Posted by Jim on February 4, 2013
by Helen McClafferty on Monday, February 4, 2013 at 4:46am •
A great night was had by all at the welcome home function for Gerry McGeough. The venue was packed. Several hundred people from East Tyrone, across Ireland and overseas gathered for what was a truly upbeat and energy packed night. The craic, as they say, was absolutely fantastic. The band, The Irish Brigade, kept us all on our toes with lively rebel music and everyone appeared to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I was really impressed by the turnout and especially the number of young people there. Damian Herron, northern Chair of the Free Gerry McGeough Campaign and Chairman of the Gerry McGeough Welcome Home Function, emceed the event. The speeches went over extremely well. I was a little nervous in delivering my speech at first, but the crowd made me feel extremely welcome. I thanked all those who worked so hard on the campaign and for the generous support we received from the AOH in the United States and other supporters across the country and afar. We had an array of flags displayed around the room which included the Irish Tri-Color, the Stars and Stripes, the Catalan (Senyera) flag, the flag of the state of New Jersey and a Hibernian flag. Everyone was delighted that Eamon O’Cuiv made it up to the event and delivered a rousing speech. Martin Galvin’s oratory once again rose to the occasion and was well received by the enthusastic audience present. Moya St. Leger’s speech was brilliant in its analysis of the injustices perpetrated on Gerry. Jordi San Jose, Mayor of San Fileu in Catalonia, stole the hearts of the people with his praise for the courage of the Irish people. Luz Retuerta, Maria’s sister, pointed out how they have adopted Ireland as their second country. Una McGeough excelled herself as always and prompted Eamon O’Cuiv to say “that she was a future politician in the making”. Gerry McGeough’s speech received a standing ovation and the crowd howled with laughter when he poked fun at his “old friend” DUP MLA Morris Morrow. Grown men were moved to tears when Gerry touched upon the suffering of the Irish people over the centuries under English rule. At the end of Gerry’s speech he called for the English establishment “to get out of Ireland and for the country to be united and free”. He finished up by invoking the old saying “Ireland was Ireland when England was a pup”. “Ireland will be Ireland when England’s buggered up”. At the close of the venue, spirits were high when a young lady approached me and said she was the cousin of the late hunger striker Martin Hurson. She told me she hadn’t been to such a positive venue like this in a long time and what a good time she had. She said “I wish there could be more “do’s” like this again, so positive and so upbeat”.
Posted by Jim on January 29, 2013
Political prisoner Gerry McGeough has been released from Maghaberry Prison after serving two years of his sentence for his part in an IRA action more than 30 years ago.
The former Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle member was arrested in 2007 at an election count centre after he stood for election to the Stormont Assembly as an independent republican. He was handed a 20-year sentence in 2011.
Although suffering from ill-health, Mr McGeough took part in the dirty protest by non-conforming prisoners at the jail, and a global campaign was fought by republican and human rights activists to win his freedom.
Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, McGeough qualified to apply for early release after serving a minimum of two years. However, there had been concerns that the veteran republican might not be released.
Former publicity director of the Irish Northern Aid Committee Martin Galvin, joined Mr McGeough as he was freed and will address a function tonight in Dungannon to welcome him home.
He said: “Gerry McGeough is seen by many nationalists as a victim of British injustice.
“The British soldiers who shot dead 14 unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday have never been charged yet the Crown showed no hesitation in moving against this respected republican on decades-old charges.”
Posted by Jim on January 26, 2013
The passing of Dolours Price, a republican legend, has come as a deep shock to the entire community, regardless of politics or allegiance.
Dolours was a mother of two sons and former wife of leading actor Stephen Rea. She was found dead at her Malahide home on Wednesday night.
Her death has seen an outpouring of sympathy and respect on social networks, and hundreds of messages have been posted in tribute.
Dolours suffered profoundly from post-traumatic stress disorder relating to her time on hunger strike in 1973/1974, and had previously attempted to commit suicide.
In July last year, she said she was “completely distraught” with anxiety for the wellbeing of her sister, who is younger by three years.
Marian Price was interned without trial by British decree almost two years ago, and is still under prison guard in hospital.
“We formed bonds in English prisons and in Irish prison that can never be broken,” she said. “I hope and trust she will find the strength and courage to keep on going.”
She had been a harsh critic of Sinn Fein in recent years and had repeatedly clashed with its leader, Gerry Adams, over his alleged role in the IRA and his party’s ‘sell out’ of republican principles.
The Belfast native had also come under pressure in recent months as a result of interviews she gave in confidentiality with researchers associated with a ‘conflict archive’ funded by Boston College.
The taped recordings were subpoenad by the PSNI police as part of their historical investigations into the IRA — potentially implicating Mr Adams and others — but have since become mired in legal wrangles on both sides of the Atlantic, including a potential US Supreme Court challenge.
Mr Adams said yesterday he was “profoundly saddened” by Price’s death and extended his sympathies to her family.
“I have known Dolours for a very long time. She endured great hardship during her time in prison in the 1970s, enduring a hunger strike which included force feeding for over 200 days,” he said.
“In more recent years she has had many personal trials. I am sure all of those who knew Dolours will be very sad at the news of her death.”
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly, who fought alongside her in the IRA, said he was shocked by the news. “A life cut short. She will be sadly missed by her family and friends.”
The 32 County Sovereignty Committee offered their condolences to the Price family. “An unbowed and unapologetic Republican, she will be remembered fondly by all within the Sovereignty Movement.”
In a statement, the two Boston College journalists, Ed Moloney and Anthony McIntyre, also expressed their sadness at her death.
“Throughout the last two years of our fight to prevent her interviews being handed over to the police in Belfast, our greatest fear was always for the health and well-being of Dolours,” they said. “Now that she is no longer with us perhaps those who initiated this legal case can take some time to reflect upon the consequences of their action.”
A TROUBLED LIFE
Dolours was one of the IRA’s most prominent members during the early years of the recent conflict.
Her father Albert Price was a veteran IRA man, a survivor of the 1940s campaign. She recalled how her father would recount his years in the struggle, and said of her family that Republicanism was “part of our DNA”.
Grammar-school-educated, she was in her final year of teacher training at St Mary’s College on Falls Road in west Belfast when she was arrested for her part in an IRA’s campaign on British soil.
She joined the IRA following internment in 1971. Before that she had been a member of the left-wing People’s Democracy.
Attractive, well-spoken and university-educated, she was part of a new breed of articulate IRA members. She was the first female IRA member.
Until that point women were recruited into the Cumann na mBan.
At just 22 years of age Dolours had already risen rapidly through the ranks of the IRA and was privy to the most secret of information as part of an elite unit.
She was the leader of a nine-member IRA team which included Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly, and brought the war in the north of Ireland back to its source — London.
Her role in a 1973 attack on the Old Bailey courts complex, one of the headquarters of the British injustice system, led her to be dubbed ‘the Old Bailey bomber’ by the Tory tabloid press.
She never doubted her actions in that campaign, in which only one person died. She said in her memoir: “In Belfast we gave 15 minute warnings, in London we’d given them an hour.”
Following her arrest and trial at Winchester Castle in November 1973, she was jailed for life, and immediately began a 206-day hunger strike, demanding to be transferred to prisons in Ireland.
“Make no mistake about it, when I made the decision we’d be on hunger-strike, I had a vision we’d starve to death, it was that simple.”
But her senior role in the IRA and her years of incarceration in England, took a toll on her mentally.
She very rarely spoke of her 206 days being force-fed and physically abused by English gaolers. Her sister Marian described the force-feeding
thus:
“Four male prison officers tie you into the chair so tightly with sheets you can’t struggle. You clench your teeth to try to keep your mouth closed but they push a metal spring device around your jaw to prise it open. They force a wooden clamp with a hole in the middle into your mouth. Then, they insert a big rubber tube down that. They hold your head back. You can’t move. They throw whatever they like into the food mixer – orange juice, soup, or cartons of cream if they want to beef up the calories. They take jugs of this gruel from the food mixer and pour it into a funnel attached to the tube. The force-feeding takes 15 minutes but it feels like forever. You’re in control of nothing. You’re terrified the food will go down the wrong way and you won’t be able to let them know because you can’t speak or move. You’re frightened you’ll choke to death.”
Both Price sisters were given early release from prison in the 1980s on health grounds.
MARIAN PRICE BAILED?
It is not yet known if Marian will be permitted to attend her funeral.
In court on Friday there was confusion as to whether or not the 58-year-old was already on bail, as she was granted bail in 2011, shortly before she was interned.
While Judge David McFarland (again) granted bail, he added that it will now be a decision for the Parole Commissioners whether or not the grieving woman is actually released.
The funeral is likely to take place at St Agnes’s Church in Andersonstown, Belfast, on Monday, followed by burial at Milltown Cemetery.
Posted by Jim on January 24, 2013
Veteran republican Dolours Price, sister of Irish political prisoner Marian Price, has died.
Dolours remained a significant force in Irish republicanism until her untimely death in Dublin last night.
Following the introduction of internment in 1971, when hundreds of nationalists were arrested and imprisoned without trial, she approached Sean MacStiofain, one of the founders of the Provisional IRA and said she wanted to be a “fighting soldier”. She campaigned to join the IRA, not part of Cumann na mBan, the women’s wing of the republican movement.
An IRA Army Council was convened and Price was sworn into the organisation, followed by her sister. Both played a significant role in the IRA’s armed struggle.
In 1973, she and her sister were sentenced to life imprisonment in England, and immediately embarked on a 200-day hunger strike seeking their repatriation to a prison in Ireland.
During the hunger strike, which was called off in 1974, the sisters were force fed.
Following her release on compassionate grounds in 1980, Dolours returned to Dublin and she married Belfast actor Stephen Rea in the early 1980s.
The couple, who divorced in 2000, have two sons.
Her sister Marian Price was interned in 2011 by an order of the then British Direct Ruler Owen Paterson. Marian continues to suffer serious ill health as a result of her hunger strike and remains the subject of a worldwide campaign for her release.
Their brutal treatment in English prisons continued to affect both sisters’ mental health, and Dolours has received treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
In recent years, she was highly critical of the Sinn Fein leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness and of the peace process. She has made a number of statements denouncing Mr Adams for allegedly denying his IRA past, and her involvement in a historical archive project for Boston College became the subject of a PSNI subpoena and multiple legal actions.
It is understood she died peacefully at her home last night in Malahide, County Dublin. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.