TÁL EDITORIAL

TEAM TALK

BEATING THE BIGOTS

FASCISTS NOT WELCOME

BOOING THE BRITS

FASCISM & FUNDAMENTALISM

BRIGATA SCOZZESE LIVORNO

PEDIGREE CHUMS

REVIEWS

MOJO: INJUSTICE CASE STUDY

TERRACE TRENDS

INTERVIEW: PAUL HEATON

THE CORRIB GAS CONTROVERSY

STORY BEHIND THE SONG:THE BALLAD OF WILLIE & DANNY

101 Uses for a Dermot Desmond

STAND BY OUR MANBy the accounts of those who know him well,Neil lLennon is a quiet, private, family-orientatedindividual. He is said to be thoughtful andintelligent in conversation. He is an open personwho has revealed his own battles with seriousbouts of depression throughout his footballcareer. He would be the first to admit that he isno saint and should not be viewed as such. As aplayer he was a robust and talented midfielder,an inspiring captain to those around him, and adetermined winner. It is also said that as a playerhe could mix it with the best of them, although Ican’t say that I ever saw him play the gameunfairly, or try to cheat his opponents.What possible crime has Neil Lennon committedthen that deserves the vilification and hatred,death threats and psychotic Internet campaignsagainst him? Who has he harmed or offended tothe extent that his family have to be movedaround ‘safe houses’, guarded around the clock,and fear what might be inside the next parcelthat drops through their letter box?

There is a serious rumour that a rogue elementof a loyalist paramilitary group has actually dis-cussed, let’s just say, ‘the Lennon issue’, to savetheir blushes(although it would take people whoare capable of feeling shame and embarrass-ment to blush). Why would any loyalist paramili-tary organisations be entertaining the possibilityof assassinating the manager of Celtic?

If there’s anything that demonstrates the higherideals of republicanism and its goal of a unitedIreland it is this ridiculous conspiracy of racistsand religious bigots who call themselves‘loyalists’ and ‘loyal (sic) rangers supporters’.

Can you suspend belief for a moment and con-sider any republican faction going as barmy asto sit at a meeting of their organisation and con-

sider the possibility that they might make a‘legitimate target’ of any member of rangers’staff? It is such an absurd idea as to be laugha-ble, but readers, this is where we are in 2011.Post-peace in the north of Ireland there are still-some among us who cannot let go of such adeep and visceral hatred as that of ‘the taigs’and their fitba team. There is nothing loyal toteam, Queen or country about terrorising a foot-ball manager and his family for simply beingCatholics of Irish origin who happen to live andwork in this country. If the bullies win and NeilLennon decides to quit Celtic and Scotland it willbe a defeat for all of us who strive for equalrights and freedom. We know that Neil is madeof stronger stuff and has faced down the bigotsever since joining Celtic as a player, but this isdifferent,this is an intolerable situation that he,hispartner and child have been placed in and theydeserve the full support of the worldwide Celticfamily. Stand firm, don’t let the bigots win. Weare with you Neil!

WELCOME BACK!Welcome to another long-awaited edition of TÁLFanzine. It’s been while since we last appeared soI’ll save you any excuses about or long absence fromCeltic Park, suffice to say that most of the TÁLoperation now exists in cyberspace through ourwebsite and online forum, as well as on facebook,bebo and twitter. In the process we have gatheredtogether a new Editorial Group that is committed tobringing out this hard copy edition again on a regularbasis. The initial plan is to produce two this season,so one more to come and endeavour after that toproduce at least four editions of the fanzine perseason. This is our 20th Anniversary year and wecan promise at least another few freebies along theway. Hopefully we will be reacquainting ourselveswith old readers of the fanzine and making newfriends along the way.

Go raibh maith agat.

TALK

TEAMFraser Forster: Withthe loss of the iconicArtur Boruc to Fioren-tina, it was impera-tive that hisreplacement be atleast as good be-tween the posts asthe Big Pole. LukaszZaluska’s perform-ances as first choicewere decidedly rag-ged and inconsistentenough for the coach-ing staff to look else-where for a

replacement keeper. In Fraser Forster our loansigning from Newcastle United, we have the safepair of hands we were looking for. We can onlyhope that Forster’s season long loan at Celtic willbe successful and that his taste of life in Glas-gow will have whetted his appetite for more ofthe same. Let’s hope the initial loan deal can beturned into a permanent stay for the big keeper.

Emilio Izaguirre:Izaguirre looks likethe find of the sea-son so far. His clev-er interlinking playfrom the back, his vision and ability, have been arevelation. A complete unknown before he cameto Celtic Park Izaguirre has been attracting admir-ers from the English Premiership and furtherafield who appear ready to flash the cash for thisservices. TAL’s main concern is the short-ter-mism of the PLC who may see Izaguirre as anideal candidate to cash in on. Acquired for only£500,000 and reputed to be the lowest paid play-er in the current first team squad he looks like aprime candidate for the PLC to turn over a quickand very juicy profit at the end of the season.

Efrain Juarez - Looked like a real player at thestart of the season, he is good on the ball, hasvision and can rough it with the best of them ifthe situation arises. He went off the tracks afterthe ‘Mexican Ladyboy Scandal’ which saw himbanned by the Mexican FA from the internationalteam for the season and his form, unsurprisingly,dipped. Neil Lennon managed to persuade himnot to accept a loan deal in January reassuringthe player that he was still part of the coachingstaff’s plans. I think he has great potential and isdefinitely one player that I’d like to see the clubhold on to.

Daniel Majstorovic: When Big Dannyjoined us he made an immediate impact in shor-ing up an area of our defence that has been prob-lematic for a few years now. The main problemappears to have been in who to team Dannyalongside in central defence. The best partner-ship so far appears to be alongside ThomasRogne, but Charlie Mulgrew has performed wellwhen required, give or take a few basic errorsand gaffes.

Mark Wilson – Before this season I never reallyrated Wilson too highly since he signed for Celtic.He has shown promise at times, but his tendencyfor injury has meant that he really didn’t show thesame form for Celtic that he did with DundeeUnited. However, this season he has been a rev-elation. Perhaps the extra competition for placesat the back has spurred Mark into a more urgentapproach to improving his game, whatever it is,

TALK

it’s working! Not only is he doing what is requiredof him at full back and occasional centre-back,he’s also popping up to score important goals,like the one he bagged against Scotland’sShame FC.

Charlie Mul-grew - I washappy to seeCharlie returnto Celtic afterfailing to makethe grade un-der Strachanbut showingreal promise

while at Aberdeen. He did struggle to adapt tothe bigger club again and his performances atleft-back were lacklustre and if we’re honest, westarted to see why it’s not always the best moveto play a midfield player at full-back, becausetheir focus is not necessarily always on defend-ing. With the state of the Celtic back line in thelast couple of seasons, having yet another de-fender who wasn’t very good at defending isn’texactly what we were after. In saying that, I thinkCharlie has come good since his initial nervous-ness in re-donning the hoops. Filling in at Centre-back when required has brought out the best inhim in big games, although his concentrationlacks the intensity of a full-time centre-back,which accounts for the gaffes. All-in-all though,Mulgrew is a very good squad player who willcontinue to float in and out of the team as andwhen required.

Thomas Rogne – He would definitely be my firstchoice to play alongside Majstorovic in centraldefence, where a good partnership was develop-ing before Rogne’s injury and displacement byCharlie Mulgrew. Rogne is the player that wethought we were getting when we signed GlenLoovens, he is confident with the ball at his feet,is not nervous under pressure and can defendand tackle. Obviously with Mulgrew playing rea-

sonably well in the position it’s hard for the man-ager to drop him and reinstate Rogne, but thebest central defensive pairing at the club rightnow is Rogne and Majstorovic.

Cha Do-Ri – another player who was a relativeunknown outside of Korea and Germany beforewe signed him, he is a tough and robust full-backwith a fast turn of pace and a good delivery of theball. Probably our best right-back in years, hisabsence from the team due to the Asian CupTournament means he has lost his place to Wil-son for the time being, but I expect to see himback in the first team before too long.

Freddie Ljunberg: The famous No.7 shirt wasgiven to Freddie when he was revealed as the‘marquee signing during the January transfer win-dow, and since acquiring the shirt he’s hardlykicked a ball. Signing Ljunberg now smacks of aPLC marketing campaign. It maybe that, in spiteof his public enthusiasm for the signing, that thisacquisition may not have been fully to themanager’s taste, hence Freddie’s relegation tothe bench and reserve team outings. Maybe wewill see more of Ljunberg in the closing fewweeks of the season as injuries and suspensionsbegin to take their toll on the first team regulars,but don’t hold your breath. This could be one ofthe most ignominious of signings to wear thatfamous number 7 shirt, which is a pity because

TEAM

Ljunberg is one of the game’s great players andit would have been nice to see him get a bit ofsuccess at the end of his career wearing thehoops.

Scott Brown: Another player who, untilLennon’s appointment as manager, was themost infuriating and most criticised player in thesquad. Most fans were very doubtful whenBrown took the captain’s armband, not just be-cause of doubts about his ability but also basedon his neddish, ‘headless chicken’, on-field be-haviour. I am the first to hold my hands up whena player proves me wrong and I have to say thatScott Brown has done the business this season.He is finally fulfilling the potential he showed atHibs and turning into a real player. I can now seewhy we signed this player and why we shelledout £4.4m for him. He has led from the front thisseason, but it’s no accident that his return toform has coincided with Lennie’s appointment asmanager and a shift of position within the mid-field set-up that allows him a free role to moveforward and link up with the strike force. Scott’simprovement owes much to the players aroundhim in midfield, in particular to Joe Ledley andBiram Kayal

Shaun Maloney – not much to say about Shaunexcept that he is crocked again. Looked goodearly on and may have established himself inLennon’s plans, but he is injury prone and thisdictates against him becoming a first team regu-lar. Expect to see him quietly moved on at somepoint in the next couple of seasons.

Niall McGinn – Solid when called upon, Niallcan provide good runs, crosses and the occa-sional goal. Competition for places means thathe has been up against Paddy McCourt andJames Forrest for that occasional berth on the

wing. The acquisition of Kris Commons pusheshim further down the pecking order.

Kris Commons - Anotherplayer who has been a rev-elation since signing in Jan-uary, Kris is in danger ofbecoming known as ‘thehammer of the huns’. Hehas ability by the sackload.He is also very good withfree kicks and corners,which is why I think the management teamshould advise Ki against taking command at eve-ry deadball situation. Commons has more guileand is able to construct more from a free kick.

Joe Ledley – Cardiff and Wales’s attacking mid-fielder with a nose for goal has had to adapt toplaying a different type of midfield role at Celtic,but he has adapted his game with aplomb and,in my opinion, is one of the unsung heroes of ourcurrent midfield. A great acquisition and hopeful-ly here to stay for a few more years.

Ki Sung-Yong – Ki is a fine player with an abun-dance of skill and ability, although I would ques-tion whether he is as good at dead ball situationsas he thinks he is. Ledley, Kayal and Brownwould be the first 3 names in my midfield everyweek. After that, it’s between Ki, McCourt,McGinn and Forrest for the remaining place… Ofcourse. Neil Lennon often sees things differently,but I’ll keep trying to put him right (ha ha!).

Paddy McCourt – still theman who can light up agame, Paddy has provenhis critics wrong this sea-son. Those who ques-tioned his stamina and hisability to go the full 90 min-utes have been answeredby the fine shifts that he’sput in, as well as the fan-tastic turn of skill that heoccasionally shows to thedelight of the crowd. Oneof the fans’ favourites and one of TAL’s too.

Biram Kayal – THE SIGNING OF THE SEA-SON. Our Palestinian midfielder is probably thebest midfield player to grace the Hoops sincePaul McStay, Biram Kayal has been a fantasticbargain at £1.2m. He has everything; strong inthe tackle, good on the ball, reads the game and

can anticipate the opposition’s intent 3 or 4 pass-es in advance. He plays as the holding midfielderand playmaker, he is comfortable sitting in mid-field and spraying the ball around, or trailing backto defend and break up the moves of our oppo-nents. His willingness to have a shot at goal alsoindicates that we have another side of his gamestill to look forward to, one that will produce goalstoo. The real difficulty will be in hanging on to aplayer of his quality.

James Forrest – Showed real maturity when hestarted the league match at Ibrox againstScotland’s Shame FC, James had done all that’sbeen asked of him this season wheth-er in the starting line-up or coming onfrom the bench. He has all the at-tributes to secure a bright future atCeltic Park.

Giorgios Samaras- The Enigma thatis Giorgios Samaras goes on. Withoutdoubt, on his day, Samaras is probablythe most gifted and talented payer atthe club, bar none. However, his ‘day’comes so infrequently that the fans of-ten miss the good things that the big fella hascontributed. There’s no doubting that Neil Len-non knows the worth of this player to the cluband accepts the bad along with the good. Hisshrewd tactics in playing Samaras against rang-ers at The Reichstag paid off big time when Samibagged the goals. I remember many Celtic fansthat day groaning on hearing that Giorgios wasplaying from the start, but who would doubtLennon’s wisdom after that performance? Cer-tainly worthy of a new contract and a longer stayat the club.

Anthony Stokes - A player who should havejoined Celtic years ago when he was on loanfrom Arsenal at Falkirk, Anthony had his headturned at the thought of linking up with Roy

Keane in his first managerial job at Sunderland.Thankfully he got here in the end and has repaidus with a good tally of goals this season. I thinkNeil Lennon is playing Stokesie in the right waynow and the partnership with Hooper is a mutual-ly beneficial one, with both on course for at least40 goals between them this season.

Daryl Murphy - Was Dermot Desmond doingNiall Quinn a favour when we signed Murphyfrom Sunderland? No harm to you Daryl butyou're never a Celtic player and why we spent inexcess of a million quid on this fella still eludesme.

Gary Hooper – Ihave to say thatI raised an eye-brow when Iheard that we’dpaid £2.4m for arelative un-known strikerfrom ScunthorpeUnited, butHooper is a play-

er-and-a-half with a realpoacher’s eye for goal. Heleft Davie Weir for dust toscore that goal against ‘TheShame’. The nose for goal ofMcDonald allied to the speedof a whippet, Hoops has allthe makings of a great Celticstriker.The future looks bright withthe shine of silverware for theteam that Neil built! By TimTim

The politics of hate...There is an ugly undercurrent in Scottish society thathas yet to be faced down by our politicians and our me-dia. The catch-all term ‘sectarianism’ is how it is la-belled, but if any recent events demonstrated theinadequacy of that term it is surely the situation sur-rounding the Celtic manager Neil Lennon.Local rivalries on the pitch were subsumed by a politi-cal hullabaloo that completely ignored the real issueand, as a result, pointedly failed in its responsibilities toensure equal rights and treatment for all of its citizens.There are a series of curious circumstances surround-ing the build-up to recent matches between Celtic andrangers that merit some closer scrutiny. In the weekrunning up to the last league match at Celtic Park, wehad an intervention in the shape of a ‘report’ into theeffects of the derby matches on domestic violence fig-ures. This report was immediately backed by the policewho went as far as calling at that point (in advance ofany of the shenanigans that took place over 3 matchessince) for the authorities to take into account the cost ofthese matches to the public purse in terms of policingand NHS resources and to seriously consider banningthe Glasgow Derby!Apart from both club’s being major employers and a sourceof ample tax revenues (well, in our case anyway - havethey paid that bill yet?) are the police to be taken seriouslywhen they call for a ban on these matches, or should weconsider that they have an ulterior political motivation?Sure enough, a special police operation, the likes of whichhas not been seen for years at a Glasgow Derby, was im-plemented at Celtic Park and arrest figures came close to300. Again, a staggering number of arrests not seen at thefixture in many years, close to ten times the average. Afterthe match the call was raised to ban the fixture, play it be-hind closed doors, etc... This before the supposed explo-sive Scottish Cup ties between the two clubs. This was aseries of matches caught up in a political game, well be-fore the avalanche of hatred was unleashed on Neil Len-non.The police are embarking on a campaign to secure funding andavoid the government cuts that are affecting other public servic-es. In the Strathclyde Police area Celtic and rangers have be-come hostages to fortune. This cynical politicking by the policetakes place against the background of the Celtic manager en-during an organised campaign of hatred against himself and

his family; hatred that includes bullets through the post and themore recent and more sinister ‘hoax nail bomb’ addressed toLennon and discovered at a Saltcoats sorting office.Coupled with actual threats of violence is a vile inter-net-based campaign of incitement and hatred againstLennon. What other country in the world would allowone of its own ‘citizens’ to be bullied and subjected tosuch a campaign of racial and religious hatred? (I amleaving aside the question of Irish identity and nationali-ty for a moment to pose the question) If Neil Lennonwas of any other ethnic group or religion, would westand by and tolerate the hatred and bile that is beingpoured on him? Would not the press and politicians ofany civilised society be offering public support and sym-pathy, as well as a ensuring a proactive approach bythe police to seriously tackle the issues of violent anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholicism. It’s time to challengethe poison of racial hatred and religious intolerance inScotland, which is a particular problem among an ex-treme element of the rangers support,. One other ques-tion that must be seriously asked is: WHERE ARE THEDECENT RANGERS SUPPORTERS, HAVE THEYNOTHING TO SAY?The test of a democratic nation is said to be the abilityof its press to freely criticise its institutions and govern-ments and to challenge injustice. While some Scottishpoliticians may be taking baby steps towards address-ing the problem, the Scottish media have signally failedto face up to the beast. Only one Scottish-based jour-nalist has raised his head above the parapet to offerunconditional support to, and publicly defend Neil Len-non. In his recent Scotland On Sunday article AndrewSmith made a brave call for the authorities to acceptresponsibility for the situation and to properly addressthe bigotry, the racism and the threats that Lennon andhis family are enduring. The Irish journalist Phil MacGi-ollabhain is the other voice of dissent in the press packand has garnered his own little pack of ‘Phil-haters’ inthe process.The rest have been litttle better than mealy-mouthedapologists for the lynch mob. One day offering sympa-thy for Neil and his family. and the next. printing backpage poster-size headlines saying, ‘BLAME LEN-NON’!? Aye, where are the honest journalists?(see p3)

Why does Neil Lennon inspire so much hatred fromopposition fans at every ground in Scotland? Why doesevery kick of the ball, every tackle, every minor inci-dent, that this particular Celtic player is involved in,provoke such fury? Is it, as some in the media haveargued, because he happens to be a particularly robustmidfield player? And what is it about Lennon in partic-ular that encourages such little sympathy or understand-ing from the Scottish press when he appears to be thevictim of racial and sectarian abuse from the stands? Isit because he’s ‘an arrogant wee so-and-so’ as onenewspaper hack described him recently on his BBCScotland radio phone-in show? Or does this unprece-dented level of bile against one footballer actually re-veal a more sinister, darker secret about the Scottishpsyche?

The recent furore over Martin O’Neill’s public show ofsupport for the player could not in any sense be de-scribed as a legitimate public debate about the nature ofthe abuse suffered by Lennon. It has amounted to littlemore than a demonstration of the political ignorance ofthe very same sports press corps that wrings its handswith anger and indignation about ‘sectarianism’ beforeand after every Celtic v rangers match. A press whichwhilst claiming to revile the ‘poisonous atmosphere’ ofan “Old Firm” game also appears to revel in it.

In the days following the match it was only GrahamSpiers of The Herald - alone among the Scottish press-pack - who was prepared to offer a defence of MartinO’Neill’s right to speak out ‘against the racial and sec-tarian abuse’ of one of his players. He argued thatO’Neill should be applauded rather than vilified.

The denial of the true nature and extent of anti-Catholi-cism in Scotland culminates in a cover-up in which ourpoliticians, churchmen, police and press are complicit.It is an institutionalised racism that covers its back bymeans of a sustained campaign to outlaw the cultureand politics of an entire community.

Our songs, our pubs and even our right to describe our-selves as ‘Irish-Scots’ or ‘Scots-Irish’ are denouncedas ‘sectarian’ by every politician & political party inScotland’s parliament and local councils, from the far-right to the far-left.

It has long been the contention of this magazine thatthe use of the word ‘sectarianism’ in this context is initself a term employed to deliberately obscure the truenature of the anti-Irish/anti-Catholic beast that mani-fests itself at every level of society. Resistance is nec-essary because our cultural and political heritage -along with our community’s right to exist - is underattack.

A Blast from the past...

A Rebel JournalistPhil MacGiollabhain

www.lulu.comBuy online - £8.36

This book is a collection ofPhil’s newspapers articles andblogs over the past two years(2008-2010) dealing with thestories that have been centralto the Celtic family. From theracist “Famine song”, the con-

troversy of the Poppy on Celtic shirts through to thehonest mistakes of match officials culminating in theexplosive “Dallasgate” revelations. It is the final storythat has made Phil one of the best-known journalistswriting on Celtic related matters. In this book Philtells, for the first time, of how he broke that story.10% of the royalties of this book will go to the CelticGraves Society.Phil’s book provides indispensable information for allCeltic supporters who take an interest in the off-pitch

politics of Scottish football, in particular the goings-on inside the SFA, sectarian undercurrents and therefereeing scandal. it is a meticulously researchedexposé of corrupt practices which have their base inanti-Irish racism and sectarian hatred.It challengesthe failure of the Scottish media to properly reportissues around Celtic FC. ...

Scenes you seldom see...

JRO

The politics of hate...

Anti-Fascist Campaign Launched

It was brought to the attention of Celtic FansAgainst Fascism that there have been in-creasing numbers of Dinamo Zagreb's hooli-gan gang - the Bad Blue Boys - makingvisits to Glasgow and following Celtic in Eu-rope in recent seasons. Much of the informa-tion available about the Bad Blue Boyssuggests that they are predominantly right-wing in political outlook and have an ex-treme nationalist and Nazi element amongtheir support.

On at least two separate occasions over theyears the BBB have attacked our anti-fas-cist friends from St Pauli at Celtic's Europe-an matches (in Zagreb and Budapest). Theattacks were politically motivated. The BBBknow St Pauli's anti-fascist reputation andattacked thembecause of it.

Unfortunately,some misguidedCeltic fans haveindulged right-wing membersof this groupand made themwelcome at ourground and inour pubs. Thisseason saw a

banner raised inside Celtic Park in solidaritywith some Dinamo fans who are in disputewith their obnoxious right-wing chairman.While we can identify with any fan of anyclub who is dissatisfied with the way thattheir club is run, we do not believe that it isin the interests of Celtic fans or Celtic FC forour fans to make any kind of public solidari-ty with the Bad Blue Boys as long as theBBB is embarrassed by this extreme nation-alist and Nazi element. We do not wantfriendships or anything to do with fascistelements within the BBB, that is any BBBwho still have anything to do with fascism,Nazism and extreme nationalism. IndividualDinamo fans who have nothing to do withfascism and extreme nationalism are wel-come, as are the individual anti-fascist sup-porters of any club.

This anti-fascist principle applies equally toany ultras group at any other club with afascist element still prominent in its standsand terraces. Nazi Ultras - F*ck Off!

Celtic Fans Against Fascism want to see achange in the situation at Dinamo Zagreband other clubs with a problematic fascistelement. We offer our support and solidarity

Fascist Ultras Not Welcome

ABOVE: Ultras from Dinamo Zagreb and Hadjuk Split formed this ‘human swastika’ in a match between Italy and Croatia.The match was played in ‘Red Livorno’, the city where theItalian Communist Party (CPI) was founded.The message of the Croatian Nazis was clear for all to see.

Dinamo Zagreb banner at Celtic Park earlier this season

to anti-fascists among the BBB. We wouldwelcome dialogue with anti-Nazis at Dina-mo, but we have zero tolerance of fascismat Celtic Park. All who oppose racism andfascism are welcome.

We have decided to launch a campaignamong Celtic supporters aimed at educat-ing them as to the political nature of variousultras (the BBB being one example only)and mobilising Celtic fans against fascistsand extreme nationalists who may try toattach themselves to our club.

Many groups on the extreme right in Eu-rope will try to identify themselves as our‘friends’ with Papal flags and friendly talkabout the Irish struggle, don’t be fooled by it.Make sure that you know the politics of anygroup who would attach themselves to ourclub.

In each subsequent issue of TÁL, we willpresent articles that give information aboutthe politics of extreme right-wing ultrasgroups and hooligan mobs

ALL racists and fascists should be bootedout of Celtic Park.

NO FRIENDSHIPS WITH FASCISTS!

Fascist Ultras Not Welcome At Celtic

ABOVE: Fascists at Juventus (Viking Juve) raise a bannerin solidarity with their Ustase loving friends among thefascists at Dinamo Zagreb. The Ustase was a local fascist militia,whose penchant for extreme violence against its opponentseven managed to embarrass the mass murderers ofthe Nazi SS during WW2

Ballymurphy: When innocence it died

Well you’ve heard about Gibraltar & the ambush atLoughgall,Bloody Sunday up in Derry when fourteen sons didbravely fall.But this song is of a massacre that took place in Bel-fast Town,When in cold blood,eleven souls by soldiers were shotdown.

They burst onto our city streets with anger and withrage,Into a brutal massacre these tyrants did engage.Six hundred British soldiers came to take away oursons,And took away eleven lives,shot down by British guns.

They murdered Father Mullen as he went to others' aid,Taking no notice of the handkerchief that he did wave.And poor Joan Brigid Connolly that day she met herfate,Her husband left to grieve and raise a family of eight.

Denied the basic human right,the right my friend to live,That’s why we never shall forget,and never shall forgive.No words could ever tell you of the pain we felt inside,On Ballymurphys’ bloodstained streets when innocenceit died.

The victims of this bloodshed in a makeshift morguethey lay,But still the British hide the truth don’t have the heartto say.To say that they are sorry,and admit their deeds werewrong,But justice will prevail in time,I pray it won’t be long.

For Ballymurphys’ innocents,we’ll keep alive the flame,Expose the falsehood and the lies,and clear at last theirnames.No stone unturned we’ll leave then in our fight and inour quest,And Ballymurphys’ children dear ,in peace at last mayrest.

For Father Hugh,and Frank and Noel our love will neverdie,For Joan and Danny,though we never got to say good-bye.For Joseph Murphy,John McKerr, Eddie Doherty, JoeCorr,John Laverty and Paddy,we’ll remember evermore.

We never will forget you for you’re with us everyday,We know you’re watching over us,to guide us on ourway.No words could ever tell you of the pain we felt inside,On Ballymurphys’ bloodstained streets when innocenceit died.

© ProvoRhino 29th January.2011.All Rights Reserved

That was the question I was surprisingly asked atthe end of the Emirates Cup tournament in Lon-don last summer, surprising because it camefrom another Celtic supporter. The soldiers wereof course members of the British Army who hadbeen invited to the match by Arsenal FC andwere taking up position around the pitch, butmainly in front of our support -a provocative ges-ture in itself- as they prepared to set up the podi-um for the presentation of the trophy. Needlessto say they received ahostile receptionfrom the vast majori-ty of Celtic fans butneither can it be ig-nored that unfortu-nately a significantminority in Green &White applauded theirpresence.It is difficult to pinpointexactly when the collec-tive British psyche began to regard its sol-diers as 'heroes'. Was it post GFA, the secondinvasion of Iraq perhaps, prior to the invasion ofAfghanistan or maybe during that ongoing cam-paign? But what is less ambiguous is that such ashift in attitude has taken place. So much so thatthere now appears to be almost unconditionalsupport for the Brits which to my mind didn'texist when they were murdering and torturingRepublicans and Nationalists during 30 years ofoccupation and oppression in Ireland. That is notto imply that there were huge demonstrations byconcerned citizens objecting to the conduct of itssoldiers in the six counties. However, neitherwere they cheered along the streets of garrisontowns after a tour of duty in occupied Ulster, ashappens now upon return from Helmand or Ka-bul. Indeed not since the end of the MalvinasWar have such triumphalist parades by returningregiments taken place.

Then why is it that British soldiers are now some-how regarded as heroes? How does a legacy ofhundreds of thousands of civilian deaths acrosscountries and continents result in 'hero' statusbeing conferred upon those responsible? Howdoes mass murder, rape, torture, humiliation,and widespread human rights abuses equate torespect and admiration for

? Whether it be Southern Iraq or SouthArmagh, Baghdad orBelfast, Kandahar orCoalisland, maraud-ing British soldiershave left a trail ofdeath, destructionand devastationbehind them. Thatis an indisputablefact and yet herewe are being ex-pected by some

-even some of our own- to applaud them forit!

It seems there are those who would rather burytheir heads in the sand than confront the realityof the atrocities perpetrated by British troopsaround the world. “Well I don't actually supportthe war in Iraq/Afghanistan but now that 'ourboys' are out there...” How many times have youheard that old chestnut in recent years? As mygood friend and fellow TALster Darren pointedout, it’s a bit like saying “well I don't supportpolice brutality against black people but now thatthe truncheons are drawn...” It is a cowardlytrain of thought, bereft of moral courage, whichallows the Brits to kill and maim with absoluteimmunity whilst also failing to challenge the politi-cal legitimacy of Britain’s role in Iraq and Afghani-stan.However, you don't need me to tell you that sucha mindset exists because it has been carefully

"Why are you booing the soldiers?"

fostered by government propaganda and peddledthrough various media outlets and organisationssuch as Help For Heroes (there's that wordagain!) and the Poppy appeal. And if you thinkthe point I make is an exaggerated one then con-sider the 'Poppy Fascism' of the British Broadcast-ing Corporation. There is little chance of anybodyappearing on the BBC without the obligatory'Poppy on lapel' during the two weeks either sideof Remembrance Sunday!

Not even the grieving process is sacred when itcomes to political exploitation. Time and againthe coffins of dead British soldiers, draped in'Butchers Aprons' wind their way through Woot-ton Bassett in glass-top hearses amid the fullglare of the media spotlight. A sombre processionwhich is less about paying respects and more todo with propagating the myth that the BritishArmy's role in Iraq or Afghanistan is simply apeace-keeping mission and the deaths and inju-ries sustained by its soldiers merely a terrible

consequence of Britain's desire to bring justiceand stability to a volatile region. Sound familiar?Belfast 1969 maybe?

This is a perception that must be challenged bythose who know all to well what the Brits arecapable of and responsible for. But back to theoriginal question as posed by my fellow Celticsupporter. So why did I boo those soldiers onthat sunny afternoon in North London? I'll tellyou why, for Bloody Sunday, Loughgall, Ballymur-phy and Gibraltar. For the Parachute Regiment,the Black Watch, the KOSB, the UDR, the SASand the reign of terror they brought to my land.For Aiden MacAnespie, Pearse Jordan, Peter Mc-Bride, Karen Reilly, Martin Peake and many more.For internment, the Dublin and Monaghan bomb-ings, shoot to kill and collusion. Need I go on?Maybe now that I have answered that question Ican ask one of my own... If you didn't boo thesoldiers, WHY NOT?

The English Defence League (EDL) claim to be a non-racist groupopposed to Islamic Fundamentalism. They seem a reasonable re-sponse to demented religious fanatics such as Islam4UK. But this isa thin-cover for the racist nationalism that defines the far-right.Although it tries to hide the fact, the EDL was co-founded by BNPmembers and activists. Its demos are dominated by Nazi-salutingthugs and right-wing football hooligans. Chants of "dirty Muslim bas-tards" and "we hate Pakis more than you" follow the group aroundthe country.EDL members are singing from the same hymn sheet as fascist big-ots everywhere. By stirring up trouble between Asians and whites inlocal communities, the EDL have taken nationalist politics back tothe street.

False solutions to real problemsLike the BNP, the EDL have emerged against the backdrop of apolitical culture which has abandoned the interests of working classpeople. The mainstream parties have never really looked after ourinterests, and now the “left” has seemingly lost the will to fight. It’sno surprise that a pissed-off chunk of the white working class hasturned to the EDL in search of a voice and a target for their anger.But, like the BNP, the EDL will not solve working class problems.Its demands back up right-wing media hysteria and strengthen calls

for ever more repressive government powers to 'deal' with militantIslam. We've seen how so-called anti-terrorist laws are used againstus all, to keep us under control. For the authoritarian state, the EDLis a gift. They divert our attention away from targeting the real ene-mies of the working class – the bosses, bankers and politicians –and distract us from organising for ourselves, as a class, to fight forcontrol of our lives and communities.When we do organise and fight back, the EDL betray their anti-work-er credentials. They brand organised workers as “communist trai-tors” and view standing up to job losses, pay cuts, andmanagement bullying as “criminal.” Like all fascists, they prefer theworking class to be docile and easily controlled.

Two sides of the same coinThe EDL have far more in common with the religious lunatics theyclaim to oppose than with the rest of us. They are all small-mindedbigots with a hatred for the traditional working class values of free-dom, fairness and equality.Their racial, religious and cultural 'identity' politics are in completeopposition to our idea of a world where we can all reach our full andunique potential, and we reject them totally.

The above text is from a leaflet distributed by Liverpool Anti-Fas-cists. TAL Endorses & supports the views expressed by L.A.F.

Fascism and Fundamentalism:Two Sides of the Same Coin

BRIGATASCOZZESELIVORNOThe first trip of the season for the BSL saw a groupof 5 of us travel over for the home game v Torino onthe 16th October. Unlike our last trip v Lazio, thistrip would be a little bit more friendly all round!

Arriving on the Friday our first port of call was tomeet some old Livornese friends down at the portfor a few beers and then head up to a nightclubowned by a communist collective known as Ex-Cine-ma Aurora. A former railwaymen's union cinema thebuilding has been taken over and run by comradesin the city. There we met up with Torino fan "Pulici"known to many of us from a few Celtic Internetboards Still under decoration we were only in for ashort while before heading for dinner at the Melafu-mo restaurant. This seafood restaurant is very popu-lar with the ultras and political activists in Livornoand it didn't disappoint. Five course were broughtbefore us and we were totally stuffed! We headeddown to the seafront bars to finish the night off.Some of the madcap capers that took place downthere are best left in Tuscany but let's just say onelad stumbling in the dark for the Gents was luckynot to find his wedding tackle in the soup as he wasconfronted by an angry chef with a steak knife!!

Saturday was match day and we weren't surewhether to buy tickets because the V131TOR2 ul-tras had been staying away from games earlier inthe season in protest at the Tessera del Tifoso.However this seems to have changed and theyhave to some extent gone back but are not havingany organised banners or displays and just buyinghome tickets on a game to game basis. It left uslittle time to get tickets though when we realised at2.50pm that everyone was going in.

We needn't have worried. A few words in a few earsand next minute the gates were opened and wewere waved through without charge! Now that's hos-pitality! We then attempted to buy those concerneda drink under the curva and again had drinks givento us! We were more than a little embarrassed. Awet afternoon was forgotten about though as Livor-no won 2-0 and continued their climb up the tableafter a miserable start in September.

After the game we headed to Centro Politico 1921,comrades we had befriended last season. This

evening's entertainment was to be provided by thefolk from the Torino Askatasuna. An old friendshipexisted between the BAL and the Ultras Granata.When Livorno went to Turin they would have a drinkin the Basque solidarity centre. When Torino camesouth they would use Cafe Godzilla (one floor belowCP1921).

Beforehand though we had a bit of business to doand handed over a donation of 100Euros, raisedfrom our recent sale of LIVORNO SCOZIA poloshirts on our forum and through TAL. We also gavethem a framed picture of Scottish Socialist Republi-can, John Maclean. The comrades were very happyat the gesture and thanked everyone concernedwho bought a polo shirt. A fantastic evening fol-lowed of food and drink and we had to drag our-selves out at 2am as the next part of our weekendwas just about to start...

Three of us staggered onto the 7.30am train to Vero-na. We were heading up to meet Enrico and theguys from Virtus and Los Fastidios and to attendtheir match v Villafranca. Once again the hospitalitywas second to none. Virtus are very good friends ofLivorno and we were shown free entry to the ground,given a new Virtus scarf and handed a Spritz drink!

Virtus are a small club in Serie D but their fans arebrave to take an anti-fascist position in a city likeVerona where fans of Hellas dominate. The largeamount of racists and fascists at Hellas is well-known in Italy and beyond so fair play to the Ros-soblu'!

Sadly we could only stay one night but we will bereturning again in April for a double header!

By Fidel

Wasn’t it Bobby Sands who saidthat “ANYONE, republican orotherwise has their own particu-lar part to play. No part is toogreat or too small; no one is tooold or too young to do some-thing”?So many times I read obituariesor eulogies about someone be-ing “from a good republicanfamily” as if that were proof pos-itive of their republican creden-tials. It often made me wonder ifI could ever be as good a repub-lican without such distinguishedgenes.For those of us who were notborn or reared to the republicantradition it would not have beenso easy to play any part. Ofcourse if you were born to theright family on the Falls Road oron the Bogside of Derry it wouldhave been more difficult not tohave been a republican consid-ering what you would have ex-perienced and witnessed. Itwould probably have been ex-pected that you would havebeen what was termed “an ac-tive republican”.I don’t say that to in any wayunderestimate the contributionmade to the struggle over theyears of such people, in-deed many of our heroesand icons come from exact-ly that scenario. Howeverfor me it was often thosewho got to where they arepolitically through their ownexperiences, studies, anddecisions that intrigued methe most.The people who sawthrough the bigotry experi-enced in their own lives,religious or political; thepeople who were born in

rural south-ern com-munitiesthat hadno political

awareness or even an idea ofwhat was suffered by their coun-trymen up north. Or even thosein the diaspora, assimilated,separated culturally from thehome country, surrounded byand even participating in theendemic anti-Irish racism.As a reactionary teenager Iwent from having Anti-NaziLeague posters in my bedroomto being a card carrying mem-ber of the Young National Front,all in the same school term. Theirony only came home to mewhen my non-political fathersent the local NF rep down theroad with a flea in his ear. I wastoo young to have noticedBloody Sunday and let the Hun-ger Strikes pass me by in a blurof political apathy. We all haveour own path to where we are.Our history is full of such peo-ple. In Brian Dooleys book

“Choosing the Green” we weretold that more than half of thevolunteers in the GPO at Easter1916 had Scottish and Englishaccents. James Connolly wasfrom Edinburgh, latter day re-publicans Seán MacStiofáinand Diarmuid O’Neill were Lon-doners,. Even now Sinn Fein

has an MLA in Billy Leonardwho has made the journey frombeing a RUC Reservist and Or-ange Order member, via theSDLP, to republicanism. Thefirst organised Irish republicanswere the United Irishmen whocame from the Presbyteriantradition and I’m proud to saythat several of our editorialboard on TAL are also protes-tants.There seems a streak in Irishpolitics which forgets the les-sons of a colonial past whereour country was ruled by a sys-tem that belonged only to itselfand it’s descendents, thisstreak gives us political dynas-ties still pervading from the poi-son of a civil war and beyond,the sort that allows Messrs. Co-wen and Lenihan to producesons that have sacrificed ournations sovereignty on the alterof brown envelope clad greed,the sort that allowed EoinMacNeill’s grandson to becomea vitriolic anti-republican JusticeMinister and Tanaiste.Bobby Sands was right. It’s inyour heart that matters, notwhere you were born or whatschool you went to. Everyonehas a part to play if they want to,and whenever they are ready.Leave the dynasties to the Blue-shirters and the Brown Envelop-ers.

By Daithi O

The chairman speaks...

JRO

It’s Not Pedigree Chums!

This is the first in a new series of case studies for Tal onMiscarriages of Justice Cases following on from thevisit to the Green Room by Paddy Hill and John Mc-Manus of Miscarriages of Justice Organisation. Wewill look at a different case each issue giving somedetails of the ins and outs of each case.

Our first case is that of Mohammed Ullah convicted ofmurdering his 10-month-old Stepson Kyle in Septem-ber 2004 and sentenced to life. Kyle died of injuries tohis abdomen in January 2004. It is claimed by theprosecution that Mohammed inflicted the injuries sus-tained with a one single punch or kick while in a fit oftemper. In sentencing Mohammed at the High Court inEdinburgh, Lord Carloway, said, “You have beenfound guilty of the murder of a defenceless infant, andI must proceed on the basis of the verdict of the jury”

However subsequent to his conviction respected pathol-ogist Dr.Glyn Walters casted doubt on the safety of theconviction. Dr. Walters his played a high profile role ina number of Miscarriage Cases helping to free Dr. SallyClark in 1999 who had been wrongfully convicted ofmurdering her two sons. He also gave vital evidence inthe case of Ian and Angela Gay who were falselyaccused of poisoning their adopted son in2002.

Dr.Walters states “there is no evidence,” that Moham-med Ullah killed baby Kyle. Dr.Walters suspects thatthe baby was fatally injured in a tragic accident, per-haps while playing with another child. Dr.Walterswrites in his report that, “This would seem to me to beby far the most probable explanation.” He goes on tosay also “There is no evidence that he (Mohammed) didanything that day that would have harmed the baby.”Dr.Walters also say that expert evidence given atMohammed’s trial was “No more than conjecture.”

The baby did not die from injuries sustained at, oraround the time of death. But injuries sustained muchearlier. There are statements from Kyle’s mother KarenMutch that her four year old son had in fact accidentlyjumped from a couch in the family home on to the babywho was playing on the floor. Kyle did not appear tohave sustained any noticeable injury so was notchecked and not given any treatment at the time of theaccident. This incident happened 12 hours prior toKyle’s death.

This incident happened in the morning prior to thebaby’s death. Karen had taken her children to hermother’s house in the evening while she went on anight out. Mohammed picked the children up there at10:30pm that evening after he finished work.

Experts at Mohammed’s trial agreed that Kyle wouldhave bled rapidly after he was injured, and died with infive or six hours. But Dr.Walters notes that none of thechild’s arteries were damaged and says his bleedingmay have been slow and intermittent. He says theBleeding may have slowed or even stopped, only tostart again as a result of jolting as Mohammed walkedhome with Kyle. He adds while experts agreed Kylewould have died with in six hours, other babies withsimilar injuries had survived longer.

Kyle’s Grandmother had said he was not feeding andwas unsettled while she looked after him. Mohammedtried to feed Kyle a couple of times when they got homebut the baby vomited and was so cold that he took thebaby to bed with him. Mohammed went to neighbourswhen it became apparent to him that the baby wasseriously Ill. On returning to the house they found thebaby dead on the bed.

Dr. Walters states that vomiting is consistent with theinjury received earlier in the day. He also says thatMohammed’s actions would seem to be that of a caringFather. At his trial a distraught Karen was a mainwitness for the prosecution. She now supports Moham-med and is convinced of his innocence. She withdrewclaims she made against Mohammed and said she hadturned on him and made these claims because she feltthreatened. She feared she would lose her two otherchildren. She stated “The evidences I gave against himhas been eating away at me ever since.”

Mohammed is serving his time in HMP Dumfries. Hehas no family here other than Karen. He has very littleinteraction with the outside other than with his Lawyerand his support workers at MOJO. Mohammed who isBangladeshi has limited English so finds it hard tomake friends in prison this isolates him further. Wewould ask that anyone who has any contacts in theBangladeshi community encourage them to write tohim with letters of support or assist you in writing hima letter in his own language. Of courses we would askthat people write to Mohammed and send him messag-es of support.

Miscarriages of Justice Organisation (MOJO)Case Studies No.1: Mohammed Ullah

Ciaran MurphyOnce Upon A Time In Ireland

Ciaran Murphy is a singer songwriter from thenorth of Ireland. I first became aware of himwhen he released his debut EP The VerbalHand Grenade. The EP introduced his rawstyle and original thought provoking lyrics toa wider audience and marked his arrival to therebel scene. His first full album Once Upon ATime In Ireland has won him many new fansand it looks like Ciaran is here to stay andcontinuing to improve with every CD.

The album kicks off with a hard hitting trackabout the PSNI entitled They'll Always BeThe RUC To Me, the song states that despitewhat he views as just an image revamp littlehas changed with policing and he will neveraccept or co-operate with what he views as aBritish police force in Ireland. This is a viewthat is shared by many within republican andnationalist communities in the north despite itbeing a number of years since Sinn Fein decid-ed to recognise the PSNI. Ciaran's republicanpolitics are anti-GFA and he spent a few yearsin prison for activities with a militant republi-can group, this is reflected in his music. In thetrack Rebel Song, Ciaran vividly describesthe emotions and feelings felt by a volunteerbefore an attack.

As well as republicanism, the album deals withracism and sectarianism in Ireland. In thesong A Word To The New Irish Racist, heattacks the hypocrisy of those Irish peoplewho display racism against immigrants and he

rightly asserts that racist division among work-ing class people only serves the interests ofthe bosses and ruling classes. This is a viewthat that has been stated in the pages of TALand other anti-fascist publications many timesin the past. Ciaran wears his anti-fascist poli-tics on his sleeve and last year he performedat a benefit for Ireland AFA in Dublin. Thehorrific outcome of anti-Catholic sectarianismis described in the ballad of Michael McIl-veen, a Catholic teenager who was brutallymurdered by loyalists in Ballymena in 2006.

My favourite song on the album is NineHours; the song is one of the slower tracksand tells the story of Ciaran being releasedfrom prison for a few short hours to attend hisfather's funeral. The song, in my opinion,shows the sacrifices that political prisonershave to face and the lyric "A cell door slamsbehind me just when I need him the most"would bring back painful memories for manycurrent and ex-republican prisoners. Thesong You Cried For Ten Men Dead is anoth-er one on the album about Ciaran's late fatherand reflects upon many of the events in hisfather's life.

Other songs on the album touch on a varietyof issues in Irish society from culture to reli-gion to the economy. In I Feel The Eyes ofBritish Spies, Ciaran describes the manyways the security services can and do spy ofpolitical activists. Although the line "Beingparanoid is a healthy state of mind" couldequally relate to us Celtic supporters!

In a time when some rebel bands could beaccused of lacking originality and albums arereleased consisting of old standards recordednumerous times before, Ciaran Murphy is likea breath of fresh air to the scene. His roughsinging style and lyrics causes debate and Ihave met as many critics of his music asadmirers. However I believe political musicshould inspire us to discuss what we arehearing and this is what I feel has been miss-ing for a number of years. I would encourageour readers to buy this album, listen to it andmake your minds up for yourselves. By Ci-aran's own admission some of the songs onthe album were rushed as he was pushed fortime to get the album ready for release. Iwould hope for future releases this won't bethe case and I look forward to hearing whathe does next.

Introduction

Welcome to the first instalment of TerraceTrends, a new regular feature for TALreaders who are into their clobber. Thiscolumn aims to give readers the low-down on what is in fashion among foot-ball supporters and will give practical ad-vice on “What to Wear” while followingthe hoops.Despite what you read in the tabloidpress, football supporters who like tohave their wardrobe full of good qualityclothes rather than gear from the super-store are not automatically hooligans orthugs but ordinary supporters who followCeltic as passionately as anybody else.If you follow the long tradition among foot-ball supporters on these isles who dressin their best and leave their scarf at homeon a Saturday afternoon then this columnis for you!Any feedback or suggestions for futurearticles; you can contact the team atterracetrends@hotmail.com For the firstinstalment we will give you a potted histo-ry of the different Terrace Trends throughthe years.

Where it all beganSo where did this phenomenon of

"dressing up" for the match begin? Askten different people and you will mostprobably get ten different answers.

Over the last thirty years the fashionand looks being sported on the foot-ball terraces, and later football stadiahas changed dramatically. Frombovver boys to the country gent look,football grounds have seen them all.Saturday is catwalk day for workingclass lads.

By the late seventies/early eighties, football

grounds across the country were witnessing ashift in style by the way lads were dressing forthe match. Going out was the "scarves roundwrist"/boot boy skinhead look, coming in wassomething completely different. It was theCasual look.

The birth of the Casual is largely credited tolads who followed Liverpool in the late seven-ties. Due to their great success in Europe,Liverpool fans had access to European sports-wear that was unattainable on these shores.There are legendary stories of how Liverpoolfans would loot sportswear shops in countriessuch as Italy, Germany, France and Switzer-land. Brands such as Kappa, Fila, SergioTachinni and Lacoste would often be seen atAnfield in those days, matched of course bytrainers by German manufacturer, Adidas.This look caught on across the country. Somemay argue that it was lads following Londonclubs who sparked the Casual look, but in myopinion, it’s definitely a look born out of theNorthwest of England. Lads were ditchingclub colours to avoid attention from police sothey could infiltrate the "home ends" whenvisiting an opposing team. It seems almostironic that these days someone at the matchwith colours on almost seems out of place.

Aberdeen, undoubtedly, were the first in Scot-land to go Casual, followed a few years later

by Motherwell. Who followed next is anargument that will never cease to bedebated. At our club, Celtic, the casuallook didn’t kick in until '83/'84.

Here is a brief rundown of the labelsbeing sported at different times

from the late seventies till thepresent day....

Late SeventiesDoc Martens would

have been sportedon the feet, donkeyjackets, Harrington

jackets, Crombie over-

coats. being spotted inthose days would alsohave been flared trou-sers and platformshoes, completewith club scarftied round thewrist.

EightiesThis is the era which introduced us to the cas-ual. Lads were sporting “Gentlemen’s” labelssuch as Aquascutum, Burberry, Lyle andScott and Pringle, and then following theirsuccess in Europe, Liverpool lads startedsporting labels such as Lacoste, Kappa andFila and Sergio Tachinni. Lois jeans andcords were also a big hit with lads turning cas-ual. Bennetton rugby tops were much soughtafter with the white and blue being the mostpopular, followed by the green and white. Asthe later part of the 80’s crept in, the brightsportswear and ski jumpers were being re-placed with argyle knits paisley pattern shirtsand lambs wool jumpers.

NinetiesThe start of this decade saw more expensive

labels such as CP Company, Stone Is-land and Armani being worn at the

match. Some lads even ditchedthe Adidas trainers in favour

of Timberland moccasins.If you wore a CP CompanyMille Miglia to the match,

chances are you wouldhave got a few admiring glances fromthe other lads. Checked shirts al-so came into play in this decade.

The NoughtiesThis decade brought the deathof Burberry, as "Neds" adoptedthis look, especially the caps, afew years later Aquascutumfollowed suit. More lads weresporting Paul and Shark, otherlabels started to make theirmark, such as 6876, One TrueSaxon, Zegna. In more recenttimes, Fjallraven has proved to

be popular, alongwith Barbour. La-coste is a timeless

classic andhas stoodthe test of

time with lads,along with Ralph Lauren.

Other labels have come and gone, others stillremain and other labels will be sported.

Going dressed to the match used to be aboutindividualism, being a bit different and stand-ing out. Things seem to have come full circle,and some of the sportswear worn in the eight-ies is now being sought after, don’t laugh tooloud, but even Burberry is sneaking back inagain.

Keep on keeping on....................

Terrace Trends

BRIGATASCOZZESE

LIVORNOThe first trip of the season for the BSL saw a group of 5 of us travel over for the home game v Torino on the16th October. Unlike our last trip v Lazio, this trip would be a little bit more friendly all round!

Arriving on the Friday our first port of call was to meet some old Livornese friends down at the port for a fewbeers and then head up to a nightclub owned by a communist collective known as Ex-Cinema Aurora. A formerrailwaymen's union cinema the building has been taken over and run by comrades in the city. There we met upwith Torino fan "Pulici" known to many of us from a few Celtic Internet boards Still under decoration we wereonly in for a short while before heading for dinner at the Melafumo restaurant. This seafood restaurant is verypopular with the ultras and political activists in Livorno and it didn't disappoint. Five course were brought beforeus and we were totally stuffed! We headed down to the seafront bars to finish the night off. Some of the mad-cap capers that took place down there are best left in Tuscany but let's just say one lad stumbling in the darkfor the Gents was lucky not to find his wedding tackle in the soup as he was confronted by an angry chef with asteak knife!!

Saturday was match day and we weren't sure whether to buy tickets because the V131TOR2 ultras had beenstaying away from games earlier in the season in protest at the Tessera del Tifoso. However this seems tohave changed and they have to some extent gone back but are not having any organised banners or displaysand just buying home tickets on a game to game basis. It left us little time to get tickets though when we real-ised at 2.50pm that everyone was going in.

We needn't have worried. A few words in a few ears and next minute the gates were opened and we werewaved through without charge! Now that's hospitality! We then attempted to buy those concerned a drink underthe curva and again had drinks given to us! We were more than a little embarrassed. A wet afternoon was for-gotten about though as Livorno won 2-0 and continued their climb up the table after a miserable start in Sep-tember.

After the game we headed to Centro Politico 1921, comrades we had befriended last season. This evening'sentertainment was to be provided by the folk from the Torino Askatasuna. An old friendship existed betweenthe BAL and the Ultras Granata. When Livorno went to Turin they would have a drink in the Basque solidaritycentre. When Torino came south they would use Cafe Godzilla (one floor below CP1921).

Beforehand though we had a bit of business to do and handed over a donation of 100Euros, raised from ourrecent sale of LIVORNO SCOZIA polo shirts on our forum and through TAL. We also gave them a framed pic-ture of Scottish Socialist Republican, John Maclean. The comrades were very happy at the gesture andthanked everyone concerned who bought a polo shirt. A fantastic evening followed of food and drink and wehad to drag ourselves out at 2am as the next part of our weekend was just about to start...

Three of us staggered onto the 7.30am train to Verona. We were heading up to meet Enrico and the guys fromVirtus and Los Fastidios and to attend their match v Villafranca. Once again the hospitality was second to none.Virtus are very good friends of Livorno and we were shown free entry to the ground, given a new Virtus scarf

and handed a Spritz drink!

Vi rtus are a small club in Serie D but their fans are brave to take an anti-fascist position ina city like Verona where fans of Hellas dominate. The large amount of racists and fascistsat Hellas is well-known in Italy and beyond so fair play to the Rossoblu'!

Sadly we could only stay one night but we will be returning again in April for a doubleheader!

By Fidel

Will there ever be a Housemartins’reunion, even for a big one-offgig?PAUL: As far as the House-martins are concerned, I don'tgo back to wet T-shirts.

Have you ever encountered biasor bitterness in the music industry

because of your political views?PAUL: The Housemartins were removed fromNumber 1 at Christmas on the morning of thecharts, directly in response to something I'd saidlive on radio 1 about Margaret Thatcher.

The Beautiful South had the fastest selling Britishalbum ever with 'Carry On Up The Charts', how didyou find it so hard to get a recording deal for yourlatest album with stats like that behind you?PAUL: Unfortunately history counts for little in thecurrent climate. Otherwise it would just be me anda series of Black Lace / Brotherhood of Man typeacts in the charts. Now we'd all want that wouldn'twe?In regards to bands reforming do you think this has anegative effect on new music? Looking at last year’sGlastonbury line-up the headliners were almost all old-er groups Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, CSN, Mad-ness, Specials, Blur, Nick Cave etc. Although therehas always been the older crowd puller but now festi-vals seem saturated by them and it seems to me alack of ambition in promoting new music over the triedand tested big sellers/crowd pleasers.PAUL: I absolutely agree with that even though iam what you would call an older artist. Thereseems no point in going to a festival just to seewhat you can hear on a jukebox.

Are you a fan of any Spanish, or I suppose more broad-ly speaking, international groups that don't sing in Eng-lish? Maybe when doing international festivals you willhave had the chance to see other groups that may notbe well known in the UK but are famous in their respec-tive countries?PAUL: I am a fan of quite a bit of French hip-hop,Rajan and Sajan Mishra, the Spanish band EdwinMoses, particularly their Love Turns You UpsideDown album, and of course, Manu Chao.

What bands influenced you growing up and if youcould get to duet with anyone dead or living, whowould it be?

PAUL: From an early age I listened to Soul andCountry and also was physically moved into join-ing a band by Punk. Any music played well andsung well still inspires me. If I had to choose oneindividual person to sing with it would involve atime machine and Memphis Slim, the Blues singer.

Is 'The Rising of Grafton Street' by the Beautiful Southin reference to the Easter Rising?PAUL: Not intentionallyLOL - but we can claim it for Ireland anyway!PAUL: You certainly can!Can you give us an insight into the Lyrics of the song

"Poppy" and the motivation for writing it?PAUL: It was roughly to say any imperial war isalways likely to be a case of hoodwinking the work-ing class.

The bands that you've been part of have run ascollectives with all being equal and getting an equalshare, what kind of reaction did you get from recordcompanies and other artists to that kind of socialistapproach in a band?PAUL: I've only ever been greeted with bafflementand patronisation when it comes to my politics.Don't forget, during a Red Wedge meeting I walkedout because when I suggested that the record busi-ness should be nationalised I was shouted down.These are the artists that you thought had a social-ist approach.

Are there many/any others who have the courage oftheir convictions?PAUL: There are, but their convictions havechanged.With regard to Red Wedge, what do you think of PaulWeller's politics, was he too close to Labour at thattime and has he shifted right or left since then?PAUL: Paul Weller has always swung from centreright to centre left but remained a great writer. Heis never going to shift massively either way again,but that's not a criticism.

Billy Bragg however seems to be moving onto dan-gerous ground with some of his recent arguments.

Any plans to play Glasgow soon and will you be cyclinghere? Can you tell us what the Pedals & Beer PumpsTour is about and where we can catch you on tour?PAUL: Details are on www.paulheatonmusic.co.ukYou were born in Merseyside, ended up in Hull andyou're a big Blades fan, what is the connection with

Paul Heaton - Sharp BladeFormer Housemartins and Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton was a recent guest in the Green Room, TAL Forum’s interview area.

Paul discussed music, football and politics with us in what turned out to be one of the best ever interviews given to TAL.

beers and then head up to a nightclub owned by a communist collective known as Ex-Cinema Aurora. A former

for the Gents was lucky not to find his wedding tackle in the soup as he was confronted by an angry chef with a

waved through without charge! Now that's hospitality! We then attempted to buy those concerned a drink under

Virtus and Los Fastidios and to attend their match v Villafranca. Once again the hospitality was second to none.

Sheffield United and what is the first match that youremember going to?PAUL: I moved to Sheffield when I was 4. My firstUnited Match, 5-0 against Villa. All downhill fromthere!What was your first steel city derby match and whatwas the score?PAUL: Probably Gerry Young testimonial 19700-0Who is your favourite Blades player of all time andcurrent time. and why?PAUL: Geoff Salmons - style and graceHave you ever been to an "OF" match?PAUL: I’ve never been to an "OF" match, neverbeen to a match in Scotland.I believe that you have watched football incountless countries, what is yourfavourite other team, and haveyou updated your Top 5detested teams since 2005?If so what are they?PAUL: Lecce in SouthernItaly… As for hatedsides that changes eve-ry hour of every day.What got you into Italianfootball?PAUL: My Dad got meinto Italian football, hehad style and grace.I hear you’re a good friendof Sheffield United’s BBClads (Blades Business Crew).Did you ever get caught up inany trouble at the football with them,and if so what was the most memorable'ruck' you were involved in?PAUL: There are those on the coach that telljokes, there are those on the coach that fallasleep, then there are those on the coach wholike to fight. I was the one who told a joke thatcaused half the coach to fall asleep and the otherhalf to fight. No comment!Favourite Adidas Trainer?PAUL: Any Adidas Yoshimura, particularly blackonesWhat are your thoughts on the state of the moderngame of football?PAUL: Footballers as the work force are surelyonly the pimple, the beer gut, double chin ofwhat the industry itself is devouring. When thosein the upper echelons of this sport ask the lowerechelons "why have those representing thegame become so bloated?" they have to lookcarefully at the expensive swill that they haveoffered as bribes and treats to the already bloat-ed. Ha! Weren't expecting that were you?

Ha ha! – No, I wasn’t.

You are quoted as saying "everything is political", aview shared by most here. Has it led to many stickysituations for you?PAUL: No, not at all. I'm proud of my politics, I'mproud of a long line of political argument in thiscountry and all over the world. There is nothingthat unites me with a person, stranger or friendlike a good discussion, argument or fall out oversomething that both people value.I read an interview you gave when you were playingin Ireland and you mentioned an instance in yourHousemartin days where a man was wearing a'Hang Nelson Mandela' t-shirt at the front of the gig,and you and the band took direct action against him.Were there any other notable instances of when the

band took direct action against racists andwas that sort of thing common at

shows?PAUL: He wasn't wearing a t

shirt, he was wearing abadge and I immediatelynoticed another badge stat-ing 'kill a commie formommy'. He was work-ing as a roadie and I toldhim that I was a commieand what was he goingto do about it? I thenmade him take the jacket

off which he did andturned it inside out, spat

on it and made him put itback on again. The only other

time we had trouble with thevocal right was when somebody

‘sieg heiled’ at a Northampton gig,whereby I picked up my microphone stand

and attacked him.As a Marxist and anti-fascist, what do you think is thebest way to tackle the rise of fascism and the BNP inBritland?PAUL: Firstly argument, secondly the bombingof the press and other medias, thirdly directphysical action.Following on from what you were saying about tack-ling anti-fascism… What are your opinions on theUAF and how they are tackling the situation with the'EDL' - right approach, or wrong approach?PAUL: I would only repeat firstly the argument tothem how many Muslims do you actually know?The answer is always none. How many radicalMuslims do you know? The answer is alwaysnone. Does your suspicion of the community ofIslam arise from any first hand experience? Theanswer is always No. Finally, does your impres-sion of Islam come from anything other than thepaper you read and the television station youwatch? These people in the EDL are not the peo-

ple who speak to Muslims they are not the peoplewho socialise with Muslims they are the peoplewho know the least, so why are these people theknow alls of the Muslim community? Becausethey’re fed on the same swill that fed the Englishmasses in the 70's and 80's about the Irish.I'm personally of the opinion that the UAF are givingfar too much publicity to the EDL and are taking peo-ples eyes off what the BNP are doing. I'm also notsure that screaming 'racist' all the time helps... Anti-fascists working in the community to build against fas-cism is the most sensible way, don't you think?PAUL: Possibly UAF are doing that whilst the BNPthrive, but for the BNP and the EDL to thrive wehave to not look at the UAF but to look at the Me-dia and in particular the journalistic notions of theMail, Sun Express Times Telegraph. Are these tobe the establishments we trust with accurate infor-mation about racial harmony? My own daughtersgo to school with every single race you can imag-ine in perfect harmony. I often walk into the play-ground thinking, this is a BNP nightmare. If this isto be the one last question I answer tonight, Iwould say the BNP the EDL, the Mail, and theirright-wing cohorts will forever be on the back foot.This next election maybe Blue, but the future isblack, white and brown!What's your views in general about politics in Britain atthe present time - what choices do the working classhave now that every politician from local to nationalseems to have their nose in the trough and all themainstream parties appear to have shifted to the right?PAUL: It's tempting as a working class voter tofeel alienated, desperate and de-democratised, butthis has always been the case. Any voter as old asmyself or older will know that working class peo-ple have only at the very best of times been repre-sented by 5 or 6 people in parliament. The timecame a very long time ago, as it has again now, toquestion parliament, parliament’s existenceand the very existence of democracy.What is you opinion on the current situation in Brit-ain whereby you cannot cross the street, open anewspaper or watch TV without being faced withsome 'tribute' to or collection for the British armedforces?PAUL: I'm absolutely gob smacked that the stateand their army are blindly controlling millions ofpeople to think that if you give a penny to troopsin Afghanistan that they will give a fuck to youwhen your husband or wife attempts to raise anissue in parliament. By that I mean, when finallythe parliamentarians tramp on every civil libertywe ever had, are these troop groups and ‘help forheroes’ going to come to our rescue, or are they

going to be propped up from the turrets outsidethe house of commons?Can you envisage a reunified Ireland in your lifetime,which is unfettered from Britain? It is for many on thisforum the political question of all political questions…

PAUL: Yes I can, for the very reason that if the em-pire of Britain finds a more pertinent thing toscratch they could easily leave the British in Ire-land behind. It's worth remembering the most dis-loyal Britons are the ruling class and royalty. Theywill abandon Northern Ireland, and abandon Brit-ain if and when a new carrot is dangled in front ofthem.Speaking of the Irish, what were your own views onthe situation in Ireland when the IRA were at war withthe British state?PAUL: My own views were gagged at the time. Bythat I mean interviews where I mentioned the re-publican struggle in a positive light 'disappeared'.Earlier on I was asked about a Housemartins reun-ion, and a previous question asked about my feel-ing on the current climate politically. Lets just saythat when i look at the financial sector of the Cityof London, when I look at the baying politicianswith their noses in the troughs of working classtaxes, I say to you. P.I.R.A - couldn't you reform forone last gig? It would be a blast.Many thanks Paul, for coming on to the TAL Forumand speaking so freely to us about music, football andpolitics. It has been an absolute pleasure and a privi-lege.PAUL: Ok, I'll get going now and I want to thankyou for all your questions, but mainly wish you allthe best in your lives, your conversations, andwhere those lives and conversations take you. Upthe Blades! And bless you all. X

Thanks to all the Talsterswho fired the questions:

Sheaf, GRB, Victor J,Talman, Celtic Lhad, Green-

go, Karl, Barney, Bandit,Ryanbhoy,

Ruahri, Dreenan, GSI, RedClydeside,

Pilgrimbhoy, Big Moog.

Very special thanks go to Sheaf forarranging the interview with Paul Heaton.

In 1996, Gas was discovered 80km off the coastof County Mayo in the Corrib Gasfields. Plans forthe project were made public in local newspapersin April 2000. What should have been a simplecase of extracting the resource for the benefit ofthe Irish economy and it's people, has been any-thing but. It has however, exposed the sinistermethods of the Irish Government, An Garda Sío-chána, the media and a security firm hell bent onforcing this pipeline through North West CountyMayo.Unfortunately, I won't be able to examine all theissues of this project in this piece, as it is far toocomplex, but hopefully I can give you a basic un-derstanding of what is really happening behindthe headlines in Co. Mayo.In 1987, former Fíanna Fáil TD, Ray Burke(whowas jailed in 2005 for political corruption), intro-duced new licensing terms for offshore explora-tion and production. These new terms abolishedstate royalties, state participation and also of-fered a 100% tax write off for exploration and de-velopment costs. This has been a contentiousissue throughout, especially now that the worldsresources are dwindling, prices are rising andmore gas is being discovered in Irish waters allthe time. The Irish economy could certainly bene-fit from some of that revenue now!In 2000, Enterprise Oil Ireland(now owned byShell) applied for planning permission for a gasprocessing plant at Bellanaboy, 9km inland onpeat bogland which was a Special Area of Con-servation. After 10 months, Mayo County Councilgranted permission even though no permissionhad been granted by the An Bord Pleanála (Irishplanning board) for the 9km high pressure pipe-line to reach the plant. You have to wonder whatkind of pressure was put on the Mayo Co. Coun-cil to grant planning for a processing plant eventhough no safe pipeline route had yet beenagreed? Retrospective planning seems to behow the oil companies do business. An BórdPleanála appeal the planning and Shell finally getpermission in October 2004. Works began on theplant in January 2005 and in June, 5 local menwere imprisoned for 94 days for contempt ofcourt for their refusal to not interfere with Shell'sworks. They became known as “The Rossport 5”,and they all owned land on the proposed pipelineroute.The pipeline has been the main focus of the oppo-sition over the last ten years. Shell will not consid-er a shallow water offshore platform to process

the gas(which is normally how it is done), nor willthey consider the remote site at Glinsk, which ison the seafront and would remove the need forsuch a high pressure and dangerous pipelinebeing laid in close proximity to houses. This isnot just any ordinary pipeline. The yellow gaspipes we are familiar with under our streets trans-port treated gas at a pressure no more than 7 bar.By the time it enters your household gas appli-ance, it has been decompressed to 0.021 bar.Even at these pressures, gas is still extremelydangerous. But at least you can smell it if there isa leak! Untreated or Raw gas, is odourless. Thelarge Transmission Gas lines that cross the coun-try, carry treated gas at a pressure between 50and 70 bar with a maximum pipe rating of 100bar. The Corrib Gas pipeline was initially pro-posed to carry extremely volatile raw gas across9km of of unstable bog at 345 bar. Somethingwhich has never been done on land anywhere inthe world before, yet it was to pass within 70 me-tres of houses. Shell have never tested such apipeline, therefore could not guarantee it's safetyand still the Irish government were happy to giveconsent to the project and their full backing. Con-sidering that the Irish State was to gain very littlefrom this venture, why were they so eager to puttheir citizens at such risk? Surely they were notaccepting money from Shell, were they?Ten years on and it seems that those opposed tothe pipeline have been justified with their con-cerns over the project. Planning has still not beengranted for the pipeline and when a Transmis-sion line in Appomattox, Virginia, US, exploded in2008, scorching an area of 350 metres in diame-ter, a pipeline of only 55 bar, the writing shouldhave been clear on the wall. But they still persist,even though Shell now accept that 345 bar wasunsafe and they have now reduced it to 144 bar.The people from groups such as 'Shell to Sea'and 'Pobaill Chill Chomáin' have repeatedlyasked for reassurances and public meetings withrepresentatives of Shell, but the only meetingsthey are interested in are off the record and unac-countable ones.Maybe it's simply a case that they think the localpeople are lunatic and backward cavemen op-posed to change and modernisation? This is cer-tainly the case that the Irish media has presentedto the Irish public. Apart from Lorna Siggins of

“The Irish Times”, all other newspapers have ranwith a Pro-Shell agenda, some not so blatant andothers extremely so. “The Irish Independent” has

The Corrib Gas Controversy

been very active in trying to demonise the protest-ers, I suppose not surprising, considering thatTony O'Reilly, head of Independent News & Media,also has interests in gas and oil exploration in Ire-land with Providence Resources Plc.RTE and TV3 have also followed suit with theirdocumentaries and news coverage. When protest-ers are being arrested, their cameras are rolling,but when the cases are being thrown out of courtfor unlawful arrest, they are nowhere to be seen.Paul Williams, a so called investigative reporter,screened a documentary twice on TV3 called “TheBattle for the Gasfields”. It's main purpose was totry and criminalize the protest and to claim that thewhole opposition was being run by Republicanparamilitaries. Just because republicans have sup-ported the campaign and most famously, Jim Mon-aghan of the Colombia 3 and Éirigí, then thewhole thing is being run by 'terrorists'. Of course itis Paul, well spotted!! It would have nothing to dowith the socialist principles of republicanism. Whydidn't he then play up the right wing connections toIRMS? IRMS(Integrated Risk Management Servic-es) are the Irish government's own security compa-ny. They were employing unvetted security staff atthe Shell site, the same company advertising

“international armed and unarmed security”. Whywere they not questioned about how five of theirformer staff in Mayo had ended up in Bolivia with aknown right wing mercenary, Eduardo Flores, inan attempt to assassinate President Evo Morales?Morales had been nationalising oil and gas reve-nues at the time. Coincidence maybe!! So if youare looking for impartial journalism in Ireland, youare out of luck except for maybe “The Irish Times”.The policing of the opposition is another extremelydifficult issue. From my own experience and fromaccounts of witnesses and even media quotations,it seems that the Gardaí have shown no impartiali-ty in this case. They have completely turned ablind eye to the law breakers on Shell's side whilefocusing on the most trivial infringement of a pro-tester. They have failed to investigate any criminalactivity by IRMS or themselves. Even the GardaOmbudsman is fighting a losing battle as the DPPwill not accept any case for prosecution. Somevery strong cases I might add.When Willie Corduff was assaulted after comingout from under a truck by masked IRMS staff andthen taken to hospital in a cervical collar and on aspine board, even though there were no Gardaípresent, the Gardaí made up a pack of lies basedon the word of Jim Farrell and TerryDownes(Directors of IRMS) who were present.The Garda Superintendent Michael Larkin statedthat Mr Corduff “was escorted from the site andspoke to Gardaí and it was decided that in thebest interests that he be transferred to a hospital

that he complained of feeling unwell” This doesnot match the ambulance and hospital reports. Al-so the IRMS staff had wildly varying accounts ofwhat actually happened. In April 2010, Frontline,an Irish Human rights group, published a reportcomplete with the hospital and doctors report andit showed it's findings that Willie Corduff's injurieswere consistent with an assault, and have askedfor the case to be reinvestigated by Gardaí outsideof Mayo.Another incident of note was the sinking of PatO'Donnell's boat in the early hours of the morning,shortly before the arrival of the pipe laying ship

“Solitaire”. He claimed that masked men boardedhis boat with handguns and sank his boat andsped off. He sent out a Mayday to the coastguardand called the Gardaí from his mobile phone to tellthem his attackers had headed due north. TheGardaí later arrived from the south and made noattempt to trace the attackers. Since then theGardaí have impounded his boats to keep themaway from the area and they did so unlawfully. Is itany wonder that they are then viewed as just an-other wing of Shell's security?It's now 2011, we've seen more wrongful imprison-ment, the processing plant is finished, the pipelinehas reached high water mark at the shore and Ihave just read that Shell have finally been grantedplanning permission to lay the 9km onshore sec-tion of pipe on January 20th, at the third time ofasking, coincidently the same day that Fíanna Fáilannounce the election date, of March 11th. Is thattheir parting shot to the already crippled Irish econ-omy? Maybe 8.5million Euros that will be given toMayo County Council by Shell has something todo with it? It's time now for the Irish public to putpressure on the candidates looking for your vote.This deal needs to be renegotiated and that of allof our natural resources. We need to stabilise ourfuture by taking back our resources to lift Irelandout of recession and give people job security.There are hundreds of billions of resources off ourcoast, belonging to the Irish state. This would befar more beneficial to our economy than borrowingmore debt from the IMF or the European CentralBank. I have to wonder why the Irish Governmentwere happy to sign away our economic and politi-cal sovereignty for a 90 Billion bailout, when theycould be strengthening our sovereignty and inde-pendence by taking back our resources, which areloosely valued at five or six times that amount andrising?

With Fíanna Fáil swept out of office in March, it isnow up to us to ensure that those elected act toreclaim our resources from Shell.

Article by O’M

www.shelltosea.com

December 2009 marked the 25th anniversaryof the passing of four brave Volunteers of thePIRA, all of whom were from the Derry area.Three of these tragic deaths were as a resultof summary executions, carried out by the SASregiment, furtherconfirming Britain’s

“shoot to kill” policy inthe occupied Sixcounties.

Volunteers AntoineMac Giolla Bhríghde,Ciarán Fleming, Wil-liam Fleming andDanny Doherty alldied fighting for thefreedom of Ireland inthe first week of De-cember, 1984.  Mac Giolla Bhríghde and CiaránFleming had previously taken part in the

“Great Escape” from Long Kesh prison in 1983.

Both Volunteers were in the process of mount-ing an operation against British forces on De-cember 2nd, 1984 near Drumrush, CountyFermanagh; when Mac Giolla Bhríghde ob-served a vehicle, which he believed, containedcivilians.

He approached the vehicle to tell its occupantsto clear out of the area.  However, the vehiclecontained undercover SAS members whoopened fire on the unsuspecting Volunteer,wounding him.  Plastic stays were used tohandcuff him, before he was tortured and in-stantly executed where he lay.

PIRA Volunteers immediately swarmed thearea, engaging the SAS with heavy fire,wounding two soldiers and killing another.The Active Service Unit looked to make theirescape across the swollen River Bannagh,where Ciarán Fleming, who was not a strongswimmer, was swept away and drowned.Tragically for the Fleming family, Ciarán’s body

was not found until the 21st of December,1984.  Both he and Mac Giolla Bhríghde wereburied with full military honours, despite har-assment from the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

However, it is the story of both William Flem-ing (Ciarán’s cousin)and Danny Dohertythat is the focus inthis edition of TÁL.

Childhood andEarly YearsWilliam Fleming wasborn on the 23rd ofMarch, 1964.  He wasthe sixth child of Leo

and Betty Fleming and was raised in the “Topof the Hill” area in the Waterside, Derry.  Thisarea was almost completely surrounded byLoyalist communities and the Fleming’s werealways aware of the Unionist Death Squadsthat patrolled the area.

During these turbulent times, Leo Fleming of-ten struggled to secure employment, due in nosmall part to the discrimination shown towardsthose of a Catholic or Nationalist background.Despite this, Fleming had a happy childhood.William’s sister Lynn, a Sinn Féin Councillor,states: “Whilst William was not overly academ-ic, he enjoyed school and he had a wide circleof friends. He enjoyed playing football and heloved music.  He was also an avid reader”.

“Our parents were apolitical.  My father wouldhave voted for the local nationalist candidate,Eddie Mc Ateer.  That would have been theextent of my families’ involvement”.

Things began to change however, after Britishparatroopers went on a murderous rampage inthe streets of Derry on the 30th of January,1972.  “After the terrible events of Bloody Sun-

The Story Behind The SongThe Ballad of Willie and Danny

By Matty Bhoy

day many young men and women joined theranks of the IRA and our family were no differ-ent”.

“Our brother Paul was first arrested in 1972,aged 16.  He was charged with possession ofweapons and IRA membership but because ofhis age he was released on bail and subse-quently went on the run. This was the begin-ning of years of constant harassment by theRUC and British Army.

Our family home was raided on a weekly basis,one week we were raided 4 times on the sameday!  Paul was captured on the 6th June, 1974and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mybrother Archie was arrested in 1976 along withour cousin Ciarán, who was sentenced to life.Archie got 10 years.

William Fleming was now 11 years old and hewas very aware of what was going on. Hewould also frequently attend Long Kesh to visitPaul and Archie.  At this time he had just start-ed secondary school and he would have experi-enced daily harassment going to and fromschool”.

At the age of 15, William joined Na Fianna Éire-ann.  He displayed exceptional leadership quali-ties, rising to the rank of OC.  At the age of 17he moved to the ranks of Óglaigh na hÉire-ann...

Danny Doherty was born on the 23rd of Sep-tember, 1961.  He was the fifth born out often children.  The Doherty’s were raised in theCreggan Estate, which at the time was a “no-go” area for the British Army.  As a boy Dannywas interested in sport, with football and hand-ball among his favourite pastimes.  The backshed of the Doherty’s residence also containedDanny’s racing pigeons.  His hero was theChelsea legend, Peter Osgood.

Danny attended Rosemount Primary School,before furthering his education at St Peter’sSecondary school.  He was extremely skilledwith his hands, excelling at woodwork and alsofinding the time to make his brothers home-made go-carts.  Danny’s brother Kevin states:

“It was a tough time to grow up, with runninggun battles going on.  Earlier in the troubles,there would be rioting or shooting while wewere at school and we would have to get sent

home early.  When we were getting older, wewere constantly getting stopped on the streets,harassed and searched by the Brits”.

The Doherty residence was raided a number oftimes by the British Army during this period.

“They would bang on the door as early as4:30am and we would all be dragged out ofbed and made to sit downstairs while theysearched the house,” he continued.  “Once weeven got raided three times in the one morn-ing!”  These raids would often culminate infamily members being arrested and taken tothe local barracks.  Irrespective of the treat-ment shown towards his family, Kevin claims:

“We still had a happy childhood, despite thetroubles”.

Like his future comrade, it was the events ofBloody Sunday that had a telling effect on Dan-ny Doherty.  One of the fourteen victims ofthat horrific day was Patrick Doherty, Danny’suncle.  “That made us sit up and take notice ofwhat was happening in the North,” said Kevin.At the age of 14 Danny joined Na Fianna Éire-ann, and like William Fleming, rose to the rankof OC of Derry.

In 1977, at the tender age of 16, Danny Doher-ty joined the ranks of Óglaigh na hÉireann, 2nd

Battalion of the Derry Brigade.  It is rumouredthat Danny lied about his age in order to join;such was his determination to play his part.

Adulthood and Active ServiceBy 1981 William Fleming had committed him-self to removing Britain’s occupation of Irelandby physical force.   This was of course the yearthat the war moved onto a new battleground,the H-Blocks and the ensuing hunger strikesthat followed.  Fleming empathised with theconditions that his comrades were forced tolive in.

“William was very active during the hungerstrikes of 1980 and ‘81 and he was very influ-enced by the sacrifice which Bobby Sands andhis comrades made,” Lynn said.  At this pointin time, William was also working in a numberof bars in and around Derry, a job suiting hisjovial personality.

Sadly it was also a year of loss for the Flemingfamily, with Leo Fleming succumbing to lungcancer in July, aged 50 years.  Paul and Archie

Fleming were granted 24 hours compassionateparole to attend their father’s funeral.  It wasto be the last time that Paul and William Flem-ing would be together, outside of prison walls.

Former comrades have described William as“an enthusiastic and reliable asset to the Re-publican struggle”.  He was an extremely dedi-cated Volunteer, which often meant he wasunable to continue any sporting endeavoursand listen to rock music, another favouredpastime...

In 1978, shortly after joining the PIRA, DannyDoherty and a comrade were on active servicein the Irish Republic.  The two Volunteerswere travelling on a motorbike when theycame across a roadblock controlled by theGarda Síochána.  Fearing the worst, they blewthrough the roadblock, with the Guards in hotpursuit.

The two Volunteers dumped the motorbikeand took off on foot, crossing numerous fieldsin an attempt to escape.  The Guards frantical-ly gave chase, and eventually caught the pair.The Guard asked Doherty: “What were you upto on the motorbike?”  Doherty looked straightat the Guard and without missing a beat, re-plied: “What motorbike?”  There is everychance the two Volunteers may have gotaway... if Danny didn’t still have his motorbikehelmet on!  Despite being charged with pos-session of explosives and IRA membership,Doherty always managed to laugh about play-ing dumb with the Guards.

Kevin Doherty remembers, “He refused to rec-ognise the court and was sentenced to 5 yearsin Portlaoise jail.  While in jail, he had politicalstatus”.  Conditions in the jail were far fromideal however, as the POWs were subjected tobeatings and strip searches.  At one point,Doherty was unable to receive a visit for a3-month period.

Danny was imprisoned during the course ofthe hunger strike.  His best friend, VolunteerCharles ‘Pop’ McGuire was in the HonourGuard at the funeral of Volunteer FrancisHughes.  Tragically, within a month, McGuirehimself would perish in an SAS ambush in theCreggan.

Released in 1982, Doherty reported straightback to the PIRA for active service, such was

he dedication to the cause.  The harassmentfrom the Crown forces only intensified duringthis period.  “Most Republican families duringthis time suffered at the hands of both theRUC and the British Army.  It was just a wayof life at the time... we all grew up with it andhad no other point of reference to compare itto, so you just got on with it,” Kevin Dohertyrecalled.

September 25th, 1983 saw a much neededboost to Republican morale when 38 PIRA Vol-unteers escaped from Long Kesh.  It was thebiggest escape in Europe since World War II.Ciarán Fleming was amongst the escapees.

Lynn Fleming remembers the events that un-folded: “As a frequent visitor to Long Kesh Iwas amazed that anyone could escape fromsuch a fortified prison... But for so manyPOW's to escape at the one time was unbeliev-able.

I remember when it came on the news a fewdays later that Ciarán was one of those whoescaped, William and I danced around theliving room. I didn't know until many yearsafter William and Ciarán died that they hadmet up at an IRA training camp in the summerof 1984, while Ciarán was on the run. I haveto say that gave me a lot of comfort”.

AmbushAt approximately 8:00am on the 6th of Decem-ber, 1984 William Fleming and Danny Doherty,travelling on a motorcycle, entered thegrounds of the Gransha Hospital in the Water-side area of Derry.   Both men were takingpart in an operation, with the target widelybelieved to be a member of the UDR, who alsoworked at the hospital.

Unbeknownst to the two Volunteers, the SASlay in wait, after receiving a tip off.  In fact theSAS, a detachment of 14 Intelligence Compa-ny, had commenced a counter operation atthe hospital a fortnight prior.  An unmarkedvehicle that was driven by an SAS memberrammed the motorbike, dislodging Flemingimmediately.  Without chance to surrender,two SAS soldiers emptied the magazines oftheir 9mm pistols, before continuing withHK53 sub-machine guns.  William suffered

four gunshot wounds to his head and 56 to hisbody.

The motorcycle mounted the kerb and knockedDoherty, who had already been wounded, tothe ground.  Again, no attempt was made toarrest the Volunteer.  Instead, the SAS soldierscontinued to empty their rounds into his body.The coroner stated that Doherty had threegunshot wounds to the head area and 21 tohis body.  William Fleming and Danny Dohertyhad made the ultimate sacrifice for their coun-try.

Fleming and Doherty had two handguns in theholdall of the motorcycle.  The SAS laterclaimed that both men had the weapons intheir hand, posing a direct threat.  Followingthe shootings the RUC left the bodies lying asthey had fallen for a period of five hours.

Kevin Doherty continued: “Danny was on ac-tive service when he was killed. At this timethe Brits, we believe, had a shoot-to-kill policy.He could have been arrested but instead wasshot dead.  We believe they were executed. Asa family we are proud that he was our son andbrother. He was a dedicated IRA Volunteerwho believed in what he was doing and wesupported him all the way”.  Danny Dohertyleft behind his loving wife, Julie and his sonKevin Barry Doherty.

Lynn Fleming also remembers her brother withpride.  “William was a very loving son andbrother who left us so many beautiful memo-ries and we know that love was returned. Pauland Gary were refused compassionate parolewhen William died and that was very hard forus as a family. To this day any family gather-ing is always tinged with sadness because thatspecial person is no longer with us”.

The ambush caused outrage in Ireland andmade headlines around the world.  “In North-ern Ireland, under British rule, it was the Armywho set the ambush - it was an ambush, noth-ing else. No attempt to arrest was made. Themen were shot dead without any chance tosurrender,” claimed Peter Barry, the Irish Minis-ter for Foreign Affairs.  John Hume also com-mented in the House of Commons: “This raisesvery fundamental questions as to whether theauthorities have abandoned the rule of law,and whether we are now in a war situation”.

FuneralsThe funerals of William Fleming and DannyDoherty were the largest Derry had seen sincethe death of hunger striker Patsy O’Hara.  It isestimated that more than 3000 mourners at-tended.  Both Volunteers were given full mili-tary funerals.  Irish tricolours adorned theircoffins and four Volunteers emerged from thecrowd and emptied the magazines of their Ar-malite rifles in their honour.  Martin McGuin-ness gave the graveside oration, stating: "Weare an occupied country and those braveenough to fight repression deserve nothing butrespect and unfailing support from us all. Onlythe IRA can bring Britain to the negotiatingtable."  William Fleming and Danny Dohertywere buried side by side in the Republican plotof the Derry city cemetery.

In 2004 the Public Prosecution Service forNorthern Ireland ruled against any action toprosecute three of the SAS soldiers involved inthe ambush.  Mr Justice Girvin commented “In2004 it is much too late for the applicant(Doherty’s wife) to seek effectively to re-opena decision made in 1986 and not challengedwithin a reasonable time thereafter."

Pangur Bán’s Gerry Breslin penned the fantas-tic song “Willie and Danny” in their honour.  Itis a song that contains many emotions - defi-ance, anger and sadness to name a few.  Suchis its quality; nearly every artist on the Irishcircuit has covered it.

However William Fleming and Danny Dohertyrepresent so much more than mere lyrics candescribe.  They were two men who made anextraordinary commitment to their communityin an attempt to “right the wrongs”.  WilliamFleming and Danny Doherty accepted the ulti-mate test and family, friends and Republicanswill forever remember them with love, prideand the utmost respect.

Willie And DannyTry to sing some songs of glory,

Sing some songs of peace,But in the end it's the same old story,

They're both so hard to reach.

People tell me they're sick and tired,Of seeing this place run down,

Well I say: Take your blindfolds off, you hypocrites,And help us to get off the ground.

Please say it isn't so,Why Willie and Danny had to go,

The reasons very clear,They're laying down their lives for us year after year.

Seventy shots between their bodies,Not one of those bullets missed,

For every trigger pulled that morning,A volunteer will enlist.

For five long hours they left them lying there,The priest was turned away,

So another step lower for those SAS bastards,We'll never forget the day.

The funerals were to prove their worthiness,Thousands thronged the streets,

While those Borstal Boys hovered helplessly overhead,The 'RA came out to salute.

They emptied their magazines over each coffin,Defiantly the crowd were sent,

So another day dawns and the guns will be out again,‘Cause Willie and Danny had friends.