23.8.03
IrelandClick.com
Message Of The Murals
--South Belfast News
Despite a decline in political art in Belfast in recent years, a murals expert believes the culture of expressing opinion through street art is destined to continue well into the future.
Former South Belfast resident Dr Jonathan McCormick has spent the last seven years pulling together the most comprehensive database and picture library of political murals in Northern Ireland.
In that time the medical doctor has amassed almost 2,000 images of political murals from across the north.
The Scotsman, who now lives and works in Dundee, says wall murals still have a strong part to play in articulating political opinion.
“There are not as many murals in parts of Belfast as there used to be,” explained Jonathan.
“There are several reasons for this and one of them is planning.
“In recent years a lot of houses that have been built are set back from the pavement or have a window in the gable and that reduces the chances of it being used for a mural.”
The expert says that in past murals could be used as a barometer that measured the extent of local feeling on a particular issue.
“Murals have acted as a vital community notice board over the years. They are free from censorship and can sell a powerful political message.”
However in recent years the number of murals in nationalist South and East Belfast have decreased and Jonathon believes their message too is changing.
“There has been a decrease in the numbers of murals in these parts of the city and the tone of them has changed. The character of most of the murals has changed through the years along with the changing political climate.
“The images in loyalist areas are still inclined to concentrate on organisations.
“In the Village we have a lot of murals dedicated to organisations, many of which have not been completed. This goes back to the loyalist feud a few years ago when the different groups were just laying claim to turf.”
But despite the changes Jonathon believes murals will continue to be a feature of street life in Belfast.
“I think murals will continue to be used to convey political opinion and that they will continue to evolve. In recent times loyalists have started to use more sophisticated images to make their point.
“A good example of that is a recent mural in the Shankill which shows a man wearing a suit and balaclava standing next to a photocopying machine - a direct reference to alleged spying in Stormont.
“That is a break from the traditional loyalist image and presents a message of good propaganda worth.”
And Jonathan insists the murals in nationalist areas also have a future.
“Many of the walls that would have been traditionally used in and around Short Strand are no longer available for use and there is a real decrease in murals in this area. But I think they will continue to be used to sell a particular point.”
If you would like to learn more about murals and view some of Jonathan’s images, you can visit Murals on CAIN
Journalist: Staff Reporter
Message Of The Murals
--South Belfast News
Despite a decline in political art in Belfast in recent years, a murals expert believes the culture of expressing opinion through street art is destined to continue well into the future.
Former South Belfast resident Dr Jonathan McCormick has spent the last seven years pulling together the most comprehensive database and picture library of political murals in Northern Ireland.
In that time the medical doctor has amassed almost 2,000 images of political murals from across the north.
The Scotsman, who now lives and works in Dundee, says wall murals still have a strong part to play in articulating political opinion.
“There are not as many murals in parts of Belfast as there used to be,” explained Jonathan.
“There are several reasons for this and one of them is planning.
“In recent years a lot of houses that have been built are set back from the pavement or have a window in the gable and that reduces the chances of it being used for a mural.”
The expert says that in past murals could be used as a barometer that measured the extent of local feeling on a particular issue.
“Murals have acted as a vital community notice board over the years. They are free from censorship and can sell a powerful political message.”
However in recent years the number of murals in nationalist South and East Belfast have decreased and Jonathon believes their message too is changing.
“There has been a decrease in the numbers of murals in these parts of the city and the tone of them has changed. The character of most of the murals has changed through the years along with the changing political climate.
“The images in loyalist areas are still inclined to concentrate on organisations.
“In the Village we have a lot of murals dedicated to organisations, many of which have not been completed. This goes back to the loyalist feud a few years ago when the different groups were just laying claim to turf.”
But despite the changes Jonathon believes murals will continue to be a feature of street life in Belfast.
“I think murals will continue to be used to convey political opinion and that they will continue to evolve. In recent times loyalists have started to use more sophisticated images to make their point.
“A good example of that is a recent mural in the Shankill which shows a man wearing a suit and balaclava standing next to a photocopying machine - a direct reference to alleged spying in Stormont.
“That is a break from the traditional loyalist image and presents a message of good propaganda worth.”
And Jonathan insists the murals in nationalist areas also have a future.
“Many of the walls that would have been traditionally used in and around Short Strand are no longer available for use and there is a real decrease in murals in this area. But I think they will continue to be used to sell a particular point.”
If you would like to learn more about murals and view some of Jonathan’s images, you can visit Murals on CAIN
Journalist: Staff Reporter
Michael Collins
Michael Collins was assassinated on August 22, 1922.
(photo)
LAUGHING BOY
--by Brendan Behan
It was on an August morning, all in the morning hours,
I went to take the warming air all in the mouth of Flowers,
And there I saw a maiden and heard her mournful cry,
Oh, what will mend my broken heart, I’ve lost my Laughing Boy.
So strong, so wide, so brave he was, I’ll mourn his loss too sore
When thinking that we’ll hear the laugh or springing step no more.
Ah, curse the time, and sad the loss my heart to crucify,
Than an Irish son, with a rebel gun, shot down my Laughing Boy.
Oh, had he died by Pearse’s side, or in the G.P.O.,
Killed by an English bullet from the rifle of the foe,
Or forcibly fed while Ashe lay dead in the dungeons of Mountjoy,
I’d have cried with pride at the way he died, my own dear Laughing Boy.
My princely love, can ageless love do more than tell to you
Go raibh mile maith Agath, for all you tried to do,
For all you did and would have done, my enemies to destroy,
I’ll prize your name and guard your fame, my own dear Laughing Boy.
Michael Collins was assassinated on August 22, 1922.
(photo)
LAUGHING BOY
--by Brendan Behan
It was on an August morning, all in the morning hours,
I went to take the warming air all in the mouth of Flowers,
And there I saw a maiden and heard her mournful cry,
Oh, what will mend my broken heart, I’ve lost my Laughing Boy.
So strong, so wide, so brave he was, I’ll mourn his loss too sore
When thinking that we’ll hear the laugh or springing step no more.
Ah, curse the time, and sad the loss my heart to crucify,
Than an Irish son, with a rebel gun, shot down my Laughing Boy.
Oh, had he died by Pearse’s side, or in the G.P.O.,
Killed by an English bullet from the rifle of the foe,
Or forcibly fed while Ashe lay dead in the dungeons of Mountjoy,
I’d have cried with pride at the way he died, my own dear Laughing Boy.
My princely love, can ageless love do more than tell to you
Go raibh mile maith Agath, for all you tried to do,
For all you did and would have done, my enemies to destroy,
I’ll prize your name and guard your fame, my own dear Laughing Boy.
22.8.03
IrelandClick.com
Agonising wait for victim’s family
The family of murdered Falls man Danny McGurk have been told they may have to wait up to two weeks before they can bury the father-of-five.
News of the devastating delay came after one of the men arrested in connection with the death of the Lower Falls man instructed his solicitor to take up the seldom-used option of demanding an independent coroner’s report.
Mr McGurk’s heartbroken family now fear the dead man’s 75-year-old father Seamus – who is in the final stages of terminal cancer – may not live to see his son given a Christian burial.
Danny McGurk was gunned down on Sunday morning when three men burst into the family’s Ross Road home.
The victim was shot in both ankles, the thigh and in the back.
The RIRA have been blamed on the shooting after it emerged that Mr McGurk had an earlier run-in with members of the dissident organisation.
The wait on the independent coroner to carry out his report will mean that the McGurk family will have to endure an agonising and undetermined delay before the burial can take place.
In an amazing turn of events, the family were first informed by the PSNI that the body would be released to the family on Wednesday evening.
Funeral arrangements were made and a service planned for Friday morning. Danny McGurk's children were told their father was being brought home for burial.
However, a few hours later the family were contacted again and told that one of the men arrested in connection with the killing had instructed his solicitors to take the extraordinary legal action.
“All we want is to give him a proper burial. It is every person’s human right to be allowed to bury his or her loved one,” said his grieving widow Patsy.
“This news has devastated the family. Danny’s father is dying, he might never see his own son buried.
“This is just torture after what we have been through this week. This is just too much, we are in shock.”
Two men and a woman arrested in connection with Danny McGurk’s death were released without charge yesterday, a fourth man was still being questioned by the PSNI.
Journalist: Staff Reporter
Agonising wait for victim’s family
The family of murdered Falls man Danny McGurk have been told they may have to wait up to two weeks before they can bury the father-of-five.
News of the devastating delay came after one of the men arrested in connection with the death of the Lower Falls man instructed his solicitor to take up the seldom-used option of demanding an independent coroner’s report.
Mr McGurk’s heartbroken family now fear the dead man’s 75-year-old father Seamus – who is in the final stages of terminal cancer – may not live to see his son given a Christian burial.
Danny McGurk was gunned down on Sunday morning when three men burst into the family’s Ross Road home.
The victim was shot in both ankles, the thigh and in the back.
The RIRA have been blamed on the shooting after it emerged that Mr McGurk had an earlier run-in with members of the dissident organisation.
The wait on the independent coroner to carry out his report will mean that the McGurk family will have to endure an agonising and undetermined delay before the burial can take place.
In an amazing turn of events, the family were first informed by the PSNI that the body would be released to the family on Wednesday evening.
Funeral arrangements were made and a service planned for Friday morning. Danny McGurk's children were told their father was being brought home for burial.
However, a few hours later the family were contacted again and told that one of the men arrested in connection with the killing had instructed his solicitors to take the extraordinary legal action.
“All we want is to give him a proper burial. It is every person’s human right to be allowed to bury his or her loved one,” said his grieving widow Patsy.
“This news has devastated the family. Danny’s father is dying, he might never see his own son buried.
“This is just torture after what we have been through this week. This is just too much, we are in shock.”
Two men and a woman arrested in connection with Danny McGurk’s death were released without charge yesterday, a fourth man was still being questioned by the PSNI.
Journalist: Staff Reporter
21.8.03
Man faces weapons charges
...It is believed the charges relate to the search of a house in the Beechmount area of west Belfast following the murder of Danny McGurk on Sunday morning.
...It is believed the charges relate to the search of a house in the Beechmount area of west Belfast following the murder of Danny McGurk on Sunday morning.
IOL: Republicans repeat prison segregation demands
...Raymond McCartney, an ex-IRA hunger striker, warned against allowing a dangerous delay to develop.
...Raymond McCartney, an ex-IRA hunger striker, warned against allowing a dangerous delay to develop.
20.8.03
ic NorthernIreland - Northern Ireland News
Four Quizzed Over Father-of-Six's Killing
THREE men and a woman were last night being questioned by detectives hunting the killers of a man gunned down in front of his children.
Four Quizzed Over Father-of-Six's Killing
THREE men and a woman were last night being questioned by detectives hunting the killers of a man gunned down in front of his children.
1981 Irish Hungerstrikers
Micky Devine
Died August 20th, 1981
A typical Derry lad
TWENTY-seven-year-old Micky Devine, from the Creggan in Derry city, was the third INLA Volunteer to join the H-Block hunger strike to the death.
Micky Devine took over as O/C of the INLA blanket men in March when the then O/C, Patsy O'Hara, joined the hunger strike but he retained this leadership post when he joined the hunger strike himself.
Known as 'Red Micky', his nickname stemmed from his ginger hair rather than his political complexion, although he was most definitely a republican socialist.
The story of Micky Devine is not one of a republican 'super-hero' but of a typical Derry lad whose family suffered all of the ills of sectarian and class discrimination inflicted upon the Catholic working-class of that city: poor housing, unemployment and lack of opportunity.
Micky himself had a rough life.
His father died when Micky was a young lad; he found his mother dead when he was only a teenager; married young, his marriage ended in separation; he underwent four years of suffering 'on the blanket' in the H-Blocks; and, finally, the torture of hunger-strike.
Unusually for a young Derry nationalist, because of his family's tragic history (unconnected with 'the troubles'), Micky was not part of an extended family, and his only close relatives were his sister Margaret, seven years his elder, and now aged 34, and her husband, Frank McCauley, aged 36.
CAMP
Michael James Devine was born on May 26th, 1954 in the Springtown camp, on the outskirts of Derry city, a former American army base from the Second World War, which Micky himself described as "the slum to end all slums".
Hundreds of families - 99% (unemployed) Catholics, because of Derry corporation's sectarian housing policy - lived, or rather existed, in huts, which were not kept in any decent state of repair by the corporation.
One of Micky's earliest memories was of lying in a bed covered in old coats to keep the rain off the bed. His sister, Margaret, recalls that the huts were "okay" during the summer, but they leaked, and the rest of the year they were cold and damp.
Micky's parents, Patrick and Elizabeth, both from Derry city, had got married in late 1945 shortly after the end of the Second World War, during which Patrick had served in the British merchant navy. He was a coalman by trade, but was unemployed for years.
At first Patrick and Elizabeth lived with the latter's mother in Ardmore, a village near Derry, where Margaret was born in 1947. In early 1948 the family moved to Springtown where Micky was born in May 1954.
Although Springtown was meant to provide only temporary accommodation, official lethargy and sectarianism dictated that such inadequate housing was good enough for Catholics and it was not until the early 'sixties that the camp was closed.
BLOW
During the 'fifties, the Creggan was built as a new Catholic ghetto, but it was 1960 before the Devines got their new home in Creggan, on the Circular Road. Micky had an unremarkable, but reasonably happy childhood. He went to Holy Child primary school in Creggan.
At the age of eleven Micky started at St. Joseph's secondary school in Creggan, which he was to attend until he was fifteen.
But soon the first sad blow befell him. On Christmas eve 1965, when Micky was aged only eleven, his father fell ill; and six weeks later, in February 1966, his father, who was only in his forties, died of leukaemia.
Micky had been very close to his father and his premature death left Micky heartbroken.
Five months later, in July 1966, his sister Margaret left home to get married, whilst Micky remained in the Devines' Circular Road home with his mother and granny.
At school Micky was an average pupil, and had no notable interests.
STONING
The first civil rights march in Derry took place on October 5th, 1968, when the sectarian RUC batoned several hundred protesters at Duke Street. Recalling that day, Micky, who was then only fourteen wrote:
"Like every other young person in Derry my whole way of thinking was tossed upside down by the events of October 5th, 1968. I didn't even know there was a civil rights march. I saw it on television.
"But that night I was down the town smashing shop windows and stoning the RUC. Overnight I developed an intense hatred of the RUC. As a child I had always known not to talk to them, or to have anything to do with them, but this was different
"Within a month everyone was a political activist. I had never had a political thought in my life, but now we talked of nothing else. I was by no means politically aware but the speed of events gave me a quick education."
TENSION
After the infamous loyalist attack on civil rights marchers in nearby Burntollet, in January 1969, tension mounted in Derry through 1969 until the August 12th riots, when Orangemen - Apprentice Boys and the RUC - attacked the Bogside, meeting effective resistance, in the 'Battle of the Bogside'. On two occasions in 1969 Micky ended up at the wrong end of an RUC baton, and consequently in hospital.
That summer Micky left school. Always keen to improve himself, he got a job as a shop assistant and over the next three years worked his way up the local ladder: from Hill's furniture store on the Strand Road, to Sloan's store in Shipquay Street, and finally to Austin's furniture store in the Diamond (and one can get no higher in Derry, as a shop assistant).
British troops had arrived in August 1969, in the wake of the 'Battle of the Bogside'. 'Free Derry' was maintained more by agreement with the British army than by physical force, but of course there were barricades, and Micky was one of the volunteers manning them with a hurley.
INVOLVED
At that time, and during 1970 and 1971, Micky became involved in the civil rights movement, and with the local (uniquely militant) Labour Party and the Young Socialists.
The already strained relationship between British troops and the nationalist people of Derry steadily deteriorated - reinforced by news from elsewhere, especially Belfast - culminating with the shooting dead by the British army of two unarmed civilians, Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie, in July of 1971, and with internment in August. Micky, by this time seventeen years of age, and also politically maturing, had joined the 'Officials', also known as the 'Sticks'.
He became a member of the James Connolly 'Republican Club' and then, shortly after internment, a member of the Derry Brigade of the 'Official IRA'.
'Free Derry' had become known by that name after the successful defence of the Bog side in August 1969, but it really became 'Free Derry', in the form of concrete barricades etc., from internment day. Micky was amongst those armed volunteers who manned the barricades
Typical of his selfless nature (another common characteristic of the hunger strikers), no task was too small for him.
He was 'game' to do any job, such as tidying up the office. Young men, naturally enough, wanted to stand out on the barricades with rifles: he did that too, but nothing was too menial for him, and he was always looking for jobs.
Bloody Sunday, January 30th, 1972, when British Paratroopers shot dead thirteen unarmed civil rights demonstrators in Derry (a fourteenth died later from wounds received), was a turning point for Micky. From then there was no turning back on his republican commitment and he gradually lost interest in his work, and he was to become a full-time political and military activist.
TRAUMA
Micky experienced the trauma of Bloody Sunday at first hand. He was on that fateful march with his brother-in-law, Frank, who recalls: "When the shooting started we ran, like everybody else, and when it was over we saw all the bodies being lifted."
The slaughter confirmed to Micky that it was more than time to start shooting back. "How" he would ask, "can you sit back and watch while your own Derry men are shot down like dogs?"
Micky had written: "I will never forget standing in the Creggan chapel staring at the brown wooden boxes. We mourned, and Ireland mourned with us.
"That sight more than anything convinced me that there will never be peace in Ireland while Britain remains. When I looked at those coffins I developed a commitment to the republican cause that I have never lost."
From around this time, until May when the 'Official IRA' leadership declared a unilateral ceasefire (unpopular with their Derry Volunteers), Micky was involved not only in defensive operations but in various gun attacks against British troops.
Micky's commitment and courage had shone through, but no more so than in the case of scores of other Derry youths, flung into adulthood and warfare by a British army of occupation.
TRAGIC
In September, 1972, came the second tragic loss in Micky's family life. He came home one day to find his mother dead on the settee with his granny unsuccessfully trying to revive her.
His mother had died of a brain tumour, totally unexpectedly, at the age of forty-five. Doctors said it had taken her just three minutes to die. Micky, then aged eighteen, suffered a tremendous shock from this blow, and it took him many months to come to terms with his grief.
Through 1973, Micky remained connected with the 'Sticks', although increasingly disillusioned by their openly reformist path. He came to refer to the 'Sticks' as "fireside republicans", and was highly critical of them for not being active enough.
Towards the end of that year, Micky, then aged nineteen, got married. His wife, Margaret, was only seventeen. They lived in Ranmore Drive in Creggan and had two children: Michael, now aged seven and Louise, now aged five.
Micky and his wife had since separated.
In late 1974, virtually all the 'Sticks' in Derry, including Micky, joined the newly formed IRSP, as did some who had dropped out over the years. And Micky necessarily became a founder member of the PLA (People's Liberation Army), formed to defend the IRSP from murderous attacks by their former comrades in the sticks.
In early 1975, Micky became a founder member of the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) formed for offensive operational purposes out of the PLA.
The months ahead were bad times for the IRSP, relatively isolated, and to suffer a strength-sapping split when Bernadette McAliskey left, taking with her a number of activists who formed the ISP (Independent Socialist Party), since deceased.
They were also difficult months for the fledgling INLA, suffering from a crippling lack of weaponry and funds. Weakness which led them into raids for both as their primary actions, and rendered them almost unable to operate against the Brits.
Micky was eventually arrested on the Creggan. In the evening of September 20th, 1976, after an arms raid earlier that day on a private weaponry, in Lifford, County Donegal, from which the INLA commandeered several rifles and shotguns, and three thousand rounds of ammunition.
ARRESTED
Micky was arrested with Desmond Walmsley from Shantallow, and John Cassidy from Rosemount. Along on the operation, though never convicted for it, was the late Patsy O'Hara, with whom Micky used to knock around as a friend and comrade.
Micky was held and interrogated for three days in Derry's Stand Road barracks, before being transported in Crumlin Road jail in Belfast where he spent nine months on remand.
He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment on June 20th, 1977, and immediately embarked on the blanket protest. He was in H5-Block until March of this year when the hunger strike began and when the 'no-wash, no slop-out' protest ended, whereupon he was moved with others in his wing to H6-Block.
Like others incarcerated within the H-Blocks, suffering daily abuse and inhuman and degrading treatment, Micky realised - soon after he joined the blanket protest - that eventually it would come to a hunger strike, and, for him, the sooner the better. He was determined that when that ultimate step was reached he would be among those to hunger strike.
SEVENTH
On Sunday, June 21st, this year, he completed his fourth year on the blanket, and the following day he joined Joe McDonnell, Kieran Doherty, Kevin Lynch, Martin Hurson, Thomas McElwee and Paddy Quinn on hunger strike.
He became the seventh man in a weekly build-up from a four-strong hunger strike team to eight-strong. He was moved to the prison hospital on Wednesday, July 15th, his twenty fourth day on hunger strike.
With the 50 % remission available to conforming prisoners, Micky would have been due out of jail next September.
As it was, because of his principled republican rejection of the criminal tag he chose to fight and face death.
Micky died at 7.50 am on Thursday, August 201h, as nationalist voters in Fermanagh/South Tyrone were beginning to make their way to the polling booths to elect Owen Carron, a member of parliament for the constituency, in a demonstration - for the second time in less than five months - of their support for the prisoners' demands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published in IRIS, Vol. 1, No. 2, November 1981. IRIS was a publication of the Sinn Fein Foreign Affairs Bureau.
Micky Devine
Died August 20th, 1981
A typical Derry lad
TWENTY-seven-year-old Micky Devine, from the Creggan in Derry city, was the third INLA Volunteer to join the H-Block hunger strike to the death.
Micky Devine took over as O/C of the INLA blanket men in March when the then O/C, Patsy O'Hara, joined the hunger strike but he retained this leadership post when he joined the hunger strike himself.
Known as 'Red Micky', his nickname stemmed from his ginger hair rather than his political complexion, although he was most definitely a republican socialist.
The story of Micky Devine is not one of a republican 'super-hero' but of a typical Derry lad whose family suffered all of the ills of sectarian and class discrimination inflicted upon the Catholic working-class of that city: poor housing, unemployment and lack of opportunity.
Micky himself had a rough life.
His father died when Micky was a young lad; he found his mother dead when he was only a teenager; married young, his marriage ended in separation; he underwent four years of suffering 'on the blanket' in the H-Blocks; and, finally, the torture of hunger-strike.
Unusually for a young Derry nationalist, because of his family's tragic history (unconnected with 'the troubles'), Micky was not part of an extended family, and his only close relatives were his sister Margaret, seven years his elder, and now aged 34, and her husband, Frank McCauley, aged 36.
CAMP
Michael James Devine was born on May 26th, 1954 in the Springtown camp, on the outskirts of Derry city, a former American army base from the Second World War, which Micky himself described as "the slum to end all slums".
Hundreds of families - 99% (unemployed) Catholics, because of Derry corporation's sectarian housing policy - lived, or rather existed, in huts, which were not kept in any decent state of repair by the corporation.
One of Micky's earliest memories was of lying in a bed covered in old coats to keep the rain off the bed. His sister, Margaret, recalls that the huts were "okay" during the summer, but they leaked, and the rest of the year they were cold and damp.
Micky's parents, Patrick and Elizabeth, both from Derry city, had got married in late 1945 shortly after the end of the Second World War, during which Patrick had served in the British merchant navy. He was a coalman by trade, but was unemployed for years.
At first Patrick and Elizabeth lived with the latter's mother in Ardmore, a village near Derry, where Margaret was born in 1947. In early 1948 the family moved to Springtown where Micky was born in May 1954.
Although Springtown was meant to provide only temporary accommodation, official lethargy and sectarianism dictated that such inadequate housing was good enough for Catholics and it was not until the early 'sixties that the camp was closed.
BLOW
During the 'fifties, the Creggan was built as a new Catholic ghetto, but it was 1960 before the Devines got their new home in Creggan, on the Circular Road. Micky had an unremarkable, but reasonably happy childhood. He went to Holy Child primary school in Creggan.
At the age of eleven Micky started at St. Joseph's secondary school in Creggan, which he was to attend until he was fifteen.
But soon the first sad blow befell him. On Christmas eve 1965, when Micky was aged only eleven, his father fell ill; and six weeks later, in February 1966, his father, who was only in his forties, died of leukaemia.
Micky had been very close to his father and his premature death left Micky heartbroken.
Five months later, in July 1966, his sister Margaret left home to get married, whilst Micky remained in the Devines' Circular Road home with his mother and granny.
At school Micky was an average pupil, and had no notable interests.
STONING
The first civil rights march in Derry took place on October 5th, 1968, when the sectarian RUC batoned several hundred protesters at Duke Street. Recalling that day, Micky, who was then only fourteen wrote:
"Like every other young person in Derry my whole way of thinking was tossed upside down by the events of October 5th, 1968. I didn't even know there was a civil rights march. I saw it on television.
"But that night I was down the town smashing shop windows and stoning the RUC. Overnight I developed an intense hatred of the RUC. As a child I had always known not to talk to them, or to have anything to do with them, but this was different
"Within a month everyone was a political activist. I had never had a political thought in my life, but now we talked of nothing else. I was by no means politically aware but the speed of events gave me a quick education."
TENSION
After the infamous loyalist attack on civil rights marchers in nearby Burntollet, in January 1969, tension mounted in Derry through 1969 until the August 12th riots, when Orangemen - Apprentice Boys and the RUC - attacked the Bogside, meeting effective resistance, in the 'Battle of the Bogside'. On two occasions in 1969 Micky ended up at the wrong end of an RUC baton, and consequently in hospital.
That summer Micky left school. Always keen to improve himself, he got a job as a shop assistant and over the next three years worked his way up the local ladder: from Hill's furniture store on the Strand Road, to Sloan's store in Shipquay Street, and finally to Austin's furniture store in the Diamond (and one can get no higher in Derry, as a shop assistant).
British troops had arrived in August 1969, in the wake of the 'Battle of the Bogside'. 'Free Derry' was maintained more by agreement with the British army than by physical force, but of course there were barricades, and Micky was one of the volunteers manning them with a hurley.
INVOLVED
At that time, and during 1970 and 1971, Micky became involved in the civil rights movement, and with the local (uniquely militant) Labour Party and the Young Socialists.
The already strained relationship between British troops and the nationalist people of Derry steadily deteriorated - reinforced by news from elsewhere, especially Belfast - culminating with the shooting dead by the British army of two unarmed civilians, Seamus Cusack and Desmond Beattie, in July of 1971, and with internment in August. Micky, by this time seventeen years of age, and also politically maturing, had joined the 'Officials', also known as the 'Sticks'.
He became a member of the James Connolly 'Republican Club' and then, shortly after internment, a member of the Derry Brigade of the 'Official IRA'.
'Free Derry' had become known by that name after the successful defence of the Bog side in August 1969, but it really became 'Free Derry', in the form of concrete barricades etc., from internment day. Micky was amongst those armed volunteers who manned the barricades
Typical of his selfless nature (another common characteristic of the hunger strikers), no task was too small for him.
He was 'game' to do any job, such as tidying up the office. Young men, naturally enough, wanted to stand out on the barricades with rifles: he did that too, but nothing was too menial for him, and he was always looking for jobs.
Bloody Sunday, January 30th, 1972, when British Paratroopers shot dead thirteen unarmed civil rights demonstrators in Derry (a fourteenth died later from wounds received), was a turning point for Micky. From then there was no turning back on his republican commitment and he gradually lost interest in his work, and he was to become a full-time political and military activist.
TRAUMA
Micky experienced the trauma of Bloody Sunday at first hand. He was on that fateful march with his brother-in-law, Frank, who recalls: "When the shooting started we ran, like everybody else, and when it was over we saw all the bodies being lifted."
The slaughter confirmed to Micky that it was more than time to start shooting back. "How" he would ask, "can you sit back and watch while your own Derry men are shot down like dogs?"
Micky had written: "I will never forget standing in the Creggan chapel staring at the brown wooden boxes. We mourned, and Ireland mourned with us.
"That sight more than anything convinced me that there will never be peace in Ireland while Britain remains. When I looked at those coffins I developed a commitment to the republican cause that I have never lost."
From around this time, until May when the 'Official IRA' leadership declared a unilateral ceasefire (unpopular with their Derry Volunteers), Micky was involved not only in defensive operations but in various gun attacks against British troops.
Micky's commitment and courage had shone through, but no more so than in the case of scores of other Derry youths, flung into adulthood and warfare by a British army of occupation.
TRAGIC
In September, 1972, came the second tragic loss in Micky's family life. He came home one day to find his mother dead on the settee with his granny unsuccessfully trying to revive her.
His mother had died of a brain tumour, totally unexpectedly, at the age of forty-five. Doctors said it had taken her just three minutes to die. Micky, then aged eighteen, suffered a tremendous shock from this blow, and it took him many months to come to terms with his grief.
Through 1973, Micky remained connected with the 'Sticks', although increasingly disillusioned by their openly reformist path. He came to refer to the 'Sticks' as "fireside republicans", and was highly critical of them for not being active enough.
Towards the end of that year, Micky, then aged nineteen, got married. His wife, Margaret, was only seventeen. They lived in Ranmore Drive in Creggan and had two children: Michael, now aged seven and Louise, now aged five.
Micky and his wife had since separated.
In late 1974, virtually all the 'Sticks' in Derry, including Micky, joined the newly formed IRSP, as did some who had dropped out over the years. And Micky necessarily became a founder member of the PLA (People's Liberation Army), formed to defend the IRSP from murderous attacks by their former comrades in the sticks.
In early 1975, Micky became a founder member of the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) formed for offensive operational purposes out of the PLA.
The months ahead were bad times for the IRSP, relatively isolated, and to suffer a strength-sapping split when Bernadette McAliskey left, taking with her a number of activists who formed the ISP (Independent Socialist Party), since deceased.
They were also difficult months for the fledgling INLA, suffering from a crippling lack of weaponry and funds. Weakness which led them into raids for both as their primary actions, and rendered them almost unable to operate against the Brits.
Micky was eventually arrested on the Creggan. In the evening of September 20th, 1976, after an arms raid earlier that day on a private weaponry, in Lifford, County Donegal, from which the INLA commandeered several rifles and shotguns, and three thousand rounds of ammunition.
ARRESTED
Micky was arrested with Desmond Walmsley from Shantallow, and John Cassidy from Rosemount. Along on the operation, though never convicted for it, was the late Patsy O'Hara, with whom Micky used to knock around as a friend and comrade.
Micky was held and interrogated for three days in Derry's Stand Road barracks, before being transported in Crumlin Road jail in Belfast where he spent nine months on remand.
He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment on June 20th, 1977, and immediately embarked on the blanket protest. He was in H5-Block until March of this year when the hunger strike began and when the 'no-wash, no slop-out' protest ended, whereupon he was moved with others in his wing to H6-Block.
Like others incarcerated within the H-Blocks, suffering daily abuse and inhuman and degrading treatment, Micky realised - soon after he joined the blanket protest - that eventually it would come to a hunger strike, and, for him, the sooner the better. He was determined that when that ultimate step was reached he would be among those to hunger strike.
SEVENTH
On Sunday, June 21st, this year, he completed his fourth year on the blanket, and the following day he joined Joe McDonnell, Kieran Doherty, Kevin Lynch, Martin Hurson, Thomas McElwee and Paddy Quinn on hunger strike.
He became the seventh man in a weekly build-up from a four-strong hunger strike team to eight-strong. He was moved to the prison hospital on Wednesday, July 15th, his twenty fourth day on hunger strike.
With the 50 % remission available to conforming prisoners, Micky would have been due out of jail next September.
As it was, because of his principled republican rejection of the criminal tag he chose to fight and face death.
Micky died at 7.50 am on Thursday, August 201h, as nationalist voters in Fermanagh/South Tyrone were beginning to make their way to the polling booths to elect Owen Carron, a member of parliament for the constituency, in a demonstration - for the second time in less than five months - of their support for the prisoners' demands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published in IRIS, Vol. 1, No. 2, November 1981. IRIS was a publication of the Sinn Fein Foreign Affairs Bureau.
19.8.03
Powderkeg Prison Ready to Explode
News Letter
Aug 18 2003
By Stephen Dempster
MAGHABERRY prison has been described as a powderkeg waiting to explode, by a senior warder at the jail.
The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Mark Lewis, has joined loyalists and republicans in warning jail bosses that the situation inside Maghaberry is extremely volatile.
But, while prisoners are more concerned with gaining segregation between rival paramilitary groups, prison guards are claiming that staffing levels are dangerously low.
Mr Lewis has said that, at times, staffing is down to one warder for 12 prisoners - half the preferred ratio.
With 25 years' experience as a prison officer, Mr Lewis claimed the situation at the jail was "critical".
He told a Sunday newspaper: "I have not seen a prison in such a disorganised state since I worked in the Maze.
"I would love to be able to say my employer is taking the situation seriously but that does not appear to be the case.
"There seems to be a perception that, if you ignore it, it will go away."
Mr Lewis said he had seen staffing as low as eight officers looking after 100 inmates.
He also said sickness levels among staff were high.
"We have been assaulted, intimidated and threatened with physical violence," he said.
"We are sick of it." Warders are under attack, as inmates and supporters outside the jail vent their frustrations with Maghaberry on prison staff.
A number of officers' homes have been attacked by pipebombers.
Inside Maghaberry, there have been a string of incidents.
As well as clashes between rival prisoners, there have been roof-top protests and a dirty protest by dissident republicans.
Prisoners claim conditions are overcrowded on some wings and loyalists and republicans are angry at being housed together.
Real IRA supporters have held rallies in west Belfast, while the UDA has blitzed Ulster streets with posters demanding segregation.
The Prison Service has responded by launching an inquiry, headed by former prisons' boss John Steele.
It is assessing the problems and talking to prisoners, as well as staff and prison chiefs.
Officials at Maghaberry have insisted they are monitoring problems and note that the Steele report will make recommendations.
They have also, however, said that segregation would not be a preferred option.
But among those housed in the same wing as republicans are prisoners such as UDA bosses William Mo Courtney and brothers Andre and Ihab Shoukri.
icNorthernIreland.co.uk
News Letter
Aug 18 2003
By Stephen Dempster
MAGHABERRY prison has been described as a powderkeg waiting to explode, by a senior warder at the jail.
The chairman of the Prison Officers' Association, Mark Lewis, has joined loyalists and republicans in warning jail bosses that the situation inside Maghaberry is extremely volatile.
But, while prisoners are more concerned with gaining segregation between rival paramilitary groups, prison guards are claiming that staffing levels are dangerously low.
Mr Lewis has said that, at times, staffing is down to one warder for 12 prisoners - half the preferred ratio.
With 25 years' experience as a prison officer, Mr Lewis claimed the situation at the jail was "critical".
He told a Sunday newspaper: "I have not seen a prison in such a disorganised state since I worked in the Maze.
"I would love to be able to say my employer is taking the situation seriously but that does not appear to be the case.
"There seems to be a perception that, if you ignore it, it will go away."
Mr Lewis said he had seen staffing as low as eight officers looking after 100 inmates.
He also said sickness levels among staff were high.
"We have been assaulted, intimidated and threatened with physical violence," he said.
"We are sick of it." Warders are under attack, as inmates and supporters outside the jail vent their frustrations with Maghaberry on prison staff.
A number of officers' homes have been attacked by pipebombers.
Inside Maghaberry, there have been a string of incidents.
As well as clashes between rival prisoners, there have been roof-top protests and a dirty protest by dissident republicans.
Prisoners claim conditions are overcrowded on some wings and loyalists and republicans are angry at being housed together.
Real IRA supporters have held rallies in west Belfast, while the UDA has blitzed Ulster streets with posters demanding segregation.
The Prison Service has responded by launching an inquiry, headed by former prisons' boss John Steele.
It is assessing the problems and talking to prisoners, as well as staff and prison chiefs.
Officials at Maghaberry have insisted they are monitoring problems and note that the Steele report will make recommendations.
They have also, however, said that segregation would not be a preferred option.
But among those housed in the same wing as republicans are prisoners such as UDA bosses William Mo Courtney and brothers Andre and Ihab Shoukri.
icNorthernIreland.co.uk
Three held in murder inquiry
Three men have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of a father-of-six in west Belfast.
Three men have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of a father-of-six in west Belfast.
18.8.03
IrelandClick.com
Filth
Family of murdered man blame Real IRA and claim his killers were blind drunk as they killed him in front of his five kids
The Real IRA were being blamed last night for the shooting to death of Divis man Danny McGurk in front of his wife and five children.
The 35-year-old was shot four times – in both ankles, the thigh and in the back – at his home in Ross Road yesterday morning. His family have hit out bitterly at his killers, labelling them “filth”.
His three daughters and two sons – who are between the ages of fifteen and one – along with his wife looked on in horror as three men burst into the house and opened fire in the living room. Mr McGurk died a short time later in hospital.
A close friend of Danny’s, who does not want to be named, said the murder was the culmination of a dispute between members of the RIRA and Danny McGurk which arose after a verbal altercation outside a West Belfast bar
Just last week Mr McGurk was brutally beaten by a gang wielding hammers and wheel braces.
“The cowards feared Danny,” said the family friend. “He said what he thought and didn’t hide from anyone. Danny was refused entry to a local bar because there was a Real IRA do on. He was furious and told them that he didn’t recognise the RIRA as an army and that the only army he recognised was the Irish Republican Army.
“He was told he was going to be shot dead. He stayed out of the way, and spent a few weeks in the house with his wife and kids. Danny was at his brother’s flat in Divis last Sunday night having a few drinks when the RIRA broke in and beat him with hammers and wheel braces. He was left for dead and was in hospital for some time.”
Danny McGurk’s distraught wife Patsy told relatives that she smelt drink off the three gunmen who burst into the house – and that one in particular was blind drunk.
Unemployed Danny’s older sister, Mary Linberg, has hit out at those who murdered her brother. She said he didn’t deserve to be cut down.
“My brother didn’t do anything wrong. These scumbags have left his children and wife with no father or husband, my parents without their son and me without my wee brother.
“My brother wasn’t a bad guy, he was certainly a better man than the filth who shot him dead.”
The family are convinced that this was no punishment beating that went wrong – they said it was a brutal murder that was planned for some time.
“He had already been punished when they beat him last week. These people set out to kill him. They already shot him three times before they shot him in the back,” said Mary.
“The so-called leaders of the RIRA who shot my brother dead are drug-dealers, muggers and thieves. There are more touts than so-called volunteers. They should be the ones taken out of our community, not Danny.”
Journalist: Georgina Doran
Filth
Family of murdered man blame Real IRA and claim his killers were blind drunk as they killed him in front of his five kids
The Real IRA were being blamed last night for the shooting to death of Divis man Danny McGurk in front of his wife and five children.
The 35-year-old was shot four times – in both ankles, the thigh and in the back – at his home in Ross Road yesterday morning. His family have hit out bitterly at his killers, labelling them “filth”.
His three daughters and two sons – who are between the ages of fifteen and one – along with his wife looked on in horror as three men burst into the house and opened fire in the living room. Mr McGurk died a short time later in hospital.
A close friend of Danny’s, who does not want to be named, said the murder was the culmination of a dispute between members of the RIRA and Danny McGurk which arose after a verbal altercation outside a West Belfast bar
Just last week Mr McGurk was brutally beaten by a gang wielding hammers and wheel braces.
“The cowards feared Danny,” said the family friend. “He said what he thought and didn’t hide from anyone. Danny was refused entry to a local bar because there was a Real IRA do on. He was furious and told them that he didn’t recognise the RIRA as an army and that the only army he recognised was the Irish Republican Army.
“He was told he was going to be shot dead. He stayed out of the way, and spent a few weeks in the house with his wife and kids. Danny was at his brother’s flat in Divis last Sunday night having a few drinks when the RIRA broke in and beat him with hammers and wheel braces. He was left for dead and was in hospital for some time.”
Danny McGurk’s distraught wife Patsy told relatives that she smelt drink off the three gunmen who burst into the house – and that one in particular was blind drunk.
Unemployed Danny’s older sister, Mary Linberg, has hit out at those who murdered her brother. She said he didn’t deserve to be cut down.
“My brother didn’t do anything wrong. These scumbags have left his children and wife with no father or husband, my parents without their son and me without my wee brother.
“My brother wasn’t a bad guy, he was certainly a better man than the filth who shot him dead.”
The family are convinced that this was no punishment beating that went wrong – they said it was a brutal murder that was planned for some time.
“He had already been punished when they beat him last week. These people set out to kill him. They already shot him three times before they shot him in the back,” said Mary.
“The so-called leaders of the RIRA who shot my brother dead are drug-dealers, muggers and thieves. There are more touts than so-called volunteers. They should be the ones taken out of our community, not Danny.”
Journalist: Georgina Doran
IrelandClick.com
Filth
Family of murdered man blame Real IRA and claim his killers were blind drunk as they killed him in front of his five kids
The Real IRA were being blamed last night for the shooting to death of Divis man Danny McGurk in front of his wife and five children.
The 35-year-old was shot four times – in both ankles, the thigh and in the back – at his home in Ross Road yesterday morning. His family have hit out bitterly at his killers, labelling them “filth”.
His three daughters and two sons – who are between the ages of fifteen and one – along with his wife looked on in horror as three men burst into the house and opened fire in the living room. Mr McGurk died a short time later in hospital.
A close friend of Danny’s, who does not want to be named, said the murder was the culmination of a dispute between members of the RIRA and Danny McGurk which arose after a verbal altercation outside a West Belfast bar
. Just last week Mr McGurk was brutally beaten by a gang wielding hammers and wheel braces.
“The cowards feared Danny,” said the family friend. “He said what he thought and didn’t hide from anyone. Danny was refused entry to a local bar because there was a Real IRA do on. He was furious and told them that he didn’t recognise the RIRA as an army and that the only army he recognised was the Irish Republican Army.
“He was told he was going to be shot dead. He stayed out of the way, and spent a few weeks in the house with his wife and kids. Danny was at his brother’s flat in Divis last Sunday night having a few drinks when the RIRA broke in and beat him with hammers and wheel braces. He was left for dead and was in hospital for some time.”
Danny McGurk’s distraught wife Patsy told relatives that she smelt drink off the three gunmen who burst into the house – and that one in particular was blind drunk.
Unemployed Danny’s older sister, Mary Linberg, has hit out at those who murdered her brother. She said he didn’t deserve to be cut down.
“My brother didn’t do anything wrong. These scumbags have left his children and wife with no father or husband, my parents without their son and me without my wee brother.
“My brother wasn’t a bad guy, he was certainly a better man than the filth who shot him dead.”
The family are convinced that this was no punishment beating that went wrong – they said it was a brutal murder that was planned for some time.
“He had already been punished when they beat him last week. These people set out to kill him. They already shot him three times before they shot him in the back,” said Mary.
“The so-called leaders of the RIRA who shot my brother dead are drug-dealers, muggers and thieves. There are more touts than so-called volunteers. They should be the ones taken out of our community, not Danny.”
Journalist: Georgina Doran
Filth
Family of murdered man blame Real IRA and claim his killers were blind drunk as they killed him in front of his five kids
The Real IRA were being blamed last night for the shooting to death of Divis man Danny McGurk in front of his wife and five children.
The 35-year-old was shot four times – in both ankles, the thigh and in the back – at his home in Ross Road yesterday morning. His family have hit out bitterly at his killers, labelling them “filth”.
His three daughters and two sons – who are between the ages of fifteen and one – along with his wife looked on in horror as three men burst into the house and opened fire in the living room. Mr McGurk died a short time later in hospital.
A close friend of Danny’s, who does not want to be named, said the murder was the culmination of a dispute between members of the RIRA and Danny McGurk which arose after a verbal altercation outside a West Belfast bar
. Just last week Mr McGurk was brutally beaten by a gang wielding hammers and wheel braces.
“The cowards feared Danny,” said the family friend. “He said what he thought and didn’t hide from anyone. Danny was refused entry to a local bar because there was a Real IRA do on. He was furious and told them that he didn’t recognise the RIRA as an army and that the only army he recognised was the Irish Republican Army.
“He was told he was going to be shot dead. He stayed out of the way, and spent a few weeks in the house with his wife and kids. Danny was at his brother’s flat in Divis last Sunday night having a few drinks when the RIRA broke in and beat him with hammers and wheel braces. He was left for dead and was in hospital for some time.”
Danny McGurk’s distraught wife Patsy told relatives that she smelt drink off the three gunmen who burst into the house – and that one in particular was blind drunk.
Unemployed Danny’s older sister, Mary Linberg, has hit out at those who murdered her brother. She said he didn’t deserve to be cut down.
“My brother didn’t do anything wrong. These scumbags have left his children and wife with no father or husband, my parents without their son and me without my wee brother.
“My brother wasn’t a bad guy, he was certainly a better man than the filth who shot him dead.”
The family are convinced that this was no punishment beating that went wrong – they said it was a brutal murder that was planned for some time.
“He had already been punished when they beat him last week. These people set out to kill him. They already shot him three times before they shot him in the back,” said Mary.
“The so-called leaders of the RIRA who shot my brother dead are drug-dealers, muggers and thieves. There are more touts than so-called volunteers. They should be the ones taken out of our community, not Danny.”
Journalist: Georgina Doran
Murder victim 'stood up to thugs'
The mother of a man murdered at his west Belfast home has said her son was killed because he had stood up to "thugs and drug dealers".
Daniel McGurk, 35, was shot dead at his home in the nationalist lower Falls area at about 1100 BST on Sunday.
The mother of a man murdered at his west Belfast home has said her son was killed because he had stood up to "thugs and drug dealers".
Daniel McGurk, 35, was shot dead at his home in the nationalist lower Falls area at about 1100 BST on Sunday.
IOL: SF slams Scappaticci ruling
Sinn Féin has criticised the High Court in Belfast for rejecting attempts by a 59-year-old republican to get the British government to deny that he was an informer for the British army.
The court ruled today that the British government was right to refuse to confirm or deny whether Freddie Scappaticci was the informer code-named Stakeknife.
Several newspapers claimed earlier this year that Mr Scappaticci was Stakeknife, who is reported to be the British army's highest-placed informer within the IRA. The newspaper articles are believed to have been based on briefings with anonymous British "security sources".
Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said today's High Court decision would enable these faceless security sources to continue to undermine the peace process by giving briefings to journalists.
"These allegations [against Mr Scappaticci] were made by the same people who killed Pat Finucane and ran Brian Nelson and used him and other agents to control and direct loyalist death squads against republicans, nationalists and Catholics," Mr McLaughlin said.
"At every turn of the peace process, they maliciously leak and brief misinformation to create crises and to bolster anti-agreement elements. This morning's judgement in the High Court will have the effect of providing further cover for the activities of these faceless and unaccountable agencies who made the allegations against Freddie Scappaticci."
Sinn Féin has criticised the High Court in Belfast for rejecting attempts by a 59-year-old republican to get the British government to deny that he was an informer for the British army.
The court ruled today that the British government was right to refuse to confirm or deny whether Freddie Scappaticci was the informer code-named Stakeknife.
Several newspapers claimed earlier this year that Mr Scappaticci was Stakeknife, who is reported to be the British army's highest-placed informer within the IRA. The newspaper articles are believed to have been based on briefings with anonymous British "security sources".
Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said today's High Court decision would enable these faceless security sources to continue to undermine the peace process by giving briefings to journalists.
"These allegations [against Mr Scappaticci] were made by the same people who killed Pat Finucane and ran Brian Nelson and used him and other agents to control and direct loyalist death squads against republicans, nationalists and Catholics," Mr McLaughlin said.
"At every turn of the peace process, they maliciously leak and brief misinformation to create crises and to bolster anti-agreement elements. This morning's judgement in the High Court will have the effect of providing further cover for the activities of these faceless and unaccountable agencies who made the allegations against Freddie Scappaticci."
Scappaticci loses legal bid
The west Belfast man who denies being a British Army spy inside the IRA has lost a judicial review he brought in a bid to clear his name.
The west Belfast man who denies being a British Army spy inside the IRA has lost a judicial review he brought in a bid to clear his name.
17.8.03
Song For Marcella
Bobby's picture
Song For Marcella
--Bik McFarlane
Doesn´t seem quite so long ago,
The last time that I saw you,
Ain´t it funny how the memories grow,
They always fold around you,
They tried to break you in a living hell,
But they couldn´t find a way,
So they killed you in a H-Block cell,
And hoped that all would turn away,
Thought that your spirit couldn´t rise again
But it dared to prove them wrong,
And in death you tore away the chains,
And let the world hear Freedom´s Song
Yet the heartache and pain linger on,
They´re still here though its so long since you have gone,
But we´re stronger now you showed us how,
How freedom fight can be won
I wish there was an easy road to chose,
To bring the heartache to an end,
But easy roads are always sure to lose,
I´ve seen that time and time again,
If you can stand by me like yesterday,
I´ll find the strength to carry on,
So let your spirit shine along the way,
And our day will surely come
Yet the heartache and pain linger on,
They´re still here though its so long since you have gone,
But we´re stronger now you showed us how,
How freedom fight can be won, if we all stand as one
Bobby's picture
Song For Marcella
--Bik McFarlane
Doesn´t seem quite so long ago,
The last time that I saw you,
Ain´t it funny how the memories grow,
They always fold around you,
They tried to break you in a living hell,
But they couldn´t find a way,
So they killed you in a H-Block cell,
And hoped that all would turn away,
Thought that your spirit couldn´t rise again
But it dared to prove them wrong,
And in death you tore away the chains,
And let the world hear Freedom´s Song
Yet the heartache and pain linger on,
They´re still here though its so long since you have gone,
But we´re stronger now you showed us how,
How freedom fight can be won
I wish there was an easy road to chose,
To bring the heartache to an end,
But easy roads are always sure to lose,
I´ve seen that time and time again,
If you can stand by me like yesterday,
I´ll find the strength to carry on,
So let your spirit shine along the way,
And our day will surely come
Yet the heartache and pain linger on,
They´re still here though its so long since you have gone,
But we´re stronger now you showed us how,
How freedom fight can be won, if we all stand as one
SUNDAY 17/08/2003 16:18:53 UTV
u.tv
Dissidents murder Belfast man
Dissident republicans murdered a man at his home in west Belfast today
The 35-year-old victim was shot three times by two gunmen who called at his home in Ross Road.
The man's partner and six children were all at home when the killers called at about 11am, shooting him in the chest, thigh and ankle.
Detectives believe the murder might have been a so-called punishment shooting which went too far.
One said: "It may have been one that went wrong or just got out of control.
"I wouldn't even say this was the result of any feud. He could just have offended somebody and ended up getting this."
Even though the shooting took place in the staunchly republican west Belfast, security sources immediately ruled out the Provisional IRA.
Police believe renegade republicans opposed to Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and their support for the Northern Ireland peace process were behind the murder.
It is believed the victim opened the door to the gunmen.
"There was no forced entry. The door was open and he let them in," one source said.
The dead man was later named locally as Daniel McGurk.
It is understood he was targeted following a dispute with dissident republicans which flared last week.
A source in west Belfast said: "He was beaten up a few days ago and then he went looking for those boys last night.
"But it seems they got their retaliation in first and shot him today. This has been smouldering all week and it looks like they (the gunmen) knew what they wanted to do because they went to his house fully armed up."
Security sources said the victim was gunned down in his living room.
He was taken to the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital, where he died.
--Press Association
u.tv
Dissidents murder Belfast man
Dissident republicans murdered a man at his home in west Belfast today
The 35-year-old victim was shot three times by two gunmen who called at his home in Ross Road.
The man's partner and six children were all at home when the killers called at about 11am, shooting him in the chest, thigh and ankle.
Detectives believe the murder might have been a so-called punishment shooting which went too far.
One said: "It may have been one that went wrong or just got out of control.
"I wouldn't even say this was the result of any feud. He could just have offended somebody and ended up getting this."
Even though the shooting took place in the staunchly republican west Belfast, security sources immediately ruled out the Provisional IRA.
Police believe renegade republicans opposed to Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and their support for the Northern Ireland peace process were behind the murder.
It is believed the victim opened the door to the gunmen.
"There was no forced entry. The door was open and he let them in," one source said.
The dead man was later named locally as Daniel McGurk.
It is understood he was targeted following a dispute with dissident republicans which flared last week.
A source in west Belfast said: "He was beaten up a few days ago and then he went looking for those boys last night.
"But it seems they got their retaliation in first and shot him today. This has been smouldering all week and it looks like they (the gunmen) knew what they wanted to do because they went to his house fully armed up."
Security sources said the victim was gunned down in his living room.
He was taken to the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital, where he died.
--Press Association
The Irish Republican Bulletin Board (IRBB) :: View topic - National Irish Freedom Committee - UNCENSORED
Saerbhreathach sets the record straight about Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta (National Irish Freedom Committee)
National Irish Freedom Committee--Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta
Saerbhreathach sets the record straight about Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta (National Irish Freedom Committee)
National Irish Freedom Committee--Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta
