Irish Army and LVF - the connection

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday September 07, 2004 05:48 by Mark O'Connor

A recent ceremony in Mayo honouring Victoria Cross winner Sergeant-Major Cornelius Coughlan for his participation in the mass murder of hundreds of thousands in India in 1857 was attended by Minister Michael Smith and army Chief of Staff , Lt. General Jim Sreenan. But who was behind this "commemoration"?

The commemoration was organised by a group know as Military Heritage tours. They are funded by the British National Lottery and other groups such as, the "Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades' Association"


http://www.mgcorps.ndirect.co.uk/

.....and.....


http://www.greengairsthistle.com/GTFB.htm

......the Greengairs Thistle Flute band.


Greengairs Thistle Flute Band which was expelled in 1988 from the Scottish Orange Order for anti-Catholic and racist bigotry like to fly UVF flags and banners as well as taunting Nationalist on their visits to the North.


Heritage tours is run from the Mayo home of former Irish Defence Forces Captain Donal Buckley and "Captain" Tony Martin, formerly of the FCA. They also organise trips to WW2 sites to honour her majesties forces too! God Bless them.


http://www.militaryheritagetours.com/tours/db_tours.html



Present along with Minister for Defence Michael Smith, local politicos and a band of Irish Defence Forces top brass headed by Chief of Staff, Lt.General Jim Serrnan was the British Ambassador and his MI5 entourage. All who stood proudly under the Union Jack, protected by G2 military Intelligence fresh from their latest assignment, following and harassing anti-war activists and members of the Muslim community in Ireland.


Nice to know the Irish Defence Forces stand side by side with sectarian racist bigots to honour Imperialist killers . I suppose we should be glad they are at least finally showing their true colours..............red, white and blue.


Captain Donal Buckley served in Dundalk and Monaghan in the bad ole days when the "British and Irish governments faced a common terrorist threat".


At Old Comrades Day in Ballymena army base Donal , Tony and their band of jolly Old Comrades from Military Heritage Tours received extraordinary hospitality from Lt General Trousdel who took the salute as they marched past. Tiffin anyone?


It's hard to say if Cornelius was a war criminal or not as the mists of history have fallen on this despicable period of British history but we do know the methods the British army used in those days and that in suppressing the "Indian Mutiny" many hundreds of thousands of Indian men , women and children were slaughtered.


Even as late as 1920 their "Old Comrades" in the Black and Tans travelled the same roads in Mayo where our minister and military recently honoured Cornelius Coughlan. The Tans dragged local republican tailor, Michael Tolan, from his home. A man who had been disabled from birth. He was beaten, tortured, and then tied to the back of an armoured car, dragged through the streets of Ballina to Shraheen Bog where he was eventually killed. He was unidentifiable except by a thimble in one of his pockets.


Take a salute Lt. General Jim Serrnan and the boys and girls of G2. You and your friends do you proud! Always part of the coalition of the shilling.