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IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWS
http://republican-news.org
Friday-Thursday, 22-28 June, 2012
1. AN ENDING OR A BEGINNING?
2. Breakthrough for family of Manus Deery
3. Anti-royal protestor recounts murder bid
4. Marian Price move linked to UN visit
5. New evidence in rubber bullet death
6. Feature: Interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
7. Analysis: A cordial union
8. Analysis: Bridging the gulf between compromise and abandonment
------------------------------
>>>>>> AN ENDING OR A BEGINNING?
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness put clear blue water between himself and
mainstream Irish republicanism when he shook the hand of English queen
Elizabeth Windsor on Wednesday in a historic but hugely divisive act of
political theatre.
Always a controversial figure, the Deputy First Minister's latest move
has confused his supporters and enraged his critics. It has touched a
nerve in a manner unlike Sinn Fein's many other 'unionist outreach'
initiatives.
Greeting the British commander-in-chief while the north of Ireland
remains under British rule may have been intended as a headline
grabbing peace move, but the wave of nationalist condemnation in its
wake has confirmed Sinn Fein fears that it was too much, too soon.
Grassroots party activists have been left struggling to justify
McGuinness's actions while bemoaning the expected loss of support and
(potentially) thousands of voters.
Although welcomed by many unionists (but openly mocked by some), the
symbolic handshake infuriated ordinary republicans and has undoubtedly
boosted support for so-called 'dissident' groups.
It was clear from well before the actual event that Sinn Fein had not
accurately gauged public sentiment.
But the surprise announcement that a jubilee 'party' involving 25,000
flag-waving unionists was to be held at Stormont to mark Windsor's
visit threw party officials into a full-scale damage-limitation
exercise.
Even senior Sinn Fein figures such as Caral Ni Chuilin baulked at the
plans, which had to be continually revised thereafter. The biggest
change was the sudden invention of an early morning 'culture' event,
organised by a former member of the PSNI.
The difficult question of how much kowtowing McGuinness would be seen
to perform was averted when it was agreed the key initial meeting was
held behind closed doors. Photographs of the second, less formal
handshake would be issued to capture the event. McGuinness did not bow
his head, and spoke to Windsor in Irish.
But his use was of an Irish language blessing - 'Slan agus beannacht'
[Farewell and bless you] to Windsor also served to remind nationalists
of the continuing refusal of the British to pass an Irish Language Act
to protect the language in the north of Ireland.
LONDON NOT CALLING
An address the following evening at Portcullis House, part of the
houses of parliament in London, was intended to bolster McGuinness's
nationalist credentials. But few were listening, least of all the
British government.
In the speech, he accused the British Prime minister of "a lack of
engagement" in northern Ireland politics.
"This lack of engagement by David Cameron is a serious mistake and may
provide a rationale for some of the damaging decisions made by Owen
Paterson during his tenure at the Northern Ireland Office," he said.
He chose to soften the language of a prepared script that accused the
British government of having made "a series of stupid and unhelpful
decisions" on Northern Ireland in recent times. Instead, he said they
had made "wrong and unhelpful decisions".
The list of British mistakes, Mr McGuinness said, included the
internments of Marian Price and Martin Corey; the refusal to hold a
full public inquiry into the Ballymurphy massacre of 1971, along with
the decision not to honour the previous pledge to properly investigate
the murder of defence lawyer Pat Finucane, added "to the sense of
hurt".
But he insisted his meeting with Windsor was an important step forward.
"It was a meeting which, although short in length, can I believe, have
much longer effects on defining a new relationship between Britain and
Ireland and between the Irish people themselves," Mr McGuinness told
the invited audience.
Last night a spokesman for the Conservative Party again,
diplomatically, dismissed McGuinness as irrelevant, and made clear that
David Cameron had bigger fish to fry.
He said "thanks to the efforts of a large number of people - including
Sinn Fein - Northern Ireland enjoys political stability, and we are
able to move beyond the politics of the peace process.
"It is impossible to think of any political crisis in Northern Ireland
today that requires the attention of the PM over and above dealing with
the worst global economic crisis in 80 years and the crisis in the euro
zone - something which would of course benefit every single person in
Northern Ireland," the spokesman declared.
The evident lack of any reciprocal gesture from the British government
for the historic peace move will make it more difficult for Sinn Fein
to convince sceptical nationalists and republicans.
Many victims of British violence in the North are instead lining up to
denounce McGuinness.
Linda Nash, whose brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday,
described the former IRA commander as a "traitor" -- echoing a
notorious insult he once hurled at his republican rivals. It is a word
that could now come back to haunt him.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Breakthrough for family of Manus Deery
The family of Manus Deery has won a fresh hearing into the
fifteen-year-old's murder in the nationalist Bogside area of Derry in
May 1972.
The 15-year-old was shot by a British soldier firing from Derry'swalls
while he was standing close to a chip shop with friends.
Nobody was ever prosecuted over his death. The shot was fired by a
member of C company, 1st battalion, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The
British Army claimed the soldier opened fire after a gunman was seen.
Eyewitnesses at the time said no gunmen were present.
The first inquest returned an open verdict and his family have fought
for answers for 40 years.
A report by the police Historical Enquiries Team (HET), released in
February was angrily dismissed by his family as a "whitewash" when it
backed claims that the soldier responsible was shooting ata gunman.
The request for a new inquest was made under the Coroners' Act. The
previous inquest returned an open verdict. The family hope this one
will conclude that Manus was unlawfully killed.
Manus's sister, Helen Deery, welcomed the news that their efforts had
finally brought movement.
"We are absolutely delighted. For 40 years we've fought for justice and
now we finally seem to be getting somewhere.
"Manus was an innocent child whose young life was brutally taken from
him. He did nothing wrong. He wasn't -- as the British Army initially
claimed -- a gunman. He wasn't rioting. He was eating a bag of chips
and chatting to friends when a soldier opened fire on him.
"My mother's and father's lives were destroyed after Manus's death.
They went to early graves. But we pledged to continue our campaign
until the truth is told about our brother and the British Army comes
clean."
Manus had just started work in a factory when he was shot dead on May
19, 1972. He received his first pay packet that evening.
"Manus had his own money in his pocket for the first time. Life seemed
full of promise," Ms Deery said.
He was standing with friends at Meenan Square in the Bogside when a
soldier, anonymously labelled 'A', opened fire from Derry's Walls,
fatally shooting him in the head. Soldier B, who was with him, didn't
fire but said he'd also seen a gunman.
Neither soldier had to appear at the original 1973 inquest. Their
depositions -- later given to the family -- were illegible.
No civilian witnesses were interviewed by the RUC. Nor did the RUC
interview the soldiers.
Ms Deery said: "We fought for years to see the RUC investigation file.
When we got it, we couldn't believe it. It contained a statement from
our mother 'Margaret'.
"Our mother's name was Mary and the RUC had never taken a statement
from her.
"It also contained a statement from Manus's 'cousin James'. We have no
cousin James."
Ms Deery said that, unlike the first inquest, her family would be
legally represented at this one and the soldiers could be called to
give evidence and cross-examined.
"This new inquest will give all of those involved, witnesses and
soldiers, the chance to tell the truth. After 40 years it is the least
my young brother deserves," she said.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Anti-royal protestor recounts murder bid
A west Belfast man badlybeaten by a gang of loyalists on Black Mountain
earlier this week says he is lucky to be alive.
James McCoubrey was one of five men who were protecting a 120ft by 60ft
tricolour erected on the mountainside to coincide with Elizabeth
Windsor's arrival in the north on Tuesday. The massive flag was visible
from most of Belfast.
A message in large writing above it read "Eriu is our queen". Eriu was
the goddess queen of Ireland in Celtic mythology.
Mr McCoubrey said the 100-strong gang shouted "kill the Fenian b*****d"
as he ran for his life. He was taking a nap in a nearby tent when the
gang struck at around 5pm on Tuesday. He said he thought he was going
to die. His friends who were standing outside the tent managed to run
to safety.
The former republican prisoner suffered three fractured ribs, a broken
nose and extensive bruising over his body during the incident.
"I am lucky to be alive," he said. "I was in the tent and I heard
cheering and thought it was my mates carrying out a prank.
"Then a man shouted 'we've got a Fenian b**** *d here, we have one'.
"Then a man hit me with a hatchet or a hammer. I fell back into the
tent.
I then climbed under the side of the tent to get out and they started
to beat me and were shouting things like 'don't let him get away' and
some were shouting 'kill him'.
"If you have ever seen the film Zulu, that's what it was like as I was
surrounded. All I could hear was 'kill the Fenian b'*****d, kill him
here' and 'throw him off the mountain'.
Mr McCoubrey said after being beaten to the ground, he managed to roll
down the mountainside to safety.
"It was the rolling that saved my life," he said. "I rolled down the
hillside and it was too steep for them to follow me."
Mr McCoubrey was later treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital for his
injuries.
He said the protest was organised by people living in the Springhill
area of Ballymurphy.
"It was a peaceful protest organised by republican ex-prisoners and
people living in the area," he said.
"There were no political groups involved. I don't agree with the
queen's visit and that is what it was about.
"There was no intention to offend and there was nothing provocative."
West Belfast Sinn Fein assembly member Pat Sheehan condemned the attack.
"I am horrified and disgusted by this unprovoked attack that could have
ended a lot worse than it did. It was a peaceful, dignified protest
unconnected to dissident organisations and should have been allowed to
continue," he said.
Protesters bravely returned to their camp on Black Mountain on
Wednesday despite the vicious loyalist attack.
The protesters had vowed to remain at the west Belfast site until the
queen left the North. Their numbers had swelled to around 50 people who
vowed the flag, 120ft by 60ft, would remain on the hillside until the
end of the historic royal visit.
Among the protesters were Eirigi member Padraig Mac Coitir and veteran
republican Tony Catney. Several representatives of the Ballymurphy
Massacre families also joined the protest.
Mr Catney said the protest had been a "peaceful and highly effective"
way of highlighting opposition to the two-day visit by the British
monarch.
Crowds of republicans also gathered in separate protests at City Hall
and on the Falls Road during the royal visit.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Marian Price move linked to UN visit
Jailed political dissident Marian Price was moved to an outside
hospital last weekend without her consent, her family have said.
Doctors from the United Nations were due to visit the interned west
Belfast woman in Hydebank Wood prison on Monday.
However, last Friday warders moved the former hunger-striker to a
Belfast psychiatric care unit for treatment ahead of the visit.
Prison authorities said they had done so on medical advice from
psychiatrists.
Earlier this year, Ms Price was moved from an isolation cell at
all-male Maghaberry Prison to Hydebank, also on medical advice.
Her husband Jerry McGlinchey said that a prison doctor had already
given evidence that "going to a secure hospital unit would compound
Marian's acute illnesses and would mitigate against any beneficial
treatment."
Supporters and prominent human rights activist Bernadette Aliskey said
the chief medical officer had overridden this evidence before the UN
visit on Monday. She said that "to transfer her to the psychiatric
hospital without her informed consent added another dimension to the
violation of her rights."
Her family welcomed the intervention of the UN doctors who will visit
Marian over the coming days. Her husband said he hoped they would make
a speedy report on her condition given the urgency of the situation.
"The family hope that this move to a secure unit is not a cynical ploy
on the eve of a visit by UN doctors to stymie any criticism of Marian's
treatment."
Although gaining a royal pardon in 1980, British Direct Ruler Owen
Paterson ordered the former prisoners' welfare campaigner be returned
to jail two years ago as he considered her to be a "threat". It was
later claimed by the British her pardon document had been lost, or
accidentally shredded.
Lawyer Peter Corrigan of Kevin Winters law firm, who represent Ms
Price, protested that his client had been moved without her consent and
against medical advice.
"While the aim is to receive proper medical care for our client all the
doctors who have examined her to date have agreed that any treatment
under a high security situation would be counter therapeutic," he said.
------------------------------
>>>>>> New evidence in rubber bullet death
An inquest has been ordered to be reopened after new evidence was
uncovered about the death of the first child killed by a rubber bullet
in the north of Ireland.
Seventeen people have died in the north of Ireland at the hands of
rubber or plastic bullets, including seven children, and hundreds
injured. The weapons continue to be used by the Crown Forces as a form
of crowd control during 'public order' situations.
Schoolboy Francis Rowntree, known to his family as Frank, died in 1972
after being struck in the head with rubber baton round that it is
believed had been 'modified' in order to make it more deadly.
The 11-year-old from Lower Clonard Street in west Belfast sustained
catastrophic head injuries after being hit as he played with a friend
close to Divis Flats in April 1972.
At the original inquest held in October 1972 the soldier who fired the
fatal shot from the Royal Anglian Regiment, known only as 'soldier B'
was not called to give evidence and instead a statement taken by
military police was produced at the hearing.
A witness has now came forward to say that within minutes of the
shooting, the soldiers involved appeared to be searching the scene for
the fatal round which was believed to have been hollowed out and a
battery placed inside the rubber casing.
Soldier B claimed the bullet ricocheted off a lamppost. However, a
recent forensic reexamination of the fatal injuries by state
pathologist Professor Jack Crane undermines this account and suggests
that the child was shot directly at close range.
A Historical Enquiries Team report into the shooting confirmed that he
was an "innocent bystander who posed no threat whatsoever to the
soldier".
In a letter to the family, Six-County Attorney General John Larkin said
that having considered all new evidence, "I have concluded that it is
advisable that a fresh inquest beheld into the death of Francis
Rowntree and I so direct".
Frank's brother Jim said the family were relieved to hear that a fresh
inquest would now be held. "Frank was just an innocent child and yet
the army tried to blacken his name saying he was involved in a riot,"
Mr Rowntree said.
"My parents were told by a consultant in the Royal that his head had
been crushed like an eggshell.
"An apology would go a long way to healing the hurt. My Mum is 86 and
so ifs important for her that we have this inquest now."
The family's solicitor, Padraig O Muirigh, said the decision by Mr
Larkin was a"significant step forward for the family's quest for
truth".
"In 1970 an agreement was reached between the British army and the
chief constable of the RUC, whereby the interviewing of soldiers
involved in the death of Francis Rowntree was carried out by the Royal
Military Police," Mr O Muirigh said.
"There was nothing approaching a proper police investigation into the
incident."
------------------------------
>>>>>> Feature: Interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
------------------------------
Hugh Hamilton (HH) of WBAI Pacifica Radio interviews Bernadette
Devlin-McAliskey (BDM) about the imprisonment of Marian Price
------------------------------
HH: Marian Price is a former Irish Republican militant who first gained
international notoriety nearly forty years ago following her conviction
in the 1973 bombing of London's Old Bailey.
She was subsequently freed in 1980 when she was thought to be on the
brink of death from severe anorexia nervosa and suffering multiple
complications from hundreds of forced feedings while on hunger strike
in prison.
But now, her supports say that Ms Price, who is also known by her
married name, Marian McGlinchey, has been illegally imprisoned in
northern Ireland for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence
that neither she nor her lawyers have been allowed to see. They say she
is a political prisoner effectively detained without trial, sentence or
release date.
And unless the courts intervene she could spend the rest of her life in
prison.
In fact just this past weekend the authorities issued a statement
saying that she's been transferred to hospital on the advice of
psychiatrists but remains in custody.
Among those demanding justice for Marian Price and calling for her
immediate release is the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader and
former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
Ms McAliskey was herself imprisoned for her part in defending a
Nationalist ghetto which was under attach northern Ireland police and
she's currently a leader in the campaign to free Marian Price. She
joins us now. Good Afternoon, Ms McAliskey.
BDM: Hi. How are you?
HH: Very well, thank you and thank you very much for joining us. You've
said of Marian Price that while she's not the only political prisoner
who's being detained in this manner, her case is urgent and becoming
critical. How so?
BDM: Marian is not the only person in prison at the minute in violation
of due process.
And while that's important, it's important to set the context:
following the peace process and the restoration of a democratic
assembly in northern Ireland and the restoration of justice and
policing to northern Ireland, all of these matters should be matters
for due process of law and for the democratic process.
However, running along side that, we have still got essentially secret
policing, secret intelligence run directly by the military
intelligence, MI5 in London, through the UK Secretary of State, who is
a British appointment, and seems to over-ride the democratic authority
of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
And in Marian's case the urgency relates directly to the impact of this
unwarranted imprisonment on her physical and emotional health.
There are charges pending against her in that she is alleged to have
supported a terrorist organisation by holding up a piece of paper at a
rally in a rainstorm from which somebody else read.
And she was granted bail on that charge.
But the Secretary of State over-rode the court's decision to grant bail
and ordered her detention in prison.
And she's now been in there for over a year.
HH: And what is her state of health right now? I've read that over the
weekend - I think on Friday - she was moved to a hospital?
BDM: The present position is that as the result of her deteriorating
health and the refusal of the the Parole Commissioner, the Secretary of
State or Minister of Justice to exercise their authority and restore
her bail, an urgent alert was made to the United Nations Rapporteur on
Health.
It's important to remember that when Marian was on hunger strike,
unlike the later hunger strikes when people literally starved, Marian
Price as a young woman was forced fed three times a day by having a
tube pushed down a throat, she was forcibly restrained and liquid
nutrition was poured down her throat three times a day.
If she brought that up the process was repeated.
And that experience is what led to her anorexia nervosa and eating
disorders. And (it) also exacerbated a condition that had existed from
childhood relating to tuberculosis and it's impact on her emotional and
mental health because of the trauma of the re-incarceration in that
environment.
So the was a UN alert and the UN Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover,
who's an Indian lawyer, an excellent, excellent defender of health, he
sent a UN Inspector to the prison.
And the UN Inspector was denied access to the prison.
But had finally secured an inspection meeting for today.
On Friday, the Chief Medical Officer of the prison issued a press
statement that Marian had been transferred to hospital.
But when the press statement was issued Marian was still in the prison.
And she was fundamentally being coerced to agree to go to a psychiatric
unit outside of the prison despite a medical report that she was not
suffering from any form of psychosis - she was suffering from mental
and emotional trauma directly as a result of her environment.
And that medical report recommended that she be released to the care of
her family to recover her health so that she could answer the charges.
So it looked on Friday that the authorities were attempting to remove
her from the prison environment to head-off the UN inspection.
Or alternatively, attempting either to discredit Marian by putting her
in a position where she would be refusing medical help.
The other alternative to the prison authorities was of course to use
use The Mental Health Act which would allow them to place her in
psychiatric care against her will.
But from their point of view, to have done that, to have used the
Mental Health Act and forcibly placed her in a psychiatric unit, would
then have undermined their capacity to charge her with any offence
because she couldn't be both mentally incapable and mentally capable of
being charged.
So at present, Marian is in hospital we believe...but we are unsure, at
this precise point, as to whether that's a temporary assessment within
the prison regime.
We're waiting today to hear the outcome of the United Nations medical
visit.
And we have at this point no idea whether that will lead to a
recommendation again that she be released that will be acted upon or
whether she will be returned to the prison environment.
It's very important that people do campaign and do contact,
particularly those Irish-American and other politicians in America, who
played such a role in setting up the peace process, to recognise that
these violations are still going on.
So, on the one hand we have Her Majesty the Queen feeling it's safe
enough for her to stand on Irish soil and be greeted by the leader of
Sinn Fein in the new assembly but it's not safe for Marian Price to
stand on the same ground because she has no access to due process of
law.
HH: We're talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader
and former Member of Parliament, Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
We're discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has
been illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland as a political prisoner
for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence that neither she
nor her lawyers have been allowed to see.
There is growing international campaign, including here in the United
States. In fact, on Wednesday there's going to be an evening in
solidarity with Marian Price here in New York at O'Lunney's - I'll give
you more information about that a little later on in the programme.
But if you have questions about Marian Price or if you've got questions
for Bernadette McAliskey will take them at 212-209-2900. (repeats
number)
Ms McAliskey, the question arises, particularly for those people who
might not be very familiar with the situation in Ireland and in
northern Ireland. The question arises...Why is this issue important?
I've seen you as quoted as saying that: "Ms Price's case reflects the
increasing powerlessness of global organisations, including the United
Nations, to defend human rights."
I'd like you to expand on that and explain why that is relevant to this
case.
BDM: Hugh, I'm losing your voice intermittently.
HH: I was just asking, you're quoted as saying that - The Marian Price
case: "It reflects the increasing powerlessness of global
organisations, including the UN" and I'd like you to explain what you
mean by that.
BDM: Yes. I think what is very important for people to recognise that
what is happening to Marian is not an isolated case.
While it's happening here in northern Ireland and we have had to call
upon the UN Rapporteur for Health to exercise his authority to examine
it, the fundamental disrespect that the prison authorities here treat
that, as if to say:" "what business is it of his?" and try to avoid
their responsibilities is, although in a very small and certainly less
traumatic than for example what is happening in Syria what is happening
in Palestine, what happened in Egypt, what happened in Iraq, what goes
on throughout the world is not only in unstable, if you'd like,
political societies or clear dictatorships, but the confidence and the
arrogance with which many of the western powers, who created the UN in
the middle of the twentieth century, and actually undermine that
organisation in both its protection of the UN Charter on Human Rights,
on it's collective role for peace keeping, for democracy, for
compliance with UN resolutions...
I think Marian's case is symptomatic of those things we see every day:
the impunity with which Israel flouts UN resolutions in regard to
Palestine, the manner in which Syrians are now just massacring their
own people, and the fact that Guantanamo Bay, despite the promises of
Obama, is still there. That we still haven't had the truth on
renditions...
That people can still be imprisoned without due process and that many
countries, particularly in the very powerful western alliances, feel
that UN resolutions and UN protections are for protecting them from
their enemies but not people from powerful states.
And that's what I was saying. That Marian's case is not just something
peculiar to the northern Ireland situation.
The increasing confidence with which fundamental human rights and due
process and protections are being ignored - I think is frightening.
HH: We're talking with the noted northern Ireland civil right leader
and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey. We're
discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has been
illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland for more than a year on the
basis secret evidence that neither she nor her lawyers have been
allowed to see.
They say that she is a political prisoner effectively being detained
without trial, sentence or release date and without the intervention of
the courts could end up spending the rest of her life in prison.
There's been some discussion and debate on this question of whether Ms
Price was out on parole as we say in the United States or licence as
you say in northern Ireland.
There was an argument that said she wasn't out on parole at all but had
in fact been granted a full pardon, The Royal Prerogative of Mercy,
when she was released from prison in 1980.
Are you in a position to clarify exactly which of those two
situations...
BDM: Yes. There are two clear positions on that and there's a very
clear legal position on it.
Marian Price was released on a royal pardon.
Now what the Secretary of State claimed when he imprisoned her was that
she had been imprisoned on two separate charges and that she got royal
pardon on one but was released on parole on the other.
Now the likelihood of that is very small. That you would actually get
out on a pardon... you know, half of you would be on pardon and the
other half would be on parole... since it's only one person.
But the law is perfectly clear and there's a lot of British case law to
substantiate that. The law is perfectly clear:
that if the information and advice provided to Marian Price at the time
of her release was such as to give her a reasonable belief, that is to
say the belief that any reasonable person would hold, that she had been
released on royal pardon then the law must accept she was released on
royal pardon.
And that's where the legal battle is.
So that there is a precedent in UK and European law.
If she believed at the time of her release and ever since that it was a
pardon, then she had a legitimate expectation that that's what it was.
Now the matter could be readily resolved if the document of release and
pardon or parole was produced.
But when the northern Ireland Secretary of State was asked to produced
it he said it had been mislaid. It had been lost.
He claims it was lost in the period after which she was sent to prison.
And it also appears that in the history of the British state, Marian
Price's pardon, that is to say the physical document signed by Her
Majesty, is the only one such document to ever have disappeared.
And you have to really ask yourself questions about that.
HH: The question arises: Why is this happening to Marian Price now?
BDM: I think it's happening for a number of reasons.
There are parts of it have very, for me, have resonance for the arrest
of my own daughter and the context in which that happened at the
beginning of the peace process. I think the normalisation and the peace
process here has reached a position where the voices of Republican
dissidents have, according to the state, to be silenced.
There are many, many, particularly, in the present economic climate,
there are many poorer people, particularly the youth who have not had
any social, political or economic benefits from the peace.
There are people of course who have had significant benefits.
And overall there is an absence of war. There is political stability.
There has been economic development.
But large sections of the most impoverished people have not seen any
economic or social benefits from the peace.
And it's amongst those young people, many of whom suffer from
trans-generational trauma of war, and many who fundamentally disagree
with the politics of their former political leaders.
That dissidence has steadily grown - fueled by the lack of economic and
social opportunity, fueled by the lack of any understanding of that
group of disaffected people or lack of any opportunity for them to
articulate what their grievances are.
So as the dissidence has grown, the repression has grown and the
numbers of people in prisons have grown.
And then with that we begin to see again the development of a prisoner
support constituency.
And I think the government has decided, which is fairly traditional
here as well as elsewhere, to use repression as a means of stifling
discontent and dissent.
And Marian Price is therefore identifiable as a kind of flexing of the
government's muscle - that they're not afraid to take on a woman -
they're not afraid to take on a Republican of long standing.
And the irony of course is: that the young man who went to London on
the same bombing expedition with Marian Price is now a senior member in
the government.
HH: When this case was brought to my attention by my colleague, Sandy
Boyer, and I asked him for some additional information, I was rather
surprised by the volume of information that is out there and which had
not yet come to my attention.
And I'm wondering whether, in your estimation, the case of Marian Price
is resonating as extensively as it should within the Irish-American
community. The...
BDM: No! I think there are two things happening there, Hugh.
The first is: the degree of co-option, which to me is sad.
The degree of co-option and, in my understanding of the word,
corruption of people's principles that have come with their
participation now in the administration of government.
It is always harder to say that things are not going well -always
harder to say things are wrong when you have a stake in the government
as opposed to when you have no stake in that class.
And Irish-Americans were very influential in helping to develop
peaceful structures here, in helping to bring about political
stability, but they have a stake in that stability so they now have a
stake in the suppression of information.
They now have a stake in that stability so they now have a stake in
denying the imperfections.
And I think that makes life very, very difficult then for principled
opposition for highlighting these issues and it makes it all the more
important for people whose principles are justice - regardless of its
nationality. Whose demand is for peace - regardless of its geographic
location - to stand up for the principles of due process and of human
rights.
HH: So what's next in the international campaign for Marian Price?
BDM: There are a number of groups supporting Marian locally.
There's a Free Marian website which people can get to if you just go
on... Marian Price... if you google Marian Price ...Free Marian...
you'll get that website. I think it's freemarian.nr
The prison crises group of which I am a member is drawing the
international parallels and seeking solidarity with other human rights
organisations fighting against unjust imprisonment in other places. So
we're building that. We have produced a pamphlet. There are a number of
local rallies.
We are building in the United Kingdom; I've just spoken in Glasgow.
Sandy Boyer, as he has done for as long as I have known him - forty
years - championed human rights in Ireland, continues to build in the
United States and we are building across Europe as well.
It is a long, slow process that sounds like we're doing great things.
It's a slow process because many of those we would have relied on in
the past are now in denial because of their stake in the current
administration.
But we continue to highlight it. We continue to build. We continue to
draw the levels of solidarity.
And her very good legal team continues to challenge in the court.
So we will await the outcome of the UN visit. We hope to have a
judicial review of the Parole Commission's latest decision.
And we just keep battling on until we have her released.
The sadness is, that all that Marian Price is asking for, all she is
asking for, is that she be granted the bail that she has repeatedly
been given in the court.
The original charge against her has in fact been dismissed by the court
because of the violation of not bringing the case to trial for over a
year.
A new charge has been instigated for which no evidence has been
produced - that's the one about the secret MI5 evidence. But she was
granted bail on that charge as well.
And she is demanding only so that she be released from prison and
allowed to recover her health at home so that she defend herself
against these charges.
She is not asking to be released from prison and not charged with
anything simply on the grounds that she's is ill.
The position is that she has been charged without evidence. She has
been denied bail.
The incarceration in prison, for the greater part in solitary
confinement, has re-traumatised her from the early experience and she
asks only for her right to be released as the court has ordered so that
she can go home, regain her health and answer the charges against her.
HH: We've been talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights
leader and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
Ms McAliskey, thank you very much for elucidating this issue for us on
the case of Marian Price. We will of course keep our listeners
informed. I'll be announcing an event this weekend...
BDM: Might I say thank you again to WBAI who for many years have helped
tell the truth and defend democracy across the USA. I don't know where
we would be without you.
HH: Thank you very much indeed, Ms McAliskey.
(Interview ends)
------------------------------
>>>>>> Analysis: A cordial union
------------------------------
following article by Gerry Adams (for Leargas) was written in advance
of Wednesday's meeting between Martin McGuinness and the queen.
------------------------------
The peace process has seen some strange and unexpected and remarkable
developments in its almost 20 years. Sinn Fein leaders in Downing St
and the White House; US Presidents shaking hands with Sinn Fein
leaders; unionist leaders, who wouldn't sit in the same television
studios or talk to us in the negotiations, now sitting in an Executive
and all-Ireland Ministerial Council; and Martin McGuinness and Ian
Paisley demonstrating that former enemies can be friends. And that work
being continued by Martin and Peter Robinson. There has been much more.
It is evidence of the success of the process in achieving change. Of
course, it doesn't mean that unionists are now republicans and prepared
to agree to a united Ireland or that republicans have become unionists.
And there are still many issues of difference and concern between us.
But we have a process, rooted in equality, which has the capacity to
resolve these with patience.
This week will see another historic moment. Martin McGuinness has
received an invitation from Co-operation Ireland to attend an event in
Belfast next week - unconnected to the Jubilee - to celebrate the arts
and culture across Ireland. The event will also be attended by the
President of Ireland, the Queen of England and by First Minister Peter
Robinson.
Last Friday the Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle agreed that Martin could accept
the invitation. This is a significant initiative involving major
political and symbolic challenges for Irish republicans.
As the record of the peace process demonstrates Irish republicans have
frequently been prepared to take bold and historic initiatives and
risks for peace to break stalemates and find agreements.
We do so as activists whose primary political objective is the
re-unification and independence of Ireland, and we have a coherent and
viable strategy to achieve this.
Key to uniting Ireland is our ability to persuade a section of
unionists that this is the right decision for them. To make it work it
has to be part of a genuine process of national reconciliation and
transformation.
I understand that a meeting between a Sinn Fein leader and the Queen of
England is difficult for some republicans and for the victims of
British state violence, even if the President of Ireland and the First
Minister Peter Robinson is present and they are all participating as
equals.
The Irish republican and nationalist experience with the British
monarchy and the British state over centuries has been tragic and
difficult and the vexed and unresolved issue of sovereignty remains
paramount.
But Irish republicanism is rooted in the ethos and philosophy of Wolfe
Tone and the United Irish Society, who sought the unity of Catholics,
Protestants and dissenters. We are about the work of building a new
republic, a new Ireland. And that means demonstrating to our unionist
neighbours that we are serious about creating a society on this island
that they will be comfortable in.
The British Queen has a unique place in the hearts and minds and
sentiments of the unionists. As republicans we reject the idea of
royalty or monarchy or elites or hierarchies but unionists have a
different perspective. We have to understand that if our conversations
are to have relevance and make sense to them.
Last year, Queen Elizabeth II visited Dublin. Sinn Fein declined to
participate. That was exactly the right decision. That visit marked a
rapprochement in relations between that state and the British monarchy.
That was a good thing. It took 100 years to achieve.
In the course of her visit she made some important gestures and
remarks, including an acknowledgement of the pain of all victims, which
demonstrated the beginning of a new understanding and acceptance of the
realities of past. I welcomed that at the time and said it should be
built upon.
This is a different visit -- in a different context.
This week's meeting is a clear expression of the determination of Irish
republicans to engage with our unionist neighbours and to demonstrate
that we are prepared, once again to go beyond rhetoric, as we seek to
persuade them that our new Ireland will not be a cold house for
unionists or any other section of our people.
Unionists don't need me to tell them that they have lived on this
island for centuries. This is their home. It is where they belong and
it is where they will remain.
Our Protestant neighbours also have a proud history of progressive and
radical thinking. The founders of Irish republicanism where mainly
Protestant. They were for the emancipation of their Catholic neighbours
and for equality.
Republicans are democrats and the new republic we seek is pluralist. An
Ireland of equals in which there is space for all opinions and
identities. Sinn Fein is for a new dispensation in which a citizen can
be Irish and unionist. Where one can also claim Britishness and be
comfortable on this island.
Our vision of a new Republic is one in which, in Tone's words, Orange
and Green unite in a cordial union.
The Sinn Fein decision reflects a confident, dynamic, forward-looking
Sinn Fein demonstrating our genuine desire to embrace our unionist
neighbours.
It also reflects the equality and parity of esteem arrangements that
are now in place. It will also create new platforms and open up a new
phase in our relationships and will be another important and necessary
step on our collective journey.
James Craig, the first unionist Prime Minister of the North recognised
this when he said: "In this island we cannot live always separated from
one another. We are too small to be apart or for the border to be there
for all time. The change will not come in my time but it will come."
It is clear that legacy issues have to be dealt with and Sinn Fein will
continue to engage in that work.
By our actions Irish republicans will be judged, as well as our
beliefs. We have to change Irish society now, North and South, to
accommodate the unionist population and their cultural identity. The
meeting between Martin McGuinness and the Queen of England will assist
in that process.
If the peace process has taught us anything, it is that the process
cannot remain static. It must continue to expand and we must constantly
build on the progress that has been made.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Analysis: Bridging the gulf between compromise and abandonment
------------------------------
The following article by Anthony McIntyre (for the Guardian) was
written in advance of Wednesday's meeting between Martin McGuinness and
the queen.
------------------------------
Tomorrow the former Provisional IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness
will shake hands with the British queen at the Lyric Theatre in
Belfast. The event has been made possible by the earlier negotiated
surrender of the IRA. Surrendering honourably is better than holding
out to the last. The leaders of the 1916 Rising in Dublin chose to
surrender rather than subject the city's population to further
bloodshed.
In politics as in other areas of life it is often necessary to
compromise principles. But there is a gulf between compromise and
abandonment that should not be bridged. Otherwise radical ideas and the
notion of oppositional currents are devalued. What does it say about
the plausibility of the adversarial position if the values espoused in
opposition are jettisoned just to make it into office?
McGuinness will not be standing in front of the British head of state
on equal terms: as head of another state that had gained its
independence from Britain. He is there as deputy head of a state over
which the British hold unalloyed sovereignty and which he ostensibly
spent much of his adult life trying to destroy.
Peter Hain, the former secretary of State for the North of Ireland, has
said that 'many Republicans will see it as a betrayal.' He is right.
They will feel that McGuinness and Sinn Fein have not simply
compromised core principles but abandoned them, principles that he and
his colleagues in positions of leadership directed others to both take
life and risk losing possession of their own mortal coil in pursuit of.
In Derry where McGuinness is domiciled, graffiti has appeared on walls:
'U Dare Marty' and 'Sinn Fein sellouts.' At a rally in South Armagh on
Sunday, where many British troops and policemen exhaled their death
rattle, courtesy of the IRA campaign, McGuinness was denounced as a
traitor who had persistently lied to his volunteers.
Whatever about the intemperate language in which it is adorned, the
substance of republican opposition to tomorrow's meeting hardly renders
it the perspective of past-hugging dinosaurs. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne
Wood recently declined to attend a service in the Queen's presence at
Llandaff Cathedral which was laid on to mark the Diamond Jubilee. The
Plaid Cymru Assembly member for South Wales West, Bethan Jenkins,
described Martin McGuinness as 'naive' for going ahead with the
meeting. Boycotting monarchy is a perfectly legitimate position for
republicans to adopt.
Irish republicans who express that dissent do so in the context of a
British state which continues to behave badly: just last week it denied
a public inquiry into the massacre of civilians in Belfast in 1971
while continuing to seek prosecution of republicans they suspect of
involvement in the IRA campaign. This week it is indulging in
gratuitous flag waving by having the Armed Forces flag hoisted for six
days at Belfast City Hall, riding roughshod over nationalist protests
that such action is coat trailing triumphalism.
The British monarchy in opting to shake the hand of McGuinness is
hardly unaware of the perspective outlined in the Boston Globe: 'there
are many law enforcement officials, Irish and British, who believe
McGuinness was running the IRA or was at least on its ruling Army
Council, when the plan to blow up Mountbatten was approved.'
Yet it is the path the monarchy has decided to tread, even if holding
its nose. Why? Norman Tebbit, who survived the Brighton bomb in 1984,
explained it succinctly: McGuinness and Sinn Fein have 'now accepted
the sovereignty of Her Majesty over Northern Ireland.' Strange
bedfellows perhaps but The Daily Telegraph is not out of sync with
peeved republicans when it proclaims 'the British establishment
completes the decommissioning of Martin McGuinness.'
Tomorrow's event will be tarted up in the discourse of the peace
process, which invariably serves to mask essences and runs with the
decoy of appearances. Despite much discursive massaging the matter has
little if anything to do with reaching out to unionists. If Sinn Fein
and McGuinness were really concerned with embracing unionist
sensitivity they would desist from denying that the IRA carried out the
Kingsmill massacre in 1976, an act on an ethical par with Derry's
Bloody Sunday in Derry 1972. The strategic thinking behind tomorrow's
initiative is consistent with Sinn Fein's expansionist strategy in the
South of Ireland where everything is gauged in terms of conquering
electoral terrain, not creating ethical terra firma sufficiently
fortified to bear the reconciled weight of two separate traditions.
Sinn Fein's electoral ambitions, not reconciliation with unionism, is
what fuels Martin McGuinness meeting the Queen.
However, having scorned the opportunity during the royal visit to
Ireland last year, Sinn Fein's transparently crass manipulation of
tomorrow's event may end up alienating more votes than it attracts.
http://republican-news.org
Friday-Thursday, 22-28 June, 2012
1. AN ENDING OR A BEGINNING?
2. Breakthrough for family of Manus Deery
3. Anti-royal protestor recounts murder bid
4. Marian Price move linked to UN visit
5. New evidence in rubber bullet death
6. Feature: Interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
7. Analysis: A cordial union
8. Analysis: Bridging the gulf between compromise and abandonment
------------------------------
>>>>>> AN ENDING OR A BEGINNING?
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness put clear blue water between himself and
mainstream Irish republicanism when he shook the hand of English queen
Elizabeth Windsor on Wednesday in a historic but hugely divisive act of
political theatre.
Always a controversial figure, the Deputy First Minister's latest move
has confused his supporters and enraged his critics. It has touched a
nerve in a manner unlike Sinn Fein's many other 'unionist outreach'
initiatives.
Greeting the British commander-in-chief while the north of Ireland
remains under British rule may have been intended as a headline
grabbing peace move, but the wave of nationalist condemnation in its
wake has confirmed Sinn Fein fears that it was too much, too soon.
Grassroots party activists have been left struggling to justify
McGuinness's actions while bemoaning the expected loss of support and
(potentially) thousands of voters.
Although welcomed by many unionists (but openly mocked by some), the
symbolic handshake infuriated ordinary republicans and has undoubtedly
boosted support for so-called 'dissident' groups.
It was clear from well before the actual event that Sinn Fein had not
accurately gauged public sentiment.
But the surprise announcement that a jubilee 'party' involving 25,000
flag-waving unionists was to be held at Stormont to mark Windsor's
visit threw party officials into a full-scale damage-limitation
exercise.
Even senior Sinn Fein figures such as Caral Ni Chuilin baulked at the
plans, which had to be continually revised thereafter. The biggest
change was the sudden invention of an early morning 'culture' event,
organised by a former member of the PSNI.
The difficult question of how much kowtowing McGuinness would be seen
to perform was averted when it was agreed the key initial meeting was
held behind closed doors. Photographs of the second, less formal
handshake would be issued to capture the event. McGuinness did not bow
his head, and spoke to Windsor in Irish.
But his use was of an Irish language blessing - 'Slan agus beannacht'
[Farewell and bless you] to Windsor also served to remind nationalists
of the continuing refusal of the British to pass an Irish Language Act
to protect the language in the north of Ireland.
LONDON NOT CALLING
An address the following evening at Portcullis House, part of the
houses of parliament in London, was intended to bolster McGuinness's
nationalist credentials. But few were listening, least of all the
British government.
In the speech, he accused the British Prime minister of "a lack of
engagement" in northern Ireland politics.
"This lack of engagement by David Cameron is a serious mistake and may
provide a rationale for some of the damaging decisions made by Owen
Paterson during his tenure at the Northern Ireland Office," he said.
He chose to soften the language of a prepared script that accused the
British government of having made "a series of stupid and unhelpful
decisions" on Northern Ireland in recent times. Instead, he said they
had made "wrong and unhelpful decisions".
The list of British mistakes, Mr McGuinness said, included the
internments of Marian Price and Martin Corey; the refusal to hold a
full public inquiry into the Ballymurphy massacre of 1971, along with
the decision not to honour the previous pledge to properly investigate
the murder of defence lawyer Pat Finucane, added "to the sense of
hurt".
But he insisted his meeting with Windsor was an important step forward.
"It was a meeting which, although short in length, can I believe, have
much longer effects on defining a new relationship between Britain and
Ireland and between the Irish people themselves," Mr McGuinness told
the invited audience.
Last night a spokesman for the Conservative Party again,
diplomatically, dismissed McGuinness as irrelevant, and made clear that
David Cameron had bigger fish to fry.
He said "thanks to the efforts of a large number of people - including
Sinn Fein - Northern Ireland enjoys political stability, and we are
able to move beyond the politics of the peace process.
"It is impossible to think of any political crisis in Northern Ireland
today that requires the attention of the PM over and above dealing with
the worst global economic crisis in 80 years and the crisis in the euro
zone - something which would of course benefit every single person in
Northern Ireland," the spokesman declared.
The evident lack of any reciprocal gesture from the British government
for the historic peace move will make it more difficult for Sinn Fein
to convince sceptical nationalists and republicans.
Many victims of British violence in the North are instead lining up to
denounce McGuinness.
Linda Nash, whose brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday,
described the former IRA commander as a "traitor" -- echoing a
notorious insult he once hurled at his republican rivals. It is a word
that could now come back to haunt him.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Breakthrough for family of Manus Deery
The family of Manus Deery has won a fresh hearing into the
fifteen-year-old's murder in the nationalist Bogside area of Derry in
May 1972.
The 15-year-old was shot by a British soldier firing from Derry'swalls
while he was standing close to a chip shop with friends.
Nobody was ever prosecuted over his death. The shot was fired by a
member of C company, 1st battalion, the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The
British Army claimed the soldier opened fire after a gunman was seen.
Eyewitnesses at the time said no gunmen were present.
The first inquest returned an open verdict and his family have fought
for answers for 40 years.
A report by the police Historical Enquiries Team (HET), released in
February was angrily dismissed by his family as a "whitewash" when it
backed claims that the soldier responsible was shooting ata gunman.
The request for a new inquest was made under the Coroners' Act. The
previous inquest returned an open verdict. The family hope this one
will conclude that Manus was unlawfully killed.
Manus's sister, Helen Deery, welcomed the news that their efforts had
finally brought movement.
"We are absolutely delighted. For 40 years we've fought for justice and
now we finally seem to be getting somewhere.
"Manus was an innocent child whose young life was brutally taken from
him. He did nothing wrong. He wasn't -- as the British Army initially
claimed -- a gunman. He wasn't rioting. He was eating a bag of chips
and chatting to friends when a soldier opened fire on him.
"My mother's and father's lives were destroyed after Manus's death.
They went to early graves. But we pledged to continue our campaign
until the truth is told about our brother and the British Army comes
clean."
Manus had just started work in a factory when he was shot dead on May
19, 1972. He received his first pay packet that evening.
"Manus had his own money in his pocket for the first time. Life seemed
full of promise," Ms Deery said.
He was standing with friends at Meenan Square in the Bogside when a
soldier, anonymously labelled 'A', opened fire from Derry's Walls,
fatally shooting him in the head. Soldier B, who was with him, didn't
fire but said he'd also seen a gunman.
Neither soldier had to appear at the original 1973 inquest. Their
depositions -- later given to the family -- were illegible.
No civilian witnesses were interviewed by the RUC. Nor did the RUC
interview the soldiers.
Ms Deery said: "We fought for years to see the RUC investigation file.
When we got it, we couldn't believe it. It contained a statement from
our mother 'Margaret'.
"Our mother's name was Mary and the RUC had never taken a statement
from her.
"It also contained a statement from Manus's 'cousin James'. We have no
cousin James."
Ms Deery said that, unlike the first inquest, her family would be
legally represented at this one and the soldiers could be called to
give evidence and cross-examined.
"This new inquest will give all of those involved, witnesses and
soldiers, the chance to tell the truth. After 40 years it is the least
my young brother deserves," she said.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Anti-royal protestor recounts murder bid
A west Belfast man badlybeaten by a gang of loyalists on Black Mountain
earlier this week says he is lucky to be alive.
James McCoubrey was one of five men who were protecting a 120ft by 60ft
tricolour erected on the mountainside to coincide with Elizabeth
Windsor's arrival in the north on Tuesday. The massive flag was visible
from most of Belfast.
A message in large writing above it read "Eriu is our queen". Eriu was
the goddess queen of Ireland in Celtic mythology.
Mr McCoubrey said the 100-strong gang shouted "kill the Fenian b*****d"
as he ran for his life. He was taking a nap in a nearby tent when the
gang struck at around 5pm on Tuesday. He said he thought he was going
to die. His friends who were standing outside the tent managed to run
to safety.
The former republican prisoner suffered three fractured ribs, a broken
nose and extensive bruising over his body during the incident.
"I am lucky to be alive," he said. "I was in the tent and I heard
cheering and thought it was my mates carrying out a prank.
"Then a man shouted 'we've got a Fenian b**** *d here, we have one'.
"Then a man hit me with a hatchet or a hammer. I fell back into the
tent.
I then climbed under the side of the tent to get out and they started
to beat me and were shouting things like 'don't let him get away' and
some were shouting 'kill him'.
"If you have ever seen the film Zulu, that's what it was like as I was
surrounded. All I could hear was 'kill the Fenian b'*****d, kill him
here' and 'throw him off the mountain'.
Mr McCoubrey said after being beaten to the ground, he managed to roll
down the mountainside to safety.
"It was the rolling that saved my life," he said. "I rolled down the
hillside and it was too steep for them to follow me."
Mr McCoubrey was later treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital for his
injuries.
He said the protest was organised by people living in the Springhill
area of Ballymurphy.
"It was a peaceful protest organised by republican ex-prisoners and
people living in the area," he said.
"There were no political groups involved. I don't agree with the
queen's visit and that is what it was about.
"There was no intention to offend and there was nothing provocative."
West Belfast Sinn Fein assembly member Pat Sheehan condemned the attack.
"I am horrified and disgusted by this unprovoked attack that could have
ended a lot worse than it did. It was a peaceful, dignified protest
unconnected to dissident organisations and should have been allowed to
continue," he said.
Protesters bravely returned to their camp on Black Mountain on
Wednesday despite the vicious loyalist attack.
The protesters had vowed to remain at the west Belfast site until the
queen left the North. Their numbers had swelled to around 50 people who
vowed the flag, 120ft by 60ft, would remain on the hillside until the
end of the historic royal visit.
Among the protesters were Eirigi member Padraig Mac Coitir and veteran
republican Tony Catney. Several representatives of the Ballymurphy
Massacre families also joined the protest.
Mr Catney said the protest had been a "peaceful and highly effective"
way of highlighting opposition to the two-day visit by the British
monarch.
Crowds of republicans also gathered in separate protests at City Hall
and on the Falls Road during the royal visit.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Marian Price move linked to UN visit
Jailed political dissident Marian Price was moved to an outside
hospital last weekend without her consent, her family have said.
Doctors from the United Nations were due to visit the interned west
Belfast woman in Hydebank Wood prison on Monday.
However, last Friday warders moved the former hunger-striker to a
Belfast psychiatric care unit for treatment ahead of the visit.
Prison authorities said they had done so on medical advice from
psychiatrists.
Earlier this year, Ms Price was moved from an isolation cell at
all-male Maghaberry Prison to Hydebank, also on medical advice.
Her husband Jerry McGlinchey said that a prison doctor had already
given evidence that "going to a secure hospital unit would compound
Marian's acute illnesses and would mitigate against any beneficial
treatment."
Supporters and prominent human rights activist Bernadette Aliskey said
the chief medical officer had overridden this evidence before the UN
visit on Monday. She said that "to transfer her to the psychiatric
hospital without her informed consent added another dimension to the
violation of her rights."
Her family welcomed the intervention of the UN doctors who will visit
Marian over the coming days. Her husband said he hoped they would make
a speedy report on her condition given the urgency of the situation.
"The family hope that this move to a secure unit is not a cynical ploy
on the eve of a visit by UN doctors to stymie any criticism of Marian's
treatment."
Although gaining a royal pardon in 1980, British Direct Ruler Owen
Paterson ordered the former prisoners' welfare campaigner be returned
to jail two years ago as he considered her to be a "threat". It was
later claimed by the British her pardon document had been lost, or
accidentally shredded.
Lawyer Peter Corrigan of Kevin Winters law firm, who represent Ms
Price, protested that his client had been moved without her consent and
against medical advice.
"While the aim is to receive proper medical care for our client all the
doctors who have examined her to date have agreed that any treatment
under a high security situation would be counter therapeutic," he said.
------------------------------
>>>>>> New evidence in rubber bullet death
An inquest has been ordered to be reopened after new evidence was
uncovered about the death of the first child killed by a rubber bullet
in the north of Ireland.
Seventeen people have died in the north of Ireland at the hands of
rubber or plastic bullets, including seven children, and hundreds
injured. The weapons continue to be used by the Crown Forces as a form
of crowd control during 'public order' situations.
Schoolboy Francis Rowntree, known to his family as Frank, died in 1972
after being struck in the head with rubber baton round that it is
believed had been 'modified' in order to make it more deadly.
The 11-year-old from Lower Clonard Street in west Belfast sustained
catastrophic head injuries after being hit as he played with a friend
close to Divis Flats in April 1972.
At the original inquest held in October 1972 the soldier who fired the
fatal shot from the Royal Anglian Regiment, known only as 'soldier B'
was not called to give evidence and instead a statement taken by
military police was produced at the hearing.
A witness has now came forward to say that within minutes of the
shooting, the soldiers involved appeared to be searching the scene for
the fatal round which was believed to have been hollowed out and a
battery placed inside the rubber casing.
Soldier B claimed the bullet ricocheted off a lamppost. However, a
recent forensic reexamination of the fatal injuries by state
pathologist Professor Jack Crane undermines this account and suggests
that the child was shot directly at close range.
A Historical Enquiries Team report into the shooting confirmed that he
was an "innocent bystander who posed no threat whatsoever to the
soldier".
In a letter to the family, Six-County Attorney General John Larkin said
that having considered all new evidence, "I have concluded that it is
advisable that a fresh inquest beheld into the death of Francis
Rowntree and I so direct".
Frank's brother Jim said the family were relieved to hear that a fresh
inquest would now be held. "Frank was just an innocent child and yet
the army tried to blacken his name saying he was involved in a riot,"
Mr Rowntree said.
"My parents were told by a consultant in the Royal that his head had
been crushed like an eggshell.
"An apology would go a long way to healing the hurt. My Mum is 86 and
so ifs important for her that we have this inquest now."
The family's solicitor, Padraig O Muirigh, said the decision by Mr
Larkin was a"significant step forward for the family's quest for
truth".
"In 1970 an agreement was reached between the British army and the
chief constable of the RUC, whereby the interviewing of soldiers
involved in the death of Francis Rowntree was carried out by the Royal
Military Police," Mr O Muirigh said.
"There was nothing approaching a proper police investigation into the
incident."
------------------------------
>>>>>> Feature: Interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
------------------------------
Hugh Hamilton (HH) of WBAI Pacifica Radio interviews Bernadette
Devlin-McAliskey (BDM) about the imprisonment of Marian Price
------------------------------
HH: Marian Price is a former Irish Republican militant who first gained
international notoriety nearly forty years ago following her conviction
in the 1973 bombing of London's Old Bailey.
She was subsequently freed in 1980 when she was thought to be on the
brink of death from severe anorexia nervosa and suffering multiple
complications from hundreds of forced feedings while on hunger strike
in prison.
But now, her supports say that Ms Price, who is also known by her
married name, Marian McGlinchey, has been illegally imprisoned in
northern Ireland for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence
that neither she nor her lawyers have been allowed to see. They say she
is a political prisoner effectively detained without trial, sentence or
release date.
And unless the courts intervene she could spend the rest of her life in
prison.
In fact just this past weekend the authorities issued a statement
saying that she's been transferred to hospital on the advice of
psychiatrists but remains in custody.
Among those demanding justice for Marian Price and calling for her
immediate release is the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader and
former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
Ms McAliskey was herself imprisoned for her part in defending a
Nationalist ghetto which was under attach northern Ireland police and
she's currently a leader in the campaign to free Marian Price. She
joins us now. Good Afternoon, Ms McAliskey.
BDM: Hi. How are you?
HH: Very well, thank you and thank you very much for joining us. You've
said of Marian Price that while she's not the only political prisoner
who's being detained in this manner, her case is urgent and becoming
critical. How so?
BDM: Marian is not the only person in prison at the minute in violation
of due process.
And while that's important, it's important to set the context:
following the peace process and the restoration of a democratic
assembly in northern Ireland and the restoration of justice and
policing to northern Ireland, all of these matters should be matters
for due process of law and for the democratic process.
However, running along side that, we have still got essentially secret
policing, secret intelligence run directly by the military
intelligence, MI5 in London, through the UK Secretary of State, who is
a British appointment, and seems to over-ride the democratic authority
of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
And in Marian's case the urgency relates directly to the impact of this
unwarranted imprisonment on her physical and emotional health.
There are charges pending against her in that she is alleged to have
supported a terrorist organisation by holding up a piece of paper at a
rally in a rainstorm from which somebody else read.
And she was granted bail on that charge.
But the Secretary of State over-rode the court's decision to grant bail
and ordered her detention in prison.
And she's now been in there for over a year.
HH: And what is her state of health right now? I've read that over the
weekend - I think on Friday - she was moved to a hospital?
BDM: The present position is that as the result of her deteriorating
health and the refusal of the the Parole Commissioner, the Secretary of
State or Minister of Justice to exercise their authority and restore
her bail, an urgent alert was made to the United Nations Rapporteur on
Health.
It's important to remember that when Marian was on hunger strike,
unlike the later hunger strikes when people literally starved, Marian
Price as a young woman was forced fed three times a day by having a
tube pushed down a throat, she was forcibly restrained and liquid
nutrition was poured down her throat three times a day.
If she brought that up the process was repeated.
And that experience is what led to her anorexia nervosa and eating
disorders. And (it) also exacerbated a condition that had existed from
childhood relating to tuberculosis and it's impact on her emotional and
mental health because of the trauma of the re-incarceration in that
environment.
So the was a UN alert and the UN Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover,
who's an Indian lawyer, an excellent, excellent defender of health, he
sent a UN Inspector to the prison.
And the UN Inspector was denied access to the prison.
But had finally secured an inspection meeting for today.
On Friday, the Chief Medical Officer of the prison issued a press
statement that Marian had been transferred to hospital.
But when the press statement was issued Marian was still in the prison.
And she was fundamentally being coerced to agree to go to a psychiatric
unit outside of the prison despite a medical report that she was not
suffering from any form of psychosis - she was suffering from mental
and emotional trauma directly as a result of her environment.
And that medical report recommended that she be released to the care of
her family to recover her health so that she could answer the charges.
So it looked on Friday that the authorities were attempting to remove
her from the prison environment to head-off the UN inspection.
Or alternatively, attempting either to discredit Marian by putting her
in a position where she would be refusing medical help.
The other alternative to the prison authorities was of course to use
use The Mental Health Act which would allow them to place her in
psychiatric care against her will.
But from their point of view, to have done that, to have used the
Mental Health Act and forcibly placed her in a psychiatric unit, would
then have undermined their capacity to charge her with any offence
because she couldn't be both mentally incapable and mentally capable of
being charged.
So at present, Marian is in hospital we believe...but we are unsure, at
this precise point, as to whether that's a temporary assessment within
the prison regime.
We're waiting today to hear the outcome of the United Nations medical
visit.
And we have at this point no idea whether that will lead to a
recommendation again that she be released that will be acted upon or
whether she will be returned to the prison environment.
It's very important that people do campaign and do contact,
particularly those Irish-American and other politicians in America, who
played such a role in setting up the peace process, to recognise that
these violations are still going on.
So, on the one hand we have Her Majesty the Queen feeling it's safe
enough for her to stand on Irish soil and be greeted by the leader of
Sinn Fein in the new assembly but it's not safe for Marian Price to
stand on the same ground because she has no access to due process of
law.
HH: We're talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader
and former Member of Parliament, Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
We're discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has
been illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland as a political prisoner
for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence that neither she
nor her lawyers have been allowed to see.
There is growing international campaign, including here in the United
States. In fact, on Wednesday there's going to be an evening in
solidarity with Marian Price here in New York at O'Lunney's - I'll give
you more information about that a little later on in the programme.
But if you have questions about Marian Price or if you've got questions
for Bernadette McAliskey will take them at 212-209-2900. (repeats
number)
Ms McAliskey, the question arises, particularly for those people who
might not be very familiar with the situation in Ireland and in
northern Ireland. The question arises...Why is this issue important?
I've seen you as quoted as saying that: "Ms Price's case reflects the
increasing powerlessness of global organisations, including the United
Nations, to defend human rights."
I'd like you to expand on that and explain why that is relevant to this
case.
BDM: Hugh, I'm losing your voice intermittently.
HH: I was just asking, you're quoted as saying that - The Marian Price
case: "It reflects the increasing powerlessness of global
organisations, including the UN" and I'd like you to explain what you
mean by that.
BDM: Yes. I think what is very important for people to recognise that
what is happening to Marian is not an isolated case.
While it's happening here in northern Ireland and we have had to call
upon the UN Rapporteur for Health to exercise his authority to examine
it, the fundamental disrespect that the prison authorities here treat
that, as if to say:" "what business is it of his?" and try to avoid
their responsibilities is, although in a very small and certainly less
traumatic than for example what is happening in Syria what is happening
in Palestine, what happened in Egypt, what happened in Iraq, what goes
on throughout the world is not only in unstable, if you'd like,
political societies or clear dictatorships, but the confidence and the
arrogance with which many of the western powers, who created the UN in
the middle of the twentieth century, and actually undermine that
organisation in both its protection of the UN Charter on Human Rights,
on it's collective role for peace keeping, for democracy, for
compliance with UN resolutions...
I think Marian's case is symptomatic of those things we see every day:
the impunity with which Israel flouts UN resolutions in regard to
Palestine, the manner in which Syrians are now just massacring their
own people, and the fact that Guantanamo Bay, despite the promises of
Obama, is still there. That we still haven't had the truth on
renditions...
That people can still be imprisoned without due process and that many
countries, particularly in the very powerful western alliances, feel
that UN resolutions and UN protections are for protecting them from
their enemies but not people from powerful states.
And that's what I was saying. That Marian's case is not just something
peculiar to the northern Ireland situation.
The increasing confidence with which fundamental human rights and due
process and protections are being ignored - I think is frightening.
HH: We're talking with the noted northern Ireland civil right leader
and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey. We're
discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has been
illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland for more than a year on the
basis secret evidence that neither she nor her lawyers have been
allowed to see.
They say that she is a political prisoner effectively being detained
without trial, sentence or release date and without the intervention of
the courts could end up spending the rest of her life in prison.
There's been some discussion and debate on this question of whether Ms
Price was out on parole as we say in the United States or licence as
you say in northern Ireland.
There was an argument that said she wasn't out on parole at all but had
in fact been granted a full pardon, The Royal Prerogative of Mercy,
when she was released from prison in 1980.
Are you in a position to clarify exactly which of those two
situations...
BDM: Yes. There are two clear positions on that and there's a very
clear legal position on it.
Marian Price was released on a royal pardon.
Now what the Secretary of State claimed when he imprisoned her was that
she had been imprisoned on two separate charges and that she got royal
pardon on one but was released on parole on the other.
Now the likelihood of that is very small. That you would actually get
out on a pardon... you know, half of you would be on pardon and the
other half would be on parole... since it's only one person.
But the law is perfectly clear and there's a lot of British case law to
substantiate that. The law is perfectly clear:
that if the information and advice provided to Marian Price at the time
of her release was such as to give her a reasonable belief, that is to
say the belief that any reasonable person would hold, that she had been
released on royal pardon then the law must accept she was released on
royal pardon.
And that's where the legal battle is.
So that there is a precedent in UK and European law.
If she believed at the time of her release and ever since that it was a
pardon, then she had a legitimate expectation that that's what it was.
Now the matter could be readily resolved if the document of release and
pardon or parole was produced.
But when the northern Ireland Secretary of State was asked to produced
it he said it had been mislaid. It had been lost.
He claims it was lost in the period after which she was sent to prison.
And it also appears that in the history of the British state, Marian
Price's pardon, that is to say the physical document signed by Her
Majesty, is the only one such document to ever have disappeared.
And you have to really ask yourself questions about that.
HH: The question arises: Why is this happening to Marian Price now?
BDM: I think it's happening for a number of reasons.
There are parts of it have very, for me, have resonance for the arrest
of my own daughter and the context in which that happened at the
beginning of the peace process. I think the normalisation and the peace
process here has reached a position where the voices of Republican
dissidents have, according to the state, to be silenced.
There are many, many, particularly, in the present economic climate,
there are many poorer people, particularly the youth who have not had
any social, political or economic benefits from the peace.
There are people of course who have had significant benefits.
And overall there is an absence of war. There is political stability.
There has been economic development.
But large sections of the most impoverished people have not seen any
economic or social benefits from the peace.
And it's amongst those young people, many of whom suffer from
trans-generational trauma of war, and many who fundamentally disagree
with the politics of their former political leaders.
That dissidence has steadily grown - fueled by the lack of economic and
social opportunity, fueled by the lack of any understanding of that
group of disaffected people or lack of any opportunity for them to
articulate what their grievances are.
So as the dissidence has grown, the repression has grown and the
numbers of people in prisons have grown.
And then with that we begin to see again the development of a prisoner
support constituency.
And I think the government has decided, which is fairly traditional
here as well as elsewhere, to use repression as a means of stifling
discontent and dissent.
And Marian Price is therefore identifiable as a kind of flexing of the
government's muscle - that they're not afraid to take on a woman -
they're not afraid to take on a Republican of long standing.
And the irony of course is: that the young man who went to London on
the same bombing expedition with Marian Price is now a senior member in
the government.
HH: When this case was brought to my attention by my colleague, Sandy
Boyer, and I asked him for some additional information, I was rather
surprised by the volume of information that is out there and which had
not yet come to my attention.
And I'm wondering whether, in your estimation, the case of Marian Price
is resonating as extensively as it should within the Irish-American
community. The...
BDM: No! I think there are two things happening there, Hugh.
The first is: the degree of co-option, which to me is sad.
The degree of co-option and, in my understanding of the word,
corruption of people's principles that have come with their
participation now in the administration of government.
It is always harder to say that things are not going well -always
harder to say things are wrong when you have a stake in the government
as opposed to when you have no stake in that class.
And Irish-Americans were very influential in helping to develop
peaceful structures here, in helping to bring about political
stability, but they have a stake in that stability so they now have a
stake in the suppression of information.
They now have a stake in that stability so they now have a stake in
denying the imperfections.
And I think that makes life very, very difficult then for principled
opposition for highlighting these issues and it makes it all the more
important for people whose principles are justice - regardless of its
nationality. Whose demand is for peace - regardless of its geographic
location - to stand up for the principles of due process and of human
rights.
HH: So what's next in the international campaign for Marian Price?
BDM: There are a number of groups supporting Marian locally.
There's a Free Marian website which people can get to if you just go
on... Marian Price... if you google Marian Price ...Free Marian...
you'll get that website. I think it's freemarian.nr
The prison crises group of which I am a member is drawing the
international parallels and seeking solidarity with other human rights
organisations fighting against unjust imprisonment in other places. So
we're building that. We have produced a pamphlet. There are a number of
local rallies.
We are building in the United Kingdom; I've just spoken in Glasgow.
Sandy Boyer, as he has done for as long as I have known him - forty
years - championed human rights in Ireland, continues to build in the
United States and we are building across Europe as well.
It is a long, slow process that sounds like we're doing great things.
It's a slow process because many of those we would have relied on in
the past are now in denial because of their stake in the current
administration.
But we continue to highlight it. We continue to build. We continue to
draw the levels of solidarity.
And her very good legal team continues to challenge in the court.
So we will await the outcome of the UN visit. We hope to have a
judicial review of the Parole Commission's latest decision.
And we just keep battling on until we have her released.
The sadness is, that all that Marian Price is asking for, all she is
asking for, is that she be granted the bail that she has repeatedly
been given in the court.
The original charge against her has in fact been dismissed by the court
because of the violation of not bringing the case to trial for over a
year.
A new charge has been instigated for which no evidence has been
produced - that's the one about the secret MI5 evidence. But she was
granted bail on that charge as well.
And she is demanding only so that she be released from prison and
allowed to recover her health at home so that she defend herself
against these charges.
She is not asking to be released from prison and not charged with
anything simply on the grounds that she's is ill.
The position is that she has been charged without evidence. She has
been denied bail.
The incarceration in prison, for the greater part in solitary
confinement, has re-traumatised her from the early experience and she
asks only for her right to be released as the court has ordered so that
she can go home, regain her health and answer the charges against her.
HH: We've been talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights
leader and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.
Ms McAliskey, thank you very much for elucidating this issue for us on
the case of Marian Price. We will of course keep our listeners
informed. I'll be announcing an event this weekend...
BDM: Might I say thank you again to WBAI who for many years have helped
tell the truth and defend democracy across the USA. I don't know where
we would be without you.
HH: Thank you very much indeed, Ms McAliskey.
(Interview ends)
------------------------------
>>>>>> Analysis: A cordial union
------------------------------
following article by Gerry Adams (for Leargas) was written in advance
of Wednesday's meeting between Martin McGuinness and the queen.
------------------------------
The peace process has seen some strange and unexpected and remarkable
developments in its almost 20 years. Sinn Fein leaders in Downing St
and the White House; US Presidents shaking hands with Sinn Fein
leaders; unionist leaders, who wouldn't sit in the same television
studios or talk to us in the negotiations, now sitting in an Executive
and all-Ireland Ministerial Council; and Martin McGuinness and Ian
Paisley demonstrating that former enemies can be friends. And that work
being continued by Martin and Peter Robinson. There has been much more.
It is evidence of the success of the process in achieving change. Of
course, it doesn't mean that unionists are now republicans and prepared
to agree to a united Ireland or that republicans have become unionists.
And there are still many issues of difference and concern between us.
But we have a process, rooted in equality, which has the capacity to
resolve these with patience.
This week will see another historic moment. Martin McGuinness has
received an invitation from Co-operation Ireland to attend an event in
Belfast next week - unconnected to the Jubilee - to celebrate the arts
and culture across Ireland. The event will also be attended by the
President of Ireland, the Queen of England and by First Minister Peter
Robinson.
Last Friday the Sinn Fein Ard Comhairle agreed that Martin could accept
the invitation. This is a significant initiative involving major
political and symbolic challenges for Irish republicans.
As the record of the peace process demonstrates Irish republicans have
frequently been prepared to take bold and historic initiatives and
risks for peace to break stalemates and find agreements.
We do so as activists whose primary political objective is the
re-unification and independence of Ireland, and we have a coherent and
viable strategy to achieve this.
Key to uniting Ireland is our ability to persuade a section of
unionists that this is the right decision for them. To make it work it
has to be part of a genuine process of national reconciliation and
transformation.
I understand that a meeting between a Sinn Fein leader and the Queen of
England is difficult for some republicans and for the victims of
British state violence, even if the President of Ireland and the First
Minister Peter Robinson is present and they are all participating as
equals.
The Irish republican and nationalist experience with the British
monarchy and the British state over centuries has been tragic and
difficult and the vexed and unresolved issue of sovereignty remains
paramount.
But Irish republicanism is rooted in the ethos and philosophy of Wolfe
Tone and the United Irish Society, who sought the unity of Catholics,
Protestants and dissenters. We are about the work of building a new
republic, a new Ireland. And that means demonstrating to our unionist
neighbours that we are serious about creating a society on this island
that they will be comfortable in.
The British Queen has a unique place in the hearts and minds and
sentiments of the unionists. As republicans we reject the idea of
royalty or monarchy or elites or hierarchies but unionists have a
different perspective. We have to understand that if our conversations
are to have relevance and make sense to them.
Last year, Queen Elizabeth II visited Dublin. Sinn Fein declined to
participate. That was exactly the right decision. That visit marked a
rapprochement in relations between that state and the British monarchy.
That was a good thing. It took 100 years to achieve.
In the course of her visit she made some important gestures and
remarks, including an acknowledgement of the pain of all victims, which
demonstrated the beginning of a new understanding and acceptance of the
realities of past. I welcomed that at the time and said it should be
built upon.
This is a different visit -- in a different context.
This week's meeting is a clear expression of the determination of Irish
republicans to engage with our unionist neighbours and to demonstrate
that we are prepared, once again to go beyond rhetoric, as we seek to
persuade them that our new Ireland will not be a cold house for
unionists or any other section of our people.
Unionists don't need me to tell them that they have lived on this
island for centuries. This is their home. It is where they belong and
it is where they will remain.
Our Protestant neighbours also have a proud history of progressive and
radical thinking. The founders of Irish republicanism where mainly
Protestant. They were for the emancipation of their Catholic neighbours
and for equality.
Republicans are democrats and the new republic we seek is pluralist. An
Ireland of equals in which there is space for all opinions and
identities. Sinn Fein is for a new dispensation in which a citizen can
be Irish and unionist. Where one can also claim Britishness and be
comfortable on this island.
Our vision of a new Republic is one in which, in Tone's words, Orange
and Green unite in a cordial union.
The Sinn Fein decision reflects a confident, dynamic, forward-looking
Sinn Fein demonstrating our genuine desire to embrace our unionist
neighbours.
It also reflects the equality and parity of esteem arrangements that
are now in place. It will also create new platforms and open up a new
phase in our relationships and will be another important and necessary
step on our collective journey.
James Craig, the first unionist Prime Minister of the North recognised
this when he said: "In this island we cannot live always separated from
one another. We are too small to be apart or for the border to be there
for all time. The change will not come in my time but it will come."
It is clear that legacy issues have to be dealt with and Sinn Fein will
continue to engage in that work.
By our actions Irish republicans will be judged, as well as our
beliefs. We have to change Irish society now, North and South, to
accommodate the unionist population and their cultural identity. The
meeting between Martin McGuinness and the Queen of England will assist
in that process.
If the peace process has taught us anything, it is that the process
cannot remain static. It must continue to expand and we must constantly
build on the progress that has been made.
------------------------------
>>>>>> Analysis: Bridging the gulf between compromise and abandonment
------------------------------
The following article by Anthony McIntyre (for the Guardian) was
written in advance of Wednesday's meeting between Martin McGuinness and
the queen.
------------------------------
Tomorrow the former Provisional IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness
will shake hands with the British queen at the Lyric Theatre in
Belfast. The event has been made possible by the earlier negotiated
surrender of the IRA. Surrendering honourably is better than holding
out to the last. The leaders of the 1916 Rising in Dublin chose to
surrender rather than subject the city's population to further
bloodshed.
In politics as in other areas of life it is often necessary to
compromise principles. But there is a gulf between compromise and
abandonment that should not be bridged. Otherwise radical ideas and the
notion of oppositional currents are devalued. What does it say about
the plausibility of the adversarial position if the values espoused in
opposition are jettisoned just to make it into office?
McGuinness will not be standing in front of the British head of state
on equal terms: as head of another state that had gained its
independence from Britain. He is there as deputy head of a state over
which the British hold unalloyed sovereignty and which he ostensibly
spent much of his adult life trying to destroy.
Peter Hain, the former secretary of State for the North of Ireland, has
said that 'many Republicans will see it as a betrayal.' He is right.
They will feel that McGuinness and Sinn Fein have not simply
compromised core principles but abandoned them, principles that he and
his colleagues in positions of leadership directed others to both take
life and risk losing possession of their own mortal coil in pursuit of.
In Derry where McGuinness is domiciled, graffiti has appeared on walls:
'U Dare Marty' and 'Sinn Fein sellouts.' At a rally in South Armagh on
Sunday, where many British troops and policemen exhaled their death
rattle, courtesy of the IRA campaign, McGuinness was denounced as a
traitor who had persistently lied to his volunteers.
Whatever about the intemperate language in which it is adorned, the
substance of republican opposition to tomorrow's meeting hardly renders
it the perspective of past-hugging dinosaurs. Plaid Cymru leader Leanne
Wood recently declined to attend a service in the Queen's presence at
Llandaff Cathedral which was laid on to mark the Diamond Jubilee. The
Plaid Cymru Assembly member for South Wales West, Bethan Jenkins,
described Martin McGuinness as 'naive' for going ahead with the
meeting. Boycotting monarchy is a perfectly legitimate position for
republicans to adopt.
Irish republicans who express that dissent do so in the context of a
British state which continues to behave badly: just last week it denied
a public inquiry into the massacre of civilians in Belfast in 1971
while continuing to seek prosecution of republicans they suspect of
involvement in the IRA campaign. This week it is indulging in
gratuitous flag waving by having the Armed Forces flag hoisted for six
days at Belfast City Hall, riding roughshod over nationalist protests
that such action is coat trailing triumphalism.
The British monarchy in opting to shake the hand of McGuinness is
hardly unaware of the perspective outlined in the Boston Globe: 'there
are many law enforcement officials, Irish and British, who believe
McGuinness was running the IRA or was at least on its ruling Army
Council, when the plan to blow up Mountbatten was approved.'
Yet it is the path the monarchy has decided to tread, even if holding
its nose. Why? Norman Tebbit, who survived the Brighton bomb in 1984,
explained it succinctly: McGuinness and Sinn Fein have 'now accepted
the sovereignty of Her Majesty over Northern Ireland.' Strange
bedfellows perhaps but The Daily Telegraph is not out of sync with
peeved republicans when it proclaims 'the British establishment
completes the decommissioning of Martin McGuinness.'
Tomorrow's event will be tarted up in the discourse of the peace
process, which invariably serves to mask essences and runs with the
decoy of appearances. Despite much discursive massaging the matter has
little if anything to do with reaching out to unionists. If Sinn Fein
and McGuinness were really concerned with embracing unionist
sensitivity they would desist from denying that the IRA carried out the
Kingsmill massacre in 1976, an act on an ethical par with Derry's
Bloody Sunday in Derry 1972. The strategic thinking behind tomorrow's
initiative is consistent with Sinn Fein's expansionist strategy in the
South of Ireland where everything is gauged in terms of conquering
electoral terrain, not creating ethical terra firma sufficiently
fortified to bear the reconciled weight of two separate traditions.
Sinn Fein's electoral ambitions, not reconciliation with unionism, is
what fuels Martin McGuinness meeting the Queen.
However, having scorned the opportunity during the royal visit to
Ireland last year, Sinn Fein's transparently crass manipulation of
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