They’re not going anywhere you know?

Brian Arthur’s recent Sunday Tribune interview with Suzanne Breen (October 24) has raised some eyebrows among those who aren’t in tune with on-goings in East Tyrone.

Breen claims the split among Republicans in East Tyrone was “previously unreported”, which isn’t strictly true. The following account appeared on Indymedia a year and a half ago, which I blogged about during the build up to this year’s Easter commemorations. The Provisional’s apparent loss of much of its East Tyrone grass-roots support won’t be news either to the 1,000-3,000 (depending on who you listen to) who turned up in Galbally for the Martin McCaughey/Dessie Grew commemoration last month, where Brian Arthur’s and Peter McCaughey made similar comments to those repeated to Breen in the Tribune. (McCaughey and Grew were shot dead by undercover British soldiers in 1990.)