Ireland's political and cultural magazine
Margaret Urwin is known for her work with Justice for the Forgotten/the Pat Finucane Centre. Her published works include the pamphlet Counter-gangs (2012) which describes the activities of undercover British special force units in Ireland in the 1970s. In 2016 she published the highly- regarded ‘A State in Denial: British Collaboration with Loyalist Paramilitaries‘. She […]
These four questions need now to be asked in the Dáil, as Leo Varadkar has not replied to Village‘s attempt to get answers. By Michael Smith. Since we live in a democracy lying to the Dáil is a resigning offence. Village has made the case that the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has run to cover over his leak […]
On Thursday Village‘s editor, Michael Smith, wrote to Leo Varadkar: “Dear Tánaiste, You referred in the Dáil on 10 November to the impossibility of yourhaving had ten encounters in 2019 with Dr Matt Ó Tuathail. You saidmany of the encounters referred to athttps://villagemagazine.ie/at-least-10-times-not-2-or-3/ wereimpossible. Can you please say how many, and which of them, youconsider […]
We live in a democracy and a free press is supposed to be important. So why have the mainstream media been silent when Village, a small, serious, independent magazine and its whistleblower, Chay Bowes, have been threatened and bullied by perhaps the most powerful political party in the State, Fine Gael, and perhaps the most powerful […]
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Statement from Village, 9 November 2020 The cardinal political sin is lying to Parliament. It is a resigning matter for a Minister to lie to the Dáil. Village submits evidence below that suggests the Dáil has been lied to on what is currently an important and topical issue. In his Statement and replies to questions in the Dáil […]
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Cheating politicians cheat us all. By Paul Murphy TD. Leo Varadkar is either a liar or a very unlucky man. According to what he told the Dáil on Tuesday, the only time he ever leaked a confidential document was the time it ended up in Village magazine. After throwing Maitiú Ó’Tuathail under the metaphorical bus and repeatedly […]
On Tuesday, Village magazine shared communications with RTÉ, The Irish Times and the TDs who were leading Dáil questions of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar yesterday. We here link to a PDF of what we shared. Beneath are the most important of these. Readers will make their minds up as to whether the material was effectively deployed […]
: Ruadhán Mac Aodháin, Solicitor, Prospect Law Re: Whether the Official Secrets Act applies to Ministers and TDs? Client: Ormond Quay Publishing Limited Date: 3rd November 2020 From: Diarmuid Rossa Phelan SC Thank you for your instructions of last night raising the above question to be answered by noon today. The short answer is that there is no exclusion in the […]
In advance of the Dáil debate on Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s now-admitted leak of a confidential document last year, Village wants to express a hope that the debate will be forensic, not the usual populist, adjective-heavy grandstanding, that may let a culprit off a lazily-cast hook. To this end we suggest that TDs framing the debate about wrongdoing not […]
By Joseph de Burca. It is no exaggeration to say that Robert Fisk, who has passed away, was one of the finest journalists of the last half-century. He reported on the Troubles during the 1970s for The Times of London before it was taken over by Rupert Murdoch, produced a book on the 1974 Ulster […]
Biden is unexciting and past his best but not mad ‘Vote Joe’ For Village’s agenda of equality of outcome, sustainability and accountability, Bernie Sanders was the best champion. By comparison, his conservative Democrat vanquisher Joe Biden is ideologically vague, compromised, wedded to mid-twentieth-century agendas and lacking timely radicalism. Biden’s persona is attractively folksy grandfatherly – and Irish-American […]
Mr Varadkar’s statement provokes dramatically more questions than it answers. The Tánaiste’s statement says “the ambit of the [Official Secrets} Act is limited to persons holding a public office”. It is a grotesque and unbecoming misconstruction for the Tánaiste to so cynically and brazenly – presumably following days of legal advice – misinterpret the Official […]
Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar has come to be known as a leaker. The hashtag #leotheleak has trended on Twitter on several occasions after Varadkar was accused of publishing things he shouldn’t. That Leo leaks however hasn’t yet been proven—or become a political liability for the tánaiste. That may change with evidence from a healthcare whistleblower that Varadkar, while taoiseach, leaked a confidential document to a personal associate.
The Smithwick Tribunal concealed its relationship with Freddie Scappaticci whom it treated as a credible source of information while the Kenova Inquiry is investigating him for multiple murders. The Smithwick Tribunal found Garda collusion in murder of RUC officers, but couldn’t name the colluder. This was partly because it allowed a motley band of FRU operatives, […]
By David Burke. I was fortunate to have a book published recently. I won’t personally be much affected by who sells it it but it did spark me thinking about the beleaguered publishing industry in Ireland. It does sterling work promoting diverse, minority and high-quality works. Writing is an Irish speciality. Reflecting this, thankfully Ireland […]
By David Burke. The letter from the Garda officer who had served in C3. In 1973 a former Garda intelligence officer, Patrick Crinnion, wrote a letter which he addressed to three politicians: Garret FitzGerald, Conor Cruise O’Brien and Richie Ryan. All three were prominent government ministers at the time. Crinnion had served with the overarching […]
By David Burke. Deputy Sean Haughey has repeated his request for the release of certain Garda files from the Department of Justice. There is a lot more to his question than readily meets the eye. In the late 1960s and 1970s C3 was the most secretive and sensitive department within an Garda Síochána. It provided […]
The legacy of Chris Ryder, the former Sunday Times (ST) journalist who passed away last Friday, is not one to be proud of: he was one of a number of journalists who helped MI5 and the RUC’s Special Branch cover up the rape of children who had fallen into the grip of a paedophile gang […]
UPDATE: Des O’Malley is going to reveal what he knowns about the new allegation that Seán MacStíofáin was a Garda informer in The Sunday Independent tomorrow. Hopefully, O’Malley will answer the 10 questions Village raised in the original version of this article In the event that O’Malley does not address these questions in The Sunday […]
By David Burke. The family phone of Captain James Kelly and his wife Sheila, in Terenure, Dublin, was tapped by the gardai in 1970. Captain Kelly was one of the Arms Trial defendants who went on trial 50 years ago this week. He was acquitted. It is inconceivable that Mícheál Ó Móráin, who served as […]
