The Bleeding Hills - A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

THE BLEEDING HILLS
A Novel by Wilfried F. Voss

ISBN: 978-0-9765116-4-9
Printed: 228 pages, 5″ x 8″, perfect binding, black & white interior ink.
Publisher: Copperhill Media Corporation
Copyright: © 2009 by Copperhill Media Corporation
Language: English
Country: United States of America
Edition: First Edition

The Irish War is officially a part of history, but not for Finnean Whelan, an IRA veteran of almost 40 years. British Intelligence has produced evidence that he is the mastermind behind a conspiracy to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland. Finn is protected in his exile in the United States after having worked for the CIA. Consequently, British Intelligence has come up with a plan to lure Finn back into their jurisdiction, Northern Ireland, by revealing the identity of the man who is ultimately responsible for the killing of Finn’s wife, Shauna. Here they hope not only to apprehend him, but also lead them to another conspirator, Martin Sheehan, who hides in the Northern provinces. For Whelan this is not only a mission of revenge, but marks the beginning of a journey into the past and the return to the one true love: Ireland.

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Author’s Comments

The Bleeding Hills, my first novel, is divided into three time lines; they keep the reader glued to the story by providing some surprising twists and turns. The first time line describes the life of Finnean Whelan and his first contact with the Irish Republican Army in the late 1960s. The second line is set in the presence and it portrays Whelan’s journey to Northern Ireland where he intends to accomplish his final plot. The third time line is dedicated to the activities of British Intelligence Services, namely the MI5, attempting to apprehend Whelan and his co-conspirator, Martin Sheehan. All time lines come together in the end and they make for some intriguing twists.

During the writing I have tried to weave real events of recent Irish history, namely the Irish Troubles, into the life story of Finnean Whelan. They are, just to name a few examples, the events of Bloody Sunday, and the murder of Captain Robert Nairac, an officer with the British Army. The historical facts have been thoroughly investigated, but I also took some liberties for interpretation; these interpretations are, nevertheless, based on meticulous research. One theory, for instance, is that Captain Robert Nairac was the victim of child abuse at Ampleforth College in England, which, consequently, caused Nairac’s violent behavior during the Irish Troubles.

Another interesting theory is based on the claim that British Intelligence Services, even to the present day, are instrumental in a plot to disrupt the peace process in Northern Ireland. Whether or not these claims are true is of no consequence; I hope that reading The Bleeding Hills is not only entertaining, but that it also effectively tickles the reader’s mind to learn more about recent Irish history.

Read the first chapter

Read a preview of The Bleeding Hills:

Chapter 1.1 – Click here.

Chapter 1.2 – Click here.

Chapter 1.3 – Click here.

References

For references on books I read and Online resources I used to develop the story within The Bleeding Hills click here.

Further information

For further information on the book visit my official blog at http://www.frogenyozurt.com/?page_id=35

During the research for my book “The Bleeding Hills” I stumbled upon the intriguing story of one charismatic character, British Captain Robert Nairac, an undercover agent active during the Irish troubles (For more references see the hyperlinks at the end of this article). While Irish republicans consider him a butcher, and the British Army calls him a war hero, they all share the view that “he was strange” – to use a mild expression.

First of all, after studying various articles on the life and death of Robert Nairac, I have come to the conclusion that Nairac was driven by a death wish, a point that may not be disputed by many of those who knew him. My next conclusion may be, however, far more controversial. After applying a simple method of studying behavioral patterns and comparing it to recent as well as historical cases, I have come to the personal conclusion that Captain Robert Nairac was either gay and/or the victim of sexual abuse during his childhood.

Before I go into further details let me make a statement to counter some potential accusations such as smearing the memory of a British soldier on one end or discrimination of gay rights at the other. I strongly support the view that homosexuality is not a mental disorder. In the same sense, a person’s sexual orientation is not a matter of choice; individuals have no more choice about being homosexual than heterosexual. I am heterosexual, but I accept homosexuality as a different form of life style.

My conclusion that Robert Nairac was gay is still a theory and I am far from trying to cast a blame of any sort; my mere intention was to find an understanding of Nairac’s irrational behavior. An irrational behavior is not necessarily a typical gay feature, but the development of a homosexual identity is a complex and often difficult process, especially in an environment that is either ignorant of or openly hostile towards homosexuality (as much can be assumed of the British armed forces during the 1970′s). I believe, Nairac, during the years before his death, had trouble dealing with the so-called second phase of “coming out”. The first phase, the internal coming out, is the realization that one is open to same-sex relationships. The second phase involves one’s decision to come out to others, e.g. family, friends, and/or colleagues, which would have been a daunting task for Nairac considering the times and society he lived in. He had to deal with social isolation, the feeling that he was different from peers, feeling guilty about his sexual orientation, worrying about the responses from family and loved ones, fearing discrimination, and the fear of being rejected and harassed by others.

Nairac has been described as being highly intelligent, cocky at times, being a loner, but nevertheless liked the limelight, not a Smiley figure content to stay in the shadows, was instilled in his psyche with a kind of romantic intensity, single-minded and charismatic. He went to Oxford to study medieval and military history and here he showed the first signs of standing out from the crowd. He kept a trained hawk in his bedroom and wore a Grenadier Guards uniform during exams (Michael Jackson comes to mind). After Oxford Nairac attended the Sandhurst military academy, and while most soldiers tried to avoid the province, Nairac volunteered to serve in Northern Ireland. A colleague described him as having “another element which made me think that I couldn’t quite trust the guy or begin to work him out.” There are many more, very similar comments about Nairac, indicating a great deal of ignorance on behalf of the sources, which is understandable considering that at today’s times we are much more familiar with lesbians, gays, and bi-sexuals than 1970′s Europe.

Nairac also showed a tendency towards the flamboyant. He was seen heading out on patrol, just on his own, parading through the streets of Belfast, wearing a cowboy hat, trainers, and a pump-action shotgun, which is, needless to say, against British military code. The recklessness of his actions must be seen under the aspect that he, in his capacity as an undercover agent, had been frequenting local IRA or loyalist bars. That was also the case the night before his lone parade and it took place in the same neighborhood (I am reminded of the movie Die Hard With A Vengeance where Bruce Willis wears a sign “I hate N…” in the middle of Harlem). Talking about a death wish. As reporter Eamann O’Neill of the Esquire put it, “To describe this as reckless would be generous. Perhaps Nairac simply thought he was different, that the normal rules didn’t apply to him … that he had ruled himself out as a target. Perhaps he was working to a secret agenda. Perhaps he was out of control.” I say, perhaps he, the Roman Catholic, felt guilty about his sexual orientation and was looking for punishment.

Nairac has often been compared to another British war hero who had displayed a similar strange and self-destructive behavior. This man was Thomas Edward Lawrence, most famously known as Lawrence of Arabia. Both men, Nairac and Lawrence, are considered war heroes, yet showed a pattern of irregular behavior, even a death wish. Some historians had suspected that Lawrence was gay, especially since he had once written that he did not find homosexuality morally wrong, but nevertheless distasteful. Like Nairac he was looking for punishment; he hired people to whip him. Many photographs show Lawrence wearing an Arab garb, which can also be seen as an affiliation with the flamboyant.

There are two other, very famous examples of gay people who went through the same process as Nairac, ironically at the same time and in the same country, however, with a less destructive tendency. Those two examples are Elton John (born 1947) and Freddy Mercury (born 1946) – Note: Nairac was born in 1948.  Let’s recap some of Nairac’s properties: Highly intelligent, cocky, liked the limelight, romantic intensity, charismatic. The same attributes apply to Elton John and Freddy Mercury, who both had the luxury of coming out in an environment where homosexuality was increasingly accepted as a different form of lifestyle. They both had their difficulties, though, going through the phases of coming out. Elton John, for instance, married a German woman in 1984, until, after the divorce four years later, he came out as gay. Freddy Mercury had a long-term relationship with a girlfriend before he started sexual relationships with other men. Both men went through phases of flamboyant public display. On a side note, Mercury always desribed himself as an introvert in private life. The extravert personality came only out during his performances.

Still, features like being highly intelligent, cocky, liking the limelight, owning a romantic intensity, and being charismatic does not provide enough evidence for homosexuality. However, add to this the typical features during the ”coming out” phase such as social isolation (Nairac has been described as a loner) and a tendency towards depression, even suicide. In his article titled “shadow man” Eamann O’Neill quotes a former high-ranking military source as saying, “It’s simple: Nairac didn’t just stick his head into the lion’s mouth – that wouldn’t have been enough for him. Instead, he had to go and stick it right up the lion’s arse.”

During his duty in Northern Ireland, especially between 1974 and 1977, the year he was killed, Nairac has been accused of planning and/or executing a considerable number of shootings and bombings targeted against Republicans and Loyalists alike. In 1974 Nairac partnered with an SAS man, Julian “Tony” Ball, and it is said that Nairac “was going out with Ball in the evenings, shooting Catholics one night and Protestants the next.” In military terms this irrational pattern could be explained as “working the enemy”, but these men were simply out of control and in the summer of 1975, on military orders, Nairac and Ball were split up. Ball died a few years later in a car accident, while Nairac’s self-destructive behavior seemed to have amplified after the forced break-up. Another movie comes to mind, Brokeback Mountain, where Jake Gyllenhall’s character, Jack Twist, is killed, because in the end he took too many chances. Like Jack Twist in the movie, Robert Nairac took too many chances in real life and that got him killed eventually.

There is still a great deal of speculation regarding the exact circumstances of Nairac’s abduction and killing and I would like to add another aspect to the abduction part. Let’s first look at some details that are widely agreed on: 1. Nairac displayed a behavior, including his cockiness, that rubbed some people the wrong way, 2. The men Nairac ran into were not IRA men, and 3. The men who beat and abducted him did not know who he was. Nairac’s killing was a far cry from a military-style execution and IRA seniors were furious about the circumstances of Nairac’s killing. There are speculation that the IRA themselves had turned over the suspects to the Garda and RUC. My conclusion is that Nairac’s abduction, at least initially, had nothing to do with the view that a spy was caught in the act. Nairac, intentionally or not, did provoke a brawl in the Three Steps Inn, which resulted in a severe beating in the parking area, his abduction and consequently his killing. The cause of the initial brawl is unknown to this day, but it may be that Nairac had simply provoked people with his cocky behavior. After all, it was almost closing time at the pub and nearly everybody, including Nairac, was drunk. In the worst case scenario it may even be that Nairac, drunk as he was, went too far and actually hit on one of the men. The last scenario would explain the intensity of the beating.

While I have made the case that Captain Robert Nairac was gay – because his behavior definitely points in that direction – I could not explain his violent side, which was the only atypical feature on Nairac. The only other explanation would be sexual abuse during his childhood and, until now, I had no evidence supporting this theory. Sexual abuse could mean that Nairac was unable to have sexual relationships with women or even maintain a long-lasting homosexual relationship. Sexual abuse would also explain his relationship with Julian “Tony” Ball, which was not necessarily a sexual relationship, but a partnership to commit violent acts for the sake of violence. Ball has been described as “a nasty bit of work — a psychotic … He bit his fingernails down to the white half-moons and was living on his nerves continually, possibly taking drugs.”

On May 21, 2009 I read an article in the Washington Post titled Pupils Abused For Decades in Irish Schools and there is no connection to the Nairac case. It did, however, trigger a thought and I started looking for similar abuse cases in Great Britain. Imagine my surprise that the most recently discovered case of sexual abuse took place at the Ampleforth College. Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest private Catholic mixed boarding school in the United Kingdom. According to The Guardian (November 18, 2005), “For three decades between 1966 and 1995, a number of boys at the school endured sexual abuse at the hands of some of the monks who taught there, assaults that ranged from relatively minor incidents to, allegedly, rape.”

Robert Nairac attended Ampleforth College starting in 1959, which is outside the time range of the reported alleged incidents. However, I found another reference written by a former pupil who attended Ampleforth College between 1958 and 1963. I quote: “There were a lot of stories about sexual incidents among the boys and monks. Most of them were not true. Boys like to make up stories. Yet some of them were true. It was the practice that if a monk became too friendly with the boys he would be sent away to be a parish priest in Yorkshire, where he probably continued to seek out young boys.” The same source also writes “the housemaster rejoiced in summoning the boys to his study in rotation either to be beaten or to be given embarrassing and uninformed talks on sex, of which they had no experience and hence only theoretical knowledge. These summonings could often arise after the boy was asleep so that he had to be woken up. In this state the victim is more vulnerable.”

If my theory of sexual abuse is correct, it would be haunting to think about the many senseless killings that have been caused by these despicable actions. The blame is not only on those who committed the crime of sexual abuse, but especially on those who knew about it and looked away. Regardless of his sexual orientation and how history judges him, Captain Robert Nairac will remain one of the most charismatic characters of the Irish troubles and the account of his life and death will remain one of the most intruiging stories.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com 

About the life and death of Captain Robert Nairac:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/nairac-an-undercover-hero-or-a-maverick-fool-13903699.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1020695/Heroic-undercover-soldier-Robert-Nairac-savagely-executed-IRA-Will-yesterday-arrest-solve-mystery-missing-body.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3972512.ece
http://www.irishecho.com/search/searchstory.cfm?id=3862&issueid=90
http://samilitaryhistory.org/lectures/nairac.html

Child sex abuse at Ampleforth College:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3344090/Leading-Catholic-school-is-focus-of-abuse-inquiry.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article720925.ece
http://onwardoverland.com/articles/ampleforthabuse.html

Last week, just out of curiosity, I signed up at a writers’ Online forum and like everybody who is new to the forum I posted an entry in the “Welcome” section. I briefly explained my current writing project, The Bleeding Hills, and received numerous responses wishing me well. All responses included links to the respondents’ individual web sites, since they all are working to extend their “awareness platform” (I still fail to understand where writing about writing improves your chances for a book deal). One entry, while written in the best of intentions, rubbed me the wrong way. The person, who apparently won several first prizes in short story contests, wrote “Writing a novel is hard work.” I couldn’t help to – respectfully – object to this view, but was promptly corrected by another forum member. The same happened when I posted another entry in the “Tips & Advice” section, which seems to be the domain of two elderly accomplished authors – Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong about age; what I can’t stand are old ideas and those two “mentors” were full of them. Well, I received my bashing for intruding on their turf and decided I didn’t belong here. I just feel sorry for the thousands of lost souls who dream of having their novel published, but will never make it, because they get advice from people who went through the same process too many years ago. A great deal has changed in the publishing world, but today’s added resources for being published are not welcome on this particular forum.

Anyways, let me come back to “Writing a novel is hard work.” First of all, the socialist portion of my soul tells me there is much to say about hard work, and writing a novel doesn’t come to mind. I think of the many people in this world who work hard for a living, not out of choice, but the mere instinct for survival. Writing a novel is nothing else but a privilege. Writing a novel can be time consuming, but that should not be taken as hard work. James M. Barrie’s quote really gets it down the point. If you consider writing a novel as hard work, maybe you shouldn’t be writing. It is never hard work when you love what you’re doing.

I am still working on chapter 4 of my novel, The Bleeding Hills, and this chapter has been particularly difficult, since it involves the events of Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972. Even though this is the most difficult chapter of all, I never considered writing it as hard work. The emotions during writing can be intense and I believe, I received some concerned looks the last time I sat at my table at Panera Bread – The consumption of three large cappuccinos somehow did not help to calm me down. Every time I stop writing and drive home – merely because a wife and kid are waiting for me – I feel … elevated (Sorry, there is no better word for that feeling). Writing a novel transports you into another dimension, another time, another place, while the world around you doesn’t matter anymore. That is why writing is exciting and far away from hard work.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

Mr Tony Blair MP, The Prime Minister
Statement to the House of Commons
29 January 1998

The story line behind my novel “The Bleeding Hills” would not be complete without a look into the two inquiries of Bloody Sunday, the Widgery Report of 1972 and the official Bloody Sunday Inquiry initiated in 1998.

The Widgery Tribual was held in the immediate aftermath of the events of Bloody Sunday; it was set up to look into the events. This was conducted by Lord Chief Justice Widgery. The Widgery Report which was produced 11 weeks after the day concluded the following:

The report was widely criticized as a whitewash. Click here to read the full Widgery Report.

In his 29 January 1998 statement, the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, also said the following:
“The time scale within which Lord Widgery produced his report meant that he was not able to consider all the evidence that might have been available. For example, he did not receive any evidence from the wounded who were still in hospital, and he did not consider individually substantial numbers of eye-witness accounts provided to his inquiry in the early part of March 1972. Since the report was published, much new material has come to light about the events of that day. That material includes new eye-witness accounts, new interpretation of ballistic material and new medical evidence.
:
I have been strongly advised, and I believe, that there are indeed grounds for such a further inquiry. We believe that the weight of material now available is such that the events require re-examination. We believe that the only course that will lead to public confidence in the results of any further investigation is to set up a full-scale judicial inquiry into Bloody Sunday.“

Click here to read the full statement.

Even though the judges retired on November 23, 2004, there has been no measurable result to this day. Statements regarding a possible publication of the Inquiry’s Report have been modified from year to year. The current statement on the Wikipedia web site is that the publication “was expected at the end of 2007, or possibly early 2008.” – Note: This blog entry was written in 2009.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

I have often criticized the lack of good literature explaining the events of Bloody Sunday untainted and comprehensible. I have been faced with the same dilemma, now that I am in the middle of writing chapter four of my novel “The Bleeding Hills“, where Bloody Sunday takes center stage.

For the record, I am not looking down on those who were present at Bloody Sunday and wrote a book about it. An atrocity like this should be a part of a well recorded history, but I also believe that, in order to spark the interest of future generations, you need to start with the basics and these basics should, first of all, not be politically tainted; consequently they will lose credibility. In regards to comprehensiveness of recorded history, it does not help to confuse the newcomer to Irish history by frequently referring to Unionists, Republicans, Loyalists, MRF, SAS, MI5, MI6, Real IRA, Continuity IRA, RUC, Provisional IRA, INLA, NICRA, Saville, Widgery, MP, PM, etc., etc., without providing a comprehensible reference. The majority of books and web sites I found on the subject were written by experts for experts, having only their own indulgence in mind. What a waste of resources and what a waste to make it so difficult for our children to understand history!

As I wrote, I have been faced with the same dilemma of describing the background of Bloody Sunday in a way that it would seamlessly fit into my story line without boring or overwhelming the reader. In my novel, the main character, Finn Whelan, is an eye-witness of the events and I needed to explain the history that led to Bloody Sunday.

Here is my draft version:
The British occupation of the Irish island began as early as the late twelfth century and the history of English rule is filled with attempts to annihilate the Irish identity, which bear striking characteristics of Hitler’s henchmen trying to eliminate the Jewish population in Germany, however, not quite as methodical.

History is also filled with constant acts of Irish resistance and no ruling king or parliament was ever able to solve the problem. It is said that the nineteenth century Prime Minister William Eward Gladstone tried to deal with the Irish question, but never found the answer, as the Irish continued to change the question.

December 1921 saw the signing of the ‘Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland’, which established a free Irish state with jurisdiction over twenty-six of the thirty-two counties. It also created the separate province of Northern Ireland which remained under British control. It consists of the six northeastern counties of the predominantly Protestant Ulster region.

The deal, as negotiated by the founder of the IRA, Michael Collins, did not find the approval of the entire Irish population and, even though the Republic of Ireland was officially established, the fight for an Irish reunification began. The importance of the IRA, though, endured a slow, but continuous decline until the late 1960s, which saw increased confrontations between the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland and British officials, especially the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the official police force in Northern Ireland.

The Civil Rights movement’s demand was, just to name one single issue, for equal voting rights. The current system allowed only house owners to vote in local elections and they were predominantly Protestants supporting British rule in Northern Ireland. The Protestant majority defended their superiority by engaging their own militias against Catholics, supported by the predominantly Protestant RUC. By the summer of 1969 these disputes reached the dimensions of an outright Civil War and in August of 1969 the British government deployed troops to Northern Ireland, with the intention to restore public order. The mission was called “Operation Banner” and was envisioned to last only a few months. As a matter of fact, Operation Banner lasted thirty-eight years; it ended at midnight on July 31, 2007 and it represents the longest deployment in the history of the British Army. More than 3500 people died and 763 soldiers were killed.

Initially, the Catholic population welcomed the presence of the army in the hope they would act as a neutral force and protect them against the RUC and loyalists. But their hopes were shattered in July 1970 during a British operation called “Falls Curfew”, which resulted in three days of rioting and battles between the British Army and Irish Republican paramilitaries. Five people were killed and three hundred were arrested. The British Army became a player in the conflict, not a referee.

This is the in-a-nutshell-history that led to the events of Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972. There should be many more references included, but, as I wrote, I needed to be short and efficient in my novel.

According to the CAIN Web Service (see http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/bsunday/sum.htm):
‘Bloody Sunday’ refers to the events that took place in Derry on the afternoon of Sunday 30 January 1972. A Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march had been organised to protest against the continuation of Internment without trial in Northern Ireland. Between ten and twenty thousand men, women and children took part in the march in a ‘carnival atmosphere’. The march was prevented from entering the city centre by members of the British Army. The main body of the march then moved to ‘Free Derry Corner’ to attend a rally but some young men began throwing stones at soldiers in William Street. Soldiers of the Parachute Regiment, an elite regiment of the British Army, moved into the Bogside in an arrest operation. During the next 30 minutes these soldiers shot dead 13 men (and shot and injured a further 13 people) mainly by single shots to the head and trunk.
The soldiers responsible for the deaths and injuries insisted that they had come under sustained gun and bomb attack by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and only fired at people in possession of weapons. Those involved in the march, and those who witnessed the events, provided evidence that ran contrary to the evidence given by the soldiers. According to these civilian testimonies none of those killed or injured had any guns or bombs.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

Yes, the storyline of my book “The Bleeding Hills” is being repeated by reality. Well, just a little bit…

At the beginning of March 2009 I had just finished the third chapter of my novel and let me quote an unedited excerpt:
“The leader of the conspiray is a former member of the Provisional IRA, who, until recently, had never been identified. In recent years the subject initiated contacts with another Irish terrorist organization, the so-called Real IRA.”

On March 11, the Online version of the German Newspaper “Spiegel” (the German equivalent of Time magazine) published an interview with the former IRA commander Tommy McKearney. Asked about the recent violence in Northern Ireland he said (The article is in German and I am trying to translate to the best of my abilities): “I believe, that lately a handful of people with a deadly competence joined the IRA splinter groups. In this case we are not talking about newcomers, but about experienced fighters, who had remained inactive for many years.”

In my novel I write about Finn Whelan, a former fighter for the Provisional-IRA, who was inactive for the past twenty years and who, according to MI5 reports, recently has provided the Real IRA with monetary and logistics support.

It seems that the idea behind my storyline is compliant with the reality in Northern Ireland.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

Yet again the idea behind my book “The Bleeding Hills” has been strikingly confirmed by the the latest attack on British soldiers on March 7th (See my blog entry March 7, 2009 – Terror Returns to Northern Ireland). In my blog entry – and my book – I refer specifically to the operations of the so-called Real IRA and, ironically, the RIRA has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Today’s Online version of The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk) reports that “in a statement, the Real IRA made no apology for shooting the delivery men (Two civilians, who delivered pizza to the barracks, were wounded), accusing them of “collaborating” with the British army by delivering food to the base.”

However, one comment in the first report of the attacks caught my attention, since my book also addresses British undercover operations in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland’s chief constable, Sir Hugh Orde, had confirmed that undercover British army troops were on paramilitary surveillance duties in Northern Ireland. In my mind I had started another blog entry, complaining that British officials are inexplicably unable to learn from past mistakes, but I have been pre-empted (if I may say so) by somebody more competent to talk about such affairs.

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams commented on Sir Orde’s statement during an interview by BBC Radio 4, saying “The chief constable made a huge mistake bringing in undercover British army units. You don’t understand the history if you don’t appreciate that the involvement of these units in the past – totally unaccountable – has led to the same type of suffering as that that has unfortunately been endured at this time by the families of the two British soldiers who were killed.”

The history of British undercover operations, as Gerry Adams had remarked, did in many instances result in the killing of British soldiers and even, in some bizarre cases, the killing of civilians by British forces in order to discredit the IRA.

For instance, the MRF, the Mobile Reconnaissance Force, was responsible for undercover military surveillance in Northern Ireland until about 1972 when its operation was compromised. The MRF ran the Four Square laundry in Belfast, which accommodated a simple, but highly sophisticated undercover operation. It acted as a regular laundry and it used large green vans for delivery and pickups. The delivery staff would chat with locals, while two SAS soldiers, hidden inside the van, would photograph the houses, their occupants and vehicles of known Republicans. The laundry they collected was scientifically probed for traces of blood, gunpowder, and explosives. It took IRA intelligence months to uncover the operation. They detected two IRA double agents that the MRF had turned. They were interrogated and eventually spilled everything they knew about the undercover operation. On October 2^nd, 1972 at 11:15 am volunteers of a special intelligence unit of the IRA ambushed one of the green Morris vans as it drove through Juniper Park. Two soldiers inside the van were killed, as was the driver, Sapper Stuart, who was on loan from his parent regiment to the SAS.

There are also recurring allegations that British Intelligence, especially the 14 Intelligence Company, cooperated with the UVF, the Ulster Volunteer Force, an illegal paramilitary organization, to organize attacks and bombings in order to blame and discredit the IRA. The 14 Intelligence Company, also known as The Det, was established in 1973 as a response to the uncovering of the MRF. The 14 Company conducted undercover surveillance operations against suspected members of Irish Republican groups and, again, there are widespread allegations that they assisted in bombings and the shooting of innocent civilians.

One of the worst incidents is the killing of the Miami Showband on 31 July 1975. The Miami Showband, one of Ireland’s most popular cabaret bands of the 1970s, comprising both Catholic and Protestant members, were travelling home to Dublin after a gig in Northern Ireland. They were stopped at a roadblock after being flagged down by men in British Army uniforms, which was a common occurrence during the troubles. One of the soldiers, who was also a UVF member, attempted to plant and hide a bomb in the minibus. The plan was that the bomb would explode some time on the way to Dublin. The assumption would have been that the members of the band were supporters of the Republican movement and had been carrying a bomb in their van, apparently with the plan to commit an act of violence. However, the bomb exploded prematurely and killed two soldiers immediately. After the explosion, the remaining UVF members opened fire on the band members and three of the musicians were killed. There are persisting rumors that Captain Robert Nairac, a British army officer and member of the 14 Intelligence Company, had organized the attack in cooperation with the UVF. It is also said, that Nairac was present at the killings.

These are only two examples of British undercover operations that resulted in the unnecessary loss of lives and it is, yet again, incomprehensible that British officials are not capable to learn from experience. Then again, they share this flaw with all dissident organizations opposed to the peace settlement, such as the Real IRA, Continuity IRA, and Oglaigh na hEireann.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

Isn’t it ironic – The storyline of my novel-in-the-making “The Bleeding Hills” invokes the possibility of a plot to assassinate the First Minister of Northern Ireland, an idea that could have been viewed as somewhat preposterous. As a matter of fact, since the Good Friday agreement of 1998, there has been a period of relative calm, not as violent as the previous 30 years.

Yesterday, March 7, 2009, two British soldiers were killed and four others, among them two pizza delivery men, were wounded in what is the first major terrorist attack in the province for over a decade. The shootings occurred at the Massereene army base in Antrim, 16 miles north of Belfast, at 9.40pm. One of the injured is critical, two are serious and one is serious but stable, police said today, as a major manhunt for the gunmen continued. The two soldiers who were killed were both aged in their early twenties and were due to fly to Afghanistan on active service in the coming days.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack but security sources said the incident was undoubtedly the work of dissident organizations opposed to the peace settlement. There are three dominant factions – the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA and Oglaigh na hEireann (Volunteers of Ireland). The latter group is now seen as the most dangerous in Northern Ireland, comprised of experienced former Provisional IRA activists although its strongholds are far from the scene of Saturday night’s double murder. The Real IRA has a presence in Belfast, just 16 miles from Antrim where the fatal shootings took place.

In my novel I refer to the so-called Real IRA as the force behind the assassination plot. The Real Irish Republican Army was founded in October 1997 by former members of the Provisional IRA, who were dissatisfied with the direction of the Irish peace process, especially the position of Sinn Fein, the – allegedly – political arm of the IRA.

In fact, the RIRA openly seeks to disrupt the peace process in Northern Ireland. They rejected the Mitchell Principles, six ground rules that were accepted by the Irish and British governments and political parties in Northern Ireland. They also dismissed the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, comparing it to the 1921 Government of Ireland Act, which resulted in the partition of Ireland.

The RIRA’s ultimate objective is a united Ireland and in their view the only viable means to reach this goal is violence against British occupation of Northern Ireland, which included the deadliest strike of the troubles, the Omagh bombing on August 15^th, 1998. Twenty-nine people were killed in the blast and 220 others injured. In my view, the RIRA lacks the sophistication to ever reach their own objective; the killing of innocent people is not suited to gain support from the Irish people.

As much as I sympathize with the thought of a reunited Ireland (After all, I come from a country that has seen reunification), I personally do not approve of such cowardly actions as they took place yesterday. The reunification in Germany was an accomplishment by the people for the people and I believe, Sinn Fein is working to find a similar solution. In the same sense let me quote former German chancellor Willy Brandt (This is a quote I remember, but couldn’t find in any recorded reference and I’m trying to translate it to the best of my abilities), who said: “What belongs together will be together in the end.” Brandt had more faith in this statement than the majority of the German population and in the end he was right.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

Barr Na Sraide - Top Street

One song in particular, The Boys of Barr Na Sraide, caught my attention. The song, according to Irish singer Tim Dennehy’s web site, “captures beautifully the essence of Cahersiveen nestled as it is between the mountain and sea”. Cahersiveen is an Irish town located at the Ring of Kerry. The song is based on a poem by Sigerson Clifford, who was born in Cahersiveen, and it tells the story of the boys of Barr Na Sraide – Top Street – who hunted for the wren. The poem recalls the life of his boyhood friends starting from when they were young children through to the Black and Tan period, and up to the civil war. The poem speaks of the Irish tradition of “hunting for the wran”, (wren), a small bird, on St. Stephen’s Day, December 26. Later set to music, the song has been recorded by numerous traditional and folk singers.

The title of Colm O’Donnell’s CD Farewell to Evening Dances is taken from the song The Hill of Knacknashee, another sentimental and lyrical ballad on the CD. I shamelessly copied the idea and took a line out of The Boys of Barr Na Sraide, the line that goes “And when the hills were bleeding and rifles were aflame…”, to use it as the title for my book “The Bleeding Hills“.

Through my research I found several versions of Sigorson Clifford’s lyrics, but regardless of the version they are nothing short of beautiful.

The Boys of Barr Na Sraide
O the town it climbs the mountain and looks upon the sea
And sleeping time or waking time ’tis there I long to be
To walk again that kindly street, the place I grew a man
With the boys of Barr na Sráide who hunted for the wran.

With cudgels stout we roamed about to hunt for the dreoilín.
We searched for birds in every furze from Letter to Dooneen.
We sang for joy beneath the sky; life held no print or plan
And we boys in Barr na Sráide went hunting for the wran.

And when the hills were bleeding and the rifles were aflame
To the rebel homes of Kerry those Saxon strangers came
But the men who dared the Auxies and who fought the Black and Tans
Were the boys in Barr na Sráide who hunted for the wran.

So here’s a toast to them tonight, those lads who laughed with me
By the groves of Carhan River or the slopes of Beenatee
John Dawley and Batt Andy and the Sheehans Con and Dan
And the boys of Barr na Sráide who hunted for the wran.

But now they toil on foreign soil where they have gone their way
Deep in the heart of London town or over in Broadway
And I am left to sing their deeds and to praise them while I can
Those boys of Barr na Sráide who hunted for the wran

And when the wheel of life runs down and when peace comes over me
O lay me down in that old town between the hills and sea
I’ll take my sleep in those green fields the place my life began
Where the boys of Barr na Sráide went hunting for the wran.

Ar Sheilg an Dreoilín
An Irish translation of ‘The Boys of Barr na Sráide’ by Garry McMahon

Ó táimse i bhfad ó Éirinn is óm’ bhaile i gCiarraí
Ach is ró-bhuan é mo chuimhne ar an áit de ló is d’oích’,
An botháinín ‘nar saolaíodh mé i gCathair chaoin Saidhbhín
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.

An t-aiteann bhuí, gach tor is claí, chuardaíomar iad go cruinn
Faoi scamaill dhubha gan brón ná cumha ar lorg an éinín.
Bhí gliondar inár gcroíthe do scairteamar gan sriain
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.

Cé throid in aghaidh na Sasanaigh is ghnóthaigh clú is cáil
In aimsir na nDubhchrónach nuair a ghlaodh ar Fhianna Fáil?
B’iad na buachaillí a sheas an fód is chuir ruaig ar Sheán Buí
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.
Is ólaimís a sláinte, na laochra a bhí lem’ thaobh,
A raibh spórt is greann ar bhruach na habhann ins na coillte i measc na gcraobh,
Batt Aindí is An Dálach, sinn ar chliathán Bhinn a’ Tí
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.

Is táid anois thar sáile i bhfad, i bhfad i gcéin,
I Londain nó i Meiriceá agus mé anseo liom fhéin
Ach canfhadsa a moltaí go ceolmhar is go binn
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.

Nuair a ghlaofaidh Dia na nGlór orm chun mo chodladh deireadh buan,
Ar imeall gheal na farraige sea gheobhaidh mé mo shuan,
Is luífimíd go sítheach ann ‘sna gorta glasa mín’,
Buachaillí ó Bharr na Sráide ar sheilg an Dreoilín.

Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com

If you are in the business of self-publishing your book and you have done some research, you most certainly have found Outskirts Press one way or the other. I was curious enough to sign up for their newsletter and to receive their publishing guide, but I should have known better. Just a fair warning: Getting in touch with Outskirts Press is the equivalent of inviting a leech “Please come, suck my blood and don’t you ever leave.”  There is a fine line between aggressive marketing and harassing current or potential customers. The “Author Services” people at Outskirts Press (Apparently Karl, Elizabeth, and Chris) definitely keep in touch with their potential customers, but, in my very personal opinion, they also violate some marketing ethics, if not even the law.

By now I have tried several times to unsubscribe from their newsletter and replied to their other e-mails, trying to explain that their services are not what I need, but to no avail. Today I received an e-mail from Karl, Elizabeth, and Chris asking to answer their survey and that was the point where I got mad. I responded to their e-mail, not very nicely, and asked yet again to be removed from their mailing list. I will also put them on my “Black List” setting on my mail server.

The Outskirts Press ”newsletter” is usually filled with testimonies by authors they represent, who apparently had a positive – nothing short of orgasmic – experience with Outskirts Press. Then there are moving comments by the sender of the newsletter of how proud they are of the success of their customers and doesn’t that convince you to spend your money with them, because we are sure you are the next John Grisham. Well, give me a freaking break! I personally maintain my mailing list, but I also know that monthly newsletters should contain information valuable to my customers in order to keep their interest. I strongly believe that my customers are fairly intelligent and I don’t insult them as Outskirts Press does with their clientele. I also make very sure that my newsletters always contain an unsubscribe feature, because I believe in good marketing ethics (and the unsubscribe feature may even be required by law).

The Outskirts Press “survey” is designed to lure you back to their web site, because if you haven’t thought about the question, please visit our web site by clicking on this hyperlink. The questions are designed very cleverly, but I doubt the survey was meant to produce any results for Outskirts Press.

Well, all this explains my personal view on what I call Outskirts Press lack of business ethics, but it does not stop here. Let me address their offerings: Outskirts Press offers a number of publishing packages for a price between $199 and $1099. The $199 package is nothing short of ridiculous, thus totally worthless, because it doesn’t get you anywhere (No ISBN). You can do the same thing at Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com) for free and no contract is required; you just pay (very little, I may add) to buy your own copies. Many features that are part of the more expensive packages (e.g. Author web site including a blog) are free-of-charge on Lulu.com. Beyond that Lulu.com does offer similar services for lower fees. In addition, Lulu’s selection of book sizes and available cover templates (again, no extra charge) is much greater than those of the expensive Outskirts Press publishing packages.

Another, more professional service is provided by BookSurge, a company associated with Amazon.com (See http://www.booksurge.com). The costs are, as far as I can tell, similar to those of Outskirts Press, but you can count on a far more professional service and you can count on a guaranteed listing on Amazon.com. The importance of an Amazon listing should not be underestimated. It is almost impossible not to sell a book when it is listed on Amazon. Naturally, Outskirts Press, just like any other publishing service, promises an Amazon listing, but that is not necessarily a sure thing. Amazon’s business model is not in favor of print-on-demand publishers.

Outskirts Press also offers a “Author sets retail price” feature (which is nothing extraordinary in the business), but let’s have a look at the economics. In order to be competitive, meaning creating a reasonable sales volume, you need to deal with low author royalties, which can be as low as $1…$2 per sold book. For instance, when you write a novel you need to compete with the John Grishams, Stephen Kings, Dan Browns, and others, whose paperbook versions go for a lower price than the printing costs charged by Outskirts Press. If you sign up for the Outskirts Press $1099 package, you need to sell a minimum of roughly 1000 books before you make your first Dollar. The truth is, the money-spending doesn’t stop here, because each author is still responsible for his/her marketing and Outskirts Press will be happy to take your money to support you. Another truth is, that the average author does not sell more than 500 copies and that is the business model of companies like Outskirts Press. They live from the many less-than-500-copies-authors and not from the very few successful writers.

The situation becomes even more discouraging when you try to self-publish fully-colored children’s literature. For instance, the printing costs for a 32-page paperback book with color pages and color cover will be in the range of roughly $7 to $10, even with volumes between 100 and 250. If you have kids, you don’t need to spend more than a few Dollars for books that have the most amazing features like fold-out sections, touch and feel objects, etc. If you think you have the talent for children’s literature, get in touch with an established publishing house.

I don’t mean to discourage anybody from self-publishing; I still recommend it and I do it myself, but I do it through my own business and not as a freelance author. My business is now officially a “micro-publisher” and I can use other professional services such as Lightning Source (http://www.lightningsource.com). The best chances to publish a book is when you are either an extremely talented novel writer – in which case you really don’t need to self-publish – or you concentrate on niche topics (Have a look at Outskirts Press most sold authors and their books). I made my experiences with publishing technical literature (See my web site at http://www.copperhillmedia.com) on subjects like “Controller Area Network” (sold roughly 2000 copies so far with higher-than-usual royalties) and “Servo Motor Sizing”.

As you can see in my other blog entries, I am currently engaging into the adventure of writing my first novel, not necessarily to become the next John Grisham, but because I can. The last thing I would do, would be signing a contract with Outskirts Press. I had some harsher words for their service in mind, but I tried to be as diplomatic as I could justify to myself. Well, now it’s time to make that setting on my e-mail server…

- Wilfried Voss
http://www.frogenyozurt.com