09, 12:08 GMT
Can I have some of what Seamus is on?
Posted by spud | 14.04.09, 11:50 GMT
JerryF
I am from Northern Ireland and went to a Catholic primary school and a Catholic secondary school and was not taught hatred in either school or at home, in fact was taught love. In religious education classes we were taught the bible and in A level religious education were taught the bible as well as other religions, even secular ones. We were always taught to love everyone equally regardless of nationality, religion or race.
Posted by Katie | 14.04.09, 11:40 GMT
Katie, I have been there. In the words of Swift, the schools teach enough religion to hate, but not enough to love.
Posted by JerryF | 14.04.09, 11:24 GMT
Why do the 32 county sovereignty movement and real ira think that the people of Ireland are not competent to decide their own destiny?
Posted by Pete | 14.04.09, 11:12 GMT
When will these types of people realise or ever? as they are thick that borders and country names are really mean nothing. All countries are being diluted with multicultural insecurities (loss of national identity and breakdown of social identity). The ecomomic antichrists are pulling all economies together into a global one world currency (New World Order).
Posted by Seamus McGinty | 14.04.09, 10:57 GMT
Democrat, can I ask where you hail from? If you were from here you might know that although most of the schools are segregated hatred is not taught there. In fact many schools participate in cross community projects to get the children to meet with others from different communities and backgrounds.
If hatred is taught to children it is taught by single minded parents who foolishly support these idiots. And there dont seem to be many of those left.
The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland (and by people I mean all people, Catholic, Protestant and pretty much everyone else) want peace and want an end to the violence.
Posted by Katie | 14.04.09, 10:55 GMT
28 Comments