Irish Performance Art
1988
Loyalist Michael Stone attacks the Milltown Cemetary during the funerals of the three IRA members killed by the SAS in Gibraltar.
Using bullets and grenades Stone kills three Catholics and injures dozens. In court he admits to three previous killings of Catholics and is sentenced to almost 700 years.
2000
Under the Good Friday Agreement Stone is released having served 13 years during which he began art as a hobby.
On his release he states he has no regrets for fatalities he caused.
2006
Stone assaults Stormont during a Northern Ireland assembly sitting. He is armed with home-made explosives, an imitation gun, an axe and a garrotte.
Applying for bail, Stone’s lawyer says his instructions from Stone are to say the incident, which led to the evacuation of Parliament Buildings at Stormont, was not intended to endanger the life of anyone.
It was, in fact, a piece of performance art replicating a terrorist attack, said Mr Harvey.
Haughey
This is at a time when the tribunal into the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey finally finishes - even if it did take so long Haughey is now dead - and tells us that he received over €11.5 million (the equivalent of up to €45 million in today’s money) between 1979 and 1996, granting favours in return. See story HERE.
But the Michael Stone story is much stranger, sadder, and funnier. More HERE. And much more HERE.
Memories
When Charles Haughey was illegally taking millions while telling the Irish people to live within our means, I was unemployed for several long spells and emigrated for work twice.
Living then in England I received abuse when Michael Stone killed people in Ireland - because I had an Irish accent, and I probably wanted to kill my fellow Catholics.
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
Haughey being Fianna Fail always got the vote in our house,
My grandfather worked the Evening/Irish Press
I remember not being allowed to read the Evening Herald or Indo,
the otherside’s paper. Being like your good self, long term
unemployed and messing with immigration (both legal in England
and the other sort in the USA) there
came a bright day when the “green card” lotto pulled
my name out of the system and sent a letter to come to
the embassy in Dublin 4 for an interview.
The VERY next day another letter for another “green card”
interview for me arrived, turns out my mother had written to
Charlie himself so he got the credit for that too.