|
29 Aug 00 - 06:14 AM (#287069) Subject: Gibraltar ^^ From: Wolfgang Another song from recent Irish history. I do not intend to offend anyone by posting this song. The tune isn't familiar to me. This song has been written most probably in 1988 or shortly thereafter. Wolfgang GIBRALTAR Sad are three homes in Belfast now Old Ireland shares their sorrow Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage, and Daniel McCann They died on the streets of Gibraltar They flew out of Belfast with an ambitious plan To continue the struggle to free Ireland Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage and Daniel McCann And they dies on the streets of Gibraltar churfa Sad are three homes in Belfast now Old Ireland shares their sorrow As they walked in the sun the Brits drew their guns And blood stained the streets of Gibraltar The SAS stood there so proud of their deed Three more freedom fighters lay dead in the street They've been given no warning no chance to retreat For three had to die in Gibraltar All notes below including all parentheses giving the background to the song are copied and pasted from the CAIN website with the exception of the last (1995) entry which comes from 'Republican News'. Sunday 6 March 1988 Three unarmed Irish Republican Army (IRA) were shot dead by undercover members of the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar. [The episode sparked intense controversy and began a chain of events that lead to a series of deaths in Northern Ireland. The British government claimed that the SAS shot the IRA members because they thought a bomb was about to be detonated. Eye-witnesses claimed that those shot were given no warning.] Tuesday 8 March 1988 A car believed to belong to those killed in Gibraltar was found in Marbella and was discovered to contain 140 pounds of high explosives. Wednesday 16 March 1988 During the funerals, at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, for the three Irish Republican Army (IRA) members killed in Gibraltar (6 March 1988) a Loyalist gunman, Michael Stone, launched a grenade and gun attack on mourners. Three people were killed and 50 injured. The whole episode was recorded by television news cameras. The police and the army had withdrawn to avoid any confrontation with the mourners. Stone was chased to a nearby motorway were he was attacked by a number of mourners. The police arrived in time to save his life. The main loyalist paramilitary groups denied any involvement with Stone. One of those killed, Kevin Brady, was a member of the IRA. Saturday 19 March 1988 During the funeral of Kevin Brady, killed at Milltown Cemetery (16 March 1988), a car approached the funeral procession at high speed. It was claimed by some present that they feared another attack by Loyalist gunmen. The car's passage was blocked and a group of the mourners attacked the two passengers. The two men in the car were later identified as corporals Derek Wood and David Howes of the British Army. One of the soldiers fired a warning shot but both were beaten and overpowered. The two soldiers were driven to waste ground and shot dead. Part of this incident was also recorded on television news cameras. [The presence of the two soldiers in plain clothes in a republican district of Belfast was never adequately explained.] September 1995: The European Court of Human Rights has found the British government guilty of violating Article Two of the European Convention which protects a person's right to life. In the first decision of its kind against a government, the court stated that the British had failed to uphold "the standard expected of a democratic government" when they shot dead three IRA Volunteers in Gibraltar in 1988. ^^ |
|
29 Aug 00 - 12:38 PM (#287217) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Gibraltar From: paddymac Sad to say, this story is not unique in the annals of British involvement in Ireland. The tune used for this song is the same as "Glencoe" |
|
30 Aug 00 - 06:06 AM (#287698) Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Gibraltar From: Wolfgang Thanks for the additional information (here and in 'Supergrass'), paddymac. 'Glencoe' was a song I knew the lyrics of but had never heard yet. Wolfgang |