Gerry Adams's Blog, page 15

Unravelling the northern state: Last rites

 16 September 2022

Unravelling the northern state

Last week’s census figures have generated acres of newsprint and headlines on its detail and implications. It is remarkable that a century after partition, and the creation of this sectarian gerrymandered little statelet, that the population demographics have shifted so dramatically.

While many people today are reluctant to equate religion with political affiliation and national identity it is nonetheless a fact that the northern state was constructed on that basis. Two thirds of the population was Protestant and unionist. One third was Catholic and nationalist. In the years following partition the Unionist regime at Stormont set about entrenching its domination by creating an apartheid state in which Catholics/nationalists were discriminated against in employment and housing and tens of thousands were denied the vote in local government elections.

When the census figures where published ten years ago in December 2012 the unravelling of the sectarian headcount that was the basis for the northern state was already visible. When the question of identity was asked 40% of citizens registered as British-only. Another 8% identified as British and northern Irish. That meant that 48% of citizens in the North had some form of British identity. A far cry from the 66% of 1920.

Those who acknowledged in 2011 that they were Irish-only stood at 25% and the figure for those self-identifying as northern Irish-only was 21%. That was 46% of citizens identifying as Irish and not British.

Ten years later and the percentage identifying as British-only has dropped significantly to 32% while those who registered as British and northern Irish is unchanged at 8%. That means that approximately 40% of citizens now identify as British. The comparison for those identifying as Irish-only shows a jump of 4% to 29%. Those who registered as northern Irish-only has remained unchanged at approximately 20%. In addition another 2% identified as Irish and northern Irish only. That brings the total identifying as Irish to 50.67%.

In addition, in the last six elections in the North political unionism has failed to secure an electoral majority. In every electoral contest since 2017 the combined unionist vote was less than a majority of votes cast. Put simply, the unionist electoral majority is gone.

In the Assembly election Sinn Féin secured the largest number of first preference votes and the largest number of seats - a first for a non unionist  party. Michelle O’Neill is now the First Minister Designate. Partition was supposed to make this impossible. Partition sucks. On all counts.

 That does not mean that winning the unity referendum is a dead cert or that Irish Unity is inevitable. What it does mean is that there are more and more citizens in the North who want constitutional change. But it must be planned. For united Irelanders this presents an enormous opportunity and a huge challenge.

I was reminded this week of an answer I gave  to a question about whether nationalists could breed our way into a united Ireland – “an enjoyable pastime for those with the energy  but hardly a political strategy.” I replied. That remains the case. Our future needs planned. By us. Not by London.

This weekend Ireland’s Future is holding a historic conference in Dublin. It is doing what an Irish government should be doing –  developing a strategy, encouraging discussion, planning for the future, and holding a conversation about the shape of the new Ireland.

 

Last Rites

Back in the day I used to be a regular mass goer. Not any more. I have always liked the communal and social aspects of the mass and I am comfortable with the rituals involved. I like other religious services as well. The protestant ones are much more democratic than the catholic ones.   But it is hardly surprising that there is a beneficial familiarity about the mass for folks like me given that most Catholics of my age were reared in that tradition. And I like church music. A good choir or solo singer or a hymn that the whole congregation can sing together is very uplifting. 

Most chapels or churches are also contemplative spaces. Holy places. And it’s good to be in a space like that on a regular basis. Arguably nature also provides this space. We have lake sides, beaches, glens, mountain scapes, rivers, parks and gardens. Perfect places for us to catch up with ourselves and to meditate. To reflect on the mysteries and meaning of life.  I used to do both.  Now I mostly  do nature. So when I go to mass nowadays, usually for funerals, it is a reminder of simpler days.

In my youth chapels were filled to overflowing. A mass I attended recently had only sixty three people in attendance.  I counted them. Most were around my age. The youngest family there were dark skinned.  Other young ones, including young people in my own life, are reared in a more secular mode these days. And no harm in that either. Good values are what matter. And no religion has a monopoly on that. In fact some have lost sight of the importance of good values in a maze  of man-made rules and bad practice in which the institution reigns supreme and the message is subverted. It’s all about control.  In some cases Christ has been erased from Christianity. He embraced sinners, the poor and dispossessed. That’s why they crucified him. And they would do it again.

I have never really been comfortable with ‘Roman’ Catholicism. The 0NE holy catholic bit stuck in my craw even when I was in my early teens. Surely there were/are other churches entitled to respect, not just ONE. Even at school I questioned the position of Rome and our own hierarchy on issues, including its compliant attitude to the status quo here in Ireland. My critical attitude crystallised as I got older in line with my political consciousness. But I persisted with the rites of the church because I thought of it as a popular institution as opposed to a clerical one. The church was bigger than the hierarchy, I reasoned.

And besides over the years I got to know a lot of good priests who shared my broad views. So even when the message from the pulpit really annoyed me during the decades of conflict I never walked out off Mass when the celebrant insulted the congregation although I understand why others did so. I stuck it out. Maybe out of contrariness. Maybe my own understanding of the teachings of Jesus. Maybe because I wouldn’t give in to the hierarchy’s political agenda.

The lack of democracy within the church continued to irk me.  This increased as I got older. Especially the refusal to accept women as equals. In fact the misogyny writ large in the official  Church’s  fixation with  sex and the casting of women as mainly to blame for that ‘sin’ became more and more annoying. But it was the revelations about the Tuam babies which finished me. The burial of an estimated 800 infants in a sewage tank was too much. I was sickened by that and the other revelations of wrong doing. And the cover ups and hypocrisy. I know cover ups happen all the time in politics and other spheres and hypocrisy is in the eyes of the beholder but in these cases it was being done in the name of God by people without a mandate or a willingness to discuss any of this. Or to be accountable. Mostly because they claimed these babies were born in sin. So they weren’t worthy of respect. Neither were their mothers. The fathers got off of course.

So I stopped going to weekly mass. When I do go it is obvious that tens of thousands of others have also absented themselves. I always recall the words of Father Des Wilson to myself and Fr Alec Reid many moons ago.  We were trying to meet with Catholic Church leaders to discuss building a peace process.  With a few honourable exceptions they refused to meet me.  I was an MP at the time with a mandate unlike any of them. But they had a mandate from God. They claimed. Or canon law.

‘You know’ Father Des said to us, ‘By the time the bishops agree to meet with the people no one will want to meet with them’.

Father Des was right.

That’s why the church is in the state it’s in today. And while the catholic in me regrets that to a certain extent, it’s no bad thing. A healthy democratic and inclusive society based on rights and tolerance including religious freedoms is more important than any church. The sectarian arrangements foisted on us for far too long encouraged sectarianism and the growth of fundamentalist clerical control.  In both parts of our island.   A truly democratic dispensation and full empowerment of people will lift us all above all this.

 

 

Tolerating of Differences: Colm's Harps

 Tolerating of Differences 

For those of us living in the north of Ireland the English Queen Elizabeth has been omnipresent in our lives for a long time.  From our postage stamps, coins and bank notes to the names of our public buildings.

In Belfast there are two bridges named after English Queens. The Queens Bridge was opened in 1849 and is named after Victoria. The Queen Elizabeth Bridge is named after the woman who has just died. It was opened in 1966. Interestingly there was a row among unionists in Belfast City Council who wanted to name it after Unionist leader Edward Carson whose statue stands in front of Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

There is also Royal Avenue and the Royal Victoria Hospital and countless other thoroughfares named after British Royals. There is Queens University and the Albert Clock named after Victoria’s other half.

Royal this and royal that.  Everywhere.  And this is even before we get to the Crown Forces and all their Royal Regiments or Her Majesty’s Prisons. 

Dublin also has its royal remnants.  For example, for the almost ten years that I was a TD in the Dáil I parked each day in the shadow of a statue to Prince Albert, the consort of the English Queen Victoria.

Whether we reject or embrace this phenomenon is immaterial. Because Elizabeth has been at the centre of it all for so long she has become a constant in our lives. The current protracted and saturation media coverage adds to this. But the responses to her death are complex and diverse. 

Royalists and supporters of the monarchy will be personally affected by Elizabeth’s death. Those of us who don’t share this view need to be aware of it and act accordingly and respectfully. We will also be mindful that Elizabeth’s family have lost a much loved family member.  For them this is a heart wrenching moment. Most of us can have empathy at a human level with that. I certainly can.  Which is why I sympathise with them. 

At the same time I have no time for hierarchies, aristocrats or royalty, whether they are political, religious, secular or industrial. They are all about power for elites. No one should have an entitlement to a life of privilege and wealth because they are deemed to be divine rulers.  No one should have the right to rule anyone else unless they are democratically elected. I believe in equality. In community. In solidarity.  Citizenship.  In self-determination. None of us should ever be anyone’s subject. Working people should always be mindful of our own class and of our own history, our values and entitlements.  If I was English I would be an English republican.  And a socialist.  These are internationalist beliefs. I’m also a democratic. I believe in self-determination.

But I’m Irish. An Irish republican and a socialist. And we Irish should be aware of our own nation with our culture, language, history and customs. 

For many reasons we have our own special experience of the English monarchy. It has been a tragic and costly one.  For centuries we have been denied our right to govern ourselves. The Empire colonised us and many other people. Across the world and in our own place. Countless crimes were committed globally in the name of the crown.  Military interventions into other peoples’ affairs continue. 

So those who support the monarchy should be respectful towards those of us who don’t.  Just as we should be respectful of their views. We have a lot to learn from each other. Tolerance of differences is a good basis for this. 

Society must reflect and include the entirety of its people, not part of them. Inclusivity is vital to the well being of any community, whether a nation, the global village or a local populace. 

I acknowledge the attachment that many within the unionist section of our people have for the English royal family and their genuine grief at the death of their Queen. That has rightly been reflected in remarks by Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O Neill, and Alex Maskey and their comments have been balanced, sincere and respectful.

Queen Elizabeth’s remarks and her important gestures during her visit to the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin in May 2011 and her subsequent meetings with Martin McGuinness were helpful and unprecedented.  Although nowadays the willingness of the London government to tear up agreements with and about Ireland - nothing new in this – illustrates the need to go beyond symbolism in the search for new and genuine rapprochement. 

Martin McGuinness was firmly of the view that the British royals were strong supporters of the Irish peace process. I agree. He and I met with Charles in May 2015. At our first meeting Martin and I acknowledged the hurt he and his family suffered by the actions of republicans. We were conscious also of the sad loss of the Maxwell family whose son Paul was also killed at Mullaghmore. 

We and Charles also discussed the hurt inflicted on my neighbours and my friends in Ballymurphy and Springhill by British crown forces and the killings of Martin’s neighbours and friends in Derry on Bloody Sunday by the regiment of which Charles is commander in chief. We talked about all this and other related matters. Our conversations were important. And genuine. 

Charles is now the King of England. He has a responsibility to act on his own words and on the words of his mother as he adapts to his new role. 

We are all living in a time of transition for the people of Ireland and between Ireland and Britain. There are huge challenges. They are multiple and immediate. These challenges must be overcome. Just as Alex Maskey, a man who was denied his rights for most of his life; a man who was interned without trial; a man whose homes shot up; a man whose friend was killed in his living room; a man himself who was very seriously wounded and whose wife Liz McKee was the first woman interned. Alex rose to those challenges, to act on behalf of the Assembly in greeting King Charles.

So challenges can be overcome and Charles in fairness overcame his grief and one could say there is reconciliation despite the suffering of the past between Irish republicans and at a personal level the new King as there was before with his mother.

So there are other challenges and they include bringing the current constitutional arrangements gently to an end as set out in the Good Friday Agreement by building a new democratic alternative to the dysfunctional union with Britain. That’s with way for us all to live together in harmony and in respect for each other.

 

Colm’s Harps 

I was very pleased to get an email from Colm Dawson from New York. Colm, who is originally from Belfast, read my article about Long Kesh handicrafts in The Irish Echo.

He writes ‘During internment my mother used to bake homemade soda farls and send them up to the Cages.  In 1973, in recognition of her contribution, we received this lovely little harp.  I believe it came from Conn McHugh, Owen Quigley and your good self.

 It has been sitting in my living room in NY for over twenty years.  And it’s in great shape. That wee harp sat on top of our TV in Belfast for decades.  We had another one that my dad won in a raffle at the PD, also in 1973, that sat beside it.  Both are now here with me.’ 

Margaret and Mickey Dawson, Colm’s parents, were outstanding supporters of the republican prisoners and champions of our struggle. Míle buiochas Colm. Anyone else with prison memorabilia stories get in touch. 

Another British PM closer to Unity: On Dangerous Ground: The Chieftain's Walk

 

Another British PM closer to Unity

Liz Truss is now the leader of the Conservative Party and British Prime Minister.  No real surprise there. She is the fourth leader of the Tories in six years. And as each has tried and failed to reshape Britain to a post Brexit world Tory government policy – especially under Johnson - has shifted further and further to the right. 

If Truss’s rhetoric during the election contest is to be believed this trend will increase on her watch. The challenges facing Truss are huge. While some arise from the war in Ukraine most are a consequence of the Brexit referendum in 2016 and of policies she promoted while in government. 

The devastating impact of Brexit on the British economy has been enormous. There is a shortage of essential workers in agriculture, in the health service and elsewhere in the British economy. The trade deals with non EU countries that Truss has trumpeted as compensating for Brexit have had little effect. The NHS is unable to meet the demands being placed upon it. The miles long lorry queues in Kent are evidence of Brexit’s failure. And there is now the cost of living crisis pushing oil and gas and food prices up to unimaginable levels and driving many citizens deeper into poverty.  

So far Truss has refused to outline her policies to meet these challenges. We know that she is for a tougher stance against refugees and is an advocate of the Rwanda policy of sending them to Africa. We know that she wants to scrap Britain’s link with the European Convention on Human Rights – a key element of the Good Friday Agreement. We know that she for tax cuts that will only benefit the wealthy. In essence we know that she is from the Boris Johnson mould of incompetent politics and is set on continuing these. 

When it comes to Ireland Truss doesn’t care. Any more than Johnson did.  She has indicated a willingness to back the DUP demand for unilaterally triggering Article 16 of the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. This would see the British breach international law and suspend those elements of the protocol which they and their unionist allies don’t like. Earlier this year Truss introduced the “Northern Ireland Protocol Bill” which if passed by the British Parliament would also allow individual Ministers to scrap the protocol. The Bill is due in the British Lords after the summer recess.

The EU has repeatedly claimed that the British have refused to engage in any serious way in negotiations on the protocol. This approach will continue under Truss as will the chaos and confusion that has marked successive Conservative governments for over a decade. The likely consequences of this for the North and for the island of Ireland and indeed for Scotland, do not look good. But many people’s eyes will be opened. More and more will realise that British government policy has always been dictated by what is in the British – English - interest. Ireland’s interest will never be served by London. 

Our response must be to challenge this at every opportunity. The British government has no mandate in Ireland. Only the people of our island have the right to govern ourselves. The sooner the better. No matter what else happens on her watch with Truss’s selection we are another British PM closer to that day. 

ON DANGEROUS GROUND.

This is not a book review. It is a book recommendation. On Dangerous Ground is a memoir by Máire Comerford, edited by Hilary Dully, with an introduction by Margaret Ward. It was recently published by Lilliput. ON DANGEROUS GROUND is required reading for all aspiring republican revolutionaries and students particularly of the period from 1916 to the 1920s. From revolution to counter revolution. From the Proclamation of 1916 to partition and civil war.

Máire became a republican activist in 1916. She joined Cumann na mBan and Sinn Féin and she had a full role in many of the events which followed the Rising. She remained an unrepentant republican up to her death in  1982  and kept up a keen involvement in the struggle during all this time. Máire befriended Rita O Hare, Danny Morrison and other activists of our time. Danny gave the oration at Máire’s funeral. She had hoped to have her memoir published in her life time and she had deposited a version of this in UCD in the 1970s. 

But it was never published until now. Hilary Dully has done outstanding work editing and including additional material from Máire’s UCD Archive. It is to her great credit and the support of her husband Joe Comerford, Máire’s loyal and devoted nephew, that On Dangerous Ground is published now, almost forty years after her death. But it is also timely in this The Decade of Centenaries.

This is because it is a republican activists account of what happened during the revolutionary phase and then in particular during the period when the Truce was arranged and the Treaty talks were established in London. The sad slippage into civil war and the outworkings of the manipulation of some Irish leaders by London is graphically chronicled. Máire was in the Four Courts when it was bombarded and later inside the Hamman Hotel when it was burning. She experienced the counter revolution.

There are many fascinating aspects to this wonderful book, including Maire’s own back ground and political development. The footnotes on their own are fascinating. But for me its strength is in Máire’s understanding of the counter revolution, of partition and how it was connived. It is also uniquely a rare recording of the role of a republican woman and her sisters in our struggle. Well done Máire. And well done Hilary Dully.

THE CHIEFTAINS WALK.

The Chieftains Walk will be on Sunday 18th September at 1pm in Derry. It is in memory of Martin McGuinness. So why not join us and Martin’s family. The walk is organised by The Martin McGuinness Peace Foundation. The foundation was established in September 2019, two years after Martin’s death.

The objects of the Foundation are;

To celebrate the life and achievements of Martin McGuinness, as a leader, a political activist and an international statesperson. The Foundation is established for charitable purposes only and in particular to carry out charitable activities for the public benefit in the areas of:

• The advancement of reconciliation, conflict resolution, unity and peace building - locally, nationally and internationally;

• Community empowerment;

• The advancement of human rights, and;

• The advancement of equality, inclusivity and diversity.

Since its inception the Foundation has organised a number of events around reconciliation as well as an online concert marking Martin’s 70th birthday.

The Foundation also organises annual events which include the Chieftain’s Walk, a Gaelic Games Blitz and a Fly-Fishing competition.  This year the Foundation, in recognition of Martin’s passion about the importance of education and employment, has introduced a bursary scheme to help people build better futures for themselves and their families.

The Chieftain’s Walk has been disrupted over the last few years due to Covid restrictions but this year, with restrictions lifted, the Foundation is looking forward to seeing the return of the hundreds of people who have previously participated in the Walk joining us as we remember our Chieftain.

The proceeds of the Chieftain’s Walk will go to help support the work of the Foundation and I want to encourage everyone to sign up at www.register.enthuse.com/ps/event/ChieftainsWalk2022

The route of the Walk will be from Martin’s home, down Westland Street, along Rossville Street, William Street, Waterloo Place, Guildhall Square, Shipquay Street, around the Diamond, up Bishop Street and onto the Derry Walls via Stable Lane. The Walk will then proceed around the Walls in an anti clockwise route, coming off at Magazine Street, proceed through Butcher Gate and down Fahan Street, and out through Rossville Street and the Lecky Road to the Long Tower Centre.

Chieftains Walk New York.

If you live in New York or you happen to be there on September 18 you can play your part by joining in the New York Chieftain’s Walk assembling at the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City at 10.00am on September 18, 2022.

You may also want to attend the inaugural Martin McGuinness Peace Foundation Dinner in the Manhattan Manor on the evening of September 21st.  You will be very welcome. Details are available on the Foundation’s Website and social media platforms.

admin@martinmcguinnesspeacefoundation.org

 

The Belfast Peoples Assembly: Prison Privilges

The Belfast Peoples Assembly

Hardly a week passes now without politicians, bloggers and columnists writing about Irish unity and calling on the Dublin government to establish a Citizens’ Assembly to plan constitutional change. The number of books and informed academic publications examining and supporting constitutional change have also dramatically increased.

 

Under the banner ‘Together We Can’ Ireland’s Future is busy promoting their major conference in the 3 Arena in Dublin on 1 October. Their impressive line-up includes political and community leaders, artists, and international guests. The group also plans to launch a ‘vision document’ setting out their view of the future.

 

Last summer Sinn Féin announced the setting up of a ‘Commission on the Future of Ireland.’ The Commission is a unique and ambitious initiative which includes a series of Peoples’ Assemblies under the broad slogan - ‘The New Ireland is for Everyone – Have Your Say.’

 

On 12 October - the inaugural first public meeting of the People’s Assembly will take place in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall between 7 and 9pm.

 

The Commission is extending an open invitation to all citizens and sections of society to submit their views on the future of Ireland. The opinions of those with alternative visions for the future are also welcome. There will also be Women’s Assemblies, Youth Assemblies and Assemblies in Gaeltacht areas. The intention is to widen the current conversation through public, sectoral and private discussions.

The Commission will seek to engage with the protestant and unionist sections of our people.  Our neighbours with a British identity, and the unionist, Protestant and loyalist members of our community are especially welcome to participate. 

 

If you would like to attend the Belfast Assembly you can register for it at www.eventbrite.ie

 

Submissions to the Commission on the Future of Ireland are open at www.sinnfein.ie/futureofireland

Prison Privileges.

On my occasional vacations at her majesty’s pleasure many of my comrades made mementos of their incarcerations from wood or leather as gifts for family or friends or for The Green Cross or An Cumann Cabhrach, the prisoner’s dependents support groups.  I rarely did any handicraft work. I lacked the skill sets required. In the beginning my artistic endeavours were limited to the production of handkerchiefs suitably adorned with pledges of everlasting love with appropriate symbols. All brightly coloured with markers. Some were for birthdays, or anniversaries. Some were for children and were replete with cartoon characters. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were favourites. Other prisoners painted illustrated and defiant statements of revolutionary intent. Armalites featured alongside Tricolours and Starry Ploughs. Or drawings of our patriot dead. 

Leather work was also popular. Purses and wallets. Belts. Handbags. Celtic art work adorned these. And the name of the recipient.  I never did any leather work but by way of bribery or barter I did manage to gift Colette some lovely and fashionable accoutrements. Some fine craftsmen emerged, particularly from the cages of Long Kesh. The late Tom Cahill, despite injuries inflicted on him in a gun attack, was a particularly accomplished leather worker. 

Woodwork too was the demesne of highly talented crafts men. Especially country men. That is anyone outside Belfast.  They produced Harps and Celtic Crosses. Of all sizes.  Some very large indeed. If I remember correctly there is a full size harp on display in Cumann na Meirleach - The Felons Club. Alongside a rocking chair.  Spinning wheels were also very popular. I did a small Celtic cross once. I have it yet. I was unsure of how to reproduce the appropriate Celtic designs to adorn its panels. Ted persuaded me that he was an expert in fourth century Ogham symbols. He told me he had studied this ancient and primitive form of Irish writing. I was very gullible. I still am. And Ted is very persuasive. He still is. He drew the symbols free hand on my wee cross and I dutifully carved them out. They are very unique. I have carried that cross for Ireland and Ted since our sojourns in Cage Six fifty years ago.  

Music boxes of all kinds, from little pianos to wooden hearts also emerged. All finely engraved with iconic romantic images, names and proper celtic designs.  Some had musical chimes which played when the box was opened. That’s why they are called music boxes I suppose. Some had plush interiors. They were lined with velvet of a suitably rich texture and colour. I used to slip a wee note - This music box was made by Gerry Adams with the date - beneath the lining when the music box maker was otherwise engaged. I thought it would be funny decades later for someone to discover who really made their much treasured vanity set. . 

Joe Rafter - Floorboards - specialised in making models of the Travelling people’s barrel shaped covered wagons. Other comrades produced plaques for all occasions.  At times there were passing fads. For example lollipop sticks or match sticks were glued together to construct - yes you’ve guessed it- harps and crosses.  But these were never as popular as the wooden ones. I suppose it was easier to get wood. Match sticks or lollipop sticks were less available, particularly in the thousands that are needed to make a decent sized piece of craft.  Occasionally some enterprising folks would shape coins into claddagh rings. I think Seanadóir Niall Ó Donnghaile has a Fáinne made by one of his imprisoned ancestors. 

Once I got a very fine wooden garage made for our oldest lad. It was painted white and its signage was Adams And Son. There was a ramp going to the flat roofed car parking space for all his wee dinky cars. I was very proud of it. Someone stole it from outside our door down in Harrogate Street. Tom Hartley lived across from us. Number one suspect? 

The oldest lad also got a wee wooden sword in its own scabbard and a wee belt. Now the oldest lad’s oldest lad has it. Although the handle is broken. But still. It is half a century old after all.  

Under prison regulations handicraft work is described as a privilege. Sometimes privileges would be withdrawn by the prison regime. This usually caused uproar. During the blanket protests the men in the H Blocks were denied all of their privileges. The women in Armagh suffered similar sanctions. 

There were also many fine artists among us. Pat Magee was very good. So too was Danny Devenney, Lucas Quiqley and his brother Tommy. On the Maidstone Prison Ship  I was moved for a wee while to dabble in watercolours. I am including my best piece here. Gerard Davidson was my mentor. This wee yoke lay rolled up in our attic for decades. It looks far better framed and on the wall, where it belongs. A reminder of The Maidstone. We forced them to close this prison ship down by the way. But that’s another story. 

Tom Hartley is always on the look-out for prison handicrafts. A piece I gave him from Armagh Women’s Prison has pride of place in the Ulster Museum. It used to belong to the late Kathleen Thompson. The Armagh women sent it out to her in thanks for all her work on behalf of prisoners. Maybe you have some hidden treasures in your glory hole. Or on the top of the wardrobe. Or in the garage. Or in your Granny’s bottom drawer.  Have a look. You never know what you might find.  These wee pieces of handicraft work are all part of our community, family and national history.  They are a reminder of our penal history. And they helped some of us to do our whack. 

 

The Troubles I’ve Seen; An Dream Dearg - Cearta Teanga; National Hunger Strike March

 The Troubles I’ve Seen

During the Féile I went to watch The Troubles I’ve Seen in Áras Úi Chonghaile. I’m glad I did. The Troubles I’ve Seen is a documentary which is being shown across the North. The LGBT NI Heritage Project is very keen to get it into local areas. The documentary captures the shared experiences and stories of the local LGBT Community.

Directed by Conan McIvor, this emotive and often funny film hears from those who experienced and were involved in the beginning of the LGBT movement. They delve deeply into how their pride and fearlessness helped them overcome the shame and harassment levelled at them by elements of society.

With contributions from activists such as Jeffrey Dudgeon, Doug Sobey, Paula Keenan and more, The Troubles I’ve Seen explores the start of the Gay Liberation movement and the establishment of Cara-Friend. It looks into the deep sense of community and support that was forged by campaigning in the face of AIDS, legal restrictions, and the repressive political situation.

The LGBT NI Heritage Project is a collaboration between the three main LGBT Sector Groups; Here NI, The Rainbow Project and Cara-Friend. They are funded by the Heritage Lottery as well as Belfast City council. The project looks at a snapshot of local LGBT History between the years of decriminalisation and the introduction of section 75. (1980 -1997)

The LGBT NI Heritage Project employs a coordinator but it is very much a volunteer led project, with 15 active volunteers.

It has a monthly LGBT History Club online in conjunction with the Linenhall Library, captures stories, articles, photos and items for its online archive and exhibitions.

It runs an LGBT Heritage walking tour called Places of Pride and has also worked with PRONI on some of their projects.

Mary Ellen Campbell is Co-ordinator of LGBT Heritage Project. If you are interested in this work, if you need help or if you can host a viewing of The Troubles I’ve Seen contact LGBT Heritage Project and Mary Ellen at history@hereni.org or at HERe NI

1st Floor, 23-31 Waring Street; Belfast; BT1 2DX

 

An Dream Dearg - Cearta Teanga.

Last May with some 20,000 others, I attended the Lá Dearg rally in Belfast. This event was organised by An Dream Dearg in response to the continuous delay in implementing the long-promised Acht Gaeilge. It was a great day out. Despite the understandable frustration and anger among the Irish language community, the atmosphere of the day was one of celebration, of positivity and inspiration.

There was a singing, chanting sea of red draped gaelgeoirí all along the Falls and into the city centre. Oul lads, old ladies, family groups, teenagers, middle aged couples. And children. Tons and tons and tons of bright eyed excited paistí chanting ‘Dearg le Fearg.’ Gaels galore. All determined and cheerfully facing the future.

It was also obvious from the platform speeches that the organisers were already planning their next initiatives.

Féile an Phobail saw the first manifestation of this. The campaign group hosted the launch of their lámhleabhar chearta teanga (language rights handbook). The handbook examines the challenges and opportunities posed by the incoming Acht Gaeilge. It gives an overview of the most significant changes that a community whose rights have been denied for so long, should expect and be entitled to.

The launch was complimented by an all-female panel discussion with five activists giving fascinating accounts of the trials and tribulations that they have faced on their respective journeys. All of them are former pupils of Gaelscoileanna, who have used their experience of fighting for their basic rights in actively demanding better for future generations. Ábhar mór dóchais. I was delighted to be in the audience and to be uplifted by the passion, clarity of thinking and strategising of these leaders.

Earlier that day, I was told that the same group had launched their new website. Fittingly named dearg.ie, the site centralises community voices and connects local people with decision makers. It informs them of their council’s current bilingual street signage policy, policies which often place unjustifiable obstacles in the way of those who wish to see their native language on signage. The site informs and encourages users to apply, or to challenge or to demand better, based on their council’s current provision. 

The work of language rights activists right across the north is proving transformational in solidifying the message that Pobal na Gaeilge are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens in the North and that the days of hear no Irish, see no Irish, speak no Irish are a thing of the past. 

Over the next number of months Irish language legislation will progress through the British House of Commons on its legislative journey. However, after listening to those women on the panel there is no doubt that this is only the beginning for them. What has been achieved so far has been achieved without an Acht. So the future is bright. I have great confidence in those who are helping to shape it. There is still plenty to do for cearta teanga here in the North and indeed across the island. But it is clear that Dream Dearg's campaign will continue until the long awaited promise of rights, recognition and respect are fulfilled. Maith sibh!

The Lámhleabhar sets out some of the actions that can be taken now to advance language rights. These include:

·         Apply for a bilingual street sign in your area

·         Challenge local councils to ensure that they are providing services to Irish speakers.

·         Use the power of social media

·         Support language campaigns

·         Don’t sit around and wait. Act now!

It provides clear instructions on how each of these can be used. The Lámhleabhar Chearta Teanga can be accessed on the Dream Dearg website in Irish and English on the new Dream Dearg website www.dearg.ie

 

National Hunger Strike March

Comhgairdheas to all of those who organised and participated in the Belfast march on 21 August to remember the hunger strikers of this and previous phases of struggle. Thousands came from all over Ireland to take part. I met comrades from Meath and Mayo and Dublin and Derry. The families of the hunger strikers had pride of place and many former blanketmen – wearing their grey blankets – and Armagh Women POWs helped lead the event.

At the Republican Plot in Milltown Cemetery former hunger striker Pat Sheehan gave a moving personal account of his time on the blanket, of his decision to go on hunger strike and he reflected on the courage of the hunger strikers who died and of the enormous political impact of the hunger strike.

He reminded us that the criminalisation policy of the British was to defeat Irish republicanism. “So how has that worked out?” he asked.

“The Orange state has gone.

Unionist domination has gone.

Sinn Féin is the biggest party in the North and on the island of Ireland.

Criminalisation was defeated and the injustice of partition and the British state in Ireland was exposed to international scrutiny as never before. By their heroism and sacrifice the hunger strikers ensured that the cause of Irish freedom was renewed and that now in 2022 we are closer than ever to undoing the injustice of partition and reuniting our country. Their bravery set in train a series of events that makes the momentum for political and social change unstoppable and irreversible.

That momentum will carry us forward to the realisation of an Irish national democracy.  A republic where the rights and identity of all our people, of whatever persuasion or background, will be accommodated and cherished.”

A Windfall Tax urgently needed: Moore St at the Féile: Where is the International Community?

 A Windfall Tax urgently needed

The cost of living crisis is taking a terrible toll on families. Food and energy bills are increasing at a phenomenal rate pushing more and more people into debt and poverty. The ready excuse trotted out by governments and most of the media to explain this dire situation is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war. While this is clearly having an impact it cannot explain the monstrous profits being made by the oil and gas industry and by energy companies world-wide. The dramatic increase in fuel and energy costs have pushed up production costs, transport costs and the price paid by the consumer for food and petrol and heating. It is all interconnected.

Strip away the propaganda and the underlying cause is easily explained. Capitalism places profit over and above all other considerations. Its goal is to extract oil and gas and sell them at a price that will maximise their profit. They are feeding the fires of the climate crisis and destroying the planet and pushing millions into poverty. Corporate greed and the ability of multi-nationals to influence political parties and governments, manage media reporting and shape public opinion are all part of this equation.

Oil and gas profits for the most recent economic quarter tell their own story. Shell and Chevron each made $12bn profit. BP revealed that it had tripled its profits in the same three month period to a staggering £7bn. Exxon Mobil made $18bn in the same period. The United Nations secretary general António Guterres recently described the “grotesque greed” of the fossil fuel companies and their financial backers. In the first quarter of 2022 the largest companies will have made almost $100bn profit.

While the profits being earned this year by the oil and gas companies are greater than before, their ability to make huge profits has been around a long time. A recent analysis of oil and gas profits reveals that since 1970 fossil fuel companies have made a staggering $52 trillion in profit. In his analysis Prof Aviel Verbruggen concluded that the profits were inflated by cartels of countries artificially restricting supply. His analysis which is based on World Bank data concludes that in the last five decades the oil and gas companies have been making $2.8bn (£2.3bn) a day in pure profit.

The UN secretary general accused fuel companies and the banks that back them of having “humanity by the throat.” He compared them to the tobacco companies that continued to promote their products even when they knew of the connection between smoking and cancer. In a stinging rebuke António Guterres said: “For decades the fossil fuel industry has invested heavily in pseudoscience and public relations – with a false narrative to minimise their responsibility for climate change.”

Successive UN reports and conferences have revealed the link between fossil fuels and climate change. The threat to our planet and to millions of people from excessive heat, drought, famine, rising sea levels, wars and forced migration is happening around us every day. A recent report in the London Guardian revealed that the big fossil fuel companies, with the support of governments that claim to be leaders in protecting the climate, are planning scores of projects that will drive a coach and horses through the 1.5C increase agreed at the Paris Climate cnhage conference in 2015.

The Guardian report states: “These plans include 195 carbon bombs, gigantic oil and gas projects that would each result in at least a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over their lifetimes, in total equivalent to about 18 years of current global CO2 emissions. About 60% of these have already started pumping.”

The reality is that first world countries like Britain, Australia, Canada, the USA and others are undermining efforts to limit global emissions of green house gases. There are political leaders who are making the calculation that the interests of the fossil fuel companies and their outrageous profits are of greater importance than the lives of working people and especially of those in third world countries that will bear the brunt of climate change and its human and societal impact.

Last week a report by the social policy unit of the University of York predicted that by next January over 70 per cent of households in the North will be living in fuel poverty. This is dramatically higher than the 18 per cent figure from four years ago. Lower wages paid to workers here compared to Britain, allied to the already high levels of disadvantage and the fact that the government price cap does not apply here, means that households in this part of the island are facing significant financial challenges in the months ahead.

The prediction by the University of York of 70 per cent of households in fuel poverty by 2023 means that over half a million households will be impacted or almost one and a half million people will be struggling to heat their homes. It is widely accepted that in some families parents are already doing without food in order to ensure that they can heat their homes and feed their children.

Bord Gáis Energy in the South last week announced that its operating profits grew by 74 per cent in the first half of 2022 from €19 million last year to €39.4 million so far this year.

Tackling this crisis internationally is not going to be easy with so many governments in hock to the fossil fuel companies. Nonetheless we must persevere. A greater emphasis on renewables and carbon-neutral energy systems is key to our future. One step that would help households in the North in the short term would be for the DUP to go back into the Executive to release the £400 million that could be used to help families. In addition a windfall tax on the fossil fuel companies, with the money raised going to help households, is also an essential element of any strategy focussed on confronting the challenge of climate change and the cost of living crisis arising from the shocking profits being made by the oil and gas companies. 

While this cannot wait until we have an end to the union with Britain and self government for the people of Ireland it is self evident that London will not look after Irish interests. We need to do that ourselves. The sooner the better. 

Moore St at the Féile

On Monday Honor O’Brolchain, the grandniece of Joseph Plunkett, one of the executed leaders of 1916, and Seán Ó’Muirí and Cliodhna Nic Bhranair spoke of the work of the Moore Street Preservation Trust and their efforts to protect this historic quarter.

The challenges facing these efforts are enormous. They have been made even more difficult by the attitude of the Irish government. In April 2021 An Taoiseach Micheál Martin met the developer Hammerson, who plan to demolish much of the Moore Street battlefield site. When Hammerson subsequently produced their development proposals the accompanying PR statement to the media included an endorsement by Martin.

The hard work to save this iconic street and its environs, and to prevent the destruction of buildings that are central to the story of the Easter Rising in 1916, needs the support of everyone who believes that we must protect our national heritage.

 

Where is the International Community?

Last Friday the government of Israel launched three days of unprovoked air strikes and artillery fire into the Gaza Strip. As a result 44 Palestinians, including 15 children, were killed and almost 400 were wounded.  The images on social media of children wrapped in their white shrouds and of others injured and crying were deeply distressing. In the last 14 years Israel has waged four wars on Gaza in which 4,000 people – over 1,000 of them children – have been killed.

There is now a ceasefire. That is welcome. But there will be no peace in that region without a meaningful peace process and for as long as the Gaza Strip remains under siege and Palestinian land and water is being stolen in the occupied territories.

The international community has been shamefully silent in the face of this aggression. The difference in attitude between the totally unacceptable Russian invasion of Ukraine and the equally unacceptable Israeli Government’s apartheid system of violence against Palestinians is hypocritical.

The Irish government is on the UN Security Council. It failed in May to take a strong stand against the Israeli Government when journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered by an Israeli soldier. It cannot continue its equivocation of Israeli Government actions. It is also long past time that the international community took a firm stand in support of the right of the Palestinian people to their own state.

 

Sweets I used to know: Britain’s legacy of shoot-to-kill

 SWEETS I USED TO KNOW.

There was a Sweetie Shop across from Saint Finian’s School, just above Leeson Street on the Falls Road. It had a large advertisement for Blue Bird Toffees  as part of its frontage. It was an attractive feature boasting an iconic Blue Bird in full flight.  I call this fine establishment a sweetie shop because my recollection, which may be flawed, is that this shop sold only sweeties. They were there in large glass jars with big screw-on lids. Shelves upon shelves of them. Confections of all descriptions.  

Penny Chews. Black Jacks. Rainbow Drops. Whoppers. Kailie Suckers. Love Hearts. Gub Stoppers. Bulls Eyes. Brandy Balls. Walkers Toffees. Sweetie Lollies. Other Toffees. Refreshers. Bubble Gum. Honey Comb. Chewing Gum. Chocolate Peanuts. Chocolate Raisins. Dolly Mixtures. Liquorice Allsorts. Spangles. Fruit Gums. Fruit Pastilles. Fudge. Chocolate Buttons. Aniseed Balls. Smarties. Lozenges. Cinnamon Drops. Malteasers. Snowballs. 

The shopkeeper would take down the jar containing the sweets you requested - sometimes you could get an assortment of different ones if he wasn’t in bad form or too busy. He plunged his hand or a metal scoop into the sweets in the jar before depositing your purchase into a paper bag or a wee paper poke made of newspaper. We used to get to go there on our way to The Clonard or The Diamond Picture Houses to spend our pocket money on Saturdays. Or after school if someone had the spondoolicks. 

And crisps. Every packet had its own salt inside the crisp packet, wrapped in a wee twist of blue paper. Not so many flavours as nowadays if I recall properly.  

Wee glass bottles of orange juice. Ice lollies also. All kinds of flavours. Walls Ice Cream.  Ice cream pokes. Wafers. 

Bars of chocolate. Cadburys. Fry’s Cream. Macaroon Bars. Kit Kats. Bounty Bars. Mars Bars.  Tunnocks Carmel Bars. Turkish Delights. Crunchie Bars. 

Nowadays they are all smaller than they used to be. Sometimes the packaging is deceptive. Designed to make the contents look bigger than they are. Very sleekit. 

Other shops sold sweets as well. Patsy’s at the corner of Abercorn Street North and Leeson Street sold cigarettes and milk and some groceries also. And buns of all kinds.  Sore Heads. Flies Graveyards. Gravy Rings.  Diamonds. Paris Buns. German Biscuits.  Snow Balls. But not the same as the mallow filled chocolate coconut sprinkled deli-cities. These were real buns. Again much smaller these days. 

Stinker Greenwoods on the Springfield Road sold sweeties and buns as well. Further up the road at the corner of Kashmir Road there was another sweetie shop. They sold broken biscuits and damaged liquorice allsorts. Bits of broken pink rock with fractured lettering in the middle. They were cheaper than the undamaged ones and me and Joe Magee would often spend our bus fare there and walk home to Ballymurphy from the Boys Confraternity in Clonard. 

Victors in Castle Street sold great ice cream. A  Smokie from Victor’s was a special treat at the weekend. Fusco’s too had great pokes. They still  do. 

On good days an ice cream man would park his big tricycle bike at the wee gate of the Falls Park. There was a huge ice box at the front of the tricycle filled with ice cream. A penny a poke. Splashed with strawberry syrup. He would scoop pokes full of his delicious fare until he ran out of ice cream. But not for long.  He would go off and return with a fresh supply. Most days our  pennies ran out before his ice cream. 

That was before Mr Softee and other super duper creamy soft concoctions. This was real Italian icea de creama. Sometimes there were little bits of real ice in it. 

During some of the riots in Ballymurphy decades later in the seventies, on warm summer days the more modern Ice Cream Van, complete with its loudly blaring  jingle, would park on the edge of the rioting Ballymurphians  and dispense ice cream to them until the Brits gave up and returned to their barracks at the Henry Taggart. Then the rioters and the Ice Cream van went home. 

I used to wonder what the squaddies thought of it all. Most of them probably grew up in social and economic conditions not dissimilar to our own. Im sure they grew up with the same sweeties we loved, bought in Sweetie Shops just like the ones we frequented.  One of the main differences was when they arrived here none of the Sweetie Shops in the communities they occupied would serve them. 

So no Penny Chews. No Black Jacks. Or Rainbow Drops. No Whoppers. Kailie Suckers. Love Hearts. Not for them. 

Or Gub Stoppers. Bulls Eyes. Brandy Balls. No Walkers Toffees. Or Sweetie Lollies. Other Toffees. Refreshers. Bubble Gum. Chewing Gum. No Chocolate Peanuts. Chocolate Raisins. Dolly Mixtures. Liquorice Allsorts. Spangles. Fruit Gums. Fruit Pastilles. Fudge. Chocolate Buttons. Aniseed Balls. Smarties. Lozenges. Cimmond Drops. Malteasers. Snowballs, Tunnocks Carmel Bars. No Turkish Delights. Not for them. 

Not in Ballymurphy.  Or other communities blighted by British military occupation. 

 

Britain’s legacy of shoot-to-kill

Two weeks ago the BBC programme Panorama broadcast a report which claimed that the British Army’s elite death squad - the Special Air Service (SAS) was responsible for as many as 54 killings of detainees in Afghanistan in 2010-2011. The excuse in most instances was that the detained Afghan men either unexpectedly produced weapons or made an effort to take a weapon from a SAS member. Senior British Army officers covered-up these actions.

The British Military Police have now asked the BBC for all the information they had gathered. Eight years ago the Military Police established Operation Northmoor. Its role was to investigate over 600 alleged offences by British forces in Afghanistan. This included killings by the SAS of civilians. The investigation was shut down in 2019. It concluded that there was no evidence of any offences having been carried out by the British Army.

None of this will surprise the hundreds of families in the North who continue to campaign for a legacy system that will deliver truth. The use of counter-insurgency tactics, shoot-to-kill operations, summary execution, of plastic bullets and of collusion between state agencies and loyalist death squads is well recorded in the North. These have long been an integral part of the British state’s strategies in its colonial and post-colonial wars.

An earlier example of this was highlighted at the weekend when the South Armagh Centenary Committee published an account of the brutal murder of two young women in South Armagh by the British Army in 1922. The report exposes the subsequent cover-up by the Unionist Stormont regime.

On Sunday 23rd July 1922 four young South Armagh girls, Mary (Minnie) Connolly (aged 20), Margaret Moore (aged 12), Mary Moore (aged 18) and Kate Moore (aged 15) were ambushed by British troops as they walked home. About 30 minutes before the 11pm curfew the four young women were close to their homes when British soldiers from the First Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment attacked them. In the fusillade of shots that were fired Margaret Moore and Minnie Connolly were shot and killed and Mary was seriously wounded.

Two days later on 25 July a Commission was established by the Unionist Minister for Home Affairs, Dawson Bates. Like so many that were to occur in the most recent decades of conflict the process was a whitewash. The civilian and family eye witnesses were disbelieved and dismissed. The Commissioner said of the civilian witnesses’ evidence: “I cannot place a reliance upon it in face of definite evidence of the Military.”

Of the Military witnesses the Commissioner said he was “greatly impressed” by their accounts. The Edenappa Inquiry was a sham. The Stormont regime did not want the truth to be told. Nor was Edenappa an isolated incident. It is one of many such atrocities perpetrated by the British state in Ireland.

Three months ago the British government introduced legislation entitled The Northern Ireland (NI) Troubles (Legacy & Reconciliation) Bill. It will ban all investigations, inquests, and all future civil actions. This is in effect an amnesty Bill.

100 years on from the murders of Margaret Moore and Minnie Connolly and the wounding of Mary the British government is still engaged in the same techniques of cover-up and whitewash.

 

I love benches: Stand up against sectarianism

 I love benches. 

I like to spend as much time as I can outdoors. Now in case I give the wrong impression let me make it clear that I am not all the time walking or hiking. I do do that sometimes but mostly I just sit. That’s why I like benches. I have one I inherited from our old neighbour Billy McCulloch. Truth to tell I inherited only the metal ends. The wooden stays had long ago given up. Billy was a great wee man. A lover of poetry. The lads in the Mens’ Shed in Cooley fixed his bench for me.  I celebrate Billy’s friendship by sitting on his bench and raising a glass to his memory. Then I read aloud a poem. One of Seamus Heaney’s or Patrick Kavanagh’s. So that bench to me will always be Wee Billy’s bench.  

The late great Desi Ferguson made me a magnificent bench. Des was a mighty worker with wood as well as a great footballer and a lovely hurler. And a great friend.  His bench is mighty. He made me other pieces of wooden furniture. Martin McGuinness also benefitted from Des’s generosity and his wood working skills. Des’s bench will last longer than me. It outlasted Des. And Martin. It is constructed from old hard wood and it is shaped to allow the sitter maximum comfort. The arms also are constructed to allow you to set a glass or a plate beside you. They widen out. Handy. I think of Des often but feel especially close to him when I am seated in the bench he made especially for me.  Go raibh maith agat Des. 

I think there should be benches in all our public spaces.  In the Falls Park some benches are dedicated to local people. That’s a nice idea. There are good benches in the City Cemetery also. But only at the front. Why not at the back?  And why not outside it?  There are none at all in Milltown I note. Why not?

Decades ago when our community set out to reclaim our public spaces some people understandably were concerned that these revamped areas would be overrun by anti social elements. Others felt that we could not let this determine how we live. That was my view also. We needed strategies and resources to address anti social behaviour and many good people do this in multiple ways. From Féile, to numerous youth initiatives, our local schools, multiple sporting groups, a brilliant community and voluntary sector. We are blessed with good people. 

And in the meantime our civic space increases from the new walk ways on the mountain, to Colin Glen, the Bog Meadows, Dam on the Springfield Road, the wonderful Dunville and Falls Parks,  new Greenways, Casement and the upcoming development of that part of the district. The revamped Saint Comgall’s. The front of Coláiste Feirste.  Our mountain trails would benefit greatly from a few strategically place discreet benches. Not all of us can hunker down in the heather. The views are magnificent. Imagine sitting there in comfort above it all. On a nice bench. Looking over to Scotland and Strangford. Or Lough Neagh. And the Sperrins. Or the Mournes. 

It’s also great to see the many coffee shops and other wee eateries with their pavement tables and chairs being well used in this good weather. Though I note a number of shabby derelict shops in marked contrast to our new prize winning architecture.  But I’m sure that these too will be sorted out in the time ahead. 

In the meantime let’s dot our streetscapes with benches. A community bench is a very democratic civic essential. It encourages people to get out in the knowledge that they will have a place to sit if the notion or the need takes them. It becomes a focal point for pedestrians to take a wee rest and watch the world go by or if the mood takes them to have a yarn with other citizens. Bí do shui agus lig do scith.

For example the bottom of the Whiterock Road where it joins the Falls’ is perfect for a bench.

And up above Connolly House at The Busy Bee? Surely space for a few benches? And throughout our neighbourhoods. Little civic spaces. Wee community gardens. Community benches. 

 

Stand up against sectarianism

Controversy, sectarian threats and violence have long been associated with the 11 July bonfires and the marching season. ‘Kick the Pope’ bands and sectarian hate music and songs are a regular feature of many loyal order parades. This year yet again election posters of Sinn Féin, SDLP and Alliance representatives competed with each other for space on bonfires. Effigies of Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle O’Neill and Naoimi Long were hung from makeshift gallows. Sectarian, misogynistic and abusive slogans were nailed to bonfires. Among them; ‘KAT – Kill all Taigs,’ ‘All Taigs are targets’.

This year also a young man in Larne fell to his death as the bonfire builders competed with each other over who could build the biggest and the highest.

This aspect of what unionism euphemistically describes as ‘culture’ can be traced back at least 200 years. The Orange Order was established to defend British interests and British domination in Ireland. Andrew Boyd’s seminal book – ‘Holy War in Belfast’ – and Michael Farrell’s ‘Orange State’ are among those which record the use of sectarianism by the British state and the unionist political elite to maintain their supremacy in the 19th and 20thcenturies. 

Sectarian riots and pogroms were a familiar pattern in Belfast during this period. Effigies also played their part. Lundy or an effigy of him is burned every year in Derry as part of the Lundy’s Day parade to mark the 1688 Siege of Derry. Lundy was the governor of Derry who offered to surrender but was thwarted when the apprentice boys locked the city gates.   

One of the worst examples of prolonged sectarian violence occurred in August 1864 when loyalists burned an effigy of Daniel O’Connell on the Boyne Bridge between Durham Street and Sandy Row and then attacked the Catholic Pound area in the Falls area. In the days of violence across Belfast that followed 11 died and hundreds were injured. Over 800 families were forced to flee their homes and 247 dwellings were destroyed.  

Despite the sectarianism that surrounds the July bonfires there are those in the media and within political unionism who insist it’s not threatening but part of the cultural tradition of unionism. If similar effigies and slogans against people of colour or Muslims or Jews were to appear in any other state within the European Union or in the USA or indeed in Britain they would immediately be labelled as hate crime and action taken to remove them and to hold those responsible legally accountable. Not here.

Instead we have the PSNI and prosecution service failing to stand up to this behaviour. No action taken to remove the offending material. No action taken to dismantle bonfires that carry this material. And little prospect of charges for hate crime being taken in the time ahead. I have personal experience of this. In the past I have made complaints about sectarian threats made against me. I understand the frustration that many now feel following another July bonfire period. It is unacceptable. Let the Twelfth be celebrated. The Orange tradition is part of what we are. But the unacceptable excesses around the bonfires, the sectarian chants or songs, and some of the locations and size of the bonfires cannot be tolerated. 

If we are to build a better future there can be no place for sectarianism – no matter who is responsible. The Good Friday Agreement clearly states that citizens have the right to ‘freedom from sectarian harassment.’ We have to make this core principle a reality by enshrining into law an effective legal definition of sectarianism with legal sanctions and robust incitement to hatred provisions. Those who use effigies and slogans and posters as symbols of hate must know without a doubt that they will be prosecuted. And if anyone wants to build a bonfire there should be rules and regulations governing where and when and how high. 

In the new Ireland there will be a place for the Orange. Marches and bonfires will be part of that. But there can be no tolerance of sectarianism and hate from wherever it comes.

Scots set date for Independence referendum; After Boris what next?; LiUNA and Terry O'Sullivan

 Scots set date for independence referendum. 

The Government of Scotland has moved decisively by setting the date for a referendum on sovereignty and independence. 19 October 2023 is that date. Its decision has already won support among Scottish voters. A poll published recently in the Times showed that those for and against independence are neck and neck. 48% of those surveyed were in favour of independence while 47% were against.

In June the Scottish government began publishing a series of detailed documents spelling out the advantages of ending the Union. A crucial part of this is reversing the Brexit disaster by rejoining the European Union.

On 28 June, in a coordinated series of initiatives intended to politically and legally challenge the Tory government the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that she had written to Boris Johnson seeking formal consent for the referendum vote to take place. If Johnson (or his successor) refuses, she said the Scottish government would press on regardless.

On the same day Scotland's top law officer, the Lord Advocate, served papers on the Supreme Court in London seeking clarity on the legality of Scotland going ahead with a referendum. And as the First Minister spoke to the media the Scottish government published a Referendum Bill.

Scotland’s First Minister made it clear that if the Westminster government obstructs a referendum then the Scottish government would fight the next general election on a single issue platform – a de facto referendum on independence.

According to media reports An Taoiseach Micheál Martin “appeared to signal soft backing for the holding of a second Scottish Independence referendum next year.”  Martin said: "Scotland sees its future economic trajectory as being one which will benefit from remaining within the European Union."

The battle lines have been drawn. The people of Scotland have the right to decide their own future. Just as we have a right under the Good Friday Agreement to a referendum on unity. Why isn’t the Irish government prepared to take the same preparatory measures that the Scottish government is?

No one, despite the frequent hysterical and inaccurate attacks claiming Sinn Fein wants the referendum immediately, believes that a referendum should be held quickly. The referendum on unity is a major constitutional initiative. It will have profound implications for all the people of Ireland and for our future. We need to prepare for it. We need to debate the possible new governmental structures required; how we will reshape and integrate governmental departments; what will the economy, education, and environmental protections look like; as well as the cultural and rights based protections essential to ensuring equality and providing human rights guarantees for all citizens.

The primary responsibility for this rests on the shoulders of the Irish government. It is a responsibility that An Taoiseach Micheál Martin is shirking.

The Scottish government is planning for the future. It is setting out the options. It is engaging in a debate. Our government is not. The desire for constitutional change in Ireland has never been stronger. The Irish government should now act positively, and convene an all-Ireland Citizens Assembly to map out a new future for the new Ireland. As in Scotland it is time to prepare for change in Ireland.

After Boris what next?

Boris Johnson has resigned. Mary Lou McDonald’s view that he will not be missed is one that is shared by many. Johnson played on peoples’ fears, as well as the supremacist and right wing attitude of many in Britain who believe the Empire was great and that Britain today is still Great.

He flip flopped on Europe eventually coming down in support of Brexit when he saw it to his personal advantage. His determination to break international law and the Withdrawal Agreement he negotiated with the EU was matched only by his willingness to drive a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement. His legacy legislation which has the sole purpose of protecting the British government, British Army, RUC and security personnel is disgraceful and is opposed by every party in the North.

150 years ago Lewis Carroll labelled two characters in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ as Tweedledee and Tweeledum. Essentially there was no difference between them. They looked the same. They sounded the same. Currently a whole clutch of Tweedledees and Tweeldedums are fighting over who should replace Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party.

With Labour and the Tories making no real impression in Scotland the future of the Tory leadership and of the next British Prime Minister will be determined by which of the line-up of candidates can appeal best to A cohort of Little Englanders.

Whatever the outcome of the fight to replace Boris Johnson, Irish republicans understand that afterward we will still have to deal with a British government that doesn’t give a tuppenny damn about Ireland. The new Tory Prime Minister will pursue exactly the same policies in respect of Ireland that British governments have pursued for centuries.

Wolfe Tone faced the same challenge in his time. “To subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with England, the never-failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the independence of my country – these were my objects.”

That analysis and his objectives are as vital to the future of Ireland today as they have ever been. Tone’s remedy is our remedy. “To unite the whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions, and to substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter – these were my means.”

 

Belfast Mayor Christina Black with Terry O'Sullivan LiUNA

LiUNA and Terry O’Sullivan

Four years ago 374 Falls Road was derelict and run down. It had been a shop, a hairdressers, and a post office. Today Áras Uí Chonghaile is a hugely impressive award winning building and a must visit cultural and historical centre dedicated to conserving the heritage of James Connolly and the key role he played in Irish history, the struggle for freedom and the Labour Movement.

It was formally opened in April 2019 by President Michael D Higgins.  Two months ago the Royal Society of Ulster Architects named Áras Uí Chonghaile as the Building of the Year.

The success of Aras Ui Chonghaile is down to the hard work and vision of a small group of activists in Belfast. Key among those who made the Áras possible is the Trade Union movement and especially Trade Unions in the USA.

Rita O’Hare, Sinn Féin’s representative in the USA at the time made the initial introductions and the Belfast activists found in American trade unions an enthusiasm and energy that matched their own. They quickly came on board and their funding made the Áras possible.

Foremost among Áras Uí Chonghaile’s American friends is Terry O’Sullivan the President of the Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA). Terry unveiled the James Connolly statue in 2016 on the centenary of the Rising. It now stands outside the Áras.

Last Friday Terry was back. As a thank you for his solidarity and that of LiUNA the third floor event’s room has now been rebranded as the ‘Terry O’Sullivan LiUNA Conference and Event Suite.’  Well done Terry and all our friends in LiUNA.

Do Your Job Leo!; The Springhill/Westrock families deserve truth: Looking forward to Féile an Phobail

 Do Your Job Leo!

Some of our political leaders in Dublin repeatedly reduce their offices to the status of an observer. This affects many matters which fall within their responsibility. Quite often we are treated to commentary from a government Minister on public services or the lack of them, homelessness or the cost of living crisis. It is as if they had no responsibility or obligations for dealing with the issues involved.

It is easy therefore to see why many voters don’t take these representatives seriously. Why should they when those involved, particularly some Government Ministers, don’t take themselves seriously when it comes to developing and delivering the policies needed by working people and families. This says a lot about our government’s lack of ambition and their absence of strategic vision. Those involved seem more concerned to serve out their time and to keep their ministerial positions when they should be using these positions to bring about the change which is needed to shape a fairer society.

This is especially the case during these times of great challenges and greater opportunity arising from British Government policy towards Ireland. The latest offering from An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar is a good example of this. He says that ‘a border poll - at this stage - would be both divisive and defeated’.

So what is he doing about this? Zilch! You would never think to listen to An Tánaiste or An Taoiseach that their government is co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. Or that the referendum on unity is a matter for him. It is little wonder that Mr Johnson treats Ireland the way he does. If the Irish Government does not stand up for its international treaty with the British Government why on earth would a serial breaker of agreements like Mr Johnson do so?

Leo Varadkar and the Irish government need to lead the debate for the new Ireland. They need to establish an all-island Citizens Assembly to plan the future. This is the time for ambitious thinking and positive strategic actions. It is the time to raise peoples’ expectations, not to lessen them. It is the time for a new approach by the Irish government. We need to utilise and intensify our diplomatic services and place the constitutional future of this island at the centre of Irelands International mission.

The government also needs to work properly with the people of the North.

If we had paid heed in the past to the excuses from Dublin for doing nothing the progress of the last fifty years would not have happened. More progress is needed. Not less. So enough of the excuses Leo. And Micheál. Do your job. Or move aside for those who will do it better than you.

 

The Springhill/Westrock families deserve truth

Saturday marked 50 years from the horrific events of the summer evening of 9 July 1972 when British soldiers shot and killed two adults and three children in the Springhill/Westrock area. John Finucane MP and son of murdered human rights lawyer Pat Finucane addressed the large number of relatives and supporters who participated in the commemoration. 

Those killed included 38 year old Paddy Butler who died after he was hit by the bullet that killed Fr. Noel Fitzpatrick who was trying to help the wounded and dying. 19 year old Martin Dudley was shot in the back of the head by a second British Army sniper and seriously wounded as he got out of a car. 17 year old John Dougal was shot dead and his friend Brian Pettigrew was seriously injured as they tried to assist Martin Dudley. 13 year old Margaret Gargan was shot dead by another British Army sniper. And 15 year old David McCaffrey was shot dead as he tried to pull Fr. Fitzpatrick and Paddy Butler out of the line of fire.

As in the Ballymurphy Massacre case and that of Bloody Sunday just six months earlier the British lied about the circumstances surrounding the Springhill/Westrock Massacre. They sought to present the victims as ‘gunmen’ and ‘gun women’ justifiably and legitimately killed as they attacked British troops.  This lie and its perpetuation in the decades that followed caused huge distress to the families and to their neighbours, friends and community.

These British Army operations, and the long list of disputed killings, cover-ups and state collusion carried out by the RUC and British forces are of a pattern to be found in countless British military actions in former British colonies. Whether in India or Kenya, Palestine or Ireland in the early part of the 20th century those who protested for and demanded their freedom were met by violence.

The Inquiry into Bloody Sunday and the inquest into the Ballymurphy Massacre revealed the truth. Last week the inquest into the killing fifty years ago of mother of six Kathleen Thompson from Derry concluded that she was an innocent victim. On the same day the Belfast High Court ordered the scrapping in its entirety of the review by the Historical Enquiries Team's (HET) into the bombing of McGurk’s Bar in December 1971. 15 people were killed by the UVF. Brigid Irvine whose mother Kathleen was one of the victims had challenged the conclusion of the HET that there was no evidence bias by the RUC in its investigation. Justice Humphrey described the HET conclusion as ‘irrational.’

These are just a few of the many examples of killings carried out directly by or in collusion between British state forces and loyalist death squads.

In an effort to prevent further damaging revelations the British government has introduced a Legacy and Reconciliation Bill. This Bill has now passed its second reading in the British Parliament. Its aim is to close down the rights of victims by banning all investigations, inquests, and future civil actions.

Relatives for Justice said: “the so-called ‘Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR)’ will hold “secret reviews and then determine what will be disclosed. It will not involve, in any way, the next-of-kin of those murdered. It is completely absent of legal norms and standards. It is, clearly, not independent, despite the title. It will hollow out the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement and thus seriously undermines and threatens the Agreement.”

All of this is a breach of previous agreements reached on legacy. It does not have the support of any of the North’s political parties or of the Irish government and the Biden administration. Support the Springhill/Westrock families in their campaign for truth. 

 

Looking forward to Féile an Phobail

Every year I look forward to August. Since 1988 I have been amazed – entertained – uplifted and excited – by the content and the growth of Féile an Phobail. For 34 years the many people who have helped plan and organise the thousands of events that have been held have worked tirelessly to put on the best possible Peoples Festival. Well done Kevin Gamble and the Féile team. I thank and commend them all.

This year Féile an Phobail has surpassed itself. Over 300 events. Great acts like Paul Brady, Imelda May and Damian Dempsey, the Wolfe Tones and traditional acts in venues across the west of the City. World class arts and cultural events along with great debates and discussions are all part of the ten day programme beginning on the 4 August and running to the 14 August.

These will include the Moore Street Preservation Trust which will be holding a talk on the campaign to save Moore St. in Áras Uí Chonghaile on Monday 8 August. And on Friday morning 12 August during prisoners’ day in the Felons Club Richard McAuley and I will be launching our new book on The Armagh Women. It tells the story of women republican POWs held in Armagh Prison. We hope to see you there.