Secret Societies in Ireland

national | crime and justice | opinion/analysis Friday June 23, 2006 19:16 by Brian

I just hope to show that Secret Societies or groups sometimes exercise great power in Western countries and that Ireland has not escaped this phenomenon.

I think the best insight into the power that a secret grouping could amass in Ireland is given in the book called the The Committee which details the great power wielded by some mysterious secret Loyalist coalition which was active at least c1990. A Derry television producer, Sean McPhilemy, aided by Martin O'Hagan and a researcher Ben Hamilton found out that the Loyalist paramilitary campaign was not some anarchic disparate collection of groups and events but was actually formally, and very secretly, coordinated by a group that included representatives from all the various members of the Unionist community. Known as 'The Committee' it had representatives from a large secret group in the RUC called the Inner Force which was in turn controlled by a smaller RUC group called the Inner Circle and both these groups were on hand to assist the Loyalist paramilitaries who were working for the Committee:
"The Inner Force themselves say there's a third actually [of the RUC] who are members of the Inner Force. There's a third, but there's also the two thirds who are not members but would be sympathetic to the aims of the Inner Force.....[And] the Inner Circle controls the Inner Force. They have manoeuvred through various ways, they have manoeuvred men with sympathies towards the Inner Circle in to prominent positions ...at local police station level, and therefore at division level."
....
"He [Jim Sands, Philemy's source which he found via Martin O'Hagan] had witnessed the formation of a unique coalition of Loyalist forces, covering virtually every significant sector of Loyalist Ulster - The Ulster Workers' Council "which had been revamped and reorganised...and is organised in factories such as Shorts, Harland and Wolff shipyard, the power stations;" the various Loyalist paramilitary groups; middle class professionals and business people; and, most importantly, the RUC and UDR. A coalition encapsulated in Abernathy's [a leading Ulster banker and chairman of the Committee] question: "Makes you wonder who runs this place, doesn't it?"

So the Committee's fifty to sixty conspirators who met regularly to plan murder knew, as they did so, that those present represented all significant groups within the Ulster Loyalist family; no grouping of any importance had been excluded and, as a result, none of those present felt they had anything to fear from outsiders. That is why the Committee had been able to mobilise and operate the Loyalist death squads in the province throughout 1989, 1990 and 1991.
...
And there is a further reason [the main reason being the protection offered by the senior police members of the Committee] why the fifty to sixty Committee members felt themselves to be invulnerable. They had taken the trouble to ensure that the political elite within the Loyalist family, the leading Unionist politicians, would be on hand to do their "duty," if a crisis were ever to erupt as a result of the scandal becoming publicly known. One prominent Ulster Unionist MP, as we shall see, was to prove particularly helpful to the conspirators...."( Sean McPhilemy "The Committee" (Boulder, Colorado, 1999) p.342-3)
The book is not shy about naming that person as David Trimble and goes into great detail to show links between him and members of the Committee. McPhilemy won a massive libel trial in London related to these allegations despite heavy weights like Trimble himself appearing as a witness against him.(1)

The Freemasons are I guess the most famous secret society worldwide and are often stated, for example, to have great power in the English judicial/police system as pointed out in the Seanad in 4/3/2004:
" The masons are also a secret society, no matter what they say. There is a large number of masons in Ireland — there are approximately 50,000 in the North and 20,000 in the South. If anyone reads a book called The Brotherhood they will see the effect the masons have on the police and Judiciary in England, where nearly all police officers and most judges are masons."(2)
This reference which was pointed out in the Seanad in 12/10/1993 clearly indicates that the Freemasons were very powerful in Ireland in 1920:
"Much has also been made of the suggestion that the Catholic Church plays too big a role in Irish current affairs and there are many people who would agree with that. However, we must also take into account section 65 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, which states:

'It is hereby declared that existing enactments relative to unlawful oaths or unlawful assemblies in Ireland do not apply to the meetings or proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Ireland, or of any lodge or society recognised by that Grand Lodge.'

That means that the Grand Lodge of the Order of Freemasons can have unlawful meetings and if the Grand Lodge recognises another society it, also, is outside the legalities to which everybody else must adhere. Section 65 also states:
'Neither the Parliament of Southern Ireland, nor the Parliament of Northern Ireland shall have power to abrogate or affect prejudicially any privilege or exemption of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Ireland, or any lodge or society recognised by that Grand Lodge which is enjoyed either by law or custom at the time of passing of this Act, and any law made in contravention of this provision shall, so far as it is in contravention of this provision, be void.'

The British Government can declare that the privileges of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons' can be withdrawn but under section 65 they cannot be withdrawn. There are anomalies which must be taken into account by both sides. If Articles 2 and 3 are, as is suggested, inhibiting factors, so also are sections 65 and 75 of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. There are those in Britain who would say that the Anglo-Irish Agreement removes these sections of the Government of Ireland Act but that is not true because that Act has never been repealed."
Some commentators like Pat Culhane allege that the Masons still have considerable power in Ireland.(3)

Moving to the other side of the great divide there are then the famous nationalist and Catholic secret societies like the Irish Republican Brotherhood which contained not only shadowy revolutionaries but even well known politicians and writers like Joseph Biggar and the novelist Charles Kickam (4). Later it of course secretly acted to control the Irish Volunteers and Sinn Fein during the period 1913-24. Another semi secret society that was very active politically at that time was the Ancient Order of Hibernians and if this account from Paddy Harte is correct then it retained some political influence for longer than most people think:
"Until I arrived on the scene, all Fine Gael TDs in County Donegal were members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (a Catholic organisation). James Dillon, leader of Fine Gael, was president of the Ancient Order and many active Fine Gael supporters at branch level were also members. When I was discussing my possible candidature with Dr McGinley it did not occur to me that I might have to join the Order. But when I approached my senior officers of the County Board, it was soon made clear that if I wanted the Fine Gael nomination I would have to join the AOH. I asked why I should be forced to join an organisation about which I knew little and in which I had little interest, and was told, 'that's the way things are done around here.'..
The pressure put on me was not something I couldn't handle; nonetheless I availed of the earliest opportunity to discuss the matter with the leader of the party at a national council meeting of Fine Gael.....Mr.Dillon advised me that the choice was mine."(Paddy Harte "Young Tigers and Mongrel Foxes" (Dublin, 2005) p.33.)

Then there are the various lay Catholic society's which are a popular topic of the rumour mill in nationalist Ireland. One such organisation is the very low profile Knights of Malta headed in Ireland by Justice Smithwick (5) and claimed to be close to the CIA (6). Another lay Catholic society is called the Knights of Columbanus which is whispered to have a big influence over the Irish legal scene, with some also claiming too that they have influence over the media (7), and some gardai (8). The hope is that they have not been involved in any of the well known activities that have tarnished the church is recent times although that is exactly what has happened to at least one branch of the Knights of Columbus (a sister group to the Columbanus Knight's) in Canada. (9)

As you can see there has been a lot of talk about these Knights over the years in Ireland:

Tom Garvin:
[The Knights] "became a considerable political force after independence... At one stage many officials in the Revenue were in the organization."(writing in McCormack "Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture."(2001) p.524. Points out also how President Sean T O'Kelly was a Knight much to the displeasure of DeValera.)

Dail 10 June 1953 Dr Noel Browne:
[Elections to Hospital Boards:] "On the Catholic side it is done through the Knights of Columbanus and on the Protestant side it is done through the Freemasons. It is completely undemocratic."

Dail 1 July 1953 Dr Noel Browne:
"What we should like to know is, in the event of a Multi-Party government being formed, which party would be the real government ? Would it be a Fine Gael government ? Would it be a Labour government ? Would it be a Labour Party policy - or would it be a Knight of Columbanus policy?"

Seanad 28 Nov 1956 Professor Stanford:
"One of the things that is doing most damage to our nation at the moment is the existence of these conflicting secret societies [interpreted as meaning the Freemasons and the Knights] and I hope the Minister and the other Minister will do all in their power to prevent their gaining any control of the national economy, or the politics of the country."

Dail Dr Noel Browne 16 July 1969
"In regard to the whole business of appointments [to the Universities], I do not think there is much to choose between the two of them—the Knights of Columbanus predominantly in University College and the Freemasons in Trinity College— and the two of them going on together presumably sharing out the different jobs to suit themselves."

Paddy Devlin relates some political maneuverings by the Knights (and it is often said the Catholic hierarchy) at the beginning of the troubles:
"What I learned from a friendly Catholic lawyer was that Hume had been at a meeting in Donegal designed to form a Catholic national party. .. What surprised me was that none of our group [the group which later became the SDLP] were invited to come to the meeting or were even involved with it, which we had heard later, had been attended by middle class Catholics, mainly from Derry. I could smell that the Knights of Columbanus were involved."( From his autobiography "Straight Left" p.137-140 quoted in a comment by Brendan Heading to the article "All them killings" at soc.culture.europe 28 Jan 1998.)

Dail Dr Noel Browne 18 Oct 1977:
"There are still diehards of my generation within the profession but the new intake is not only extremely highly qualified but is better qualified because you cannot get into a consultant situation and then into a position as a consultant in a hospital unless you are extremely well qualified now because of the appointments system. It is no longer confined, as it was in the old days, to the Knights of Columbanus on the Catholic side and the Freemason Order on the other side."

Dail 15 May 1985 Mr. Haughey [referring to some pretty famous international groups that he (and now many others) look upon as powerful secret societies. Liam Lawlor who figured prominently during the next FF government was another member of the Trilateral Commission, as is Mary Robinson (10). According to an interview with Mike Peters of Leeds Metropolitan University "members of Bilderberg helped to conceive, establish and create all of the major European institutions." This is based on his research into sources like the Gaitskell papers.(11) ]:
"The Taoiseach also used his visit to America to attend this secret Bilderberg Conference, a group about which many people have grave doubts. It does not matter how the Taoiseach comes in here to shout, bluster and use personal abuse, because we have grave doubts about this organisation and its conferences. I have always had the impression that the Taoiseach had strong views about secret societies; yet he belongs or has belonged to a number of very powerful international bodies and groups whose aims and objectives, methods of operation and meetings are definitely secret and none more than this Bilderberg group. How can the Taoiseach justify attending a Bilderberg meeting? If it is wrong for a Taoiseach, and I believe it is, or a Minister to be a member of the Free Masonic Order, the Knights of Columbanus or Opus Dei, why is it all right for him to be a member of an arguably far more powerful secular secret society like the Bilderberg Conference?
...
If Deputies opposite would consider this thing calmly and objectively they would agree with me that it is not appropriate for the Taoiseach to continue to attend secret meetings which have a heavy NATO presence and with NATO subjects figuring in a major way on the agenda. How can the Taoiseach credibly object to NATO matters being discussed for instance in the European Council when he voluntarily attends this type of meeting.

Another aspect is the entitlement of this House to know precisely what took place and to have all the important relevant documents laid on the table of this House. By that I intend to judge the Taoiseach. If the Taoiseach does that and we have an opportunity to consider the documentation, all of us, in fairness, will have to review our accusation of secrecy about the Bilderberg conference. If those documents are not placed on the table of the House and if we are not given this vital information we will have to form our own opinions and confirm ourselves in our worst suspicions.

Apart from the NATO aspects the purpose of bodies like the Bilderberg group and the Tri-lateral commission is to foster an international élite and to promote the interests of huge multi-national corporations. I am absolutely certain that at that gathering with all those bankers and heads of huge multi-national corporations and others of that ilk, the position of the unemployed in my constituency of Coolock did not rate as a very high priority. It would have been far more appropriate if our Taoiseach were devoting himself in any international forum to this type of problem rather than these very dangerous subjects and discussions which take place at things like the Bilderberg Conference. I suspect that the Taoiseach remains a member of that organisation for some personal political reason. I understand that that type of organisation is prepared to support particular politicians in their objectives in their own countries. Will the Taoiseach say if anything like that was involved at this conference?
...
Can the Taoiseach expect some assistance in his own political career from these multinational friends, these international bankers?
..
Proinsias De Rossa: The Taoiseach is treating this as if the only question involved was one of neutrality and whether this State would be a member of a military bloc, but there are greater implications in that the Bilderberg group as I understand it is involved with influencing the foreign policies of the countries which are represented on it.
....[quoting the Irish Press:] “The object is not to `draw the attention' of the greater population to Bilderberg activity. Bilderberg's existence is often denied, even by foreign ministry officials. Apart from planted newspaper articles, no Bilderberg publications are available to the public. The extent of media blackout is remarkable; insight into how this is achieved comes from a confidential memo of the steering group meeting in preparation of the 1984 conference at Williamsburg.”

Fintan O'Toole and Kieran Rose:
"A leading right-wing activist wrote in 1988 that members of the Knights of Columbanus occupy positions of influence in many walks of life and at the highest level. They are asked to be confidentially politically active:
'We also need to keep our eyes on hospital boards; ethics committees; school boards; parent's groups...trying to keep the right government in power, or at least the one which is the lesser evil... such a network (of activists) if well motivated and highly confidential could do wonders quietly without coming out openly as Knights. An organisation or a group is never more powerful than when it influences events without being itself regarded as the initiator.'" ("The Evaluation of Gay and Lesbian Politics in Ireland" (Cork, 1994) p.29.)

Dail 14 Nov 1991 Pat Rabbitte:
[Hoping that soon will be dispelled:] "the suspected shadow of the Knights of Columbanus from the Customs House."

Dail Mr Bree 27 Sept 1995:
".. the Knights of Columbanus, a patriarchal, sectarian, secretive and fundamentalist network of influential men who have exerted power and influence in all sectors of society. While some people might be under the impression that the Knights of Columbanus is a type of charitable organisation, this is not the case. ... Despite the fact that they wish to remain in the background where they can manipulate and influence the agenda in a subtle and simple manner..."

Lord Laird reported in the Belfast Telegraph 11 May 2006:
"Allegations that a cross-border body is being run by a Catholic organisation have been levelled by an Ulster Unionist politician. The claims about Waterways Ireland, which has its headquarters in Enniskillen, were raised in parliament by Lord Laird.
He said members of staff within the public body believed it was "now being run" by the Knights of Columbanus, an Irish Catholic lay organisation." (12)
..from the Irish News 12 May 2006:
"Lord Laird last night (Wednesday) explained why he made the allegations about the Catholic groups, saying that when he was making private enquiries about Waterways Ireland he kept being told: "It's to do with the knights."
"I thought at first they meant something that happened on a Thursday night but I soon learnt it was the Knights of Columbanus, although I know nothing about them or Opus Dei," he said." (13)

What follows are just a few international examples that show how it is feasible for a secret society to exercise a remarkable level of power even in a democracy.

Wales
"Roger Everest says he was told 30 years ago that he would never get on in the legal profession after turning down an invitation to join the Dinas Llandaff lodge of the Freemasons in Cardiff.....Earlier this year Mr Everest, who practises from chambers at Pontyclun near Cardiff, had a claim that his career had been blighted by his non-membership of the freemasons rejected by the European Court of Human Rights.
Yesterday he said, "The judiciary in South Wales is a closed shop which I believe excludes ethnic minorities, women and men who are not part of a masonic network.
...He added, "It is my firm belief that there is a masonic connection with the miscarriages of justice that have occurred in South Wales."
(Western Mail 20 Aug 2003 http://www.prisonplanet.com/freemason_closed_shop_block....html)

France
"The scandal-ridden French resort of Nice has been rocked by fresh corruption claims. The city's chief public prosecutor says a network of freemasons is perverting the local justice system...Dossiers that have been "buried", according to Mr de Montgolfier, include paedophilia allegations against a number of Nice's magistrates and cases involving large-scale fraud. ...According to insiders, he presented her [the Minister of Justice] with evidence that the National Grand Lodge of France was behind the "infiltration" of various levels of the magistrature." (The Telegraph 17 October 1999 http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/france.html )

Philippines
This is from Wayne Madsen, an important source for intelligence gossip in Washington (quoted for example by Ed Horgan over the CIA rendition flight thing), who says that Opus Dei is sometimes manipulated by US intelligence agencies particularly in the Philippines and Venezuela:
"The documents were passed by Aquino to Philippine opposition figures linked closely to a powerful Opus Dei movement in the country. That movement was reportedly participating in a planned coup against Macapagal-Arroyo. (The April 2002 U.S.-supported abortive coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was also supported by Opus Dei elements in Venezuela). The Philippine Department of Justice has asked for an arrest warrant to be issued against Aquino and his one time police assistant Cesar Mancao for the murder of Philippine publicist Salvador "Buddy" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. The Aragoncilla-Aquino ring is being linked to a wider Opus Dei espionage and political black bag operation that reached into the highest levels of the FBI." (14 Oct 2005 http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/intelwhispers/intel.htm ) from the same in relation to East Timor:
"The Bush administration is using Opus Dei in destabilization efforts in Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. The Iberian roots of the organization and the adherence of many Spanish and Portuguese Catholics to the sect make it an ideal vehicle for stirring up problems in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking nations. East Timor is a former Portuguese colony. Opus Dei is very strong in the Liberal Party of Australia, one of the two conservative parties that make up John Howard's coalition." ( 4 June 2006 http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/index.php )

Ukraine
"leader of Ukraine's Social Party Alexander Moroz says, about 300 high-ranking officials in Ukraine are members of a Masonic lodge which representative office is located somewhere abroad. These are Ukraine's prosecutor general, chief of the Ukrainian security service, the minister of defense, the first president of Ukraine and parliament deputies...
The matter concerns the Order of Saint Stanislav into which representatives of Ukrainian elite and high-ranking officials are actively dubbed." ( From Pravda http://www.propagandamatrix.com/ukrainian_opposition_un...y.htm )

Italy
"Between 1965 and 1981, it [P-2 Masonic Lodge] tried to condition the Italian political process through the penetration of persons of confidence to the inside of the magistracy, the Parliament, the army and the press...."Banker of God" Roberto Calvi's connections with the Worshipful Master Licio Gelli became a particular focus of press and police attention, and caused the lodge (then secret) to be discovered. A list of adherents was found by the police in Gelli's house in Arezzo in March 1981, containing over 900 names, among which were very important state officers, some important politicians (4 ministers or former ministers, and 44 deputies), and a number of military officers, many of them enrolled in the Italian secret services."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_Due)
The wiki article also notes the links between P-2 and the CIA. As another of the wiki articles points out the Lodge was heavily involved in the promotion of terrorism in Italy:
"The strategy of tension (Italian: strategia della tensione) is a way to control and manipulate public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs and false flag terrorism actions.
The term was coined in Italy during the trials that followed the 1970s and 1980s terror attacks and murders committed by neofascist terrorists (such as Ordine Nuovo, Avanguardia Nazionale or Fronte Nazionale). The terrorists were backed by intelligence agencies, P2 masonic lodge and Gladio, a NATO secret "stay-behind" army set up to perform guerilla and resistance activities should Italy be successfully invaded by the Soviet bloc ...
The suspected aim of these crimes was to make the public believe that the bombings were committed by a communist insurgency, to promote the formation of an authoritarian government, and to prevent the growing Italian Communist Party (PCI) from joining the ruling Democrazia Cristiana (DC) in a government of national reconciliation ("historical compromise")."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_of_tension)

South Africa
"The Afrikanerbond or, as it has been known throughout most of its history, the Afrikaner Broederbond (or simply Die Broederbond), is a fraternal organization dedicated to the promotion of the interests of Afrikaners. The society was active during the rise to power of the Afrikaner nationalists and during the apartheid years most government ministers and many influential Afrikaner churchmen, academics, professionals, military officers and policemen were members of this very successful and tightly-knit secret society ). It was often alleged and always denied that the important decisions of the South African State in those years were mandated by the then very secretive Broederbond. The organization has in modern times opened itself to public scrutiny and little resembles the omnipotent "hidden hand" of the middle years of the 20th Century. In its heyday, the Broederbond was one of the most watertight and successful secret societies in history. Infiltration by outsiders was insignificant.
...
Every prime minister and state president in South Africa from 1948 to the end of apartheid in 1994 was a member of the Afrikaner Broederbond. Indeed, nearly every prominent Afrikaner in any field was a member of the Broederbond." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broederbond)
Note too that the western intelligence agencies and the apartheid government had a surprisingly close relationship on occasion, like over the death of Dag Hammarskjold (http://www.globalpolicy.org/secgen/pastsg/murder.htm).

Wikipedia on the Muslim Brotherhood:
"The Brotherhood is one of the most influential political and religious forces in the Islamic world, and especially so in the Arab world. The first Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928, and Egypt is still considered the center of the movement; it is generally weaker in the Maghreb, or North Africa, than in the Arab Levant. Brotherhood branches form the main opposition to the governments in several countries in the Arab world, such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan, and are politically active to some extent in nearly every Muslim country. There are also diaspora branches in several Western nations, composed by immigrants previously active in the Brotherhood in their home countries."

Palestine:
"The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, founded in 1987 in Gaza, is a wing of the Brotherhood, formed out of Brotherhood-affiliated , formed out of Brotherhood-affiliated charities that had gained a strong foothold among the local population. These had been permitted by Israeli occupation authorities to operate in the Palestinian Territories to counter the influence of the secular Palestinian resistance movements.."

Jordan:
"The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in 1942, and is a strong factor in Jordanian politics. While most political parties and movements were banned for a long time in Jordan, the Brotherhood was exempted and allowed to operate by the Jordanian monarchy. The Jordanian Brotherhood has formed its own political party, the Islamic Action Front, which , which has the largest number of seats of any party in the Jordanian parliament."

Egypt:
"By 1936, it had 800 members, then this number increased greatly to up to 200 000 by 1938. By 1948, the Brotherhood had about half a million members. ...
The Brotherhood has been an illegal organization, tolerated to varying degrees, since 1954 when it attempted to assassinate Gamal Abdel Nasser, head of the Egyptian government; it is still periodically subjected to mass arrests. It remains Egypt's most popular opposition group, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood)
You can read here how the brotherhood has also close links to British and US Intelligence: http://www.redmoonrising.com/Ikhwan/BritIslam.htm .

As you can see sometimes there is truth behind the conspiracy theory !

Footnotes
1. http://www.blythe.org/Intelligence/readme/115sum . The chairman of the Committee is named by the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/622765.stm see also: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/8151/committ....html .

2. http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=SEN20040304...e=397 .

3. http://www.indymedia.ie/article/72186 .

4. http://www.geocities.com/athlonelaura/irb.html .

5. http://www.orderofmalta.ie/irish_assocation/welcome.htm .

6. http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1983/07/willbed....html .

7. soc.culture.irish 20 Aug 2001 article 'Irish Times' by David Noone .

8. alt.religion.christian.roman-catholic 16 Oct 2005 article "Another MA RCC Priest Pleads guilty to abuse" comment by bernard_con@yahoo.co.uk .

9. http://web.archive.org/web/20050301223411/projecttruth2...y.htm , http://web.archive.org/web/20050224211113/projecttruth2...t.htm , html http://www.ritualabusetorture.org/inthenameofgod.pdf p.100 and http://www.laxat.com/More-Knights-of-Columbus-in-Corrup....html .

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilateral_Commission .

11. http://www.propagandamatrix.com/bbc_radio_4_bilderberg.mp3 .

12. http://www.blather.net/zeitgeist/archives/2006/05/opus_....html .

13. http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/ma...l.php .