Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘South African Racist Rugby Tour of Ireland 1970’ Category

Desmond Tutu, South Africa, Apartheid, Israel – An unpublished letter to the Irish Times

leave a comment »

An unpublished Irish Times Letter : Desmond Tutu, South Africa, Apartheid, Israel – the author is Betty Purcell :

“Dear Editor,
It was with the deepest sadness, that I learnt of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, (South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu dies age 90, IT December 26th )this week. He was indeed a moral giant, an unequivocal fighter for human rights, a compassionate and funny individual, who used his voice so articulately, for the betterment of humanity.
I had the honour of meeting him twice; once while filming on the subject of human rights in South Africa, and once here in Ireland, when he came to speak for Afri, the small Irish Justice campaign of which he was a sponsor. He was passionate and informed on so many issues, and eloquently argued the rights based approach.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pat O’Connor 1948-2015, Limerick Socialist, Supporter of the Fourth International

leave a comment »

cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2020/12/07/left-archive-pat-oconnor-limerick-based-socialist-1948-2015-published-2015/

Recently, following prompts by Pádraig Malone, I forwarded material celebrating the life and political activities of the late Pat O’Connor to the Irish Left Archive site.

A 21 year old Pat O’Connor is holding the placard saying “PD [People’s Democracy] Opposes Racism”. 1970 demonstrations against the touring South African 
All-White Rugby Team.

Readers can find links to to that material in two PDF’s below. The pamphlet link includes the text of a speech I delivered at a 2015 memorial meeting for Pat. A second link is a copy of an obituary submitted to the Limerick Leader newspaper written by myself and Cian Prendiville.

John Meehan December 7 2020

Read the rest of this entry »