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

 

                                                                    Moore St

Stop the Demolition of Moore St

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

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to the availableevidence, including confirmation rooted in Council and governmental reports.The Executive’s report was withdrawn but will now come before the Council againin September.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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

James Connolly Heron of theMoore Street Preservation Trust said:

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

 

Coffin Ships

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ThePen Behind The Wire.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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