Archive for the ‘British State Collusion with Loyalist Murder Gangs’ Category
A series of Tributes to the Investigative Journalist Ed Moloney – “A strong voice against censorship: both that of the state and the more insidious self-censorship that had crept into journalism”
A number of tributes to the investigative journalist Ed Moloney are published below.
Also included is an account of how Ed published sensational evidence about the role of William Stobie (at one time a quarter-master in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association), in the political murder of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. The British state’s unsuccessful attempt to obtain details of the journalist’s confidential sources were defeated.
It is refreshing to read tributes about about a man I knew well that are kind, affectionate, and that do not pretend Ed was a saint.
He had a short fuse!
A tribute to the outstanding journalist Ed Moloney, who passed away in New York Aged 77
Ed was a great friend and will be missed.
Condolences to Joan McKiernan, and all friends, colleagues, and comrades.
A reminder : Ed Moloney’s work on issues concerning child abuse in the six-county bit of Ireland which remain unsolved :
John Meehan October 20 2025
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Versus the BBC concerning the 2006 killing of IRA informer Denis Donaldson – Dublin Jury Awards €100,000
This is a result which does not surprise close observers of the proceedings.
A very strong argument was advanced by Tom Hogan, counsel for Gerry Adams.
Source :
Tom Hogan, Counsel for Gerry Adams in BBC/Denis Donaldson libel case, puts forward extremely strong argument
The BBC Spotlight reporter Jennifer O’Leary failed to convince the jury about the quality of her 6 anonymous sources.
Any reasonable juror was bound to say to themselves : “It is irrelevant that Adams was, or was not, in the IRA. This claim is not proven – we are asked to take one person’s word for it, and that is not good enough”.
In short, the BBC case was extremely flimsy as it relied on anonymous British intelligence sources.
In this respect, see Anton McCabe’s incisive article below –
Adamned if he does, adamned if he doesn’t
Gerry Adams didn’t order spy’s murder, and ‘Spotlight’’s agent didn’t even say he did
British intelligence sources are serial liars – and the background news is :
The British Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn is scrambling to prevent a public enquiry into
the Sean Brown 1997 murder involving 25 – yes 25! – people connected to British intelligence.
Tánaiste Simon Harris has come out firmly with the Brown family, the GAA, thousands of Derry demonstrators, the Irish News etc – against the British state’s cover-up protecting MI5 murderers.
We are well used to British government cover-ups in Ireland. We are even more used to Dublin governments bowing, scraping, and capitulating to Westminster diktats.
So, it is notable that the Dublin government has grasped the Sean Brown cover-up must end.
John Meehan May 30 2025
After the libel trial result was made public, Gerry Adams called on the Dublin government to meet the family of Denis Donaldson. Jane Donaldson, the daughter of the killed IRA informer, issued a public statement which has the ring of truth.
The British State and the 6 County Bit of Ireland – Hilary Benn’s Three Cover-Ups Are Protecting State Killers
Hilary Benn is the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is very busy, scrambling to protect state killers.
Appalling vistas have come to the surface.
Three major scandals will not go away, public pressure is building up.
Number 1, The murder of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Chairperson Sean Brown in 1997
The Sean Brown case is extraordinary – Hillary Benn is covering up the involvement of 25 people connected to British intelligence in a case that dates back to 1997. Let that sink in.
Campaigners for Sean Brown are very clear on what they want. We are well used to British government cover-ups in Ireland, and are even more used to Dublin governments bowing, scraping, and capitulating to Westminster diktats.
So, it is notable that Simon Harris – Dublin government Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) has grasped this cover-up must end. This news report is very telling :
Read the rest of this entry »‘I was raped by Mountbatten in Kincora at 11; he wasn’t a lord… to me he was king of the paedophiles’ – Journalist Chris Moore makes sensational new allegations in a new book
Chris Moore from Belfast is no ordinary journalist.
He has worked for decades on the Kincora child abuse scandal. After extensive new research he makes credible allegations about the British royal family’s Lord Mountbatten (killed by an August 1979 IRA bomb in the western Irish county of Sligo) and a wide-ranging British state cover-up.
A new book brings the story up-to-date.
Link :
Readers are recommended to go and see the film “Lost Boys” whenever they get the chance – despite the British State’s efforts to kill the story, aided and abetted by the Irish police force, An Gárda Síochána (Guardians of the Peace).
All of this is grim reading.
Robert Ballagh’s “The Thirtieth of January”: A Bloody Sunday Painting and the Troubles in the Two Bits of Ireland
In this interview the artist Robert Ballagh discusses the painting “The Thirtieth of January”, depicting Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972. The conversation provides valuable insights into Ballagh’s personal experiences and artistic process, shedding light on the political and social context of the time.
The interview provides a unique insight into the historical and cultural significance of the painting.
Critical issues related to the Irish government’s response to the conflict, the impact of the Bloody Sunday event, and the broader social and political implications are highlighted. Ballagh’s commentary on the role of the Irish government, the impact on nationalist communities, and the establishment of the Special Criminal Court adds depth to the discussion.
Bloody Sunday Painting – the Thirtieth of January – Robert Ballagh
Thursday, January 20 2022. John Meehan interviews the artist Robert Ballagh in Number Five Arbour Hill.
We are talking about Robert’s painting : The Thirtieth of January, a representation of Bloody Sunday in Derry, January 30 1972.
John Meehan :
Why did you zone in on Derry’s Bloody Sunday , and put so much effort into making this painting? What makes it different from so many other big events during “The Troubles” in the north of Ireland, which lasted for 30 years, from 1968 to 1998?
Robert Ballagh
Well, it’s a long time ago now 50 years, but I have to say that it had an enormous effect on me, and I don’t think I’m alone with that historical experience. I suppose one thing I should say, I was only thinking about this, and I haven’t said anything about this experience to others. I’m a Dubliner. I’ve lived all my life in Dublin. But unlike most Dubliners – it wasn’t by design – I had an extraordinary rich knowledge of the North of Ireland, before the conflict began. Because I was a professional musician in a showband. We used to play at least once or twice a week in the north. So I was in every town village or city in the north that had a ballroom or ballrooms. And so I experienced the reality of life in that society, and became very aware of the sectarian differences, shall we say – the nature of the society, which people didn’t appreciate at all. I tell one very short story to illustrate that. We played fairly regularly in one of the very popular ballrooms in Belfast : Romano’s in Queen Street. We developed quite a following! In the show business vernacular the word groupie was used. These girls used follow us, they came down to Dublin once or twice to hear us. And we were playing one night in Romano’s.
After the dance, they came up and we’re talking to us. They asked “When are you playing again in Belfast?”.
I remember saying “Oh, I think we’re here next week.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah – we’re playing in a ballroom called the Astor” which I knew was in Smithfield.
And they said, “Oh, we can’t go there.” And I said, “Why?” – because it was a public ballroom. It wasn’t attached to any organization or anything. It was a public ballroom.
They said, “Oh, no, that’s a taig hall”
And it was the first time I realized, and we realized, that our fan base in Belfast was Protestant.
The 1997 Bellaghy State Terrorist Murder of a GAA Chairperson Seán Brown in Derry – Link to Documentary
Trevor Birney’s documentary is recommended. It was broadcast on the Irish state’s TV Station RTÉ (Radio Telefís Éireann) 1 on April 22 2024.
For anyone who missed it or is unable to access it, here’s a link :
Weak Arm of the Law in the 26 County bit of Ireland – Police “Hug-a-Thug” Policy imported from the 6 County bit of Ireland
The boss of An Garda Síochána (police force in the 26 county bit of Ireland), Drew Harris, was recruited from the cops in the 6 county bit of Ireland. The people running the two states in partitioned Ireland have developed very close social, political and personal relationships since the the 1998 triumph of the Good Friday Agreement. I recently circulated details of Harris’s “Hug-a-Thug” policy towards growing far-right violence in the 26 counties to a 6 county political activist, who commented this was “reminiscent of the historic style of policing up here”.
Ruling class forces were extremely happy about the continuation of partition guaranteed by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. They did not foresee that the foundations of partition in Ireland are more rotten than their constitutional plan conceding a Unionist Veto to a majority of the voting population of the six county state. The Brexit referendum result of 2016 lit a slow-burning fuse under the GFA structure; in the meantime we are witnessing the creation of a possible “United Ireland from Hell” which consists of knitting together the most reactionary features of both partitioned states in Ireland.
The following article from the Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog powerfully illustrates the dangers arising from importing 6 county softly-softly policing methods towards the far-right (loyalist paramilitaries), fine-tuned by Garda boss Drew Harris.
John Meehan April 22 2024
Weak Arm of the Law – Cedar Lounge Blog
Link : Weak Arm of the Law – Cedar Lounge Blog
So, Friday comes the news that the previous night:
Gardaí were called to the home of Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman on Thursday night when a gang of up to 12 masked men gathered outside his house and huge placards and banners were stretched across his driveway gate, along his wall and fastened to outside polls.
Read the rest of this entry »
British Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris “accused of ‘unprecedented political intervention’ in legacy inquest” – News from the 6 County Bit of Ireland
Exclusive: Chris Heaton-Harris accused of ‘unprecedented political intervention’ in legacy inquest – Irish News Newspaper
Northern Ireland Office minister seeks to block information being passed to family of murdered Catholic man Fergal McCusker
Family Members of Fergal McCusker attend the Inquest at Laganside courts on Tuesday April 9 2024
News like this does not get the attention it deserves. Low standards of justice remain very common in the sick state of Northern Ireland.
Here are the details.
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has been accused of “an unprecedented political intervention” as it emerged he has written to chief constable Jon Boutcher questioning his actions.
Dramatic details came to light during an inquest hearing liked to the LVF murder of Fergal McCusker (28) in Maghera, Co Derry, as he made his way home from a night out on January 18, 1998.
No-one has ever been charged with the Catholic man’s murder, although four men were arrested and later released.
Read the rest of this entry »Piety and Politics of the Democratic Unionist party in the Six County bit of Ireland – with the fall of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson “It feels like the end of days now”
In his final public sighting as DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was at Stormont for a Christian Easter service.
It was Wednesday evening and there was a feel-good sense in Parliament Buildings. The DUP and Sinn Fein had been working together harmoniously for eight weeks, and now politicians were coming together for an uplifting ecumenical concert.
With Donaldson in the audience, prayers were said for political leaders, and at the end the relaxed DUP leader went to have his photo taken with Eurovision winner Dana, who was singing at the event.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP and his wife Eleanor are scheduled to appear in court on April 24 in connection with serious criminal charges (described below). In the next weeks and months we will see how this story unfolds. The context is important – what effect will this have on the the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) which Mr Donaldson led until Good Friday 2024?
In a context where extreme right forces are on the march in most parts of the world, it is useful to add some Irish cross-border detail to Jeffrey Donaldson’s “final public sighting as DUP leader”. Sir Jeffrey was pleased to pose for a photo with Eurovision winner Dana (Rosemary Scallon) who attempted (and failed) to revive the religious far-right in the 26 County bit of Ireland. In the late 1990’s Scallon had some brief electoral success in a Presidential election, and won a European Parliament seat. However by 2011 Scallon’s political green-devil comet crashed and burned. The extremist Catholic far-right had become deeply unpopular. Most people in Ireland had turned against the Catholic Church, deeply implicated in a succession of child abuse scandals and hatred of pro-feminist causes such as the legalisation of abortion , divorce, same-sex marriage, contraception and gay rights. Shrewder right -wing politicians such as Fine Gael Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny saw the writing on the wall ; In the Dáil (parliament) this leader of the Dublin government stated that the Vatican was responsible for the “torture” of Irish children.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 