Barry Clifford: The Real Irish Republican Brotherhood

Yesterday the Gardai said that they found a bomb in the car park of a Dublin hotel primed and read to go. By today, a whole lot less than 24 hours later, and several years sooner than it took for the whistleblowers to be vindicated that exposed police corruption, the same police force stated that the an IRA activist was linked to the explosive device. That is until one reads between the lines of this story that was carried by security correspondents from what was fed to them by security forces. It is so full of holes that even Alan Shatter would not be believed had it been uttered from his mouth.

It seems it is only a ‘possible’ link between a former member of that group. When the Gardai get to thinking then we all need to think some. Who ever left the vehicle in the car park was so inept that they forgot to even lock the doors.  The ever clever Gardai said that it was intended for another member of this group to pick it up. Had anyone told them that car keys can be cut. The Gardai then said “it was strange that the bomb was manufactured in the South, presumably for use by dissidents to be used in the North, that they should locate a car from there to do the job.” At last it seemed they were starting to get the picture within the frame up. But no such luck and plodded on.

How were the Gardai alerted? They received the old standard ‘anonymous’ call. It was not hard to find, the bomb I mean, for there it was hidden in plain view, on a beer keg with wires protruding from a timing device. Ah Jaysus lads, you shouldn’t have drunk the beer first for fecs sake. The Police said gravely with a hint of technical knowledge that the bomb could have flattened a building. They made the usual enquiries and set upon the usual suspects.  Only one man was arrested who is not even suspected or being associated with the bomb. That did not stop the Gardai searching his home anyway and still holding him without charge. He might have been the man that drank all that beer though.

The best the police could come up with, North and South was  a ‘possible’ link to a former IRA activist, a ruling member it seems, well known and who had served a spell in jail; but at least cautioned that their investigation was at an early stage. Enda Kenny, you know the guy, our Prime Minister, sensed political capital and a sound bite. He bit hard.

Enda condemned the ‘incident’ as “madness.” He then cheered some more:

“Those who left the bomb did nor represent the new Ireland.” They hardly represented the old. Then he stretched and tweaked a little more than the truth: “While we have problems with the administration of justice, if we didn’t have the intelligence of the Gardai and the capacity to break that, just think of the consequence of what could have happened socially, economically and internationally when warped minds have their way.”  The guilty transfer guilt for past crimes for it is my bet that it was the Irish Republican Brotherhood that planted that beer keg and they are: The police in the North, the Gardai in the South and the Politicians that allowed it all to happen. Election time again !!!

By Barry Clifford