30.7.04
Fenian Voice
"I Love You Daddy" - Ciaran O'Fearaigh Update
July 23, 2004 - Day 540 - Denver, Colorado
by Briana Learnihan
Ciaran O'Fearaigh has been in an American jail in Denver, Colorado,
for Five Hundred and Forty days, yet has not been charged with a
crime. Throughout his ordeal, Ciaran has had only one simple wish,
to be at home with his American wife, Heaven, and three-year-old
daughter, Fiona. The closest contact are their hands over-lapping
on the cold prison glass that keeps them apart. The jail cell
window is so thick it's impossible to hear a sound through it. How
unbelievably difficult it is to see Heaven and little Fiona talking
to Ciaran using the awkward telephone headset attached to the
visitor's wall. As Fiona scribbles in her little note pad, she
holds it up against the window saying, "I love you, Daddy" into the
heavy handset. This small family still somehow manages to laugh
out-loud and joke around, but Ciaran is finding it so much harder
to be optimistic as the time passes with no official decision in
sight.
What is the difference between Ciaran Ferry and other Irish
immigrants who helped build a strong America? Coming to this great
country looking for a better life for their families, to live in
safety, to have freedom of speech - to escape the oppression
suffered at the hands of the British government and its military
power. Today the Irish are being targeted in America and there is
absolutely no outcry. Have Irish Americans in their haste to
assimilate forgotten their heritage and the suffering endured by
their people at the hands of the British military machine? We are
told that these sentiments are outdated and Irish Americans should
forget about them. The British aren't bad now, because, they are
our allies. The British still have their armed troops of occupation
in Ireland, yet they try to convince Americans that the Irish are
just terrorists and we lock up our own people on behalf of the
British Government and pick up the tab to boot.
In honor of the holiday, on July 4th, 2004, Ciaran's jail cell was
searched and his property confiscated and distributed among the
general prison population. He was then strip-searched. 228 years
after our independence from Britain, American tax money is being
used to persecute Irish men and women and their American families
on behalf of the British.
Irish-Americans apparently fail to see the irony of the situation –
the only connection with our Irish heritage is St. Patrick's Day.
We are thirty million plus strong. If only half that number showed
their concern about Ireland and her people we would have a very
powerful voice in Washington DC. We would have the power to
influence policy and change the American Government.
Please, as an American, ask yourself this question, what possible
threat is Ciaran O'Feariagh to my family or to my country? Ciaran
came to this country like so many other Irish men and women
searching for peace and justice that America offered.
By making a donation to the "Ciaran Ferry Legal Defense Fund", your
voice will be heard loud and clear by the American and British
Governments - "We will no longer pay for your persecution of the
Irish people in America".
Ciaran O'Fearaigh served his time in Long Kesh for political
offenses and was released under the terms of the Good Friday
Agreement.
Briana Learnihan
IAUC National Membership Chair
Irish Deportees of America Committee
----
For more information on his case visit:
http://www.freeciaranferry.com/ or www.iauc.org/deportee.htm
Ciaran Ferry Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 740071
Arvada, CO 80006-0071
Write to Ciaran and let him know that you support him and his
family. Letters may be sent to:
CIARAN O'FEARAIGH
P.O. Box 16700
Golden CO 80402-6700
"I Love You Daddy" - Ciaran O'Fearaigh Update
July 23, 2004 - Day 540 - Denver, Colorado
by Briana Learnihan
Ciaran O'Fearaigh has been in an American jail in Denver, Colorado,
for Five Hundred and Forty days, yet has not been charged with a
crime. Throughout his ordeal, Ciaran has had only one simple wish,
to be at home with his American wife, Heaven, and three-year-old
daughter, Fiona. The closest contact are their hands over-lapping
on the cold prison glass that keeps them apart. The jail cell
window is so thick it's impossible to hear a sound through it. How
unbelievably difficult it is to see Heaven and little Fiona talking
to Ciaran using the awkward telephone headset attached to the
visitor's wall. As Fiona scribbles in her little note pad, she
holds it up against the window saying, "I love you, Daddy" into the
heavy handset. This small family still somehow manages to laugh
out-loud and joke around, but Ciaran is finding it so much harder
to be optimistic as the time passes with no official decision in
sight.
What is the difference between Ciaran Ferry and other Irish
immigrants who helped build a strong America? Coming to this great
country looking for a better life for their families, to live in
safety, to have freedom of speech - to escape the oppression
suffered at the hands of the British government and its military
power. Today the Irish are being targeted in America and there is
absolutely no outcry. Have Irish Americans in their haste to
assimilate forgotten their heritage and the suffering endured by
their people at the hands of the British military machine? We are
told that these sentiments are outdated and Irish Americans should
forget about them. The British aren't bad now, because, they are
our allies. The British still have their armed troops of occupation
in Ireland, yet they try to convince Americans that the Irish are
just terrorists and we lock up our own people on behalf of the
British Government and pick up the tab to boot.
In honor of the holiday, on July 4th, 2004, Ciaran's jail cell was
searched and his property confiscated and distributed among the
general prison population. He was then strip-searched. 228 years
after our independence from Britain, American tax money is being
used to persecute Irish men and women and their American families
on behalf of the British.
Irish-Americans apparently fail to see the irony of the situation –
the only connection with our Irish heritage is St. Patrick's Day.
We are thirty million plus strong. If only half that number showed
their concern about Ireland and her people we would have a very
powerful voice in Washington DC. We would have the power to
influence policy and change the American Government.
Please, as an American, ask yourself this question, what possible
threat is Ciaran O'Feariagh to my family or to my country? Ciaran
came to this country like so many other Irish men and women
searching for peace and justice that America offered.
By making a donation to the "Ciaran Ferry Legal Defense Fund", your
voice will be heard loud and clear by the American and British
Governments - "We will no longer pay for your persecution of the
Irish people in America".
Ciaran O'Fearaigh served his time in Long Kesh for political
offenses and was released under the terms of the Good Friday
Agreement.
Briana Learnihan
IAUC National Membership Chair
Irish Deportees of America Committee
----
For more information on his case visit:
http://www.freeciaranferry.com/ or www.iauc.org/deportee.htm
Ciaran Ferry Legal Defense Fund
P.O. Box 740071
Arvada, CO 80006-0071
Write to Ciaran and let him know that you support him and his
family. Letters may be sent to:
CIARAN O'FEARAIGH
P.O. Box 16700
Golden CO 80402-6700
