Ó Brádaigh - Hunger Strikers Were Not Sacrificed for Political Gain

[merle haggard]

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh refuted the notion that the hunger strikers were sacrificed for electoral purposes. Why do you ignore this?

no he didnt . He stated for the second time in 2 years that the IRA army council and the sinn fein leadership were not aware of any offers emanating from the British governemnt that it is now claimed have been made , and therefore did not make any decisions upon them . Thats a very different thing altogether from what you and the Irish news anonymous staff reporter are claiming.
and thats also why Mr OBradaigh was forced to release a second statement the very next day pointing out what the Irish News was spinning was not what he had actually said .

you are aware of this . Why do you persist in confusuon mongering despite being aware of Mr OBradaighs clarification the following day when he demanded to set the record straight . You know well the Irish News headline was completely inaccurate

[picador]

So once again it is the Irish News who are liars!?

Might I remind you about the last time you said one of the Irish News's articles was dishonest. You said there was no such thing as PSNI Special Branch. That is completely untrue!

As slippery as Jim Gibney in a barrel of grease I believe you said. And so you are!

[Pat Mc Larnon]

Pat McLarnon said: “Your attempt at legal jargon and comparison holds no water”

You mean no juice!

A call made at the time

You mean Gerry Adams’ decision then not to tell the Hunger Strikers of this offer which of course he lied about later on. Talk about cruelty and torture.

Evidence that the British were never serious and were intent in torturing and confusing the men.

Imagine you're dying in a hospital bed of what you think is inoperable cancer and your Oncologist quietly approaches your wife to say maybe your cancer can be operated on but your wife doesn’t tell you that preferring instead that you just die. Now maybe the Oncologist is wrong or being disingenuous but don’t you think your wife should have told you this before she decided you’d be better off dead? Don't you think that should have been your decision to make and not your wife's or Uncle Gerry's?

Informed consent?

The patient’s choice based upon all known facts and conditions.

A bit like when they left meals in their cells day after day, what do you call that...

The law: prisons are required under the law to provide all prisoners three hots and a cot daily.

I prefer cruelty and torture.

No doubt.

From the convoluted workings of a Defence Counsel and the Prosecution to the relationship between a patient, his wife and an Oncologist. Your ramblings in an attempt to present a case border on the embarrassing. But then you know nothing of the actual events.

Though your being a stickler for the law in this case is very telling, no surprises there.

Actual witnesses to the events have had their say, their it sits.

[SonnyLaymatina]

From the convoluted workings of a Defence Counsel and the Prosecution to the relationship between a patient, his wife and an Oncologist. Your ramblings in an attempt to present a case border on the embarrassing. But then you know nothing of the actual events.

Though your being a stickler for the law in this case is very telling, no surprises there.

Actual witnesses to the events have had their say, their it sits.

Pat McLarnon said: “From the convoluted workings of a Defence Counsel and the Prosecution to the relationship between a patient, his wife and an Oncologist. Your ramblings in an attempt to present a case border on the embarrassing.”

You just can’t stop drinking the juice.

But then you know nothing of the actual events.

If you know more than Richard O’Rawe then let’s hear it.

Though your being a stickler for the law in this case is very telling, no surprises there.

As opposed to you being a stickler for PSF spun fantasies, shocker that.

Actual witnesses to the events have had their say, their it sits.

And O’Rawe’s recall beats them all. So wise up Pat!

[SonnyLaymatina]

Merle Haggard said: "You are aware of this . Why do you persist in confusuon mongering despite being aware of Mr OBradaighs clarification the following day when he demanded to set the record straight . You know well the Irish News headline was completely inaccurate."

PSF Propaganda, like anyone else's propaganda, isn't about getting at the truth of the matter. It's all about getting or keeping power and privilege. Hence the PSF smoke machines here to cover Gerry Adam's ass. He is after all their eternal President for whom they will forever be drinking the juice.

[merle haggard]

So once again it is the Irish News who are liars!?

Might I remind you about the last time you said one of the Irish News's articles was dishonest. You said there was no such thing as PSNI Special Branch. That is completely untrue!

As slippery as Jim Gibney in a barrel of grease I believe you said. And so you are!

might i very simply point this out you , a statement issued to the Irish News by Ruairi OBradaigh 2 days after Sinn Fein member and Irish News reporter Alison Morris ran with the the headline

Hunger Strikers were not sacrificed for political gain

and made the claims

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh has dismissed suggestions by former republican prisoner Richard O’Rawe..that some of the 1981 hunger strikers were allowed to die in the Maze Prison as part of a Sinn Fein strategy to gain electoral support Throughout the1981 republican Hunger Strike, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh reigned as president of Sinn Fein. It is also believed he was a member of the IRA’s ruling army council throughout the same period.
While Ó Brádaigh has said he passionately supported using elections as a strategy to draw global attention to prison protest, he maintains it’s unthinkable that men were sacrificed for electoral success.


OBradaigh responded to the Irish News coverage

In the interests of historical accuracy
Ruairi O Bradaigh, President of Republican Sinn Fein, Dublin 1
20/10/09
Arising out of recent publicity in The Irish News on the 1981 hunger strikes I wish to clarify certain matters.
- Dr Garrett Fitzgerald places Gerry Adams as president of Sinn Fein in 1981.
I was president at that time.
- Sinn Fein’s task in 1980-81 was to campaign in support of the hunger strikers.
Sinn Fein knew nothing of conditions alleged to be on offer for settlement of the strike.
- I do not believe that the army council of the IRA was aware of such alleged conditions either.
In the interests of historical accuracy I wish to place this information on the public record.


Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: In the interests of historical accuracy - July 1981

these are two different things entirely . If the Irish News was not misrepresenting Mr OBradaighs position and words , as Ive pointed out , then logic dictates that Mr OBradaigh would not feel compelled to issue such a statement in the interests of historical accuracy . Theres nothing remotely slippery in anything ive said . Hes saying sinn fein and the IRA did not scupper any deal because they did not know anything about such a deal . Hes not saying that such a deal never existed in the first place between the british governemnt and named individuals as stated by Richard ORawe , which is what Alison Morris is claiming .
Ms Morris is very deliberately using the words sinn fein leadership and gerry adams interchangably to confuse the reader . When OBradaigh claimed the IRA leadership and the Sinn Fein leadership didnt know about such a deal she interprets this to her readership as evidence of the fact Gerry Adams didnt either , that such a deal never existed . Mr Obradaigh most certainly did not dismiss ORawes claims as stated by Alison Morris .Thats a completely different thing entirely . Hence an Irish News reporter who is a memebr of sinn fein has engaged in confusion mongering on the issue , a deception which required a clarifiction from the former sinn fein president.

[picador]

It is clear that he is providing additional clarification rather than rebutting the content of the interview.

[merle haggard]

It is clear that he is providing additional clarification rather than rebutting the content of the interview.

Stop taking the p*ss

[picador]

IIRC (I do not have a subscription to the IN) there was no mention of the so-called deal - and so thus anything R Ó B wrote in his letter is in addition to the interview. Look if you have a problem with how the Irish News reported this you should contact them.

A couple of weeks you assured me categorically that the Irish News was dishonest and there was no such thing as PSNI Special Branch. Why should I believe a thing that you say?

[Katayusha]

IIRC (I do not have a subscription to the IN) there was no mention of the so-called deal - and so thus anything R Ó B wrote in his letter is in addition to the interview. Look if you have a problem with how the Irish News reported this you should contact them.

A couple of weeks you assured me categorically that the Irish News was dishonest and there was no such thing as PSNI Special Branch. Why should I believe a thing that you say?

Letting yourself down a bagfull again here pickyerwindy; you're supposed to be in Belfast, remember.

You should leave this type of thing to those who have a ********************ing clue, who read the Irish News because it's their local paper and who at least know how to navigate their ********************ing website.