4.10.03
Danny Morrison - Irish Republican News - Remembering Vol Jimmy Quigley
**The 29th of September was the 31st anniversary of the death of a young IRA Volunteer named Jimmy Quigley. The following posts are from the board at Danny Morrison and were put up by Michael Kerry. They are very moving.
from An Phoblacht:
QUIGLEY, Jimmy (31st Ann). In proud and loving memory of a young friend and comrade IRA Volunteer Jimmy Quigley, who died for his people and for the freedom of Ireland. The day you died, Jimmy, Friday 29 September 1972 is etched in my mind. You were faithful and you fought. Always remembered by Danny Morrison.
Cairde,
Today we remember IRA Volunteer Jimmy Quigley--2nd Battalion, Belfast Brigade--shot dead on active service on Friday 29 September 1972.
Below are three extracts from Danny's book ‘All The Dead Voices’. Jimmy Quigley is present in all three.
Michael
Once a Volunteer (extract one)
Jimmy Quigley (extract two)
The Death of Jimmy Quigley (extract three)
**The 29th of September was the 31st anniversary of the death of a young IRA Volunteer named Jimmy Quigley. The following posts are from the board at Danny Morrison and were put up by Michael Kerry. They are very moving.
from An Phoblacht:
QUIGLEY, Jimmy (31st Ann). In proud and loving memory of a young friend and comrade IRA Volunteer Jimmy Quigley, who died for his people and for the freedom of Ireland. The day you died, Jimmy, Friday 29 September 1972 is etched in my mind. You were faithful and you fought. Always remembered by Danny Morrison.
Cairde,
Today we remember IRA Volunteer Jimmy Quigley--2nd Battalion, Belfast Brigade--shot dead on active service on Friday 29 September 1972.
Below are three extracts from Danny's book ‘All The Dead Voices’. Jimmy Quigley is present in all three.
Michael
Once a Volunteer (extract one)
Jimmy Quigley (extract two)
The Death of Jimmy Quigley (extract three)
THE BLANKET
The Rite Of Passage
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities - Voltaire
Anthony McIntyre • 3.10.03
The Rite Of Passage
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities - Voltaire
Anthony McIntyre • 3.10.03
3.10.03
IRA memorial a grim reminder of suffering inflicted on many
Irish Times/by Jim Dee
Monday, September 29, 2003
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Pro-British unionist foes of 1998's Good
Friday agreement will probably never attend an Irish Republican Army
memorial service. But if they had last Friday, perhaps some would
understand the extent to which all sides suffered during the
conflict here.
The event was the dedication of a wall mural honoring IRA and Sinn
Fein members killed in the north Belfast IRA stronghold of Ardoyne.
As the names of the dead were read aloud, former IRA heavyweight
Martin Meehan stood glassy-eyed, choked with emotion. Later, as the
crowd dispersed, he stood alone staring at the young faces of the
dead painted on the gable wall.
``I knew every one of them lads, and women, that was killed,'' he
told the Herald afterward. ``It brought back memories of the
sacrifice they made. On many of those occasions, I should've been
with them. I was just one of the lucky ones who survived.''
Hard-line unionists vilify people like Meehan, branding them
``unrepentant terrorists'' who bear sole blame for the bloodshed.
Meehan is certainly unrepentant. But he considers himself and his
former comrades to be freedom fighters, not terrorists. And he said
war was triggered by decades of anti-Catholic discrimination by
Protestant unionists who used electoral gerrymandering and voting
restrictions against Catholics in order to rule unopposed for the
first 50 years of Northern Ireland's existence.
``We were born into conflict. We didn't create this situation. This
situation was created by the British government when they
partitioned our country,'' Meehan insisted.
``Nobody liked to do it,'' he said of the IRA's war. ``Nobody wanted
to do it. Nobody took pride in doing it. But it was a job that had
to be done. People were hurt, and nobody takes any glory in anybody
being hurt. But people were hurt on both sides - British soldiers,
(police) and IRA volunteers. And, mostly, civilians.''
Speculation is rife that the IRA may stage a major disarmament act
to break a political deadlock that has existed since Britain iced
the North's assembly in October amid claims the IRA was spying
there.
An IRA move may pave the way for assembly elections, possibly in
November. But fully transforming this sharply polarized society will
take more than political movement.
Many people also want the full truth told about atrocities by the
IRA and pro-British loyalist paramilitaries, and about the British
army's involvement with loyalists who killed alleged IRA members (a
charge leveled in April's high-profile report by London Police
commissioner John Stevens).
There is a growing debate about whether a formal truth and
reconciliation process, perhaps along the lines of that instituted
in post-apartheid South Africa in the 1990s, should be established.
But true societal healing won't occur until unionist hard-liners
accept there is a parity of pain between that felt by slain IRA
members' friends and relatives, and the suffering of friends and
relatives of slain Protestants, policemen and soldiers.
In this deeply divided society, such a scenario may seem light years
away.
Then again, amid the bloodshed 10 years ago, few would have
predicted the ensuing decade would see the IRA on cease-fire three-
quarters of the time and a landmark peace accord in place for more
than half that period.
Irish Times/by Jim Dee
Monday, September 29, 2003
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Pro-British unionist foes of 1998's Good
Friday agreement will probably never attend an Irish Republican Army
memorial service. But if they had last Friday, perhaps some would
understand the extent to which all sides suffered during the
conflict here.
The event was the dedication of a wall mural honoring IRA and Sinn
Fein members killed in the north Belfast IRA stronghold of Ardoyne.
As the names of the dead were read aloud, former IRA heavyweight
Martin Meehan stood glassy-eyed, choked with emotion. Later, as the
crowd dispersed, he stood alone staring at the young faces of the
dead painted on the gable wall.
``I knew every one of them lads, and women, that was killed,'' he
told the Herald afterward. ``It brought back memories of the
sacrifice they made. On many of those occasions, I should've been
with them. I was just one of the lucky ones who survived.''
Hard-line unionists vilify people like Meehan, branding them
``unrepentant terrorists'' who bear sole blame for the bloodshed.
Meehan is certainly unrepentant. But he considers himself and his
former comrades to be freedom fighters, not terrorists. And he said
war was triggered by decades of anti-Catholic discrimination by
Protestant unionists who used electoral gerrymandering and voting
restrictions against Catholics in order to rule unopposed for the
first 50 years of Northern Ireland's existence.
``We were born into conflict. We didn't create this situation. This
situation was created by the British government when they
partitioned our country,'' Meehan insisted.
``Nobody liked to do it,'' he said of the IRA's war. ``Nobody wanted
to do it. Nobody took pride in doing it. But it was a job that had
to be done. People were hurt, and nobody takes any glory in anybody
being hurt. But people were hurt on both sides - British soldiers,
(police) and IRA volunteers. And, mostly, civilians.''
Speculation is rife that the IRA may stage a major disarmament act
to break a political deadlock that has existed since Britain iced
the North's assembly in October amid claims the IRA was spying
there.
An IRA move may pave the way for assembly elections, possibly in
November. But fully transforming this sharply polarized society will
take more than political movement.
Many people also want the full truth told about atrocities by the
IRA and pro-British loyalist paramilitaries, and about the British
army's involvement with loyalists who killed alleged IRA members (a
charge leveled in April's high-profile report by London Police
commissioner John Stevens).
There is a growing debate about whether a formal truth and
reconciliation process, perhaps along the lines of that instituted
in post-apartheid South Africa in the 1990s, should be established.
But true societal healing won't occur until unionist hard-liners
accept there is a parity of pain between that felt by slain IRA
members' friends and relatives, and the suffering of friends and
relatives of slain Protestants, policemen and soldiers.
In this deeply divided society, such a scenario may seem light years
away.
Then again, amid the bloodshed 10 years ago, few would have
predicted the ensuing decade would see the IRA on cease-fire three-
quarters of the time and a landmark peace accord in place for more
than half that period.
2 October 2003
Address From Imprisoned Members of the 32CSM Outgoing National
Executive.
Friends and comrades,
As members of the outgoing national executive, currently interned onremand in Maghaberry gaol, we wish to address our fellow members of the32CSM.
It is with a mixture of sadness and relief that we speak to you today.Sadness to be parted from our friends and comrades on the outside, and relief to be finally with our comrades on the inside. A small victory has been won with the granting of segregation but we are mindful that the much larger prize of political status has yet to be decided. A spirit of extraordinary revolutionary comradeship exists in this British prison and we are confident that it is this same comradeship that will see us through whatever is ahead of us. In order to build on this spirit, it is our intention to form a branch of the Sovereignty Movement in the gaol, it will undoubtedly be difficult and many obstacles will be put in our way but debate is the only way forward and can only strengthen the wider movement.
If we can organise here, then we urge all of you to leave today and rededicate yourselves to the cause of Irish freedom and reinvigorate this movement. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement is the only open, honest, broad based and non-elitist organisation defending national sovereignty in Ireland today. The concept of Irish Sovereignty and indeed the existence of the Irish nation have rarely, if ever been under
such a threat as they are at present. Britain, America, the Free State, the clergy, the media and the business classes are all hostile to the Sovereignty argument and all are instrumental in portraying our movement as at best, misguided and at worst psychopathic. In response to this we
must be able to counter their black propaganda effectively and develop our own analysis of what sovereignty means, remember Irish sovereignty is not just being attacked by British helicopters in South Armagh but by American warplanes in Shannon and multi-nationals all overthe country.
It is also imperative that we re-engage with comrades in the 26 counties and begin to repair some of the damage that the movement has sustained in the past couple of years.
2003 sees the anniversary of two major events, the ending of the civil war and the subsequent driving underground of the republic and the execution of Robert Emmett. It has been said that Irish history is continually repeating itself, this appears to be so. 80 years ago pro-agreement forces won a victory over anti-agreement forces and drove the republic underground. Former republicans were at the fore front of imprisoning and torturing republican colleagues and engaged in a vicious campaign of harassment and slander to portray the republican cause as illegitimate, little has changed it would seem.
200 years ago, a young Irishman stood in the dock waiting to be executed by the British for his part in a seemingly futile attack, the attack was obviously not that futile as we still remember Robert Emmett today. Emmett faced the wrath of a government that could not believe the insolence of a man who would dare challenge its legitimacy, after the act of union 1801, they assumed 'the Irish problem' was put to bed.
Today men who have challenged the legitimacy of the latest solution to the Irish problem are imprisoned in Ireland and in England. Guilt or innocence appear to play little part in our imprisonment, unable to hang us like Emmett, they are content to hang conspiracy charges and other non-sense charges on us and continue to intern us on remand. As we have seen on many occasions this year alone, the special criminal court in which Emmett was tried is still tasked with crushing republican resistance, it will fail. Now is time to break the cycle of history and organise for victory however remote it may seem.
The republic, as has already been mentioned, is under an unprecedented threat. We are at a critical juncture in History, now is not the time to go home, close the door and dream about what might have been, now is the time for action, time to go into the communities and onto the streets and win the argument. If we sit back now then the republic is lost and Emmett’s epitaph will never be written.
Remember we don't just have a right to defend Irish sovereignty; we have a duty to defend it,
BEIR BUA.
Signed,
Ciaran Cunningham
Carl Reilly
Address From Imprisoned Members of the 32CSM Outgoing National
Executive.
Friends and comrades,
As members of the outgoing national executive, currently interned onremand in Maghaberry gaol, we wish to address our fellow members of the32CSM.
It is with a mixture of sadness and relief that we speak to you today.Sadness to be parted from our friends and comrades on the outside, and relief to be finally with our comrades on the inside. A small victory has been won with the granting of segregation but we are mindful that the much larger prize of political status has yet to be decided. A spirit of extraordinary revolutionary comradeship exists in this British prison and we are confident that it is this same comradeship that will see us through whatever is ahead of us. In order to build on this spirit, it is our intention to form a branch of the Sovereignty Movement in the gaol, it will undoubtedly be difficult and many obstacles will be put in our way but debate is the only way forward and can only strengthen the wider movement.
If we can organise here, then we urge all of you to leave today and rededicate yourselves to the cause of Irish freedom and reinvigorate this movement. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement is the only open, honest, broad based and non-elitist organisation defending national sovereignty in Ireland today. The concept of Irish Sovereignty and indeed the existence of the Irish nation have rarely, if ever been under
such a threat as they are at present. Britain, America, the Free State, the clergy, the media and the business classes are all hostile to the Sovereignty argument and all are instrumental in portraying our movement as at best, misguided and at worst psychopathic. In response to this we
must be able to counter their black propaganda effectively and develop our own analysis of what sovereignty means, remember Irish sovereignty is not just being attacked by British helicopters in South Armagh but by American warplanes in Shannon and multi-nationals all overthe country.
It is also imperative that we re-engage with comrades in the 26 counties and begin to repair some of the damage that the movement has sustained in the past couple of years.
2003 sees the anniversary of two major events, the ending of the civil war and the subsequent driving underground of the republic and the execution of Robert Emmett. It has been said that Irish history is continually repeating itself, this appears to be so. 80 years ago pro-agreement forces won a victory over anti-agreement forces and drove the republic underground. Former republicans were at the fore front of imprisoning and torturing republican colleagues and engaged in a vicious campaign of harassment and slander to portray the republican cause as illegitimate, little has changed it would seem.
200 years ago, a young Irishman stood in the dock waiting to be executed by the British for his part in a seemingly futile attack, the attack was obviously not that futile as we still remember Robert Emmett today. Emmett faced the wrath of a government that could not believe the insolence of a man who would dare challenge its legitimacy, after the act of union 1801, they assumed 'the Irish problem' was put to bed.
Today men who have challenged the legitimacy of the latest solution to the Irish problem are imprisoned in Ireland and in England. Guilt or innocence appear to play little part in our imprisonment, unable to hang us like Emmett, they are content to hang conspiracy charges and other non-sense charges on us and continue to intern us on remand. As we have seen on many occasions this year alone, the special criminal court in which Emmett was tried is still tasked with crushing republican resistance, it will fail. Now is time to break the cycle of history and organise for victory however remote it may seem.
The republic, as has already been mentioned, is under an unprecedented threat. We are at a critical juncture in History, now is not the time to go home, close the door and dream about what might have been, now is the time for action, time to go into the communities and onto the streets and win the argument. If we sit back now then the republic is lost and Emmett’s epitaph will never be written.
Remember we don't just have a right to defend Irish sovereignty; we have a duty to defend it,
BEIR BUA.
Signed,
Ciaran Cunningham
Carl Reilly
2.10.03
Irelandclick.com
INSIDE THE CRUM: The Andersonstown News gains exclusive access to Crumlin Road Jail
Crumlin Road prison was first opened in 1841 to cope with the growing population of Belfast. It ceased to be a working prison over a century and a half later, in 1997.
The Victorian jail has a particularly gruesome past and the interior reflects that, with its steel bars and tiny cells built to 19th century proportions.
It is not difficult to imagine what the jail was like at the start of its controversial life, as little has changed. Structurally the jail remains much the same as it was when the first of Her Majesty’s guests entered through the heavy steel doors.
Your feet still echo off the concrete floor as you walk along the main wings that once housed hundreds of prisoners, doubled up at times two to a tiny cell.
Built to the same blueprint as tens of other penal institutions all over Ireland and Britain, HMP Crumlin Road looks just like you imagine a prison should.
It’s gloomy and dark with an impressive centre circle from which four wings – A, B, C and D – can be accessed.
The jail also contains what was known as ‘the Basement’, a place where prisoners were taken to be processed – it was later to be where the so-called ‘Supergrass’ prisoners were held.
The jail also has a unique tunnel leading from the prison to the Crumlin Road Courthouse, where prisoners were handcuffed and walked through to appear before the magistrate of the time.
The tunnel can still be accessed today. Grade A listed, it will be preserved along with the other Victorian parts of the prison.
Anyone who has ever walked along the gloomy brick tunnel talks of the overpowering heat from the pipes that run along the length of the tunnel to feed the jail above.
The heating and electricity are now off, the oppressive heat replaced by the smell of damp and decay.
Along with photographer Mal McCann and our three official escorts, I made my way along the gloomy Victorian tunnel with only the weak beam from a torch for light.
The eerie silence masks the fact you’re walking below the midday traffic of the grid-locked Crumlin Road.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever until we came to the steel door that leads to the Crumlin Road Courthouse.
However, when we turned to make the long journey back through the gloom the batteries in the torch died, and in a horror film-style moment, we were left stranded in complete darkness.
We were forced to feel our way along the damp brick walls until we came to the steps that would bring us back into the daylight of the main prison.
In a place famous for escapes and escape attempts, seeing the chink of light from the hall above, I felt like I had also made a successful bid for freedom.
Part of the Crum’s reputation comes from the fact that 17 people were executed within its walls.
Of those 17, the remains of 16 are still buried somewhere within the grounds of the jail.
Only one – IRA volunteer Tom Williams – was ever exhumed for a proper burial.
Tom Williams from Bombay Street was executed in August 1942 for the shooting of Constable Patrick Murphy.
Five others, Henry Cordner (19); William James Perry (21); John Terence Oliver (21); Patrick Simpson (18); and Joe Cahill (21), were sentenced to death alongside Tom Williams.
However, after a public outcry the other five were granted a last-minute reprieve and Tom Williams faced the hangman alone.
Fr Alexis of Holy Cross Monastery, Ardoyne, celebrated Mass in Williams’ cell on the morning of the execution.
He later said: “Williams was praying all the time as he walked to the scaffold, a matter of a few yards. He seemed to be quite resigned to his fate.”
Joe Cahill, who shared a cell with Tom Williams, later recalled the conversation they had about their impending death: “We discussed the executions and the prospect of being buried in a prison grave. One day, we promised ourselves, the remains would be reinterred in the republican plot in Milltown Cemetery. Tom was very clear - he would die a republican, he wished to be buried as such.”
Tom Williams was hanged in the specially constructed hanging cell. However, in the past those sentenced to death were hanged from a scaffold built at the front of the prison in full view of the public.
The cell still exists and a record of where the executed men were buried is also kept, but is not available to the public.
The first person ever to be executed at the jail was an 18-year-old British soldier, Private Robert Henry O’Neill, for the murder of Corporal Robert Brown at Belfast Infantry Barracks in 1854.
Both men were stationed at the barracks at the time, being members of the 1st Battalion of the 12th East Worcestershire Regiment.
It was reported that Private O’Neill deliberately raised his musket and fired at his victim as he was writing at the table – after being reported earlier that day for misconduct.
It has also been said that when the Judge donned the black cap to pass the death sentence tears were streaming down his face and O’Neill’s convulsive sobbing could be heard as warders in the dock supported him.
He was returned to the condemned cell – number 3 in ‘D Wing – to await his fate.
On the day of the execution 20,000 people gathered on the Crumlin Road to witness the hanging.
No provision had been made at the newly built jail for a gallows and a temporary gallows had been erected at the front of the main prison building.
The hangman led the procession, next was O’Neill, his face and neck covered with the dreaded white hood, his arms pinioned behind his back.
It was noted that the actual hangman was himself a prisoner at what was then known as Belfast Prison.
When everything was ready the hangman withdrew the bolt and the drop fell. The fall was measured at eleven feet and death was judged to have been instantaneous. At the fatal moment a loud and general scream went up from the crowd.
The last execution at the prison was just over 40 years ago, when Robert Andrew McGladdery was found guilty of the murder of 19-year-old shop assistant Pearl Gamble, who was found strangled and stabbed at a place known as Weir’s Rock in Damolly.
McGladdery denied having any part in the murder and was in the witness box for almost six and a half hours in an attempt to save himself from the hangman’s noose.
However the all-male jury brought in their verdict of guilty after being out for just 40 minutes. Lord Justice Curran fixed the date of the execution for November 7.
An appeal was immediately entered on McGladdery’s behalf and while back in prison the condemned man wrote a 16-page autobiography, which was submitted to the Cabinet as part of his appeal.
All his attempts at avoiding the hangman failed and his execution was re-scheduled to take place four days before Christmas, December 21.
Before eight o’clock came, McGladdery sat in the condemned cell and for the first time since his arrest – and after listening to the advice of his religious ministers – he confessed to the murder of Pearl Gamble.
Now Crumlin Road jail is to undergo a massive clear-out operation; all the newer additions to the building will be dismantled leaving behind the Victorian architectural shell that’s preserved as a Grade A listed building.
What is to happen to the jail after that is not known.
It is expected that a period of public consultation will take place before a final decision is made.
Anyone who visits the site cannot fail to be moved by not only the architectural significance of the building but also the history permanently incarcerated in every brick and bar of the Belfast jail.
Journalist:: Allison Morris
INSIDE THE CRUM: The Andersonstown News gains exclusive access to Crumlin Road Jail
Crumlin Road prison was first opened in 1841 to cope with the growing population of Belfast. It ceased to be a working prison over a century and a half later, in 1997.
The Victorian jail has a particularly gruesome past and the interior reflects that, with its steel bars and tiny cells built to 19th century proportions.
It is not difficult to imagine what the jail was like at the start of its controversial life, as little has changed. Structurally the jail remains much the same as it was when the first of Her Majesty’s guests entered through the heavy steel doors.
Your feet still echo off the concrete floor as you walk along the main wings that once housed hundreds of prisoners, doubled up at times two to a tiny cell.
Built to the same blueprint as tens of other penal institutions all over Ireland and Britain, HMP Crumlin Road looks just like you imagine a prison should.
It’s gloomy and dark with an impressive centre circle from which four wings – A, B, C and D – can be accessed.
The jail also contains what was known as ‘the Basement’, a place where prisoners were taken to be processed – it was later to be where the so-called ‘Supergrass’ prisoners were held.
The jail also has a unique tunnel leading from the prison to the Crumlin Road Courthouse, where prisoners were handcuffed and walked through to appear before the magistrate of the time.
The tunnel can still be accessed today. Grade A listed, it will be preserved along with the other Victorian parts of the prison.
Anyone who has ever walked along the gloomy brick tunnel talks of the overpowering heat from the pipes that run along the length of the tunnel to feed the jail above.
The heating and electricity are now off, the oppressive heat replaced by the smell of damp and decay.
Along with photographer Mal McCann and our three official escorts, I made my way along the gloomy Victorian tunnel with only the weak beam from a torch for light.
The eerie silence masks the fact you’re walking below the midday traffic of the grid-locked Crumlin Road.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever until we came to the steel door that leads to the Crumlin Road Courthouse.
However, when we turned to make the long journey back through the gloom the batteries in the torch died, and in a horror film-style moment, we were left stranded in complete darkness.
We were forced to feel our way along the damp brick walls until we came to the steps that would bring us back into the daylight of the main prison.
In a place famous for escapes and escape attempts, seeing the chink of light from the hall above, I felt like I had also made a successful bid for freedom.
Part of the Crum’s reputation comes from the fact that 17 people were executed within its walls.
Of those 17, the remains of 16 are still buried somewhere within the grounds of the jail.
Only one – IRA volunteer Tom Williams – was ever exhumed for a proper burial.
Tom Williams from Bombay Street was executed in August 1942 for the shooting of Constable Patrick Murphy.
Five others, Henry Cordner (19); William James Perry (21); John Terence Oliver (21); Patrick Simpson (18); and Joe Cahill (21), were sentenced to death alongside Tom Williams.
However, after a public outcry the other five were granted a last-minute reprieve and Tom Williams faced the hangman alone.
Fr Alexis of Holy Cross Monastery, Ardoyne, celebrated Mass in Williams’ cell on the morning of the execution.
He later said: “Williams was praying all the time as he walked to the scaffold, a matter of a few yards. He seemed to be quite resigned to his fate.”
Joe Cahill, who shared a cell with Tom Williams, later recalled the conversation they had about their impending death: “We discussed the executions and the prospect of being buried in a prison grave. One day, we promised ourselves, the remains would be reinterred in the republican plot in Milltown Cemetery. Tom was very clear - he would die a republican, he wished to be buried as such.”
Tom Williams was hanged in the specially constructed hanging cell. However, in the past those sentenced to death were hanged from a scaffold built at the front of the prison in full view of the public.
The cell still exists and a record of where the executed men were buried is also kept, but is not available to the public.
The first person ever to be executed at the jail was an 18-year-old British soldier, Private Robert Henry O’Neill, for the murder of Corporal Robert Brown at Belfast Infantry Barracks in 1854.
Both men were stationed at the barracks at the time, being members of the 1st Battalion of the 12th East Worcestershire Regiment.
It was reported that Private O’Neill deliberately raised his musket and fired at his victim as he was writing at the table – after being reported earlier that day for misconduct.
It has also been said that when the Judge donned the black cap to pass the death sentence tears were streaming down his face and O’Neill’s convulsive sobbing could be heard as warders in the dock supported him.
He was returned to the condemned cell – number 3 in ‘D Wing – to await his fate.
On the day of the execution 20,000 people gathered on the Crumlin Road to witness the hanging.
No provision had been made at the newly built jail for a gallows and a temporary gallows had been erected at the front of the main prison building.
The hangman led the procession, next was O’Neill, his face and neck covered with the dreaded white hood, his arms pinioned behind his back.
It was noted that the actual hangman was himself a prisoner at what was then known as Belfast Prison.
When everything was ready the hangman withdrew the bolt and the drop fell. The fall was measured at eleven feet and death was judged to have been instantaneous. At the fatal moment a loud and general scream went up from the crowd.
The last execution at the prison was just over 40 years ago, when Robert Andrew McGladdery was found guilty of the murder of 19-year-old shop assistant Pearl Gamble, who was found strangled and stabbed at a place known as Weir’s Rock in Damolly.
McGladdery denied having any part in the murder and was in the witness box for almost six and a half hours in an attempt to save himself from the hangman’s noose.
However the all-male jury brought in their verdict of guilty after being out for just 40 minutes. Lord Justice Curran fixed the date of the execution for November 7.
An appeal was immediately entered on McGladdery’s behalf and while back in prison the condemned man wrote a 16-page autobiography, which was submitted to the Cabinet as part of his appeal.
All his attempts at avoiding the hangman failed and his execution was re-scheduled to take place four days before Christmas, December 21.
Before eight o’clock came, McGladdery sat in the condemned cell and for the first time since his arrest – and after listening to the advice of his religious ministers – he confessed to the murder of Pearl Gamble.
Now Crumlin Road jail is to undergo a massive clear-out operation; all the newer additions to the building will be dismantled leaving behind the Victorian architectural shell that’s preserved as a Grade A listed building.
What is to happen to the jail after that is not known.
It is expected that a period of public consultation will take place before a final decision is made.
Anyone who visits the site cannot fail to be moved by not only the architectural significance of the building but also the history permanently incarcerated in every brick and bar of the Belfast jail.
Journalist:: Allison Morris
Irelandclick.com
A ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: The A'town News interviews Gerry Adams
On Monday morning Gerry Adams still had a photograph of himself and the Armagh football captain, Kieran McGeeney, poking out from the corner of the bookcase in his Falls Road office.
The picture was possible evidence of his allegiance at the previous day’s All-Ireland final – won, of course, by Tyrone. But the rushed, milky coffees and the whispered 'go gasta' were definite evidence that the man was burning the candle at both ends.
He had spent the previous three days in Dublin and arrived home late on Sunday night.
He was now talking to the Andersonstown News early on Monday morning, in between packing his bags and hosting a press conference on breast cancer awareness, before heading off for two long days in London.
One might presume that the purpose of his hurried timetable had something to do with the rescue of the current peace process.
But, in actual fact, it had more to do with recording the history of the peace process – or Mr Adams’ version of it – in his new memoir 'Hope and History.'
"A key part of the book which I want to bring your attention to is about Father Reid and Father Des Wilson," says Adams, deliberate and early in the interview. "We had a situation where this entire community was demonised, was depicted as pariah.
"So, Father Reid, just on the very simple principle that people should be talked to and people should be listened to, developed from there." Describing Father Des as "slightly more impatient about it all," Mr Adams says, "we should take succour from what they did in terms of keeping faith with these broad principles about upholding dignity."
Yet for someone who has witnessed so many setbacks in that strategy and, indeed, the overall peace process, Mr Adams' latest book is a surprisingly optimistic read.
"To be a republican, to be an actual practising republican, you have to be an optimist," he says.
"So in parts of this book I note things that give us a great encouragement and they were world events: the collapse of the USSR, where a whole world order crumbled; the reunification of Germany; the death of Apartheid. But essentially, without being too folksy about it, what gives me my optimism is just ordinary people, the refusal of ordinary nationalists and republicans, the refusal to give up, the refusal to be defeated, without being dogmatic or strident or fanatical," he says.
Although the peace process has developed significantly, Mr Adams still concentrates the conversation on key political issues such as equality, policing, criminal justice and the transfer of power to a new Assembly.
"I think that we should all bear in mind that equality is an issue which is an entitlement--almost a birthright--for citizens in this country. I mean we're Irish people living under a jurisdiction which we don't want, but that equality is hugely difficult for elements of unionism because they see that as to their disadvantage.
"But probably just as importantly, it's hugely difficult for the system, hugely difficult for even the modified system of British rule under the Good Friday Agreement, because to bring about fairness in employment, parity of esteem, equality of opportunity, on every issue--social, economic, political, cultural-- totally and absolutely changes the nature of this state.
"It’s the death of this state, and they know that and that's why they fight so ferociously."
Mr Adams says he is not despondent that the state is fighting back.
"Of course the system is fighting back and will continue to fight back. One of the things I remember saying to Martin McGuinness at the time of the Good Friday Agreement was that it is going to be a battle a day, it's going to be trench warfare. Right across the entire civil service they have to be opened up to people who are republicans and who are nationalist. You can see it in terms of some elements, particularly those under the old NIO regime, who were probably quite satisfied that it's back to direct rule."
Mr Adams has absolute confidence about the logic of Sinn Féin’s current strategy and the overall peace process.
"If there is any common thread in this book it is that nothing else has worked. Mass killings; mass attempts to just make people non-citizens; the huge resources in terms of person-power, money, apparatus; the whole chicanery of the British war machine, undercover as well as the overt stuff that goes on – none of it worked. Refusing to talk to people – none of it worked. But it’s only when we actually got to the point where people proactively listened and talked to each other that there was any progress forward. So I think republicans have some sense of that. This whole community, even the office we’re in – three people were killed down the stairs. Nora McCabe was killed just two streets from here. The IRA killed people just in the other direction.
"So every street corner, every brick, every cobblestone, every kerbstone, there’s some memory of someone who has been killed and for the families of those people they don’t ever pass those without thinking about it.
"You can become bitter, resentful and we’ve seen that with some people. Or you can become magnanimous and generous.
"You can’t be reconciled to a system that is wrong, but you can be reconciled to wanting to change that system for the better," he said.
The Sinn Féin president was candid in admitting that the party has "clearly made some mistakes."
"But if you look back ten years, we've taken people on a helter-skelter, a huge roller-coaster of a struggle which has just turned things upside down and I think that people like that. In their heart, they like the fact that there is now a clear strategy, that we’re not just trying to bring about a national republic but we’re trying to build a political party on the island so that it will be ready when we get to that point."
With that, Mr Adams is dragged away from the interview by his faithful 'batman,' Richard McAuley, who wants him to comment on Radio Foyle about some of the more humorous incidents in the new book--dropping his trousers in a New York television studio… covering Martin McGuinness' blazer in boot polish… peeing in the woods with the UUP’s Dermot Nesbitt…
And if you want to know more, Gerry Adams will be signing copies of his new book ‘Hope and History: Making Peace in Ireland’ at the Art Shop on the Falls Road this Saturday.
•Gerry Adams’ book will be reviewed next Thursday.
Journalist:: Jarlath Kearney
A ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: The A'town News interviews Gerry Adams
On Monday morning Gerry Adams still had a photograph of himself and the Armagh football captain, Kieran McGeeney, poking out from the corner of the bookcase in his Falls Road office.
The picture was possible evidence of his allegiance at the previous day’s All-Ireland final – won, of course, by Tyrone. But the rushed, milky coffees and the whispered 'go gasta' were definite evidence that the man was burning the candle at both ends.
He had spent the previous three days in Dublin and arrived home late on Sunday night.
He was now talking to the Andersonstown News early on Monday morning, in between packing his bags and hosting a press conference on breast cancer awareness, before heading off for two long days in London.
One might presume that the purpose of his hurried timetable had something to do with the rescue of the current peace process.
But, in actual fact, it had more to do with recording the history of the peace process – or Mr Adams’ version of it – in his new memoir 'Hope and History.'
"A key part of the book which I want to bring your attention to is about Father Reid and Father Des Wilson," says Adams, deliberate and early in the interview. "We had a situation where this entire community was demonised, was depicted as pariah.
"So, Father Reid, just on the very simple principle that people should be talked to and people should be listened to, developed from there." Describing Father Des as "slightly more impatient about it all," Mr Adams says, "we should take succour from what they did in terms of keeping faith with these broad principles about upholding dignity."
Yet for someone who has witnessed so many setbacks in that strategy and, indeed, the overall peace process, Mr Adams' latest book is a surprisingly optimistic read.
"To be a republican, to be an actual practising republican, you have to be an optimist," he says.
"So in parts of this book I note things that give us a great encouragement and they were world events: the collapse of the USSR, where a whole world order crumbled; the reunification of Germany; the death of Apartheid. But essentially, without being too folksy about it, what gives me my optimism is just ordinary people, the refusal of ordinary nationalists and republicans, the refusal to give up, the refusal to be defeated, without being dogmatic or strident or fanatical," he says.
Although the peace process has developed significantly, Mr Adams still concentrates the conversation on key political issues such as equality, policing, criminal justice and the transfer of power to a new Assembly.
"I think that we should all bear in mind that equality is an issue which is an entitlement--almost a birthright--for citizens in this country. I mean we're Irish people living under a jurisdiction which we don't want, but that equality is hugely difficult for elements of unionism because they see that as to their disadvantage.
"But probably just as importantly, it's hugely difficult for the system, hugely difficult for even the modified system of British rule under the Good Friday Agreement, because to bring about fairness in employment, parity of esteem, equality of opportunity, on every issue--social, economic, political, cultural-- totally and absolutely changes the nature of this state.
"It’s the death of this state, and they know that and that's why they fight so ferociously."
Mr Adams says he is not despondent that the state is fighting back.
"Of course the system is fighting back and will continue to fight back. One of the things I remember saying to Martin McGuinness at the time of the Good Friday Agreement was that it is going to be a battle a day, it's going to be trench warfare. Right across the entire civil service they have to be opened up to people who are republicans and who are nationalist. You can see it in terms of some elements, particularly those under the old NIO regime, who were probably quite satisfied that it's back to direct rule."
Mr Adams has absolute confidence about the logic of Sinn Féin’s current strategy and the overall peace process.
"If there is any common thread in this book it is that nothing else has worked. Mass killings; mass attempts to just make people non-citizens; the huge resources in terms of person-power, money, apparatus; the whole chicanery of the British war machine, undercover as well as the overt stuff that goes on – none of it worked. Refusing to talk to people – none of it worked. But it’s only when we actually got to the point where people proactively listened and talked to each other that there was any progress forward. So I think republicans have some sense of that. This whole community, even the office we’re in – three people were killed down the stairs. Nora McCabe was killed just two streets from here. The IRA killed people just in the other direction.
"So every street corner, every brick, every cobblestone, every kerbstone, there’s some memory of someone who has been killed and for the families of those people they don’t ever pass those without thinking about it.
"You can become bitter, resentful and we’ve seen that with some people. Or you can become magnanimous and generous.
"You can’t be reconciled to a system that is wrong, but you can be reconciled to wanting to change that system for the better," he said.
The Sinn Féin president was candid in admitting that the party has "clearly made some mistakes."
"But if you look back ten years, we've taken people on a helter-skelter, a huge roller-coaster of a struggle which has just turned things upside down and I think that people like that. In their heart, they like the fact that there is now a clear strategy, that we’re not just trying to bring about a national republic but we’re trying to build a political party on the island so that it will be ready when we get to that point."
With that, Mr Adams is dragged away from the interview by his faithful 'batman,' Richard McAuley, who wants him to comment on Radio Foyle about some of the more humorous incidents in the new book--dropping his trousers in a New York television studio… covering Martin McGuinness' blazer in boot polish… peeing in the woods with the UUP’s Dermot Nesbitt…
And if you want to know more, Gerry Adams will be signing copies of his new book ‘Hope and History: Making Peace in Ireland’ at the Art Shop on the Falls Road this Saturday.
•Gerry Adams’ book will be reviewed next Thursday.
Journalist:: Jarlath Kearney
IrelandClick.com
GERRY ADAMS INTERVENES IN O'HAGAN CASE 02-10-03
The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, yesterday made his first public intervention in the case of North Belfast man John O’Hagan.
Mr O’Hagan – who faces charges of possession of documents that could be useful to terrorists - learned on Monday that he was being refused bail by the High Court – for the seventh time.
The New Lodge man has now been held on remand at Maghaberry prison for nineteen months – effectively a three-year sentence – without being convicted of any offence.
Speaking exclusively to the Andersonstown News, Gerry Adams said he is, “extremely concerned at the treatment of John O’Hagan by the entire criminal justice system in the North.
“Mr O’Hagan has now been refused bail on seven different occasions. That he should be held in custody for nineteen months – without having been convicted of any offence – is totally unacceptable.
“The treatment afforded to Mr O’Hagan by the policing and judicial systems in the North contrasts starkly with the treatment given to many other cases – including prominent loyalists with previous convictions.”
Mr Adams said that the case “is an indication of the significant change that is still required in terms of making policing and criminal justice systems properly accountable”.
Despite Mr O’Hagan’s nineteen months on remand, it is understood that the prosecution has still not forwarded any fingerprint or forensic evidence to the defence.
Yesterday, Mr O’Hagan’s solicitor, Phillip Breen, told the Andersonstown News he is concerned that his client cannot now be properly defended.
“I fail to see how we can properly defend John in this complex matter unless we are given disclosure of the material that has been requested.
“Since August 2002 we have been told that fingerprint reports are being forwarded – yet we are still waiting.
“We need full fingerprint and forensic reports and access to alleged intelligence information that is being used in this prosecution.
“If there is a continued refusal to disclose relevant information or if an ex-party application is made to ban disclosure, then John’s defence is severely hampered,” said Mr Breen.
Mr Breen said he is concerned that his client’s rights are being undermined.
“On the one hand crucial evidence is being withheld from the defence, yet on the other hand Mr O’Hagan has been continually refused bail.
“The possibility of our independent experts being able to thoroughly analyse evidence – which we have yet to receive – before the trial date which is scheduled for December 1, is being made extremely unlikely,” said Mr Breen.
A spokesperson for Mr O’Hagan’s family expressed deep concern at the handling of the case.
“We have always been concerned about the timing and high-profile nature of John’s arrest by the PSNI.
“We are now equally concerned about the treatment of this case by the prosecution and judicial system. Issues such as disclosure by the prosecution are fundamental to a fair trial, yet John’s solicitor has been denied relevant material for nineteen months.
There are serious questions now to be asked about the treatment of John’s case, which has yet to reach trial – particularly when it is contrasted with other high-profile cases in which repeat offenders are ‘fast-tracked’ for appeal.”
Journalist:: Jarlath Kearney
GERRY ADAMS INTERVENES IN O'HAGAN CASE 02-10-03
The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, yesterday made his first public intervention in the case of North Belfast man John O’Hagan.
Mr O’Hagan – who faces charges of possession of documents that could be useful to terrorists - learned on Monday that he was being refused bail by the High Court – for the seventh time.
The New Lodge man has now been held on remand at Maghaberry prison for nineteen months – effectively a three-year sentence – without being convicted of any offence.
Speaking exclusively to the Andersonstown News, Gerry Adams said he is, “extremely concerned at the treatment of John O’Hagan by the entire criminal justice system in the North.
“Mr O’Hagan has now been refused bail on seven different occasions. That he should be held in custody for nineteen months – without having been convicted of any offence – is totally unacceptable.
“The treatment afforded to Mr O’Hagan by the policing and judicial systems in the North contrasts starkly with the treatment given to many other cases – including prominent loyalists with previous convictions.”
Mr Adams said that the case “is an indication of the significant change that is still required in terms of making policing and criminal justice systems properly accountable”.
Despite Mr O’Hagan’s nineteen months on remand, it is understood that the prosecution has still not forwarded any fingerprint or forensic evidence to the defence.
Yesterday, Mr O’Hagan’s solicitor, Phillip Breen, told the Andersonstown News he is concerned that his client cannot now be properly defended.
“I fail to see how we can properly defend John in this complex matter unless we are given disclosure of the material that has been requested.
“Since August 2002 we have been told that fingerprint reports are being forwarded – yet we are still waiting.
“We need full fingerprint and forensic reports and access to alleged intelligence information that is being used in this prosecution.
“If there is a continued refusal to disclose relevant information or if an ex-party application is made to ban disclosure, then John’s defence is severely hampered,” said Mr Breen.
Mr Breen said he is concerned that his client’s rights are being undermined.
“On the one hand crucial evidence is being withheld from the defence, yet on the other hand Mr O’Hagan has been continually refused bail.
“The possibility of our independent experts being able to thoroughly analyse evidence – which we have yet to receive – before the trial date which is scheduled for December 1, is being made extremely unlikely,” said Mr Breen.
A spokesperson for Mr O’Hagan’s family expressed deep concern at the handling of the case.
“We have always been concerned about the timing and high-profile nature of John’s arrest by the PSNI.
“We are now equally concerned about the treatment of this case by the prosecution and judicial system. Issues such as disclosure by the prosecution are fundamental to a fair trial, yet John’s solicitor has been denied relevant material for nineteen months.
There are serious questions now to be asked about the treatment of John’s case, which has yet to reach trial – particularly when it is contrasted with other high-profile cases in which repeat offenders are ‘fast-tracked’ for appeal.”
Journalist:: Jarlath Kearney
BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Soldier admits killing fourth man
Soldier admits killing fourth man
Soldiers shot 13 people dead in Derry on Bloody Sunday
A former parachute regiment soldier has been told he faces allegations of murdering four people on Bloody Sunday, and possibly of killing more.
Soldier F agreed at the Saville Inquiry on Thursday that he killed four people, but insisted he did not murder them.
He told the inquiry that he fired only at a gunman and two nailbombers.
The Saville Inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972 when 13 civilians were shot dead by British army soldiers during a civil rights march in Londonderry. A 14th person died later.
Soldier F admitted killing Michael Kelly, Barney McGuigan and Paddy Doherty and an unidentified man in Glenfada Park.
It was suggested to him that the unidentified man may be William McKinney.
The former paratrooper earlier agreed under questioning by a barrister representing the families, Michael Mansfield QC, that he killed Barney McGuigan, 41, at the Rossville Flats.
This was the first time he had admitted this to the Saville Inquiry
The witness has previously claimed he shot two nailbombers and a man carrying a pistol.
The inquiry stopped for a few moments as Mr McGuigan's widow was taken from the hearing chamber in tears.
Michael Mansfield QC cross-examined Soldier F
Soldier F told the tribunal that he killed a man carrying a pistol further along the flats from where Mr McGuigan died.
However, he accepted that he also killed Mr McGuigan who, Mr Mansfield said, was shot in the back of the head while holding only a white handkerchief in his hand.
Soldier F was told he faces allegations of murdering four people, and possibly killing others.
Counsel to the inquiry, Christopher Clarke QC told the former paratrooper that the tribunal would have to consider and make findings on the allegations, and asked him what he wanted to say.
Mr Clarke, summarising the evidence, said: "What is alleged in relation to each of those four people is that you shot them without justification, that is to say that you murdered them - do you follow?"
Soldier F said he did not murder them: "As I refer to my statements, the people I shot are the petrol bombers or a person who had a weapon."
Soldier F said he had nothing further to add.
No memory
Earlier on Thursday, Soldier F told the inquiry that it slipped his mind that he had killed a 17-year-old youth.
The inquiry is currently hearing evidence from military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.
Soldier F agreed that he did not mention killing Michael Kelly at the barricade on Rossville Street in his first statement to the Military Police.
A bullet from Soldier F's rifle was recovered from Mr Kelly's body.
The soldier told the Widgery Inquiry in 1972 that he shot two nailbombers and a gunman, but he told the Saville Inquiry that he had no memory of firing at or killing someone at Rossville Street.
Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago.
They are not expected to report back until next year.
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.
They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.
Soldier admits killing fourth man
Soldiers shot 13 people dead in Derry on Bloody Sunday
A former parachute regiment soldier has been told he faces allegations of murdering four people on Bloody Sunday, and possibly of killing more.
Soldier F agreed at the Saville Inquiry on Thursday that he killed four people, but insisted he did not murder them.
He told the inquiry that he fired only at a gunman and two nailbombers.
The Saville Inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972 when 13 civilians were shot dead by British army soldiers during a civil rights march in Londonderry. A 14th person died later.
Soldier F admitted killing Michael Kelly, Barney McGuigan and Paddy Doherty and an unidentified man in Glenfada Park.
It was suggested to him that the unidentified man may be William McKinney.
The former paratrooper earlier agreed under questioning by a barrister representing the families, Michael Mansfield QC, that he killed Barney McGuigan, 41, at the Rossville Flats.
This was the first time he had admitted this to the Saville Inquiry
The witness has previously claimed he shot two nailbombers and a man carrying a pistol.
The inquiry stopped for a few moments as Mr McGuigan's widow was taken from the hearing chamber in tears.
Michael Mansfield QC cross-examined Soldier F
Soldier F told the tribunal that he killed a man carrying a pistol further along the flats from where Mr McGuigan died.
However, he accepted that he also killed Mr McGuigan who, Mr Mansfield said, was shot in the back of the head while holding only a white handkerchief in his hand.
Soldier F was told he faces allegations of murdering four people, and possibly killing others.
Counsel to the inquiry, Christopher Clarke QC told the former paratrooper that the tribunal would have to consider and make findings on the allegations, and asked him what he wanted to say.
Mr Clarke, summarising the evidence, said: "What is alleged in relation to each of those four people is that you shot them without justification, that is to say that you murdered them - do you follow?"
Soldier F said he did not murder them: "As I refer to my statements, the people I shot are the petrol bombers or a person who had a weapon."
Soldier F said he had nothing further to add.
No memory
Earlier on Thursday, Soldier F told the inquiry that it slipped his mind that he had killed a 17-year-old youth.
The inquiry is currently hearing evidence from military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.
Soldier F agreed that he did not mention killing Michael Kelly at the barricade on Rossville Street in his first statement to the Military Police.
A bullet from Soldier F's rifle was recovered from Mr Kelly's body.
The soldier told the Widgery Inquiry in 1972 that he shot two nailbombers and a gunman, but he told the Saville Inquiry that he had no memory of firing at or killing someone at Rossville Street.
Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago.
They are not expected to report back until next year.
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.
They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.
**Received from IRA2 (Yahoo)
On September 16, 2003 Ciarán was moved from the Denver County Jail to the Jefferson County Jail in Golden, Colorado. His old cell was
cleared out of all of its belongings leaving him with no books,
postage stamps or the letters from his supporters. These items were
sent out to his wife. So, if you haven't heard from Ciaran in
awhile, drop him a note giving him your address again.
Now that he is in the new jail, we are going to start up the BOOK
DRIVE again.
Please send paperback books to:
Ciarán O'Fearaigh
P.O. Box 16700
Golden, CO 80402-6700
Hardcover books received directly from a publisher or bookstore are
accepted at the jail p.o. box address.
He is interested in most subjects (humor, politics, Irish boxing,
light hearted stories, current events).
Use this as a RETURN address on your book package:
Ciarán Ferry Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 740071
Arvada, CO 80006-0071
(in case the jail sets a limit on books, they will return the books
back to Heaven Ferry instead of the sender, so that eventually she
can take them into the jail for Ciaran)
Ciarán Ferry Yahoo Group
To write letters to Ciarán directly:
Ciarán O'Fearaigh
P.O. Box 16700
Golden, CO 80402-6700
On September 16, 2003 Ciarán was moved from the Denver County Jail to the Jefferson County Jail in Golden, Colorado. His old cell was
cleared out of all of its belongings leaving him with no books,
postage stamps or the letters from his supporters. These items were
sent out to his wife. So, if you haven't heard from Ciaran in
awhile, drop him a note giving him your address again.
Now that he is in the new jail, we are going to start up the BOOK
DRIVE again.
Please send paperback books to:
Ciarán O'Fearaigh
P.O. Box 16700
Golden, CO 80402-6700
Hardcover books received directly from a publisher or bookstore are
accepted at the jail p.o. box address.
He is interested in most subjects (humor, politics, Irish boxing,
light hearted stories, current events).
Use this as a RETURN address on your book package:
Ciarán Ferry Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 740071
Arvada, CO 80006-0071
(in case the jail sets a limit on books, they will return the books
back to Heaven Ferry instead of the sender, so that eventually she
can take them into the jail for Ciaran)
Ciarán Ferry Yahoo Group
To write letters to Ciarán directly:
Ciarán O'Fearaigh
P.O. Box 16700
Golden, CO 80402-6700
30.9.03
Belfast Telegraph
**Now if only the reals and the conts knew how to evade capture so well... ;-)
Big Cat
**Now if only the reals and the conts knew how to evade capture so well... ;-)
Big Cat
IOL: Ex-paratrooper saw 'nothing to justify shooting'
Ex-paratrooper saw 'nothing to justify shooting'
30/09/2003 - 18:33:03
A former British army paratrooper did not see any threat that would have justified the shooting dead of civilians on Bloody Sunday, the Saville Inquiry heard today.
David Longstaff, who was in the vicinity of Glenfada Park North, where four people were killed and five wounded, told the Inquiry: “I did not see anything in my area to justify shooting.”
Other members of the anti tank platoon who were in Glenfada Park North have given statements to the Inquiry saying they were confronted by an angry mob, some of whom threw nail bombs.
But Mr Longstaff said he did not hear any nail bombs being thrown in the area.
The former private, who was covering soldiers F and G and J, said he did not see them firing their weapons.
He told the Inquiry that he heard gunfire but could not say whether it came from soldiers or the IRA.
“I remember being aware that the threat to me had increased. I was more alert because of it. I was extra vigilant. I did not turn round to pinpoint where the shots were coming from as it was my job to cover the rear of my mates ahead of me,” he said.
Seamus Treacy QC representing some of the families questioned this recollection of events.
“Why on earth would it be if you heard shots coming from behind you and you did not know whether it was from soldiers and you did not know if it was from the IRA, why would you not have looked round to see whether or not there was shooting occurring which would have posed a risk to your mates?”
The soldier replied: “I trusted the men I was with sir.”
Mr Treacy pressed him, asking whether he had seen members of his platoon opening fire in Glenfada Park North.
“Is it the case that your reluctance to give any evidence at all about what the soldiers who were with you were doing on Bloody Sunday is because even now you do not want to give any evidence which would implicate them as individuals?” he added.
Mr Longstaff insisted again that he saw or heard nothing.
He told the Inquiry that while in Rossville Street he fired a shot at the roof of Rossville Flats after being fired upon but was not asked to make a statement about it at the time.
Asked why he was not asked to make a statement, he said he believed officers were more concerned about other soldiers who had fired on Bloody Sunday.
Earlier, evidence given by a former soldier to the Inquiry appeared to corroborate a statement of a former IRA man concerning plans to mount a nail bomb attack on Bloody Sunday.
Soldier 165 told the Inquiry how he and colleagues were fired upon when they spotted four men in combat gear loading up a green Ford Cortina.
“The men were loading up the car from the back of a shop in the Brandywell area just along from Rossville Street,” he recalled.
Edwin Glasgow QC compared his evidence to a statement given to the Inquiry by former IRA man Paddy Ward, who claimed Martin McGuinness supplied detonators for nail bombs given to eight members of the Fianna, the youth wing of the IRA on the day of Bloody Sunday.
In his statement to the Inquiry Mr Ward said: “The manufactured nail bombs were put into the back of a hijacked green Cortina which was in the next door garage.”
He added that his plan was to meet McGuinness at the back of the Bogside Inn to pick up the detonators.
“There were four of us in the car and we pulled up near the back of the Bogside Inn… I parked the car out of the line of sight of the city walls as we knew there were always soldiers up there.”
But Arthur Harvey QC, representing some of the families pointed out that Soldier 165 made no mention of IRA activity in the Bogside before the march when he gave a statement to the Royal Military Police after Bloody Sunday.
“There is no mention of the men; there is no mention of suspicious activity and there is not mention of it immediately being followed by a shot from the Brandywell,” he added.
Ex-paratrooper saw 'nothing to justify shooting'
30/09/2003 - 18:33:03
A former British army paratrooper did not see any threat that would have justified the shooting dead of civilians on Bloody Sunday, the Saville Inquiry heard today.
David Longstaff, who was in the vicinity of Glenfada Park North, where four people were killed and five wounded, told the Inquiry: “I did not see anything in my area to justify shooting.”
Other members of the anti tank platoon who were in Glenfada Park North have given statements to the Inquiry saying they were confronted by an angry mob, some of whom threw nail bombs.
But Mr Longstaff said he did not hear any nail bombs being thrown in the area.
The former private, who was covering soldiers F and G and J, said he did not see them firing their weapons.
He told the Inquiry that he heard gunfire but could not say whether it came from soldiers or the IRA.
“I remember being aware that the threat to me had increased. I was more alert because of it. I was extra vigilant. I did not turn round to pinpoint where the shots were coming from as it was my job to cover the rear of my mates ahead of me,” he said.
Seamus Treacy QC representing some of the families questioned this recollection of events.
“Why on earth would it be if you heard shots coming from behind you and you did not know whether it was from soldiers and you did not know if it was from the IRA, why would you not have looked round to see whether or not there was shooting occurring which would have posed a risk to your mates?”
The soldier replied: “I trusted the men I was with sir.”
Mr Treacy pressed him, asking whether he had seen members of his platoon opening fire in Glenfada Park North.
“Is it the case that your reluctance to give any evidence at all about what the soldiers who were with you were doing on Bloody Sunday is because even now you do not want to give any evidence which would implicate them as individuals?” he added.
Mr Longstaff insisted again that he saw or heard nothing.
He told the Inquiry that while in Rossville Street he fired a shot at the roof of Rossville Flats after being fired upon but was not asked to make a statement about it at the time.
Asked why he was not asked to make a statement, he said he believed officers were more concerned about other soldiers who had fired on Bloody Sunday.
Earlier, evidence given by a former soldier to the Inquiry appeared to corroborate a statement of a former IRA man concerning plans to mount a nail bomb attack on Bloody Sunday.
Soldier 165 told the Inquiry how he and colleagues were fired upon when they spotted four men in combat gear loading up a green Ford Cortina.
“The men were loading up the car from the back of a shop in the Brandywell area just along from Rossville Street,” he recalled.
Edwin Glasgow QC compared his evidence to a statement given to the Inquiry by former IRA man Paddy Ward, who claimed Martin McGuinness supplied detonators for nail bombs given to eight members of the Fianna, the youth wing of the IRA on the day of Bloody Sunday.
In his statement to the Inquiry Mr Ward said: “The manufactured nail bombs were put into the back of a hijacked green Cortina which was in the next door garage.”
He added that his plan was to meet McGuinness at the back of the Bogside Inn to pick up the detonators.
“There were four of us in the car and we pulled up near the back of the Bogside Inn… I parked the car out of the line of sight of the city walls as we knew there were always soldiers up there.”
But Arthur Harvey QC, representing some of the families pointed out that Soldier 165 made no mention of IRA activity in the Bogside before the march when he gave a statement to the Royal Military Police after Bloody Sunday.
“There is no mention of the men; there is no mention of suspicious activity and there is not mention of it immediately being followed by a shot from the Brandywell,” he added.
ic NorthernIreland - Northern Ireland News
On the Brink Sep 30 2003
By Richard Sherriff
TENSION turned to confusion, then renewed anger and farce yesterday as police laid on a show of strength to protect schoolchildren in north Belfast - only to find out that the buses carrying them had been rerouted.
After demands for increased security in the wake of last Friday's attack on students from the Girls' Model, additional manpower and vehicles were drafted onto the Crumlin Road for the children's homeward journey yesterday afternoon.
An arson attack on teachers' cars at the nearby Our Lady of Mercy Primary School had increased tension in the area and a crowd gathered close to the Ardoyne shops as parents waited in Twaddell Avenue on the opposite side of Crumlin Road for the children to arrive.
When they didn't, the parents became increasingly confused but that turned to anger when the school principal arrived and informed the parents that David Cargo, chief executive of the Belfast Education and Library Board, had made the decision to redirect the buses via the Antrim Road.
The incident clearly angered and embarrassed the police who were also left in the dark over the move.
Later, a statement from the education board said the decision was a "one-off measure taken with the health and safety of pupils in mind", but it was dismissed by North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds as "a shambles".
"We had all these police on duty and they weren't even told. When I first heard this I have to say I was sceptical but I'm now satisfied that they didn't. The police had made arrangements, those had been communicated to parents and they should have been stuck to."
Speaking in Twaddell Avenue as they waited for news, one mother, Eileen Morrison, said parents had no idea where their children were. A rumour that one bus had been stoned on the Shore Road increased their anxiety.
"They are rerouting the children from one flashpoint to another flashpoint with, as far as we know, no protection. It's a farce."
Nodding towards PSNI Inspector Steven Knowles, who attended Sunday night's meeting with parents, Mrs Morrison added: "The protection we were promised is on the ground. Now that man is on the phone trying to find out what's going on."
Independent unionist councillor Frank McCoubrey said the decision to reroute was a "disgrace".
"They hadn't even the courtesy to phone up these parents and tell them what was happening," he said.
Adding that the police had been embarrassed through no fault of their own, he said: "They put whatever resources they had in the area to try and prevent any more attacks on the kids and then they weren't needed."
Apart from upsetting parents and wasting police resources, Mr Dodds said the board's decision sent a dangerous signal to those whose aim was the disruption of normal daily life.
"I spoke to the chief executive of the board and it transpires that, after what happened at Our Lady of Mercy, the decision was taken to have the girls' buses go down the Antrim Road.
"I have to say that this is a very dangerous sort of move because what that says to bully boys and people that are out to cause trouble that basically they are winning."
Referring to the wider issue of the police resources needed to provide adequate protection for the children, Mr Dodds said there should be no debate.
"I don't think it's a question of if they can; they have to. There is palpable anger in the community because what people see is an inequality of police reaction and response to these incidents.
"They compare and contrast what was done at Holy Cross, when there were dozens of police Land Rovers every day and the Chief Constable made it clear that whatever resources it would take would be provided.
"If resources can be found in one case, they can be found in the other."
r.sherriff@newsletter.co.uk
On the Brink Sep 30 2003
By Richard Sherriff
TENSION turned to confusion, then renewed anger and farce yesterday as police laid on a show of strength to protect schoolchildren in north Belfast - only to find out that the buses carrying them had been rerouted.
After demands for increased security in the wake of last Friday's attack on students from the Girls' Model, additional manpower and vehicles were drafted onto the Crumlin Road for the children's homeward journey yesterday afternoon.
An arson attack on teachers' cars at the nearby Our Lady of Mercy Primary School had increased tension in the area and a crowd gathered close to the Ardoyne shops as parents waited in Twaddell Avenue on the opposite side of Crumlin Road for the children to arrive.
When they didn't, the parents became increasingly confused but that turned to anger when the school principal arrived and informed the parents that David Cargo, chief executive of the Belfast Education and Library Board, had made the decision to redirect the buses via the Antrim Road.
The incident clearly angered and embarrassed the police who were also left in the dark over the move.
Later, a statement from the education board said the decision was a "one-off measure taken with the health and safety of pupils in mind", but it was dismissed by North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds as "a shambles".
"We had all these police on duty and they weren't even told. When I first heard this I have to say I was sceptical but I'm now satisfied that they didn't. The police had made arrangements, those had been communicated to parents and they should have been stuck to."
Speaking in Twaddell Avenue as they waited for news, one mother, Eileen Morrison, said parents had no idea where their children were. A rumour that one bus had been stoned on the Shore Road increased their anxiety.
"They are rerouting the children from one flashpoint to another flashpoint with, as far as we know, no protection. It's a farce."
Nodding towards PSNI Inspector Steven Knowles, who attended Sunday night's meeting with parents, Mrs Morrison added: "The protection we were promised is on the ground. Now that man is on the phone trying to find out what's going on."
Independent unionist councillor Frank McCoubrey said the decision to reroute was a "disgrace".
"They hadn't even the courtesy to phone up these parents and tell them what was happening," he said.
Adding that the police had been embarrassed through no fault of their own, he said: "They put whatever resources they had in the area to try and prevent any more attacks on the kids and then they weren't needed."
Apart from upsetting parents and wasting police resources, Mr Dodds said the board's decision sent a dangerous signal to those whose aim was the disruption of normal daily life.
"I spoke to the chief executive of the board and it transpires that, after what happened at Our Lady of Mercy, the decision was taken to have the girls' buses go down the Antrim Road.
"I have to say that this is a very dangerous sort of move because what that says to bully boys and people that are out to cause trouble that basically they are winning."
Referring to the wider issue of the police resources needed to provide adequate protection for the children, Mr Dodds said there should be no debate.
"I don't think it's a question of if they can; they have to. There is palpable anger in the community because what people see is an inequality of police reaction and response to these incidents.
"They compare and contrast what was done at Holy Cross, when there were dozens of police Land Rovers every day and the Chief Constable made it clear that whatever resources it would take would be provided.
"If resources can be found in one case, they can be found in the other."
r.sherriff@newsletter.co.uk
Indymedia Ireland - Delay in Reinterral of Fear Píce Gan Ainm.
in Reinterral of Fear Píce Gan Ainm.
by Fear Píce Gan Ainm - THE ROBERT EMMET ASSOCIATION Tuesday, Sep 30 2003, 1:47pm
emmet200@eircom.net
THE ROBERT EMMET ASSOCIATION
30-09-2003
Delay in Reinterral of Fear Píce Gan Ainm.
The Robert Emmet Association regrets that they must postpone the reinterral of Fear Pice Gan Ainm until further notice. Due to take place on Sunday 5 October, almost everything had been put in place for the reinterral but all is now on hold due to delays in finding the remains in the spot pinpointed by tradition. However work in searching the site continues as it is possible to miss the remains by a matter of feet or indeed inches. A new date for the reinterrral will be announced as soon as we are in a position to do so.
Fear Píce Gan Ainm will be taken from an unmarked grave in Co. Meath to rest in a place of honour on Oulart Hill in County Wexford. There he will represent some thirty to fifty thousand who lie in unmarked graves across Ireland from the 1798 period. He may have hailed from any county and may have been of any religion. We will never know. The religious service planned for his reinterral will reflect this and is expected to be a unique moment of reconciliation for many where the history of 1798 is concerned. The reinterral will is the final item on the agenda of Emmet 200 and will bring closure to the official commemorations of the Revolutionary Period 1791-1803 generally.
The Association wishes to thank all the people and bodies involved and to ask their forbearance through this period. Particularly they wish to thank The Department of the Taoiseach, The Department of Environment, The Department of Defence, The Lord Mayor of Dublin, An Garda Síochána, Dúchas, Meath County Council, Wexford County Council, The North Eastern Health Board, the various church authorities and the many pikegroups and other volunteers who have brought the project thus far.The postponement will be for as short a period as possible.
related link: http://www.emmet200.com
in Reinterral of Fear Píce Gan Ainm.
by Fear Píce Gan Ainm - THE ROBERT EMMET ASSOCIATION Tuesday, Sep 30 2003, 1:47pm
emmet200@eircom.net
THE ROBERT EMMET ASSOCIATION
30-09-2003
Delay in Reinterral of Fear Píce Gan Ainm.
The Robert Emmet Association regrets that they must postpone the reinterral of Fear Pice Gan Ainm until further notice. Due to take place on Sunday 5 October, almost everything had been put in place for the reinterral but all is now on hold due to delays in finding the remains in the spot pinpointed by tradition. However work in searching the site continues as it is possible to miss the remains by a matter of feet or indeed inches. A new date for the reinterrral will be announced as soon as we are in a position to do so.
Fear Píce Gan Ainm will be taken from an unmarked grave in Co. Meath to rest in a place of honour on Oulart Hill in County Wexford. There he will represent some thirty to fifty thousand who lie in unmarked graves across Ireland from the 1798 period. He may have hailed from any county and may have been of any religion. We will never know. The religious service planned for his reinterral will reflect this and is expected to be a unique moment of reconciliation for many where the history of 1798 is concerned. The reinterral will is the final item on the agenda of Emmet 200 and will bring closure to the official commemorations of the Revolutionary Period 1791-1803 generally.
The Association wishes to thank all the people and bodies involved and to ask their forbearance through this period. Particularly they wish to thank The Department of the Taoiseach, The Department of Environment, The Department of Defence, The Lord Mayor of Dublin, An Garda Síochána, Dúchas, Meath County Council, Wexford County Council, The North Eastern Health Board, the various church authorities and the many pikegroups and other volunteers who have brought the project thus far.The postponement will be for as short a period as possible.
related link: http://www.emmet200.com
28.9.03
BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Graves attack claim 'abhorrent'
**You read things like this, where the criminal loyalist scum try to blame the Catholic community for having a graveside memorial service, and you have to wonder how they ever got their heads so far up their asses. This is the same non-mentality that cries for republican disarmament while totally ignoring murderous loyalist violence and weaponry.
**You read things like this, where the criminal loyalist scum try to blame the Catholic community for having a graveside memorial service, and you have to wonder how they ever got their heads so far up their asses. This is the same non-mentality that cries for republican disarmament while totally ignoring murderous loyalist violence and weaponry.
