IRB using Galway seaweed dispute to drive recruitment in Conamara
The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) is planning to use discontent in Conamara over seaweed harvesting rights as a recruitment tool for the political conspiracy group.
Minutes of a recent meeting of the IRB show that the organisation plans to establish kangaroo courts in Conamara, as well as “community councils” and a “community bank”.
As revealed previously by the Connacht Tribune, the sovereign citizen group styling itself the IRB has gained a foothold in Oughterard.
The group is led by Clare man John D Flanagan, Chairman of the national IRB organisation, which claims direct lineage to the IRB of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It is advancing plans to establish a parallel judicial system to rival Ireland's existing legitimate court system.
The IRB is also establishing community councils and co-ops to rival legitimate local government structures – such as Conamara Municipal District and Galway County Council – within the Irish State.
A dozen people attended a meeting of the so-called “Connemara North and South Community Co-Op” which was held in Liscannor, County Clare last week. Among them were men from Moycullen and Oughterard.
One item on the agenda was seaweed harvesting rights and licences, which is an issue that has caused concern in Ros Muc, Carna and elsewhere in the Conamara Gaeltacht in recent months.
According to the IRB meeting minutes, “this seaweed dispute will be used as the primary hook to rally the community and gather the required signatures to advance matters”.
The 'required signatures' refers to IRB rules stating that a community council needs a “critical mass of 100 members” and one of its kangaroo courts needs 300 signatures to be established.
The Connacht Tribune has been contacted by people in the Conamara Gaeltacht who have been asked to join the IRB in the past week.
The minutes also confirm the IRB’s direct challenge to this State's legitimate local government organs.
“The IRB founded the sovereign state and maintained its claim for over a century, but has formally deferred al local governance authority directly to the local community councils via Executive Order,” it said.
The minutes show that it was “stressed that this distinction must be clearly explained to the public during outreach to prevent any confusion between IRB and the IRA”. “B is not A,” it added.
The “action items” from the Clare meeting included a directive that local organisers in Conamara “must gather 100 names, phone numbers and dates of birth from community members to officially reach critical mass” for the establishment of a community council and court.
They also plan to “organise a public meeting under the banner of the newly formed Connemara North and South Community Councils to specifically address the seaweed licensing issue”.
The IRB refers to the country’s legitimate legal system as “Corporate Court System” and its own planned judicial system as “The Éire Courts”.
“The Éire Courts are not in competition with the Corporate Court System. The Éire Courts will fill a void that the Corporate Court System can’t fill,” Mr Flanagan has said.
An Garda Síochána and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, a Fianna Fáil TD, previously confirmed to this newspaper that the “community courts” being established by the IRB are not lawful.
The Minister said the “courts established under the Constitution and law are the only ones recognised in the State” and any summons issued in by the IRB courts “are invalid and without lawful authority”.
Galway County Councillor Noel Thomas, an Independent Ireland candidate in the Galway West Bye-Election, has previously defended his attendance at an IRB meeting in Oughterard last year.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent a fortnight ago, Councillor Thomas said claims he was a member of the IRB were “absolutely rubbish”.