The agent first placed calls to the father of the activist's son, undoubtedly well aware of the potential this had for instilling suspicion and concern for the child's welfare in the non-resident parent's mind.

The agent claimed the desire to talk to the IRSCNA member about ill-defined "Irish issues," but when she responded that she had no interest in speaking with him and nothing to say, he then asked specifically about a person named Patrick Curran, without giving any indication of why this individual was of specific interest. The IRSCNA activist had only ever met Curran once, had no subsequent contact, and was in no way close to the individual and advised the FBI agent of as much.

That approach having failed, the agent then said, he had "other (unspecified) things" to ask her about, but that he did not want to discuss them on the telephone. The activist reiterated that she had "nothing to say," to which he made the response, "Oh, I think you do." The obvious attempt at intimidation by suggesting that the FBI was aware of what the activist did or did not have knowledge of was both transparent and ineffective.

According to the IRSCNA member, the agent then claimed that the individual he had asked about had been involved in robberies in Ireland, but since she had only met the man once and knew almost nothing about him, she simply responded that she had no interest in what the man did or did not do, adding, "I met him once, and if he walked past me on the street today, I wouldn't even recognize him." (We hasten to add, we have no knowledge that would suggest that the assertions made about Mr. Curran's behavior in Ireland have any basis in fact.)

Mr. Curran had been the subject of a story in the Irish Independent some time ago, specifically in relation to a meeting he was said to have attended with ex-Irish Northern Aid leader Martin Galvin. The article alleged that Galvin had cheering the Omagh bombing deaths during the supposed meeting and other inflammatory accusations. Galvin subsequently moved to sue the newspaper and earlier this year the Independent printed an apology to Galvin for the false reports contained in the story.

In a subsequent call from the agent to the same Irish republican socialist activist, he again pressed for a meeting, even employing efforts at flattery, by telling her she was an "an expert on Irish issues." Saying that he was seeking information on current Irish issues, the activist referred him to the Irish newspapers, as she had nothing that she could add to what he might find printed there. When he persisted, she advised him, "I'm going to hang up the phone now. I have nothing to say to you. And, please don't call back again."

We publicize this harassment of the Washington, DC area Irish republican socialist activist as a warning to other activists. Do not be intimidated.

If, like our member, you are engaged in purely legal activities in support of the ongoing political efforts to gain Irish national liberation and the establishment of a socialist republic, such contact is intended to frighten you away from continuing such efforts. The United States government has no legitimate interest in prying into such legal and constitutionally protected political activism. You are under no obligation to speak to an agent of the FBI, unless they present a subpoena or warrant. Obviously, when the government goes fishing for information on individuals from people who barely know them, something is amiss and the circumstances exist for statements to be taken out of context, be misrepresented, or for individuals to be tricked into saying things that appear to be other than what was actually intended. In such circumstances, politely decline to speak with the agent further.

The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America call upon the FBI to cease its harassment of our members. While civil liberties and basic rights are being threatened daily in contemporary America, political activism is not a criminal activity. The FBI might better spend its time investigating armed neo-fascists groups, who have repeatedly demonstrated that they represent a very genuine threat to the security of this country and its citizens. Violent threats against doctors and clinics providing safe and legal abortions, attacks on lesbians, gays, members of ethnic minorities, Moslems, Jews, and other minority religions should provide ample work to keep the agents of the FBI busy. Harassment of Irish republican socialist activists is both unnecessary and unwelcome.