Busby Bared
Regular readers of Sinn Féin's weekly newspaper, An Phoblacht/Republican News may have seen an unusual article in the issue of June 7th 1990. Much of this article was devoted to attacking the Third Way movement which came into existence on St Patrick's Day, some months after the disbandment of the Official National Front.
According to AP/RN lengthy investigations by a small group of Scottish republicans have revealed that the new Third Way is in fact the National Front operating under a cover name with strong links to MI6 - 'the British Secret Service'. This revelation would not have taken a great deal of 'investigation' as the final issue of National. Front News in January 1990 explained the decision of the leadership of the Official NF to disband and pass over any assets to the future Third Way movement. A similar report appeared in the Dublin-based Sunday World on February 4 1990.
The AP/RN allegations are amazing! Apparently, according to this article, the "NF's" wicked scheme is to publicly support various worthy causes, thus disrupting, discrediting and destroying them, 'by public association with the NF (sic) and the NF's openly racist policies.' (sic).
This argument is ludicrously reactionary. Ideas and Causes stand or fall on their own merits. It never seems to have occurred to the AP/RN writer that the Third Way movement actually believes everything it advocates.The allegations about MI6 revolve around an Italian political exile living in London, a Mr Roberto Fiore. According to AP/RN Mr Fiore is a 'terrorist' , (a case of the pot calling the kettle black!), an MI6 agent and a close associate of Mr Patrick Harrington whom it describes as 'the present leader of the Third Way movement.`
LUDICROUS ALLEGATIONS
This is where the ludicrous Sinn Féin allegations fall down. They will have to employ a better class of Scottish investigator in the future. In fact, Mr Fiore has no connection, close or otherwise, with Hr Harrington or the Third Way movement. There is no evidence to prove that Mr Fiore is an MI6 agent or if he is guilty of the terrorist offences claimed by the Provos. We do know that he is a major financial backer of a group of traditionalist Tridentine Catholic zealots who have formed a separate rival group to the Third Way movement following their resignation from the now defunct Official NF in the latter part of 1989.
The Third Way movement has investigated the source of this article. Much of the material is similar to that used in the pro-Zionist magazine Searchlight which is edited by a Mr Gerry Gable. Certainly Mr Gable's wild paranoid vision of some evil all-embracing 'NF' conspiracy is plainly obvious. Mr Gable has received sympathetic publicity in a previous issue of Sinn Féin's newspaper, (February 8th 1990). All the photographs are taken from Searchlight files. This is ironic, bearing in mind Mr Gable's past boasts of contacts with the British and French security services and with 'somebody' in the Israeli Foreign Office (Mossad?). This has been verified in a special critique of Searchlight in Palestine Solidarity magazine issue 42 by Mr Tony Greenstein - a member of the Executive of Anti-Fascist Action.
MARTIN MITCHELL
However, the story is not entirely based on Searchlight's sources and wild conspiracy theories. In February 1990, a Mr Martin Mitchell of 33 North Circular Road, Dublin 7 wrote to Mr Harrington expressing agreement with the aims and aspirations of the proposed Third Way movement. Mr 'Mitchell' condemned the Provos, saying that they had no support in Éire. He offered to help in setting up an Éire branch of the Third Way movement. Mr Harrington replied with a letter of encouragement, as did Mr David Kerr from Ulster Nation, the movement's Ulster section. Partial quotations from Mr Harrington's letter appear in the AP/RN article. Mr Mitchell did not bother to reply to either letter, nor did he take up an invitation to travel to Belfast for discussions.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Mr 'Mitchell' is in fact one Adam S Busby - a member of the Scottish Republican Socialist Party and the Scottish National Liberation Army. Mr Busby currently resides in Dublin as some nice Scottish policemen want to talk to him about some of his extra-parliamentary activities in the early 1980s.
OTHER ALIASES
Mr Busby has also written to various local circles of the Third Way movement using the Mitchell alias. Other letters have come from 'Brian Rutland' of 9 Upper Gardner Street, Dublin 1 purporting to support Ulster independence. Strangely enough, Mr 'Greg Cain', a Manx student of Celtic nationalism also appears to reside at that address! North of the border we find 'Rory Toman' care of 46 Main Street, Killough, Co Down, BT30 7QD. Mr 'Toman' claimed to be writing a contemporary history of Celtic nationalism. Members and supporters of Third Way circles, Ulster patriotic and pro-independence groups should note that although we go about: our business quite openly and lawfully, that such gainsayers and would-be disrupters and infiltrators are operating. Beware of these supporters of Éire imperialism.home page