An Phoblacht, September 2016

Sinn Féin in Palestine Gaza kids in Ireland

Leadership missing from unionism

Fáilte go Saor-Ghaeltacht Theach Laighean

anphoblacht

Standing up for Workers Sraith Nua Iml 39 Uimhir 9

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

Price €2 / £2

Appeal to all TDs to back Sinn Féin Bill for workers’ rights

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams TD with locked-out Clerys workers

Mandela prison guide saw my Bobby Sands shirt

H-Blocks Hunger Striker visits Robben Island – See Pages 16 & 17; also see 8 & 9 Hunger Strike Rally

2 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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Sports Minister Shane Ross’s ‘toothless’ Olympics inquiry won’t win any medals

5 Sports Minister Shane Ross and former President of the Olympic Council of Ireland, Pat Hickey

Rumble in Rio

BY MARK MOLONEY

THE former President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), Pat Hickey, is still being held by police in Brazil as An Phoblacht goes to press as part of an investigation into the mis-selling of Rio Olympic tickets.

Hickey, who was also an Executive Board member of the International Olympics Committee, has suspended himself from both positions while the police probe continues.

The arrest of Pat Hickey came shortly after another Irishman, Kevin Mallon of sports hospitality company THG, was arrested in Rio in possession of 823 tickets from the OCI’s allocation. Both men have rejected any

‘We have a scandal of international proportions and the Sports Minister’s response has not been good enough’ Imelda Munster TD

wrongdoing. Hickey is facing three charges – facilitating ticket touting, formation of a cartel and ambush or illicit marketing. He could face up to seven years in prison. He has denied the charges.

Some of the tickets seized by Brazilian police are what are known as “Olympic Family Tickets”. In Ireland’s case, these tickets are supposed to be reserved for exclusive use of members of the national Olympic Committee, competitors, their families and sponsors.

But families of Ireland’s Olympians have taken to the airwaves to complain that they had to go to official ticket resellers in France and Germany to get tickets to events as efforts to obtain

5 Sinn Féin's Martin Kenny and David Cullinane speak to reporters on the Protection of Employees Bill

CLOSE THE CLERYS LOOPHOLE

Call for cross-party support to stop ‘tactical insolvencies’

BY MARK MOLONEY

5 Sinn Féin Sports spokesperson Imelda Munster TD

tickets in Ireland from official reseller Pro10 were fruitless.

Sports Minister Shane Ross, who initially flew out to Rio after Mallon’s arrest before returning to Ireland following the arrest of Pat Hickey, has announced the terms of reference for a non-statutory state inquiry into the scandal. However, the inquiry has been criticised by Sinn Féin for being “toothless”, as it would not have the power to compel witnesses to attend.

“A non-statutory inquiry will be toothless and may never get to the full truth of the matter,” Sinn Féin Sports spokesperson Imelda Munster TD told An Phoblacht.

“What we have here is a scandal of international proportions and the Sports Minister’s response, quite frankly, has not been good enough.”

Meanwhile, Rio Police Commissioner Aloysio Falcão took to RTÉ radio to request more co-operation from the Irish Government and from Sports Minister Shane Ross: “We need some help from the [Irish] Government. Shane Ross had a meeting but he has left. I also want to know about the Government position, what they are doing.

“Our police can be helped by your Government. We can trade information about this scandal.”

A DRAFT BILL aimed at protecting workers from so-called “tactical insolvencies” – as happened with Clerys department store in Dublin last year – has been published by Sinn Féin.

In the case of Clerys, the company exploited a loophole that allowed the business to be split in two: the assets, such as the building and stock were owned by one company, while the staff were employed by the other. Therefore, when Clerys went into liquidation the company could legally argue that it had no assets to give staff their entitlements.

Sinn Féin Workers’ Rights spokesperson David Cullinane TD said his new Protection of Employees (Collective Redundancies) Bill gives legislative support to key recommendations of the Duffy-Cahill Report which was

commissioned in the wake of the Clerys closure and would ensure workers’ hard-earned pensions are protected.

Speaking to An Phoblacht at Leinster House, David Cullinane said: “The Clerys workers were left high and dry. We in Sinn Féin have drafted a Bill and sent a copy to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. We’ve also sent a

‘We’ve had a lot of tea and sympathy from across the political divide since the Clerys debacle but we need action’ David Cullinane TD

copy to all of the spokespersons for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation for each of the parties in Leinster House and Independent TDs. We want this Bill to be an all-party Bill.

“We’ve had a lot of tea and sympathy from across the political divide since the Clerys debacle but we need action.

“We know this tactical insolvency was wrong; it wasn’t illegal but it was wrong.

There is a loophole in law and we want this dealt with as quickly as possible.”

The Waterford TD has called on TDs from all sides to support the Bill in principle and says Sinn Féin is happy for others to submit changes they feel are necessary: “Others should work with us and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to ensure we deal with this issue once and for all, and that we prevent tactical insolvencies of the nature that we saw at Clerys from happening in the future.”

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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John O’Dowd appointed Sinn Féin national spokesperson on impact of Westminster’s EU referendum

Brexit would affect all 32 counties in the next year

BY MICHAEL McMONAGLE UPPER BANN MLA John O’Dowd will now head up Sinn Féin’s response to the “Brexit” referendum and act as the party’s main spokesperson on related issues.

'Brexit is not just an issue for the North. Its impact will be felt all over Ireland'

Meanwhile, Raymond McCord (whose son was murdered by the unionist Ulster Volunteer Force in 1997) has lodged papers at the High Court in Belfast seeking a judicial review of the British Government’s move towards Brexit. He argues that it cannot proceed without Westminster MPs voting on it in parliament and also contends that a Brexit would undermine Britain’s domestic and international treaty obligations under the Good Friday Agreement and damage the Peace Process here.

John O’Dowd is one of the most senior Sinn Féin MLAs at Stormont and was Education Minister in the last mandate. He also served as acting deputy First Minister for a period in 2011 when Martin McGuinness contested the election for President of Ireland.

The majority of voters in the North voted to MLA remain in the EU in June’s referendum but, as a result largely of English voters opting to “Leave”, the North faces being dragged out of the EU (as does Scotland).

Since the referendum, Sinn Féin has held a series of public meetings across Ireland, attended by party leadership figures, to discuss the impact of the vote on Ireland.

Commenting on his appointment as national spokesperson, John O’Dowd said the EU referendum has dramatically changed the political landscape.

“This referendum was brought about by the British Tory Party bowing to pressure from UKIP and racist elements. It was ill-conceived and unnecessary.

“The people of the North rejected their agenda and made it clear at the polls that they want to remain in the EU. “The British Government now needs 5 British Prime Minister Theresa May meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny – The Brexit to respect and clock is ticking and it is time for the Irish Government to act recognise that and any strengthening of the happen,” John O’Dowd said. “The Irish Governclearly expressed Border would be unwelcome. ment has a responsibility to act to defend the democratic An EU frontier, regardless of interests of Northern nationalists as a co-guarposition,” he said. whether it is a hard or soft antor of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Stormont border, stretching from “It is entirely likely that the British Government Assembly Dundalk to Derry, is not in will trigger Article 50 – the mechanism required member said Ireland’s interests. to leave the EU – in the New Year, so the Irish that a Brexit “That is why we need an Government needs to act quickly. would have all-Ireland approach to “Brexit would impact on the entire island of an impact right dealing with the impact Ireland and they need to take action now to across the island, of the EU referendum.” establish a forum which involves voices from not just affect the He noted that Sinn across Ireland, including political parties, trade Six Counties.

Féin had called on the unions, business interests and wider civic society.

“This is not just an issue Taoiseach to estab“The clock is ticking and it is time for the Irish for the North. Its impact will lish a national forum to Government to act. Sinn Féin will play a full part be felt all over Ireland. It discuss the implications in a national forum to defend the democratic could undermine cross-Borfor the island and to put in interests of the people of the North.” der bodies and the co-operplace a strategy to ensure Following the referendum, Sinn Féin held ation created by the Peace that the democratic wishes a series of public meetings across Ireland to Process. It could also entrench partition.

5 Raymond McCord is seeking a judicial of the people of the North discuss the impact of the poll to allow people to have their say.

“As republicans we are review of the British Government’s are respected.

“This now needs to “The referendum result raises all sorts of working to dismantle partition move towards Brexit

JOHN O’DOWD

questions, particularly around the constitutional future of Ireland. Growing numbers of people want to see a united Ireland within the European Union,” John O’Dowd said.

“It has started a debate that has fired imaginations and raised the potential for reunification among people who would not have considered it before.

“We need to see that debate being broadened out across Ireland and further afield as we think about our future place in Europe and what a united Ireland would look like.

“That debate needs to be as broad and inclusive as possible and it needs to listen to a wide range of views, including those who do not share our vision.

“Brexit is becoming the defining political issue of the age and Sinn Féin will continue to work daily to ensure the democratic wishes of the people of the North are respected.”

4 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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anphoblacht Editorial

WHAT'S INSIDE 12

Buzzkill – Disappearing bees could herald ecological collapse 14 & 15

Brexit result pushes mainstream media towards Irish unity debate 21

anphoblacht Eagarfhocal

anphoblacht

Sinn Féin fights for change THE SUMMER IS OVER and we face the autumn and the coming year with daunting political, social and economic challenges that will affect everyone on the island of Ireland.

The “Brexit” EU referendum – rejected by the people of the Six Counties – is being railroaded through by English Tories.

Brexit is not just an issue for the North. Its impact will be felt all over Ireland.

Brexit could undermine cross-Border bodies and the co-operation created by the Peace Process. It could also entrench partition and impose an EU frontier across Ireland.

It will most definitely impact on trade, the economy and public services. Many things we take for granted now will be changed by Brexit.

In the 26 Counties, the much-vaunted ‘new politics’ looks like the old politics of side deals and jobs for the boys. And it will be citizens and our public services that will continue to pay the cost.

Fianna Fáil treats the Dáil like ‘Lanigan’s Ball’ – stepping in to claim a part in Government decisions when they look good, and stepping out and stepping in to RTÉ studios when they don’t.

But Fianna Fáil have underwritten the government of Enda Kenny for the next three years.

This is no surprise, as both parties support unfair tax policies on water charges and the family home. These are the parties that created and sustained the crisis in housing and health, that abandoned communities to criminal gangs. These are the parties that governed through years of

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underinvestment in rural Ireland and relied on emigration to sort out youth unemployment.

They also facilitated the use of tactical insolvency to rob workers of rights and entitlements.

For families, the talk of ‘new politics’ rings hollow.

Countless people are still struggling to survive daily, having to turn to credit unions or moneylenders to pay back-to-school costs, with Christmas only weeks away.

Many are fighting to keep a roof over their heads while vulture-fund executives circle greedily above. For a growing number of other citizens, a roof over their head remains a distant, if not impossible, dream.

Sinn Féin stands for a New Politics and a New Ireland.

We are for building a new and prosperous united Ireland.

Sinn Féin is using the Assembly and the Oireachtas to make real changes in people’s lives, in terms of housing, health and the economy, including workers’ and tenants’ rights.

Ireland faces many challenges in the coming months.

These present opportunities to demonstrate the type of Ireland we are about building: a fair, prosperous and united Ireland.

Unlike Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin stands for change; Sinn Féin fights for change.

Let’s make it happen, North and South.

AN PHOBLACHT is published monthly by Sinn Féin. The views in An Phoblacht are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sinn Féin. We welcome articles, opinions and photographs from new contributors but contact the Editor first.

An Phoblacht, Kevin Barry House, 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland Telephone: (+353 1) 872 6 100. Email: editor@anphoblacht.com

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22 & 23

IN PICTURES

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Inside Spike Island – Ireland's Alcatraz 30

5 Former Hunger Striker John 'Pickles' Pickering and Keith Bermingham from Ashbourne, County Meath, remember Kieran Doherty

The Olympic Spirit – Victory, loss and injustice in Rio

SUBSCRIBE ONLINE To get your An Phoblacht delivered direct to your mobile device or computer for just €10 per 12 issues and access to the historic The Irish Volunteer newspaper posted online weekly and An Phoblacht’s/IRIS the republican magazine archives

5 Blanketmen at the tree-planting ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of the 1981 H-Block Hunger Strike. Republicans chose a spot on Belfast city’s Black Mountain to plant 12 oak trees in memory of the 12 Irish republican hunger strikers who died at the hands of the British in the course of the recent conflict

5 Youth activist Naoise Ó Faoláin plants a tree in honour of Frank Stagg with Tommy Quigley, who served time in England during the 1980s and 1990s.

Quigley explained the hardship faced by republican POWs in English prison and the conditions that drove men like Stagg to hunger strike

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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5 Sinn Féin MLA Fra McCann and Senator Paul Gavan were part of an emergency international parliamentary delegation visiting Palestine in support of Palestinian prisoners

Support Palestinian prisoners, demand sanctions against Israeli apartheid state

SENATOR

PAUL GAVAN Senator Paul Gavan and Assembly member Fra McCann joined an emergency international parliamentary delegation to Palestine in August to highlight the plight of Palestinian political prisoners and the hunger strike campaign led by PFLP prisoner Bilal Kayed.

THE MOMENT that brought home the truth to us about the nature of the Israeli regime in Occupied Palestine was a simple one.

Our parliamentary delegation was planning a brief visit to East Jerusalem but one of our hosts from the Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Organisation, based in Ramallah, would not be joining us. “I only have a permit to reside in the West Bank; I am not allowed to visit Jerusalem.”

A trip of just nine miles within her own country was an illegal act.

Some 4.5 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip while Israeli citizens live in more than 200 illegal settlements. The two populations are separate and unequal. Palestinians in the West Bank face more than 500 checkpoints and roadblocks while Israeli settlers come and go as they like.

Thousands of Palestinians have their houses routinely demolished each year as new Israeli settlements continue to expand.

It’s been widely recognised that Israel has effectively imposed an apartheid regime across Palestine and our experiences over the course of a three-day visit certainly confirmed this to be the case.

We met families and loved ones of some of the 750 prisoners currently being under “administrative detention” (internment without trial).

This number forms part of an overall political prisoner population of 7,000.

Prisoners are routinely denied family visits and sentences are almost always served in full under a harsh regime. Administrative detention is increasingly being used to keep prisoners incarcerated beyond their original sentence. We saw at first-hand the operation of Israeli military courts dispatching ‘justice’ to Palestinian prisoners. These courts have a prosecution success rate of 99.7%, with all proceedings carried out in a foreign language, with only Israeli soldiers allowed to provide official translation.

4.5 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip while Israeli citizens live in more than 200 illegal settlements – the two populations are separate and unequal We met with a representative of families who have had their sons killed by the Israeli military but have yet to be handed over the bodies of their deceased relatives. In a further cruel form

of collective punishment these families have had their homes demolished.

We also met with a spokesperson for Defence for Children International who told us of the 350 Palestinian children currently under lock and key who can now be sentenced for up to 20 years in prison for throwing a stone at an Israeli tank of the occupation forces.

Right now there are three pressing tasks for all republicans who want to support the Palestinian cause:1) Highlight the current struggle for justice of Palestinian prisoners against the affront to international law that is “administrative detention”. Bilal Kayed, a man of just 35 years who has spent almost half his life in military prison, is entering his tenth week of hunger strike as this article is being written. He has now been by dozens BILAL KAYED joined of other prisoners who are undertaking hunger strikes in support of his demand for freedom and an end to internment. Every available public platform must be used to highlight this violation of human rights – from council chambers to the European Parliament.

2) The plight of Palestinian children must be raised. It’s chilling to think that more than 2,000 children have been murdered by Israeli forces since the turn of the century.

3) Republicans must play a key role in building broad-based support for the

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which is the most effective peaceful means of pressurising the Israeli Government to open

We met families and loved ones of some of the 750 prisoners currently being under “administrative detention” (internment without trial) meaningful and inclusive negotiations towards a just and lasting settlement.

Specifically, we must call for an end to the EU-Israeli Association Agreement, the banning of produce from the Occupied Territories and a military equipment embargo.

The occupying Israeli regime in Palestine is cruel, vindictive and vicious. But the spirits and voices of Palestinians are unbowed and their demands for freedom and justice are stronger than ever. Their voices must be heard.

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6 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

Unionist political ‘leadership’ missing in the presence of UDA and UVF

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l PEADAR WHELAN asks if politica unionism – largely the Democratic Unionist Party, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Orange Order – is fit for the challenges of the present day, especially given a unionist mindset which sees the d world through ‘Union Jack’-tinte ing ect glasses where anyone obj to aggressive displays of unionist, loyalist or Orange ‘culture’ is regarded as a heretic who should just suck it up.

AS THE SUMMER of 2016 draws to a close, with the North on the downward slope of the loyalist marching season, people are breathing a sigh of relief that we enjoyed one of the quietest summers in recent years.

Contentious parades (such as those in Ardoyne, Springfield Road, Rasharkin in County Antrim, and at St Patrick’s Church in north Belfast) passed off peacefully although the heavy security operations put in place to police these parades are a reminder of the controversy that surrounds some Orange parades.

The other overt reminder of the inherent sectarianism of the Northern state is the annual ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires.

These are ‘traditionally’ bedecked with the Irish national flag, effigies of

One overt reminder of the inherent sectarianism of the Northern state is the annual ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires

5 Eleventh Night bonfires are synonymous with sectarian and racist behaviour

Sinn Féin leaders, and election posters, not just of Sinn Féin candidates but also from the SDLP and the Alliance, as well as images of Hunger Strikers and Catholic religious symbols.

In recent years, racist slogans such as “We’re not racist . . . we just don’t like niggers” have adorned the bonfires.

That political unionism takes a benign view of the overtly sectarian and racist bigotry that is ‘celebrated’ with the Eleventh Night bonfires confirms for nationalists, republicans and non-unionists that, so long as unionism is in a majority, unionists will eschew fair play for nationalists.

Former DUP Health Minister Edwin Poots ‘celebrated’ the Eleventh Night at the infamous Ballymacash bonfire in Lisburn, where numerous republican flags, including the Tricolour, were torched. He dismissed criticism, saying: “I really couldn’t care less.” It’s just one blatant example of a unionist arrogance contemptuous of nationalist symbols or any sensitivity.

It is that same arrogance that saw Poots’s party colleague, the new Communities Minister (!), Paul Givan, posing for photos as he set a bonfire alight in County Tyrone.

As I write, the Communities Minister

5 Communities Minister Paul Givan lighs an Eleventh bonfire; (below) Edwin Poots and his civil servants have ignored calls for the minister to explain his actions.

Clearly, rather than show leadership and challenge the sectarian mindset that is at the heart of ‘bonfire culture’, the DUP is effectively endorsing it. For many DUP politicians it’s okay to burn the Irish national flag; it’s okay to torch images of your political opponents or those who challenge your outlook (as the Alliance Party’s Anna Lo did two years ago, leading to her image ending up on a myriad of Eleventh Night pyres) and it’s okay to display racist threats.

It is also worth noting the links

between unionist paramilitaries, particularly in urban areas, and these bonfires.

The refusal of the unionist political class to intervene in ‘hate crime’ bonfires is another example of DUP, UUP and Orange Order leaders abandoning their political responsibilities to the people of working-class unionist and loyalist areas whose homes and children’s playgrounds are threatened by bonfires.

The Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force are very clearly still present in unionist communities and are even recruiting to maintain their influence. But the

DUP and UUP, notwithstanding their many platitudinous statements on ‘paramilitaries’, have never seriously worked to get these organisations to leave the stage.

These two unionist paramilitary groups – the largest – remain largely intact.

The murder on 7 August of former UDA 'brigadier' John ‘Bonzo’ Boreland is testament to the willingness of unionist paramilitaries to kill. He was shot twice in the head outside his home.

The former UDA leader’s killing came at a time when tensions between the

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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5 Bishop Edward Daly with fatally-wounded Jackie Duddy on Bloody Sunday

Unionist leaders absent from Bishop Daly’s funeral

5 Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster and Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt

UDA and the UVF were high, leading to some speculation that the UVF was involved in the execution.

That speculation, since ruled out, stemmed from a confrontation in the UDA’s Tiger’s Bay stronghold in north Belfast where gangs of UVF men forced the UDA’s then brigadier from his home. The man, closely associated with the Union flag protests, has since fled Belfast.

Prior to ‘The Twelfth’, the antagonism within the UDA in the south-east

The DUP and UUP have never seriously worked to get unionist paramilitaries to leave the stage Antrim area led to mobs of masked UDA men roaming the streets of Carrickfergus before surrounding the Glenfield estate home of leading loyalist George Gilmore.

Gilmore and his brother Thompson were recently arrested and questioned about the murder and disappearance of Mark Gourley. The vulnerable 38-year-old was believed to have been

5 Former UDA 'brigadier' John ‘Bonzo’ Boreland was shot dead in August

abducted, killed and secretly buried by the UDA in March 2009.

Mark Gourley was one of four men who avoided imprisonment in 2005 after a crowd attacked a police officer posing as an ice cream salesman in an undercover investigation into a UDA extortion racket.

In all of this violence, including the killing of Boreland, there is only a whimper of condemnation from the main unionist parties and certainly no concerted effort on the part of unionist political leadership to call out these gangs and force them to disband.

The UDA and UVF haven’t gone away.

WHEN Bishop Edward Daly died in Derry, on Monday 8 August, his death was met with a genuine outpouring of grief from not only the people of Derry, who revered the clergyman as a hero as one of their own because of his courage when helping to aid the fatally-wounded Jackie Duddy, shot by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday, 1972.

The photograph of the then Fr Daly waving a blood-soaked handkerchief when confronted by armed paratroopers in battledress made news bulletins and headlines around the world at the time and it has become an iconic image of the conflict.

Political leaders across Ireland and further afield expressed their sorrow and sympathised with Bishop Daly’s family, the people of Derry, his Catholic Church colleagues and those in the other denominations with whom he worked closely, particularly Bishop James Mehaffey, the retired Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe.

Republican leaders, particularly Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, who were often on the receiving end of Bishop Daly’s criticisms, had no qualms in offering their sympathies at the death of the 82-year-old retired cleric. McGuinness described him as “a man of authentic faith and compassion and a tremendous force for good”.

Yet the one voice that went relatively unheard was that of political unionism.

While Arlene Foster, in her capacity as First Minister, released a statement commending Bishop Daly for his service to his parishioners, this writer could find no record of a statement released by or on behalf of her Democratic Unionist Party.

Nor could I find any expression of sympathy from either Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) or its leader, Mike Nesbitt.

Indeed, in what can only be seen as a snub to the people of Derry, and to the former Bishop’s family and friends, the DUP Mayor of Derry City & Strabane Council, Hilary McClintock, failed to attend the funeral.

A spokesperson for Derry City & Strabane District Council told the Derry Journal that Mayor McClintock was “unable” to attend the funeral but when asked for reasons why Mayor McClintock was not able to attend, no details were given.

Reacting to the unionists’ non-attendance, Derry Presbyterian Minister David Latimer said: “I would think that every effort should have been made [for unionists to attend the funeral], given the stature of Bishop Daly.”

Loyalists erected a Parachute Regiment flag on one of Derry’s main arterial routes in the Waterside area on the day of Bishop Daly’s funeral.

A clear example of the same strain of gratuitous bigotry saw banners erected in Dungannon, County Tyrone, and nearby Moygashel over the Twelfth period glorifying loyalist sectarian killers Billy Wright and Wesley Somerville.

Again, this writer can find no evidence that any senior unionist politician objected to the banners or was critical of the one honouring Wright, which carried a quote from the death

The DUP Mayor of Derry City failed to attend Bishop Daly’s funeral or explain why she didn’t go squad leader gloating over the 1991 UVF attack on Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh, County Tyrone, which left four men dead, including three IRA Volunteers.

Nowhere is this blinkered unionist view of the world more obvious than in the contributions of hardline unionist North Antrim MLA Jim Allister. Despite being the sole Traditional Unionist Voice representative in the North’s Assembly, Allister almost dictates DUP policy.

A case in point is the infamous “Letter from America” in August 2013 when then DUP leader Peter Robinson reneged on the deal to develop the Long Kesh site after Allister single-handedly stirred up the unionist nay-sayers against proposals for a Conflict Transformation Centre in the historic prison grounds.

Allister was to the fore in the past month, deriding the Parades Commission over its decision to ban a notorious loyalist flute band from the mainly nationalist village of Rasharkin in County Antrim on 19 August.

5 Martin McGuinness lays a wreath at the First World War monument in Flanders alongside Geert Bourgeois, Minister-President of Flanders

The Parades Commission barred the Dervock Young Defenders from Rasharkin after seeing video and witness evidence of members’ previous provocative behaviour, including in Ballycastle on the Twelfth when a bandsman spat on people and others, wearing masks, confronted onlookers.

In contrast to the DUP and UUP leaderships’ inertia, Sinn Féin figures continued to try and promote reconciliation and understanding between the traditions.

In July, deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MLA and Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald travelled to France and Flanders to lay wreaths in tribute to those Irish men who lost their lives at the Battle of the Somme and elsewhere during the First World War. Speaking about the visit, the leading republican and former IRA figure said: “I hope my visit here is seen as reaching out the hand of friendship to unionists.

“If I am to be true to my desire to see peace and reconciliation, then visits like this are enormously important.”

Speaking at a Féile an Phobail event on 2 August, Sinn Féin Party Chair Declan Kearney accused political unionism of continuing to hold back reconciliation through its “active commission or omission [that] reinforces, incites and perpetuates sectarian mind-sets and division, and blocks progress and positive initiatives”.

Sadly, events of recent weeks have shown more evidence of a lack of unionist leadership. Timidity is triumphing over political courage from the DUP and UUP.

8 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

5 Blanketmen salute the Hunger Strikers' families

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5 Ex-POWs march along the Falls Road in Belfast

5 Sinn Féin youth activist Ewan Porter (who headed the parade) leads young people in a salute to 5 Ireland's Basque community commemorate the Hunger Strikers the H-Block and Armagh ex-POWs

Thousands honour Ireland’s Hunger Strikers

BY PEADAR WHELAN

5 Portraits of the Hunger Strikers are carried through Belfast

5 Republicans from Lenadoon honour Ireland's patriots

IN what can only be described as an emotionally-charged day, thousands of republicans from across the country, from Britain, mainland Europe and the United States marched along the Falls Road on Sunday 14 August to remember and honour Ireland’s hunger strikers, in particular the ten H-Block martyrs of 1981 and Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg in England, who all gave their lives in one of the most epic battles against British rule in Ireland.

Pitted against the intransigent Margaret Thatcher, the H-Block prisoners and the women in Armagh Women’s Prison went toe to toe with the might of the British Government as they defied brutal prison regimes and fought to be recognised once again as political prisoners.

While the 35th anniversary of the Long Kesh fast was the main focus of the day, the sacrifice of the many republican hunger strikers who died in Irish or British gaols, particularly Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg who died in this phase of struggle in England, was marked as young republicans carried their portraits.

This year’s parade saw the marchers assemble under the shadow of Divis Tower which casts

its shadow over the last 40 years and where the intensity of the conflict was writ large.

The parade was led by former Blanketmen (clad in blankets once again) and dozens of republican women who took part in the prison protest in Armagh.

Thousands of people lined the streets and joined in as the parade, consisting of dozens of bands and delegations from across the 32 counties, made its way to the Falls Park.

In a gesture of respect, the Blanketmen stopped at Conway Street where the families of the Hunger Strikers gathered. Solemnly, the Blanketmen turned towards them and performed the clenched fist salute in respect of the families and in honour of our patriot dead.

At the rallying point in the Falls Park it was again young people who were centre-stage with the speakers including the former Mayor of Derry & Strabane, Councillor Elisha McCallion, Assembly Junior Minister Megan Fearon, and Oireachtas Senators Niall Ó Donnghaile and Fintan Warfield.

Members of the party’s youth organisations read obituaries of the Hunger Strikers.

As the rally drew to a close, Niall Ó Donnghaile, the youngest Mayor of Belfast before being elected to the Seanad, called on the young people present to join in a salute to the H-Block and Armagh prisoners as they raised their clenched fists aloft in remembrance and solidarity.

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

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5 A young boy remembers Martin Hurson 5 Young Fianna and Cumann na gCailíní pass the time of day

5 Senator Fintan Warfield addresses the crowd

5 Ardoyne’s finest – Maria McClenaghan

5 A section of the parade makes its way through Beechmount

5 Sinn Féin MLA Jennifer McCann and Blanketman Harry Murray give a clenched fist salute

10 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

Caitheann sí a súil ar tionscnamh nua ar thug Sinn Féin faoi ar na mallaibh – chun ‘Saor-Ghaeltacht’ a bhunú i dTithe an Oireachtais

Fáilte go

T

Saor-Ghaeltacht Theach Laighean Bhí dhá thaobh an urláir ag labhairt Gaeilge, rud a bhí go hiontach spreagúil, le ceol, craic agus díospóireacht i gcónaí againn.

“Nuair a scaoileadh saor mé, thosaigh mé ag reáchtáil ranganna i bhFionnghlas i dteach mo mhamaí, do bhaill an chumainn áitiúil Clarke, Smith, Doherty. Ansin bheartaigh mé agus Seán Ó Donnghaile ar ghaelscoil a bhunú i 2002. Chuir an West Finglas Tenants and Residents Association ‘prefab’ ar fáil dúinn. Gaelscoil Uí Earcáin a thugtar uirthi anois ar bhóthar Glasnaíon. “Ó shin i leith, tá fás agus forbairt tagtha ar an nGaeilge i mo cheantar agus liosta feithimh fhada do na gaelscoileanna. Labhraím Gaeilge chomh minic agus is féidir i dTeach Laighean.”

Paul Hayes, a proud Tipperary man, and Dublin TD Dessie Ellis’s PA, says he’d love to pick up more of the language: “I’ve rudimentary school Irish but I’d love to attend the classes in Leinster House. I’ve a grá for the language and working with Dessie will give me an opportunity to practice my cúpla focal on a daily basis, build up my confidence and increase my vocabulary.”

Liam Ó Duibhir, from Baile Átha Cliath, learned his Irish in the Port Laoise ‘Gaoltacht’ alongside Dessie and many other comrades. He is now able to practice his cúpla focal with Mary Lou, who also is a fine Irish speaker, and who sends her children to local Gaelscoileanna.

Á FOIREANN mhéadaithe ag Sinn Féin i dTeach Laighean, rud a chuireann gliondar agus iontas orainn agus muid go léir bailithe le chéile in aon seomra amháin le haghaidh cruinnithe. Tá áit cónaithe nua, agus níos galánta againn, (le cistin in ionad cófra), ar dhá urlár in LH2000, urlár a cúig (urlár a bhíodh ag Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, tráth dá raibh), agus urlár a sé.

Tugaimid Saor-Ghaeltacht Theach Laighean ar an spás seo.

Teachtaí, Seanadóirí, baill fhoirne, preas agus bainisteoirí san áireamh, tá ceathrar ‘Shinners’ is seachtó i dTithe an Oireachtais faoi láthair. Tá Gaeilge ar a dtoil ag dáréag dár dTeachtaí agus Seanadóirí. Labhair ochtar de chuid Shinn Féin sa Dáil ag na ráitis ar an nGaeilge ní ba luaithe sa bhliain, i gcomparáid le duine amháin ó na páirtithe eile. Tá Gaeilge líofa ag ceathrar is fiche den fhoireann cúnta agus gach uile dhuine eile thar a bheith sásta cúpla focal a úsáid.

I measc an ghrúpa seo, tá go leor daoine a bhfuil grá acu don Ghaeilge; gníomhaithe teanga, daoine ón Ghaeltacht, foghlaimeoirí, daoine líofa nó daoine le cúpla focal.

Is gnách dúinn Gaeilge a labhairt le chéile go sóisialta agus cloistear Gaeilge go laethúil is go rialta ar phasáistí Shinn Féin; áit a gcothaítear atmaisféar suaimhneach, uileghabhálach ina n-airíonn daoine ar a gcompord ag baint triail as labhairt na Gaeilge.

Tagann grúpa oibre Gaeilge le chéile uair sa choicís chun cúrsaí teanga a phlé agus straitéis ghnímh, chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn i dTithe an Oireachtais agus go hinmheánach, a phleanáil. Freastalaíonn idir Theachtaí Dála, Sheanadóirí agus bhaill fhoirne ar an gcruinniú seo, rud fiúntach a chuireann go mór le héifeacht na díospóireachta.

Rugadh agus tógadh an Teachta Aengus Ó Snodaigh le Gaeilge i mBaile Átha Cliath.

Iarscoláire de chuid Scoil Lorcáin agus Coláiste Eoin é, a chaith tamaill sna seachtóidí lena theaghlach i nDún Chaoin, ag agóid ar son Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta. Tógann sé agus a bhean chéile Aisling a bpáistí trí Ghaeilge.

Ba phríomhoide gaelscoile i gContae Uíbh Fáilí í an Teachta Carol Nolan agus an Ghaeilge an-ghar dá croí. Fuair sí a post i nGaelscoil Thromair mar ionadaí ar Liam Ó Néíll, iar-uachtarán ar Chumann Lúthchleas Gael. SpReagadh í chun an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim nuair a d’fhreastal sí ar an Ghaeltacht i nGaoth Dobhair agus i gCarna.

Le Rosie Ní Laoghaire Labhraíonn sí go minic sa Dáil agus ar na meáin i nGaeilge.

I

S foghlaimeoir í Teachta Denise Mitchell ó thuaisceart Bhaile Átha Cliath. Freastalaíonn a triúr iníonacha ar Ghaelscoil Choilm Cille i gCúlóg. Téann an chlann ar fad go Coláiste an Phiarsaigh i nGaoth Dobhair, Contae Dhún na nGall, gach bliain ar chúrsa Gaeilge agus Cultúir.

Deir Denise liom go mbíonn sí ag rince, ag canadh agus ag foghlaim na feadóige stáin chomh maith leis an Ghaeilge. Molann sí do chách triail a bhaint as cúpla focal Gaeilge a labhairt agus go labhródh Gaeilgeoirí i nGaeilge le foghlaimeoirí lena spreagadh agus chun cleachtadh cainte a thabhairt dóibh.

“I think that everyone should try and use their

cúpla focal, and anyone with Irish, especially in the party, should speak Irish to learners to encourage them and give them an opportunity to practice.

It’s fantastic in here for my Irish because so many of the team speak Irish around the corridors.

“The mini-Gaeltacht idea is brilliant and could be replicated in the other institutions, in constituency offices, and right across the party in fact.”

Nuair ar chríochnaigh an Teachta Dessie Ellis an ‘Group Cert’ ar scoil ní raibh sé ábalta an Ghaeilge a labhairt, agus ba mhór an trua a chuir sé sin air. Thosaigh sé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge arís nuair a bhí sé i bpríosún i bPort Laoise ag aois naoi mbliana is fiche: “Bhíodh ranganna Gaeilge ag na poblachtaigh agus as sin a d’eascair an ‘Gaoltacht’ ar urlár a 4.

Mise nó Éamonn Nolan agus daoine eile a bhíodh ag múineadh na ranganna. Bhí Arnie O’Connell, Cyril McCurtain, Jimmy Nolan, Jimmy Dunne, Liam O’Dwyer agus go leor eile sa Ghaoltacht.

S

TEPHEN TODD, from Dún Dealgan, is Teachta Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire from Corcaigh’s PA. He says:

“Working here with Sinn Féin is the perfect environment to learn Irish because there are so many Irish speakers around. Donnchadh is an Irish speaker and working with him gives me an opportunity to use the language outside of the classroom in my normal, working environment.”

Tógadh Donnchadh le Gaeilge sa Tóchar i gCorcaigh: “Ní teaghlach Gaeltachta sinne ach bhí Gaolainn ag m’athair agus an-suim ag mo Mham inti. D’fhreastal mé ar Ghaelscoil Uí Riada agus ar Choláiste Daibhéad ar an ardán thoir sa chathair.

“Chaith mé tamall mar PA leis an Seanadóir Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, agus tá dhá bhliain caite agam mar chomhalta ar bhord Fhoras na Gaeilge. Táim thar éis an Ghaeilge a úsáid i ngach óráid sa Dáil agus is minic a bhímse ag labhairt Gaeilge.

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

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Saor-Ghaeltacht Theach Laighean, urlár a cúig – Sinn Féin have turned the 5th Floor of Leinster House's 2000 Annex into a "Saor-Ghaeltacht", meaning it is a space where the Irish language is welcomed, encouraged, supported, used, heard, respected and promoted

“Bíonn go leor deiseanna agam Gaeilge a labhairt anseo le Sinn Féin.”

Is as Droichead Átha di Nikki Gavan, a oibríonn in oifig Gerry Adams: “My grá of Gaeilge started with my amazing teacher Mrs Bradley in primary school. It was all about inspirational teachers for me. Mrs Dunne in the Sacred Heart used to give me extra classes. I stopped using the language after school as there were no opportunities to use it. When my son Conn came along, we decided to send him to our local Gaelscoil Aengusa.

“The holistic, immersion education and the wider school community, where parents attended Irish classes and ciorcal comhrá, was so amazingly supportive. The experience was phenomenal.

Working in the Sinn Féin office in Dún Dealgán was another milestone for me.

“Seán Ó Murchadha, from Muineachán, would come and chat to me as Gaeilge. We’d read the Irish sections in An Phoblacht together and my confidence improved.

“In Leinster House, I’m surrounded by the language. There are loads of Gaeilgeoirí, and foghlaimeoirí. It’s very organic and encouraging.”

Is Corcaíoch é Joe Lynch a d ’fhreastal ar ghaelscoileanna i gCorcaigh. Oibríonn sé in oifig Gerry chomh maith. “Ó thosaigh mé ag obair in oifig Gerry, úsáidim i bhfad níos mó Gaeilge ná riamh.”

D’fhoghlaim Richard McAuley nó RG, a chuid Gaeilge i gCeis Fada.

“Chuir mé mo pháistí chuig bhunscoil Pobal Feirste agus oibríonn m’iníon sa naíonra ar bhóthar ns bhFál.”

I

S SEANADÓIR ó Bhéal Feirste é Niall Ó Donnghaile a bhí ina chomhairleoir agus ina Ard Mhéara sa Chathair sin:

“Bhí an Ghaeilge i gcónaí lárnach i mo shaol. Fuair m’athair píosa Gaeilge i bpríosún

na bhFiann, mar a chéile le go leor Gaeilgeoirí eile na tíre agus i Sinn Féin.

Bhíos féin ag comhordú polasaí Gaeilge an pháirtí i mbliana. I mbun na hoibre seo, chuir mé aithne ar neart gníomhaithe teanga eile i Sinn Féin. Bíonn i bhfad níos mó deiseanna agam Gaeilge a labhairt anseo le Sinn Féin ná riamh.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Carol Nolan, Gerry Adams agus Denise Mitchell

agus bhí se tábhachtach dó go bhfoghlaimeodh na páistí an teanga.

“Nuair a bhí mé i mbunscoil Pobal Feirste bhí sé fós suite sa Chultúrlann. Táim go fóill sáite i saol Gaeilge Bhéal Feirste.

“I dTeach Laighean, tá sé difriúil dom mar tá an teanga chomh feiceálach ar urlár Shinn Féin.

Feicim gur rud fíor mhaith é an tionscnamh ‘Saor Ghaeltacht’.

Bhruiséil le Liadh Ní Riada, fad is a bhí sí i mbun stailc theanga. Bhíodh 80% dár gcuid obair trí Ghaeilge.”

Tá go leor Gaeilgeoirí agus foghlaimeoirí eile le fáil i bpáisistí Theach Laighean, ina measc siúd atá Pearse Doherty arb as Gaoth Dobhair dó, i gcroílár Ghaeltachta Dhún na nGall; Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, an Seanadóir arb as Carna i gConamara dó, a rugadh i Sasana

In Leinster House, I’m surrounded by the language. There are loads of Gaeilgeoirí, and foghlaimeoirí. It’s very organic and encouraging NIKKI GAVAN “Spreagann sé daoine. Ba bhreá liom é a fheiceáil i gCnoc Anfa amach anseo.”

Deir Doireann Ní Dhomhnaill, a oibríonn leis an Teachta Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: “Is iontach an rud é Gaeilge a labhairt le mo chomhghleacaithe anseo. Tá Gaeilge mhaith ag neart daoine i Sinn Féin anseo i dTeach Laighean agus labhraím leo i gcónaí. D’fhreastal mé agus mo dheartháir Eoin ar bhunscoil Ghaeilge.

“Ar an drochuair ní raibh gaelcholáiste ar fáil i Muineachán ag an am. Osclaíodh Coláiste Oiriall ó shin. Rinne mé Gaeilge agus Iriseoireacht san ollscoil agus chaith mé bliain ag obair sa

agus nár fhoghlaim Gaeilge go dtí gur aistríodh an teaghlach go Conamara nuair a bhí sé trí bliana déag.

Gaeilge amháin a labhraítear sa bhaile aige, a bhean Máilí agus na gasúir. Oibríonn Séamus MacFloinn le Trevor. Tháinig sé chugainn ó Rannóg an Aistriúcháin agus cabhraíonn sé linne snas a chur ar ár gcuid Gaeilge.

Feidhmítear m’oifig féin le Peadar Tóibín trí Ghaeilge amháin. Níor tógadh ceachtar againn trí Ghaeilge nó sa Ghaeltacht. Is Bláth Cliathach mé agus rugadh agus tógadh Peadar san Uaimh, ach chuaigh an bheirt againn trí chóras Choláiste

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HEARTAÍOMAR ar an tionscnamh “Saor-Ghaeltacht Theach Laighean” a bhunú chun daoine a spreagadh le Gaeilge a labhairt agus chun aitheantas a thabhairt do na Gaeilgeoirí a labhraíonn Gaeilge go hiondúil.

Oibrím go dlúth le Johnny McGibbon, Oifigeach lánaimseartha Gaeilge Shinn Féin. Ní rud beag é duine bheith fostaithe go lánaimseartha, ag Sinn Féin, chun tabhairt faoi obair ar son na Gaeilge. Go bhfios dom, níl a leithéid le fáil in aon pháirtí eile.

Taispeánann sé go soiléir nach béalgrá atá againn don teanga. Táimid tiomanta don teanga.

Tugaimid tús áite don teanga i ngach réimse den pháirtí.

Gerry Adams has been a hugely positive force behind prioritising the Irish language. He rarely utters a sentence without some Gaeilge fite fuaite ann. He has encouraged, supported, inspired and ensured that Irish is central to Sinn Féin. It’s part of what we are. Is linne an Ghaeilge.

Molaim do gach aon duine an doiciméad ‘Gaelú an pháirtí’ a léamh agus bearta beaga a dhéanamh chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn ina saol féin.

Táim féin thar a bheith dóchásach i leith todhchaí na teanga taobh istigh dár bpáirtí amach anseo.

Déanfaidh Sinn Féin a dhícheall an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn ar fud fad na tíre trí reachtaíocht, trí thacaíocht, agus trí sheasamh ar son cearta lucht labhartha na Gaeilge.

12 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

A call for action to ‘stave off a calamitous collapse of ecosystems’

Buzzkill Ireland’s bees are being wiped out

a new part of the plan aimed at gardeners and homeowners was launched this summer. Simple tips include planting native wildflowers, leaving a patch of the garden to grow wild, manual weeding rather than pesticides, and installing an ‘insect hotel’ nesting site for solitary bees. It also contains a handy list of what plants and shrubs are best to attract pollinators all year round.

There’s already been a great response from local organisations, including Sligo Tidy Towns who are running beekeeping classes in the community gardens. Places like Leighlinbridge in Carlow, Castletownroche in Cork and Galliagh in Derry swiftly incorporated insect corridors – uncut areas of wildflowers – into their Tidy Towns plans and they are now commonplace across Ireland.

In July, scientific research debated at European

BY MARK MOLONEY MORE THAN 30% of all fruits and vegetables and as much as 70% of all the world’s food production is heavily reliant on one tiny insect – the honeybee. Its role in pollination is absolutely vital in agriculture but all is not well in Ireland – a third of our wild bee species are in danger of extinction.

Nobel Prize-winning playwright Maurice Maeterlinck famously wrote (although often misattributed to Albert Einstein): “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.”

While that may not be entirely true, the disappearance of the planet’s most important little workers could indeed spell the beginning of an ecological Armageddon.

Across the globe, many bee species are simply vanishing due to a mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder. So far there

‘Gone are the days we can choose to ignore warning signs. Our science is sound’ has been no single cause identified but the use of pesticides, loss of habitat and the spread of mites are all believed to be factors.

In some parts of the world, particularly in the USA and China, vast swathes of land are essentially devoid of pollinators. Beekeepers have seen a surge across the USA for their services as farmers rent mobile hives in the hopes of pollinating their crops. In some parts of China, where chemicals have all but wiped out bees, workers are paid to climb trees and hedgerows and pollinate flowers by hand.

Irish Wildlife Trust ecologist Billy Flynn says the Irish countryside has been made “inhospitable” to pollinators.

“The need for shelter and food are common to all living things, and we have deprived many of our native invertebrates of both,” Billy says.

He points to the loss of nesting sites, removal of hedgerows, disappearance of small woodlands, the lack of native wildflowers and the constant cutting of park and road verges as soon as dandelions and daisies appear as all contributing to this decline.

The decline, which included an up to 50%

5 Bees are the most important pollinators

What does a pollinator friendly garden look like?

5 A pollinator-friendly garden

For gardens to be good for pollinators, they need to provide food in the form of flowers, shelter for nesting and safety from chemicals. r n fo ey rde o th Ga tors s visit to eg ina ere v poll be th it and ies, r l , wil ur fru awber atoes yo . str , tom .) .g s (e tree es, etc it rgett u fr ou c

Shelter: Solitary bee nest boxes

♥ Bee friendly garden plants that flower from Spring-Autumn

Shelter:

Areas of long grass for bumblebee nesting

Food:

Safety: Manual weeding instead of pesticide use

Food:

Flowering hedgerows, shrubs or trees

Flowering hedgerows surrounding property

Food: Dandelions and clover blooming in strips or patches of long grass

Shelter: Food: Pollinator friendly window boxes/hanging baskets/potted herbs

Check out

Earth banks/ bare soil/ dry stone walls for solitary bee nesting

www.biodiversityireland.ie for more tips

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reduction in bees in the Six Counties, prompted a debate in the Assembly in 2008 and eventually led to The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020, supported by over 80 public, private and non-governmental bodies.

The Heritage Council’s Michael Starrett said: “Gone are the days we can choose to ignore warning signs. Our science is sound. Our concern has to be to get it done. The alternative is not acceptable, and should not be acceptable to anyone. This is about improving the quality of our environment.”

Billy Flynn says there are few plans that mean so much for biodiversity on this island: “This is a call for action that may well be critical in saving many of our invertebrate species from extinction. By doing so, we might be able to stave off a calamitous collapse of ecosystems the like of which we have not yet seen.”

As well as engaging with county councils, farmers, and environmental and heritage groups,

As well as engaging with county councils, farmers, and environmental and heritage groups, a new part of the plan aimed at gardeners and homeowners was launched this summer level conclusively showed that insecticides – as well as killing or seriously weakening bees – are having a detrimental effect on bee fertility.

Dublin MEP Lynn Boylan, an ecologist, says the temporary ban on three insecticides should be made permanent in light of the evidence and called on the European Commission and Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture to take this into account.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, the MEP said: “Governments need to stop contradicting themselves. On one hand they are producing detailed plans for protecting bees, which is welcome, yet in Europe they continuously take the side of the big corporate lobbies and chemical companies which have been directly linked to the decline in bee numbers.

“In the absence of Fine Gael ever opposing corporate interests, I’d encourage everybody to do what they can to help bolster the bee population.”

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

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We need a vision that speaks to the needs and aspirations of the majority of citizens

CAN THE LEFT WIN?

Eoin Ó Broin TD

WE have just lived through the deepest crisis in the capitalist world economy since the Great Depression. Unemployment, household debt, insecurity and poverty have become the norm for huge numbers of people.

Austerity policies are continuing to undermine public services and social supports that so many depend on.

Public anger at the socialisation of private banking debt at the expense of investment in employment and public services has led to massive public mobilisations.

While the worst of the crisis has passed, the early stages of economic recovery are not resulting in real improvements in people’s lives.

Given all of this, you would expect a significant electoral shift to the Left – wouldn't you?

MARGINAL INCREASE The 2015 European Parliament elections saw only a marginal increase in support on 2010 for parties affiliated to the United European Left/Nordic Green Left (from 4.8% to 6.9%).

In the 26 Counties, the results were better with the combined Left vote in the Dáil increasing from 15% in 2011 to 25% in 2016 – though this flatters slightly when you consider that the 2011 total when the Centre Left is included was 34% and that actually fell to 31.5% in 2016.

In the Six Counties, the total Left vote in the 2016 Assembly actually declined marginally, from 28.6% in 2011 to 27% in 2016. The drop is slightly worse when the Centre Left is included – from 43% in 2011 to 39% in 2016.

At a time when the political and economic status quo is facing its greatest crisis of legitimacy in recent history, the ability of the Left to popularise our alternatives has been modest.

What do we need to do better or differently in the coming period to further popularise our alternatives and to seriously challenge for political and social power?

OUR VISION People know what the Left is against, but what are we for? What is our vision for the future of our communities, our country or the EU? It is time we moved beyond slogans and started to articulate a clear and positive agenda for change.

The Left needs a vision that speaks to the needs and aspirations of the majority of citizens, that gives them

5 The Right2Change movement has been important in creating a broad Left alliance

hope for a better future. A vision that is both radical and implementable.

NEW MODEL Delivering that vision demands a new model of social and economic development.

This is something much more than individual tax and investment policies.

We need a plan for generating social and economic wealth and doing so in a way that is ecologically sustainable and socially just.

If we are to do more than mitigate the

worst excesses of austerity policies or economic inequality, if we are serious about a fundamental transformation of our society, then we need a model of social and economic development that can deliver real equality and sustainability.

OUR POLITICAL ALLIANCES No Left political party, trade union or social movement has enough strength to win on its own. So we have to work together – in spite of our clear and deep-rooted differences.

If the social and political support for the Left remains static but shifting from one party to another then we are not winning.

The Right2Change movement has been an important step forward but it is new, fragile, solely 26-County focused and nowhere near broad enough to achieve the task we have set for it.

HOLDING OFFICE OR WIELDING POWER? Tra n s fo r m i n g o u r society and economy

requires the Left to be in Government, North and South. This presents us with huge challenges.

The requirements of peace building and power-sharing in the North creates real tensions with our attempts to implement a progressive social and economic agenda in the Assembly.

In the South, there is no risk-free roadmap to Government. Pursuing a ‘Left only’ strategy risks isolation; entering coalition with the Right risks neutralisation.

The old dilemma of holding office or wielding power remains the great unresolved challenge for the Left.

So long as only 1 in 4 voters support the progressive option, North and South, our ability to build a better, more equal Ireland will always be limited.

Our most immediate task is to build deep-rooted social support for an all-Ireland Left alternative – linking social and economic change with political and constitutional change.

We are living in one of those rare moments in history where profound social, economic and political change is possible. Achieving that change depends on us and whether we rise to the challenges in front of us.

3 A broad Left alliance is needed to challenge the Establishment parties of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil

14 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

ROBBIE SMYTH examines the post-Brexit media coverage in Ireland and reminds us all that the case for an island economy has never been clearer or stronger

It’s the island economy, stupid WATCH OUT – ‘Official Ireland’ is waking up to the positive side of a united Ireland.

Maybe it’s a post-1916 celebration thing or a serious reflection on the centenary since Connolly’s dire 1914 prediction of the “carnival of reaction” that partition would be.

Maybe it is a realisation that a Brexiting Britain would wreak havoc on the island economy here.

So who is ‘Official Ireland’?

You know them well: the columnists, commentators and contributors who live in the pages of Dublin’s mainstream newspapers and the radio stations of RTÉ and Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp.

They fill talk-radio broadcasts from Marian Finucane to Tubridy, Kenny, Hook, Cooper and Mary Wilson.

This isn’t a republican conspiracy.

And RTÉ’s Dublin 4 Montrose campus or Marconi House (home of Today FM and Newstalk) are not being besieged by what once upon a time was frequently called ‘Provo fellow travellers’ (classifications of this term freely offered by 5 Mainstream media are beginning to join the discussion on Irish reunification most Sunday Independent journalists). 5 New British Prime Minister Theresa May meets Taoiseach Enda Kenny It is the great and the good from that “English nationalists have planted Mícheál Martin, giving the John Hume I would be among those who would Enda Kenny down who are joining a bomb under the settlement that Lecture at the MacGill Summer School. love the idea of a 32-county Ireland” the discussion now. brought peace” and this “fecklessness” is Martin called for the Irish Govern- but added he had been “stunned in “deeply unsettling for unionists” as the ment to lead a “civil dialogue” with inter- recent weeks by the number of strongGerry Adams sets “new English nationalism is completely est groups on both sides of the Border. ly-worded negative text messages” he the unity agenda indifferent to their fate”.

Enda Kenny trumped his Fianna Fáil received while hosting his evening Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams set O’Toole followed up on 5 July, writing counterpart at that very same venue drivetime Today FM show. He also the ball rolling on 24 June. He called that “Northern Ireland cannot and must the next day by clearly stating that a brought up the old ‘South can’t afford for a Border poll on Irish unity in the not be taken out of the EU against its Border poll was now on the agenda. the North’ argument but more of this aftermath of the Brexit vote, where a Comparing the situation in Ireland later. will” and ending with the call for the majority of Six-County voters wanted Irish Government to “speak very, very to the reunification of Germany, Enda The sub-editors couldn’t resist to remain in the EU. Adams argued that “there is an onus on the British Government to respect the democratic wishes of the people of the North” and that “the Irish Government needs an all-island, all-Ireland view” because “there are real worries it will have an adverse impact on the two economies on this island. This will have serious consequences for jobs 5 Columnist Fintan O’Toole and investment and for families and DAVID McWILLIAMS communities.”

The now sacked Northern Secretary of State Theresa Villiers claimed there was “no appetite” for such a vote, while clearly” that “Northern Ireland is not Kenny said that East Germany was front-paging Fiona Looney’s piece First Minister Arlene Foster described an English shire”. “absorbed” into West Germany “without with the facile quote “We’d be bankrupt Adams’s suggestions as "opportunisEnda Kenny had returned to the a tortuous and long process applying of course . . . but the idea is intoxicattic" and “predictable”, a view echoed political implications of the Brexit for membership of the EU”. ing” while, inside, she gave a “Glorious

by Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt. vote, proposing an all-Ireland forum Twelve top reasons to end the Border”.

Enda Kenny claimed the same day at the North/South Ministerial Council Get ready for a united Ireland Among them were speed limits being that there was no evidence “that there This became “Get ready for a united less confusing, it would help combat tax meeting on 4 July. The negative reaction could be a serious movement of a from DUP First Minister Arlene Foster Ireland” in the Irish Independent and evasion, and we would have a better majority of people [in the North] to is captured in a Newstalk headline: “Brexit talks should include the ‘possi- football team and a “really interesting want to have a situation where they “United we fall? All-Ireland Brexit forum bility’ of a united Ireland” in Newstalk national parliament”. want to join the Republic”.

Irish Independent columnist David dismissed before it’s even proposed.” headlines.

On 20 July, the Irish Daily Mail Quinn took up the baton on 22 July As our media focus moved onto the imploding British party political splashed a “United Ireland?” headline with an article titled “Hoping to see a Fintan O’Toole outraged establishment in the days after Brexit, across the front page with Matt Cooper united Ireland? Time travel is a lot more Enter an outraged Fintan O’Toole, the summer school season kicked off and Fiona Looney tasked to “discuss likely”. Quinn also addressed what an upset not at Enda Kenny but at the in the Irish political environment. First the big question”. all-Ireland Leinster House would be like “insult to Ireland”. O’Toole wrote in Matt Cooper wrote that “emotionally, and even though Sinn Féin would have out of the traps was Fianna Fáil leader his Irish Times column on 24 June 5 Fianna Fáil's Mícheál Martin

'The Union has been an economic disaster for the people of Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic, unionist and nationalist. They have all been impoverished by the Union'

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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5 Sinn Féin's Peadar Tóibín TD

5 A 1990 episode of Star Trek in which Data speaks of Irish unity occuring in 2024 was censored in Britain and Ireland

more seats in the Dáil, the arch-conservative’s silver lining to his Sinn Féin cloud would be that the Dublin parliament would also have in the DUP a real “socially conservative party” who could pitch for Southern conservative votes.

Their share of the vote, he estimates, could increase to 15% across the island and maybe the DUP and Fine Gael could form a coalition.

Like Cooper, Quinn also poses a fiscal constraint, writing that the Northern economy is “hugely propped up by England” and has “a weak private sector”.

Enter French President Francois Hollande, who on a visit to Ireland on 21 July declared: “I do recognise that there is a special situation in Ireland.”

So, at an EU level it is clearly game on for an all-island EU jurisdiction post-Brexit.

Could these be the first steps to a new all-Ireland entity?

Star Trek’s united Ireland David McWilliams, writing in The Sunday Business Post, used Star Trek

as his portal into the united Ireland discussion.

Avid Trekkie readers will know that an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (Episode 18, Season 3) was censored in Ireland and Britain because it predicts a united Ireland.

McWilliams claimed that the “Northern economy is incapable of supporting itself” but the respected economist also recognised: “The Union has been an economic disaster for the people of Northern Ireland, Protestant and Catholic, unionist and nationalist. They have all been impoverished by the Union.”

Any debate on the future direction of Irish political life wouldn’t be complete without the input of bookmaker Paddy Power. The bould Paddy duly obliged on 30 July, publishing the findings of a RED C poll on views about a united Ireland – 65% of 26-County adults would vote in favour of a united Ireland.

By early August the new British Prime Minister, Theresa May, had met with Martin McGuinness and Arlene Foster,

following up with a meeting with Enda Kenny the next day. On 1 August, May had declared that “nobody wants to return to the borders of the past”; Enda Kenny, on his 2 August meeting with May, said: “We are in agreement that we don’t wish to see any return to the borders of the past on the island of Ireland.”

Unionist Dáil ministers Newton Emerson, the “liberal unionist” columnist, writing in The Irish Times on 4 August, floated the idea that a post-Brexit united Ireland, like the Northern Assembly, should have mandatory power-sharing. Emerson estimated that, in a 220-seat all-Ireland Dáil, unionists would have 26 seats and in an all-Ireland power-sharing executive could have two of the 15 ministries.

Last words go to David McWilliams on Star Trek’s united Ireland prediction: “Wouldn’t it be strange if Commander Data was partially right after all? Then again, that was science fiction, wasn’t it?”

LET’S BUILD THE ISLAND ECONOMY CENTRAL to the post-Brexit debate in Ireland is the question of the island economy and building on the work done since the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement was ratified in 1998.

The current make-up of the Northern Assembly and Dáil provides an unprecedented range of representation across the communities of Ireland.

We collectively have a unique opportunity to shape the future decades of the island economy.

In January, Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín – as rapporteur to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation – produced the first Dáil all-Ireland economy report since partition.

Tóibín said that we have a responsibility to eliminate the barriers to growth and prosperity. An implementation strategy based on the recommendations in the Report on the All-Island Economy should be “put in place in the next term of the Dáil and the Assembly”, he said.

Tóibín’s report was bolstered by the publication in March of a study

by Canada’s University of British Columbia and consultancy group KLC. The Modelling Irish Unification report found that there could be a €36 billion boost to the island economy within eight years of unification and that “the North would benefit particularly from unification”.

Some of the key findings of the Tóibín Report on the All-Island Economy are: (1) Create a single Economic Development Agency which would integrate the IDA, Invest NI and InterTradeIreland.

(2) Develop a Border Economic Development zone.

(3) Harmonise employment policy across the island.

(4) Develop an all-island investment strategy that locates more foreign direct investment in the Border regions.

(5) Plan an all-island infrastructure strategy with such projects as a Dublin to Derry motorway, enhancing the Sligo to Dundalk road, and removing the British HGV levy in the North.

(6) Make it easier to set up a business on both sides of the Border (the 26 Counties and the Six Counties are ranked 25th and 117th in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report).

(7) Instigate an integrated public services strategy, particularly in health, energy and education.

(8) Devise an all-island development strategy for agriculture, food, fish processing and tourism.

You can access the full Peadar Tóibín report at:

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/ jobsenterpriseandinnovation/All-Island-Economy---Final.pdf

Modelling Irish Unification is available at:

http://prcg.com/modeling-irish-unification/report.pdf 5 Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams set the ball rolling

16 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

Hunger Striker Laurence McKeown’s play Those You Pass on the Street moved people to tears during the National Arts Festival in South Africa

H-Blocks Robben Island From the

to

BY LAURENCE McKEOWN AN GLÓR GAFA/The Captive Voice, the magazine written entirely by republican prisoners, was formally established in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh in 1989.

It was compiled and edited within the H-Blocks but was contributed to by republican prisoners wherever they were held: Armagh Women’s Prison, Portlaoise, prisons in England, Europe, and the United States. In the early years all the material for publication had to be smuggled into the prison, the edition compiled and edited, then smuggled out of the prison where Sinn Féin’s POW Department passed it on to An Phoblacht for printing. In later years we were able to produce the magazine openly through the prison authorities. Five thousand copies of each edition were printed and over the next ten years there was a total of 26 editions.

In one edition we published a review of the book written by Albie Sachs, The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter (1990). Albie was a member of the African National

The magazine written entirely by republican prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh had to be smuggled out to An Phoblacht for printing Congress (ANC) who the apartheid regime attempted to kill in 1988 in Maputo, Mozambique, where he was living in exile. A booby-trap car bomb exploded, resulting in the loss of his right arm and the sight in one eye. Years later, when he returned to an apartheid-free South Africa, Nelson Mandela appointed him a judge in the new Constitutional Court, charged with drafting a charter for a new non-racial state. Sachs became a persuasive advocate for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary in the new constitution and as a judge he also made a number of landmark rulings, including recognising gay marriage.

In his book, Albie spoke in very personal and moving terms about his life, the experience of being injured in the bomb blast, and of his recovery afterwards. It was at a time in our own educational, cultural, and artistic development where we were encouraging prisoners to ‘own their voice’ and about how the ‘personal was political’ and how it was ‘okay’ to write about the personal

pain, troubles, and battles we endured as prisoners and activists and not just the tales of commitment, perseverance, and endurance.

There was one sentence in Albie’s book that totally jarred with us. He referred to the “sectarian bombing campaign of the IRA”. We found it strange that someone involved in a revolutionary movement such as the ANC could make such a remark. We wondered if it came from the many years he had spent in London studying, where he would have been exposed to a hostile British media and with little contact with the Irish struggle.

We wrote a letter to Albie in which we expressed dismay that he would make what appeared to us as a throwaway remark about the IRA armed struggle. We also praised his book and the work he was engaged in and included a copy of our review.

The letter was smuggled out of the prison and later hand-delivered to him by a comrade who was part of a youth delegation trip to South Africa. And that was the last we heard about it – until 2003 when Albie visited Belfast.

I was working with Coiste na nIarchimí at the time (the umbrella organisation for former IRA prisoners) and we had regular meetings with the Community Foundation (CFNI) as they handled the EU funding for ex-prisoner groups under the Peace and Reconciliation programme.

Albie spoke at an event organised by CFNI where he was to present to them two copies of the new Bill of Rights for South Africa, which he had been heavily involved in drawing up. In the course of his speech he referred to the letter he had once received from prisoners in Ireland and how it was one of his big regrets that he had never responded to it or didn’t know who to respond to. As he continued to speak I silently signalled to Avila Kilmurry, the CEO of CFNI, that it was me who had sent the letter. When he had finished his address, Avila took the microphone and said: “We didn’t plan it, Albie, but I can tell you that one of the prisoners who sent you that letter is in the audience this evening.” I walked over to him, shook hands, and we embraced. Later, Mike Ritchie (then Co-ordinator of Coiste) and I had a long conversation with him.

Fast-forward to early July of this year when I visited South Africa.

I was there because the most recent play I wrote, Those You Pass on the Street, produced by Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast, was selected as part of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown – the largest and oldest arts festival in South Africa. This year South Africa sees a number of anniversaries: the 20th anniversary

5 Laurence McKeown on Robben Island

of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the 40th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising; the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom Charter; and others.

As part of the theatre section of the festival programme (which also included film, music, dance, performing arts, visual arts, and discussion and debate), there was a focus on the theme of ‘dealing with the past’ and looking at how various countries had approached this. They also wanted to look at the role the arts had played in that process.

Those You Pass on the Street was the only play chosen from Ireland. It was performed five times over three days to

In one edition we published a review of the book written

by Albie Sachs, The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter packed audiences. Each performance was followed by a Q&A with the Artistic Director of Kabosh, Paula McFetridge, and myself.

Some of the contributions made during the Q&A were very emotional. In the evaluation sheets we left for audience members to fill in one person commented: “I found myself crying. I’m not sure what started it, but I felt such heartache.” Others welcomed the opportunity to start a discussion: “Very powerful . . . opening a conversation rather than closing it.” And many saw the parallels between what had happened in Ireland and in South Africa: “The play cleverly provides a nuanced view of the 30-year British colonial war in Northern Ireland . . . Like our own situation, it’s complex” (Nigel Vermass, Cue Magazine, South Africa).

On the night of the last performance, just as Paula and I were about to bring the Q&A to a close, a man

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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17

5 Laurence with Albie Sachs and Mike Ritchie

5 Stage technician James Kennedy, actors Ciarán Nolan, Vincent Higgins and Carol Moore, Albie Sachs, Laurence, and actor and artistic director Paula McFetridge

after watching a film but very rarely after attending a play. I have to say that tonight I cried at the ending of your play. Those closing lines are the most powerful I have ever heard and the most appropriate way for your play to end.”

The cast of the play then went on to Rwanda to perform again as part of the Ubumuntu Arts Festival at the site of the monument to the victims of genocide in that country. Again, the response to it was overwhelming. Kabosh had not received enough funding to allow me go accompany the cast to Rwanda but that provided me with the opportunity to fulfil a lifelong ambition and travel to Cape Town to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and his comrades had been imprisoned for so many years.

Paula was startled . . . She feared it was someone going to pull a weapon to attack me

got up from his seat in the second row of the audience 5 Laurence McKeown and walked towards me. Paula was startled. She was off with tour guide and to my side and had seen this man with the right sleeve former political prisoner of his jacket apparently empty and hanging limp by his Itumeleng Makwela on side, his right hand seemingly inside the jacket, walking Robben Island in my direction. She feared it was someone going to pull a weapon to attack me. But from where I sat, as soon as he stepped into the light of the stage, I could clearly identify the man coming towards me – it was Albie Sachs. He walked over to me, I stood up, he embraced me warmly then turned to the audience and said, “I’m Albie Sachs and I’ll let Laurence describe to you how we met.” The audience burst into applause.

4 A 1987 poster demands I related the story about the review of his book, of the release of South African writing to him, and of later meeting in Belfast. Albie political prisoners then spoke of our letter to him from the H-Blocks and about our discussions in the prison at the time about republicans opening up to tell the personal story of struggle. He said: “I think they were debating whether or not it was okay for freedom fighters to cry. I have cried many times

The ferry to the island takes about 30 minutes. Our tour guide on the bus, Thabo, was excellent. He told us not only the history of the island but also of South Africa and of the legacy of colonialism. He also told us of the Irish missionaries and nuns who came to the island to work with the leper community that had been banished from the mainland and how a part of the island is now named “The Irish Village”.

The bus stopped at the quarry where Mandela and the other prisoners worked. We were told of the damage done to their eyes with the sun reflecting off the white limestone and how the dust from the quarry had got into their lungs, causing permanent damage.

Thabo then pointed to a cave in the quarry wall and told us that the prisoners used it to eat their lunch in but it was also the place they had to use as a toilet. They were under dire warnings that any attempt to leave the confines of the quarry, even for toiletry purposes, would result in them being shot.

They had to endure the smell of the cave while they ate their lunch. It also meant that the guards did not enter the cave because of the smell. This provided the prisoners with the opportunity to discuss freely amongst themselves in a way they could not do back in the prison. It reminded me very much of our own discussions and debates in the H-Blocks during the ‘No Wash Protest’ and the extreme physical conditions those discussions took place in.

When we eventually arrived at the former prison we were introduced to the tour guide for that part of the tour.

Itumeleng Makwela, a former political prisoner, told us of being on hunger strike for several days but how, even during that time, he had to work in the kitchens, cooking and delivering meals. He showed us around the various cell-blocks and where Mandela was held. As the tour ended, I introduced myself to Itumeleng and told him of being in prison in Ireland. He said: “I was wondering who was wearing the Bobby Sands T-shirt!”

I asked one of the other people on the tour, an American, if they would take a photo of us. As I handed her my camera, Itumeleng pointed to my T-shirt and asked her: “Do you know who this man was? Bobby Sands?”

She shook her head. “He was an Irish freedom fighter.”

We returned from South Africa and Rwanda and the play then went on tour in west Cork as part of the Fit-up Festival. As I travelled by ferry over to Bere Island I thought of the ferry to Robben Island. I thought of writing this article and of that Sunday afternoon in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh when we established An Glór Gafa/The Captive Voice and of how we ‘found our voice’ and continue to let it be heard.

One sentence from the first editorial of the magazine is particularly poignant in this year, the 40th anniversary of the start of the Blanket Protest: “Through individual and collective struggle and sacrifice, the idea of gaol as a breaking yard has been thrown back in the faces of those who imprison us.”

Very true.

In the dying words of the poet Seanchan: “Dead faces laugh, King!

King! Dead faces laugh.”

18 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS

CHRIS DONNELLY

Political commentator and former Sinn Féin council candidate THE DECISION by the British electorate to plump for Brexit has provided a renewed lease of life for Scottish nationalists, whilst it has also encouraged many Irish republicans to outline the case for a Border poll in the near future. Even Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin have made public pronouncements where they’ve spoken of the prospect of an Irish unity referendum at some point in the future.

At this historical juncture, I believe republicans, and all Irish unity advocates, are obliged to give serious consideration to what form Irish unity can and must take.

Sinn Féin stands alone as the only all-Ireland party today, and it is the success of republicans in building a nationwide party and political movement that is likely to compel political opponents to seek to emulate that approach by organising and seeking to represent people across all 32 counties.

Whilst this may provide unprecedented electoral challenges for republicans, it would be a most welcome development as it would mean a plurality of all-Ireland voices would exist to articulate the case for unity through political ideas and actions.

Developing and fostering all-Ireland politics is one thing, but if republicans are serious about mounting a winnable campaign in the forthcoming generation to secure Irish unity then the time has long since passed for a credible and tangible vision of what form unity would take to be outlined.

The Good Friday Agreement represented a historic compromise for Irish republicans and unionists, providing a political and constitutional framework within which national rights would be respected and power-sharing structures worked to reflect the reality of the divided society in the North.

Yet what was implicit and explicit in republican acceptance of the Good Friday Agreement and in the conduct of its ministers and elected reps in the 18 years since is that republicans now see making the North of Ireland into a viable and economically successful political entity as a prerequisite to securing Irish unity.

That statement might appear to stand traditional republican rhetoric on its head but, in reality, it has been the logical assumption driving mainstream republican strategy since Sinn Féin signed up to a Good Friday Agreement incorporating a Stormont Assembly and power-sharing Executive.

Accepting that means recognising that the time has come for republicans to find a place within the united Ireland

5 Is making the North of Ireland into a viable and economically successful political entity a prerequisite to securing Irish unity?

A credible vision of unity has to be outlined

5 There is a prospect of an Irish unity referendum at some point in the near future

At this historical juncture, I believe republicans, and all Irish unity advocates, are obliged to give serious consideration to what form Irish unity can and must take

narrative for the perpetually-contested entity that is Northern Ireland. Another sacred cow for some but, for thinking republicans, one thing is clear: winning a united Ireland referendum will not be possible unless the vision of what Irish unity might look like moves from the abstract into the concrete. This includes dealing with how to address the reality of the rights and entitlements of the British and unionist people of the North.

To that end, I would contend that the answer is already with us.

The North is now, and will continue into perpetuity to be, a contested entity, a hybrid state peopled by stoutly and proudly Irish and British communities whose identities may overlap but may also continue to remain completely separate.

In order to address that reality and allow for the rights and entitlements of the Irish nationalist and republican

people to be respected in a UK context, the Good Friday Agreement provided for constitutional and political architecture to respect all three strands of identities that pertain in this society: British, Irish and Northern Irish.

Winning a united Ireland referendum will involve demonstrating in a comprehensive manner how we aim to provide for the same safeguards for the British and unionist people.

The continued existence in a jurisdictional sense of the Northern state, with some regional powers, in an all-Ireland framework would allow for the minority rights currently existing for nationalists to be provided for unionists, removing the ‘fear’ of the unknown which always plagues those articulating the cause of constitutional change but also providing an effective means of ensuring that those more comfortable with a Northern Irish identity, multi-layered or standalone, would feel respected and attracted to a united Ireland model.

For republicans, recognising ‘Northern Ireland’ was once an anathema, akin to betraying the vision of the Republic, conceding the legitimacy of partition and surrendering our entitlement to be viewed as an integral part of the Irish nation.

In this post-Good Friday Agreement era, in which our all-Ireland identity has been and continues to be affirmed and strengthened, the time has come for republicans to find a place for Northern Ireland as part of the plan to finally deliver on the cause of unity.

Chris Donnelly is a political blogger and regular commentator on TV and radio.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Guest writers in the Uncomfortable Conversations series use their own terminology and do not always reflect the house style of An Phoblacht.

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

19

UNCOMFORTABLE CONV ERSATIONS

‘Your fellow countrymen, whatever you and they might think’ Lily Walsh was not some ‘crosscommunity do-gooder’ – Lily had been a Volunteer in Cumann na mBan in the 1930s and 1940s who had known Tom Williams and Joe Cahill

CONOR KEENAN “DON’T HATE the people on the Newtownards Road. Those people are your fellow countrymen, whatever you and they might think.”

That was the constant rebuttal from my maternal grandmother, Lily Walsh, when as a child I may have naively expressed a negative opinion about our neighbours across the way.

Growing up in the Short Strand in the 1970s, a child could not escape the influence of sectarianism.

Even if you didn’t leave the house for 364 days of the year, when it came to the Twelfth in July you certainly learnt who “us” and “them” were. The atmosphere in the small nationalist community was gripped with anticipation and tension.

The Twelfth of my childhood usually ended in hand-tohand fighting in the little streets which ran between Seaforde Street and the Newtownards Road. I have a vivid memory of a cousin, maybe 10 years old at the time and who had Down Syndrome, being violently pushed by a drunk man with a sash as returning bands and Orange Order members ran down Austin Street, smashing windows as they ran.

It would be easy to adopt and internally cultivate the most hardened sectarian attitudes, having witnessed scenes like these and others that my formative years were to repeatedly experience.

Lily Walsh kept me right, though, and constantly reminded me of her distant cousins and friends “up the road”. Good people, she maintained, no different from me and her.

But Lily was not some “cross-community do-gooder” as we would have called those, generally from a middle-class background, who would

The Twelfth of my childhood usually ended in hand-tohand fighting in the little streets which ran between Seaforde Street and the Newtownards Road

come in to our primary school to tell us how we should all be friends – and then go home again. No, Lily was a lifelong republican who had been a Volunteer in Cumann na mBan in the lean and brutal years for republicanism in Belfast of the 1930s and 1940s.

She had known Tom Williams, Joe Cahill and a whole host of icons who were heroes in our house.

She frequently spoke of pilgrimages to Bodenstown and the importance of reading and understanding the 1916 Proclamation. Her politics were the clear politics of Tone – of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter.

She would have understood how important – no, crucial – reconciliation is.

If we are to build the Republic that has been denied to us since it was first proclaimed on Cavehill by Tone, then reconciliation is a necessity.

Maybe that’s why political unionism has turned its face away from reciprocation. Maybe they understand that the emperor’s new clothes of unionism are being exposed.

The very same people hold what they have because they can do no other. Any other leaves them exposed

to the scrutiny whose absence had previously allowed them to delude the Protestant working class that they were better than “them”.

But political unionism will do what it does. We as republicans who want a better future for all the people on this island cannot allow their negative “finger in the dike” agenda to dictate ours.

The reasons for maintaining a connection with Britain are slipping by the day.

Ne Temere is long gone. Equal marriage has projected the majority of Irish society way beyond the Dark Ages.

Brexit has the potential to hasten this as the 26 Counties will be much more forward-looking and secular as the north-eastern counties are dragged by the will of Little Englanders to a place which is inward looking and economically retarded.

In this context, not only should reconciliation be actioned, it should be accelerated.

To achieve the Ireland of Equals, Lily Walsh’s faith in my neighbours not only becomes a dream, it becomes an imperative.

From the Short Strand in Belfast, Conor Keenan was Chair of South and East Belfast Sinn Féin Comhairle Ceantair for over ten years. He worked as political advisor to both Alex Maskey and Máirtín Ó Muilleoir before taking up a post as Political Manager in the Party Chairperson’s Office. He is also a steering group member of the Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium, a director of the Short Strand Partnership and a governor and trustee at Scoil an Droichid.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Guest writers in the Uncomfortable Conversations series use their own terminology and do not always reflect the house style of An Phoblacht.

To see more go to – www.anphoblacht.com/uncomfortable-conversations

20 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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Feelgood fantastic

Féile

BY PEADAR WHELAN

5 In demand – Deacon Blue and the Wolfe Tones

“FÉILE AN PHOBAIL plays a leadership role in the transfer of ideas across culture and time. We are at the heart of modern Belfast where our communities are increasingly multicultural” – the words of Féile Director Kevin Gamble as he introduced Féile 2016 at its launch in Conway Mill on 28 June.

This is what Féile is about, moving away from the war on our streets and drawing on the forward political thinking of the republican and nationalist community, building social and cultural capital that benefits the community.

5 The Talks Back panel: Joe Brolly, Gregory Campbell MP, Naomi Long MLA, Martina Anderson MEP and chair Tara Mills And Féile lived up to that promise 5 A full house for the 'Can the Left Solve Ireland’s Problems?' panel discussion with its many debates, discussions, exhibitions and, of course, entertainment that satisfied the music and comedy palate of the many thousands who passed through the Falls Park marquee and venues.

Féile embraced the old rockers who turned out for Deacon Blue and the rebels who fought tooth and nail for tickets to see the ever-popular Wolfe Tones.

And apparently, among those clambering for Wolfe Tones tickets were diehard People Before Profit 5 French photo-journalist Anne Paq talks with Clara Reilly of Relatives for Justice and Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan. Paq gave a acolytes who set aside their “We're talk entitled 'Obliterated Families' in which she described her experiences during the Zionist war on Gaza in 2014 neither Orange nor Green” mantra to theatre project” to explore questions Profit MLA Gerry Carroll the main get down and rebellious with ‘the Boys 5 The Relatives for Justice-sponsored of culture, identity and history based protagonists. and Girls of the Old Brigade’.

The general view was that the potenThe feelgood factor of Féile trumped annual United Campaign Against Plastic around the experiences of young men Bullets white-line picket from east Belfast who fought in the tial for a positive outcome is underthe negativity surrounding what Kevin mined by the ‘Left sectarianism’ of PBP/ Gamble described as a “veiled threat” in leader Naomi Long MLA, and GAA First World War. Historian Fearghal Mac BhlaosSocialist Workers’ Party people who a letter distributed by the Irish Repub- pundit Joe Brolly. Campbell and Brolly attack Sinn Féin incessantly, refusing to lican Prisoners’ Welfare Association provided the more robust exchanges caidh, who teaches history at Belfast's as Campbell took the opportunity to Irish-language Coláiste Feirste, accept the party’s left-wing credentials.

(IRPWA).

Relatives for Justice sponsored The letter, put through doors in defend and regurgitate his anti-Irish examined the role and impact of Tom a number of events, including the the Beechmount area of Belfast on language stance, to the ire of many Clarke and “Mid-Ulster Fenianism” on republicanism in the lead-up to the annual United Campaign Against Plastic Monday 25 July, claimed that Féile in the audience.

Given the centenary year that is in 1916 Rising.

Bullets white-line picket and the debate were “promoting the PSNI” through it, numerous discussions focused on In a fascinating talk, Mac Bhlaos“Massacre at Amritsar” on the 1984 events during the festival. attack when British SAS-trained Indian In response to the threat, more than the Easter Rising and the Battle of the caidh challenged the commonly-held revisionist view that the 1916 leaders military personnel killed over 250 Sikhs 120 community groups, elected and Somme.

On Monday 8 August, a number of were driven by a blood sacrifice, favourwho occupied the Golden Temple in community representatives, accused the Punjabi city. those behind the IRPWA letter and events were held in St Mary's College ing instead the position that republicans The human rights NGO also others pursuing an “anti-community with Dr Richard Grayson analysing the such as Clarke made the decisions they Battle of the Somme while actor Dan made based on “civic virtue”. sponsored “Obliterated Families”, a agenda” to cease.

The question ‘Can the Left Solve photographic exhibition and talk by Féile has the unique ability and confi- Gordon brought his acclaimed More dence to open its metaphorical doors Than a Flag project to St Mary’s. Gordon Ireland’s Problems?’ was addressed 5 The feel-good factor of Féile trumped French photo-journalist Anne Paq, to all and sundry and this is found gathered together young Protestant in a panel discussion, with Sinn Féin's the negativity surrounding what was who witnessed and photographed the Zionist assault on Gaza, Operation in the West Belfast Talks Back Q&A, bandsmen together for a “unique Eoin Ó Broin TD and People Before described as a 'veiled threat' Protective Edge, in 2014. In a moving where unionist politicians have always talk she described how she witnessed, received a warm welcome despite some families suffering multiple deaths in the of their representatives throwing that slaughter and highlighted the fact that welcome back in Féile’s collective face. those who suffered the bombardments DUP ‘firebrand’ Gregory Campbell were not just statistics but were real (who has been on the panel on a people whose suffering is still very real. number of occasions) was appearThe only pity of Féile is that you ing this year alongside Sinn Féin MEP can’t be everywhere at once.

Martina Anderson, Alliance Party deputy

‘Féile an Phobail plays a leadership role in the transfer of ideas across culture and time – at the heart of modern Belfast’

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

21

Mura labhraíonn na páirtithe clé ar son an lucht oibre, cé labhrós?

AR FUD na hEorpa, agus in Éirinn freisin, tá sean-pháirtithe an daonlathais shóisialta ag meath. Tá an lucht oibre tréigthe le fada acu, agus anois tá an lucht oibre ag tréigean na bpáirtithe céanna.

Sé an t-aon eisceacht air seo ná cás na Portaingéile. Sheas páirtí an daonlathais shóisialta sa tír sin in aghaidh na déine a bhrúigh Aontas na hEorpa orthu faoi mar a bhrúigh orainne.

Ceacht ansin b’fhéidir don chlé bréagach seo sa gcuid eile den Eoraip?

Fágann an meath seo folús, ámh. Ina lán áiteachaí d’éirigh oibrithe as bheith ag vótáil. Ní raibh páirtí dá gcuid féin acu, ach ní fhéadfaidís vótáil d’aon pháirtí caomhach – nó rachmasach go hoscailte.

Agus de réir mar a chuaigh na sean-pháirtithe i dtreo an liobrálachais, ag déanamh neamhaird de ábhair bhuairimh a bhí ag goilliúint ar an lucht oibre.

Mar sin, ba chás mór dona sean-pháirtithe ceisteanna ar nós cearta inimirceoirí, agus beag a dhéanamh den bhrú ar phá agus ar fhostaíocht féin as an inimirce chéanna.

Tá an folús a d’fhág na páirtithe sóisial-daonlathacha dhá líonadh cuid mhaith ag páirtithe

EOIN Ó MURCHÚ

pobalacha den eite dheis, ar nós UKIP i Sasana, an Front National sa bhFrainc, Jobbik san Ungair is eile.

Tá sé éasca ar ndóigh an lucht oibre a cháineadh as bheith ag tacú le faisisteachas is ciníochas, ach

IN PICTURES

I appeal to all our party members and supporters to ensure that this year’s draw is our most successful ever.

2016 has already been a hugely . for Sinn FéinNÁISIÚNTA successful yearCRANNCHUR Let’s build on that success.

cén rogha a fágadh don lucht oibre. In Éirinn níor éirigh le páirtí den chineál seo toisc go bhfuil páirtithe láidre ann ar an taobh clé den Labour Party, Sinn Féin ach go háirithe.

Ach sna cásanna nach bhfuil páirtí eile clé

ann le rogha a thabhairt don pháirtí fealltach sóisial-daonlathach, tá súmaire den eite dheis réidh le leas a bhaint as an deis.

Sea, tá ceacht thábhachtach le foghlaim as seo ar fad: níl ceart ag aon pháirtí labhairt thar ceann an lucht oibre nuair nach bpléitear an t-ábhar leis an lucht oibre féin. Tá dualgas ar pháirtithe ceannaireacht a thabhairt, sea, don lucht oibre, ag éisteacht leo agus ag fanacht freagarthacht dóibh.

Sé sin is féidir na páirtithe pobalacha dheis a chloí má éiríonn oibrithe gníomhach sa bpolaitíocht, má chuireann na páirtithe clé freagraí fiúntacha ar a bhfuil ag déanamh buairimh don bhfíor-lucht oibre. Ach mura ndéantar ach cáineadh gan smaoineamh is i lámha na deise a bheas an lucht oibre ag deire thiar.

photos@anphoblacht.com

GERRY ADAMS

CRANNCHUR NÁISIÚNTA

PRIZE POOL OF

€/£30,000 PRIZE POOL OF NATIONAL €/£30,000 DRAW

5 Cairde na hÉireann members have successfully completed a University of Glasgow Community Development Course. The eight members received their awards at a ceremony held at the university on Thursday 5 Rose of Tralee contestants visit Revolution 1916 for a guided tour of the exhibition at the Ambassador Theatre in Dublin 21 July

TICKETS NATIONAL ON DRAW SALE HERE TICKETS

FIRST PRIZE OF

ON SALE HERE €/£15,000 FIRST PRIZE OF €/£15,000 Tickets €/£10 each Tickets €/£10 each To sell tickets or for more information contact Brian Dowling:

briandowling@sinnfein.ie 00 353 872 6100 00 353 87 230 1882 To sell tickets or for more information contact Brian Dowling: National Finance Committee, briandowling@sinnfein.ie 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 00 353 872 6100 00 353 87 230 1882 National Finance Committee, 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1

5 Ballymurphy 1971 – Still seeking the truth 45 years on: More than a thousand people, numerous bands and international human rights campaigning lawyer Michael Mansfield QC joined the campaign group’s annual March for Truth

22 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

a microcosm of modern Irish history

Spike Island

5 Prison blocks sit empty on Spike Island

5 The entrance to Fort Mitchel on Spike Island

BY MARK MOLONEY

FOR tens of thousands of Irish people, a small rocky island in Cork Harbour was the last piece of Irish soil on which they set foot before being herded like cattle onto ships bound for far-flung British penal colonies.

One of those held on Spike briefly before his deportation was Young Irelander John Mitchel – after whom the fortress there is now named. Writing in his Jail Journal in 1848 after being convicted of sedition and treason felony for articles he wrote in The United Irishman newspaper, he described Spike Island as a “rueful-looking place”: “In this court[yard] nothing is to be seen but the high walls and the blue sky. And beyond these walls I know is the beautiful bay lying in the bosom of its soft green hills. If they keep me here for many

Spike’s life as a military base owes its beginnings to the American and French revolutions years I will forget what the fair outer world is like.

Gazing on grey stones, my eyes will grow stony.”

Stepping off the small ferry that today services Spike Island, the first thing a visitor is struck by is just how physically close it is to the nearby bustling town of Cobh – the narrow streets, cars and people are easily discernible yet completely uncontactable.

People have called Spike Island, or Inis Píc, ‘home’ for well over a thousand years. It was originally the site of an ancient monastic settlement founded in 635AD by Saint Mochuda. Skip forward 1,000 years and the monastic site is just ruins, yet from the 1600s to 1938 Spike was one of the most

important British military bases in Ireland. Even after the Anglo-Irish Treaty the British insisted on maintaining their presence on this small but strategically important little island – it was the keystone of one of the three “Treaty Ports”.

Spike’s life as a military base owes its beginnings to the American and French revolutions.

Jittery at the prospect of Ireland being used as a soft underbelly to attack England, the British began to fortify the island with artillery and guns

to command the entrance to Cork Harbour. An attempted landing of French soldiers at Bantry Bay to help the United Irishmen in 1796 convinced the British of the need to garrison and defend one of the British Empire’s most important ports.

By 1804, work had begun on the formidable fortress dug into the island, consisting of six bastions surrounded by a dry moat and artificial slopes. It is almost invisible to approaching vessels.

The Great Hunger of 1845 would dramatically

5 A plaque marks the spot where IRA Volunteer Patrick White was murdered by a British sentry during a hurling match

change the history of this place.

On the most remote edge of the windswept south-west of the island, beyond a crumbling former ammunition storage building and across the old prison football field, is a small walled cemetery.

The single Celtic cross and dozen smashed and badly-eroded headstones (their lettering illegible due to the elements) belie the reality that beneath

The Great Hunger of 1845 would dramatically change the history of this place

the soil are the graves of more than 250 mostly unknown prisoners.

As a reaction to the Hunger, Britain began a policy of deportation of people they deemed to be criminals. Many of those thousands of Irish people herded onto boats from Spike had done nothing more than steal food or livestock in desperate bids to feed their starving families. The surviving records on display are filled with the words “burglary, theft, larceny and cattle rustling”.

Others were ‘guilty’ of being homeless at a time when vagrancy was criminalised.

During An Gorta Mór, Britain had converted Spike into the largest prison in Britain or Ireland.

With over 2,300 prisoners it was arguably the 5 A film recounts the life of John Mitchel, the Young Irelander who was held on Spike before his largest such facility in the world. deportation and after who the fortress is now named Between 1847 and 1883, more than 1,200

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

23

5 The small cemetery on Spike Island where over 250 prisoners are buried

5 The village square on Spike Island: The small community disappeared overnight in 1985 after it was evacuated due to rioting at the prison

prisoners perished on the island. Overcrowding, poor sanitation and a shortage of medical care turned the prison into a death camp.

Newspaper reports from the time show inquests into deaths of prisoners due to allegations of “harsh treatment” generally absolved the prison authorities of any responsibility, instead attributing the deaths to the starving prisoners’ “delicate” health. Most of the dead were buried in another graveyard on the east of the island. This graveyard was later buried by the British military, officially during the upgrading of fortifications. Along with further protecting the island the upgrading also hid the horrific and brutal legacy for over a century.

Spike continued as a mainly military base for the next few decades. It was briefly used to hold the captured crew of The Aud, who scuttled their ship after being captured attempting to land guns for the Easter Rising in 1916.

During the Tan War, Britain was again in need of somewhere secure to hold hundreds of Irish people. Around 600 were on Spike at any time during the Tan War. In April 1921 a dramatic rescue took place when three senior IRA prisoners, including Seán MacSwiney – brother of Sinn Féin Mayor of Cork Terence MacSwiney, who died on hunger strike – managed to break free from the fortress that was considered unescapable.

Captain Michael J. Burke, who led the rescue effort, recalled how his IRA unit “commandeered” a motorboat in Cobh, raised the Union Jack to mislead British Royal Navy vessels and headed for the island. The three prisoners they wanted to rescue were being used to build a golf course for the British officers and they had managed to smuggle word in to them that they would

three prisoners and Seán Hyde took off in the trap – making it to the mountains and managing to evade a military cordon. The four other Volunteers hitched a lift on a boat with a young boy to Monkstown. Miraculously, all managed to make it to safety.

At this time, prisoners were still dying on Spike.

Shortly before the Truce in June 1921, prisoner Paddy White was murdered by a British sentry during a hurling match in the camp square. Two memorials to him (one unveiled in the 1950s and another more recently) mark the spot where he was killed.

Recounting the incident, Limerick IRA Volunteer Richard O’Connell said: “We were out hurling and the ball went into the wire. Paddy White rushed over to pull the ball out with the hurley. If he got through that wire it would have been into his own hut, which had nothing to do with escaping from the place.”

The next thing was the soldier on sentry duty put up his rifle and shot White dead.

“We went over, knelt down and said a prayer for Paddy while he was dying. He died within a minute. We took him in then. The soldiers started mocking us while we were praying over White,” he said.

The prisoners maintained a guard of honour over their comrade before his body was transported to Cobh, and from there by train to his native Clare for burial.

Richard said he later learned how the soldiers on the island that day were from the Essex Regiment, which had recently suffered seven deaths in an IRA ambush at Crossbarry. The Volunteer says he believes the shooting of Paddy and subsequent taunting of the Volunteers was

be arriving near the shore at 10am. One of the prisoners, Thomas Malone, took a hammer he was using to mend a lawnmower and charged at a soldier who was armed with a rifle: “I grabbed the rifle just above the muzzle and hit him in the temple with the hammer. He fell forward and I hit him a second time to make sure.”

Seeing this, two other guards quickly surrendered.

The attack unnerved the man piloting the boat.

“He thought this was going a bit too far,” recalled Malone. “The boatman thought that killing a soldier with a hammer was involving him in something he was not prepared to get mixed up in.” It fell to ASU commander Seán Hyde to remind the

Beneath the soil are the graves of more than 250 mostly unknown prisoners boatman that he and his boat had technically been commandeered in the name of the Irish Republic and therefore, if arrested, he was to tell the British he was forced to take part in the events.

The Volunteers on the boat were just off the coast of Ringaskiddy when the engine gave out.

Paddling towards the shore, they came under rifle fire from the top of Spike but managed to make it to shore with Thomas Malone occasionally returning fire using the rifle he had confiscated from the knocked-out soldier. Arriving on dry land, the Volunteers found that the getaway transport promised by the IRA was less than adequate: “To my horror, I discovered that our transport consisted of a pony and trap!” said Burke. The

5 During Famine times over 2,3000 people were imprisoned on Spike Island

their way of exacting revenge.

The British finally handed back Spike Island to the Irish Government in July 1938.

A military outpost during “The Emergency” (the state of emergency during the Second World War), the island later reverted back to prison usage and remained in operation until 2004. In popular memory it is associated with joyriders, pickpockets and young offenders.

The prison and military garrison ensured the survival of a small village on the north of the island – mainly consisting of families of those employed there – until 1985, when prisoners took

Overcrowding, poor sanitation and a shortage of medical care turned the prison into a death camp control of the fort. The Defence Forces were even deployed to quell the chaos. The small community disappeared overnight as the state informed them that they could no longer guarantee their safety. Today their homes along with their church, school and community buildings are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

With its last civilian residents departing in 1985, and its convict residents gone by 2004, Spike is today a national monument. Throughout its 1,400year history, Spike Island has been a religious sanctuary, a place of learning, a place of immense suffering, an impenetrable fortress, an internment camp, a prison, and throughout it all inextricably intertwined with the history of modern Ireland.

5 The nearby town of Cobh as viewed from the shore of Spike Island

24 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

Another Europe is possible Treo eile don Eoraip

Funded by the European United Left/ Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Aontas Clé na hEorpa/Na Glasaigh Chlé Nordacha Crúpa Paliminta – Parlaimimt na h Eorpa

The European Parliament has been in recess until 30 August, so here’s a look at some of the key things your MEPs have been working on since September 2015.

Liadh Ní Riada MEP FISHING CONFERENCE

In October 2015, Liadh Ní Riada hosted an international conference on fisheries in Waterford. A special emphasis was placed on the necessity for a specific focus on developing and investing in the Irish fishing industry and uniting fishermen as well as issues that are threatening and fragmenting the industry.

These are issues that Liadh has since continuously raised and battled in Europe as a member of the EU Fisheries Committee.

MENTAL HEALTH

In June of 2015, Liadh Ní Riada hosted a mental health delegation to the European Parliament made up of participants from organisations such as Pieta House, Mental Health Ireland, Action Mental Health, SOSAD, 3TS and Mental Health Reform.

Later, Liadh hosted a follow-up conference, reiterating calls for improved mental health services but looking more specifically at the role of employment in the lives of people with mental health issues.

MULTIANNUAL FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK (MFF)

As a Co-ordinator on the EU Budget Committee, Liadh has been calling on the EU to update its

Delegation of Irish-language students to European Parliament

long-term spending plan to cope with unforeseen crises such as mass migration, youth unemployment and now Brexit.

She has proposed that this is done during the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) mid-term review, which the Commission must prepare before the end of 2016. Within this, Liadh has been arguing for the protection of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) and has been the only MEP to do so.

In addition to this, in the wake of the results of the Brexit referendum, Liadh submitted an amendment noting that the result of the referendum creates grave problems for the Irish Peace Process and undermines the Good Friday Agreement. This amendment received overwhelming

support during the plenary sitting of the European Parliament in July 2016.

LANGUAGE DISCRIMINATION

Irish was given official status as a working 5 Liadh Ní Riada, Matt Carthy and Martina Anderson at the Nuremore Hotel in Carrickmacross language by the EU in 2007 but has remained for the GUE/NGL autumn conference marginalised since then because of a derogation which means that institutions are not in the first-ever Role Play Games as Gaeilge obliged to provide full translation services to celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge 2016; in Irish as they are in all of the EU’s 23 other » On 1 June, Liadh teamed up with the European official languages.

Language Equality Network (ELEN) to host a This is something Liadh has been active on language hearing on language discrimination since becoming an MEP. This year, two major in the EU, focusing on lesser-used languages, events, organised by Liadh were hosted in the including Irish, Catalan, Welsh, Basque, Breton European Parliament on this issue:and Occitan as well as Hungarian in both » A delegation of Gaelscoil students taking part Slovakia and Romania.

Lynn Boylan MEP WATER

The Right to Water European Citizens’ Initiative was the first successful example of this new mechanism, reaching almost double the minimum requirements with a staggering 1.8million signatures.

In spite of this unparalleled success, the official response of the European Commission was vague, disappointing and did not properly address the demands of the Right2Water campaign.

Lynn Boylan MEP brought a report in front of the European Parliament in September which (despite attempts by Fine Gael MEPs to block it) passed and the Right2Water movement finally got recognition from the EU institutions.

Lynn received confirmation that Ireland could still make use of the derogation, despite RTÉ being incorrectly and unofficially briefed from a Commission source.

LYDIA FOY

Dr Lydia Foy was nominated by the four Sinn

Féin MEPs for the European Citizen’s Prize and in October last year was rightfully recognised by the European Parliament in a prestigious ceremony in the European Parliament where Lynn Boylan MEP presented Dr Foy with her award.

the Dáil and the European Parliament, it became clear that there was a possibility that Ireland may have to reimburse the European Commission €31.4 million in ESF funding.

The inability to draw down this funding and put it to work will adversely affect young people in many areas, such as the work of youth clubs and community programmes to help young people to find jobs.

IBRAHIM HALAWA

In October last year, Lynn hosted a public hearing of the case of Ibrahim Halawa in the European Parliament in Brussels. This led to the passing of a motion, by an overwhelming majority of 566 votes, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Ibrahim Halawa in the European Parliament in December. This motion received cross-party support from all Irish MEPs.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Lynn, a member of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, has repeatedly called out the Irish Government for relying on JobBridge, and similar schemes as a cynical mechanism to reduce live register figures.

In doing so, it has failed to address the

underlying issues facing young people attempting to access the labour market. In May, through information released to Lynn and her colleagues in Sinn Féin, through Priority Questions to both

A member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, Lynn Boylan proposed the introduction of paid domestic violence leave in Europe through a report she authored, key aspects of which were incorporated by the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee report that was adopted with overwhelming support by MEPs during the June Strasbourg session.

Lynn has now called on Irish policy-makers to take this on board immediately and act to introduce this leave in Ireland.

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

Martina Anderson

Matt Carthy

Liadh Ní Riada

Lynn Boylan

25

www.guengl.eu

are MEPs and members of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament

Martina Anderson MEP Martina in Belfast, which was addressed by Claude Moraes MEP (Chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee).

The fall-out from the Brexit result led to a series of high-level meetings for Martina, including meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk – both of whom agreed that the vote of the people of the North must be respected.

PALESTINE

Martina led a successful vote to change the name of “the Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council” to “the Delegation for Relations for Palestine”.

The name-change gave the Committee, and Martina as Chair, a renewed impetus to move forward and advance a peaceful settlement and the evolution of a successful and viable Palestine in a two-state solution.

Martina led an EU cross-party delegation of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Palestine to the West Bank and Gaza from 8 to 12 February, during which time EU support to the rebuilding of Gaza, the illegal Israeli demolitions of EU-funded structures, and the overall cost-effectiveness of EU assistance to the Palestinians were discussed.

In June 2016, Martina met with Mahmoud Abbas, President of Palestine, during his visit to Brussels to address the plenary session.

REFUGEES

As a member of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, Martina travelled to Jordan to see first-hand the experiences of refugees fleeing conflict in Syria. Martina visited the 80,000 people crammed into Camp Zaatari and witnessed water scarcity, electricity cuts, and food shortages.

LEGAL HIGHS

Martina travelled to China to meet with the Narcotics Control Bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security on the increasing number of so-called ‘legal highs’ being manufactured in China and then distributed in Europe.

DISABILITES

5 The Irish human rights delegation outside the Council of Europe before meeting with Representatives of the Office of Human Rights Commissioner

COLLUSION/ HUMAN RIGHTS ACT

Martina has made it one of her priorities in Europe to raise the issue of collusion during the conflict in the North of Ireland and assist families in securing truth and justice.

Since last September she has launched her booklet entitled Britain’s Dirty War in Ireland, highlighting the impact of British Government collusion with unionist death squads in Derry, Belfast and Newry.

Along with our colleagues in the GUE/NGL parliamentary group, Sinn Féin commissioned a legal opinion on the impact of Westminster’s

proposed repeal of the 1998 Human Rights Act by the British Government would have on society. This was launched in Belfast, London and Brussels.

BREXIT

The MEP for the Six Counties was part of a delegation from the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) of the European Parliament to discuss Brexit with representatives from the British Government and the Opposition, including members of the Shadow Cabinet and representatives of the Scottish National Party.

A major Brexit conference was hosted by

As Vice-Chair of the Intergroup on Disability in the EU Parliament, Martina hosted a major European Parliamentary hearing on the rights of persons with disabilities and called on the need for an ‘Accessibility Act’.

The outcome of this hearing resulted in the submission of an opinion on the rights of people with disabilities to the Civil Liberties Committee.

Martina will host a key disabilities conference in Newry in the coming months.

TOBACCO

Martina was key to the decision in getting graphic images printed on cigarette packages to discourage people from smoking.

This year, her report relating to the EU signing of the World Heath’s Organisation Protocol on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products was passed in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Illicit trade in tobacco products is defined in the WHO Protocol as any practice or conduct related to producing, shipping, receiving, being in possession of, distributing, selling or buying tobacco products and that is prohibited by law.

Matt Carthy MEP TTIP – TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP

Matt Carthy was granted access to a ‘Classified Information Unit’ where some TTIP documents are kept under lock and key and he called on the EU Commission to make public all documents relating to the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States.

Matt also received commissioned formal legal opinion into the constitutionality of the European Investment Court proposed by the EU Commission.

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Matt engaged in a Monetary Dialogue with the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, around the body’s failure to co-operate with the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry in Ireland.

Unsurprisingly, the request to from Matt to 5 GUE/NGL MEPs show their opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership deal

Mr Draghi to apologise for the destructive and illegal actions of the ECB and for the contempt that the ECB has shown to the democratically-appointed banking inquiry and to the Irish people was unheeded.

Matt also co-hosted a conference in the European Parliament entitled “The ECB: Europe’s Unelected Government”.

Matt asked the ECB to investigate the extent of tax avoidance in the Irish state by vulture funds under the SSM banking supervision for Europe, and to investigate the relationship between the major vulture funds operating in the Irish state and the European banks under its supervision.

IRISH UNITY

On an invitation from Matt, London-based economist Michael Burke presented his recent paper "The Economic Case for Irish Unity" in the European Parliament in December.

26 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

www.anphoblacht.com

For over 60 years, researchers have argued that climate change will impact coastal, freshwater and marine ecosystems, soil systems and marginal systems on hills, mountain and valleys

ROBERT ALLEN ANATOL formed off the north-west during the early morning of 3 December 1999. It swept past the coasts of Donegal, Derry and Antrim, over Scotland and the North Sea, across Denmark and southern Sweden, at a speed of 185 km an hour. Three weeks later, Lothar and Martin formed one after the other in the north-east Atlantic and swept at high speed across France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, reaching 240 km an hour.

Lothar came so fast that it baffled Météo France. “We did not see it coming,” a French meteorologist said when he was questioned why there had been no warning. The large and sudden pressure drops in the weather systems were not picked up and the intensity of the gale-force winds were unprecedented.

Munich Re, the insurers, lamented the destruction, the €18.5 billion cost and the loss of 160 lives as a consequence of the three hurricanes.

Three centuries of history had been swept away at Versailles as comparisons with previous winter storms going back 1,000 years were madeand it was concluded that weather like this was not normal. “Lothar and Martin were excep-

Unpredictable weather has now been a constant for the past 20 years tionally violent storms,” reported researchers estimating the extensive damage to the forestry industry in France, Germany and Switzerland.

“A bizarre meteorological combination combined three factors which unleashed the 26-28 December storms: (1) a blast of strong polar air, (2) a jet stream oscillating between 350 and 400 kph compared to the normal 100 kph, and (3) a series of zones of extremely low pressure at low altitudes. Taken separately, none of these factors would have set off a storm of this magnitude but taken together they detonated an explosion which ripped through Europe.”

Storm surges had forced the Dutch to build sea defences to prevent more catastrophes like those in 1281 and 1421 that cost 180,000 lives.

Five centuries would pass before the Dutch would lament another great loss, in 1953 when 1,931 succumbed to a storm surge that breached their defences with a tower of water.

Whether there is weather The Germans, by comparison, have never come to terms with the waves that assault their North Sea coast during the months from November to February. From a loss of 20,000 at Butjadingen in 1164 to 1,200 in 1962, 241,000 people have succumbed in floods during the winter season.

Dams and dikes to thwart the winter tides and reclaimed land to raise animals and grow crops now characterise the North Sea coasts of Germany and the Netherlands.

But historians believe the relative calms before the storm surges have more to do with weather patterns, from eras when the estuaries have frozen over to eras when they have raged with rising tides.

What is now certain is that with each weather event (from the Europe-wide gales of 1976, 1987 and 1990 through to 1999) the intensity has increased, and the seasons have merged into each other. The September 1588 storm that destroyed the Spanish Armada and the tornadoes that hit Poland in July 1928 and Germany in July 1968 were rare events in European history, and

the indication, from the shift in the weather in the past five years, appears to suggest that is about to change.

India is experiencing its hottest summer ever recorded, with temperatures reaching 51°C. On 7 August, 21 people lost their lives during a flash flood in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, when 93 mm of torrential rain fell (more than the average for August). Closer to home, over the same period, gale-force winds reaching 95 km an hour assaulted the Scottish Highlands.

The worst Irish weather in July was in the west and north-west, with Malin Head receiving a third more rain than average followed by Ballyhaise, Belmullet and Markree, with a fifth more. Throughout Connacht and Ulster, dull skies and very few days of sunshine were a constant of the month. Hill and mountain areas were generally wet and windy during July and into the early part of August.

After five summers of inclement weather, those who depend on tourism for their living in the coastal regions were pessimistic at the

5 Winter storms batter Ireland's coasts in 2013 and 2014

start of the season. Donegal has suffered more than most.

“People come for the weekend,” says one hotelier. “And they watch the forecasts. If the morning is sunny and the forecast is promised warm they will take a risk and head for the beaches for a couple of days. But it is like a lottery, the weather.”

Met Éireann’s five-day forecasts have been mocked by the weather gods At the beginning of August the optimists – and these included the farmers – were predicting a warm middle and end to the month. The second weekend of August promised and delivered rain-free skies and temperatures in the 20s but the rain came back with a vengeance in the middle of the month.

And this is the problem that has faced Met Éireann. Their five-day forecasts have been mocked by the weather gods. Unpredictable weather has now been a constant for the past 20 years, since the exceptionally hot summer of 1995 to the exceptionally wet summer of 2015, to unusually warm Novembers and Aprils to unusually dry Februarys and Octobers.

“It is going to pick up in the next few days,” a Sperrins farmer says, laughing, looking up at the grey sky. He is optimistic because he has to be. His fields have not been cut for silage this summer. It has been too wet and with poor

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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5 Over the last two decades weather patterns have become more erratic and difficult to predict

drainage from the marginal soil the ground is not dry enough.

Elsewhere in the country the response – whether it is dry or wet, whether there is good growth – depends on the location. In the good lands of Donegal the potatoes are growing as usual but the farmers fear that once again they will be full of water when they are harvested.

In Cork, the organic farmers have benefitted from the hot days of May and this is reflected by the vegetable produce that has started to reach the markets.

In Louth, it is the same story.

“Growth has been good for grass,” says a grain farmer, “but what we have lacked this summer is the ever-important sunshine! Hopefully all will be okay when the combine goes in.”

None of this is new to those who have been researching these phenomena.

For over 60 years, researchers have argued that climate change will impact coastal, fresh-

5 Amazonian levels of growth in the Sperrins 5 Red roses and grey skies

drain and is being constantly eroded with hardly any attempts being made at reclamation and remediation. Flooding is now constant, causing further erosion and loss of fertility.

The deforestation during the years of foreign rule altered the ambient climate and now the lack of trees is a major issue, with precipitation out of balance. As a result, biodiversity does not exist in areas where there should be symbiosis.

June, July and August – the traditional summer months – were wet, wild and windy in coastal and

‘It is going to pick up in the next few days,’ a Sperrins farmer says, laughing, looking up at the grey sky water and marine ecosystems, soil systems and marginal systems on hills, mountain and valleys. Whether it is cold or it is hot, dry or wet, there will be an impact. But, most of all, coastal change and flooding will pose the greatest risk to people and the infrastructures they depend on for their livelihoods and living.

In July, the London-based Committee on Climate Change (“an independent, statutory body” established under Westminster’s Climate Change Act 2008 that offers “a balanced response to the risks of dangerous climate change” to governing bodies in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont) published its latest report with priorities for the next five years.

It notes that sea levels around Ireland and Britain have risen by 15-20 centimetres since 1990. And it adds:

5 A wet, wild and windy summer in the Sperrin Mountains in Ulster

“Whilst natural variability in the climate will continue to have a large influence on individual weather events, the recent episodes of severe and sustained rainfall are consistent with projections of climate change.”

If the report has a message, it is one for the bureaucrats and politicians, with an aside to corporate industry, small-scale industry and community groups – action must be taken immediately to mitigate: » Risks to agriculture and wildlife from water scarcity and flooding; » Risks of land management practices exacerbating flooding; » Risks to habitats in the coastal zone from sea level rise and loss of natural flood protection; » Risks to soils from increased seasonal aridity and wetness; » Risks to natural carbon stores and carbon sequestration; » Risks to infrastructure from river, surface and groundwater flooding; » Risks to infrastructure from coastal flooding and erosion; » Risks of sewer flooding due to heavy rainfall;

»

Risks to people, communities and buildings from flooding; » Risks to health and social care delivery from extreme weather; » And to alleviate “weather-related shocks to global food production and trade”.

The evidence from the past five years, never mind projections for the next five years, suggests that Europe, with Ireland on its periphery, is not equipped to reduce these risks.

Those who follow the activities of groups such as the Committee on Climate Change and the attempts of campaigners to force governments into action now believe that the threats of violence to society across Europe, combined with the threats from climate change issues, have resulted in a paralysis. And when the food shock does come, no one will know how to remedy the consequences.

Nowhere – from the bureaucrats in national and regional government, to the researchers in colleges across the country, to those in positions of power – is anyone attempting to put in place systems that will resolve these issues.

Soil is bad or poor in most of the country, which is why it is used for grazing and raising feedcrops. It is generally waterlogged, does not

Evidence suggests that Europe, with Ireland on its periphery, is not equipped to reduce these risks mountain regions. In the north-west and west it has been grey skies, rain and 14°C temperatures. In the east, south and south-east there was less rain and more sunshine, but not enough to increase protein levels in the Louth farmer’s grain.

But it might not matter.

The next perfect storm that forms over the north Atlantic could just as easily be whipped into a frenzy by the jet stream and head straight for Belfast or Dublin, wreaking havoc along the way – in the summertime!

28 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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As the cells filled in succeeding weeks and months, Kieran’s comrades followed his lead

BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA

Remembering the Past

BY the autumn of 1976, the armed conflict in the Six Counties had been ongoing for seven years. The widespread imprisonment, ill-treatment and, in some cases, torture of nationalists by the British state fuelled the conflict and, as so often in Irish history, the prisons became a frontline in the struggle.

From August 1971, internment was imposed. It ended in December 1975 and during that period 1,981 people were locked up without any charge or trial; of that number, only 107 were unionists/loyalists.

But the end of internment merely signalled a new phase of British repression.

The British Government decided to end Special Category Status, which was effectively the recognition of republicans convicted in the courts as political prisoners – in other words, prisoners of war. This status had been achieved in May 1972 after a 35-day hunger strike

by IRA prisoners in Crumlin Road Gaol.

The British Labour Government announced that those convicted after 1 March 1976 would be denied Special Category Status.

They would no longer be held in the Cages of Long Kesh, where convicted and sentenced republicans had been locked in compounds adjacent to those interned without trial.

Instead, the sentenced republicans would be moved to the newly-built H-Blocks of Long Kesh, the ‘Cellular Maze’ in official jargon. This was supposed to be a conventional criminal jail – “the most modern prison in Europe” as British Government spokespersons called it.

The purpose of the H-Blocks was to implement the policy of criminalisation which attempted to treat republican political prisoners as common criminals and, more importantly, to have the wider world see them as criminals.

Internment and the ill-treatment of prisoners had done serious damage to Britain’s international reputation and a major propaganda counter-offensive, as part of a wider counter-insurgency strategy, was required.

The British Government had been shaken by the heavy casualties suffered by the regular British Army at the hands of the IRA, with the knock-on effect of a growing sentiment in Britain itself towards withdrawal of troops from Ireland. A policy of “Ulsterisation” was introduced whereby the British crown forces recruited locally in the Six Counties – the paramilitary Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) armed police force and the Ulster Defence Regiment of the British Army, the largest infantry regiment – would be pushed to the frontline.

The RUC played a key role in arresting,

The

t s e t o r P t e k n a l B begins

5 Hugh Rooney and Kevin Toal join the Blanket Protest in Long Kesh

5 Blanket Protest tribute at the 2016 interrogating and torturing suspects Hunger Strike commemoration to secure convictions in the special juryless ‘Diplock’ courts. This process on 14 September 1976. Without any soon became what republicans called prior instruction or organisation, but a “conveyor belt”, with the ultimate acting on his own defiant instincts and destination being a cell in the H-Blocks following the republican tradition of of Long Kesh. resistance to criminalisation, he refused It was the autumn of 1976 before the to wear the prison uniform. (Convicted conveyor belt sent its first victim to a republicans prior to 1 March could wear H-Block cell. their own clothes.)

His defiance was summed up in the words attributed to him when presented with the uniform: “They’ll have to nail it on my back.”

He was thrown naked into his H-Block cell and a prison blanket was thrown in after him. He wrapped himself in the blanket and so began the Blanket Protest.

As the cells filled in succeeding weeks and months, Kieran’s comrades followed his lead. No one at the time could foretell that the protest would involve hundreds of prisoners over the next five years, culminating in the death of ten republicans in the Hunger Strike of 1981, after which the prisoners’ demands were ultimately achieved.

Speaking at Kieran Nugent’s funeral in 2000, Sinn Féin Councillor Tom Hartley said: “Isn’t it wonderfully ironic then that the one major flaw in British strategic planning was their inability to read the minds of republican remand prisoners?

“In the cells of the Crumlin Road Gaol KIERAN and Armagh Women’s Prison, young NUGENT republicans had decided to resist any September 1976 attempt to treat them as criminals.

“In the simplicity of his defiance, alone 3 Kieran Nugent at a Smash H-Blocks and in the vulnerability of his nakedness, rally after his release, with Tom Hartley Kieran refused to be broken. If ever we need an example of the power of the Kieran Nugent, from west Belfast, was human spirit, we should reflect on that only 18 years old but his life had been moment when the dignity of this young a microcosm of the nationalist experi- man broke the power and inhumanity ence since the conflict began. At 15 he of the British state. had been wounded by loyalist gunmen “At that very moment with their first in an attack in which he saw a friend H-Block prisoner, when they thought killed. He joined the IRA, was jailed in themselves all-powerful, the British Crumlin Road and later interned in Long Government in Ireland had already Kesh until November 1975. Arrested lost their attempt to criminalise the again in May 1976, he was the first to republican people and their struggle.” be convicted after the 1 March deadline Kieran Nugent, the first Blanket Man, ending Special Category Status. began the Blanket Protest in SeptemKieran was brought to the H-Blocks ber 1976.

‘They’ll have to nail it on my back’

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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I nDíl Chuimhne 1 September 1973: Volunteer Anne Marie PETTICREW, Cumann na mBan, Belfast.

4 September 1970: Volunteer Michael KANE, Belfast Brigade, 3rd Battalion.

9 September 1973: Volunteer Francis DODDS, Long Kesh.

9 September 1985: Volunteer Raymond McLAUGHLIN, Donegal Brigade.

12 September 1989: Volunteer Seamus TWOMEY, GHQ Staff.

14 September 1986: Volunteer Jim McKERNAN, Belfast Brigade, 1st Battalion.

16 September 1991: Bernard O’HAGAN, Sinn Féin.

17 September 1972: Volunteer Michael QUIGLEY, Derry Brigade.

20 September 1972: Fian Joseph McCOMISKEY, Fianna Éireann.

All notices and obituaries should be sent to notices@anphoblacht.com by Friday 16 Sept 2016

Life springs from death and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations PÁDRAIG PEARSE 22 September 1973: Volunteer James BRYSON, Belfast Brigade, 2nd Battalion.

23 September 1996: Volunteer Diarmuid O’NEILL, England.

29 September 1972: Volunteer Jimmy QUIGLEY, Belfast Brigade, 2nd Battalion.

Always remembered by the Republican Movement.

McGLADE, Charlie. In memory of Vol Charlie McGlade, who passed away on 17 September 1982 after a lifetime of commitment and dedication to cause of Irish freedom. Always remembered by

the Vol Charlie McGlade Sinn Féin Cumann, Drimnagh, Dublin.

MORROW, Anthony. In proud and loving memory of our friend and comrade Anthony ‘Dodger’ Morrow, whose anniversary occurs at this time. Always remembered by the Halpenny, Worthington, Watters Sinn Féin Cumann, Dundalk.

O’HAGAN, Bernard. In proud and loving memory of our friend and comrade Councillor Bernard O’Hagan, murdered by proBritish forces on 16 September 1991. A true republican always remembered by the McCusker, McMullan, O’Hagan Sinn Féin

Cumann, Swatragh.

O’NEILL, Diarmuid. Murdered by the London Metropolitan Police on 23 September 1996. Always remembered by friends and comrades in the West London Republican Support Group, Hammersmith.

O’NEILL, Diarmuid. In proud memory of Diarmuid O’Neill, murdered by British police on 23 September 1996 in Hammersmith, London. “We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.” Always remembered by Paul Philippou.

TREANOR, Tommy (London and Fintona, County Tyrone). Always remembered by friends and comrades in the West London Republican Support Group, Hammersmith.

29

Comhbhrón CORRIGAN. The Halpenny, Worthington, Watters Sinn Féin Cumann, Dundalk, deeply regrets the death of our friend and comrade Stan. Condolences to his wife Kate and all the family.

» Notices All notices should be sent to: notices@anphoblacht. com at least 14 days in advance of publication date. There is no charge for I nDíl Chuimhne, Comhbhrón etc. » Imeachtaí There is a charge of €10 for inserts printed in our Imeachtaí/Events column. You can also get a small or large box advert.

Contact: sales@anphoblacht.com for details.

FÓGRAÍ BHÁIS

Mickey Brady Belfast 10 JULY 1981: Joe McDonnell’s coffin was carried from his house.

The funeral procession made its way along the Shaws Road, coming to a halt just past The Busy Bee Shopping Centre close to the spot where the salute had been fired for Bobby Sands. Lenadoon had been the preferred place for Joe’s salute but the Brits had swamped the area, making it not viable.

The firing party lined up along the side of Joe’s coffin and raised rifles to their shoulders. Three puffs of gunsmoke came from each barrel.

Above them, in a helicopter, RUC man Gillan Brown was watching with a pair of high-powered binoculars, tracking the firing party along the side of a house on the Andersonstown Road, across the back gardens to another house into St Agnes’s Drive.

Realising the firing party was in danger, it was decided to move in behind them to help break down the weapons and get the firing party to safety.

Mickey didn’t hesitate. His adrenaline took over as he made his way through the back gardens, he was familiar with the Garand rifles, he was up for the task. The measure of the man was that he was prepared to risk his own life or capture – getting the firing party to safety was his aim.

Meanwhile, the message was sent

from the Brit helicopter to a Brit Army unit a few streets away to hit the St Agnes’s Drive house. (I reckon it was the baldy spot on Mickey’s head that the chopper picked up!)

At the house, Mickey started to break down the weapons. The firing party were getting out of their uniforms as quickly as possible. Just then, the Brits roared down St Agnes’s Drive in their jeeps. On hearing the Brits coming, weapons were put together again. Then Mickey shouted: “The back’s clear!”

At that, we moved towards the back kitchen. Mickey had climbed on top

of the sink unit and out the window. I followed Mickey through the window, turned back and took the rifle off the sink unit.

As I turned around, there was Mickey, 15 feet from me, with a Brit holding an SLR rifle to his head.

I swung round to the right, rifle in hand, and a Royal Marines Commando shot me four times, blowing me back in through the window, over the sink unit and into the kitchen. Some of the firing party escaped; others were captured and beaten.

I arrived in Crumlin Road Gaol some five weeks later from Musgrave Park Military Hospital. The first POW I met was Mickey. “You’re some scout,” says I. “You said the back was clear.”

Mickey’s dry response was: “Why did you listen to me then? You never listened to me before.”

The reply summed up Mickey – an absolute character, full of quick humour.

You never knew what would come out of his mouth.

He came to be quite proud of getting me shot and I am proud to have had him as a friend and comrade.

Mickey left this world on 10 July 2016, exactly 35 years after the attack on Joe McDonnell’s funeral. You’ll never see the likes of him again.

Slán, Mickey Your friend and comrade, Paddy A.

Hugh James Curry Teemore, Fermanagh THE news of the death of Hugh James Curry, at the age of 66, was received with great sadness in the Fermanagh/ Cavan Border area as well as further afield.

Due to a scarcity of employment opportunities in the region, Hugh James went to England in the early 1970s, where he remained for 15 years before returning home in the 1980s. He took up employment as a lorry driver for Mitten’s before moving on to the Quinn Group, where he worked up until his retirement.

Hugh James’s home was always open to republicans and the esteem in which he was held was demonstrated

in St Mary’s Church, Teemore, where a huge crowd was in attendance for his funeral. Guards of honour were formed by his former work colleagues and Teemore Shamrocks GFC, of which he was a former player and lifelong fan.

The McManus, Murphy, Coen Sinn Féin Cumann draped Hugh’s coffin with the national flag and the procession to his final resting place was led

by Piper Gerry Mac of the Mountain Road Pipe Band.

Heartfelt sympathy and solidarity is extended to Hugh James’s family from the McManus, Murphy, Coen Sinn Féin Cumann as well as from all of his friends in the republican family.

Joe ‘Madge’ Ó Gallachóir Derrybeg, Donegal JOE, who was born in 1924, passed away earlier this year and was buried in Machaire Gathlán Cemetery, overlooked by friends and comrades alike, where a Tricolour draped his coffin and a piper played a lament.

One of the last acts he carried out was to visit the polling booth at the ripe old age of 91 to cast his Number 1 vote for his near neighbour, Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty.

John could trace his republican heritage back to the days of the Land League. One of his ancestors was arrested during the evictions in Gaoth Dobhair in the 1880s. His grand-aunt, Bridget (Biddy) Coll, was accused of striking the blow that killed RIC Inspector William Limbrick Martin as he rushed towards An Tathair Séamus Mac Pháidín, advocate of Conradh na Talún (Land League), with a drawn sword outside Teach Phobail Mhuire in Derrybeg on Sunday 3 February 1889.

Inspector Martin was leading a force of RIC men carrying out evictions.

As a consequence of that action, she spent a considerable time in the harsh confines of Derry Gaol before her eventual release.

Joe’s father had spent time in jail with the Drumboe Martyrs in 1923 and he also escaped from Portlaoise prison along with Neill Plunkett Ó Baoill, one of the Rosses Martyrs.

When Catholic homes were being systemically burned in the sectarian pogroms from 1969 onwards, as happened in Belfast’s Bombay Street,

Joe Madge Ó Gallachóir did not hesitate in throwing open his doors and he housed as many refugees as he could and formed solid friendships with families that persisted until the day he passed away.

There are countless stories to be told of his inspirational and facilitating efforts at helping the republican cause down the years, where he provided a safe house and anything that was required by the dozens of Óglaigh na hÉireann Volunteers who took refuge under his roof from the early 1970s until the Peace Process.

One of the “On the Runs” I am at liberty to name that stayed on many occasions in the safety of Joe’s house was Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn’s father, Raymond, a lifelong IRA Volunteer.

As he gave the graveside oration, Pádraig informed the mourners that he had only been told that morning about the important link between his father and Joe Madge and he was humbled and offered his sincere thanks to Joe for his bravery in doing so.

Joe never missed taking part in the yearly Easter Sunday commemoration for the Drumboe Martyrs, due in part to the fact that his father had struggled alongside Charlie Daly, Timothy O’Sullivan, Dan Enright and Seán Larkin in the Tan War and spent time in jail with them before they were executed by Free State soldiers in the woods of Drumboe. ­ James Woods –

30 September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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The Olympic spirit

OVER THE COURSE of Rio 2016 there has been great talk of the “Olympic Spirit” and of sportsmanship.

A good sportsperson is defined as someone who shows “courtesy towards another in a sports game, who employs fairness, ethics, respect”.

This was exemplified perfectly by New Zealand 5,000-metre runner Nikki Hamblin who, during her heat, accidentally tripped up Abbey D’Agostino of the United States.

Instead of continuing with her race, Hamblin turned to help out the stricken American – a true demonstration of sportsmanship.

Over the course of the Olympics there have been many examples of good sportsmanship. But there have also been several examples of bad sportsmanship The USA women’s soccer team is one of the most successful sports teams of all time.

The reigning Olympic champions came to Rio in the hope of defending their crown and becoming the first team to claim back-to-back World Cup and Olympic titles.

This dream died in the quarter-finals when they were defeated by Sweden on penalties, making it the earliest exit for the USA in a major tournament, a

IN PICTURES

record spanning seven World Cups and six Olympics.

After the game, Hope Solo, the USA’s goalie, called the Swedes “cowards”.

Hope Solo is arguably the best goalie in the women’s game: a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a World Cup gold medalist with over 200 appearances, earlier this season she recorded her 100th clean sheet.

She told reporters after the loss: “We played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly believe that.”

Solo’s teammate, Alex Morgan (who scored the equaliser to take the game to extra time before missing a penalty in the shoot-out) had a different perspective to Solo.

“Sportsmanship is definitely an important thing in all sports,” she said.

“In soccer, we all respect each other on such a high level, between Sweden and Brazil and Japan or whatever team it is.

“As much as we were deserving of the win, Sweden played a game that tactically was how they felt they could beat us.

A good sportsperson is defined as someone ‘who employs fairness, ethics and respect’ It is worth noting that as Lisa Dahlqvist stepped up to take the last penalty, in an attempt to put the Swedish player off, Solo decided to change her gloves.

Mind games, perhaps, but also a clear example of bad sportsmanship.

This and her words after the game meant that the backlash was swift, with commentators and past players calling Solo an embarrassment to both her country and her national team.

“Having respect at the highest level is important and that’s why it was important for me immediately after the game — as heartbroken as I was — to shake the referee’s hand, to shake all of the Swedish players’ hands, and to give credit where it’s deserved.”

Walsh Jennings also displayed grace in defeat. Over the past 12 years, she has become one of the most successful

NIAMH ARCHIBALD Olympians of all-time.

After 26 straight victories and three straight gold medals in Olympic beach volleyball, the American lost out to Brazil’s Agatha and Barbara in the semi-finals, ending the Rio Games with a bronze.

When asked how it felt after the defeat, she replied: “It’s a terrible feeling.”

She tried to explain why it was so hard to take: “We can squash that team. We have in the past. I say that with so much respect for them. They’re very, very good. Tonight, they rose to the occasion. I certainly did not. There’s no excuse for it. Just terrible execution. They outplayed us pretty much in every way. Not out-hustled us, not out-hearted us, not out-teamworked us. Just outplayed us.”

Belfast boxer Michael Conlan created global headlines by branding Olympic boxing governing body AIBA “cheats” in the wake of his defeat to Russian Vladimir Nikitin.

“They're known for being cheats,” a

very angry Conlan raged directly after his fight. “Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.”

In his mind, and according to many commentators and observers, he should have won the fight. Computer stats after the fight also showed he should have been awarded the win.

The judges decided otherwise, denying him a shot at fighting for an Olympic gold.

Such was the clear injustice of the decision, Conlan has received widespread support with many within the boxing community, calling his remarks a challenge to the AIBA and the Olympic Committee to do something to stamp out corruption.

While many will look at the medal count and stats to measure the success of countries and athletes at the Olympics, we must also look at how they carry themselves in victory – and how they carry themselves in defeat.

It is these gestures of sportsmanship that stick in the mind and may bring the “Olympic spirit” to everyday sport.

photos@anphoblacht.com

5 Palestine's national team received a huge welcome at the Rio opening ceremony

5 Sinn Féin's Megan Fearon MLA at Windsor Park for the launch of UEFA Women's U19 Tournament to be hosted here next year

September / Meán Fómhair 2016

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31

Tel Aviv foul play fails to stop ‘Gaza Kids to Ireland’

Israel shoots, Palestinian kids score

BY JOHN HEDGES THE ‘Gaza Kids to Ireland’ soccer team returned home in triumph in August after overcoming an Israeli opposition that had tried to thwart the dream of young teens getting a sporting summer break from the besieged Palestinian territory.

Fourteen children aged 10 to 14 and two adults made it to Ireland from the Al Helal football academy in northern Gaza. Al Helal’s clubhouse and facilities were damaged by Israeli bombing in 2012 and again in 2014.

The team flew home on Monday 8 August after 10 days in Ireland, winning many friends (including President Michael D. Higgins) and football matches around the country. And they made the RTÉ TV News as well as scoring notable results in a lot of other newsrooms.

But the ‘Gaza Kids to Ireland’ visit almost didn’t come off because Israel delayed issuing travel permits – and didn’t issue them for six of the intended travelling party, including one unfortu-

Israel stopped five of the seven adults due to travel, including a journalist and the only woman, a specialist in children’s mental health nate child, hosts Gaza Action Ireland (formerly the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign) reported.

Israel had refused travel permits to children and coaches and delayed travel arrangements, forcing a postponement of already-arranged dates.

“Having just two adults with 14 children who had never before left Gaza, and who spoke very little English, made things very tough,” organisers said.

“If Israeli authorities intended to cause maximum disruption to the project by this decision, they very nearly succeeded.”

The result at the end of the day, however, was a real success, full of fun and football, Gaza Action Ireland said.

Initially, a group of 22 was due to arrive in Ireland for a 12-day visit on 13 July, flying from Amman, Jordan, via Istanbul, but their permits to leave the besieged Gaza Strip were held up

by Israel, necessitating the postponement of the programme.

When the permits were finally granted in late July, everything had to be rescheduled for a shorter visit (29 July to 8 August).

Worse than the delays was the cruel refusal by Israeli authorities to issue permits to the entire group.

One child from the group of 15 players, 13-year-old Karam Zidan, who was wounded in the 2009 attack on Gaza, was prevented from travelling to Ireland. Also banned were five of the seven adults due to travel: two coaches, a journalist, an administrator and the only woman, a specialist in children’s mental health.

5 Kinvara (Photo: Sandrine Josso); life's a beach on Dublin’s Sandymount Strand; lining up behind the flag in Limerick and all fun and handshakes in Nenagh

“It seems likely the apartheid state didn’t want people in Ireland to hear about his injuries,” Gaza Action Ireland said of Karam.

Left behind, however, he was an even more vivid reminder of what was done to him, and what is done to thousands of other Palestinian children by Israel.

“We are all Karam,” was a constant refrain in Ireland.

Disappointed but undefeated, the backroom team pressed ahead.

The kids from Al Helal football academy played games against Ballybrack FC, Kinvara United, Nenagh AFC, Nenagh Celtic and Pike Rovers (and beat them all!).

They were also guests of Galway United for their league win over Dundalk. That night, the boys were the guard of honour, played on the pitch at half-time, and met President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. Result!

The Palestinian community in Ireland and the

Palestinian diplomatic mission here, including Ambassador Ahmad Abdelrazek, were enthusiastic supporters throughout the visit.

Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI) and Shamrock Rovers FC also helped create a great evening of beach football on Dublin’s Sandymount Strand.

Existing organisations such as Nenagh Friends of Palestine, who hosted the children for half their visit, and the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign

‘We thank everyone who played, donated, fundraised, fed, and lavished the children with gifts, hospitality and love’ in Limerick and elsewhere, were vital to the project.

More ad-hoc groups in Ballybrack, Kinvara, Wexford and Sandymount worked quickly and tirelessly to organise events.

“There weren’t enough mealtimes to visit all

the restaurants that offered to feed the children,” one of the organisers laughed.

Gaza Action Ireland said it hopes to continue working with Al Helal and with football in Gaza, including supporting the development of the game for girls in the territory.

“We hope more visits, in both directions, will become possible.

“It’s been absolutely brilliant.

“We couldn’t possibly name them all but we thank everyone who played, donated, fundraised, fed, and lavished the children with gifts, hospitality and love.”

Bidding farewell to the group, Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor Chris Andrews (who is barred from Israel after being arrested by Israeli commandos on an Irish Ship to Gaza mercy mission in 2011) said: “Really gutted these amazing kids from Gaza are going home today. It’s not a great feeling sending them back to a life under occupation and uncertainty, not knowing if Israel will bomb them in their homes or when they are out playing football.”

5 (Clockwise) Al Helal boys team with President Michael D Higgins at Galway United's Eamonn Deacy Park; in Dublin's Mansion House; arm-wrestling with Trevor Hogan, pro-Palestinian activist and former Irish rugby player

NEXT ISSUE OUT Thursday 29 September 2016

anphoblacht

32

IN PICTURES

Sraith Nua Iml 39 Uimhir 9 – September / Meán Fómhair 2016

photos@anphoblacht.com

5 Sinn Féin MP Francie Molloy addresses the 5 Roger Casement is commemorated outside Pentonville Prison in International Conference in Support of the People of England as part of the Easter 1916 Centenary commemorations the Yemen in London

5 Remembering Hunger Striker Óglach Michael Devine and showing solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers at white-line picket in Belfast

5 H-Blocks Hunger Striker Óglach Thomas McElwee is remembered in his home town of Bellaghy, County Derry

5 H-Block and Armagh ex-POWs lead the 35th anniversary commemoration in Belfast of the1981 H-Blocks Hunger Strike

5 Sinn Féin mobilises in solidarity with Palestinian Hunger Striker Bilal Kayed in Belfast and Derry