Aodogán's Latent Agenda, part 13 ....

Clearly the fiction that Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline were two separate projects is propaganda that trolls feel is necessary to prop-up the lies and distortions that have been spread far and wide by Ronan O'Rahilly, with help from his script-writing colleague, Ian Cowper Ross. The same is true of the mythology that Allan James Crawford knew nothing about Radio Caroline until the last moment.

Here's why ....

First of all, Radio Caroline was born at 47 Dean Street, in London, and that was the home base of Allan James Crawford. If we go back to the first visible signs of a registered company managing the affairs of Radio Caroline, we have to go back before Planet Productions Limited, because it did not come into existence until February 27, 1964.

The Regent Street address used on air was only a temporary mail drop. There was no office at Stevens Press Ltd. on Fetter Lane, and no company called 'Caroline Sales Limited' had been registered. That legal oversight caused problems later on. Therefore the question arises as to who or what purchased the mv Fredericia; it radio transmitters and equipment and paid for the mv Mi Amigo to leave Galveston for Europe?

The only company that existed was Project Atlanta Limited, and the heavy-hitters who came to populate its board of directors, were not on its board when the company was registered! Someone intervened after the registration of Project Atlanta Limited at the end of July 1963, and that person kicked life into the entire project.

That person was Charles Orr Stanley and his intervention took place sometime around October 1963, according to Jocelyn Stevens. Something that the trolls overlook or do not know, is that people associated with Project Atlanta Limited then took over the running of Radio Caroline following the adoption of that name for both stations. There was no "merger" and Planet Productions Limited did not "take over" Project Atlanta Limited, it was the other way around! Crawford got out because he wanted to 'plug' his own records, but when Solomon came in with more money, he began to 'plug' his own records and so Solomon pushed out Crawford.

But back of it all prior to October 15, 1964, was a much bigger game plan, and that is what has been concealed - until now. We will address that plan in detail within a future editorial.

Second, after the purchase of the mv Fredericia, the ship was moved to Rotterdam by Wijsmuller, and it stayed there for a longer period than it was at Greenore. It was in Rotterdam where the Dallas-made transmitters were loaded, but for some reason the generator was not, and this caused a problem later on due to its rough-shod installation at Greenore by a protesting Dundalk Engineering Works group of employees.

Third, before the mv Mi Amigo had even arrived in Europe on its way back from Galveston, Ronan O'Rahilly was present at the meeting where Harry Spencer was hired and Alfred Nicholas Thomas was discussing the masts and antennas. This took place at 47 Dean Street where the initial Radio Caroline djs were trained and recorded by Radio Atlanta staff under the direction of Allan James Crawford. No one was surprised about what was taking place. It was one plan, not two rival plans.

Fourth, in the background was Irishman (from Cork) Charles Orr Stanley and his son John Stanley. They were the people pulling the strings to make everything come together - after Bill Weaver told Crawford that he could not lease, only purchase the mv Mi Amigo due to McLendon's fears relating to the 'Hovering Acts'.

The Stanleys then spun-off the Radio Caroline venture as a low-cost way of discovering just how far the UK Tory government would go to stop Radio Caroline from succeeding. One thing that they did learn at the last moment, was that work on the ships could not be continued on the Isle of Wight where Harry Spencer was based. That is because Thomas, who had worked on the GBOK project at Sheerness, was aware of the fact that the GPO had made some kind of 'raid' on the Pye facility where the GBOK was tied-up alongside. Alarm bells sounded when it was revealed where Harry Spencer intended to work on the two ships, which was close to his boat yard on the Isle of Wight. The money behind the venture decided that an alternative and secret site had to be found.

That is when Ronan O'Rahilly earned his keep by suggesting Greenore in the Republic of Ireland.

Now the trolls and the anorak writers have portrayed Ronan O'Rahilly as a rebel cut from the same cloth as his grandfather, who was the second of three people calling himself 'The O'Rahilly'. But this is not true. Neither is the explanation by Ronan O'Rahilly of why he had come to London, or even what his father was doing in Ireland, or more specifically, in Greenore. The evidence points to the fact that Ronan had been sent to London to find investors for his father's company!

Ronan not a rebel like his grandfather, and neither was his father Aodogán O'Rahilly. But for that matter, Ronan's grandfather was not who everyone has been led to believe that he was. He was against the idea of the 1916 'Rising' and tried to stop it before it started! However, just as saying goes that curiosity killed the cat; Ronan's grandfather got shot and killed when he decided to see for himself what was going on in Dublin with the partially aborted 'Rising'!

All of that has been twisted into something that does not resemble true events, but then Ronan's father has been portrayed as a wealthy Irish businessman who entertained the idea of investing in a scheme proposed by Allan James Crawford. That is also rubbish. Aodogán O'Rahilly was looking for investors. He was not looking for investments in someone else's venture! Ronan was his father's 'bird dog'.

In reality, Allan James Crawford accompanied by Ronan O'Rahilly, came armed with a bribe. He wanted to know if he and his associates could be given permission to quietly use a part of the unused and undeveloped property that was owned by the company that Aodogán O'Rahilly managed. Since the request came with money attached, and because Crawford was acting in secrecy and did not want publicity, Aodogán O'Rahilly agreed to Crawford's request.

The mv Caroline (ex-Fredericia) came and went quietly from Greenore, and then someone decided to test the transmitters on board that ship, while it was still in the vicinity of Greenore. Not only did that wreak havoc and annoy people in Ireland due to the interference that it caused on their television sets at home, but it also made everyone aware of the fact that the mv Mi Amigo was now there and being worked on for a similar project.

This disturbance alerted the news media, including a film crew from Granada's 'World in Action' television show. Someone allowed them into the Greenore compound and to even sail with the Mi Amigo when it left Greenore. As if that was not enough, they also employed a helicopter to film from overhead.

The resulting film pitched the murderous pirates of old with the people who were living in the area of Greenore during 1964, and when that program aired, it upset the locals even more.

But what about Ronan's father?

It seems that Allan Crawford went with Ronan to see Ronan's father who lived near Dublin which is some distance from Greenore. What Crawford and Ronan told Aodogán O'Rahilly is not known, but it clearly was not the truth.

Aodogán O'Rahilly was not a rebel, he was a struggling and respectable businessman trying to advance the management of Weatherwell Ltd., and it was Weatherwell Ltd which owned two adjoining properties at Greenore. They included the old railway terminus and the railway hotel.

But things had not been going well for Aodogán O'Rahilly, because Weatherwell Ltd., was short of cash due to a downturn in business, and so he could not develop the Greenore properties. Therefore whatever else Crawford brought with him, it must have included an infusion of cash in order to make Aodogán O'Rahilly an offer that he could not refuse. Behind that offer was Charles Orr Stanley. He had seeded the entire enterprise with help from associated business friends.

However, because Aodogán O'Rahilly was struggling to turn Weatherwell Ltd into a success story, and because Aodogán O'Rahilly needed the cooperation from both the government of the Irish Republic and the government of the United Kingdom to achieve that success, the last thing he wanted to do was antagonize either government. But that is what happened!

The adverse publicity created by the Granada TV show hurt the image of Aodogán's business as well as infuriating Aodogán's neighbors!

He took action by throwing Harry Spencer off the Weatherwell Ltd. property. He also got him to leave without completing work on the mv Mi Amigo and that ship left its dock in a very dangerous condition.

Viewers who saw that Granada TV show might have gained  the impression that the outfitting had been done on the premises of the Greenore Ferry Service, but in reality there was no such company. It was merely an operating name of Weatherwell Ltd.

​Tomorrow we will delve into the history of the Greenore properties and see what Weatherwell Ltd was hoping to achieve with its trading name of Greenore Ferry Service.