This & That: Take 20

Shame and Hope

Perhaps there are signs of moving with the times. Prior to Pope Benedict bowing out there was a report that some German Catholic hospitals might be permitted to issue certain types of morning-after pills for women who have been raped.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne suggested changing the policy after two Catholic hospitals refused to assist a rape victim due to prohibitions on issuing the pill. He reasons some pills rather than induce abortion actually prevent fertilisation.

Might all sound like angels dancing on the head of a pin type reasoning to those of us not the slightest interested in theological jabberwocky but at least the clerics are bowing to the pressure of a public opinion concerned that the de facto rights of the rapist to force his victim to bear him a child are considered greater by the Catholic Church than the rights of the rape victim to terminate. The refusal by the Catholic hospital in Cologne caused a public outcry in Germany leading to an apology from the Cardinal who said the refusal to help rape victims "shames us deeply because it contradicts our Christian mission and our purpose".


Inappropriate

Shame is not something Cardinal Keith O’Brien was much given to prior to his outing as someone who liked to try it on with fellow priests once he had downed a few drinks. Priests banging priests is okay by me if it is consensual and they don’t pester those not inclined towards sex with the sexton.

For long enough O’Brien attacked the gay community for promoting and practicing same sex relationships. It earned him a bigot of the year award from the Charity, Stonewall.

Since then four men, three of them priests and one a former priest, have made complaints to the Vatican about o'Brien behaving 'inappropriately' towards them while they were young ckerics. O’Brien was the spiritual director of one of the men when an inappropriate relationships developed. Seems spiritual erection concerned him more. The men made their complaints just prior to the resignation of Pope Benedict.

They later expressed fears that feared that ‘if O'Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope, the church will not fully address their complaints.’ One of the men making the allegations stated.

It tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit.

O’Brien consequently was not permitted to travel.

But Cardinal Sean Brady was allowed to travel. Whatever O’Brien’s transgression it did not involve the failure to protect children. How he was considered an inappropriate delegate and Brady appropriate.



Little Red Biting Hood


Luiz what big teeth you have got!

All the better to eat you up with.
 
Luiz Suarez is protesting that press criticism might drive him away from Liverpool FC.

It is regrettable   .... that it takes the media to do the job that the fans should be doing. Suarez should not be allowed to feature in a Liverpool shirt ever again. A talented player but a thug who thinks nothing of sinking his teeth into the arms of an opponent. Perhaps he has been watching too much of The Walking Dead. 

My seven year old son says of himself that he is ‘zombie mad and soccer mad’. But at least he knows what his teeth are for. He watches soccer avidly and there is no way that he should see a role model savaging an opponent. Even Norman ‘bites yer legs’ Hunter of the famous but physical Leeds United side never took the description literally.

If Lupine Luiz wants a taste of Spanish soccer opposition let him have it. It might take the bite out of the English game. Hardly a bad thing.

Statement on the Release of Marian Price

Professor Phil Scraton and Dr Linda Moore with a statement on yesterday's release of Marian Price.

As two academics who have researched and chronicled the imprisonment of women in Northern Ireland over the last decade we welcome the long overdue release of Ms Price from custody.

South Armagh wins Border Poll

Guest writer Thomas Dixie Elliot with a humourous take on the recent border poll. The writer is a former blanket man who still campaigns for prisoners' rights.

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy declared victory in the recent border poll held in South Armagh.

Comment from Carrie

Tonight The Pensive Quill carries commentary from Guest Writer Carrie Twomey

Enda Kenny and Boston College

Kevin Cullen writing in the Boston Globe earlier this month examined the issue of Boston College's invitation to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to speak at their commencement. Because Boston College is a Catholic University, some people were upset at the invitation given the recent abortion debate going on in Ireland and Enda Kenny's refusal to automatically bow down to demands of clerics. Previously, Kenny had given a landmark speech about the Church and its shameful handling of child abuse; it was much needed, and reflective of the changes in Ireland. For whatever else one may think about Kenny's leadership, he has been very strong in publicly distancing the State from the Church -- much to the Church's chagrin.

'An injury to one is a concern to all'

Sean Doyle from the Wicklow branch Independent Workers Union with his address at Men of Iron commemorative gate, the Faythe, Wexford Town on 11th May 2013.

Comrades, friends, I consider it a great honour and privilege to be invited to address you on the eve of the anniversary of the execution of James Connolly on the 12th of May 1916. Also this year is the centenary year of The Great Dublin Lock Out 1913.

Political Harassment

Guest writer Aodan Ferguson with a piece on the ongoing British state harassment of Republican Society activists.

If you are asked to believe all the Political and Media hype about this ‘‘shared future’’ or ‘‘island of equals’’ and the new dispensation that is being promoted by Sinn Fein and other politicians, then you must ask yourself the following questions. Is there freedom of expression? Is there freedom of speech? Is there freedom to express your political view? What type of treatment is given by the State and the Forces of the State to those Republicans who express their view publicly?

Prosecuting John Downey

The arrest and subsequent court appearance of John Downey, ‘a member of Sinn Féin and a long time supporter of the Peace Process’,  in London last week once again shows how the political ink with which the Good Friday Agreement had been scripted is now being steadily erased and a dark law enforcement atrament being shaded in to replace it.  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, bluntly acknowledging the political context to the Northern conflict, ‘once said that the answer to the Northern Ireland problem required the criminal justice system to be turned upside down.’

On Woolwich: Islamism is the problem

The left wing secular communist Maryam Namazie with her take on the recent killing of a British soldier on the streets of London. The piece initially featured on her blog.

Anything can be justified – a war on Iraq or bombs on buses and decapitations on the streets of London. But having justifications doesn’t necessarily bring legitimacy or mean that they are true.

Nationalists need 'Foreign Embassy'

TPQ regular Dr John Coulter with a piece that initially featured in Irish Daily Star on 20^th May 2013. 

Nationalists need to set up a network of Republican Embassies around the globe to enable the modern republican family to have a very positive foreign policy.

Gerry Adams Retirement?

Mick Hall from Organized Rage with a piece arguing that If they linger to long, there's a tipping point for all party leaders when they become a hinderance not a help.

There is little doubt Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin is in many ways a remarkable if controversial man.

Repatriate as a Matter of Urgency

Guest writer Laura Duffy with a piece highlighting the inhumane penal regime Michael Campbell is subject to. 

An Irish political prisoner, Michael Campbell from Co.Louth, has been held in Lithuanian jails since 2008, in conditions that have been described by an advisor to Amnesty International as “inhuman and degrading”.

At present, British military intelligence via the Lithuanian authorities, are taking appeal proceedings against Mr Campbell, who was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment in 2011. While this legal process is ongoing, it delays efforts to have him returned home.

Kevin R Winters & Co solicitors commissioned a report by Professor Rod Morgan (who is an advisor to Amnesty International and the Council of Europe) to examine prison conditions in Lithuania and his supplementary report noted about the conditions in which Michael Campbell was being detained;

most remand prisoners enjoy approx.2 square metres of cell per person, well below the standard deemed acceptable. In those cells they are required to meet the needs of nature without privacy and are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. No prisoner programmes or work is provided and they are required to exercise in small cages not large enough for them to exert themselves physically. The conditions remain “inhuman and degrading” according to the standards of the CPT and endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights.

I also find evidence on the basis of Michael Campbell’s experience, of abuse of legal process by the Lithuanian authorities. It follows that I reiterate and strengthen my earlier expressed opinion, namely, that I think it virtually certain that were Liam Campbell be extradited to Lithuania, he would be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment, or punishment conditions of detention, that his period of detention during police investigation and remand would probably be prolonged, (possibly years), that he would probably not be allowed any visits other than from his lawyer, and that if Michael Campbell’s experience is any guide then he might also be subject to abuse of legal process.

Given that Michael Campbell is still being held in conditions that clearly breach his basic Human Rights, it begs the question what local politicians are doing to resolve this case. He is the only Irish political prisoner currently serving a sentence in a foreign prison, and should be repatriated as a matter of urgency.

G8 - A PSNI Smokescreen

TPQ carries a press release from the G8 Not Welcome to Ireland group. It initially featured on the group's website:

 www.opposefermanaghg8.wordpress.com

G8 Not Welcome Demo: March from Enniskillen Library to G8 venue …  Monday 17th June 2013 at 18:30

No answer as to why this needless sacrifice happened

Guest writer Tony O'Hara with a piece on the hunger strikes in which he fills in some of the gaps in our knowledge of the event. This had earlier appeared as a comment but it is a contribution of such value that it merits being constituted as a stand alone article.

Jorge Videla

As many people as is necessary will die in Argentina to protect the hemisphere from the international communist conspiracy - Jorge Videla 1975.

Being a former prisoner I tend never to derive pleasure from learning of anyone being compelled to live out the remainder of their days in jail. It is no place to die, far removed from family and friends and invariably in the company of people not disposed toward compassion for prisoner. It is how I felt when the Nazi leader Rudolph ended his days in Spandau.

‘A curse on those who let him die’

Aodan Ferguson with an address he gave at Milltown Cemetery on the 11th of May. It was delivered on behalf of the Sean MacDairmada Society Belfast on the 67th anniversary of Oglach Sean McCaughey ... Volunteer Sean McCaughey

As most here today will know Sean McCaughey was born in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, and moved to Ardoyne, Belfast, at 5 years of age. As a youth he was active in the GAA, an enthusiastic speaker of Irish and a member of Na Fianna Eireann and later, the IRA. McCaughey’s rise through the ranks was quite remarkable and testament to the regard he was held in within the Republican Movement. In 1941 he was captured and imprisoned by the Gardaí. By that time he was adjutant general of the army. The Free State authorities charged him with the attempted execution of Stephen Hayes, an IRA informer.

A Maze of 'cut through' alleyways and entries.

Guest writer Davy Carlin takes us through the maze of streets that made up the Ballymurphy of his childhood

The Carlin family was a large family like many in those days. One of my uncles was killed though when he was a child. For me I was lucky even to be born. I was the result of a vacuum birth where a large dent covered by hair remains in my skull. I had less than a 5% chance of living. I had always thought though that I had been born in the Royal Victoria Hospital in West Belfast like the rest of my stepbrothers and sisters but in fact I was actually born in the Belfast City Hospital in South Belfast.

55 Hours: Wednesday 8 July 1981

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the last of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

---

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

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Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

Pushing Al Qaeda to Take on Hezbollah

Franklin Lamb in Beirut with a piece that first featured on OEN.

'This is one damn fine idea, what took us so long to see a simple solution that was right in front of our eyes for Christ's sake', Senator John McCain of "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" and "no-fly zones for Syria" notoriety, reportedly demanded to know from Dennis Ross during a recent Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) brain storming session in Washington DC.

Chris Bray: Belfast Project - Boston Prosecuting Irish Politics

This piece initially featured on Letters Blogatory on 6th May 2013. It can also be read at Boston College Subpoena News.

The Supreme Court has turned aside a legal appeal from Belfast Project researchers Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre, and IRA interviews will likely soon be transferred from the archives at Boston College to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. (A more limited appeal from BC, still pending, relates to only some of the subpoenaed interviews.)

Bloody Murdah

We have never accepted or used the word murder. We would regard it as legislative language and aggressive language. It was the sort of language was always used against us. It would be like acknowledging that we were ‘criminals’ or ‘terrorists.’ - Michael Culbert, Irish News, 4th October 2011.

55 Hours: Tuesday 7 July 1981

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the third of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

---

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

---

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

Sorry Initiatives and Prime Time Apologies

Martin Galvin with a letter to the Irish News on the emergence of the Margaret Thatcher papers. It featured on the 14th May 2013 under the title 'Sinn Fein should walk away from hard won privileges.'


A chara,

GARC calls on Loyal Orders to Cease Unwelcome Marches Through Nationalist Communities

Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective steering committee held a meeting on Friday May 10th 2013 in relation to the proposed/leaked talks in Cardiff, Wales to be held sometime next week organised by O.F.M.D.F.M and the PSNI re: contentious parades/protests and flag issues. We in GARC after lenghthy discussion around the above development.

National Republicanism and the International Stage

Guest writer Dr John Coulter is a Radical Unionist commentator and a former columnist with The Blanket. He is currently writing an e-book about republicanism as an outsider looking in. The e-book is entitled ‘An Saise Glas (The Green Sash) The Road to National Republicanism.’ The chapters are being published exclusively on The Pensive Quill. In this latest chapter, he examines how republicanism can build a new international basis to its ideology rather than simply the old, out-dated concept of raising funds to buy guns and explosives. The chapter is entitled ‘National Republicanism and the International Stage’ and develops the concept of a pro-active foreign policy for republicanism.

55 Hours: Monday 6 July 1981

Today the Pensive Quill carries the second of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

---

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

---

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

The Nightmare of the H Blocks: What the British Knew in 1981

Former blanket man Thomas Dixie Elliot with a letter that featured in the Irish News on the 9th May under the title 'Nightmare of the H Blocks' and in the Derry Journal on the 10th May under the title 'What The British Knew in 81'.

The recently released Thatcher Foundation Papers reveal that Humphrey Atkins in a communiqué to Thatcher on July 6th, two days before the death of Joe McDonnell, indicated that:

Ardoyne White Line Vigil

Jim McAllister

Tonight there was a month’s mind mass due to be held for Jim McAllister. I did not attend. Taking something of a surreal view I am sure had Jim been alive he would not have turned up either, preferring instead some acerbic comment about the hocus-pocus of religion. Nevertheless, it is heartening to know that those who have a religious belief, perhaps even none but turn out anyway, gather to honour and remember him in their own way.

55 Hours: Sunday 5 July 1981

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the start of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

---

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

---

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

Keep Radio Radio Free Eireann on Air

Sandy Boyer with a a plug for Radio Free Eireann, a New York based radio station which has been a valuable site of information and a bastion of anti censorship. For years it has helped keep the Irish American community informed of the facts on the ground in the North. Many of the interviews its presenters have conducted have featured on The Pensive Quill courtesy of the efforts of our transcriber who endeavours to ensure that the important work of Radio Free Eireann reaches a wider audience.

Even by the Standards of British Justice in Ireland

Radio Free Éireann
WBAI 99.5FM Pacifica Radio
New York City
4 May 2013

Guest Host Martin Galvin (MG) interviews via telephone from Belfast Tony Catney (TC), an Irish Republican prisoner support constituency campaigner, who provides updates on this week's events in the courts in Ireland.

MG:  With us on the line we have Tony Catney.  Tony Catney, from Belfast, served a sixteen year sentence as an Irish Republican prisoner.  He's also a campaigner for a group, Justice for the Craigavon Two , as well as (his) involvements for justice as a campaigner for a number of other cases that are now on-going in the North of Ireland.  Welcome, Tony!

TC:  Thank you, Martin.  It's good to talk to you again.

MG:  Tony, what is The Craigavon Two?

TC:  The Craigavon Two are two people who were sentenced almost a year ago for the shooting of Constable Carroll in Craigavon. 

The two people involved were at the time a seventeen year old, John Paul Wootton, and a forty-one year old and former Sinn Féin Councillor, Brendan McConville.

The circumstances around the case were just so obviously a miscarriage of justice that once the initial trial had taken place and both had been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment family members and campaigners felt that they could not allow such a miscarriage of justice to just carry forward into, for example, the courts of appeals without campaigning around the issue.

I'll go on to explain some of the issues once we get into it more, Martin.

MG:  Last week I noticed on Irish television you had Gerry Conlon, who was one of The Guildford Four, the subject of the movie, In the Name of the Father, you had somebody from The Birmingham Six, again another famous miscarriage of justice. They were outside the Court of Appeal with family members of The Craigavon Two. Could you tell us what happened? 

TC:  Even by the standards of British justice in Ireland, it shocked even Paddy Hill of The Birmingham Six and Gerry Conlon of The Guildford Four.

The case against both men rested entirely on circumstantial evidence.  The vast bulk of it coming from someone who was only known as Witness M.

The circumstances of Witness M were that he didn't even come forward to give evidence until eleven months after the incident had taken place.

Then the evidence that he gave was literally torn apart in court due to the fact the person, Witness M, has an eyesight problem - which means that he is shortsighted - and couldn't have seen either of the the two accused at the distance that he claimed he had seen them. 

Not only did his eyesight belie the fact that he couldn't have seen them but the description of the attire that, for example that Brendan McConville was wearing, was completely different than that which was retrieved from the car at the scene of the offence.

So on Monday of this week, the first day of the appeal, it was brought out in court that a family member of Witness M had come forward to give evidence stating that what Witness M had said about his movements on the night were a tissue of lies.

That as a family member he had the reputation of being unable to tell the truth.  They point that his family nickname was Walter Mitty and that he kept making things up.

This witness was then visited by the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) who forced their way into his house through his door.  Then verbally intimidated and threatened him, telling him that if he carried on and gave evidence to state that his family member was shortsighted and couldn't have been where he said he was on the night, that they would discredit him in court.   

Then twenty-four hours later they went back and arrested this new witness and held him for forty-eight hours, all of the time telling him that if he went to court he would be discredited. 

So in this instance, not only was the state not prepared to allow evidence to go to court but they actively, actively went out of their way to subvert the course of justice to the extent that the defence counsel have now asked that the matter needs to be investigated by someone other than the RUC.

As the result of that the three trial judges had no option but to adjourn the trial which means that the appeal cannot take place until at least October. 

By October the two men involved will have spent four and a half years in prison which is the equivalent of a nine year sentence.  And we are quite confident that on the basis of the evidence that they will be acquitted.  So they will have done a nine year sentence on nothing other than the word of a shortsighted eyewitness.

MG:  Tony, we want to ask you about a couple of other cases – there's been a number of other important legal developments this week and we just want to go through those with you. 

First of all there's been some further action in the case of Martin Corey and Marian Price.  Could you tell us about that?

TC:  Martin and Marian are both former life sentence prisoners.

MG:  Tony, now you know a little bit about life sentence licences, don't you?

TC:  Yes, I do indeed, Martin, unfortunately.

MG:  What does a licence mean?

TC:  What it means is the terms of your licence are: that for the rest of your days the Secretary of State can decide on what will be the terms of your imprisonment.

At this moment in time the terms of my imprisonment are sitting here with the ability to make this phone call.
 
But if the Secretary of State decided tomorrow that she wanted to change those conditions then she could do that at the stroke of a pen.  Which means that I could be put back into a prison, taken over to England and put in a prison in England, almost anything that falls under her jurisdiction she could do that because I'm a life sentence prisoner.

MG:  Would they have to reveal any evidence that they had against you?  The reasons for bringing you back to prison?  What would be the procedure for you to challenge that?

TC:  There is no procedure to challenge it first of all.  And secondly there is no judicial process whatsoever.

The entire process is executive.  The Secretary of State doesn't have to answer to the Lord Chief Justice, to the Attorney General - to anyone.

The Secretary of State can just make that decision arbitrarily.  There is then no judicial process through which you can challenge it.

All of the evidence that is given against you is given in secret.

You are allowed a legal representative to attend the hearing where this secret information will be given.  However, the legal representative is not a legal representative of your choosing.  The state chooses who the legal representative is.  And then the legal representative is prohibited from informing you or anyone else what the reasons for your re-incarceration are.

In other words, a closed shop.

MG:  I don't understand.  Suppose you were accused of, instead of being on the radio right now, calling from your home.  Let's say they accuse you of being at an IRA meeting right at this time in Dublin. 

How would you ... obviously if that was made known to you you could bring in a broadcast of this radio, I could show the phone records to show that you were actually at home at this time.  How would you be able to find that out?  And how would you be able...

You'd have indisputable proof that you were innocent.  How would you be able to find that out and how would you be able to challenge it?

TC:  You wouldn't.  It would be completely impossible. 

Because you would never be told that that's the reason why your licence had been revoked in the first place. 

In other words, it's a completely secretive process that is non-judicial. It is completely executive. In other words, Martin Corey has now been in prison for over three years and to this moment he has no idea what he is in prison for or what any possible charges ... well ... no charges have ever been leveled against him.

So technically he is, for the past three years and a month, has been a political hostage held at the whim of the Secretary of State by the British state.

MG:  Martin Corey went to challenge this in Supreme Court.  Could you tell us what happened this week in that attempt to give a legal challenge to the way in which he has been imprisoned?

TC:  Unfortunately he has lost that challenge in that the secret procedure has been upheld. 

It is a clear example where the judicial process has absolutely no writ over the executive process.

And certainly in my opinion, Martin, the only thing that will make any difference with both Marian and Martin is feet on streets.  People going out and protesting and saying:  No! Not in our name.

This is a complete travesty of justice and it needs to be ended now.

MG:  Marian Price has been before the Parole Commissioners, there has been that type of campaign in the United States.  In fact, Sandy Boyer, who is on this radio programme, is one of the key figures in the campaign in the United States, as well as campaigning ... you've been involved in it and  others across Ireland.

When is she supposed to hear the result of the latest parole re-evaluation?

TC:  She should get some word next week, within the next five or six days, Martin. 

And obviously everybody is hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Marian's case I suppose is even more complicated than Martin's in that Marian has been held for the entire period in isolation because she was then the only female Republican prisoner and did not associate with the ordinary prisoners on the wing.  And she was held in isolation.   As a result of that both her physical and her psychological well being suffered.

So Marian has not only has lost her freedom but is also in fairly urgent need of the type of respite that you will only get when you're with your own family and in your own home.  It is a clear case of victimisation by the British state.  And how anyone can do that and claim they have the right to call themselves a state living in democracy - it just defies belief.

MG:  Lastly, we want to ask you, there was a development in the case of Brian Shivers yesterday.  Brian was one of the two people who was originally charged with the killings of British troopers at Massereene.  Colin Duffy was previously acquitted. Brian Shivers was initially convicted, served time in prison and then was put on re-trial.  Can you tell us what happened with that case?

TC:  Yes, that was on Friday; just yesterday of this week, Martin.

The week began with a roar with The Craigavon Two and then ended with a bang with Brian Shivers.

And what happened there is Brian Shivers was sentences purely on forensic evidence.  The forensic evidence were on three matches.  

And it was shown in the course of the appeal and then the re-trial, because Brian had to go through three legal processes, that not only was the initial forensic examination wrong but that it is quite likely that the initial forensic scientist lied and lied under oath about the DNA that was found at the car that allegedly was used in the shooting at Masseerene.

The extent of that was, and Brian gave this in his defence, that the matches that were found at the scene could have been from any one of a number of people and that there should be multiple samples of DNA on the matches.  This wasn't the evidence that was given by the state and the prosecution at the initial trial.

However, at the re-trial and under close scrutiny from the defence barrister, it came out that in fact what Brian had been saying was the fact.

There were multiple traces of DNA on the matches which showed that it could not be tied to Brian Shivers.  And as a result of that the judge threw the entire case out.

Now Brian is also an MS sufferer who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  And they put Brian through all the rigours of imprisonment, of strip searching, of controlled movement, they held back his medication from him – they've done everything they could to make his life as hard as it possibly was only to have been now have found out to have been the perpetrators of a crime as opposed to the people who are upholding law and order.  

And what will happen over it?  Absolutely nothing! 

That's the sort of two-tiered system that we now have to live under in the North of Ireland.

MG:  And Tony, the last thing we want to mention:  there was an agreement in August of 2010 to end the strip searching practice – you've mentioned it a couple of times - what is the current status of strip searching?  Will that be ended at any time soon on Republican political prisoners in Maghaberry?

TC:  It doesn't look like it will be ended any time soon, Martin.

What I will say first of all is the morale among the prisoners is very, very high at the moment.  They know that they have the moral high ground on this issue because the agreement that was broken in 2010 was vouchsafed by independents rather than just the prison administration.

And to that extent they know that it is clear who it is that are dragging their feet in terms of the implementation of the agreement.  The people who are dragging their feet are the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) and the Executive up at Stormont - primarily David Ford as the Minister of Justice - but the entire Executive up in Stormont has the ability to end what has now become the completely discredited and archaic practice of strip searching and controlled movement.

I mean, controlled movement within a secure block is completely unnecessary as is strip searching between two secure units. I mean, if nothing else comes in why would you want to be strip searching somebody?

So will it end any time soon?

There doesn't seem to be a break coming any time soon.  But the prisoners are adamant that they will maintain their position until they have the implementation of the 2010 agreement.

MG:  Tony, why do you think the British prison officials at Maghaberry are strip searching and using this type of brutality against Republican prisoners?

TC:  As a form of control. Pure and simple - as a form of control. 

We have now the ubiquitous situation - right there at the North of Ireland – where after 2000 and the introduction of the RIPA Act and the use of covert human (intelligence) sources (CHIS) we have a parallel system of policing and imprisonment. 

Where the people who look after Republicans are not answerable the judiciary, the Executive or anybody else here.  They're answerable only to the NIO and by extension, the Secretary of State.

All other offences are dealt with in a completely different fashion.

But because Republicans are subject to this more severe, more harsh parallel prison and policing regime then Republicans will always be in the position where the state will try to control everything that they do and then use that control to try and break or criminalise the Republicans.

MG:  Alright Tony, I want to thank you for bringing us up to date on all of these legal matters that are still forms of injustice within the North of Ireland.

TC:  It's always a pleasure to speak to you soon, Martin, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon with hopefully some more good news.

MG:  Hopefully it will be good news about Marian Price in the immediate future.

TC:  Yeah, yeah, yeah ... that would be great.

MG:  Thank you, Tony.

Getting Stopped

I was in Belfast shortly before Christmas sorting out those last minute things with family before the great man began his earthward descent. I had deposited the kids with their aunt on the side of town I had grown up in and met up with friends, sampling the city’s Guinness in one of my old down town haunts. The following morning I got picked up by a close family friend who is also somebody I had been in the H Blocks with. He suggested we go out for breakfast before I headed off to pick up the kids and make the train journey home to Drogheda.

Justice Department Assaults Northern Ireland’s Peace Process and First Amendment

Dustin Slaughter with a piece on the Boston College Subpoena case. The article first featured on Open Salon
	Photo credit: Reasons to Wander

Saighdiuiri oga na hEireann

Former Blanket columnist, Dr John Coulter, has used the May Day Bank Holiday to launch a new evangelical Christian and uniformed youth movement, Saighdiuiri oga na hEireann De (The Young Irish Soldiers of Ireland). It's launch was unveiled in his Irish Daily Star column, 'Coulter's Fearless Flying Column'.

I'm commemorating this May Day Holiday by launching an all-island youth movement, Saighdiuiri oga na hEireann De (The Young Irish Soldiers of Ireland).

Making a Mockery of Truth

A piece by guest writer Jim McIlmurray, spokesperson for Martin Corey, which was written on the 3rd of May highlighting the injustice being endured by the Lurgan internee.

At 4:50 pm yesterday, May 2, 2013, I received  the news that the High Court  had overruled the application to take Martin’s case to the Supreme Court in London.

Heads Up

Jo Nesbo is an engaging novelist, a plot builder but not so lost in intricacies as to make the leader lose the thread if not their interest, something I found a deficiency in Robert Ludlum works. A magnetising story teller he pulls the reader close even when discoursing on what seems the most mundane of matters.

Documentary: The Hunger Strikes

Press.TV Documentaries

Broadcast Date: 2012-11-03

In the early 1980s, several Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners went on hunger strikes demanding to be treated as political prisoners. This program explores the reasons behind those events.


CONTRIBUTORS:
Danny Morrison
Pat Sheehan MLA
Bik McFarlane
Gerry Adams
Raymond McCartney MLA
Richard O'Rawe

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Ahmed Alizadeh
ASSISTANT PRODUCER
Shadi Alizadeh
RESEARCHER
Rebeca Narváez Román
PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR
Ed Augustin

Marian Price - One of Us

Guest writer Sean Bresnahan with a piece on Marian Price

Marian Price first entered my consciousness many years ago when I heard the famous ballad Bring them home, probably on a cassette stored in my Father's private collection, supposedly kept away from young, prying eyes along with political memorabilia from the Hungerstrikes of 1981 and wood-crafts made by my Mum's brother during time spent in Long Kesh in the 70's.  I think it may have been the Wolfe Tones who recorded it though I don't recall for sure. For a young, inquisitive soul such as myself 'the tapes' wouldn't stay hidden for long and thus my parent's best efforts to keep at a remove from their first-born the terrible political events afflicting our country came to nothing as I heard for the first time the powerful message that "the IRA will set them free!" It was a poignant but inspiring song written of Marian and her sister Dolours, two women forever known in the republican lexicon as 'the Price sisters', two women I immediately developed an affinity for along with the cause they served so well. But who would ever have thought that all these years later we would be calling yet again for the release of one of those poor, long-suffering women from the wretched gaols of England?

721 days and counting...

Incredible as it may seem Marian Price has now spent two full years effectively interned by the British state. What's worse is there is no end in sight to her terrible ordeal. What questions does this ask of us as a society, especially given that we have supposedly entered a new era where the conflict of the past can be resolved through the political process? What does it say about that process itself given that a woman can be held in this manner without recourse to natural justice while those who administer the state fail or refuse to take onboard the gravity of the situation? These are serious questions to be reflected on if our imperfect peace is to prove sustainable rather than for a new generation of Irish men and women to form the opinion that there's no recourse but to lift the gun to once more "set them free". Level-headed people will agree that this is the last thing we need but while Marian Price remains imprisoned against all principles of natural justice then it becomes harder to argue otherwise.

So what kind of society and what kind of political system is this where those like Marian are taken out of circulation on the say-so of a colonial overlord and his faceless spooks, to be locked up without appeal to anything resembling justice? Marian Price is being interned because she has been deemed a threat to the Stormont status quo and as such is to be silenced - just as Gerry McGeough and Martin Corey were silenced in the same manner by those who continue to control Ireland. Martin of course remains imprisoned to this very day, over three years since first they came for him; Gerry thankfully is at home now with his wife and children but not before time.

It should be glaringly obvious that this is unacceptable. It's surely as plain as day that we continue to live in a warped society despite protestations to the contrary that things have moved on and we're living in a 'new dispensation'. The illegal imprisonment of Marian Price, among other things, tells us different. It tells us that when you scratch the surface of the seemingly reformed Northern Ireland state it remains overtly capable of the same repression against those it considers hostile to its aims and objectives. It's fine to use political means to further your goals but only so long as they remain consistent with those of the state. And that is a fundamental wrong and contravenes even the most basic of civil rights.

We rarely hear mention of Marian's plight in the mainstream media, it's as if someone doesn't want us to know just what's going on. But wait a minute, when you stop and think about it they don't! Control of the media is one of the most powerful weapon's in the state's arsenal - a compliant media prepared to tolerate and ignore injustice is a God-send for those who carry out or abide repressive acts such as the ongoing isolation and torture of Marian Price.

Given the distinct lack of attention paid in the mainstream media to the legal processes involving both Brian Shivers, who returned to Roe House to shouts of "innocent man on the wing" despite having his conviction quashed but thankfully has been found innocent of all charges and finally set free this afternoon, and the so-called 'Craigavon Two', who's case, now under appeal, has drawn comparisons to the notorious convictions of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, we can determine that the state has an interest in limiting knowledge about what goes on inside our society where required to further its own corrupt ends.

It's high time those in positions of power spoke out to smash this media blackout and to challenge the very injustices once so rigorously opposed and condemned in the past, particularly after the damning vindication today of Brian Shivers, who in all likelihood has had years taken of his life by his experience of the British 'justice' system. Party politics just can't come into such an important aspect of public representation. If the media refuses to do its job properly, if it compromises its independence and integrity for fear of coming into conflict with the state, then there is an onus on those who claim to represent us to make a loud enough case so that the issues that matter cannot be brushed aside and ignored.

If this is the foundation of the post-1998 'justice' system in the occupied six counties then it is beyond what is acceptable by even the most minimal democratic standard. The fact of the matter is Marian's imprisonment is not only undemocratic, it is illegal. Yet despite the best efforts of those who campaign tirelessly on her behalf to expose all of this nothing ever seems to change, it seems as though we're banging our heads of a brick wall. And all while those republicans with real political influence, in those positions of power mentioned above, seem like they're just playing to the gallery.

If only the likes of Nuala Perry and the others who work so hard alongside her had access to the kind of power readily available to former comrades of Marian's such as Gerry Kelly or Martin McGuinness - no way in hell would she have been in prison for two weeks never mind two years. Despite a few Council resolutions, and the odd call for her release at a party Ard Fheis here and there, for all our political representatives really seem to care Marian Price could spend another two years interned by the British, then another two, then another. At least that's how it appears, because actions speak louder than words and the one thing we've yet to see here is action.

We can call for Marian's release 'till we're blue in the face, we can burn the candle at both ends behind the scenes, we can pass resolution after resolution after resolution. But it's there for all to see that the Brits simply don't care, they're determined to carry on regardless. Because there's no real compunction for them to seriously address this situation, there's no political pressure of significance being applied to make them seriously reconsider their actions. Is this something we as a society should be prepared to tolerate? What kind of a political system is this when it accepts the silencing of political opponents and buries away reality to keep up the pretence that all is well and normal?

Not one we should feel obliged to give any allegiance to, that's for sure.

I feel if Sinn Fein, both as the largest Nationalist party and as a constituent element of the government here, really believed the situation to be as serious as they say then a much stronger course of action would be pursued, just as we saw upon the arrest of Padraig Wilson. We would see the full exercise of their power for to bring about justice. Imagine the spectacle of Martin McGuinness using his position as Joint-First Minister to draw awareness to Marian's plight; imagine if Gerry Kelly offered to resign his seat in protest at the continuing failure of the state to resolve the unjust situation relating to the imprisonment of a one-time comrade; imagine if Sinn Fein said it would resign all its seats if this was not dealt with immediately because it could not in all conscience continue to prop up a regime that regards internment as a viable policy to deal with political opponents.

The fact that Marian Price or internment does not feature in the conversations between the First and Deputy-First Ministers regarding the 'roadmap' for the way ahead tells its own story. But what kind of 'shared future' is it anyway if it has at the level of its foundation an innocent woman being held without charge or trial for years on end against even the most basic concept of justice?

Whether it's 1971 or 2013 internment is wrong and an indictment on any society that claims to be 'normal'. Because there is nothing normal about internment, there is nothing normal about what is happening to Marian Price.

The politicians at Stormont would do well to remember they are supposedly there to represent us all, regardless of political persuasion. After all in any fair society both human and civil rights should be universal and not selective. If some of those aptly named 'folks on the hill' had the courage of their private convictions they'd be pressing for an immediate, unconditional resolution to this sad, sad situation and they would not take no for an answer. That they can't or won't do so invites accusations that they just don't care. Do they care? At times its very hard to know. What's for sure is that, just like the media, their continuing silence can rightly be considered as complicity whether they choose to accept this or not, whether they do genuinely care or not. By choosing to effectively ignore all that's happening, despite being in full possession of the facts, by continuing to prop up a system that interns and tortures and victimises the likes of Marian Price, then they share in the guilt of the state that has brought all this about. They would do well to remember the famous words of Martin Niemoiller in his poem 'First they came' - for God only knows where this will end. The likes of Marian Price, Gerry McGeough, Martin Corey and Tony Taylor may be among the first but it's unlikely they'll be the last if Britain is allowed to roll out its modern version of internment unopposed.

Somewhere along the line our representatives must decide are they prepared to tolerate this, to stand still for this; somewhere along the line Sinn Fein and the SDLP are going to have to decide where it is they stand - for a role in government at all costs or for human rights and justice no matter the consequences.

We have to remember - we must never forget - that Marian Price, this true and unstinting republican who never once in all her long years of struggle let us down, is in there for us. She could easily have walked away from this fight years ago and no-one would ever have suggested she'd let anyone down or failed to play her part. But she didn't; she played her part and more. She continued to stand up for the oppressed people of Ireland, those 'wretched of the earth'. She continued to give voice to their rightful demands for freedom, justice and peace. And so we must be out there for her.

It's incumbent on us all that from this day on we do more, that we renew and redouble our efforts to draw attention to this shameful situation and put yet more pressure on those with political power or influence to demand that something is done, to demand and to secure the release of our comrade. We know what her response would be if this were done to you or I because ultimately and at the end of the day, no matter how iconic the name, no matter how high she may be held in our esteem, Marian Price, our very own Aung San Suu Kyi, remains and will always be simply 'one of us'.

Ending a False Narrative

... only to end up ourselves beneath the blade of a Committee of Public Safety or some Dictator of the Proletariat … Nicos Poulantzas


When Bobby Sands died on hunger strike 32 years ago today, for a short time he pushed republicanism into a moral stratosphere from where it could gaze down on its critics, detractors and opponents. It was a commanding height, attained courtesy of interminable suffering, that was never going to be held for long despite the enormous selflessness of the Sands action.  The exigencies of armed conflict, the persistently ebbing support for armed struggle, the relentless attrition and unremitting war fatigue all combined to paint armed republicanism into a corner where strategic versatility was heavily circumscribed. Yet for all of that Bobby Sands and the nine comrades who followed in his wake left a footprint which has never been erased from public consciousness.

‘Thatcher’s Archive Finally Settles Dispute Over Hunger Strike Deal’, Says IRA Prison Leader

On the 32nd anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands after 66 days on hunger strike TPQ runs a feature from elsewhere.

Following the recent disclosures from Margaret Thatcher’s private papers compiled during the 1981 IRA hunger strike while she was Britain’s prime minister, TheBrokenElbow.com asked Richard O’Rawe to assess the importance of what has been revealed and to recall how he got involved in this lengthy but pivotal controversy over a key moment in the Provisional IRA’s history:

The Rock Bar on Belfast’s Falls Road was the place to be on a Saturday afternoon if you’ve a few pounds in your pocket and a penchant for the horses.  I was at the bar on just such a day, buying our company another round of drinks (my generosity was boundless!) when my cousin approached me.  After some small talk, he asked if I would like to participate in an oral history project.  He went on to explain that the purpose of the project was to record for posterity, the participant’s role in the war against the British.

Richard O’Rawe, IRA public relations officer
in Long Kesh during the 1981 hunger striked caption

My initial reaction was negative and that was where the matter stayed for months.  But a seed had been planted.  Why not, I thought, give my testimony?   After all, it would not be published until after my death and hopefully that would be in the distant future.  Moreover, I would not be identifying comrades or referring to specific operations.

During the 1981 IRA/INLA hunger strike, I had been one of the IRA prison leaders and since my release from prison in 1983 I had told quite a few people that I felt the IRA leadership had mishandled the hunger strike.  But did I want to put that criticism on the record?  No.  Yet something drove me on to do the interviews.  Perhaps, unconsciously, I wanted to get the story out, as I knew it to be.  After all, ten of my comrades and friends had died horrible deaths, and the last six hunger strikers, in my opinion, should not have died at all.

Brendan Hughes Memorial Lecture 2013

Former republican hunger striker Gerard Hodgkins delivered the 2013 annual Brendan Hughes memorial lecture in Derry on the 1st of May.

Being asked to come here tonight and present this lecture is an honour which I feel I do not deserve. Brendan Hughes was my friend and my comrade in life and in death he remains an inspiration to me, and many others; because if the life and times of Brendan Hughes have taught me anything it is that it is possible to remain a principled and decent human being both amid the smog of war and the lessening of moral codes that all wars bring and more importantly during the post-war carve up when unscrupulous politicians rise like scum to the surface and hoover up all the gains of the sacrifices for their own personal ends.

Trivial Pursuits

You know this already, but let me repeat it. Journalists make a lot of stuff up. So great is the demand for comment and 'insider' analysis that wild hunches, tripe really, is packaged as fact, trimmed with self-importance and flung into the insatiable mouth of the news beast – Andrew Marr


It was with a bad taste in my mouth that I waded through a red top piece penned about a close friend. Tony Catney has in recent months been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is currently undergoing treatment. I first met him in Magilligan Jail in late 1975. I was being released just as he was arriving in the windswept prison camp to begin a life sentence. Given his age at the time of the offence for which he was convicted the technical term for an underage lifer was 'at the Secretary of State’s Pleasure', in prison vernecular a SOSP. As we now know, if we didn’t already, from the treatment of Marian Price and Martin Corey, British Secretaries of State take great pleasure in keeping people detained, denying them any certainty about a release date.

The Rising of the Phoenix

Shaker Aamer & Martin Corey -- different classes of citizenship?

Lauretta Farrell with a piece highlighting the injustice underlying the ongoing internment of Martin Corey. It initally feature on her blog, The 14 Hooded Men

On 24 April 2013, the British House of Commons held a debate regarding Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national and permanent resident of the United Kingdom being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.  

Really Big Things Start Small

Below is an ACLU email from 14-year-old Bayli Silberstein, who has been fighting anti-gay bullying at her middle school.


You know the worst part of getting bullied? It's when your school says it's OK, making you feel worthless and alone.

Miriam, Gerry & Harold

Gerry Adams has performed worse on live TV. His 2007 debacle in which he underwent intellectual humiliation at the hands of Michael McDowell is a case in point. But Monday night’s Prime Time was a bad outing for him. It is hard to see how it could have been anything else in the absence of Jim Gibney being the interviewer. The deodorant of peace has never managed to suppress the stench of war that lingers around the Sinn Fein president. And until he goes away the stench shall continue making its way up noses and will invite the question ‘what’s causing that smell?’ The entrance price to the political establishment in the South is considerably higher than in the North where an artificially deflated fee gets just about anybody in, few questions asked.