Gerry Adams's Blog, page 78
January 22, 2012
Defending the rights of the elderly
March and Rally in Drogheda
Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) this blog and several thousand people from the Drogheda and Ardee area attended a march and rally in Drogheda to protest at the threatened closure of the Cottage Hospital in the town. Under plans by the Fine Gael and Labour government it and St. Joseph's nursing home in Ardee are likely to close.
Both buildings are home to 33 long stay residents and a similar number of respite patients. In the course of a year the number of patients who receive respite is around 300.
The buildings are old. But the staff are professional, dedicated and caring and over the years both have developed a warm family closeness.
One resident in the Cottage Home is 97 years old and another has been there for over 30 years and many of the rest for a decade or more.
The threat to their home means that the residents are frightened by the prospect of a major move and the disintegration of their nursing home family.
I met many of residents and staff from both homes who braved a cold day to demonstrate their opposition to the government's cutback plans.
The large turnout is evidence of the huge affection the people of Drogheda have for the Cottage Hospital.
Inevitably in the arguments for and against closure all sorts of excuses are pedalled about by the government. Most often that older nursing homes are not fit for purpose. It is said that they are of poor standard and present a health risk to residents.
However this can't be said of the Cottage Hospital or St. Joseph's. Both have received regular inspections and have passed with flying colours. The Cottage has had 3 HIQUA inspections to date, and on all occasions it scored highly on clinical aspect and quality of care. HIQA reported that the hospital is SAFE, SECURE and SUITABLE.
So whatever the spin any decision to close this hospital has nothing to do with health and safety issues for patients and staff. It is quite simply a political decision based on the government's determination to pursue its austerity programme.
Citizens understand this. Events at the rally demonstrated this and showed public anger and rejection of austerity policies that deliberately target the weak and vulnerable. The Cottage Hospital Act Group had decided to ask all local TDs to sign a pledge of support for the nursing homes.
They also decided that they would not give speaking rights on their platform to any TD who refused to do this. This TD was pleased to pledge support. Fine Gael TDs Peter Fitzpatrick and Minister Fergus O Dowd, along with Labour TD Ged Nash refused to sign the pledge and amid shouts of anger from the crowd they were asked to leave the platform by the organising committee.
This blog would have allowed them to speak but this was not a Sinn Féin platform and the Action Group have the right to make their own decisions on this matter.
The three TDs in question should have signed the pledge.
The context for this widespread public annoyance is to be found in the events of last November, before the budget, when government Ministers deliberately leaked budget proposals, including the possibility of closures to nursing homes. This irresponsible action frightened elderly residents across the state. Suddenly none of them could be sure that their homes were safe from closure.
This was then followed by a budget, and then a HSE plan which will strip €750 million out of the health service. This is on top of the €1 billion already cut by Fianna Fáil in the previous budget. The government target is to get rid of up to 900 beds in public nursing homes. This is at a time when our elderly population is increasing and the demand is growing. Up to 10 nursing homes might close.
The Minister for Health James Reilly excuses his actions by claiming that he wants to keep more elderly citizens in the community. But then he sets as one of his goals the reduction of the home help service by half a million hours this year. A complete contradiction!
Last week in the Dáil this blog asked the Taoiseach to spell out his plans for nursing homes. I asked him to tell staff and residents whether he plans to cut their services; their jobs, their homes. He refused to do so. He did agree to hold a debate on health but that will be small comfort to residents of nursing homes.
Last Thursday morning a meeting was held involving local government TDs and the Minister. When I contacted the Ministers office and asked to attend I was refused. This runs against the normal protocol for such events and was a disgraceful decision by the Minister of a government which claims to be for greater openness and transparency and accountability.
Residents and staff need clarity and certainty, not waffle and spin. The government has a responsibility to speak plainly and provide real and proper information on its plans for public nursing homes.
This is no way to treat our elderly citizens. It is no way to treat committed staffs.
This blog believes that citizens have rights. The right to a job, to a home, to access to education and a health service that provides a wrap-around professional service from the cradle to the grave.
Society has a responsibility to look after citizens and especially those who are vulnerable or aged or ill. And government policy should reflect these core values.
Regrettably this governments core values, like the previous one, is motivated by profit and cutting public services.
It is not right that nursing homes and beds are to be cut to pay off the debts of the big bankers and developers. Next Wednesday Anglo Irish Bank will hand over €1.25 billion of taxpayers money to unguaranteed unsecured bondholders.
The government is under no moral or ethical or legal obligation to do this. That money could cover the cost of providing a first class nursing care service. A month later the government will hand over another €3.1 billion to the European Central Bank to pay off the debt of Anglo-Irish a criminal toxic bank.
Imagine how many nursing beds and emergency departments and schools that would pay for.
The truth is that the austerity policies which Fine Gael and Labour are wedded to are not working. Worse they are adding to the mess created by the previous government.
The evidence is all around us – mass emigration; mounting job losses; a health service on the rack - and one government decision after another imposing cuts on public services.
Recently, the government was forced to retreat on two issues – cuts to DEIS schools and funding for young people with disabilities. It u-turned on these issues because public support for the schools and young people and against
This government was forced to retreat on DEIS schools and on cutting support for young people with disabilities because of the level of public support for the schools and young people and opposition to government policy.
That is the lesson we must learn. If we are to stop the cuts to public nursing homes; if we are to protect the future of the Cottage Hospital and of St. Josephs in Ardee and any others that might be threatened, then we need to make our voices heard.
Next Saturday St. Josephs is holding a public rally. Regrettably I can't be there because of a long standing commitment to be in Derry however I would urge everyone who appreciates the work of nursing home staffs and is concerned at the treatment of elderly citizens to come along on Saturday and show your support for St. Josephs.
January 19, 2012
Young people under attack by Labour
Last week it was DEIS schools. The Labour Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn had turned Labour party policy on its head and imposed major cuts to schools situated in disadvantaged area.
And while Sinn Féin TDs like Sean Crowe and Peadar Toibin lashed government education strategy in the Dáil it was the mounting public anger and pressure on Labour backbenchers that forced Quinn to do a volte face.
But that wasn't the Labour Minister's only bad decision.
In the education system in the 26 counties schools employ guidance counsellors, who are normally qualified teachers, to advise students and young people.
They cover three separate but interlinked areas including personal and social, education, and vocational guidance and counselling.
As part of his cost cutting programme Quinn decided that guidance counsellors will no longer be provided on an ex quota basis in secondary schools. The goal is to save €32 million annually. In practice this means that many school principals will have to transfer counsellors back into the class rooms to teaching subjects.
One counsellor I spoke to before Christmas told me that she began her teaching career 18 years ago and immediately became a full time guidance counsellor.
She has never taught the language she has her degree in but will now be expected to go into the classroom. But for many more it means the loss of their employment as between 700-1000 posts will be cut.
The reality is that the government's policies are not working. The evidence is all around us – mass emigration; mounting job losses; a health service on the rack - and one government decision after another imposing cuts on public services.
Ruairi Quinn's decision to cut resources to DEIS schools was an example of this.
Last week he admitted that this had been a mistake. But the truth is that it wasn't a mistake. It was a conscious decision taken by him – by a Labour Minister - to cut services to vulnerable young people.
In every society, as those of us who live in the real world will be aware, there are citizens who need a leg up. A fair society has an obligation to give them support.
A good Government, a visionary thoughtful Government, will supply this, protect it and build on it, while a unfair short-sighted Government will do the opposite.
The decision to cut resources to DEIS schools was an example of this. It was completely in keeping with the Government's commitment to austerity policies. This approach is aimed at forcing those who can least afford it to carry the greatest financial burden of the economic crisis.
This is also the reason the Government targeted disabled young people and DEIS schools and it is why services to our elderly are now being cut. It explains why Minister Quinn is determined to scrap up to 1,000 guidance counsellor posts.
The reality is that guidance counsellors are skilled professionals who provide an essential service to young people, their families and society.
Without the help of guidance counsellors students might pick the wrong courses.
Without guidance counsellors students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds who often apply to college through the higher education access route would have no one to help them fill in complex forms to avail of reduced points and assistance in college.
Without guidance counsellors students with learning or physical disabilities or mental health problems who apply through the disability access route would face similar hurdles.
Guidance counsellors also help students with ADD, ADHD, OCD and autism. They help students identify careers, which is particularly important during this recession.
They are also the first port of call for young people under threat or who are experiencing difficulties with their mental well-being.
One guidance counsellor from County Louth outlined for me some of the issues she has dealt with in recent times. Incidents included self-harm, rape, family breakdown, bullying, eating disorders, child neglect, alcoholism in families, drug abuse and mental health issues. At a time when self-harm and suicide are increasing, who will help these students if guidance counsellors are not available?
It is also likely that cuts will result in the privatisation of guidance counselling. For those who can afford private counselling this will not prove an insurmountable difficulty.
However, those who cannot afford private guidance counsellors will not get help on any of the issues I have mentioned. This means that students from low and middle income homes will be at an even greater disadvantage.
The notion of two Irelands is becoming apparent. The Labour Party used to have a slogan, "one Ireland", even if its Ireland stopped at the Border. We are not seeing the emergence of a sense of one Ireland. Rather we are seeing two Irelands, namely, those at the bottom and the rest of us.
On Tuesday and Wednesday the Dail debated a private members motion on this issue seeking a reversal of the cuts. All of these points were made by this blog and others. Once again Labour backbenchers were discomforted but they voted down the motion.
And this time there is no sense that the Labour Minister for Education will acknowledge another mistake and change tack.
And while Sinn Féin TDs like Sean Crowe and Peadar Toibin lashed government education strategy in the Dáil it was the mounting public anger and pressure on Labour backbenchers that forced Quinn to do a volte face.
But that wasn't the Labour Minister's only bad decision.
In the education system in the 26 counties schools employ guidance counsellors, who are normally qualified teachers, to advise students and young people.
They cover three separate but interlinked areas including personal and social, education, and vocational guidance and counselling.
As part of his cost cutting programme Quinn decided that guidance counsellors will no longer be provided on an ex quota basis in secondary schools. The goal is to save €32 million annually. In practice this means that many school principals will have to transfer counsellors back into the class rooms to teaching subjects.
One counsellor I spoke to before Christmas told me that she began her teaching career 18 years ago and immediately became a full time guidance counsellor.
She has never taught the language she has her degree in but will now be expected to go into the classroom. But for many more it means the loss of their employment as between 700-1000 posts will be cut.
The reality is that the government's policies are not working. The evidence is all around us – mass emigration; mounting job losses; a health service on the rack - and one government decision after another imposing cuts on public services.
Ruairi Quinn's decision to cut resources to DEIS schools was an example of this.
Last week he admitted that this had been a mistake. But the truth is that it wasn't a mistake. It was a conscious decision taken by him – by a Labour Minister - to cut services to vulnerable young people.
In every society, as those of us who live in the real world will be aware, there are citizens who need a leg up. A fair society has an obligation to give them support.
A good Government, a visionary thoughtful Government, will supply this, protect it and build on it, while a unfair short-sighted Government will do the opposite.
The decision to cut resources to DEIS schools was an example of this. It was completely in keeping with the Government's commitment to austerity policies. This approach is aimed at forcing those who can least afford it to carry the greatest financial burden of the economic crisis.
This is also the reason the Government targeted disabled young people and DEIS schools and it is why services to our elderly are now being cut. It explains why Minister Quinn is determined to scrap up to 1,000 guidance counsellor posts.
The reality is that guidance counsellors are skilled professionals who provide an essential service to young people, their families and society.
Without the help of guidance counsellors students might pick the wrong courses.
Without guidance counsellors students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds who often apply to college through the higher education access route would have no one to help them fill in complex forms to avail of reduced points and assistance in college.
Without guidance counsellors students with learning or physical disabilities or mental health problems who apply through the disability access route would face similar hurdles.
Guidance counsellors also help students with ADD, ADHD, OCD and autism. They help students identify careers, which is particularly important during this recession.
They are also the first port of call for young people under threat or who are experiencing difficulties with their mental well-being.
One guidance counsellor from County Louth outlined for me some of the issues she has dealt with in recent times. Incidents included self-harm, rape, family breakdown, bullying, eating disorders, child neglect, alcoholism in families, drug abuse and mental health issues. At a time when self-harm and suicide are increasing, who will help these students if guidance counsellors are not available?
It is also likely that cuts will result in the privatisation of guidance counselling. For those who can afford private counselling this will not prove an insurmountable difficulty.
However, those who cannot afford private guidance counsellors will not get help on any of the issues I have mentioned. This means that students from low and middle income homes will be at an even greater disadvantage.
The notion of two Irelands is becoming apparent. The Labour Party used to have a slogan, "one Ireland", even if its Ireland stopped at the Border. We are not seeing the emergence of a sense of one Ireland. Rather we are seeing two Irelands, namely, those at the bottom and the rest of us.
On Tuesday and Wednesday the Dail debated a private members motion on this issue seeking a reversal of the cuts. All of these points were made by this blog and others. Once again Labour backbenchers were discomforted but they voted down the motion.
And this time there is no sense that the Labour Minister for Education will acknowledge another mistake and change tack.
January 15, 2012
Austerity is not working
It seems like every time you turn on the news or open a newspaper there is a new crisis in the Eurozone. Last Friday' decision by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor (an ironic name for such a body in the current context) downgraded France's AAA credit rating. It also lowered that of 8 other European nations.
The immediate consequence of this was for stock markets and the value of the Euro to drop.
This blog and other comrades will be meeting the Troika representatives, who are currently in Dublin, on Monday afternoon. It will be our second meeting with the Troika. For those readers unfamiliar with the term the Troika is the title given to the International Monetary Fund/European Central Bank and European Union bodies that have provided the bailout fund to the Irish government. They are in Dublin to check the government's books and to make sure that it is keeping to the austerity programme that the previous Fianna Fáil led government entered into.
The purpose of our meeting with the Troika is to provide Sinn Féin with an opportunity to spell out our strongly held view that their programme is not working and that its implementation by the Fine Gael/Labour government is causing huge distress for citizens.
One example of this will come into effect tomorrow when the government decision to eliminate concurrent payments for new participants in Community Employment schemes comes into effect. This move also includes cutting the qualified child payment for existing lone parent CE participants by €29.80 per child per week.
It was the special arrangements for lone parents on Community Employment schemes which made this project work for lone parents who wanted to get back into the job market.
The government's cuts will put Community Employment schemes out of reach of most lone parents. It is another example of the government's December budget that protected the wealthy while penalising low and middle income families, the poor and disadvantaged.
The reality is that the government's policies are not working. This is evident in the unprecedented levels of unemployment; the numbers of young people that are immigrating; the crisis in our health and education systems; the attack on our public services; the debacle around pensions, and the huge distress for individuals and families.
Austerity is not working. The domestic economy is on the floor.
People are worried about paying their bills, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads. The failure of this government to defend workers rights has also created a climate in which employers believe they can abuse workers. Employees at Vita Cortex in Cork and the La Sensa retail chain were denied their redundancy payments. Both engaged in sit-ins in an effort to get the money owed to them. The La Sensa workers, with the solidarity support of many people, successfully secured their redundancy money. The Vita Cortex workers are still battling.
Fine Gael and Labour also plan to hand €1.2 billion of taxpayers money over to unguaranteed unsecured bondholders on January 25th. The government will also pay out €3.1 billion in March to a toxic bank – Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly known as Anglo.
Citizens are paying for the greed of bankers and the bad policies of the former Fianna Fail/Green government.
The €4 billion that this government will give away in the next three months is more than the €3.8 billion in cuts and new taxes it introduced in December. This government, both Fine Gael and Labour, is ideologically committed to austerity and plans as part of the Fiscal Compact agreed with the other EU governments, to write this into the constitution locking future governments into austerity programme.
The government's policy is wrong and short sighted. The money being handed over to unsecured and unguaranteed bondholders and toxic banks should instead be used to retain jobs, create new jobs, run our public services and stimulate growth in the economy.
Our conversation with the Troika will be an opportunity to raise these issues and to challenge the government's excuse that is no alternative to the austerity programme, and we will explore with the Troika how much room for manoeuvre there actually is.
For example, what is their view of investing a portion of the National Pension Reserve Fund into job creation and economic recovery? What is their view of progressive tax reform that places the burden on those most able to pay rather than low and middle-income families? What is their view on the future of the Anglo Irish promissory note? And do they believe that Ireland will be able to return to the markets fully in 2013 on the basis of current trends?
People are only beginning to fully understand the impact of the cuts and extra charged meted out in December's budget by Fine Gael and Labour. For many 2012 will be a year of increased hardship. Sinn Féin wants to demonstrate that there is an alternative, that there is hope.
The immediate consequence of this was for stock markets and the value of the Euro to drop.
This blog and other comrades will be meeting the Troika representatives, who are currently in Dublin, on Monday afternoon. It will be our second meeting with the Troika. For those readers unfamiliar with the term the Troika is the title given to the International Monetary Fund/European Central Bank and European Union bodies that have provided the bailout fund to the Irish government. They are in Dublin to check the government's books and to make sure that it is keeping to the austerity programme that the previous Fianna Fáil led government entered into.
The purpose of our meeting with the Troika is to provide Sinn Féin with an opportunity to spell out our strongly held view that their programme is not working and that its implementation by the Fine Gael/Labour government is causing huge distress for citizens.
One example of this will come into effect tomorrow when the government decision to eliminate concurrent payments for new participants in Community Employment schemes comes into effect. This move also includes cutting the qualified child payment for existing lone parent CE participants by €29.80 per child per week.
It was the special arrangements for lone parents on Community Employment schemes which made this project work for lone parents who wanted to get back into the job market.
The government's cuts will put Community Employment schemes out of reach of most lone parents. It is another example of the government's December budget that protected the wealthy while penalising low and middle income families, the poor and disadvantaged.
The reality is that the government's policies are not working. This is evident in the unprecedented levels of unemployment; the numbers of young people that are immigrating; the crisis in our health and education systems; the attack on our public services; the debacle around pensions, and the huge distress for individuals and families.
Austerity is not working. The domestic economy is on the floor.
People are worried about paying their bills, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads. The failure of this government to defend workers rights has also created a climate in which employers believe they can abuse workers. Employees at Vita Cortex in Cork and the La Sensa retail chain were denied their redundancy payments. Both engaged in sit-ins in an effort to get the money owed to them. The La Sensa workers, with the solidarity support of many people, successfully secured their redundancy money. The Vita Cortex workers are still battling.
Fine Gael and Labour also plan to hand €1.2 billion of taxpayers money over to unguaranteed unsecured bondholders on January 25th. The government will also pay out €3.1 billion in March to a toxic bank – Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly known as Anglo.
Citizens are paying for the greed of bankers and the bad policies of the former Fianna Fail/Green government.
The €4 billion that this government will give away in the next three months is more than the €3.8 billion in cuts and new taxes it introduced in December. This government, both Fine Gael and Labour, is ideologically committed to austerity and plans as part of the Fiscal Compact agreed with the other EU governments, to write this into the constitution locking future governments into austerity programme.
The government's policy is wrong and short sighted. The money being handed over to unsecured and unguaranteed bondholders and toxic banks should instead be used to retain jobs, create new jobs, run our public services and stimulate growth in the economy.
Our conversation with the Troika will be an opportunity to raise these issues and to challenge the government's excuse that is no alternative to the austerity programme, and we will explore with the Troika how much room for manoeuvre there actually is.
For example, what is their view of investing a portion of the National Pension Reserve Fund into job creation and economic recovery? What is their view of progressive tax reform that places the burden on those most able to pay rather than low and middle-income families? What is their view on the future of the Anglo Irish promissory note? And do they believe that Ireland will be able to return to the markets fully in 2013 on the basis of current trends?
People are only beginning to fully understand the impact of the cuts and extra charged meted out in December's budget by Fine Gael and Labour. For many 2012 will be a year of increased hardship. Sinn Féin wants to demonstrate that there is an alternative, that there is hope.
January 13, 2012
Failing to cherish the Young
Wednesday was the first day of the new Dáil term for 2012. As they returned from their Christmas break TDs and Seanadoirí were met by a large and vocal demonstration of parents, children and staff from DEIS schools across the state.
'Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools' (DEIS) is an initiative which provides essential support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with Special Educational Needs so that they are able to leave school with the skills necessary to fully participate in the social and economic activities of society and to live independent and fulfilled lives.
There are over 300 such schools and according to the Department of Education they should "receive a greater level of support in terms of pupil-teacher ratios, special grants and extra support for pupils".
However, in its December budget the government introduced a number of measures which are about saving money by cutting resources to these schools. These measures include increasing class sizes; cutting a number of administrative principals; ending the support teacher scheme, and transferring up to 250 teachers in DEIS schools to mainstream schools.
It is estimated that up to 428 DEIS teaching posts from 270 primary and 163 post primary schools will be lost.
On Wednesday evening the first private member motion of the new term was a Sinn Féin motion calling on the government to rescind its decisions and to ring fence funding and support for DEIS schools.
A few hours before the debate was due to commence the Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn moved to try and ease Labour backbench unhappiness with the cuts by saying that he would hold a review into each school individually and complete that within 4 weeks. Some Labour TDs took this as an indication that the cuts will be reversed.
However, the Minister who had the opportunity to confirm this refused to do so.
Alarm bells immediately went off, not just among Sinn Féin and other opposition TDs but also campaigners seeking a reversal of the budget decision.
For many this smacked of the 'old politics' of divide and conquer. It's the cynical tactic of holding out the prospect of the Minister possibly making a few concessions and trying to strip away the urgency and dynamic and solidarity of the campaign for a reversal of the cuts.
Cynicism increased when the Minister went on to RTE on Friday morning and admitted that he had 'made a mistake' but warned of different cuts in education if he had to reverse any cuts to DEIS schools.
"I'm out of practice" he said. Out of Practice? What sort of explanation is that to give?
What is needed is not a review or shallow excuses but a reversal of the decision. That is why the Irish National Teachers Organisation is right to go ahead with its planned protest next Thursday.
There is abundant evidence supporting the positive and productive work of these schools. The publication on Friday of a report on the first phase of the DEIS programme in primary schools confirms this. The report published by the Education Research Centre covers the years 2007 to 2010 and reveals significantly higher scores in reading and mathematics.
The Minister has added significantly to the confusion and uncertainty and fear that exists among parents, pupils and teaching staff. His decisions and actions have been unacceptable. He should move now to immediately reverse the threatened cuts to DEIS schools.
However he failed to do so and one after another Labour party backbenchers walked through the lobby and vote to pursue the current government agenda.
It is a far cry from the Proclamation and cherishing all of the children of the nation equally.
What would James Connolly, whose bust looks down on the Dáil chamber, have done if faced with this decision? I am confident he would not have voted to cut essential resources from schools in disadvantaged areas.
And what will citizens, particularly those who support Labour, think when they watch a Labour Minister force teachers onto the dole queues and penalise disadvantaged children?
The Labour Party claimed that Labour in government was needed to take the sharp edge off Fine Gael's conservatism. It isn't working. Labour has bought into Fine Gael's austerity and conservative ethos. Sinn Féin is actively encouraging teachers and parents and others aggrieved at Labour behaviour to lobby backbenchers, especially Labour backbenchers. They are now being forced to take the sharp edge of their leadership's conservatism.
The fact is that the Labour Minister for Education took the decision to cut resources to DEIS schools without any thought to the social consequences, hopes and opportunities in the lives of these young people?
While his decision may save a minimal amount of money future outcomes will mean that society will lose out ten times over.
Leaving aside the politics, the ideological position and the morality of it all, it is bad economics because in time the State will need to pay more to pick up on the social legacy left by these cuts.
Another matter of real concern are the cuts to guidance councillors. As well as the career guidance such councillors give they are the first port of call for many children with difficulties in their lives. That has also been dismantled, which is very short-sighted.
Equality, equality, equality: where is the equality in any of this?
The government's cuts will copperfasten inequality. We will see emerging in this State two different types of Ireland, namely, the people of the bottom of the ladder, who have not emigrated or are now on the dole, will be cemented into their inequality while those at the top of the tier will have their positions reinforced.
This should not be reduced to a matter of money particularly by a Government which will by March have given €4.3 billion of taxpayers' money to criminal banks and unguaranteed bondholders.
This blog knows, as a representative of County Louth and from all of my experience in west Belfast, the huge effect which small amounts of money can have on disadvantaged areas in terms of uplifting possibilities and opportunities, in particular of young people.
Let us not consign another generation of people to a life on the dole or to emigration.
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Even those who have only Gaeilge bhriste know the sense and wisdom of that proverb. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Nourish the young and they will come right. Do the opposite and we create problems for ourselves.
'Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools' (DEIS) is an initiative which provides essential support for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with Special Educational Needs so that they are able to leave school with the skills necessary to fully participate in the social and economic activities of society and to live independent and fulfilled lives.
There are over 300 such schools and according to the Department of Education they should "receive a greater level of support in terms of pupil-teacher ratios, special grants and extra support for pupils".
However, in its December budget the government introduced a number of measures which are about saving money by cutting resources to these schools. These measures include increasing class sizes; cutting a number of administrative principals; ending the support teacher scheme, and transferring up to 250 teachers in DEIS schools to mainstream schools.
It is estimated that up to 428 DEIS teaching posts from 270 primary and 163 post primary schools will be lost.
On Wednesday evening the first private member motion of the new term was a Sinn Féin motion calling on the government to rescind its decisions and to ring fence funding and support for DEIS schools.
A few hours before the debate was due to commence the Labour Minister Ruairi Quinn moved to try and ease Labour backbench unhappiness with the cuts by saying that he would hold a review into each school individually and complete that within 4 weeks. Some Labour TDs took this as an indication that the cuts will be reversed.
However, the Minister who had the opportunity to confirm this refused to do so.
Alarm bells immediately went off, not just among Sinn Féin and other opposition TDs but also campaigners seeking a reversal of the budget decision.
For many this smacked of the 'old politics' of divide and conquer. It's the cynical tactic of holding out the prospect of the Minister possibly making a few concessions and trying to strip away the urgency and dynamic and solidarity of the campaign for a reversal of the cuts.
Cynicism increased when the Minister went on to RTE on Friday morning and admitted that he had 'made a mistake' but warned of different cuts in education if he had to reverse any cuts to DEIS schools.
"I'm out of practice" he said. Out of Practice? What sort of explanation is that to give?
What is needed is not a review or shallow excuses but a reversal of the decision. That is why the Irish National Teachers Organisation is right to go ahead with its planned protest next Thursday.
There is abundant evidence supporting the positive and productive work of these schools. The publication on Friday of a report on the first phase of the DEIS programme in primary schools confirms this. The report published by the Education Research Centre covers the years 2007 to 2010 and reveals significantly higher scores in reading and mathematics.
The Minister has added significantly to the confusion and uncertainty and fear that exists among parents, pupils and teaching staff. His decisions and actions have been unacceptable. He should move now to immediately reverse the threatened cuts to DEIS schools.
However he failed to do so and one after another Labour party backbenchers walked through the lobby and vote to pursue the current government agenda.
It is a far cry from the Proclamation and cherishing all of the children of the nation equally.
What would James Connolly, whose bust looks down on the Dáil chamber, have done if faced with this decision? I am confident he would not have voted to cut essential resources from schools in disadvantaged areas.
And what will citizens, particularly those who support Labour, think when they watch a Labour Minister force teachers onto the dole queues and penalise disadvantaged children?
The Labour Party claimed that Labour in government was needed to take the sharp edge off Fine Gael's conservatism. It isn't working. Labour has bought into Fine Gael's austerity and conservative ethos. Sinn Féin is actively encouraging teachers and parents and others aggrieved at Labour behaviour to lobby backbenchers, especially Labour backbenchers. They are now being forced to take the sharp edge of their leadership's conservatism.
The fact is that the Labour Minister for Education took the decision to cut resources to DEIS schools without any thought to the social consequences, hopes and opportunities in the lives of these young people?
While his decision may save a minimal amount of money future outcomes will mean that society will lose out ten times over.
Leaving aside the politics, the ideological position and the morality of it all, it is bad economics because in time the State will need to pay more to pick up on the social legacy left by these cuts.
Another matter of real concern are the cuts to guidance councillors. As well as the career guidance such councillors give they are the first port of call for many children with difficulties in their lives. That has also been dismantled, which is very short-sighted.
Equality, equality, equality: where is the equality in any of this?
The government's cuts will copperfasten inequality. We will see emerging in this State two different types of Ireland, namely, the people of the bottom of the ladder, who have not emigrated or are now on the dole, will be cemented into their inequality while those at the top of the tier will have their positions reinforced.
This should not be reduced to a matter of money particularly by a Government which will by March have given €4.3 billion of taxpayers' money to criminal banks and unguaranteed bondholders.
This blog knows, as a representative of County Louth and from all of my experience in west Belfast, the huge effect which small amounts of money can have on disadvantaged areas in terms of uplifting possibilities and opportunities, in particular of young people.
Let us not consign another generation of people to a life on the dole or to emigration.
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Even those who have only Gaeilge bhriste know the sense and wisdom of that proverb. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Nourish the young and they will come right. Do the opposite and we create problems for ourselves.
January 7, 2012
Thatcher's War Policy in Ireland
The recent publication of British government papers from 1981 have reminded many people of the negative role played by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at that time.
The papers were published coinicdnetly at the same as a Hollywood movie about Thatcher.
I haven't seen the film but I do remember the Thatcher years and the great hurt she did to the British people and also to the people of this island.
Thatcher's right wing conservative social and economic politics – often labelled Thatcherism - were a source of considerable division in Britain. Along with US President Ronald Reagan she championed the deregulation of the financial institutions, cuts in public services and was vehemently anti-trade union. The current crisis in the banking institutions and the economic recession owe much to these policies.
She also went to war in the Malvinas pursuing Britain's age old colonial interests; opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa; and supported the Khmer Rouge and the Chilean dictator Pinochet.
Thatcher inherited a British counter-insurgency strategy in Ireland from the Labour government. Its goal was to politically defeat Irish republicanism.
The Thatcher government embraced this strategy. It believed that the criminalisation of the republican prisoners would break the republican struggle. It was not interested in a resolution.
This much is evident in the government papers. For example a report of a meeting at Chequers on May 27th, after the deaths of Bobby Sands, Francie Hughes, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O Hara, describes Thatcher commenting that 'the Government must be 'rock solid' against any concessions to the hunger strikers or PIRA.'
The following day on a visit to Belfast Thatcher declared that the hunger strike 'may well be their [the IRA's] last card.'
At a later meeting on July 3rd a paper notes that: 'The PM said that she felt that no concession could be made to the hunger strikers in any way...The Government's main aim should be to demonstrate that the blame for the hunger strike lay with the strikers themselves, rather than with the alleged inflexibility of the Government.'
At the same time as she was publicly engaged in the trenchant rhetoric that characterised her term in office the 'iron lady' was also involved in secret discussions through a Derry based 'back-channel' – code-named 'Soon' - with the Sinn Féin leadership.
It was a cumbersome process of contact open to abuse. The British state papers raise serious questions about the motivation of the British and the relationship between London and 'Soon'.
In a paper dated July 21st the British state: 'The use of the channel has ensured that the Provisionals have been left in no doubt that our public statements are our true position, and not a negotiating gambit...The channel has also been a source of additional intelligence about the Provisionals' attitude which we could not get in any other way…'
Outside the H-Blocks Thatcher's intransigence saw an escalation in conflict in the summer of 1981 with almost fifty people killed on the streets.
The electoral intervention of H-Block prisoners in the June general election saw Paddy Agnew and hunger striker Kieran Doherty elected as TDs. Since that election no single party has been able to form a government.
The events of that awful summer of '81 polarised Irish society, north and south. The Thatcher government policy during the 1980's was little more than a war policy. All of the strategies issuing from that policy were aimed at defeating or isolating republicanism. This included the shallow and ineffectual 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement which was about creating a political alliance involving the Dublin establishment, the SDLP, and the British to defeat Irish republicanism. Margaret Thatcher was a prime mover in all of this.
Under her direction collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads increased. In 1982 the Force Research Unit (FRU) was established. FRU ran British agents inside the various loyalist paramilitary groups and provided information on nationalists and republicans to be murdered. FRU and British intelligence also facilitated the importation of weapons for the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance via the apartheid regime in South Africa in early 1988.
In the three years prior to receiving these weapons loyalists killed 34 people. In the three years after the shipment they killed 224.
Among those to die was human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. On January 17th 1989 one of Thatcher's Ministers Douglas Hogg told the British House of Commons that some solicitors in the north were 'unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA'. Three weeks later Pat Finucane was shot dead by a UDA squad made up entirely of Special Branch and British agents.
Shoot-to-kill actions by British forces also significantly increased. This was most evident in the shooting dead of three unarmed IRA activists in Gibraltar in March 1988. It is my view that Thatcher authorised the killings at Gibraltar.
Later when the BBC and the IBA scheduled two programmes about Gibraltar Thatcher tried to stop them. She was "outraged" when the programmes went ahead. Later that year she introduced the Broadcasting Ban on Sinn Féin.
Three years later Thatcher authorised the then British Secretary of State Peter Brooke to reopen the back-channel with republicans. We were wary of this. However, for almost a decade Sinn Féin had been patently trying to build a peace process and unfolding events on the world stage, including the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, and the release of Nelson, were evidence that governments, and apparently intractable situations, could change. So we agreed to reactivate the back channel.
But for Thatcher it all ended several months later in November 1990 when she was forced to resign by her party who perceived her to be no longer an electoral asset. She was evicted from Downing Street with all the ruthlessness, treachery and warped humanity of what passes for high politics.
Thatcher's 12 years of dictating British policy in Ireland was a legacy of bitterness and entrenched division.
The papers were published coinicdnetly at the same as a Hollywood movie about Thatcher.
I haven't seen the film but I do remember the Thatcher years and the great hurt she did to the British people and also to the people of this island.
Thatcher's right wing conservative social and economic politics – often labelled Thatcherism - were a source of considerable division in Britain. Along with US President Ronald Reagan she championed the deregulation of the financial institutions, cuts in public services and was vehemently anti-trade union. The current crisis in the banking institutions and the economic recession owe much to these policies.
She also went to war in the Malvinas pursuing Britain's age old colonial interests; opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa; and supported the Khmer Rouge and the Chilean dictator Pinochet.
Thatcher inherited a British counter-insurgency strategy in Ireland from the Labour government. Its goal was to politically defeat Irish republicanism.
The Thatcher government embraced this strategy. It believed that the criminalisation of the republican prisoners would break the republican struggle. It was not interested in a resolution.
This much is evident in the government papers. For example a report of a meeting at Chequers on May 27th, after the deaths of Bobby Sands, Francie Hughes, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O Hara, describes Thatcher commenting that 'the Government must be 'rock solid' against any concessions to the hunger strikers or PIRA.'
The following day on a visit to Belfast Thatcher declared that the hunger strike 'may well be their [the IRA's] last card.'
At a later meeting on July 3rd a paper notes that: 'The PM said that she felt that no concession could be made to the hunger strikers in any way...The Government's main aim should be to demonstrate that the blame for the hunger strike lay with the strikers themselves, rather than with the alleged inflexibility of the Government.'
At the same time as she was publicly engaged in the trenchant rhetoric that characterised her term in office the 'iron lady' was also involved in secret discussions through a Derry based 'back-channel' – code-named 'Soon' - with the Sinn Féin leadership.
It was a cumbersome process of contact open to abuse. The British state papers raise serious questions about the motivation of the British and the relationship between London and 'Soon'.
In a paper dated July 21st the British state: 'The use of the channel has ensured that the Provisionals have been left in no doubt that our public statements are our true position, and not a negotiating gambit...The channel has also been a source of additional intelligence about the Provisionals' attitude which we could not get in any other way…'
Outside the H-Blocks Thatcher's intransigence saw an escalation in conflict in the summer of 1981 with almost fifty people killed on the streets.
The electoral intervention of H-Block prisoners in the June general election saw Paddy Agnew and hunger striker Kieran Doherty elected as TDs. Since that election no single party has been able to form a government.
The events of that awful summer of '81 polarised Irish society, north and south. The Thatcher government policy during the 1980's was little more than a war policy. All of the strategies issuing from that policy were aimed at defeating or isolating republicanism. This included the shallow and ineffectual 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement which was about creating a political alliance involving the Dublin establishment, the SDLP, and the British to defeat Irish republicanism. Margaret Thatcher was a prime mover in all of this.
Under her direction collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads increased. In 1982 the Force Research Unit (FRU) was established. FRU ran British agents inside the various loyalist paramilitary groups and provided information on nationalists and republicans to be murdered. FRU and British intelligence also facilitated the importation of weapons for the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance via the apartheid regime in South Africa in early 1988.
In the three years prior to receiving these weapons loyalists killed 34 people. In the three years after the shipment they killed 224.
Among those to die was human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. On January 17th 1989 one of Thatcher's Ministers Douglas Hogg told the British House of Commons that some solicitors in the north were 'unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA'. Three weeks later Pat Finucane was shot dead by a UDA squad made up entirely of Special Branch and British agents.
Shoot-to-kill actions by British forces also significantly increased. This was most evident in the shooting dead of three unarmed IRA activists in Gibraltar in March 1988. It is my view that Thatcher authorised the killings at Gibraltar.
Later when the BBC and the IBA scheduled two programmes about Gibraltar Thatcher tried to stop them. She was "outraged" when the programmes went ahead. Later that year she introduced the Broadcasting Ban on Sinn Féin.
Three years later Thatcher authorised the then British Secretary of State Peter Brooke to reopen the back-channel with republicans. We were wary of this. However, for almost a decade Sinn Féin had been patently trying to build a peace process and unfolding events on the world stage, including the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, and the release of Nelson, were evidence that governments, and apparently intractable situations, could change. So we agreed to reactivate the back channel.
But for Thatcher it all ended several months later in November 1990 when she was forced to resign by her party who perceived her to be no longer an electoral asset. She was evicted from Downing Street with all the ruthlessness, treachery and warped humanity of what passes for high politics.
Thatcher's 12 years of dictating British policy in Ireland was a legacy of bitterness and entrenched division.
December 30, 2011
Following the paper trail – Thatcher's Irish Legacy
Today sees the publication of British and Irish government papers that are being released under the 30 year rule. There are hundreds of documents. Some are minutes of meetings involving the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Others are reports of briefings of unionist politicians by the NIO. Some are letters written by former Taoisigh Charlie Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald and assessments of the political situation at different times in the course of that momentous year.
This blog has read some but not all of the papers. Academics, historians and journalists will be poring over the detail of these for months to come and trying to fit the story they tell into what is already known. They deserve the closest scrutiny.
There is of course the important health warning. These are government documents, written in their time with the bias of those political systems. So care is needed.
The H Block/Armagh prison protest and the hunger strikes were watershed events in recent Irish history. Ten prisoners died. Over 50 other people were killed during the summer of 1981, including young children killed by plastic bullets. The events of that year had a profound impact on subsequent developments.
However, it is very clear from an initial examination of the papers that the British government in 1981 had adopted a fixed, intransigent and at crucial points a duplicitous approach to finding a settlement. It consistently refused to deal with the substance of the prison protests and was prepared to allow prisoners to die.
The NIO played a particularly obstructive role aided by the then Secretary of State Humphrey Atkins and his junior Minister Michael Alison. Both were very much influenced by the attitude of Unionist political leaders.
One event which has already been the focus of some media comment is a claim by the Pope's envoy Fr. John Magee that in a meeting with Bobby Sands that Bobby had offered to suspend the hunger strike for five days.
I have never heard this claim before. Moreover Bobby was very clear in his approach to the hunger strike. The prisoners had agreed procedures among themselves to ensure there would be no repeat of the events of the previous December when the first hunger strike ended.
The prisoners wanted Brendan McFarlane OC of the prisoners in the H Blocks and someone from outside to be part of any discussions about any British government proposals. This was to protect the hunger strikers and the protest. Several days before Magee's visit Bobby had refused to meet two members of the European Commission of Human Rights without Brendan McFarlane being present.
Bobby viewed Magee's visit as pastoral. In none of his subsequent conversations with either Jim Gibney or messages to Brendan did he mention making any offer to Magee.
For him to have made such an offer and not mention it would have been totally out of character because Bobby diligently reported any developments. In my view he certainly would have mentioned such an important proposal.
However, whatever the veracity of the Magee claim the British response is clear.
According to the record of the discussions between Atkins and Fr. Magee, which were held at 12.30 p.m. in Stormont Castle on April 29th – 7 days before Bobby died – Atkins told Magee: "that there could be no negotiation: that was what Sands was trying to initiate. The Government had no intention of conceding political status … To concede that would be wrong – and would also provoke a violent reaction within the Province which would threaten innocent lives. Father Magee said he thought that the prisoners would not be inflexible: they wanted evidence of goodwill because promises had been made to them at the end of the last hunger strike and had not been kept. The SoS emphasised to Father Magee that no promises had been made at the end of the last hunger strike. That fact was well known to Sands … At the end of the meeting the SoS explained, and Father Magee accepted, that the SoS could not see Father Magee again because to do so would risk creating the impression that some form of negotiation was going on. There was no question of negotiation and the SoS would not to continue to make that quite clear."
The other aspect of this period that will be of interest to many is the detail provided by the British of their engagement with and abuse of the 'back-channel'.
This was a line of communication between a Derry based contact – Brendan Duddy - and a British intelligence agent Michael Oatley who had direct access to Downing Street.
There are transcripts of 8 telephone calls over the weekend of July 4 to 6th between the British agent and the Derry 'back-channel' who was given the code-name 'Soon'. This was just before the death of Joe McDonnell.
The papers raise serious questions about the relationship between London and 'Soon'.
For example, according to the British papers 'Soon' had an agreed code word with them. The paper says: 'At the outset Soon indicated by a prearranged code that he was accompanied by a representative of the Provisionals. He had previously suggested that in this situation we should adopt a hard line…'
It is also stated in respect of another call that: 'Soon reported that a great deal of confusion has arisen in Provisional circles … Soon then described the circumstances of the issue of the Prisoners' statement of 4 July. He said that the statement had been issued independently by the prisoners in the Maze and the timing came as a surprise to senior Provisionals outside … Unfortunately, the timing of the release of the statement had caught the Provisionals unaware.'
This was not true. The statement had in fact been issued by prisoners through the Sinn Féin POW department and the Republican Press Centre. I chaired the Sinn Féin committee responsible for handling the prison struggle, contacts with the prisoners, with the British and anyone else. We had seen this statement before it was issued and 'Soon' would have known this.
A report of another call claims that: 'Soon began by restating the Provisionals disorganised position.' Not true.
According to the Brits he also tells them that, in respect of the end of the December 1980 hunger strike: 'the Provisionals believed that HMG had been sincere in trying to implement their side of the agreement. The breakdown had occurred because some of the prisoners had been harassed by some of the prison officers …'
Not true.
While the prison administration and prison officers worked hard to prevent the prisoners positively working through the December paper from the British, at no time then or since did anyone in the Sinn Féin leadership believe that the British government was 'sincere' in implementing that agreement.
The British also reported that according to 'Call No 7, 2300-2400, 5 July': 'Soon had been called into an angry and hostile meeting of the Provisionals almost verging on a complete breakdown. .. At this point Soon indicated that a considerable number of Provisionals had arrived. ..'
Not true.
The line of communication was very straight forward, although cumbersome. The prisoners communicated with the Committee I chaired on the outside. I then dealt with Martin McGuinness who met 'Soon' in Derry. No one else was involved in the meetings with the back-channel.
These and other inconsistencies raised in these records only confirm this blog in my view that in negotiations 'facilitators' or 'intermediaries' can unintentionally or deliberately create problems by not relying messages accurately.
Finally, among the many matters raised in these papers one in particular stands out. It has been claimed by some that an offer was made by the British and relayed to Brendan McFarlane by Danny Morrison in a visit to the prison on Sunday July 5th.
It is claimed that this 'offer' was the substance of the five demands and that it was blocked by outside because the leadership wanted more prisoners to die for political advantage.
This lie has caused great hurt to the families of the hunger strikers who subsequently died and to those of us who were involved in the efforts to save them.
These transcripts reveal that no offer was made to the prisoners on 5th July and that at the time of Danny Morrison's visit to the prisoners on that day the British government had not formulated its position: 'Soon then indicated that McGuinness had just arrived. He said that time was of the essence and asked what the current HMG position was. We explained it was important before drafting any documents for consideration by Ministers that we should possess the Provisionals view. Soon then undertook clear views on their position. Which would be relayed to us later after discussions in the light of Morrison's visit'.
Another myth busted.
The hunger strike and its repercussions on individuals, families and the political life of this island were far reaching. The papers that have been released provide another insight to a tumultuous period. Next week this blog will return to the papers and identify other interesting aspects of developments 30 years ago.
This blog has read some but not all of the papers. Academics, historians and journalists will be poring over the detail of these for months to come and trying to fit the story they tell into what is already known. They deserve the closest scrutiny.
There is of course the important health warning. These are government documents, written in their time with the bias of those political systems. So care is needed.
The H Block/Armagh prison protest and the hunger strikes were watershed events in recent Irish history. Ten prisoners died. Over 50 other people were killed during the summer of 1981, including young children killed by plastic bullets. The events of that year had a profound impact on subsequent developments.
However, it is very clear from an initial examination of the papers that the British government in 1981 had adopted a fixed, intransigent and at crucial points a duplicitous approach to finding a settlement. It consistently refused to deal with the substance of the prison protests and was prepared to allow prisoners to die.
The NIO played a particularly obstructive role aided by the then Secretary of State Humphrey Atkins and his junior Minister Michael Alison. Both were very much influenced by the attitude of Unionist political leaders.
One event which has already been the focus of some media comment is a claim by the Pope's envoy Fr. John Magee that in a meeting with Bobby Sands that Bobby had offered to suspend the hunger strike for five days.
I have never heard this claim before. Moreover Bobby was very clear in his approach to the hunger strike. The prisoners had agreed procedures among themselves to ensure there would be no repeat of the events of the previous December when the first hunger strike ended.
The prisoners wanted Brendan McFarlane OC of the prisoners in the H Blocks and someone from outside to be part of any discussions about any British government proposals. This was to protect the hunger strikers and the protest. Several days before Magee's visit Bobby had refused to meet two members of the European Commission of Human Rights without Brendan McFarlane being present.
Bobby viewed Magee's visit as pastoral. In none of his subsequent conversations with either Jim Gibney or messages to Brendan did he mention making any offer to Magee.
For him to have made such an offer and not mention it would have been totally out of character because Bobby diligently reported any developments. In my view he certainly would have mentioned such an important proposal.
However, whatever the veracity of the Magee claim the British response is clear.
According to the record of the discussions between Atkins and Fr. Magee, which were held at 12.30 p.m. in Stormont Castle on April 29th – 7 days before Bobby died – Atkins told Magee: "that there could be no negotiation: that was what Sands was trying to initiate. The Government had no intention of conceding political status … To concede that would be wrong – and would also provoke a violent reaction within the Province which would threaten innocent lives. Father Magee said he thought that the prisoners would not be inflexible: they wanted evidence of goodwill because promises had been made to them at the end of the last hunger strike and had not been kept. The SoS emphasised to Father Magee that no promises had been made at the end of the last hunger strike. That fact was well known to Sands … At the end of the meeting the SoS explained, and Father Magee accepted, that the SoS could not see Father Magee again because to do so would risk creating the impression that some form of negotiation was going on. There was no question of negotiation and the SoS would not to continue to make that quite clear."
The other aspect of this period that will be of interest to many is the detail provided by the British of their engagement with and abuse of the 'back-channel'.
This was a line of communication between a Derry based contact – Brendan Duddy - and a British intelligence agent Michael Oatley who had direct access to Downing Street.
There are transcripts of 8 telephone calls over the weekend of July 4 to 6th between the British agent and the Derry 'back-channel' who was given the code-name 'Soon'. This was just before the death of Joe McDonnell.
The papers raise serious questions about the relationship between London and 'Soon'.
For example, according to the British papers 'Soon' had an agreed code word with them. The paper says: 'At the outset Soon indicated by a prearranged code that he was accompanied by a representative of the Provisionals. He had previously suggested that in this situation we should adopt a hard line…'
It is also stated in respect of another call that: 'Soon reported that a great deal of confusion has arisen in Provisional circles … Soon then described the circumstances of the issue of the Prisoners' statement of 4 July. He said that the statement had been issued independently by the prisoners in the Maze and the timing came as a surprise to senior Provisionals outside … Unfortunately, the timing of the release of the statement had caught the Provisionals unaware.'
This was not true. The statement had in fact been issued by prisoners through the Sinn Féin POW department and the Republican Press Centre. I chaired the Sinn Féin committee responsible for handling the prison struggle, contacts with the prisoners, with the British and anyone else. We had seen this statement before it was issued and 'Soon' would have known this.
A report of another call claims that: 'Soon began by restating the Provisionals disorganised position.' Not true.
According to the Brits he also tells them that, in respect of the end of the December 1980 hunger strike: 'the Provisionals believed that HMG had been sincere in trying to implement their side of the agreement. The breakdown had occurred because some of the prisoners had been harassed by some of the prison officers …'
Not true.
While the prison administration and prison officers worked hard to prevent the prisoners positively working through the December paper from the British, at no time then or since did anyone in the Sinn Féin leadership believe that the British government was 'sincere' in implementing that agreement.
The British also reported that according to 'Call No 7, 2300-2400, 5 July': 'Soon had been called into an angry and hostile meeting of the Provisionals almost verging on a complete breakdown. .. At this point Soon indicated that a considerable number of Provisionals had arrived. ..'
Not true.
The line of communication was very straight forward, although cumbersome. The prisoners communicated with the Committee I chaired on the outside. I then dealt with Martin McGuinness who met 'Soon' in Derry. No one else was involved in the meetings with the back-channel.
These and other inconsistencies raised in these records only confirm this blog in my view that in negotiations 'facilitators' or 'intermediaries' can unintentionally or deliberately create problems by not relying messages accurately.
Finally, among the many matters raised in these papers one in particular stands out. It has been claimed by some that an offer was made by the British and relayed to Brendan McFarlane by Danny Morrison in a visit to the prison on Sunday July 5th.
It is claimed that this 'offer' was the substance of the five demands and that it was blocked by outside because the leadership wanted more prisoners to die for political advantage.
This lie has caused great hurt to the families of the hunger strikers who subsequently died and to those of us who were involved in the efforts to save them.
These transcripts reveal that no offer was made to the prisoners on 5th July and that at the time of Danny Morrison's visit to the prisoners on that day the British government had not formulated its position: 'Soon then indicated that McGuinness had just arrived. He said that time was of the essence and asked what the current HMG position was. We explained it was important before drafting any documents for consideration by Ministers that we should possess the Provisionals view. Soon then undertook clear views on their position. Which would be relayed to us later after discussions in the light of Morrison's visit'.
Another myth busted.
The hunger strike and its repercussions on individuals, families and the political life of this island were far reaching. The papers that have been released provide another insight to a tumultuous period. Next week this blog will return to the papers and identify other interesting aspects of developments 30 years ago.
December 29, 2011
2012. Here we come!
Christy Moore is on the CD player. He is away from the island on his Honda 50. The rain is pelting down outside. The wind is whooooshing through the trees out the back. I have sliced the last of Teds ham and made a stew of sorts in a big pot with spuds, garlic, onions, tomatoes, organo, parsnips and carrots. And Teds ham. With meat balls. In the kitchen. And a splash of red wine.
Luisne is beside me, in deep conversation with Peppa Pig, courtesy of the internet. Christy doesn't seem to mind. Neither do I. We are cosy here. Thanks be to God. I used to have a Honda 50 but that's another story.
Christmas was nice. This blog was well looked after. So was the rest of the clann. We are very lucky. I am glad to get the rest. I haven't seen your man for a wee while. Since before Christmas. Since he left me in Dublin.
The next day I went to Drogheda. I wandered along West Street. There is a man who sells organic vegetables from a stall there on Fridays. West Street has a street market on Fridays. I be there every third Friday. Or at least I was there every third Friday in 2011. Or every third Friday since the General Election. The other Fridays I was in Dundalk or East Meath. Doing constituency work.
So on Fridays I also shop for vegetables. Not always at the street market in Drogheda. Sometimes I got to a lovely wee Green Grocers in Dundalk. They sell very nice Florance Cakes there. As well as vegetables. When I was a wee lad my granny used to send me to McErleans Home Bakery on the Andytown Road just below Saint Agnes Chapel to get her a Florence Cake – spelt with an e instead of the a of Dundalk. So I like Florence Cakes whatever way they are spelt.
Other times when I know I'm going be in Dublin on the Saturday I go to Moore Street. I like Moore Street.
But I especially like the organic vegetables that I get in West Street. Especially the fresh dates. And the figs. The Friday before Christmas I noticed that the man selling the organic vegetables had mistletoe on his stall. He was talking to me at the time about what was going on in Iran. I only figured out afterwards that he was so up to date with all the sceal from those parts because that's where his dates come from.
That's when I noticed that the mistletoe wasn't hanging up. I mentioned this to your man when we spoke on the phone.
'I suppose he is just being careful' he said.
'What do you mean?' I wondered.
'I mean if he had his mistletoe hanging up some people might think that was an invitation'.
'An invitation?'
'To kiss!' he exclaimed.
'I know that' I said, still not getting his point.
'Well' he explained slowly ' If his dates come from Iran he wouldn't want to be jeopardising that by kissing anyone else!'
'Ho Ho Ho' I retorted. ' see you in 2012!'
'2012!' he exclaimed. '2012 here we come!'
Luisne is beside me, in deep conversation with Peppa Pig, courtesy of the internet. Christy doesn't seem to mind. Neither do I. We are cosy here. Thanks be to God. I used to have a Honda 50 but that's another story.
Christmas was nice. This blog was well looked after. So was the rest of the clann. We are very lucky. I am glad to get the rest. I haven't seen your man for a wee while. Since before Christmas. Since he left me in Dublin.
The next day I went to Drogheda. I wandered along West Street. There is a man who sells organic vegetables from a stall there on Fridays. West Street has a street market on Fridays. I be there every third Friday. Or at least I was there every third Friday in 2011. Or every third Friday since the General Election. The other Fridays I was in Dundalk or East Meath. Doing constituency work.
So on Fridays I also shop for vegetables. Not always at the street market in Drogheda. Sometimes I got to a lovely wee Green Grocers in Dundalk. They sell very nice Florance Cakes there. As well as vegetables. When I was a wee lad my granny used to send me to McErleans Home Bakery on the Andytown Road just below Saint Agnes Chapel to get her a Florence Cake – spelt with an e instead of the a of Dundalk. So I like Florence Cakes whatever way they are spelt.
Other times when I know I'm going be in Dublin on the Saturday I go to Moore Street. I like Moore Street.
But I especially like the organic vegetables that I get in West Street. Especially the fresh dates. And the figs. The Friday before Christmas I noticed that the man selling the organic vegetables had mistletoe on his stall. He was talking to me at the time about what was going on in Iran. I only figured out afterwards that he was so up to date with all the sceal from those parts because that's where his dates come from.
That's when I noticed that the mistletoe wasn't hanging up. I mentioned this to your man when we spoke on the phone.
'I suppose he is just being careful' he said.
'What do you mean?' I wondered.
'I mean if he had his mistletoe hanging up some people might think that was an invitation'.
'An invitation?'
'To kiss!' he exclaimed.
'I know that' I said, still not getting his point.
'Well' he explained slowly ' If his dates come from Iran he wouldn't want to be jeopardising that by kissing anyone else!'
'Ho Ho Ho' I retorted. ' see you in 2012!'
'2012!' he exclaimed. '2012 here we come!'
December 20, 2011
Nollaig Shona Daoibhse
The New Year will be as bright as we chose to make it
It is amazing the difference a year makes. 12 months ago this blog was the MP for west Belfast. Bar one brief interlude in the 90's I was humbled and privileged to represent the people of that historic constituency as MP since 1983.
I was and still am very attached to west Belfast. It is where I grew up. It's where I went to school. It's where as a young boy I played with my friends in the lanes and parks and streets and had wonderful adventures on the Black Mountain. It was where I first witnessed the brutality of sectarianism and the injustice of the northern state. It's where I discovered republican politics. It's where my family live.
During the 70's as a republican activist on the run this blog relied on the generosity of many families. I experienced for myself many times the solidarity of the west Belfast community.
It was the same with my experience of elections. My first foray into electoralism was in the 1982 Assembly elections. It was the year after the hunger strike and Bobby Sands and then Owen Carron's successes in Fermanagh South Tyrone. Sinn Féin was dismissed by the pundits as 'no-hopers' who would barely register a vote. But the sound nationalist and republican people of west Belfast and Tyrone and South Armagh and Derry and Fermanagh and elsewhere gave the Brits, and others, another in a long list of electoral shocks.
This blog was an abstentionist MP. I refused to sit in the British Parliament or swear an oath of allegiance to the English Queen. In my view the British have no right to be in our country or to exercise any jurisdiction over it. The people of west Belfast had no difficulty understanding this. But I was an active absentionist. Absent from the British Parliament, but active representing the electorate of west Belfast.
Until last December. Then after almost 30 continuous years of being a west Belfast representative, this blog went south. A Sinn Féin selection convention in Dundalk, just before Christmas 2010, selected me to stand for Louth.
I have described this move as a 'wrench' but in truth that description doesn't really do it justice. The move out of west Belfast and into Louth and the Dáil has been an exhausting, exhilarating, and exciting process.
I miss west Belfast but I am thoroughly enjoying County Louth. The people are just as sound and the Shinners just as committed as those in Belfast. The challenges and the issues as they impact on people's daily lives are the same.
It's about unemployment and housing and suicide prevention and a proper health service and education and a safer environment. But it's in a different political context.
In the north Sinn Féin and the DUP are trying to win fiscal powers from the British state. The Irish government is in the process of handing these same powers away to bureaucrats in the EU.
In the power sharing system in the north Sinn Fein has developed innovative economic initiatives to minimise some of the worst affects of the economic recession and of British Tory cuts.
In the south the Irish Labour party is supporting the conservative Fine Gael party in implementing a Thatcherite strategy that is stripping away essential public services and inflicting huge damage on the social fabric of society.
For Sinn Féin it is a relentless battle criticising and challenging bad government policy while promoting sound practical republican solutions.
A year of elections and ten months as the real voice of opposition in the Dáil means that Sinn Féin has emerged stronger and more vibrant and more popular than ever.
However, it is important that we do not lose sight of what all of this hard work is about achieving. Irish republicans are about equality and inclusiveness and citizenship and sovereignty. We are about the historic work of uniting Ireland and uniting the people of Ireland.
We follow proudly in the tradition of James Connolly and Padraig Pearse, and Anne Devlin and Wolfe Tone, and Countess Markievicz and Bobby Sands and Mairead Farrell and many more.
That is a huge agenda of change for the future. It's about building a new Republic for the 21st century that takes the 1916 Proclamation as its template but seeks to shape it for a new century and new conditions.
This blog, despite the dire economic circumstances north and south, is very optimistic about this new future. If I have learned anything in my years of activism it is that the Irish people have the wit and intelligence to see beyond the current problems and intelligently chart a way through it.
Wishing his readers 'A Happy New Year' James Connolly, writing in the Workers Republic on January 1st 1916, and addressing the 'rebels in heart' wrote: '...let us remind them that opportunities are for those who seize them, and that the coming year may be as bright as we choose to make it.'
So, dear readers wherever you are in the world enjoy Christmas and the New Year – nollaig shona daoibhse agus áthbhliain faoi mháise daoibh. And remember that the New Year is a new year of struggle. An opportunity to build on the progress we have made in recent years and to continue to build political strength and to take real and tangible steps toward Irish unity. It will be as bright as we chose to make it
It is amazing the difference a year makes. 12 months ago this blog was the MP for west Belfast. Bar one brief interlude in the 90's I was humbled and privileged to represent the people of that historic constituency as MP since 1983.
I was and still am very attached to west Belfast. It is where I grew up. It's where I went to school. It's where as a young boy I played with my friends in the lanes and parks and streets and had wonderful adventures on the Black Mountain. It was where I first witnessed the brutality of sectarianism and the injustice of the northern state. It's where I discovered republican politics. It's where my family live.
During the 70's as a republican activist on the run this blog relied on the generosity of many families. I experienced for myself many times the solidarity of the west Belfast community.
It was the same with my experience of elections. My first foray into electoralism was in the 1982 Assembly elections. It was the year after the hunger strike and Bobby Sands and then Owen Carron's successes in Fermanagh South Tyrone. Sinn Féin was dismissed by the pundits as 'no-hopers' who would barely register a vote. But the sound nationalist and republican people of west Belfast and Tyrone and South Armagh and Derry and Fermanagh and elsewhere gave the Brits, and others, another in a long list of electoral shocks.
This blog was an abstentionist MP. I refused to sit in the British Parliament or swear an oath of allegiance to the English Queen. In my view the British have no right to be in our country or to exercise any jurisdiction over it. The people of west Belfast had no difficulty understanding this. But I was an active absentionist. Absent from the British Parliament, but active representing the electorate of west Belfast.
Until last December. Then after almost 30 continuous years of being a west Belfast representative, this blog went south. A Sinn Féin selection convention in Dundalk, just before Christmas 2010, selected me to stand for Louth.
I have described this move as a 'wrench' but in truth that description doesn't really do it justice. The move out of west Belfast and into Louth and the Dáil has been an exhausting, exhilarating, and exciting process.
I miss west Belfast but I am thoroughly enjoying County Louth. The people are just as sound and the Shinners just as committed as those in Belfast. The challenges and the issues as they impact on people's daily lives are the same.
It's about unemployment and housing and suicide prevention and a proper health service and education and a safer environment. But it's in a different political context.
In the north Sinn Féin and the DUP are trying to win fiscal powers from the British state. The Irish government is in the process of handing these same powers away to bureaucrats in the EU.
In the power sharing system in the north Sinn Fein has developed innovative economic initiatives to minimise some of the worst affects of the economic recession and of British Tory cuts.
In the south the Irish Labour party is supporting the conservative Fine Gael party in implementing a Thatcherite strategy that is stripping away essential public services and inflicting huge damage on the social fabric of society.
For Sinn Féin it is a relentless battle criticising and challenging bad government policy while promoting sound practical republican solutions.
A year of elections and ten months as the real voice of opposition in the Dáil means that Sinn Féin has emerged stronger and more vibrant and more popular than ever.
However, it is important that we do not lose sight of what all of this hard work is about achieving. Irish republicans are about equality and inclusiveness and citizenship and sovereignty. We are about the historic work of uniting Ireland and uniting the people of Ireland.
We follow proudly in the tradition of James Connolly and Padraig Pearse, and Anne Devlin and Wolfe Tone, and Countess Markievicz and Bobby Sands and Mairead Farrell and many more.
That is a huge agenda of change for the future. It's about building a new Republic for the 21st century that takes the 1916 Proclamation as its template but seeks to shape it for a new century and new conditions.
This blog, despite the dire economic circumstances north and south, is very optimistic about this new future. If I have learned anything in my years of activism it is that the Irish people have the wit and intelligence to see beyond the current problems and intelligently chart a way through it.
Wishing his readers 'A Happy New Year' James Connolly, writing in the Workers Republic on January 1st 1916, and addressing the 'rebels in heart' wrote: '...let us remind them that opportunities are for those who seize them, and that the coming year may be as bright as we choose to make it.'
So, dear readers wherever you are in the world enjoy Christmas and the New Year – nollaig shona daoibhse agus áthbhliain faoi mháise daoibh. And remember that the New Year is a new year of struggle. An opportunity to build on the progress we have made in recent years and to continue to build political strength and to take real and tangible steps toward Irish unity. It will be as bright as we chose to make it
December 15, 2011
Defending the Lowest Class
It's the last week before the Dáil breaks for Christmas and the New Year. All across this state there are families reeling from the damaging impact of the scrooge-like budget that was delivered by the Irish government last week. Hard choices are being made by parents between presents and food and heat and the mortgage.
James Connolly in 1915 in the Workers Republic said:
"In the long run the freedom of a nation is measured by the freedom of its lowest class; every upward step of that class to the possibility of possessing higher things raises the standard of the nation in the scale of civilization."
On this basis the Irish Labour Party has abandoned its claim to Connolly's socialist roots. To its shame the Irish Labour Party has bought into and is helping the conservative Fine Gael party to implement a budget that is severely hurting the low paid, the vulnerable in this society and the lowest class.
The outcome of the budget means that lone parents; teachers; the disabled and carers; the unemployed; the elderly; and children are all significantly worse off. The number of children deprived of very basic essentials has risen from 23.5% two years ago to 30.2%. It is a fact that every measure of poverty and inequality is rising.
Homeless support groups like Focus Ireland and the Simon Community in this part of the island report a significant increase in the demand for their services. In particular they have seen an increase in demand for support from people who have become homeless as a direct result of financial and emotional hardship arising from the recession.
There are 5000 homeless while around 200 citizens sleep rough. A TD can stand on the plinth outside the Dáil here and see the grim reality of homelessness in Dublin, where night after night - from summertime to the depths of freezing winter - people are forced to sleep rough.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the housing crisis. Over 100,000 families are on local authority housing waiting lists and there are over 90,000 people claiming rent supplement, an emergency benefit for those unable to meet the cost of rent in the private sector.
The government has cut homeless budgets in the HSE and in the Department of Environment. Housing budgets to local authorities have also been slashed by a staggering 26%. Personal contributions to rent and mortgage interest supplement have been increased and once again the Government is planning to reduce maximum rent thresholds.
And all of this at a time when hundreds of thousands of housing units – houses and apartments - across the state lie empty. Most now owned by NAMA.
The government appears so indifferent to this crisis that the Taoiseach has thus far refused to appoint a new Minister for Housing to take charge of this deteriorating situation.
The last Minister Labour TD Willie Penrose resigned from the Cabinet and lost the party whip after opposing a decision by the government to close an Army barracks in Mullingar. He is one of three Labour TDs – Tommy Broughan and Patrick Nulty being the others – who have jumped from the Labour ship over disagreements on the budget and bank guarantee.
The housing crisis is only one part of the tale. Five years ago there were 1,281 excess winter deaths. Most were elderly and vulnerable citizens. This year there will be more.
In September the government cut the weekly fuel allowance; it also cut the household benefits package fuel allowances and last week's budget cut the fuel allowance by the equivalent of €120.
And then there has been the disgraceful treatment of the five women in St. Brendan's Hospital in Grangegorman. The five, who are long term patients, have been forced to move into a 'lock-up' secure unit with six other patients because the facility does not have sufficient nurses and Christmas holidays mean that there is a staff shortage. They will be there for five weeks.
The five women are being moved from a ward in which they have already erected a Christmas tree and decorations.
The decision has caused distress to their relatives and to these vulnerable women.
The treatment of the five is a shocking indictment of government policy and of our mental health service. Mental health provision is the Cinderella of our health service. These women should be cherished not victimised.
All these injustices are examples of a government making political choices and deciding that instead of making those who can afford to pay more, pay more, it is penalizing the vulnerable and disadvantaged, as well as low and middle income earners. The social consequence is that for many families these policy decisions will leave many homes colder and poorer this Christmas.
James Connolly in 1915 in the Workers Republic said:
"In the long run the freedom of a nation is measured by the freedom of its lowest class; every upward step of that class to the possibility of possessing higher things raises the standard of the nation in the scale of civilization."
On this basis the Irish Labour Party has abandoned its claim to Connolly's socialist roots. To its shame the Irish Labour Party has bought into and is helping the conservative Fine Gael party to implement a budget that is severely hurting the low paid, the vulnerable in this society and the lowest class.
The outcome of the budget means that lone parents; teachers; the disabled and carers; the unemployed; the elderly; and children are all significantly worse off. The number of children deprived of very basic essentials has risen from 23.5% two years ago to 30.2%. It is a fact that every measure of poverty and inequality is rising.
Homeless support groups like Focus Ireland and the Simon Community in this part of the island report a significant increase in the demand for their services. In particular they have seen an increase in demand for support from people who have become homeless as a direct result of financial and emotional hardship arising from the recession.
There are 5000 homeless while around 200 citizens sleep rough. A TD can stand on the plinth outside the Dáil here and see the grim reality of homelessness in Dublin, where night after night - from summertime to the depths of freezing winter - people are forced to sleep rough.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the housing crisis. Over 100,000 families are on local authority housing waiting lists and there are over 90,000 people claiming rent supplement, an emergency benefit for those unable to meet the cost of rent in the private sector.
The government has cut homeless budgets in the HSE and in the Department of Environment. Housing budgets to local authorities have also been slashed by a staggering 26%. Personal contributions to rent and mortgage interest supplement have been increased and once again the Government is planning to reduce maximum rent thresholds.
And all of this at a time when hundreds of thousands of housing units – houses and apartments - across the state lie empty. Most now owned by NAMA.
The government appears so indifferent to this crisis that the Taoiseach has thus far refused to appoint a new Minister for Housing to take charge of this deteriorating situation.
The last Minister Labour TD Willie Penrose resigned from the Cabinet and lost the party whip after opposing a decision by the government to close an Army barracks in Mullingar. He is one of three Labour TDs – Tommy Broughan and Patrick Nulty being the others – who have jumped from the Labour ship over disagreements on the budget and bank guarantee.
The housing crisis is only one part of the tale. Five years ago there were 1,281 excess winter deaths. Most were elderly and vulnerable citizens. This year there will be more.
In September the government cut the weekly fuel allowance; it also cut the household benefits package fuel allowances and last week's budget cut the fuel allowance by the equivalent of €120.
And then there has been the disgraceful treatment of the five women in St. Brendan's Hospital in Grangegorman. The five, who are long term patients, have been forced to move into a 'lock-up' secure unit with six other patients because the facility does not have sufficient nurses and Christmas holidays mean that there is a staff shortage. They will be there for five weeks.
The five women are being moved from a ward in which they have already erected a Christmas tree and decorations.
The decision has caused distress to their relatives and to these vulnerable women.
The treatment of the five is a shocking indictment of government policy and of our mental health service. Mental health provision is the Cinderella of our health service. These women should be cherished not victimised.
All these injustices are examples of a government making political choices and deciding that instead of making those who can afford to pay more, pay more, it is penalizing the vulnerable and disadvantaged, as well as low and middle income earners. The social consequence is that for many families these policy decisions will leave many homes colder and poorer this Christmas.
December 12, 2011
Bridge over troubled water
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough with Narrow Water Keep in the foreground
Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet on the East Coast. It lies sandwiched between the Mourne Mountains to the North and the Cooley mountains in the South and is linked in the west through the Clanrye River and Newry canal into south Armagh and beyond.
Both the Mournes and Slieve Gullion in south Armagh are designated areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This blog has spent a lot of time over the years in the Cooley's walking the roads and lanes and hills. The people too are tremendous. Friendly and helpful, proud and independent. I am very gratified to represent the Cooley's which are part of the Louth constituency.
Carlingford Lough gets its name from the Vikings. It is a tourist's dream bursting with geological wonders and historical sites from the Neolithic times.
In the mid 9th century two Viking fleets fought a two day battle against each other with the Danish Vikings beating the Norwegian Vikings and then plundering nearby Monasteries.
Newry is, according to folklore built on the site where St. Patrick planted a yew tree. It has existed since the 12th century.
The Cooley's are linked to the legend of Setanta who left home at the age of 10 to travel to Eamhain Macha (near Armagh) to join the Red Branch Knights of Ulster. As he made his way across the Cooley mountains he would strike his sliothar (ball)with his caman (hurley stick)and then chase after it catching it before it hit the ground. The Poc Fada is now an annual game of stamina and skill played across the Cooley's.
Eventually Cú Chulainn reached Eamhain Macha. He slayed the hound of Cullan, the Kings blacksmith, and earned himself the name by which he is best remembered - Cú Chulainn – the Hound of Cullan. He is one of the central figures in the Táin Bó Cúailnge: The Cattle Raid of Cooley in which Queen Meabh of Connacht invades Ulster to steal the Brown Bull and is opposed by Cú Chulainn. This is an epic tale of a war in which the teenage Ulster hero Cú Chulainn saves the day by challenging Meabh's champions to a succession of single combats. He does this to give the heroes of Ulster time to awaken from a curse. Meabh's Gap in the Cooley's marks one famous battle site.
There are numerous other sites of historical interest, including King John's Castle in Carlingford, scattered around Carlingford lough.
Narrwo Water Castle
Narrow Water Castle on the northern shore of the lough is one of the finest. It is one of the best examples of a tower house in Ireland. While there has been a keep here since the 13th century the current tower was built in the mid 16th century to defend Newry from attack by sea.
Partition brought its own difficulties for the region drawing a border through the Lough and between Counties Down and Armagh on one side and Louth and Monaghan on the other. The economic impact on the region was profound. Newry and Dundalk on either side of the border were cut off from their natural economic hinterlands and suffered grievously as a result.
In an effort to reverse this and enhance the tourist and economic infrastructure of the region it was proposed some years ago that a bridge should be constructed across the lough at Narrow Water where the distance between the South Down and Louth sides is very short.
Sinn Féin has been to the fore in campaigning for the bridge and a significant amount of planning, including an economic appraisal and Environmental Impact Assessment, has already taken place.
However back in July the Narrow Water Bridge project received a body blow and the local community was deeply disappointed, when the news broke that the Fine Gael and Labour Government was withdrawing funding for the cross border road project.
But that wasn't the end of the story. Since the summer Newry and Mourne District Council and Louth County Council have submitted a proposal to the Special EU Programmes Body (SEPUB) of the INTERREG programme. INTERREG has over €20 million available which must be spent by 2015.
In recent days my office has also discussed the possibility of this EU funding being made available for the construction of the bridge. There have also been a range of other meetings involving Caitriona Ruane MLA in South Down, Conor Murphy MP in Newry and Armagh, and party representatives, like Councillor Jim Loughran in the Cooley area and Councillor Tomas Sharkey, who have been active on this for some time.
This blog has also asked for an early meeting with Leo Varadkar the Minister for Transport in the Irish government. It was his decision in July which pulled the plug at that time on the Narrow Water Bridge project.
The possible involvement of INTERREG means that the possibility exists for this cross border project to go ahead and to be cost neutral for Irish taxpayers, as INTERREG would cover all costs.
There is a limited three year period for the bridge to be taken from the planning stage to the completion stage. So a lot of work has to be done in a relatively short time.
The reality is that at a time of economic crisis and recession the Narrow Water Bridge project can create jobs and bring financial investment and economic growth to this region. If properly developed it would allow for the fullest economic exploitation of the historic, cultural and natural beauty of the Louth/South Down/and South Armagh areas.
All pics taken by Paula. The landscape shots were photographed from Flagstaff Point.
Carlingford Town with King John's Castle
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