Peadar Whelan 34

© Gérard Harlay

• Internees were transfered to the imfamous Long Kesh site outside Lisburn; Liz McKee was the first republican woman to be interned; Republican prisoners were beaten and CR Gas – a chemical weapon – was used against them, after the burning of the prison in 1974 (below)

they were moved to after the British succumbed to a Hunger Strike by IRA prisoners and granted them ‘Special Category Status’.

The notoriety of the prison soon made it a watchword for abuse. When, in October 1974, the IRA prisoners fed up with their illtreatment by British soldiers and loyalist prison warders torched the prison, it was clear that the war on republican prisoners had reached a new level.

The deployment of SAS special forces units and the use of the CR Gas, classed as a chemical weapon, is one of the hidden stories of the conflict and the history of the prison camp.

Volunteers Francis Dodds, Teddy Campbell, Patrick Teer, Hugh Coney, Jim Moyne, Henry Heaney, Sean Bateson, and Pól Kinsella all died in Long Kesh. While their death certificates might put the deaths of the others down to natural causes, there was deliberate medical neglect in most cases that contributed to their deaths.

Volunteer Hugh Coney was shot dead by a British soldier in 1974 as he tried to escape from the camp in the aftermath of ‘The Burning’.

Liz McKee was the first republican woman to be interned, arrested on New Year’s Day 1973. She would be ultimately joined by 30 other women who were held in Armagh jail. Among those incarcerated with her was her close friend Tish Holland who was just 17 when arrested.

Only 107 loyalists were interned. The first only in February 1973, despite the fact that the UVF and UDA were responsible for some of the most notorious incidents of the conflict, including the McGurk’s Bar bombing in 1971 and the Dublin/Monaghan bombings in 1974. It was an indication of the laissez-faire attitude the British had to loyalist violence.

When internment was phased out in 1974, the last internees were released in December. It was a time of hope as the IRA had met Protestant clergy in Feakle, County Clare and a ceasefire was implemented.

Sinn Féin would be legalised as a sign of ‘British goodwill’. However as with Troy, the British wooden Horse was full of dirty tricks and the dark days of H Blocks, Blanket and No Wash Protest, and the killing of Ten Hunger Strikers by the Thatcher regime lay ahead of us. ■