Gerry Adams's Blog, page 24

My Blog this week is about a Palestinian hunger striker; Gaeilgeoir Breanndán O Beaglaoich and my friend Pat McGivern

 

A   Palestinian   internee hungers for justice  

I want to welcome the end of the remarkable 103 day hunger strike by Palestinian Maher al-Akhras. Last week as we remembered the deaths on hunger strike 100 years ago of Terence MacSwiney, Michael Fitzgerald and Joseph Murphy, Maher was in an Israeli hospital on hunger strike protesting against his detention.

There is a close affinity between the people of Ireland and the Palestinian people. Both have a long history of being colonised. We have been the victim of occupation, state violence, discrimination and forced emigration. The experience of struggle has also been similar. 

Maher was arrested on 27 July and spent 103 days on hunger strike. He ended his hunger strike last Friday – 6 November – having received a commitment from the Israeli authorities that his detention would not be extended and that he would not be subject to further administrative detention orders.

It is absolutely remarkable and horrendous that this man survived such a long period on hunger strike.

It is a testimony to his courage and fortitude and determination to highlight a grave injustice by the Israeli authorities.

Maher is a father of six children and is from the village of Silat a-Dhahr in the occupied West Bank. He has not been formally charged with any offence. Like thousands of Palestinians over recent years he is the victim of administrative detention. This procedure is effectively ‘internment without charge’, a practice used by the British state and the Unionist Stormont regime for five years in the early 1970s.

A person arrested under administrative detention is held with a trial. The Israeli state does not have to accuse him/her of having committed an offense. There is no time limit on the length of the time they can imprison someone. In some cases it has lasted years. Currently according to B’tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, 355 Palestinians are being held under administrative detention, two of them are minors. In the last 20 years the Israeli government has enforced over 30,000 administrative detention orders.

The UN Committee against Torture has called on the Israeli government to: “Take the measures necessary to end the practice of administrative detention and ensure that all persons who are currently held in administrative detention are afforded all basic legal safeguards.”

Israel rejected this request by the United Nations.

In 2017 the UN Special Rapporteur expressed his concerns at administrative detention. He said: “Israel’s use of administrative detention is not in compliance with the extremely limited circumstances in which it is allowed under International Humanitarian Law ...”

Once again the Israeli government rejected this request.

In the last two decades 120,000 people have been arrested and imprisoned bythe  Israeli government. 18,000 of these were children. Gaza which is home to two million people is the largest open air prison in the world. When I visited Gaza in 2009 I was appalled by the conditions under which citizens were being forced to live because of the Israeli siege. That situation has deteriorated,if that is possible,in the years since.

The people of Palestine existing in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank are living lives dictated by an Israeli apartheid state that steals their land and their water and destroys their homes.

In June the Irish state won a seat on the UN Security Council for 2021-22. The Irish government campaigned on the themes of “Partnership, Empathy and Independence”. If it is to be true to these themes the Irish government must urgently seek the release of Maher al-Akhras (who is scheduled for release on November 26); demand that the Israeli government end the use of administrative detention, and recognise the state of Palestine.

I would also urge readers to write to Maher who is being held in the Kaplan Medical Centre, Pasternak St. P.O.Box 1, Rehovot 76100, Israel; or email its Public Relations Dept at TaliYa@clalit.org.il

 

An Gaeltacht Abú.

Comhghairdeas to Breanndán O Beaglaoich, renowned traditional musician, Gaeilgeoir and stander upper for people in Gaeltacht areas. He has just won a landmark appeal against Kerry County Council which had refused him permission to build a home on his own land in Baile na bPoc in the West Kerry Gaeltacht.

Breanndán’s fight has been going on for fifteen years. He was facing the threat of imprisonment because of his refusal to remove an ‘unauthorised’  trailer house from his land. He described An Bord Pleanála decision to overturn the Council’s  ruling as a  weight of his heart.

‘I finally have legal status on my own land. This fight has been about the rights of the younger generation  to live in their own townlands....This is only the beginning. Planning laws must be changed if rural communities are to survive. Without people on the land you wont have the language, you wont  have the music,you will lose the essence of what Ireland is’.

As part of his campaign Breanndán erected 235 white crosses to mark the impact of the depopulation on his home place. His victory is a victory for us all. Proof again that one person with tenacity and persistence can make a difference. Maith thú a Bhreanndán.

 

Pat, Mise agus Marguerite

Remembering Pat McGivern

Pat McGivern was a life-long republican. In recent years she was especially well known for working alongside Marguerite Gallagher in the Green Cross bookshop at 55 Falls Road, now An Fhuiseog. She continued to do this despite many years of constant battling against and being treated for cancer.

I never heard a single word of self-pity from her. Over many decades Pat was a stalwart for the Republican struggle in the Falls/Clonard area. When she lived in Sevastopol Street and later in Devenish Close her home was open day and night to republican activists. She had a generous heart and fed and watered many a weary Republican activist in her day.

As a supporter of Republican prisoners she worked hard in support of the Green Cross. During the various prison protests and through the campaign for political status and later against strip searching in Armagh Women’s Prison, Pat actively campaigned across Ireland in support of the prisoners demands.

An active and energetic member of Falls Sinn Fein Cumann, Pat worked hard in every election campaign from the 1980s until the present day. Her kind-heartedness and caring nature was there in abundance as she cared for over a long period of time for our now departed friend and comrade Paddy Mc Manus.

No part was ever too great or too daunting for Pat. She embodied in every way the spirit of Bobby Sands: “Every Republican or otherwise, has their own part to play. No part is too great or to small, no one is too old or too young to do something.”.

I am proud and honoured to say that Pat was my friend. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis. To her children, grand children and great grand children and to her wide circle of friends and comrades I want to extend by deepest condolences.

 

 

 

Mt Blog this week is on 'A Shared Ireland?' Kevin Barry and Aontoim Abú

 A Shared Ireland?

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised by An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin’s, recent comments on his government’s Shared Island Unit. As we have noted before Mr Martin is not a United Irelander. But he is An Taoiseach with a constitutional obligation to promote Irish unity and the leader of Fianna Fáil, a party with Irish unity as  its primary objective. So some may think he should set aside his  own narrow stunted  personal and unambitious views in order to fulfill his offical duties. And implement the Good Friday Agreement while he is at it.

Surely that’s what a Taoiseach should do?  Nope. That’s not the way it works. As we know Mr Martin is not the first Taoiseach not to promote Irish unity. Indeed he is one of a long line. But this is  to miss the point. I have a certain sympathy with Mr Martin. His predecessors had the luxury of wrapping the green flag around themselves when it suited them. They could wax lyrical about the fourth green field. Unity was a vague aspiration. A dream. A line in a song. There was no agreed mechanism to secure it. No agreed way to end the Union with England. Now there is.

Micheál Martin knows this. His party helped to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement. Fianna Fáil signed up to it. Bertie Ahern and the government he led agreed to this. So did all other major parties except the DUP, though they now work that agreement or those  parts of it they cannot block or delay or dilute.

So now there is now an agreed mechanism to end the Union if that’s what the people decide in the Good Friday Agreement. It states that:

(i) recognise the legitimacy of whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland with regard to its status, whether they prefer to continue to support the Union with Great Britain or a sovereign united Ireland;

(ii) recognise that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively and without external impediment, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish, accepting that this right must be achieved and exercised with and subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland;

Even the DUP accept this. But not An Taoiseach Martin. Former DUP leader Peter Robinson, not for the first time,  argued  last week in his new Belfast Newsletter column that unionists should plan and prepare to win the referendum. Peter Robinson is right. Micheál Martin has no such intentions. But Peter Robinson, mistakenly in my view, does not want the union to end. Neither for totally different reasons does Micheál Martin. That’s why he has no intention of planning for the full implentation of the Good Friday Agreement.

The people of this island voted for the Agreement. It is their Agreement. While the peace it underpins may not be a perfect peace it is far better than what proceeded it. It is an International Treaty. The Irish and British Governments are co-equal  guarantors. The  British Government break the Agreement whenever it suits them. They get away with this because the Irish government lets them. So much of Micheál’s remarks in his Shared Island Unit speech about the British Government’s good intentions are nonsense. He knows this. He also knows that because there is an agreed mechanism to decide our future that he does not have the luxury of his predecessors. He has not the option of verbalised republicanism. He cannot extol the merits of ending the union and planning a new shared and agreed future together for the people of Ireland for fear he gets the very thing he does not want. A united Ireland.

That is why he has set Fianna Fáil policy aside. That is why  he ignores his own constitutional obligations and the imperatives of his office. And The Good Friday Agreement. That’s why The Shared Island Unit does not mention Irish  unity. Its purpose is to distract attention from that. But as Mr Martin will find out that is impossible. He probably knows that already. So his approach is to play for time. To long finger the necessary planning and consultation that building a new united inclusive Ireland requires. But he has to do something. He says he wants to foster a constructive and inclusive engagement on all aspects of our shared future. He has  launched what he calls The Shared Island Dialogue series. I welcome that although there is no information as far I can see on how this series will be organised or how citizens will participate.

We are told that the  Dialogue series will start next month and that the first Shared Future Dialogue will be ‘New generations and New voices on the Good Friday Agreement’.

So this is progress of sorts. The Government has eventually, reluctantly and hesitantly committed to an inclusive, constructive ‘engagement on all aspects of our shared future’.

Let’s see exactly what this means. Let’s make sure this isn’t just another talking shop. Micheál Martin may not want to talk about Irish unity. But he can’t stop the rest of us. Especially if his Dialogue series is really ‘an inclusive and constructive engagement’.  As Parnell said: ‘No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. No man has the right to say to his country thus far shalt thou go and no further. We have never attempted to fix the ne plus ultra to the progress  of Ireland’s nationhood  and we never shall.’

 

 

‘Hold and stick to the Republic’

Yesterday the 1st November is 100 years since Kevin Barry was hanged by the British.  In recent weeks two books have been published reminding us of the Kevin Barry story.

The first – The Story of Kevin Barry - is a republication of a book originally written by Seán Cronin with a foreword by the legendary IRA guerrilla leader Tom Barry who commanded the 3rd West Cork Flying Column during the Tan War.

The book was first published in 1965 and has now been republished by the National Commemorations Committee. It has a new foreword by Úachtaran Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald.

Cronin’s account is an insightful, deeply moving story of an intelligent, deeply committed young man who embraced the struggle for Irish freedom.

One of Kevin Barry’s last visitors was Father Albert, one of the Capuchin priests who attended the 1916 leaders before their execution. Fr. Albert asked Kevin if he had a last message. He replied:

“The only message I have for anybody is ‘Hold on and stick to the Republic.’”

At 8 am the following morning Kevin Barry was hanged in Mountjoy jail as thousands prayed outside the walls. And there he lay with 9 other republican prisoners who were hanged by the British. The Forgotten Ten

Kevin Barry, Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Patrick Moran, Thomas Bryan, Patrick Doyle, Bernard Ryan, Thomas Traynor, Edward Foley and Patrick Maher.

On the 14 October 2001 the Ten coffins draped in the Irish Tricolour were driven through the streets of Dublin to the applause of the thousands who lined the route. I was very proud to be there with Martin McGuinness. Nine were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. Patrick Maher was buried in Limerick. They were finally laid to rest.

The second book is ‘Yours ‘Til Hell Freezes – A Memoir of Kevin Barry.’ It is written by Síofra O’Donovan who is the grand niece of Kevin Barry and is published by Currach Books.

Kevin was an older brother to Síofra O’Donovan’s maternal grandmother, Monty (Mary) Barry. The book is a fascinating account of the Barry family and provides an invaluable insight into the life of Kevin Barry, the events that influenced and shaped his politics, and the courage he displayed in joining the Irish Republican Army and the fight for Irish freedom.

It also contains some anecdotal gems. Síofra O’Donovan relates how Paul Robeson came to record a 12” record of the ballad in 1957. She writes:

“My father related how Robeson came upon the ballad when Peadar O’Donnell and a friend were travelling across America in a car and the tyre burst and out stepped Paul Robeson from a limousine to offer his help.

One thing led to another, and when he expressed interest in recording an Irish song, O’Donnell suggested ‘Kevin Barry’. Robeson wrote down the words while Peadar sang the melody.

 

 

Aontroim Abú.

It’s great that The Sunday Game is back. In between lockdowns I enjoyed watching some junior games locally. I marveled at the skill levels especially of our young women and girls. The camógs were also in fine form.

There is something special about being on the sideline on a fine Saturday or Sunday reliving imaginary past glories and admiring the prowess of our young athletes.

But then the GAA itself is special. All Gaels and other sports fans should be grateful that we have such a lively living Gaelic games tradition and such an association to promote it. Corrigan Park looked wonderful on Sunday when Naomh Éoin hosted our county’s senior hurlers against Westmeath. The new stand  proudly framed by the Black Mountain was a fitting backdrop for a fine victory.

Well done Antrim’s hurlers. On a roll after a terrific win against Kerry.

Our footballers lost any chance of promotion when they were trounced by Wicklow but did well to beat Waterford. The Waterford County Board made no friends in these parts by refusing to travel into the North.

Pandemic or not it was a bad call by the Deise and a correct call by our own Board to travel to Louth.

My Blog this week is on US Elections; The British threat to the GFA; and Terence MacSwiney

 An appeal to Irish America

This US Presidential election race is its final stretch. It’s probably one of the most watched and bitter in modern American history. In recent weeks the electoral battle between President Trump and Vice President Biden has taken many twists and turns as each appeal to voters for support. In particular, how Trump and Biden are addressing the Coronavirus pandemic is probably the single biggest issue dominating the news agenda. It is also important to remember that this election is about more than who will be President. Every Congressional seat is also up for re-election and a third of the seats in the Senate.

Irish America is a huge constituency within the US. Around 40 million claim Irish roots. Where once it voted predominantly Democratic the voting pattern reflects wider US society. Consequently, the Irish American vote is important in this election. Many within that constituency continue to be keenly interested in the Irish peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. Many too are very conscious and concerned by the threat to the Agreement posed by the British government’s Brexit strategy. US political leaders in the Congress and Senate have consistently expressed their support for both. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been especially vocal in making clear her view that any threat to the Good Friday Agreement will rule out any post Brexit trade deal between the USA and Britain. 

The importance of the Irish American lobby is evident in the priority each give to Ireland. As in previous elections both Presidential candidates have set out their platforms on Ireland and our peace agreements. Joe Biden has frequently talked about his pride in his family’s Irish roots and his support in the Congress for the peace process. In a statement last week the Biden/Harris campaign set as their number one objective “active US diplomatic engagement to advance “ the peace process and “will ensure that there will be no US-UK trade deal if the implementation of Brexit imperils the Good Friday Agreement.” Biden also addressed the issue of the undocumented saying he will “prioritise legislation to create a roadmap to citizenship” for the undocumented.”

The Trump camp through its special envoy to Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, has also set out its support for the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement and opposition to the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland. Mulvaney visited Ireland last month and met political leaders, including Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald. He said: “We’re here to protect, defend that Good Friday Agreement that was so hard fought and won.”

The role of the international community in supporting peace in Ireland was long recognised by Sinn Féin as crucial to making progress. We made it a central plank of our peace strategy in the 1990s and strategically engaged with Irish America. That approach saw Irish America rise to the challenge and play a pivotal role in encouraging Congressional and Senate representatives and the Clinton White House to engage in the peace process. Since the Good Friday Agreement was achieved in 1998 every US administration has supported the Agreement.

In the demanding times ahead, as the British Government pursues a Brexit strategy that threatens the peace process, American support for the Good Friday Agreement is more important than ever.

I would appeal to Irish America to use this Presidential election as an opportunity to raise the issue of Ireland with their Congressional and Senate candidates, as well as with their Presidential candidates; to seek their public support for the Good Friday Agreement; and to encourage them to back a referendum on Irish Unity.

 

Gove and the Threat to the GFA

The British government states that its Brexit negotiations are about defending the Good Friday Agreement. As this column has frequently said how much confidence should we put in this claim? None dear readers. None whatsoever. Diddley sqwat.

Michael Gove is one of the British government’s key negotiators in the Brexit negotiations. Last week and again at the weekend Gove and other British Ministers were spinning that there was little prospect of a trade deal between Britain and the EU. Gove said the EU is "not serious" about agreeing the compromises the Brits are demanding. As time for a deal grows short the Brits are hard balling.

This is a dangerous time for the Good Friday Agreement. Gove is also currently championing the introduction of the Internal Market Bill, which the British accept breaches international law and breaks the Withdrawal Treaty and Irish Protocol. It will also undermine the Good Friday Agreement.

What Gove really thinks about the Good Friday Agreement was spelt out by him in a paper he wrote 20 years ago. In ‘The Price of Peace’ Gove likened the Agreement to the appeasement of the Nazis in the 1930s. He described the GFA as a ‘moral stain’. He wrote: “It is a humiliation of our Army, Police and Parliament. But, worse still, it is a denial of our national integrity, in every sense of the word. Surely, is the Belfast Agreement not the greatest achievement of this Government, but an indelible mark against it?”

In his paper Gove also rails against the human rights provisions of the Good Friday Agreement; criticises rights for the disabled and campaigners fighting against sex discrimination; attacks a human rights culture which allows women to sue for unfair dismissal when pregnant and challenges the creation of “new rights” for trans citizens.

Should we be surprised that a British government ignores the democratic vote of the people of the North to remain in the EU?

In this context there is an onus on the Irish government to stand up to the Johnson government and defend the rights of Irish citizens and the Good Friday Agreement.

 

 

 

Remembering Terence MacSwiney

“It is not those who can inflict the most but those who can endure the most who will conquer.”

This is one of the most recognisable Irish Republican slogans of the last 100 years of struggle. It has been frequently published in leaflets, painted on walls and quoted in speeches, especially during the 1981 H-Block hunger strike. The quote is taken from Terence MacSwiney’s ‘Principles of Freedom’ a collection of his writings that was published after his death. In his prison diary Bobby Sands references Terence MacSwiney as an inspiration: “Thomas Clarke is in my thoughts, and MacSwiney, Stagg, Gaughan, Thomas Ashe, McCaughey.”

Next Sunday – October 25th– marks 100 years since MacSwiney’s death after 74 days on hunger strike.

MacSwiney, was the second Lord Mayor of Cork to die in 1920. In March of that year he gave the oration at the graveside of his predecessor Tomás MacCurtain who was shot dead in his home by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). Like MacCurtain, Terence MacSwiney was pledged to the principles of the Republic declared at Easter 1916. He was a poet, a playwright, a gaeilgeoir, and a teacher. Like all of the Sinn Féin MPs elected in the December 1918 election he refused to take his seat and gave his allegiance to the First Dáil.

His hunger strike attracted huge international interest and support. The London based Observer recorded at the time that; “The majority of public opinion and of the press in Great Britain is unquestionably for the Lord Mayor’s release.” There were marches and meetings calling for his release. Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister refused to move.

On hearing of MacSwiney’s death a young Vietnamese man, Nguyen Tat Thanhn, who was working in the kitchen of a central London hotel, burst into tears. He said; “a country with a citizen like this will never surrender”. When he returned to Vietnam Thanhn changed his name. As Ho Chi Minh he lead the fight against Japanese and French occupation and later the war with the USA. Another international figure inspired by MacSwiney was Mahatma Ghandi.

Terence MacSwiney was not the only Republican political prisoner to die on hunger strike in October 1920. When the British removed political status from the republican prisoners a mass hunger strike commenced in August. The British objective was to criminalise the prisoners and by extension the struggle for freedom. On 17 October Michael Fitzgerald died after 67 days on hunger strike. On the same day that MacSwiney died Joseph Murphy died on his 76thday of hunger strike.

My Blog this week is 'On being 72'; Brit attacks on human rights; & German unification and Ireland

 On being Seventy Two.

I celebrated my seventy second birthday last week.
Seventy two is closer to eighty
Than it is to sixty.
Or fifty.
Or forty. 
Or thirty.
Or twenty.
 But I know that
I will never be sixty.
Or fifty.
Or forty.
Or thirty.
Or twenty.
Ever again.
Sin é.
That’s the way of it.
Thats life.
But will I ever be eighty?
Nobody knows.
That’s the mystery of it.
The wonder of it.
The adventure of it.
And the hope.
Me?
I hope to know my grandchildren’s
grandchildren.(But not too  soon a thaiscí)
That’s impossible say the naysayers.
Nothing is impossible I reply.
Content that
We will find out in the end.
Well some of us will.
Until then I will try to live every day
Like  it is my last day.
And eventually I will be right.
But from now until then
I am sure
The best is yet to come.

Fool Me  Once .........

When Boris Johnson tells you that his government is determined to defend the Good Friday Agreement – don’t believe a word of it. When British Ministers claim that their government “is committed to protecting and respecting human rights” - don’t believe a word of it. And when they claim to be a party committed to equality and fairness under the law – don’t believe it.
The Johnson government is currently engaged in the most concentrated attack on human rights of any British government since Margaret Thatcher. 

Last week the British Parliament passed the second reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. This legislation provides for authorisations that will empower Britain’s Secret Service and intelligence agencies, police forces and a range of public agencies, including the Environment Agency and Gambling Commission and others to authorise their agents and informants to commit criminal offences.
In a damning joint briefing by the Pat Finucane Centre; the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ); Reprieve; and Rights and Security International these front line human rights organisations point out that this Bill “places no express limits on the types of crimes which can be authorised. There is no express prohibition on authorising crimes that would constitute human rights violations, including murder, torture (e.g. punishment shootings), kidnap, or sexual offences, or on conduct that would interfere with the course of justice.”

In defence of this new law the British government claim that the Human Rights Act will provide a safeguard against any abuses. However, according to the human rights briefing the British have already taken the position that the Human Rights Act “does not apply to crimes committed by its covert agents.” Successive Tory Prime Ministers and Ministers have expressed their opposition to the Act. In addition, two weeks ago Britain’s Lord Chancellor revealed that the Johnson government is to commission an independent review of the Human Rights Act.

Last week the British Home Secretary Priti Patel used a speech to the Conservative Party conference to attack lawyers who defend migrants. She linked them to human traffickers. Patel said: “No doubt those who are well-rehearsed in how to play and profit from the broken system will lecture us on their grand theories about human rights. Those defending the broken system – the traffickers, the do-gooders, the lefty lawyers, the Labour Party – they are defending the indefensible.”

Patel’s criticism of lawyers was echoed a few days later by Boris Johnson who claimed that his government was determined to stop the “whole criminal justice system from being hamstrung by what the home Secretary would doubtless – and rightly – call the lefty human rights lawyers and other do-gooders.”

The Bar Council and Law Society which represent lawyers have criticised this Tory assault on lawyers. One pointed out that: “In countries where lawyers are unable to do their job for fear of intimidation the rule of law is weakened. The consequences are a society that become less safe, less stable and less fair.”

Another line of attack on human rights was also announced last week with the publication by the British Home Office of a report by the Law Commission which proposes significant changes to the scope of search warrants, the acquiring of medical records and stored digital data and accessing material held by journalists.

None of this will surprise anyone who experienced the British abuse of the legal and judicial system in the North during the recent years of conflict. Special Diplock Courts; special rules of evidence; the use of forced confessions; the onus on defendants to prove their innocence; the Special Powers Act and its replacements the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency Provisions Act; and the role of agents, spies and state collusion in the murder of citizens. Pat Finucane was a human rights lawyer murdered by agents of the British state. So too was Rosemary Nelson. The Glenanne Gang killed 120 citizens, including those killed in the Dublin Monaghan bombs. A Police Ombudsman report in 2007 revealed how one agent, Mark Haddock was paid £80,000 by the British state. Haddock and his gang killed at least 15 people.

General Frank Kitson who served in many of Britain’s counter-insurgency campaigns, including in Belfast in the early 70s, and was regarded as their foremost counter-insurgency specialist wrote: “Everything done by a government and its agents in combating insurgency must be legitimate. But this does not mean that the government must work within exactly the same set of laws during an emergency as existed beforehand. The law should be used as just another weapon in the government’s arsenal, in which case it becomes little more than a propaganda cover for the disposal of unwanted members of the public.”

In essence the Johnson government is applying this principle to all aspects of British Law and in particular to the application of the Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act is a core foundation stone of the human rights elements of the Good Friday Agreement. Any tampering with it is an attack, on the Agreement.

30 years old

There were two great events in 1990 that helped reshape the world and provide hope for many, including people in Ireland.

The first was the release on 11 February 1990 of Nelson Mandela. I recall as if it was yesterday Madiba walking out of Victor Verster Prison. I watched his release on television alone in the bedroom of the house I was in with tears streaming down my face as I stood and applauded. It still took almost four years of intense negotiations for him to become President of South Africa but his release sounded a note of hope for oppressed peoples everywhere.

The second great event was the smashing of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 and the negotiation over the following ten months which led 30 years ago this month to the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990.

Two huge historic events that resonated across the globe and which reinforced our belief, as we were developing our own peace strategy, that no issue, however difficult, is intractable. That with courage and commitment and leadership it is possible to bring about transformative change.

There were many challenges for the people of Germany in making the process of reunification work. It brought with it a financial cost but today Germany is the strongest economy in the EU and its 83 million people are much better off. The 1990 East German economy, and its wage levels for workers, which were years behind that of West Germany, are now almost on a par with each other. A recent opinion poll revealed that Germans are happier now than at any time since 1990. But it is as Chancellor Angela Merkel remarked “a continual process”.

So too with Irish reunification. This too is a process. The Good Friday Agreement created the constitutional, democratic and legal context in which Irish reunification can take place. The debate on unity has become very intense in recent years, in part spurred by the stupidity of Brexit. Even the horrors of the pandemic point up the need for all island solutions to tackling the virus. Together is better. Division is not.

The months and years ahead will be challenging times but also a time of great opportunity for everyone living on the island of Ireland. The experience of Germany in successfully overcoming its barriers to reunification is evidence that it can be done. It needs an open transparent conversation about how it can be achieved; what changes need to be embraced to build a truly inclusive society based on equality; and what compromises will be necessary to win maximum public support.

 

Another part of our history demolished: Like characters from the Gulag

 

Another part of our history demolished

Last week 40 Herbert Park, the home of the only leader of the 1916 Rising to be killed in action, was demolished in a shameful act of political and corporate vandalism and greed. The O’Rahilly - Michael Joseph O'Rahilly was shot by British soldiers as he and others attacked a British machine gun position in an effort to cover the retreat from the burning GPO on Friday evening 28 April.  

As he lay bleeding to death in a doorway The O’Rahilly wrote a last note to his wife:

 ‘Written after I was shot. Darling Nancy I was shot leading a rush up Moore Street and took refuge in a doorway. While I was there I heard the men pointing out where I was and made a bolt for the laneway I am in now. I got more [than] one bullet I think. Tons and tons of love dearie to you and the boys and to Nell and Anna. It was a good fight anyhow.

Please deliver this to Nannie O' Rahilly, 40 Herbert Park, Dublin. Goodbye Darling.

The demolition of 40 Herbert Park again raises serious concerns at the refusal of successive Irish governments to protect Moore Street, part of the “laneways of history” linked to 1916 and where the leaders of the 1916 Rising held their last meeting.

Herbert Park was built in 1907 for the World’s Fair Irish International Exhibition to promote Irish industry. The O’Rahilly family moved in as its first occupants in 1909 and the O’Rahilly’s widow Nancy lived in their Herbert Park home until her death in 1961.

In August the O’Rahilly’s grandson Proinsias Ó Rathaille called for the house to be declared a national monument and protected. He said: “The house is of great historical significance. It is where the Asgard gunrunning was planned, meetings for the planning of the Rising were held there, Countess Markievicz and my grandmother initially set up Cumann na mBan from the house, and it was the house to which my grandfather addressed the note to my grandmother as he lay bleeding to death.”

Derryroe Ltd which demolished the house is owned by the McSharry and Kennedy families who own the nearby Herbert Park Hotel. They want to build 105 apartments on the site.

On 8th September An Bord Pleanála gave permission for the development to go ahead despite opposition from Dublin City Councillors, the O’Rahilly family, the 1916 Relatives, Sinn Féin and others. The approval was contingent on an eight week period to allow for any legal challenges. Several days after the decision by An Bord Pleanála Dublin City Council voted to add the building to the list of protected structures. Dublin City Council Chief Executive Owen Keegan confirmed to Sinn Féin that he had written to the developers McSharry-Kennedy to inform them of this.  

However, with five weeks of that period still to run the developers moved in on Tuesday morning 29 September and demolished the building. Dublin City Council has said it will take legal action and that legal proceedings will be issued but this will not save Herbert Park. It’s gone. And with it another crucial piece of the history of the 1916 revolutionary period.

James Connolly Heron, the grandson of James Connolly who is one of those fighting to save the Moore Street historic site described the developer’s action as “a shocking act of cultural vandalism.” It is he said; “a flagrant breach of the law and a direct challenge to each and every elected representative holding office on behalf of citizens.” He called for the house to be “rebuilt brick by brick, stone by stone, garden by garden.”

If you agree with James Connolly Heron and if you believe that the Irish government must protect Moore Street why not write and tell them that. They are the custodians of our history and of the buildings and historic sites that tell Ireland’s story. Imagine the public outrage if historic sites in the fight for American independence were demolished? If Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted was destroyed; Or Robben Island in South Africa? Or the home of Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, humanitarian and one of those who founded the underground railroad for escaping slaves from the Southern slave states in the USA or the GPO in O’Connell Street?

Write to An Taoiseach Micheál Martin - Government Buildings, Merrion Street Upper , Dublin 2 or email him at webmaster@taoiseach.ie:  and the Minister for Heritage Darragh O’Brien at The Customs House, Dublin D01 W6X0.

Like characters from the Gulag

This column welcomes the publication of the report of the Independent Panel of Inquiry into the Circumstances of the H-Block and Armagh Prison Protests 1976-1981’

On 27 October 1980 the first hunger strike commenced. The years from 1976, when the British government ended special category status and sought to impose its criminalisation strategy, to October 1981 when the second hunger strike ended after the deaths of 10 republican POWs, were hard and challenging and difficult. Successive British governments, but in particular the Thatcher government, believed that by defeating the political prisoners they could defeat the republican struggle. To that end special powers, special courts, non-jury trials, corrupt judicial practice in the admissibility of forced confession, torture in interrogation centres, were all employed as tools by the British state. The use of violence and brutality by prison administrations and prison guards was an extension of all this.

For those of us who lived through those traumatic years much of what is in the report; ‘I am Sir, you are a number: Report of the Independent Panel of Inquiry into the Circumstances of the H-Block and Armagh Prison Protests 1976-1981’ confirms what we already knew. However, the strength of the report is in its detail, in the confidential British government documents it accessed and in the eyewitness accounts of the prisoners and two prison governors. This report is an indictment of a British counter-insurgency strategy that deliberately and systematically abused physically and mentally hundreds of men and women.

I spent a short time in the H-Blocks on remand awaiting trial on an IRA membership charge. My conditions were radically different from those of the blanketmen but it did give me an opportunity to see for myself some of what they were going through and the urgent need for a mass public campaign in support of the prisoners.

I wrote; “I was struck by the spirit of the prisoners. In my other jail experiences, we had been cushioned by our numbers and by the prisoners’ own command structure from dealing directly with the screws; it had been possible for prisoners in the cages to serve long terms with little or no contact with the administration. Here in our individual cells, in the Blocks, it was different. If you wanted to resist a search, you had to face the screws on your own. But the screws couldn’t run the prison without the prisoners, and the prisoners were completely defiant. I listened in amused admiration as they shouted their defiance at particularly notorious prison officers. Most of those on my wing were younger than I was and were strongly assertive.

At night-time on most wings throughout the Blocks there would be a sing-song, a quiz, a storytelling session, or occasionally we would just swap banter. I would lie back on my bed listening to the better singers competing for our applause. We had good singers: we had Elvis impersonators, Mick Jagger singalikes, Bobby Vees and Johnny Cashes; and, of course, we had rebel songs...

I was treated as a special security prisoner, which meant that I was taken on my own when I had to go somewhere in the jail, normally for visits, and this was a bonus for me. Not only did Colette and I usually have an entire visiting block to ourselves – the one I had attempted to escape from – but it also meant that I got to see some of the blanket men when nobody else was seeing them.

They were like characters from Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag, shuffling along in big boots without laces, wearing, for their visits, ill-fitting jackets and trousers. Most of the trousers had their backsides slit open, and all of the blanket men had long, unwashed hair and unkempt beards.”

The members of the Independent Panel, (the late Warren Allmand, Richard Harvey, Dr. John Burton and Prof. Phil Scraton) as well as Coiste na nLarchimí and Ó Muirigh Solicitors are to be commended for their diligence in producing this report. It examines a pivotal moment in our recent history and provides an invaluable insight into Britain’s criminalisation strategy and determination to break the prisoners and by extension their objective of breaking the republican struggle.

 

 

Brexit and the disunited Kingdom: The Centenary of Kevin Barry; and Frederick Douglass

 Brexit and the disunited Kingdom

The Brexit crisis has at times been surreal and bizarre.  The Unionist parties embraced Brexit claiming, as many Tories do, that leaving the EU would make Britain great again! On the back of the unsuccessful referendum on Scottish independence they asserted that Brexit would solidify the ‘United Kingdom’. This has not happened. Consequently, the referendum campaign in 2016 and the debate since then relied on lies, misrepresentation, and a peculiar form of English jingoism.

This column has no desire to live in a ‘Kingdom’. Even if the High Kings of Ireland came back and if Ted became Ard Rí, as was his ambition once upon a time, I would remain unimpressed. So when the King is actually foisted upon us by dint of colonialism and an accident of birth, hers and mine, my dissenter instincts come to the fore. I want to live in harmonious accord with the people of our nearest offshore island - closer even than Tóraigh - and if they want a Kingdom that’s their own business. Ditto with Brexit. But count me out. I’m also not persuaded that Mr Johnson is serious about any of these matters. His fix is political power. Even though that is a transient matter. Just like Kingdoms.

Instead of cementing the Union as Mr Johnson and his cohorts claimed, Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, have created significant cracks in the British body politic. More people than ever before are recognising that Westminster prioritises and protects English interests and not those of Scotland or Wales or the island of Ireland. No suprises there. Consequently, all recent polling indicates that Scotland is now closer to independence than it was in 2014. The debate around independence for Wales has also seen a step change. In recent days an independence Commission published its report in support of independence. Last May a YouGov poll suggested that 25% of Welsh voters now backed independence. And two weeks ago a hysterical front page headline in the Express Newspaper screamed: “Forget about Scotland! It's Wales that could tear UK apart as independence campaign erupts”.

In 2017 the EU acknowledged that the North, which voted to remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum, could, in the event of Irish Unity, rejoin the EU without negotiation or complication. Allied to the political and demographic changes already taking place and despite the shortcomings of the EU this intensified the conversation that was already taking place for the setting of a date for the referendum on Unity provided for within the Good Friday Agreement.

Last year’s Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol angered unionists and elements of the British Conservative party because it guaranteed no hard border on the island of Ireland while providing for checks at ports and airports for goods travelling into the North from Britain. The result of this was the publication of the Internal Market Bill.

Incidentally it was reported in recent days that hauliers who want to access Dover to travel to Calais in France will now need special permits to enter the English county of Kent. Where stands the DUP on this important issue?

In addition opposition to the British government’s unilateral decision to break international law by introducing its Internal Market Bill is growing. Unless there is a significant shift in policy by the Johnson government it’s difficult to see how a full-blown economic and political crisis between Britain and the EU, with the island of Ireland suffering substantial collateral damage, can be avoided in the next three months – the deadline for a trade deal.

Last week the Assembly and the Seanad both voted in support of the Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol and rejected the Internal Market Bill being proposed by the Conservatives. The Tory government has admitted that this Bill will breach international law by breaking the Irish Protocol – an agreement it signed less than a year ago with the EU. The Bill is a serious threat to the Good Friday Agreement. The Committee on the Administration of Justice, the Equality Coalition and Unison , as well as Ireland’s Future, have all criticised it. Last Thursday the four anti-Brexit parties in the Assembly – Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance and Green Party - travelled to Dublin to meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. There was agreement on the need for the Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol to be implemented in full.

All of this simply points up the importance of planning for our future. This includes advancing the debate on Irish Unity; securing the referendum on Unity and winning that referendum. English self-interests are not Irish national interests. It’s time for the Irish government and parties committed to the reversing of Brexit, insofar as it effects the people of this island, to include the need to plan for Irish Unity in their deliberations.

 

The centenary of Kevin Barry

There are few songs of Ireland’s long struggle for freedom that are as well known as ‘Kevin Barry’. In times past it has been sung by almost every Irish folk group, including the Clancy Brothers and The Wolfe Tones. International singers have also recorded it. Leonard Cohen and Paul Robeson, the African American singer, actor and civil rights activist, each sang a version of it. Robeson’s can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSjO9rIwn5M .

Its popularity was such that during the recent years of conflict RTE – to its shame - banned it along with many other republican songs of struggle.

In Mountjoy jail one Monday morning

High upon the gallows tree,

Kevin Barry gave his young life

For the cause of liberty.

But a lad of eighteen summers,

Still there's no one can deny,

As he walked to death that morning,

He proudly held his head on high.

100 years ago last week, on 20 September 1920 Kevin Barry was captured following an attack on a British Army lorry. Three British soldiers were killed in the ambush.

Barry was aged 18 and a medical student at University College Dublin. He was assaulted by British soldiers after his arrest and was subsequently tried by court martial on the 20 October. He refused to recongise the court. That evening the sentence of the court martial was read out to him in his cell. He was to be executed on 1 November.

A massive political and publicity campaign commenced to save his live. The British government ignored this and on 1st November Kevin Barry was hanged in Mountjoy Prison.

 For the cause he proudly cherished

This sad parting had to be

Then to death walked softly smiling

That old Ireland might be free.

Another martyr for old Ireland;

Another murder for the crown,

Whose brutal laws to crush the Irish,

Could not keep their spirit down.

Lads like Barry are no cowards.

From the foe they will not fly.

Lads like Barry will free Ireland,

For her sake they'll live and die.

To mark 100 years since his death members of his family and the local community in Tombeagh, Hacketstown County Carlow established the Kevin Barry Commemoration Committee. It intends that the “centrepiece of the centenary event will be the unveiling of a lifesize status of Kevin on the Rathvilly village green in County Carlow.”

The Committee have established a go fund me page at:

gofundme.com/f/kevin-barry-commemoration-2020

They also have a back account: Kevin Barry Commemoration Committee (Rathvilly), BIC: AIBKIE2D and IBAN:IE09AIBK93332516242182

Further details are available at;

Website: Kevin Barry 2020 webpage

Committee email address: kevinbarry2020comm@gmail.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Kevinbarrycommemoration2020/

Twitter page: https://twitter.com/KevinBarry20201

Instagram page: Kevin Barry Committee Instagram page

 

Frederick Douglass; An escaped slave in Ireland

The killing of African American citizens amidst the tension of a Presidential election in the USA has brought the issue of racism centre stage in that country. The Black Lives Matters campaign has contributed to a growing awareness of the depth to which racism exists not just in the USA but also in Britain with its colonial past, and elsewhere in the world, including here in Ireland.

Among those I have long admired for his courage in opposing slavery and who has strong connections to Ireland, is Frederick Douglass

175 years ago in September 1845 Frederick Douglass arrived in Ireland. Douglass had been born into slavery in Maryland and escaped. That year he wrote an autobiography of his life: ‘The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave’. It was a best seller but as an escaped slave Douglass was now at risk of being kidnapped and returned to his slave owner. So, like so many of my generation, he went on the run.

He toured Ireland extensively and lectured on the evils of slavery. He visited Belfast four times.

Douglass’s close association with Belfast should be a matter of great public pride. It is a part of our history that needs to be told and retold. It is also a reminder that the evil of slavery still has to be ended. There is currently an effort under way to have a statue erected to Douglass. I wish those involved well in their endeavour. Speed the day.

 

 

Perfidious Albion.

A Little Englander is someone who thinks that England and the English are superior to all other countries and people. Many people think their country is better than other countries. And some are. At sport. Music. Human rights. Opera. Tiddleywinks. Underwater wrestling. But thinking that you are genetically superior and that others are lesser inferior creatures is what underpins imperialism. It is the road to fascism. It thrives on ignorance. It is also grist to the mill of power seeking demagogues and racists. And political opportunists and tricksters looking to distract attention from their own political shortcomings.

Like Boris Johnson who is making a mess of his government’s response to the dreadful Corona pandemic.

Cue the decision by the Johnson government to unilaterally break the Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol that was agreed between the British and the EU last year. The introduction of the Internal Market Bill will allow British Ministers to arbitrarily change key elements of the Agreement. This breach of international law is, Johnson claims, necessary to “stop a foreign power from breaking up” the increasingly disunited ‘United Kingdom’.  The British claim that the agreement will impose a food blockade on goods from Britain to the North; will create a “full scale trade border down the Irish Sea”; and will destroy the “economic and territorial integrity of the UK”.

This is the same agreement that Johnson negotiated and signed off on last October. It was trumpeted by him as “oven-ready” during the general election campaign in December. It was signed into law on 20 January this year to great public fanfare. Johnson said at the time: “Today I have signed the Withdrawal Agreement for the UK to leave the EU on January 31st, honouring the democratic mandate of the British people. This signature heralds a new chapter in our nation’s history”.

His new historic chapter didn’t survive long. Two weeks ago the British Secretary of State for the North Brandon Lewis told the British Parliament that a new Bill to be introduced will "break international law". The British government’s most senior lawyer immediately resigned. In the war of words that erupted the EU called for the scrapping of the draft legislation “in the shortest time possible and in any case by the end of the month.” The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, warned the British government that any reneging on its responsibilities will mean that Britain’s signature on everything from trade agreements to Treasury bonds will be worthless. And five former British Prime Ministers all criticised and challenged Johnson. The DUP supported him. Play it again Sammy. The DUP supported him. Proof that the only thing worse than a Little Englander is a Wannabe Little Englander who is not even English.

The Speaker of the US Congress Nancy Pelosi pulled no punches when she declared that; "If the UK violates that international treaty and Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be absolutely no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.”

Congress member Richard Neal, who is the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which will have a powerful say in any economic treaty between the USA and Britain, reminded Johnson that the USA is a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement; “Since the landmark peace deal was reached in 1998, the 310-mile border in Ireland has remained frictionless and invisible. Every political party on the island opposes a return of a hard border. I sincerely hope the British government upholds the rule of law and delivers on the commitments it made during Brexit negotiations, particularly in regard to the Irish border protocols."

Antony Blinken, a foreign policy adviser to Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, said that Biden is committed to preserving the GFA. He tweeted "As the UK and EU work out their relationship, any arrangements must protect the Good Friday Agreement and prevent the return of a hard border."

Johnson however is not for turning. To add fuel to the fire the Tories have also chosen this time to signal their intent to reduce the influence and authority of the Human Rights Act which became British law in 1998 and underpins the human rights components of the Good Friday Agreement. The Act has long been a target for the Conservatives, who under Theresa May planned to scrap it entirely. The 2020 Conservative manifesto pledged to “update” the Act and in recent days the language from the Johnson government indicates a determination to erode further Britain’s international obligations. In particular its about protecting British armed forces personnel from facing legal sanctions for human rights violations they are responsible for in Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Should we be really surprised by any of this? A Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne obviously was. On 7 September he very stupidly tweeted : “Ireland has always accepted the good faith of Britain in Brexit negotiations. I believe Britain will comply with its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement in the same way that it has always respected its international obligations.” 

Awhhh Tom. Was he reflecting the view of An Taoiseach? Who knows? Who can tell?

At any rate it took An Taoiseach a few days to get around to phoning Boris Johnson. As this column has asked in the past why should Johnson take Micheál Martin seriously? Why should anyone? Is it any wonder Fianna Fáil is floundering in the polls?

You don’t have to be an Irish Republican to know that British rule has always been bad for Ireland. Lest we forget Perfidious Albion has been a part of our historical and cultural narrative for almost 900 years. And an unwanted trespasser in our nations affairs.

So let’s remind An Taoiseach - again- that Britain (and successive Irish governments) has not honoured significant commitments contained in another international Treaty – the Good Friday Agreement.

22 years later there is still no:

·        No Civic Forum in the north

·        No All-Ireland Civic Forum

·        No Bill of Rights for the North

·        No Joint north/south committee of the two Human Rights Commissions

·        No All-Ireland Charter of Rights

In recent weeks the British have also flouted international law and the demands of the United Nations, aid organisations and NGOs that it stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia whose forces are currently involved in the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.

So, we are in the midst of another British inspired Brexit crisis – an international crisis. The Good Friday Agreement is again threatened. The fragile economy of the North is at risk. And a Brexit crash out of the EU, supported by the DUP, as this column notes above, is looking increasingly likely at the end of this year.

In the short term the EU and the Irish government must stand firmly against British government intentions to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement and Irish Protocol. That is their responsibility. But in the longer term the only viable resolution of this issue is for an end to partition and the Union. English rule in Ireland is the problem. The reunification of Ireland is the solution.

Let’s make it happen. Let’s take control of our own affairs and shape a new shared, united Ireland as the best answer to Little Englander DUPlicity.

 

 

 

An Taoiseach Is Not A United Irelander.

Partition is almost 100 years old. But for democrats across this island, and in the Irish diaspora, for all of that time it has always been the great wrong that has to be righted. But it is not only a historic wrong. It is also a great injustice now, today. It remains the greatest cause of instability and division on our island. 

Where stands the leader of Fianna Fáil ‘The Republican Party’ on ending partition and achieving Irish Unity? In the past Fianna Fail leaderships have proven particularly adept at exploiting the widespread desire for Irish Unity and the republican rhetoric of a ‘united Ireland’ in order to win votes. And of course many Fianna Fáil voters and members are republican. However, at no time has their party leadership made a serious effort to develop a strategy, in keeping with their constitutional obligation to end partition and “unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland ...” 

Why? Because both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaderships are comfortable with partition. For decades they have alternated in power, defending a status quo that protects their interests, and those of their friends in the political establishment.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s Ireland is best represented by the map of the island first produced by the Irish government several years ago which drowns the North in the Irish Sea and Atlantic. We are left with a landmass which bears no resemblance to Ireland and with a new shoreline that stretches from Derry through Donegal, Tyrone, Cavan, Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Armagh and Down to Louth.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin is not a United Irelander. Under his leadership the traditional rhetoric of the leadership of Fianna Fáil, whose first aim according to its own constitution and rules – is to “restore the unity and independence of Ireland as a Republic” - has been systematically eroded.

In March 2017 he committed his party to publishing within months a 12-point plan which would prepare the way for the reunification of the island. He also told the Irish Times that as part of this he intended publishing a White Paper on Irish Unity. Neither the 12-point plan nor the White Paper was ever published.

The Fianna Fáil leader also pledged that Fianna Fáil would organise in the North. When Éamon Ó Cuiv and Seanadóir Mark Daly attempted to do that they were sacked from their senior party positions. In 2017 Pearse Doherty and I met Martin to seek his support to establish an Oireachtas Committee on Irish Unity as a means of focussing the debate on this issue. He said No.

Micheál Martin’s alternative proposal, published this year, is to establish a “shared Island Unit”. Not once does the Programme for Government reference the constitutional obligation on an Irish government to achieve a United Ireland. The words ‘United Ireland’ or ‘Irish Unity’ are entirely absent. And there is no reference to the commitment in the Good Friday Agreement for a referendum on Unity.

Instead a “Unit within the Department of An Taoiseach is to work towards a consensus on a shared island. This unit will examine the political, social, economic and cultural considerations underpinning a future in which all traditions are mutually respected.” When he was asked about this unit in the Dáil at the beginning of July An Taoiseach Martin said that “work on its structure, staffing and work programme is underway and I hope that the unit will start work by the end of the month.” When at the end of that month Ruairí Ó Murchú, who is a Sinn Féin TD for Louth, asked him for an update Martin replied: ““work on its structure, staffing and work programme is underway and I hope that the unit will start this work in the coming weeks.”

In reply to a query from online news outlet ‘The Detail’ – published on 14 August – the Taoiseach’s department could still not provide “any guidance on the annual budget or staffing levels of its newly-promised Shared Island Unit. A department spokesperson could also not explain to The Detail how regularly Micheál Martin plans to meet with the unit; what new high profile roles, if any will be created in the unit or how it will interact with northern voices.”

The Taoiseach cannot be allowed to do this. He has to involve all Party leaders in a real process of engagement. Mary Lou McDonald, Leader of the Opposition has to have a central role in this. There has to be a positive and inclusive conversation that many within civic nationalism and some within civic unionism have been calling for.

Sinn Féin is for a shared island as part of our vision of a new Ireland – a United Ireland. However, it is not inevitable. It will not happen because we simply wish or hope for it. It will only happen if we work for it. Therefore the responsibility of political leaders is to lead and to plan. That is especially true of the Irish government.

The Shared Island Unit can play a useful role in this, along with the establishment of a Citizen’s Assembly; a White Paper on Unity; a Joint Oireachtas Committee; the creation of additional all-island institutions; and eventually winning a referendum on Irish Unity. Micheál Martin must set out in clear terms the objectives of the Shared Island Unit; its terms of reference; staffing and resources that will be made available to it; outline how the Unit will engage with the public; with Oireachtas members and parties; with the Assembly and Executive in the North; with local councils north and south; with the diaspora; and with other stakeholders, including the business community.

Brexit has changed the political landscape and at a time when the British government appears determined to crash out of the EU, and is threatening to tear up the Withdrawal Treaty and Irish Protocol, the desire and demand for Unity – even if only as a means for the North to stay within the EU – will only grow stronger. The demand for a united Ireland is also being fueled by the political and demographic changes that are taking place in the North.

Consequently, this Irish government is facing a stark choice. Does it ignore all of this and ostrich-like stick with a policy approach which seeks to ignore the growing clamour for Irish Unity? Or, does it undertake a genuinely serious attempt to discuss how we share this island and share our future?

The debate – the conversation - around Irish Unity has been ongoing for years. It’s not going away. On the contrary, interest in and support for Irish unity is growing at the same time as support within England for maintaining the British Union is diminishing. As the debate around Irish unity increases our collective endeavour should be to shape that debate in a constructive and positive direction and to encourage the widest possible engagement between all strands of opinion on the island of Ireland.

Partition sucks. It doesn’t merit celebration

A century ago a new line appeared on the map of Ireland. It carved its way for 300 miles across the landscape from Derry in the North West to Dundalk in the East. Partition separated farmers from their land, businesses from their customers, and children from their schools. Streams and rivers, bóithre, country roads, fields became the boundary for this new border. The front door of a home was suddenly in a different state. Towns were cut off from their natural economic and social hinterlands. Communities were divided and separated. Partition was imposed at gunpoint by the British Government.

The northern state was born in a maelstrom of sectarian violence as thousands of Catholic workers in Belfast were forcibly and violently expelled from their jobs. A brutal pogrom against Catholics saw hundreds killed, and thousands evicted from their homes. Loyalist paramilitaries became the new police force – the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Ulster Special Constabulary with a new law – the Special Powers Act – given to them as legal cover for the reign of terror which followed.

In the decades after 1921 the Unionist establishment solidified its control through the imposition of an apartheid regime in which nationalists and republicans were reduced to the status of non citizen. This was done through the systematic gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, the denial of the vote to hundreds of thousands of Catholics in local government elections, and the extensive use of structured sectarian discrimination in housing and employment.  

Life was hard for working people including working class Protestants. Poverty was endemic. But for Catholics it was even worse. Jobs and houses were few and wages a pittance. After the brutality of what the Irish News at the time described as a ‘carnival of terrorism,’ and the abandonment of nationalists by the political establishment and government in the South, there was a general sense of hopelessness among the besieged nationalists. Unable to find employment or a home many emigrated to England, Canada, Australia and the USA.

For decades the convention within the British Parliament was that Westminster did not interfere in the affairs of the North. The British media followed this practice. But the emerging public agitation in the 1960s by groups like the Campaign for Social Justice, the Wolfe Tone Societies, the Derry Housing Action Committee and then the Civil Rights Association saw the beginning of a fight-back. Some elements of the British media began to give attention to the corrupt practices and policies of the Unionist regime.

In July 1966, as the English Queen visited Belfast, the Sunday Times wrote a rare article about the north. Under the headline ‘John Bull’s political slum’ the article described the northern state as ‘a part of Britain where the crude apparatus of political and religious oppression, ballot rigging, job and housing discrimination and an omnipresent threat of violence co-exists with intense loyalty to the Crown.’                    

But there was also dissent. A young nationalist known ever after as ‘Throw The Brick’ flung a breezeblock at her car.

The following year The Times published the results of an investigation carried out by its News Team headlined ‘Ulster’s Second-Class Citizens’ which reported on the ‘grave allegations of religious discrimination in the planning’ of Craigavon. The former head of the design team Professor Geoffrey Copcutt revealed that he was told ‘by a source close to the Stormont Cabinet’ that the unionist government ‘would not countenance any scheme that would upset the voting balance between Protestants and Roman Catholics …’ Copcutt went on to describe the situation of Catholics as ‘very similar to that of the Negro in the United States.’

The campaigning journalist Mary Holland in the Observer the day after the RUC’s infamous and widely televised attack on the 5 October 1968 civil rights march in Derry – under the title ‘John Bull’s White Ghettoes’ wrote; ‘Houses in Northern Ireland are a crucial political weapon and people don’t get houses if they don’t vote the right way.’

A year later the violent response of the Unionist regime to the just demands of the civil rights movement; the Battle of the Bogside; the August 1969 pogroms by loyalists against Catholic districts in Belfast; the violence of the RUC and B Specials; the refusal of successive British governments to confront the despotic actions of the Stormont government; and its decision to militarily bolster that government all led to a conflagration that lasted three decades.

Today the adverse political, economic and societal consequences of partition and of those policies are still with us. They exist in the disproportionate number of Catholics on the housing waiting lists; unionist resistance to the construction of new housing in nationalist areas; the denial of Irish language rights; the continued opposition by political unionism of basic human rights for all citizens; a biased approach to the issue of victims; and resistance to the full implementation of all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.

This is partition. A disastrous British government policy which has caused huge hurt. And yet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes it merits a celebration. Two weeks ago he announced his intention to establish a Centenary Forum and a Centenary Historical Advisory Plan as part of his government’s plans to mark 100 years of the Northern state.

Already we can see the political battle lines being drawn. On one side are those who see this as an opportunity to laud the creation of the northern state and to promote the union with Britain. On the other are those who point to the systemic institutional violence and discrimination of the northern state against nationalists and who believe that the future lies in a united Ireland. Different narratives that illicit starkly opposing opinions with the potential of building the walls of division stronger and higher.

If this is to be avoided, or at best minimised, our focus must be on ensuring the widest possible debate in the most positive atmosphere. We need the widest possible engagement in which everyone and anyone with an opinion feels free to express that knowing it will be heard with respect. The complexity of our history and of the relationships between the people of our island and between this island and our nearest neighbour must be examined, honestly and openly. Everyone, whether nationalist or unionist, loyalist or republican, or none of these, has to have the space in which to discuss their view of the events of 100 years ago, and their consequences.

But crucially it must not all be about the past. That would be a huge mistake. The conversation about partition must also be about the future. About the next 5 years – 10 years – 100 years.

This is an opportunity for unionists to explain to nationalists and republicans why they believe maintaining the union with Britain is in all our best interests. What’s in it for nationalists and republicans and not just for unionists? Where will stand parity of esteem and equality of treatment? And will they respect the democratic wish of people in a referendum if that is for a United Ireland?

And for nationalists and republicans it is an opportunity not just to rehearse again the arguments around the failure of partition but to set out the republican vision for a new Ireland – a shared Ireland – a united Ireland and what advantages it holds for unionists and for the people of this island and their future?

The Irish government has a crucial role to place in this process. In its Programme for Government published in June it committed to establishing a ‘Shared Island Unit’ within the Taoiseach’s department. It also said it expected it to be up and running within a month. Almost four months later there is no information on its remit and resourcing; the role of the Taoiseach, or its outreach into the North. This is unacceptable. The centenary of partition is an opportunity for discussion and examination and re-evaluation. Instead of turning the centenary of partition into a fleg fest with bonfires adorned with the emblems of the other side we have the opportunity to open up a real debate on the future – a normal conversation about matters of concern for us all.

The Irish government should be taking a lead on this.

Finally, we must not lose sight of the significant political and societal and demographic changes that are taking place. Already we can see that these are driving change. Forcing some to engage in new thinking, contemplating different options, looking for new answers. The centenary of partition is an opportunity to break with the past. That will prove enormously challenging but through dialogue and planning I believe we can change the future. For me it has always been straight forward. Why would anyone want to be ruled by anyone from another country? We are well able to govern ourselves. No one else should decide our future. That should be our decision.

 

Support The Chieftains Walk.

Martin McGuinness was our leader, comrade and friend. His death shocked us all. His life of activism also motivated many people to become active in struggle and today. Countless citizens have empowered themselves to do just that as we engage in the politics of change making.

One of the events which brought us all together is The Chieftains Walk in Derry.

But this year The Chieftain’s Memorial Charity Walk which is held on the anniversary of Martin’s death was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Initially the organisers proposed asking supporters to do their own 5k walk wherever they are next Sunday.

Now because of COVID ‘surges’ that also has been cancelled.  Instead on Sunday 6 September at 2pm Martins family, led by the indomitable Bernie and their children will do the walk for us all.  The only thing we have to do is to sponsor them. The proceeds are for The Martin McGuinness Peace Foundation, a not-for-profit charity organised by his family, friends and the Gasyard Wall Féile.

Chieftan's Walk 2019

The purpose of the foundation is to celebrate the life, work and achievements of Martin McGuinness, as a leader, a political activist and an international states person, by promoting his progressive ideas of;

• National reconciliation, unity and peace;
• Social, economic and political change;
• Community empowerment;
• Rights;
• Equality;
• Inclusivity and diversity;
• Conflict resolution and peace building locally, nationally and internationally.

The Foundation will promote these goals through an inclusive program of education, sport, debate, art and culture which will be open to all. 

The Foundation will tell the story of Martin McGuinness’s life in Derry’s Bogside, his roots in Donegal and celebrate his contribution to peace and reconciliation locally, nationally and internationally.

This Sunday’s sponsored walk is not only a tribute to Martin. It is a much needed fundraiser for the Foundation. Register below le do thoil to play your part.

The Walk this year will be done by Bernie, Grainne, Fionnuala, Fiachra and Emmett. They will walk the planned route on behalf of the thousands that have walked this past 2 years in memory of Martin. They will walk from Martin’s house through the Bogside, around Derry Walls and then through the Brandywell. All places of significance to Martin.

We can all play our part by registering for the Walk sponsoring Martin’s family and all proceeds will go to Martin’s Peace Foundation!

You can register/donate for the walk at register.enthuse.com/ps/event/chieftainswalk2020