jmm@bonnie.UUCP (Joe Mcghee) (10/02/84)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stephen Geddis was 10 years old when he came to visit the United States from Northern Ireland in 1975 as part of a program to get children away from the atmosphere of constant harassment and conflict. At home he was withdrawn and rarely went outdoors, spending most of his time playing with toys and learning the guitar and harmonica. He was a naive and innocent boy who didn't understand what was happening in his country. In the U.S. he stayed with the Owens family of South Shore, South Dakota. He was fascinated by the novelty of ranch life and rode a horse for the first time. "I like all the horses here", he said, "and the cowboys!" This was also his first experience seeing gophers, turtles, garter snakes, grasshoppers and dragonflies. He learned to play the harmonica, loved to ride a bicycle all over the town and became very well known by the people of South Shore, South Dakota and was amazed that strangers on the street knew him by name after news articles appeared about him in the local paper. He even rode his bicycle in the South Shore Fourth of July parade. "People are very nice to me here" he said. At home he was among the top three students in his class and was scheduled to skip the sixth grade and go on to the seventh. He liked to play soccer, basketball and baseball and he even played ball with the South Shore Little League. On August 5th he started the journey to return home. On returning home he lay in bed crying for three days, refused to go out and pleaded with his parents to be allowed to go back to America. After three weeks without leaving his home, Stephen's father insisted that the boy go out to play. Nearby a crowd of about 30 boys between seven and thirteen years of age were gathered on the street. As an armored car of the British Army's Anglican Regiment passed boys in the crowd threw stones at it. Eyewitnesses stated that Stephen had not been throwing stones with the other boys and no dirt was found on his hands. Chasing the boys, the soldiers fired plastic bullets at them. One of the plastic bullets hit Stephen Geddis on the side of the head. Two days later, August 30, 1975 Stephen Geddis died.
dxp@pyuxhh.UUCP (D Peak) (10/03/84)
Reprinted from AP wire services (Dublin,Ireland 10/01/84):
"American sympathizers of the IRA paid for a seized arms cache that
included rockets,hand grenades and submachine guns meant for killing
people on both sides of the Irish border", Justice Minister Michael
Noonan said yesterday.
Noonan saidthe arms "came from the United States but some of the
weapons were manufactured in different countries." He did not spell
out what evidence he had that the shipment was financed by Americans.
The capture of the Marita Ann resulted from a two year undercover
operation by security agents on both sides of the Atlantic that
included both the US Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI,security
sources said.
An American satellite was used to track a Canadian registered vessel
from a port on the east coast of the United States to a point off the
Irish coast where the arms shipment was transferred to the Marita Ann
"This was essentially an Irish police operation that got the co-operation
of other security forces" Noonan said, refusing to elaborate.
Noonan told a news conference that the Irish government was especially
concerned about the inclusion of hand grenades in the consignment.
"I cannot remember an occasion when the IRA used hand grenades .....
Were they planning to get into a situation of hurling hand grenades
into shops, pubs and cafes or whatever ? That particular aspect has me
worried".
Noonan said though some of the captured weapons were produced elsewhere,
the cash to buy them was provided by IRA fund-raisers in the United
States.
Noonan singled out Noraid,the New York based Irish Nortern Aid Committee
which says it raises money for the families of dead and imprisoned IRA
members. The Irish and British governments maintain the money is used to
buy weapons.
"It is quite clear that Noraid collects money and uses it to buy arms
which kill people north and south of the Irish border" the minister said.
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I'm sure Joe can let you know how to contact a Noraid collection agent !
--
Dave Peak (pyuxhh!dxp)
"Kabooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom"
- Guy Fawkes wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (10/05/84)
It's very easy to give money to the NORAID group. Just go up to Manhatten College. Any time there is an Irish Football game going on, there are dozens of tables out front requesting money for various charities. It is so blatant, it is sickening. If the aid from this country were to dry up, the IRA would dry up. AS IT DAMN WELL SHOULD. Go ahead and flame oh killers of children and women (both sides). I think what is happening in Ireland and Northern Ireland is nothing short of genocide. Further, those who support this stupidity, while sitting comfortably in their warm homes on this side of the Atlantic, should be loaded on a boat and deposited on the Emerald shores where they should be made to witness every assinine act being perpetrated, and what's more, they should be made to personally count the bodies and listen to the grief. T. C. Wheeler
jim@randvax.UUCP (Jim Gillogly) (10/08/84)
----- Sure, Joe, and the IRA blew up a McWhirter for the publicity value. Which is worse? I claim neither ... it's senseless violence on both sides. Jim Gillogly