Gerry Adams's Blog, page 10

Unique Robert Ballagh Moore Street Print; You Are Never Alone With A Book: Walking with my Mother

 

Unique RobertBallagh Moore Street Print

As regular readers ofthis column know I have been involved for a very long time in the campaign toprotect and develop as a historic and cultural quarter the Moore St. Terraceand its environs in Dublin. The entire terrace 10-25 Moore Street was occupiedby the evacuated GPO garrison at the end of Easter Week 1916. The developer -Hammerson - wants to demolish much of the terrace.

The Moore St.Preservation Trust, with the support of relatives of the 1916 leaders, isworking with a legal team to prepare a legal challenge should An Bord Pleanáladecide to grant Hammerson permission to knock down any part of this historicterrace. All of this will involve significant costs. As part of the Trust’scampaign to raise awareness, and to raise funding for any legal challenge, theMoore Street Preservation Trust will tonight be launching a new image ofthe last meeting of the Provisional Government following the Easter Rising in1916 by the renowned Irish artist Robert Ballagh. The launch and presentationof the print will take place in the Mansion House in Dublin at 7pm.

This exclusive limitededition of 200 prints (60 by 60 cm) is individually signed and numbered byRobert Ballagh on museum quality paper and printed with archival inks.

The scene depicted inhis painting captures the last meeting of the Provisional Government that tookplace in Number 16 Moore Street following their retreat from the burning GPO.It was there at this meeting attended by Pádraig Pearse, Seán Mac Diarmada,Joseph Plunkett, Tom Clarke and a wounded James Connolly that the decision wastaken to surrender to the British forces. Also present at the meeting wereVolunteers Winifred Carney, Julia Grennan and Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell who a shorttime later accompanied Pearse when he presented the notice of surrender to theBritish.  The women of 1916 are rarely given their proper place in thatstory. Robert Ballagh’s print redresses this through the inclusion of thesethree republican activists who played a central role in those historic events.

This striking newprint entitled simply ‘HQ Moore Street 1916’ is being released for sale at Euro150 or £150 per print. Each signed print is sure to become a valuablecollector’s piece. The print will be available this evening followingthe launch at the Mansion House. It can be purchased through www.arasuichonghaile.com/moorestreet

I have my copyordered. I am confident that these unique prints by Bobby will go quickly.

 

You Are NeverAlone With A Book. 

 I’m glad to sayI finished reading a few books over the last month so I will update you on themover the next couple of weeks.

First off  is TheGhost Limb by Claire Mitchell. This is an intriguing read and Ms Mitchell is apersuasive writer, gentle, witty and positive. She describes herself as analternative Protestant and Ghost Limb has a sub-title ‘Alternative Protestantsand the Spirit of 1798’. In this compelling book a  group of thesecitizens retrace the steps of the United Irishmen - and women- who worked forthe unity of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter over two hundred years ago as ameans to end the connection with England.

They trek acrossgraveyards and old churches, pubs and battlefield sites in County Antrim andDown and in Belfast's back entries. They rediscover this part of their heritageand explore why it has been misremembered or not remembered except by afaithful few who reject the notion of  Northern Protestants as amonolithic right wing insular and anti progressive, anti Irish group. NorthernProtestants  are not all like that they say. Not historically. Not now.

Ms Mitchell alsopresents the vision of 1798 - of a  rights based anti-sectarian equalityproofed society- as the democratic solution to our political problems. Irecommend this book to anyone trying to understand the dynamics of northernsociety in this time of change. There is a lot of learning to be done by usall. Making space  to rediscover who we are is part of that. ClaireMitchell’s  book has made a mighty and positive contribution to thatnecessary task. 

The Ghost Limb ispublished by www.beyondthepale.com

Michael Magee was oneof the guests at Scribes at The Rock during Féile An Phobail. He read from hisnew novel Close To Home. Scribes is a Féile highlight, a creation of DannyMorrison and now twenty-two-years old. Scribes not Danny. Michael Magee wasjoined by Michelle Gallen reading Factory Girls and Paul Murray reading The BeeSting.  More of these at another time. All in all another great event.Well done, Danny. Belated apologies to the woman who appeared to be annoyed atme bunking the queue to have my books signed. Mea culpa. 

And well done MichaelMagee and the other Scribes’ readers.  Close to Home is an in-your-face,fast-paced graphic account of a twenty-year-old Sean and his mates and familyliving in West Belfast and mired in poverty, addiction and trauma. Sean hasjust returned from university in England but he is soon sucked back into thelife he had temporarily escaped from. His story is told by Michael Magee withbrutal honesty. Sean knows that a better life is possible but surviving thedaily challenges of existing on the edge of a community  coming out ofconflict with multiple social and economic  challenges threatens to drownhim in excesses of drug and alcohol binges and casual random violence.  Sohe struggles to survive and to readjust. 

I read Close To Homein two goes. I am undecided yet about  whether Michael lets the readerfully into Sean’s emotional responses to the definitive stages of histransition. That element of the novel has stayed with me.  I consider it a good thing that I am unsure of this. I read Close To Home two weeksago and I am still puzzling over this part of it.

Undoubtedly, Close ToHome does convey the young man’s emotional sense of his community, of family,particularly  his relationship with his mother and his estranged fatherand the multi-traumas endured by friends, workmates and his brother Anto. Hisdepiction of the people of West Belfast, or that part of us which is portrayedin his novel,  also rings true. Including his mother’s attitude to theIRA. So a very fine novel indeed and one which will stay with you long afteryou read it. 

Close To Home isMichael Magee’s debut novel and is published by Picador.

 

Walking withmy Mother

Our mother AnnieHannaway – Annie Adams died on the 4th September 1992. Her spirit lives on inthe memory of our family and those who knew her. Here’s a little poem I wrote afew years ago. 

 

Walking withmy Mother

My mother died in1992.

In 2007 I met her.

On the back road aboveCashelnagore.

The August sunshinelit up

The scarlet fushia andthe montbretia

And the white of herhair.

As I walked behind her

She picked wildflowers

From the ditches.

Then at a gap in thehedge

She turned and smiledat me.

‘Lá deas ata ann’ shesaid.

‘It’s a nice day’.

I walked on.

Alone.

Wondering how thiscould be.

The Road to Cork: The Power of X: Seamus Heaney: Bernadette O'Hagan

 

The Road To Cork. 

In 1986 I gave a talk at a Sinn Féinconference which became known by activists of my vintage as The Road to Cork orThe Bus to Cork. More of that at another time. Suffice for now to say thatI made  the journey to Cork  a metaphor for thejourney to the new republic. I am minded of that now as our car speeds southand I sit in the back penning these words. The road to Cork is indeed a verylong road. So too the road to the new republic. But barring accidents we willget there. 

I like Cork. It is a good walking city.Full of lovely  hurlers and handsome  heroes and heroines,melodic singers and wonderful writers. I love the sing song Cork accent. It isalso the homeplace of Terence MacSwiney. RG and I are going to Cork to attend the National Hunger Strike Commemoration onSunday. It’s the first time that this annual event will be held in Cork in honour of  the ten 1981 hunger strikers and Michael Gaughan and FrankStagg who both died in English prisons and those Cork republicans - TerenceMacSwiney, Michael Fitzgerald, Joseph Murphy, Denis Barry and Andy O’Sullivan -who also died on hunger strike during the Tan War and the Civil War, and otherswho died on hunger strike in the intervening years.

We got into Cork late on Saturday afternoonfor a session with Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and mé féin about the hungerstrikesand books and writing  and struggle and life.Go raibh maith agatDonnchadh. On  Sunday morning Chris and I visited the Blarney Stone.Chris came away talking like RG. Then off to meet families of thehungerstrikers before making our way to join the walk from Kennedy Quay toGrand Parade and the National Monument.

Thousands of us marched together and themizzley rain gave way to bright warm sunshine as we made our way through Cork citycentre for an inspiring session of speeches, poetry and songs.The main speakerMichelle O Neill told us; “We will achieve the sovereignty and independence ofour people….those twenty two who  died on hungerstrike have left us ahuge legacy …. the Good Friday Agreement provides the means by which we canachieve unity. We need to  prepare and plan and be ready for that….”

 Bobby Sands and his comrades wouldagree. 

Cork did the hungerstrikers proud. Welldone to all involved. Míle buiochas. 

 

  The Power Of X.

Before X there was Twitter.Apart from the ill mannered, ill informed and abusive, nasty andvulgar tirades that are the mark of some contributors I like these formsof communication. 

I joined Twitter in January 2011on the direction of Shaun Tracy who was then one of our leading shadowy figuresin Leinster House. He continues to lead but in other shadowy sites of struggle.It is Shaun who is to blame for my twitterings over the years. He made themistake of letting me put up whatever came into my head. Once  I evenpublished My Little Book Of Tweets. In part of course I was having the craic.But I was also countering the demonizing propaganda of the establishmentmedia, particularly the Dublin media. But that’s another story.

I recall one time getting areal sense of how useful and educational and democratic Twitter could be.Someone had put up a query about Luke Kelly’s rendition of PatrickKavanagh’s beautiful verse Raglan Road. I posted a video of Luke singing whatis undoubtedly the finest love song out. Best sung by him. Or me. Withinminutes someone else posted old black and white footage of Patrick Kavanaghhimself singing Raglan Road. The ability to bring these two wonderfullycreative people and the story of Kavanagh’s poem to a new audience was for me abrilliant demonstration of the power of Twitter.

Ditto, as Ted would say, with X.Last week I watched as BelfastStreetNames asked how McDonnell Street gotits name. McDonnell Street is in Belfast’s Falls area.  Withinminutes @jjconeill@mastodon.ie told us that the streetwas named after a Francis McDonnell – a pawnbroker - who applied to The TownImprovement Committee to name the street after himself. John supplied a cuttingfrom the Northern Whig of 2 November 1866 to amplify his answer. He then wenton to tell us - complete with another appropriate Northern Whig cutting - how alarge number of weapons believed to belong to the Fenians was seized in one ofMcDonnell’s properties in Rosemary Street. According to the Northern Whig someof the weapons were new.   Mr. McDonnell obviously escapedpunishment and went on to develop McDonnell Street. Presumably he proved thatsome needy Fenian pawned the weapons. Fascinating.

I remember Paddy Lavery’s PawnShop on the Falls Road. My mother sent me and our Margaret there regularly.Pawning stuff on a Monday to be redeemed on a Friday. But not a weapon amongthem.

Seamus Heaney.

August 30 marks the 10th anniversary of the death ofSeamus Heaney. I knew of Seamus before I knew him. He was a teacher in SaintThomas’ School on the Whiterock Road along with another fine scribe MichaelMcLaverty. Some of my brothers were pupils there. I know Seamus’s poetry sinceDeath of A Naturalist. His poems, and Patrick Kavanagh’s verses, have alwaysmoved me. My thoughts are with Seamus’s wife and family and with his friends atthis anniversary time. 

BBC Radio 4 have a series on Seamus at 4.30 on Sundays - FourSides of Seamus Heaney. John Kelly’s Poet of Place is special. So is CatherineHeaney on her father’s poetry of love. RTE Radio’s John Bowman has also done aspecial slot on his Sunday morning archival programme for the lastfew weeks featuring interviews and readings by Seamus. All worth listeningto. 

 

A life of change

Bernadette O’Hagan from Lurgan died last week. She was astrong republican woman. An activist. She was 95. For 52 years she was marriedto Joe B who was himself a  hugely respected activist. Joe B isespecially remembered for his part in the helicopter escape from Mountjoyprison in October 1973. 

Bernadette was born in Lurgan just over six years afterpartition and the establishment of the Orange State. She was the youngest of 9children. From an early age Bernadette always had a grá mór for all thingsIrish – Music, dance, An Cumann Lúthchleas Gael,and the Irish language. Little wonder that this wee gael, this young activeIrish girl stuck in Lurgan in the apartheid core of the Orange State became anIrish republican.

In 1945 she met Joe B O’Haganshortly after his release from internment. They were married in 1949. Joe B was an activist in every decade from the 1940s until hisdeath in 2001. The family also have deep connections with Monaghan. In the late1960s  Bernadette was a founding member of the civil rights campaignin Lurgan. Later in 1974 she was imprisoned in Armagh Gaol.

She was a strong advocate for the political prisoners,especially during the H Block/Armagh campaigns. Bernadette was active in theRelatives Action Committee. Two of her sons were on the blanket. 

In May 1997 she was the Sinn Féin Upper Bann candidate in theWestminster election. The Sinn Féin vote increased across the North. In UpperBann Bernadette almost doubled our vote. Joe B and Bernadette supported thepeace process.

After Joe B’s death Bernadette continued herwork particularly with Naíscoil Cois Locha. Hundreds of pupilshave benefited from her vision and commitment and the efforts of othergaeilgeoirí in Lurgan, most especially around Bunscoil Naomh Proinsias. 

Today Sinn Féin is the largest party in the Assembly and on thisisland. It’s a far cry from the days of Bernadette’s youth. We also have now ameans to end the union with England. This is in no small measure won to theactivism of comrades like Bernadette.

Bernadette was a woman of huge integrity, very genuine andsincere. Today we need more activism, more activists, not least so that we cansecure and win the referendum on unity which is part of the Good FridayAgreement. That is Bernadette’s generation’s gift to us. Let’s not waste it.Bernadette led by example. Let’s follow her example.  

 

 

 

John Joe McGirl – an unbreakable Fenian: A master class on campaigning

                   Speaking in Ballinamore to a packed hall on the legacy of John Joe McGirl

John Joe McGirl – an unbreakable Fenian

In the course of almost 60 years of activism I havebeen very lucky to meet many wonderful, committed, compassionate republicans.On Saturday, in Ballinamore in County Leitrim, Republicans from Leitrim andbeyond will gather to celebrate the life of one of these – John Joe McGirl. Theannual John Joe McGirl commemoration is one of the highlights of theBallinamore Festival Week and the participants will walk from John McGahernSquare to the monument to John Joe opposite Amharclann an Oileáin (the Island Theatre).The monument was designed by Robert Ballagh.

Formany of my generation John Joe was an inspiration – a legend. I first methim in the late 1960s. I was in my late teens. I had travelled by bus fromBelfast to Enniskillen one Friday evening and then hitch-hiked to Ballinamore.I slept in a field in my trusty sleeping bag and I landed in Ballinamore on aSaturday morning.

JohnJoe brought me to Sliabh an Iarainn, to Lough Allen and to Drumshambo. The coalminers in Arigna were on strike and we attended one of their meetings. John Joewas deeply committed to transforming the lives of ordinary citizens burdened bypoverty and deprivation; and his concern for rural Ireland, and for the tens ofthousands forced to emigrate, helped to shape my own politics.

Heconnected the national and the local – a lesson I have never forgotten. Beforeanyone else he understood the importance of the restoration of our inlandwaterways. He was a champion of education and a great suppkrter of libraries.He was also a strong gaeilgeoir. And like me a faithful and hopeful supporterof our respective country teams.

I also met Bridie, John Joe’s wife. They hadmarried in 1951 and had five children Liam, Áine, Cait, Feargal and Nuala.Given the frequency of John Joe’s periods in prison Bridie did a great job ofrearing the children.

Aswell as being Vice President of Sinn Féin, a former POW and a TD and arepublican activist for decades, John Joe also had a long connection withBelfast. He had the distinction of being in two different prisons when bothwere set on fire by Republican POWs. The first time was in the notoriousCurragh in December 1940 where he was savagely beaten. The second time was LongKesh in 1974. John Joe had travelled to Belfast at Easter 1974 to give theEaster Commemoration speech. The Brits thought he was Seamus Twomey and he wasarrested. When they discovered their mistake John Joe was sent to the interneeend of the Long Kesh camp.

Whenhe arrived all us internees thought – poor oul John Joe – we all felt so sorryfor him. But there was no sadness or despair in John Joe. He had been down thisroad so many times before. Later in October that year the republican POWsburned Long Kesh to the ground. There was a fierce series of running battlesthrough the night and the following morning in different parts of the campbetween the Republican POWs and the British Army. In the midst of this John Joewas hit in the face by a rubber bullet. If my recollection is right his jaw wasfractured. As flames licked around the watch-towers I made my way to John Joeand asked how he was. His response – “I’m alright as long as you peopleare alright”.

Speakinglater about his time in Long Kesh John Joe said:“I spent nine months there…Isaw young men fight hand to hand with British soldiers. I know what it means tobe kicked, beaten, gassed, made to sleep in a blanket under a sheet of iron inthe month of October. I was glad to join this new generation in writing theirchapter in the fight for independence. I am proud to say of them – that nogeneration has produced braver or better”.

JohnJoe’s entire adult life was a reflection of the years of republican strugglethrough the 1930s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Five decades of selflesscommitment to the struggle for Irish freedom and independence. He was the ‘unbreakableFenian’, the ‘gentle soldier’.

Duringthe 1981 hunger strike John Joe travelled the length and breadth of the staterallying support for the hunger strikers. In the June 1981 general electionCiaran Doherty and Paddy Agnew were elected as TDs. Joe McDonnell came close totaking a seat in Sligo Leitrim. Despite the risk of arrest John Joe attendedhis funeral in Belfast. He gave the oration at Joe’s graveside in Milltown. Hesaid: “Joe McDonnell died rather than debase the cause he served,rather than live with the forced tag of criminality on him… We will build JoeMcDonnell a memorial… that will be the freedom and the unity of the Irishpeople.”

In1986 John Joe seconded the motion calling for an end to the abstentionistpolicy towards Leinster House. As a former abstentionist TD it was a bigdecision for him to take. It was for him a necessary step if, in hiswords, “we are not going to hand down this struggle to anothergeneration”.

MartinMcGuinness like me loved John Joe. In a tribute to him Martin described JohnJoe as a “progressive thinker, always prepared to consider, support andpropose new ways for the Republican Movement to advance. He wasn’t prepared tostand still or hold to old outdated tactics which were incapable of developingthe struggle on all fronts… He was an extraordinary man, an inspiration toeveryone who knew him. We treasure his memory”.

 

                Ailbe Smyth with Colin Harvey

Amaster class on campaigning

Féilean Phobail was a resounding success and in particular it provided a wonderfulrange of debates and conversations on the many issues surroundingconstitutional change. Well done to Harry and Kevin, Sam and all the Féileteam. Maith sibh. The quality of the debates was excellent. All were packedout. The breadth of speakers – academics, journalists, political and communityactivists, sports people, - and the many shades of opinion, including a greaternumber than before of people from the broadly cultural Unionist/Protestanttradition, was uplifting.

Amongthese was a hugely informative conversation between human rights lawyer ColinHarvey and Ailbhe Smyth, a well known and highly respected campaigneron many social justice campaigns. Ailbhe was a key player in the successfulCoalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment and was co-director ofTogether for Yes in 2018. She told of one of her first decisions to take astand in 1973. At that time she was a young academic in University CollegeDublin. When she got married in early 1973 UCD told her to leave. At that timethere was a bar on married women joining the civil service and if a womanmarried she had to resign. Ailbhe refused to leave. In June of that year newlegislation was introduced to lift the bar. Ailbhe stood her ground and won.

Colinand Ailbhe’s discussion centred on the role of Citizens’ Assemblies increating change and the risks and opportunities such Assemblies can present.Colin reminded us that there is a “huge political transformation taking place acrossthis island. And people across all sections of society are increasingly gettinginvolved in the conversation on our constitutional future.”

Itwas a master class from Ailbhe on how to run a campaign. The importance ofbeing inclusive, of strategising, the need to build alliances, the use oflanguage in messaging, the framing of the campaign and the managing and nutsand bolts of creating a cohesive multi-layered organisation.

 

Be an Activist; Rita O’Hare and Áras Uí Chonghaile: Internment and mass incarceration

 

Terry O'Sullivan, Paul Maskey and Jeremy Corbyn

BeAn Activist

I had theprivilege of attending many of the debates and discussions which are a uniqueand vital part of Féile an Phobail. Well done to all the participants and inparticular to the organisers and the stewards who ensured that everythingworked smoothly. Thanks also to the venues which welcomed us all.

I want totouch briefly on the remarks made by Terry O'Sullivan and Jeremy Corbyn atseparate events, particularly on the importance of organising civic society.Jeremy, a former leader of the British Labour Party and Terry the GeneralSecretary Emeritus of The Laborers' International Union of North America arewonderful advocates for the imperative of organising social and politicalmovements to bring about deep rooted and positive change. 

For all ofthe differences in their two countries the need to organise people is a commonthread in their work. That and a fierce commitment to equality and socialjustice. And a love for Ireland. We are lucky to have them as allies andfriends.

Thiscolumnist is a long time believer in the power of people, properly organised,strategic and strong in their beliefs and values.  There are lots ofcurrent and historic examples of the changes brought about by such movements inIreland and other parts of the world. Political change will be more meaningful,deep rooted and advanced  if it is led by informed and committed citizens.Shaping a fair society is too important to be left solely to politicians. Ofcourse public representatives  have an important role including the delivery of  legislative and underpinned guarantees of peoplesrights  once those rights have been won. But they are unlikely to be wonwithout popular struggle. Progress is dependent on that. Activism is central tothis. And activism works.

Jeremyquoted James Connolly to make this point. In an article “The Economic Basis ofPolitics”Connolly  argued ‘an effective political force’ had to have itsorigins ‘deep down in the daily life of the people, not in the brains of somehalf dozen gentlemen in parliament.’

For hispart Terry O Sullivan told us that the ‘labour movement is once again on therise throughout North America ….a new generation of workers is beginning tounderstand the power of  activism’ 

He outlinedhow LiUNA organised labourers, mostly emigrants with little rights orprotections. He like Jeremy spoke of the importance of solidarity.  ‘Aninjustice to one is an injustice to all’. He said: ‘The  trade unionmovement is the single most effective anti-poverty programme ever devised’.

Féile AnPhobail is a great example of activism and community empowerment. It  isinclusive grassroots  democracy in action. On all fronts. Cultural,educational and artistic. The   creative arts for the many. And itsenjoyable. Full of hope and colour and  vitality. 

So activismworks. Creating a new Ireland means ending the union with England. There is nowa way to do this. Activism is crucial to secure that goal.

JamesConnolly believed in the reconquest of Ireland by the Irish people. I believein that too. So did Bobby Sands. Bobby wrote ‘The day will dawn when all thepeople  Ireland will  have the desire for Freedom to show. It is then we will see the rising of the moon.’

So there isspace for all progressives in the work to shape an empowered movement for a newshared Ireland. As Jeremy Corbyn said: ‘The planning, the preparation, and theconsultation needs to take place beforehand so that people know what the choiceis. What exactly is the proposition they are voting for. This requires seriousand novel engagement. Every available resource and expertise should be pooled.Citizens Assemblies, local forums and civic consultation should be utilised.That work will be done here in Ireland obviously.’

He went onto explain the role for people in Britain. Terry did the same in relation toNorth America. That is important.  But few of us will have a contributionto make there. Our work is where we live. 

And it is clear what we have to do here. Change is underway. Lets be activein shaping and deepening that change. Its time to get involved.  Its timeto move beyond  talking about it. Or leaving it to others. There is a rolefor everyone.  Its time to be an active citizen.  Its time forcampaigning, organising, for democratic empowerment. Lets do it. Be  anactivist. 

 

RitaO’Hare and Áras Uí Chonghaile

Áras UíChonghaile on the Falls Road was formally opened by Uachtarán na hÉireannMichael D Higgins in April 2019. Through its historic artefacts, art work,innovative technology and story-telling it teaches us of the life and times ofJames Connolly – 1916 executed leader. 

LastThursday a large number of family, friends and comrades of Rita O’Hare cametogether to unveil a plaque in Áras Uí Chonghaile in her memory. Without herunique contribution this important project might never have succeeded.

WhenBelfast activists first discussed the possibility of opening a centre namedafter James Connolly they faced many difficulties. Finding the necessaryfunding was a particular challenge.

It was intothis critical gap that Rita O’Hare stepped. As Sinn Féin’s North Americarepresentative she was uniquely placed to help. Rita was quickly won over tothe merits of the project and with her contacts in the USA and especiallywithin the trade union movement she successfully reached out to nearly 20different unions seeking their solidarity and their funding. LiUNA inparticular, led by Terry O’Sullivan and the Transport Workers Union led by JohnSamuelson have been especially supportive.

As agrateful acknowledgement of Rita’s singular contribution and on the day Ilaunched a Léargas book celebrating Rita’s activism, Terry O’Sullivan formerLiUNA President and I unveiled the plaque to Rita. Well done Rita.

Also onsame day I launched a Léargas – An Bhean Dhearg: A Tribute to Rita O’Hare. Itis available from www.sinnfeinbookshop.com and An Fhuiseog 55 Falls Roadwww.thelarkstore.ie

 

Internmentand mass incarceration

Wednesday 9August was the anniversary of one of the most disastrous decisions in recentIrish history. On the 9 August 1971 the Unionist Regime and British governmentintroduced internment without trial. It was a watershed moment in the historyof the northern state as hundreds were dragged from their homes, thousands offamilies were forced to flee to refugee camps, and many of those lifted in theearly morning raids were beaten. 

Internmentwas an act of mass political violence and intimidation. It had been usedsuccessfully in every previous decade since partition by the Unionist Regime.On this occasion it failed.

The use ofinternment and detention centres also followed a pattern employed by Britishgovernments going back at least to the middle of the 19th century.

Followingthe failed insurrection in India in 1857 over 20,000 people were incarceratedin what were called ‘mass encampments.’ The conditions were appalling. Forcedlabour and starvation were deliberately used to coerce those detained. Suchcamps were not just used for political prisoners. Later in the 1870s and 1890swhen plague and famine struck in India new camps were established to separatethe hungry and sick. Forced labour of the weak and sick was used again.

During theBoer War the British government ordered the construction of around 100concentration camps into which more than 100,000 mainly women and children wereherded. They died in their thousands through malnutrition, starvation anddisease. In addition 30,000 prisoners of war were transported to remote partsof the British Empire. 

After theEaster Rising 1500 men were interned without trial. Most were held in theFrongoch internment camp in Wales. In the 1950s and 60s such camps were againput to use in Malaya and Kenya and other parts of the British Empire as nativepeoples fought for independence. In her remarkable Pulitzer Prize winning book‘Imperial Reckoning,’ published in 2005 Caroline Elkins documented thesystematic torture and brutality that took place in Britain’s detention campsin Kenya. She revealed a British strategy of detention, beatings, starvation,torture, forced hard labour, rape, and castration, designed to break theresistance of the Kikuyu people. More than a million men, women, and childrenwere forced into barbed-wire village compounds and concentration camps. 

Four yearslater in 2009 five survivors of the Kenya detention system successfully suedthe British government. The British have now changed the law here to preventhundreds who were illegally interned in the 1970s from suing them.  

Frederick Douglass takes pride of place in Belfast; National Hunger Strike March for Cork: Gino and the Pen Behind The Wire.

 

Frederick Douglass takes pride of place in Belfast

A great crowd turned out on Monday morning inLombard St. in Belfast City Centre for the unveiling by Belfast City Ard MhearaRyan Murphy of a very fine statue of Frederick Douglass, escaped slave andhuman rights campaigner. It is a striking image of Douglass who is an iconicfigure for his work on campaigning for an end to slavery and for equality andjustice for African Americans and for women. He visited Ireland in 1845-46 justbefore the worst years of The Great Hunger. 

He gave over fifty speeches during his time here.They are evidence of his great affection for Ireland and hisrecognition of the connection between the treatment of African Americans and ofmost Irish people in the 19thcentury under British rule. His wordsare a reminder of the evil andhorror that was and is slavery and of the work of the anti-slavery movementthat was active in Ireland during his visit.

Slavery had been opposed by radical Presbyterian’sin Belfast in the late 18th century. Efforts to form a slavecompany in the city were thwarted not least through the efforts of ThomasMcCabe, a United Irishman. Decades later a Ladies Anti-Slavery Society carriedon that good work. One of its founding members was Mary Anne McCracken, sisterof Henry Joy McCracken.

Douglass published his autobiography, ‘TheNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave’ in1845. The threat that pro-slaver elements would kidnap him and return hisas a slave to his former ‘owner’ was so great that he left the USA.  Hearrived in Dublin where on 3 September 1845 he gave his first lecture. Over thefollowing months he travelled to Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick andBelfast. He returned to Belfast another four times.

Ireland was in his own word “transformative.” Healso witnessed the awful conditions endured by Irish peasants and the impact ofAn Gorta Mór – the Great Hunger. Consequently, Douglass increasingly saw theissue of slavery not in isolation but as part of a wider campaign for equalityand social justice. He wrote: “I see much here to remind me of myformer condition, and I confess I should be ashamed to lift up my voice againstAmerican slavery, but that I know the cause of humanity is one the world over.”

At the unveiling of the statue there was a group ofyoung people from universities across the USA who are Frederick DouglassFellows. They have been in Ireland for a week learning about his time here.Also present were Professor Christine Kinealy and Don Mullan who have writtenextensively on Douglass and Takura Donald Makoni who is a policy officer withthe African Caribbean Support Organisation in Belfast.

Christine Kinealy is a historian, author and founding director of Ireland's Great HungerInstitute at Quinnipiac University inConnecticut. She has written extensively on Daniel O’Connell, the Great Hungerand, of course Frederick Douglass. In 2018 she published two authoritativevolumes on the life and times of Douglass and his visits to Ireland and toBelfast.

Douglass’s closeassociation with Belfast is a part of our history that needs to be told andretold. It is also a reminder that the evil of slavery and the desperate plightof refugees and asylum seekers are still with us.  Slavery is not thepast. It is the present. Modern slavery may involve multiple forms ofexploitation, including human trafficking, child slavery, servitude, forcedmarriages and forced or compulsory labour. Many are women forced intoprostitution or domestic servitude. Women's Aid Belfast and Lisburn hasrecently reported that they are currently dealing with more than 230 femalevictims of human trafficking. In addition, there are millions across the worlddispossessed and fleeing war and hunger in their own places. Refugees andasylum seekers who deserve our solidarity and support.

So, the work of FrederickDouglass is not finished. Much progress has been made but the issues of racismand inequality and slavery continue to challenge society today. Last Christmasthe United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) reported thatas many as fifty million people are trapped in slavery. These are men, womenand children who “cannot refuse or cannot leave because of threats, violence,deception, abuse of power or other forms of coercion.”

There is an obligation on all of us to speak out –just like Frederick Douglass, Thomas McCabe, Mary Ann McCracken and manyothers. Frederick Douglass’s statue in the heart of Belfast is a reminder ofthe proud history of this city in opposing slavery and of the work still to bedone.

Well done to Belfast City Council, to the sculptorAlan Beattie Herriot and his associate and fellow sculptor Hector Guest. Fàilte abhaile Frederick. 

National Hunger Strike March for Cork

For the first time the annual National HungerStrike Commemoration will be held in Cork City on Sunday 27 August toremember the ten 1981 hunger strikers and Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg.First Minister designate Michelle O’Neill will be the main speaker.

The Cork event will also remember those Corkrepublicans Terence MacSwiney, Michael Fitzgerald, Joseph Murphy, Denis Barryand Andy O’Sullivan who died on hunger strike during the Tan War and the CivilWar and all of those who died on hunger strike in the intervening years.

Those participating in theNational Hunger Strike Commemoration will assemble at 2pm at Kennedy Quay, CorkCity. It will proceed through the city centre to the National Monument at GrandParade. Bígí linn. 

 

Gino and the Pen Behind The Wire.  

Prisoners Day is an important date in the Féile anPhobail calendar. The event on August 11 in the Felon’s Club is an opportunityto look at exhibitions, hear talks on issues affecting former POWs, includingthis year an up-to-date on the CR Gas campaign.

A few weeks ago I noted the upcoming launch atPrisoners Day of a wonderful book of poetry, The Pen Behind The Wire, by Eoghan‘Gino’ MacCormaic. At the back of the book there is a list of family andfriends and comrades who recorded some of Gino’s poems with QR codes for readersto listen to the spoken word. Among the many contributors are his wife andother family members, Christy Moore, Lucilita Bhreatnach, Rosie McCorley, GerryKelly, mé féin and many more.

Gino follows in that centuries long tradition ofrepublican political prisoners who used their time in English prisons to writeabout their experience. Gino writes about the international experience also andlife beyond the walls of the H-Blocks where he spent 15 years – five of them onthe blanket.

There 76 poems in The Pen Behind The Wire. Welldone Gino. 

Among them is ‘Easter 1982’. It is arecollection of the first Easter parade in the Blocks  at which the namesof their fallen hunger strike comrades were read out.

Easter 1982

The Roll of Honour wasread, proudly,

And this year Ilistened, hearing for the first time

Bobby, Frank, andRaymond, Patsy, Joe,

Martin and Kevin,Kieran, Tom and Mickey.

I remembered then, inthat yard

In the quietness ofLong Kesh, Easter 1982

I remembered anotherEaster, two years before

When we stood, withthe Ten

Behind our lockeddoors.

Naked but for ourrobes, our blankets. On protest.

We thought, that day,that we would lose ten comrades

On hunger strike,demanding rights that now were greater

Than clothes? And twoyears on

Who could say thehunger strikers did not win?

Two minutes ofsilence. Parade! Dismiss!

And for a moment Iheard again the soft sound

Of five hundred barefeet stamping on the floor.

 

SInead O Connor. 

My thoughts are with the family and friends ofSinead O Connor. Acres of words have been written about her since the sad,abrupt news of her death. But the most poignant are the stories of the manyquiet acts of kindness she was involved in.

A fierce warrior woman with a mighty voice and agood heart. Sinead was sound. An inspirational part of what we are. Gondeanfaidh Dia trocaire uirthi. 

“I stand with the people of Ireland” - Jessie Jackson: The partitionist mindset of RTE: Fly Me To The Moon.:

 

“I stand with the people of Ireland” - JessieJackson

Reverend Jesse Jackson has been a long-standingfriend of Ireland and an advocate for equality and peace. He has visited heremany times and I have been fortunate to have also had the opportunity to meethim in the USA. During a visit to the North in 2011 Rev. Jackson said:“The pattern of communities struggling for freedom, justice and democracy isessentially the same … Where there is no justice, there can be no peace. As Dr.King often reminded us, peace is not the absence of noise but the presence ofjustice.”

On his last visit in June 2017 Rev. Jackson openedthe newly rebuilt Museum of Free Derry along with Fiachra McGuinness and hismother Bernie. He also visited Martin’s graveside. Four months later Rev.Jackson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

As well as telling the story of Bloody Sunday themuseum is dedicated to the civil rights movement which drew inspirationfrom the African-American civil rights struggle in the USA. Jesse Jackson was partof the leadership of that movement and was with Martin Luther King when he wasassassinated in April 1968. He is an iconic figure for all of those across theworld who struggle for civil rights and social and economic justice.

Last week Rev Jackson, now aged 81, announced thathe was stepping down as head of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition whichhe founded. Despite this move he and the Rainbow Coalition have made it clearthat his commitment to civil rights is unwavering, and he will now focus on“teaching ministers how to fight for social justice and continue the freedommovement.”

In 2020 Rev Jackson sent a video message tothe annual New York-New Belfast conference. He told his Irish and Americanaudience: ““We're not going backwards; we're not going to give up. There's asense of spirituality in our marches. 

It's a healing time, it's hope time. I stand withpeople of Ireland and Irish Americans and Irish in Ireland. Fred Douglasswas there, and I've been there. I look forward to coming to Ireland again.Please let me come back. I love you guys very much.”

Well we love him to and would very much hope thathe would come back for a visit. Until then we extend our solidarity to a uniqueand inspirational leader and to his family.

PS

Next week a statue of Frederick Douglass is beingunveiled in Belfast. More of that then. 

 

 

The partitionist mindset of RTE

The recent controversies surrounding RTE –problematic payments, a lack of transparency, questionable management, deeplyflawed oversight, the blocking of GAA matches to the North, the GAAGO saga andthe geo-blocking of the Women’s FIFA World Cup into the North– and much more,will have surprised few who have watched the unacceptable behaviour ofgovernments and RTE Executives and management over many decades.

Many will remember the failure of RTE over theyears to hold successive governments to account, to expose the corruptionwithin the political system or to challenge the golden circles and the elites.

In addition, the partitionist mindset withinsections of the RTE big shots that has dictated strategy and policy, especiallysince 1969, led some in that institution to think it was ok to produce a map ofIreland that disappeared the North into the Atlantic and created a newcoastline running from Donegal to Louth. Worse their reflection of life in thispart of the island during the decades of conflict frequently bordered on theshameful and misrepresented the lived experience of nationalists andrepublicans living under military occupation.

Not all RTE staff follow that agenda. I have metmany fine, fair minded and courageous journalists and others who do their bestto inform and educate listeners and viewers and I love some RTE programmesespecially radio programmes.

ButSection 31, imposed by a Fianna Fáil government in 1971 was ruthlessly applied,especially after the Labour Minister Conor Cruise O’Brien included Sinn Fein in1976 among the banned organisations. Songs of a national character – some olderthan the state - were banned from the airwaves. Sinn Fein activists who werewitnesses to non-political events were banned.

Overthe years I have had many a run in with the powers that be in RTE.

Onone occasion in 1993 I published a book of short stories – The Street andother stories. My publisher, Steve MacDonogh of Brandon decided to go for ashort twenty-second radio advertisement on RTE. The advert was as follows “Thisis Gerry Adams speaking. My new book is called The Street and otherstories and it’s on sale in good book shops in the 32 counties. Mostof the stories are about ordinary people and everyday events and there’s a fairbit of craic in them also. That’s The Street and other stories andthis is Gerry Adams. I think you might enjoy it. Slán.’

RTErefused to carry the ad and Steve took the case to the Dublin High Court. Theformer Labour Party Minister, Conor Cruise O’Brien, testified in defence ofbanning the advertisement. He claimed that my short stories were thinlydisguised propaganda for the IRA. In his submission O’Brien argued that whilethe advert was not political the opening words would offend and corrupt theIrish public.  “I have in mind” he said, “the opening words ‘This is GerryAdams speaking.’” The court found in favour of RTE and Section 31.

Inthree years – 2026 – RTE will celebrate 100 years as a public servicebroadcaster. The new Authority and management need to demonstrate that they arein fact and in action a national broadcaster - a real public servicebroadcaster for all the people of the island of Ireland.

 

Fly Me To The Moon.

I am a longtime fan ofTony  Bennett. News of his death atthe fine age of ninety six bringsan end to an amazing life and a wonderful singing career lasting oversixty years. In more recent times this column reviewed an album he didwith Lady GaGa. Cheek to Cheek is anenvigorating stroll through some old favourites likeAnything Goes alongside more modern melodies. Tony Bennett wasthen  94 years of age. He was  also suffering fromAltzeimers. You wouldn’tknow that from listening to him singing on that album.

Tony Bennett is celebrated forhis decades of singing hit songs.  But he has also been alife long activist, a dedicated pacifist and an advocate for socialjustice and a cleaner environment. He marched with Martin Luther King in theSelma to Montgomery Civil Rights demonstration. He is also anacclaimed painter whose work has raisedmillions for good causes.But it is his singing that most of us enjoy. I have had the good luckto hear him sing live a few times. These wereduring conferences organised by TheClinton Global Initiative(CGI) in New York. He sang a few songs to round offthe evenings. 

I recalled one  suchevent in one of these columns once before. No harm to do so again. It was inCarnegie Hall.  It has long been my habit, as RG will testify, toslip out off gatherings as quickly as possible. I used to slegg MartinMcGuinness for the slowness of his exiting from events. ‘Getting youout of there is like getting a drunk out off a public house’  Iwould berate him. RG is even worse thanthat.  Me?  Once the business is done I vamoose.Lots of times by side doors or back entrances.  So itwas in Carnegie Hall. The main exits were blocked by slow moving CGIattendees, all of us bouyed up by Tony  Bennett’s closing performance.So as is my wont I exited stage left, out a sidedoor,crooning ‘I left my heart in Ballymurphy’ quietly to myself.

Theside door opened up onto West 56th Street. From there itwas only a matter of yards to 7th Avenue and the Sheraton Hotel– where we were staying. I was so happyat my good luck - at other times I have succesfully withdrawn from agig only to be lost in a maze of corridors or back entries.

Guess what?

Standing onhis own, in the corridor leading to outside, was Tony Bennett. Iopened the door for him and he walked out as a limo easedby to pick him up. As he passed he saluted me. AndRG.  

‘Goodnight Mr Adams’ he said.

‘Good night Mr Bennett’ Ireplied.

Starstruck.

Ní bheidh a leithid arisann. 

 

 

Slán Irish Voice: Every Brilliant Thing: War Crimes in Jenin

 

Slán Irish Voice

Two weeks ago Niall O’Dowd, founder of the IrishAmerican newspaper The Irish Voice announced that it was to close after 36years. The New York based Irish Voice and the Irish Echo were the principlesources of news for decades of Irish Americans and new Irish immigrants movingto the USA. Now the Irish Voice is gone. But a far sighted Niall O’Dowdrealised some years ago the direction of travel for newspapers competingagainst the huge growth in online media services and founded the online IrishCentral. Today IrishCentral.com gets over two million visitors monthly.

I first met Niall in Belfast in1983. He was interviewing me for an Irish newspaper in San Francisco which hethen edited. I had been elected as the MP for west Belfast and Niall wasinterested in the political developments taking place in the aftermath of the1981 hunger strike. Sinn Féin had won five seats to the Assembly in 1982 andreceived over 100,000 votes in the June 1983 Westminster general election. Ihad only recently been unbanned from travelling to Britain – it was re-imposedsome years later – and Section 31 in the South, which prevented Sinn Féinrepresentatives from appearing on radio or television, was deeply embedded inthe political and media establishment. It still is in some quarters,particularly the old guard at RTE. 

Later when Sinn Féin establishedour peace strategy and my meetings with John Hume became public Niall was amongthe first to recognise their significance. He played a central role in creatingthe opportunity for Presidential hopeful Bill Clinton to state publicly hissupport for a visa for me and for a special envoy to be appointed and he waskey to the engagement with the group of Irish Americans – the Connolly HouseGroup – who helped create the conditions for the IRA cessation in 1994.

A measure of the importance of therole of Niall O’Dowd and of the Connolly House group was recalled later byConor O’Cleary, the Irish Times journalist based at that time in the USA. Heprovides a sense of the secret machinations that were part of the process:“One foggy summer evening in Dublin, around the middle of August 1994, aman stood waiting outside the Irish Independent office in Middle Abbey Street.Out of the mist, an attractive woman appeared and approached him. She asked,"Do you think Dublin will win on Sunday?" Recognising the code words,he handed her a document and they both walked off in different directions.

The woman was from Sinn Fein, andthe document she was given was one drafted by Niall O'Dowd … In the documentthe Irish-American "peacemakers" committed themselves to a campaignto achieve certain goals if an unarmed strategy was pursued by the republicanmovement. The list of attainable goals included: unrestricted access to the USfor Gerry Adams and other Sinn Fein members; parity of treatment with otherNorthern Ireland leaders in Washington; the opening of a nationalist office inWashington; US government support for the peace process with the aim of gettingWashington to act as a guarantor of any agreements in Northern Ireland; and thepromotion of Irish-American business and investment in the North of Ireland.”

As part of the follow-up the IrishAmerican group returned to Ireland on 25 August. The group included NiallO'Dowd, Bruce Morrison, Bill Flynn, Chuck Feeney, Joe Jamison and Bill Lenihan.They were a crucial part in creating the right atmosphere for the IRA cessationthat was announced on 31 August 1994.

My personal connection with theIrish Voice began in 1993 when I suggested to Niall that I write a column forthe Voice. He promptly agreed. It became an important means by which the SinnFéin analysis and political initiatives could be explained to Irish America.The weekly articles included comment on President Mary Robinson’s visit to westBelfast and the brouhaha that was created around us shaking hands; thecraziness of my 48 hour visa to New York; the IRA cessation; the joint meetingwith Albert Reynolds and John Hume; my regular visits to the USA; the visit byPresident Clinton to Belfast and the many ups and downs of the peaceprocess.  The columns and the two books that were published from them – AnIrish Voice; The Quest for Peace and An Irish Journal – are a diary of thosedays.

The articles were not all serious.Like this column they meandered all over the place – but always trying toprovide the reader with an insight into the political events of the time.

But one thing is clear throughoutit all and that is the power and the solidarity of Irish America with peace in Irelandand with the aim of Irish Unity. Niall O’Dowd made this latter objectiveabsolutely clear in his first editorial written in November 1987.

He made it clear again in his finaleditorial. He recalled that first issue; “We stated right away that a unitedIreland was the only long term solution to the failed partition of Ireland in1922 and our stance has not changed. In fact, there are very few impartialobservers who would quibble with the notion that in the intervening 36 years,prospects have never looked brighter than now for Ireland to finally unite.”

Niall O’Dowd and Voice editorDebbie McGoldrick built a crusading paper. “We are indeed an activist paper; wedon’t believe in journalism that uses phrases like, ‘On the one hand and theother.’ Have an opinion and defend it.”

And for almost four decades that’swhat the Irish Voice did.

So, go raibh maith agaibh to Niall,and Debbie and all of the staff of the Irish Voice for your powerfulcontribution to Irish America and the USA and to the Irish peace process andIreland. And thanks also for your support and forbearance through what wereoften difficult and challenging times. Adh mór. See you soon

 

Every Brilliant Thing

Listening, asI usually do on Sunday mornings, to Sunday with Miriam on RTE Radio  afterSunday Miscellany I really enjoyed Altan’s tunes and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’scraic. I was also very taken by the preview of Every Brilliant Thing which isbeing staged at The Galway Arts Festival.

TheatreDirector Andrew Flynn gave us an insight into this play by Duncan Macmillan.Essentially this is about a young man who starts, at the age of seven, tocompile a list of those things which make his life worth living. This is whilehe is battling with the challenges of the different stages of his life,including his mother’s attempt at suicide. 

Andrew Flynnthen went on to invite all of us to compile our own list of Every BrilliantThing in our lives. I think this is a very good idea. If you agree make outyour own list of the Ten Brilliant Things in your life. You can also email yourlist to everybrilliantthinggalway@gmail.com

You can dothis anonamionusly. Here’s my list. 

 Family. 

Friends.

GoodHealth. 

Peace.

Nature.

Books.

Music.  

Dogs.

The Gaeldom.

Féile AnPhobail. 

 

WarCrimes in Jenin

TheIsraeli Government’s assault on Jenin, the Palestinian refugee camp, in theoccupied west Bank left 12 people dead and scores more injured. Using bombs,Apache helicopters, drones, bulldozers and hundreds of troops Israel’sapartheid regime imposed a reign of terror on the 14,000 people who live inJenin. More than 3,000 civilians were displaced from their homes.

Humanrights organisations have described the attack as a war crime with Israeliforces deliberately attacking civilians and medical personnel. The UN specialrapporteur Francesca Albanese said that the Israeli actions “amount toegregious violations of international law and standards on the use of force …”

Shamefullythe international community refuses to challenge Israel in its abhorrenttreatment of the Palestinian people. Some are going out of their way to defendIsrael. Not surprisingly the British government is to the fore in this.Recently it introduced new legislation – the EconomicActivity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill.

Thestated objective of this legislation is “prevent public bodies from beinginfluenced by political or moral disapproval of foreign states when takingcertain economic decisions …". In other words the British government isoutlawing public bodies, including local authorities, pension funds anduniversities, from boycotting, refusing to invest in, or disinvesting from “(a)Israel, (b) the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or (c) the Occupied GolanHeights." No other state is mentioned in the legislation.

If you want to support the Palestinian people oneway is to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement in itswork to “end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians andpressure Israel to comply with international law.”

Cage 11 and The Twelfth

 

Cage 11 and The Twelfth

This is an article I wrote in February 1977 while Iwas Cage Eleven in Long Kesh. Here it is again for the season that’s in it. It’salso contained  in Cage Eleven, published by Brandon Books.  

 

        How it started - Long Kesh 1971

The Twelfth

We were seated in our usual spot beside the showerhut. Cedric had successfully killed another conversation: all afternoon he hadbeen spewing forth useless pieces of information, contradicting and takingissue with everything anyone said. When he gets contrary like that we usuallykeep quiet and wait for him to go away. He refused to leave, so we sat togetherin silence.

Outside on the Blaris Cemetery Road an Orangemanwas beating his brains out on a Lambeg drum. Egbert was moved to break up ourdummies’ meeting.

“Did youse ever hear Seamus Heaney’s poem aboutOrange drums?”

Faced with the eloquence of our silence he clearedhis throat.

“Listen to this.”

“The Lambeg balloons at his belly, weighs
Him back on his haunches, lodging thunder
Grossly there between his chin and his knees.
He is raised up by what he buckles under.

Each arm extended by a seasoned rod,
He parades behind it. And though the drummers
Are granted passage through the nodding crowd,
It is the drums preside, like giant tumours.

To every cocked ear, expert in its greed,
His battered signature subscribes ‘No Pope’.
The goatskin’s sometimes plastered with his blood.
The air is pounding like a stethoscope.”

“How does that grab youse, eh?” Egbert smiledaround at us, “it’s very good, isn’t it?”

Cedric sneered contemptuously at us all, at Heaney,at the sound of the Lambeg which continued to beat its way into Long Kesh and,of course, at Egbert. “They use pigskin, not goatskin,” he retorted. “There’san oul’ lad in Sandy Row makes them.”

“I used to watch them at it all the time. OneEleventh night I walked the whole length of the Shankill.” He paused at ouramused and doubting grins. “Nawh … Like, it was before the troubles. About1965. It was safe as a row of houses then.”

“That’s what has me in here.” It was Egbert’s turnto sneer. “That’s what he told me when he sent me out. ‘An easy job’ he toldme. ‘You’ll be safe as a row of houses,’ he said. It’s a pity he didn’t tellthe judge.”

We laughed as Cedric, finally needled into silence,glared across at Egbert. Outside the Lambeg continued its primitive tattoo.

“I hear the loyalist cages are having a Twelfthparade,” I volunteered, anxious lest Egbert and Cedric stop talking altogether.“They’ve got wood an’ all gathered in their cage for the Eleventh night. Itshould be a good craic.”

“Aye” said Egbert, “it’ll be quare craic all right!I remember when we used to live down the Grosvenor Road all my mates wereOrangies. I used to go round with them collecting wood and stuff for theTwelfth bonfires.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” restored Cedric. “Yourones probably took the soup as well.”

“Yahoo” Your man laughed, “that’s a bit near thebone.”

“Wha’ d’ye mean?” I asked, hunkering up against theside of the shower hut and edging out of the sun and into the shade. “Wha’ d’yemean, his ones took the soup.”

“They sold their Os for penny rolls and their Macsfor bits of hairy bacon,” Cedric recited.

“He’s trying to say that we Anglicised our namesfor a bowl of soup and a crust. It’s his idea of a joke,” said Egbert.

“Ah, don’t mind him,” Your Man consoled. “He thinkshe’s descended from the ancient Kings of Ireland.”

“So I am. From the King Of Ulster.”

“With a name like Cedric?” Egbert challenged.

The rest of us smiled. Outside the camp on theCemetery Road the Lambeg continued its hollow staccato.

“What we need is a thirty two county Ulster,” YourMan suggested. Cedric was nonplussed.

“Do youse know what was the most importantconsequence of the Battle of the Boyne?” he asked.

“No conferring and you have twenty seconds toanswer.” Mimicked Egbert. “Right Magnus?”

Cedric glared at him. “OK, Brains Trust,” he saidscornfully.

“The thing with the Battle of the Boyne was thatthe old Gaelic system was finally forced onto its knees, and the ProtestantAscendancy was established by depriving and exploiting everyone else,” hecontinued. “Youse probably think that the Boyne and the Twelfth is aboutreligion. It’s not: it’s about power.”

“It’s really the First, you know,” Egbertinterrupted, “the Twelfth took place on the First. I mean the Battle of theBoyne took place on the First of July, not the Twelfth.”

“Well the Orangemen like it on the Twelfth. Itsuits their holidays better,” Your man grinned.

“They don’t even know what they’re celebrating,”sneered Cedric. “D’youse know that the Pope supported King Billy?”

He looked round at us. Your man handed round asnout tin. (A tobacco tin.) While we made roll-ups (cigarettes) the sound ofthe dinner lorry unloading its cargo of goodies at the cage gate drowned outthe noise of the Lambeg drum.

“We’re on the tap for a bit of home cooking,” BigMarshall and Cleaky shouted over to us as they trundled towards the gate tocollect the day’s rations. “Any of youse get a parcel today?”

“Nawh,” Your Man replied, squinting into the sun atthem and then back again to Cedric. “Them two’s always on the tap,” hemuttered.

Cedric was unaffected by the distraction. He took along drag on his cigarette as he continued his narrative.

“It was King Billy and the Pope against King Jamesand the King of France. The Pope paid part of Billy Boy’s expenses and whennews of his victory at the Boyne reached Rome a Te Deum was sung at theVatican, and there were celebrations in the other main Catholic cities, too.”

Long Kesh - H-Blocks in foreground and internee and sentenced Cages behind. Thousands went through the Cages and Blocks.

Cedric looked around at us again. “Look lads, ifyouse don’t believe me read any half-decent history book.”

“He’s right,” Egbert to our surprise agreed. “He’sright on the button for once. That’s what happened.”

Cedric looked at him suspiciously. “Aye but do youknow why it happened?”

Before anyone could answer he went on. “PopeInnocent …”

“Anything to Paddy innocent in the half-hut?”Egbert chuckled.

“Pope Innocent,” Cedric repeated with only a slightedge to his voice, “Pope Innocent supported the Dutchman, William, againstJames after the English Parliament sacked James and invited William to take onthe job. James teamed up with the King of France to try to get his throne backand he and William fought for it in Ireland. The Pope and all the rest wantedto curb the power of France.”

“All this history’s a bit boring,” Your Man yawned.

“It’s the way he tells it,” said Egbert.

“Do you think that eejit out there beating the hellout of his drum knows all about the Pope and King Billy?”

“Nawh. Well to be honest, I don’t know. Like youdidn’t know it yourself, did you?”

Your Man nodded his ignorance. Outside the camp theLambeg continued its rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat-tat. Your Man whistled in time to thebeat. “But I’m not an Orangeman, am I?” he said eventually.

“That’s no excuse for not knowing your ownhistory,” Cedric declared in his most professorial tone of voice. “It’s nowonder the country’s the way it is.”

“Awk take a grip of yourself, will ye.” Egbertspluttered.

“It’s all right.” Your Man said, “I’m well used tohis slabbering.”

“Hold on, hold on,” I chided, “take it easy. It’stoo good a day for arguing.”

“I agree,” said Cedric loftily. “Youse uns shouldhave a wee bit more come and go in youse.”

“My arse”, grunted Egbert.

“Ach, c’mon, let it go.” Your Man soothed.

“I was going to say,” said Cedric, “I was going tosay that after the Boyne – the grand alliance between King Billy and the Pope –all religions were banned except the Episcopalian Church.”

“You’re joking, you’re having us on,” Egbertexclaimed in disbelief.

“And what’s more,” Cedric persisted, “religioustolerance, among other things, was dropped when the English broke the Treaty ofLimerick. Youse uns are good examples of that type of intolerance.” He pulledhimself to his feet. “Youse can have it,” he huffed.

“Ach, come on,” Your Man and I pleaded. “Sit down,don’t be taking the Nick. Sit down and enjoy the sun.”

“Aye, sit down comrade,” Egbert said grudgingly.Cedric hesitated but then sat down again, slowly and peevishly.

“No surrender,” hissed Egbert. “Not an inch,” hewhispered in disgust. “You’re as staunch as a bucket of snow.”

“Cedric carry on, carry on with ur story,” Your Mansaid quickly and magnanimously.

Cedric started again. Egbert sighed. I settledmyself once more in the shade of the shower hut. Your Man stretched himself onthe tarmac. Outside the camp on the Blaris Cemetery Road the Lambeg continuedits musical monotone, and Cedric went on, and the beating of the drum went on,and the sound of Cedric’s voice and the beating of the drum went on. And on.And on. And on.

 

 

Debate on Irish Unity steps up: Well Done Special Olympians: Teach your dog Irish: Féile an Phobail Launches biggest Programme Ever

 

Debateon Irish Unity steps up

Twosuccessful events on the future of Ireland were held in Belfast and Dublin lastweek. The atmosphere and enthusiasm at both events was mighty. The two eventswere part of the work of Sinn Fein’s Commission on the Future of Ireland whichwas established two years ago by the party to encourage dialogue. It’s aboutpeople having their say about the kind of Ireland we want. 

TheBelfast event was a Women’s Assembly and was held in the Europa Hotel.  Itwas opened by west Belfast MLA Aisling Reilly and was independently chaired byacademic Eilish Rooney. Over 140 women from across the greater Belfast areaparticipated. There were women from diverse political and communitybackgrounds.

Some ofthe main topics raised by participants included future all-Ireland health care,governance arrangements, social and economic issues and the importance ofpeople feeling welcome in a new Ireland, specifically those with a Britishidentity.

SeanadóirLynn Boylan who is Vice Chair of the Commission gave the main address. Themeeting overwhelmingly endorsed the view that the Irish government needs tobegin planning for the future and that a first step should be the establishmentof a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish reunification.

Thefollowing day in Dublin a Youth Assembly was held in the CommunicationWorkers Union. There was a real sense of purpose and excitement among the youngpeople who took part. Dermot  O’Brien, a widely respected youth worker,chaired the event and the emphasis was on engagement, conversation and thefuture.

I attended the Youth Assembly and was veryimpressed with the energy the young people brought to the discussion.  Thethemes of culture, music and identity were repeatedly cited as were equality,climate justice and the development of a rights based society. The biggestchallenges identified by the participants are housing, education, mental healthand education. 

For some it was clearly the first time they hadtaken part in this kind of discussion and they enjoyed it. They were willing toshare ideas and thoughts about what the future could look like.

In the words of the vice chair of the Commission,Seanadóir Lynn Boylan, “Young people have been to the forefront ofmajor constitutional changes in our country, not least in Dublin.  Youngpeople living in Dublin today have the chance to live in a united Ireland,something that was denied to those who came before you.  You have theright, and also the responsibility, to help shape that new united Ireland andmake it a place we can all be proud to live in.'

 

Well Done SpecialOlympians

Team Ireland won 24 gold, 22 silver and 29 bronzemedals at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin. The Games were a greatexperience for all the athletes who competed.  They included 73 sportspeoplefrom Ireland who participated in 12 sports with outstanding successes.Well done to them all, to their supporters and families and to Special OlympicsIreland.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver – one of the USA’s famousKennedy family - and a life-long advocate for people with disability issuesfounded the Special Olympics in 1968.  Her son Tim continues this workas Chairperson of the Special Olympics. An Irish woman Mary Davis is theCEO.

The last Special Olympics World Games to beheld in Ireland was 20 years ago. I remember it well. Events were held all overthe island, including Belfast and the opening in Croke Park wasa spectacular event. A proud team of West Belfast Special Olympians ledthe Féile Carnival parade that year and Robert Savage, Conor Maguire and BrianStorey opened the Féile with wonderful speeches.

 

Teach your dog Irish

I’m  pleased tosay our dogs were reared in Irish.But not all dogs are so lucky. So I wasdelighted to come across a lovely little book TEACH YOUR DOG IRISH aimed at thesemutts and their humans. TEACH YOUR DOG IRISH is published by yLolfa in Walesand is written and illustrated by Anne Cakebread. It is part of a series whichincludes TEACH YOUR DOG CORNISH, TEACH YOUR CATIRISH and TEACH YOUR CATWELSH. And for those who have really clever dogs or who have nothing elseto do there is also TEACH YOUR DOG JAPANESE. 

TEACH YOUR DOG IRISHis a cool wee publication with cute illustrationsand phonetic pronunciations. For example ‘Tar anseo’ pronounced ‘Tar un- shaw’and so on. That’s why it’s so clever. Because not only does your dog get tolearn Irish. You get to learn also. So why not try it: www.ylolfa.com.As renowned author Marian Keyes says: “I think this is a great idea.I love it. A charming way to help keep spoken Irish alive.” 

 

Féile an Phobail Launches biggest Programme Ever

Well done and comhgairdheas to all of thoseinvolved in planning and participating in the launch of this year’s Féile 35 –Welcoming the World.

This year marks 35 years of this amazingfestival. The Féile organisers have done west Belfast and Belfast proud. Theyhave produced the biggest ever programme of activities and events. There willbe concerts, music, dance nights, debates, exhibitions, Sports fixtures, booklaunches, LGBTQ+ events, drama, children’s events, Women’s events, discussionson international events, art exhibitions, local tours and much more. There arealso a significant number of debates/discussions focusing on the future of theisland of Ireland and the goal of Irish Unity. The Féile will be celebratedbetween 3rd and 13th of August.

35years ago when a small group of us came together to plan a community festivalthe conditions were much different. West Belfast was heavily militarised withBritish Army and RUC barracks and forts everywhere. It was under militaryoccupation. People were censored. Community structures were subject topolitical vetting.  Discrimination was rampant. There were hundredsof political prisoners. There was no state funding for Irish languageeducation.  Little for Gaelic games. And state collusion withunionist death squads was rampant. The conflict was intense. 

Thekillings at Gibraltar of three outstanding West Belfast citizens VolunteersMairead Farrell, Seán Savage and Dan McCann and especially the establishment'svile demonisation of their community- our community - was a tipping point. Itbecame a catalyst for a culture of change to take root.

NowFéile an Phobail is an international festival and the foremost communityfestival on the island of Ireland. This year over 100,000 people will come towest Belfast to take part in Féile and enjoy the hospitality of this community.

As wellas growing in the number and diversity of events Féile an Phobail has expandedbeyond the boundaries of west Belfast. There are now new partnerships withLisburn Féile, Féile an Tuiscirt in the north of the city and Féile na hAbhainnin south and east Belfast. For more information log on to www.feilebelfast.com

See youin August at the Féile.

 

Stop the Demolition of Moore St; Coffin Ships; The Pen Behind The Wire.

 

                                                                    Moore St

Stop the Demolition of Moore St

Thethreat of demolition to parts of the Moore St Terrace - that played a centralrole in the Easter Rising - has increased significantly. Last month theExecutive of Dublin City Council rejected a motion by Councillors that Number18 Moore St should be designated a Protected Structure. The Councillors hadpreviously passed a motion in support of this.

Ina report to Councillors the Executive concluded that 18 Moore St. is not partof the 1916 terrace. This decision stands in stark contrast to the availableevidence, including confirmation rooted in Council and governmental reports.The Executive’s report was withdrawn but will now come before the Council againin September. In the meantime Councillors have been asked to providesubmissions setting out their arguments for consideration.

TheExecutive also made it clear that it does not accept that the process ofproviding Number 18 with a protected structure status was commenced by themotion in the Council. Most worryingly the Executive states that there exists aprevious planning consent providing for Number 18 to be demolished.

Toadd to this mounting threat to Number 18 planning permissions for three sitesalong Moore St. are currently awaiting final decisions from An Bord Pleanála(ABP). The investigation by inspectors for ABP has now been completed and adecision on the sites, which includes Number 18 could be given at any time. Inaddition, the decision by Dublin City Council to add other buildings to theRecord of Protected Structures is now the focus of a judicial review by thedeveloper Hammerson.

TheSinn Féin group on Dublin City Council has made a detailed submission to theExecutive setting out the evidence that portions of Number 18 were extant atthe time of 1916. These include the Dublin City Report of this year; theShaffrey Conservation Report of 2011; the Broderick Hosford report 2014; andthe Dooley and Hall report 2019. The Sinn Féin group has called on Number 18 tobe given protected structure status.

Inthe meantime the Moore St. Preservation Trust is actively seeking legal adviceabout the options available to it.

Threeyears ago in a similar case 40 Herbert Park, the home of The O’Rahilly, the only leader of the 1916Rising to be killed in action, was demolished in a shameful act of politicaland corporate vandalism and greed. The O’Rahilly was killed in Moore St.

Despite Herbert Park being of great historical significance it wasdestroyed in a matter of hours.

Number 18 Moore St and other parts of the terrace now face a similarfate. Hammerson’s plan has the support of Micheál Martin. When he was Taoiseachhe welcomed the Hammerson proposals. Such interference in the planning processand the use of his statement in a Hammerson press release is absolutelyunacceptable.

James Connolly Heron of theMoore Street Preservation Trust said:

“Theentire terrace 10-25 Moore Street was occupied by the evacuated GPO garrison atthe end of Easter Week 1916, yet Hammerson want to demolish much of theterrace. This includes Numbers 18 and 19. Help Save the 1916 Battlefield Site.Stop the Demolition of Moore St.”

 

Coffin Ships

Eight years ago the death of two year old AlanKurdi brought a focus on the refugee tragedy that has turned the Mediterraneaninto a sea of death for thousands. The photograph of the child lying face downon a Turkish beach as the water washed over him was a distressing and evocativeimage.

Last week at least 78 refugees are known to havedrowned when the packed trawler they were on capsized. Survivors have said that as many as 500 more,including possibly 100 children who were in the hold of the trawler, arethought to have gone down with the ship when it sank off the southern coast ofGreece.

Since 2014 over 20,000 refugees are believed tohave died crossing what is now regarded as the most dangerous route on earthfor those fleeing war, famine and poverty.

The EU and European governments blame the peoplesmugglers who profit from packing refugees onto boats that are often incapableof making the journey. And yes, they are to blame but so too are those governments,the EU and the politicians who have collectively failed to confront the refugeecrisis in a humane and strategic fashion. Consequently, desperate people whofind the legal door to Europe barred shut to them turn to the peopletraffickers. And Europe’s response to this has been to cut back on itsrescue operations leaving thousands to their fate in the sea of death.

Fine Gael’s four MEPs voted to block aresolution in October 2019 in the EU Parliament to enhance the search andrescue operations and provide sufficient vessels and equipment.  According tothe UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) while the numbers making the journey aredeclining each year the numbers dying are steadily rising year on year. In 2019an estimated 1,510 drowned. In 2020 that figure had increased to 1,881. And in2021 3,231 deaths were recorded.

More refugees died in the first quarter of this year than inthe previous six years. The IOM documented 441 migrant deaths betweenJanuary and March. It stated that around “half of those deaths were linked todelays in state-led rescue efforts and, in one case, the absence of any rescuemission.”  In a joint statement the UNHCR and the IOM called for urgent and decisive action to preventfurther deaths at sea.

The two international organisations describedthe current EU approach to the Mediterranean as unworkable. It called on the EU  to ensure “greatercoordination between all Mediterranean States” including the establishment ofan agreed regional disembarkation and redistribution mechanism for people whoarrive by sea.” This places a huge responsibility on the Irish government touse its place in the EU to change the current policies of that body. Inparticular there needs to be a properly resourced rescue programme put back inplace.

ThePen Behind The Wire.  

Thousands of republicans were imprisoned during theconflict. They created a commendable body of prison literature, in keeping with prisonwritings from other phases in the freedom struggle.Former POWs, as well as writing their memoirs, have written short stories,novels, plays and screenplays and, of course, poetry. The writings of BobbySands, for example, have never been out of print over the past forty-two yearsand have been translated into many languages. 

Eoghan 'Gino' Mac Cormaic from Derry served fifteenyears in jail and was on the blanket protest for five years at a time when tenof his comrades died on hunger strike. Eoghan began writing poems on toiletpaper and cigarette papers and smuggled them out to his family who kept themsafe from British Army raids. Some of the poems were published in RepublicanNews. Eoghan also produced cross word puzzles. 

Gino   is a great wordsmith. Í nGaeilgeagus í Bearla.His prison memoir - On The Blanket orAr An Pluid - is a must read tale of life in the H Blocks. Now hehas a new book of prison poetry: The Pen Behind The Wire. Prison Poems 1982- 91. Published by Greenisland Press. It will be released - pardon thepun - in August.

An interesting element of this book is that some ofthe poems are recorded and  readerscan listen to the readings by using QR codes at the back of the book to accessreadings online (on a phone for example).

Some poets believe poetryneeds to be read aloud to be fully appreciated. I agree with that. So I’m delighted that Eoghanenlisted thirty six readers to give voice to his poetic musings. I includemyself in that rare audio. This columnist is honoured to read  BuildingTrouble.

Other readers include Gerry Kelly, Mitchel McLoughlin, Danny Morrison,Martina Anderson, Rita Ann Higgins and Christy Moore. Eoghan’s familyalso read, including his sisterSarah McLaughlin, Alison hislong suffering wife and their four children. 

There are sixty poems inThe Pen Behind The Wire. It will be launched atPrisoners Day in the Felons inBelfast during Féile An Phobail. I will give you details closer to that date. Eoghansother  books  are  availible now at An Fhuiseoigand other outlets. Macallaí na Cillín  is publishedby Coiscéim. Another fine piece ofextraordinary writing by Gino. Comhghairdeas a chara.