An interview with John and Sandra Moloney, the parents of "Johner" Moloney, who have joined up with the Wheelock family in their campaign in recent months.

On March 23rd, the family of Terence Wheelock were joined outside the Dáil by the family of John (Johner) Moloney. They linked up with the Wheelock family, as they felt that both of their sons' deaths raised serious questions about their time in Garda Custody. Johner Moloney was found unconscious, bloodied and bruised, behind a church in Rathfarnam in May 2003, shortly after having been arrested for a couple of outstanding warrants for driving with no tax and insurance. He was brought to Tallaght Hospital with massive brain injuries, and never regained consciousness. He died when his life support machine was switched off.

"We got in contact with the Wheelock family for the protest outside the Dáil," says John Moloney, Johner's father. "We met them at a meeting in the Mansion House, that had people speaking who had been victims of Garda harassment up in Donegal. We introduced ourselves to each other, and starting talking and organising after that. Its been working out great with them. Once you have two families organising together, it seems to work better. You do get fed up sometimes with going into town, and its great to have the support."

"I had been following Terence's case in the papers when it happened, and I had called up the Mater Hospital looking for contact details for the Wheelocks, but I was told they couldn't give out that information for confidentiality reasons," says Sandra, Johner's mother. "I kept an eye on the case still because there were very similar circumstances to what happened my son. We make a good team. Terence's mother Esther, she's been through the same pain as me, had the same experiences. When Tallaght Hospital called me to say my son was dying, it was like someone had ripped out my heart. Losing a son is just too hard to describe sometimes. "

Sandra says that the family has recieved letters from some TDs in the Dáil, saying that they would bring it to the attention of the Minister for Justice, to see if an independent inquiry could be established. "That's all we want really, we just want the truth to come out. In my heart as a mother, I feel I know the truth already. But I want answers, recognition of what happened to him. My son was found on a street, at the back of a church, unconscious, approximately 15 minutes after he supposedly left the Garda station.

John Aherne: "I always had strong will power but never acted upon it, so I thought it’s now or never. I am no different to many spinal injuries who took the bull by the horns, so I dusted myself off and got on with life, no self pity, no chip on my shoulder, no “why me?”. The way I look it is “why not me” it can happen to anyone in a heart beat, and it doesn’t discriminate between rich or poor, male or female, young or old. You just got to play the cards you were dealt and make the most of it. I am also of the view which some people find harsh is that some people with disabilities really irritate me, now of course if I was able to walk on shoe leather, to make a statement like that I would be classed as some form of a bigot, I on the other hand have seen it first hand as to how much whining someone can do purely because they think society in general should stand up and take notice. I got news for ye lads; society doesn’t give two fiddlers, so get your balls back and move on."

"I’ve heard it all over the years, even from the mouth of an MEP who while on his visit to the rehab said and I quote “want anything done lads regarding any disability issue, then don’t come to me” so, you see whether you are in a chair or not, it doesn’t give you an automatic right to be a self righteous pain in the rectum. Yes people with disabilities have rights, as does anyone else in this god forsaken country. But what is the point in having all these rights. It reminds me of when I was given my free travel pass, what a load of good that was, I wasn’t able to get on a bus, to try and gain access to a train was like Bertie Ahern trying to get a sentence out without sticking both feet in his mouth."
Account continues here..

Also from the newswire: Garry Toner, an Equality Studies student in UCD is trying to organise an awareness campaign at a national level in relation to the rights of people with disabilities after an incident that occurred last weekend.

"It was obvious risks were being taken with the make shift ramp. Before the wheelchair went down the ramp one of the staff accidentally pulled at the bar on my wheelchair, nearly breaking it. My wheelchair shot down the ramp, I lost control of it and nearly went over the curb into the traffic. Fortunately, I was able to somehow regain control of my wheelchair; narrowly preventing what could have been a very serious accident...
Account continues here.. " (also reported by a friend of Gary on UCDSU.net

More from Indymedia: Holiday Homes For People With Disabilities | New Campaign To Secure Disablity Rights | Challenge to the Disability Act 2005 gathers momentum | Disability Bill - A Betrayal | Archive of Indymedia's Disability Coverage

Wicklow based Basta youth collective, a radical non-profit youth group, are to find themselves homeless as Paddy’s Hall in Greystones has been boarded up.

The group of self-organised teenagers have been using the hall for over a year to put on alcohol free, drugs free gigs as well as film showings and providing space for their Basta drama group.

Paddy’s hall has been the groups base of operations since they formed in October 2004 and has played host to bands from across Ireland as well as American and European acts. It has also provided space for many local bands to play who wouldn’t normally have a chance to play to large crowds of their peers.

Originally owned by the local protestant church the hall was sold on to a consortium of developers who allowed Basta to continue using it so long as they provided their own insurance. The hall is now to be boarded up as local youths are constantly breaking in and vandalising the building.

Some Related Links:

Basta Youth Collective Mission Statement | Punkforit - a forum where parts of the scene that has developed around the Basta Youth Collective engage in discussions on politics, culture etc | Photo's from Basta's Xmas and NY's afternoon gig. | Radio Doc on Hope Promotions, who were diy gig promoters doing rock/hardcore gigs in Dublin between 1987 – 1999 whose memory still inspires people today

Reading Brian Murphy on how the British manipulated the truth in 1920 "made the hairs stand up on the back of your neck" said Danny Morrison. The parallels between events in that one year and British activities many years later in Ireland are striking, he said.

The one time An Phoblacht editor and Sinn Fein Publicity Director, now author and playwright, launched Brian Murphy's 'The Origins and Organisation of British Propaganda in Ireland 1920’ on March 24th in the Teachers’ Club in Dublin.

The 100-page work was also launched by Professor David Miller of Strathclyde University and by the author, Brian Murphy.

The US Government has adopted a new pretence to justify its presence in Colombia and even direct action in the country by US personnel. Once again the so called war on drugs, a euphemism used by the US to justify interventions in Colombia, Panama, Turkey and other countries throughout the 20th Century, is to be used.

The US have redefined the FARC as a drugs cartel and issued 50 arrest warrants for the entire Secretariat of the FARC and a further 17 members of the High Command. The arrest warrants are accompanied by the offer of 5 million dollars for each member of the Secretariat and 2.5 million for the High Command leaders.

The drug cartel charge is a smokescreen. But why make the charge now? The answer is simple. Bush has made no secret of his desire to free up US money and hardware donated in the war on drugs for use in general counter insurgency operations. Now that the FARC has been redefined as a drugs cartel Bush can have that freer hand. The US Attorney General has not ruled out operations of the type which led to the killing of Pablo Escobar. In other words it has not ruled out direct military intervention to take out the Secretariat.

Further Reading:
Frank Connolly, McDowell and Alvaro Uribe
The Profits of Extermination
Another Leader of Colombian Peace Community illegally detained by The Police