An Phoblacht - Issue 3 - 2023

anphoblacht

www.anphoblacht.com

€5.00 / £4.00

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 – UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3

�

We are living in the end days of Partition Mary Lou McDonald

�

LEADING IRELAND TO UNITY

�

The story of Ireland in 2023, right across this island, is the unprecedented demand for change

�

Michelle O’Neill

Chun tosaigh i dtreo na hAontachta 41 and

ESCAPES

Byair By land 53

Where is Unionism at today?

JOIN THE

PARTY OF CHANGE!

w w w. s i n n f e i n . i e / j o i n Know your rights!

See Sinn Féin’s privacy policy at sinnfein.ie/privacy

2

Time for real change Tá se in am don athrú dílis

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

AN PHOBLACHT is published by Sinn Féin. The views in An Phoblacht are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sinn Féin. We welcome articles, opinions and photographs from new contributors but contact the Editor first.

EDITOR: ROBBIE SMYTH An Phoblacht, Kevin Barry House, 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, Ireland.



anphoblacht contents clár

UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

People power

15

TELEPHONE: (+353 1) 872 6 100.



EMAIL: editor@anphoblacht.com PRODUCTION: MARK DAWSON RUAIRÍ DOYLE MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA

􀺑

www.anphoblacht.com

EQUALITY

D

E HE

AR

IS IT

B

E W

AL L

N

An Phoblacht asked four Sinn Féin representatives to write about their constituency work and how they engage with the people and communities they represent. Paul Donnelly, Niamh Archibald, Mairéad Farrell, and Aoife Finnegan took up the challenge in what will be an ongoing section of the magazine.

ST

D SH R U N G AN

CONTRIBUTORS Mary Lou McDonald Michelle O’Neill Sorca Clarke Pat Sheehan Paul Donnelly Niamh Archibald Mairéad Farrell Aoife Finnegan Luke Callinan Emma McArdle Gerry Adams Mark Ward Anna Carroll Jim Gibney Mícheál Mac Donncha Seán Mac Brádaigh Brian Mac Domhnaill Dermot Finucane Darren O’Rourke Paul Kavanagh Roy Greenslade Chris MacManus

5 8 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 & 35 21 23 26 29 31 38 & 43 42 44 46 50 53 56 58

An Cailín Ciúin

19

Irish language box office winners and Oscar hopefuls. In the wake of the success enjoyed by ‘An Cailín Ciúin’, Luke Callinan explores the growing potential of Irish language cinema.

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

Spying on journalists

56

Roy Greenslade takes us through the shocking reality of how police snooping on journalists is not only a British disease.

In June, the European Union published draft legislation which would allow national security agencies to spy on journalists.

3

EDITORIAL

anphoblacht EAGARFHOCAL

The power of political activism

ROBBIE SMYTH editor@anphoblacht.com

There are those who don’t want a political engaged and active citizenship demanding their basic right to a better Ireland

4

W

hat sets Sinn Féin apart in Irish political life is the sustained activism of party members and political activists. This edition of An Phoblacht highlights some of the multiple dimensions of the effort and work undertaken by Sinn Féin’s elected representatives. It ranges from the rural communities of Galway, South Armagh, and Coleraine to Dublin’s suburbs and the European Union and issues such as ensuring energy independence and applauding the thousands who turned up for the 42nd annual Hunger Strike commemoration in Cork last month.

The activism described is something as simple as knocking on doors to gauge voter concerns on local issues or participating in the Causeway Coast’s first ever Pride event in Coleraine. It is holding constituency clinics in Clifden and South Armagh. It is Darren O’Rourke TD outlining how Sinn Féin will reform our liberalised energy sector or Chris MacManus MEP working to reject the EU-Mercosur trade deal at the EU Parliament.

Another aspect of the internationalism of Sinn Féin’s political work is shown in Mark Ward’s article on sports washing and the plight of the Palestinian football team.

It is highlighting the reality of the cost of living crisis across the island.

Sorca Clarke TD and Pat Sheehan MLA highlight just one aspect of this in their articles which is the huge cost of returning to school for families.

It is also the act of remembering the political prisoners over centuries of struggle and the Sinn Féin activists who travelled from all over Ireland to Cork for the Hunger Strike commemoration, a vital element of modern republicanism. Marking and honouring the activism and sacrifices of our political prisoners and the lessons of their struggle is key to the work of the party today. Dermot Finucane, a former prisoner, provides a firsthand insight and account of this.

The article on the Léargas book series by Gerry Adams provides another dimension in the importance of understanding, remembering, and recounting the lives of republicans.

This August also marked the 35th year since Féile. Its forerunner, the West Belfast Community festival was first held in 1988. This year’s Féile was a cross section of the cultural and political life of the whole of Ireland across all of its communities, with 350 events in over 50 venues across Belfast.

There are those who don’t want a politically engaged and active citizenship demanding their basic right to a better Ireland. They don’t want Sinn Féin to succeed. Instead, they want to decide what songs we can sing, as well as how and where we can commemorate the histories they don’t want to remember.

They cannot hold back a risen people. 

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Our moment in time to change and unite Ireland

BY MARY LOU McDONALD The next twelve months promise to be one of the most significant periods in the history of Irish politics. We are on our marks for a General Election that could happen at any time, the Local and European Elections take place next summer, and a Westminster Election will quickly follow. All of these campaigns represent an immense opportunity to advance the journey to a new and united Ireland; an Ireland that is stronger, fairer, and better for all our people.

The groundswell for change has gained an unstoppable momentum over the last three years. There is a huge appetite amongst ordinary people right across Ireland to

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

make political change a reality.

Last year’s Assembly Elections and the recent Council elections in the North shows what is possible. We are now the largest political party in the Assembly and in local government in the North. Sinn Féin’s positive message of making politics work for all and getting the Executive back up and working for everyone was endorsed by the people. The challenges are clear, and we remain committed to the politics of progress and partnership.

It’s time for the DUP to accept the democratic outcome of the elections, end its boycott and get back around the Executive table to deliver good government for all.

5

� It’s time for the DUP to accept the democratic outcome of the elections, end its boycott, and get back around the Executive table to deliver good government for all � These historic electoral successes weren’t inevitable nor did they happen by chance. Republicans made it happen through hard work and dedication to positive, uplifting politics focused on delivering real improvements in people’s lives and creating a better future for everyone.

This year presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to achieve similar success in the South. There is now a very real prospect of a new government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for the first time in a 100 years.

Both the General and Local Election will allow voters to call time on the repeated failures of these parties and back and to back Sinn Féin to deliver a new government that puts workers, families, and communities first.

Despite the hardship created by a perpetual housing disaster and a crushing cost of living, people believe that things can be far better. They know that our young people shouldn’t face the pain of forced emigration and should instead be able to build a decent and secure future here at home.

The reason these crises persist and worsen is because Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are in power. The longer they remain in office, the worse things will get. This is a tired, out of touch government so locked into the past that it is unable to seize the immense opportunities that exist

6

for Ireland over the next decade. You only have to look at the ongoing fiasco surrounding the National Children’s Hospital to recognise that the inertia and incompetence is off the charts.

Increasingly, people see that these parties are incapable of taking Ireland forward to the next level. I have no doubt that the forthcoming budget will be an election budget for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. A budget not focused on tackling the real problems, but one aimed instead at buying votes in a self-serving last-ditch effort to cling to power.

The last thing workers and families need is a cynical auction budget that takes people for fools. We need a new political leadership with the energy and determination to make positive change happen in the areas that really matter to workers and families. Sinn Féin is ready to provide the energy, the determination, the leadership.

Any government that I would lead as Taoiseach will roll up its sleeves and get down to the work of solving the housing crisis, of building strong and fair public health service, of taking real action on the cost of living crisis and of growing opportunity for all. We would work night and day to get the fundamentals right and to implement ambitious plans for the future.

Our goal as republicans is to ensure that every per-

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

� This is a tired, out of touch government so locked into the past that it is unable to seize the immense opportunities that exist for Ireland � son has the chance to reach their full potential in life through the development of a modern economy driven by well-paid jobs and strong workers’ rights and through accessible world class education at every level and we would ensure that people are supported, protected, and lifted back up if they fall on hard times. We are committed to the belief that no person should be left behind as we build Ireland’s success. This belief will be the driving force of a Sinn Féin led government intent on creating a new era of equality, opportunity, and prosperity.

Sinn Féin is a party of activists rooted in our communities. We are also a party of nation builders with our eyes firmly on the prize of uniting our country and our people in our time. A Sinn Féin government would put a United Ireland at the very top of the agenda and keep it there. Irish Unity is core to the radical, progressive change sweeping across Ireland.

These are exciting, extraordinary times. We are living in the end days of Partition. It’s a chance we won’t miss.

As the momentum for Unity grows, the next 12 months place an onus on each and every one of us to have the challenging conversations and debates with our friends and families, and to build alliances for unity in our communities and everywhere we can. There is also an onus on both governments to catch up. To the Irish government I say again, now is the time to establish a Citizens Assembly on Irish Unity.

As we approach this crucial period in our political

journey, we do so with confidence, enthusiasm, and belief. Never before has the appetite for republican politics been stronger; the vision of the Republic of 1916 shines brightly in the hearts of ordinary people. As more and more people put their faith in Sinn Féin, their expectations of us grow and rightly so. They are counting on us and it is our job to deliver for them.

As the Dáil returns this month, we will continue to hold this failed government to account and to advance republican politics in Leinster House. However, the historic task of changing Ireland must radiate out beyond the gates of the Oireachtas onto our streets and into our communities. The job of changing Ireland is the job of activists brimming with enthusiasm to build a better future.

So, friends, seize the day. Knock on the doors, deliver the newsletters, join the demonstrations, and drive the campaigns. It is up to every Sinn Féin activist to play their part in making change happen, no matter how big or how small. When we achieve our new and united Ireland, we will look back and know that it was in these days that we won a better tomorrow for all our people.

This is our moment to push the boundaries. Our moment to demand even more of ourselves. Our moment in time to transform Ireland together and for each other.

As our dear friend and comrade Rita O’Hare once said, “We keep going. The road to a United Ireland is ahead.” 

• Sinn Féin are on their marks for a General Election that could happen at any time. Local and European Elections take place next summer, and a Westminster Election will quickly follow

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

7

42nd ANNUAL NATIONAL HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION, CORK

The change people desperately want Thousands gathered in Cork on 27 August for the 42nd annual National Hunger Strike Commemoration. Sinn Féin Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill delivered the main address at on the city’s Grand Parade.

O’Neill told those assembled that Sinn Féin wants to lead government North and South and that “as support for our programme of change continues to build, there now exists the prospect of a new government without Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for the first time in 100 years”.

The First Minister Designate in the Northern Assembly repeated her call for the DUP to accept the democratic outcome of historic elections in the north where the people voted for change.

First Minster O’Neill said, “The challenge for political leadership today is to build a process of reconciliation and healing to shape a better future for all. Today we are not only living through historic change. We are shaping it. A new dawn is breaking in Ireland.

“The growth in popular support for Sinn Féin and the demand for the change that we represent, here in the South and in the North, has never been greater. The northern State that my parents and grandparents were born into is no more. I stand for equality and justice. I and the Sinn Féin team are fully committed to deliver for

• Sinn Féin repersenatives leading the parade

8

everyone, where workers, families and communities always comes first.”

O’Neill also said that, “The contrived unionist majority is now gone. Sinn Féin won two historic elections. We are now the largest political party in the Assembly, in local government in the north, and across this island.

“Sinn Féin’s positive message of making politics work for all and getting the Executive back up and working for everyone, was endorsed by people. I will never treat, and I will never allow, anyone to be treated the way that our parents and grandparents were treated.

“There is no contradiction in declaring and delivering on our firm commitment to power sharing with unionism and others in a Stormont Executive, while at the same time making the case and planning for constitutional change on this island.

“While the DUP continue to cause political disruption, dysfunction and chaos, the reality is that they have no credible alternative to power-sharing, and on the basis of equality. It is time that the DUP accepted the democratic outcome of last May’s historic Assembly election where the people voted for change.

“Their boycott is leading to misery for people who need an Executive in place to lift the cost-of-living burden, to tackle the health

• Cork Hunger Strikers, 1920-1923 were honoured

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

42nd ANNUAL NATIONAL HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION, CORK

crisis, to attract investment, to create jobs, to deliver change, to plan for the future”.

The Mid Ulster MLA said if controversial and cruel legacy legislation is passed in Westminster, the Irish government must confront this denial of human rights through an interstate case and international action against the British government.

O’Neill said, “The current legislation nearing completion in Westminster has one purpose, and one purpose only, to conceal the truth and protect British state forces. That legislation is anti-democratic, it is unjust, and it is a denial of the human rights of victims

and their families who have campaigned for decades for the truth.

The British government should withdraw this legislation.

“And if the British government do not withdraw this legislation, the Irish government should confront this denial of human rights through an interstate case and international action against the British government.”

Michelle O’Neill said that party leader and Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald can be the first woman Taoiseach in an Irish state failed by a century of Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil governments.

She said, “Sinn Féin wants to lead government in Belfast and

• Remembering the the Blanket Protest and Hunger Strikes

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

9

42nd ANNUAL NATIONAL HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION, CORK

Prospect for new government grows as support builds for real change MICHELLE O'NEILL Dublin. Mary Lou McDonald can be the first woman Taoiseach to lead Government in this State. She will deliver the change that people desperately want. The Irish people have been failed by a Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil/Green government that is tired, wedded to the past, and unable and unwilling to seize the great opportunities that exist to take Ireland to the next level.

“The story of Ireland in 2023, right across this island, is the unprecedented demand for change. Ordinary workers and families are looking to a new future shaped by opportunity, ambition, and equal-

• The march makes it way down Patrick's Street

10

ity. They want a political leadership with the energy and determination that matches their hopes.

“The last General Election in the South saw Sinn Féin win the popular vote. As support for our programme of change continues to build, there now exists the prospect of a new government without Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for the first time in 100 years. Let’s build that new and better Ireland, where all of our children are cherished equally and where our success will be judged by the laughter of our children.” 

• The crowd listen to the speakers at Grand Parade, Cork

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

BACK TO SCHOOL COSTS

CRIPPLING FAMILIES ACROSS IRELAND

Across Ireland, families are sending children back to school this month and worrying about the range of hidden costs in what is supposed to be a free education system. PAT SHEEHAN, Sinn Féin Assembly spokesperson on Education, outlines the steps that could be taken to tackle and significantly lower uniform costs in the Six Counties. He highlights the possibility of Sinn Féin legislation to reduce costs if the Assembly is restored.

SORCA CLARKE is Sinn Féin’s Dáil spokesperson on Education. She outlines the motions and actions the party has taken over the last two years to tackle a range of education cost issues including uniforms, school transport, and school meals. anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

11

Free education is a myth

BY SORCA CLARKE

There is not a household with school age children who aren’t looking at the back-toschool list and wondering where exactly is the free education espoused in the Constitution and under legislation.

The reality is profoundly different. In short, free education is a myth. What is not myth is that those same families, back-toschool list in hand, are also juggling sky high rents, mortgage interest increases, and an inflation rate, viewed over a fiveyear period, that has risen by 12.9%.

This is at a time when the 2023 Barnardo’s Back to School survey highlights the average cost of the basics needed for a fourth-class pupil is €320, a first-year pupil is €972, and a fifth-year pupil is €863.

Each and every one of those costs will be felt sharply, putting already hard-pressed parents to the pin of their collar.

In the months since becoming Education spokesperson, I have met with the wide spectrum of stakeholders in the sector, from students and parents to education providers and teacher representatives.

While each stakeholder brings to the table their own priorities as expected, there are many commonalities, one being the need to ensure that every child has equal access to education.

There is an appalling legacy of underfunding by successive Governments in the education sector and it is this political refusal that has led to our schools becoming over-reliant on parental funding to bridge unacceptable gaps.

This year alone, schools have seen their funding schedule change numerous times with one particular grant, the ICT Grant to improve schools’ digital technology infrastructure, disappearing entirely and unlikely to be provided to schools until January 2024 despite expenditure having already been incurred by many schools.

Last October, the OECD’s ‘Education at a Glance’ report stated clearly that this state lags way behind when it comes to investing in education as a measure of GDP. This is beyond shameful.

In June, Sinn Féin introduced a Dáil motion on education costs, calling on the government to expand the Schoolbook Grant Scheme to post primary schools in Budget 2024. We welcomed that the government did not oppose this motion, Our ‘Education (Inclusion of Persons) Bill 2023’ would require the National Council for Special Education and the Department of Education to properly forecast and plan for the number of school places needed for children with special educational needs.

It will also require school management boards to consider how to support chil-

12

• Sorca Clarke, Sinn Féin Dáil Education spokesperson

dren with special educational needs, and for board members to undertake training in disability rights.

Last year, Sinn Féin introduced the ‘Affordable School Uniform Bill 2022’ to address one of the biggest back-to-school costs for families. It is illogical to think that sewn-in crests result in better learning outcomes compared to a sewn-on crest.

We also introduced the ‘Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021’ to ensure that no child is stigmatised or denied opportunities because their parents are not in a position to make a contribution. Our aim is

Sinn Féin introduced a Dáil motion on education costs, calling on the government to expand the Schoolbook Grant Scheme to post-primary schools in Budget 2024

to eliminate parental contributions through higher capitation directly funding schools.

To do that effectively, this Bill would see the Comptroller and Auditor General report on how effective exchequer spending alone is in meeting all reasonable operating costs of schools.

Crucially, the Voluntary Contributions Bill sets out a pathway for bringing about an end to voluntary contributions for good once capitation levels are adequately restored by Government and ensure transparency during this phase by placing an obligation on schools and the Department of Education to publish the total amount collected in voluntary contributions, and how this has been spent in each school.

The Governments review of the School Transport Scheme has been ongoing since February 2021 with no end in sight. Every year, the scheme is significantly oversubscribed and instead of harnessing this demand, thousands of children are turned away, which is totally at odds with our climate ambitions, and results in thousands of extra private car journeys to and from school each day.

For those in rural Ireland, where public transport can be essentially non-existent, this causes huge problems for families who are trying to juggle their work commitments.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• Sinn Féin wants to ensure that education is free, accessible and that schools are properly funded €300 €290 €280 €270 €260 €250 €240 €230 €220 €210 €200 €190 €180 €170 €160

The Real Cost of School in 2023

€150 €140 €130 €120 €110 €100

g Paper Back to School Survey – Briefin August 2023

€90 €80 €70 €60 €50 €40 €30 €20 €10 €0

With a modern school transport system, we can cut transport emissions and reduce dangerous traffic congestion outside schools, all while providing a convenient method of transport for children - a win-win for parents, guardians, students, and for the environment.

We also need to address the pupil-teacher ratio. Sinn Féin wants to abolish all classes of over 30 kids and never allow them to return, and work towards attaining the EU average of 20 children per class. The INTO has continually campaigned for a reduction in average class size and evidence shows that pupils do better and are better served with smaller class sizes.

Teaching methods have changed substantially in recent years and when class numbers are more reasonable, modern teaching methods work more effectively and teachers can spend the time needed with children. This is particularly important

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

for children with additional needs and those from disadvantaged communities.

There are many challenges facing the Education sector, none of which are insurmountable with the political will. However, this and previous governments have shown that they are simply not up to the task.

Sinn Féin is clear on what we would do to ensure that education is free, accessible and that schools are properly funded.

We would introduce affordable school uniforms, expand the School Transport Scheme, ensure that every child has access to a hot meal in school, extend the School Book Grant Scheme to post-primary schools, and stop families being pressured into paying voluntary contributions.  Sorca Clarke is the Sinn Féin TD for Longford-Westmeath and Dáil Education spokesperson

13

SCHOOL POLICIES MUST MAKE UNIFORMS AFFORDABLE

BY PAT SHEEHAN In the last weeks of summer, hard-pressed parents, already struggling with the cost of living crisis, will face further financial hardship trying to afford back to school costs.

In its annual ‘School Costs Survey’, the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) found that 20% of parents say they sacrifice spending on food to cover the costs of their children going back to school.

The ILCU survey also found that uniforms are the single biggest expense for parents during the school year followed by lunches and then transport.

Research from the Parent Engagement Group in the summer of 2022 found the average cost of a post-primary school uniform in the North was £378. With inflation running at around 10% over the

20% of parents say they sacrifice spending on food to cover the costs of their children going back to school last year, parents are facing a significant increase in the cost of a uniform that will have a considerable impact on household budgets and family life.

The means tested uniform grant available from the Education Authority amounts to £61.20, a fraction of the average cost, for post-primary students under 15. This falls well below uniform grants that are available to parents of post-primary school children in other jurisdictions on these islands.

The outworking of all of this is that families who are already suffering most as a consequence of the cost of living crisis will be most heavily impacted by back to school costs.

Currently, the responsibility for uniform policy in individual schools lies with Boards of Governors, albeit in the context of non-statutory guidance from the Department of Education. However, in many instances, Boards of Governors choose to ignore the guidance from the Department in regard to uniforms. In some cases, they have included items on their uniform lists that are totally unnecessary.

Compounding this problem, some Boards of Governors direct

14

• Sinn Féin MLA Cathy Mason is working on legislation that would make school uniforms and PE gear more affordable for all families

parents to use a single supplier of uniforms, leaving them no choice of purchasing cheaper alternatives on the high street. Moreover, some schools, particularly - but not exclusively - in the grammar sector, insist on branded PE clothing. This not only adds additional expense, but also acts as a barrier to some young people attending particular schools because parents know the cost of uniforms and PE gear would be beyond their reach. Schools should be adopting uniform policy that aims to make uniforms as affordable as possible and avoids expensive add-ons.

Instead of Boards of Governors having the prerogative to ignore departmental guidance, we want to see statutory guidance that requires schools to have competitive tendering processes, to remove the use of unnecessary branded items, and to permit the use of cheaper high street alternatives.

Sinn Féin MLA for South Down Cathy Mason is working on legislation that would do this and make school uniforms and PE gear more affordable for all families. It is our intention to progress this legislation once the Executive is re-established.

We also want to see the Education Department’s review of the current uniform grant delivered urgently. No family should have to suffer financially in order to send their children to school or to ensure they can access the education they deserve.  Pat Sheehan is a Sinn Féin MLA for West Belfast and Assembly Education spokesperson.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

WORKING FOR YOU ACROSS IRELAND Every day and through many evenings and weekends, Sinn Féin’s elected representatives are working in their communities.

An Phoblacht asked four representatives across the island to write about an aspect of their constituency work.

Paul Donnelly took us canvassing in Dublin West. Niamh Archibald, Sinn Féin’s first ever Coleraine councillor, highlighted the issues in her area. Mairéad Farrell pinpoints the local challenges from her constituency clinics

in Conamara, while Aoife Finnegan writes on the cost of living crisis in South Armagh.

Across all four areas, housing, the cost of living, and failing governments are key issues. In the Six Counties, communities are impacted by over a decade of Tory austerity cuts and the DUP executive blockade. In the 26 Counties, communities must cope with the shocking mismanagement of the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green coalition.

Make sure you run enough candidates next time

BY PAUL DONNELLY

WORKING IN YOUR COMMUNITbaIEil S

Some people love it and others absolutely dread it, However, for me, canvassing is one of the most important and enjoyable parts of the work of being a political representative and a community activist. Community A g ob a i r i d o p ho engagement and political activism, more simply known as ‘knocking on doors’, is one of the most important tools for political activists and political representatives.

After a short briefing of our canvassers, informing them of possible local issues that may come up, we get set to knock on as many doors as we possibly can within the allocated time we have.

Every week, we set out a specific target of how many doors we will knock on and where, sometimes it’s a targeted canvass, for example if there’s a current concern regarding anti-social behaviour, planning issues, lack of services or maybe public transport.

Outside of an election campaign, we knock on doors introduce ourPeople are fed selves and simply ask residents “Is up with this there anything personally or in their government and community, of concern or that we could possibly help or support them they are deeply frustrated with their with?” There’s often surprise that you’re at their door and the constitinability to deal uent would open with a comment like with the housing “Is there an election?”. There’s a certain amount of cynicism that all pocrisis, the crisis litical representatives are only out for health and mental themselves and only knock on doors health services, when looking for votes.

That can either be a very short conthe spiralling costs versation with them or it can lead to of the children’s a substantial conversation. The best hospital, and the part is that you haven’t a clue what cost of living and they will bring up for discussion. Every estate is different, every house energy bills crisis anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• Paul and the Sinn Féin canvas team knocking on doors in Dublin West

and person within that house is different, so you just never know.

That’s one of the enjoyable parts of canvassing.

Much to the amusement, and sometimes frustration, of my fellow canvassers and campaign team, I often throw the basic rules of not getting ‘caught on a door’ out the window and stay talking to a constituent for much longer than usual.

I thoroughly enjoy the interaction on the doors and totally acknowledge the trust people put in me and our team when they share their personal experiences with us. Some of those can be very difficult for them, sharing their own fears, and frustrations of maybe a lack of mental health services for themselves or a loved one is a difficult conversation to have. The fear of losing their home if they are renting, or worse if they have a notice of termination and they have 15

Working for all in

BY NIAMH ARCHIBALD Helping people with the everyday issues that matter most to them is what I strive to do as a newly elected councillor. Having been elected as Sinn Féin’s first ever councillor in Coleraine, I am mindful too that I am perhaps giving people who maybe didn’t see themselves as represented in the Council the chance to be so.

So far, the biggest issues I have been contacted about by constituents are housing and the need for better play facilities.

I believe that people deserve a good quality, safe, secure, comfortable, and affordable home. This means investment, resources, and a planning system that works for communities and families.

People deserve We need to build more homes and to a good quality, invest in maintaining existing homes. It is safe, secure, important that these homes are retrofitted to conserve energy not only to combat comfortable, climate change but to help families and and affordable workers to keep energy bills down. home. This means We all deserve a clean and tidy cominvestment, munity. This is a key priority for me. I recently joined with McDonald’s and othresources, and a ers in a litter pick along the River Bann in planning system Coleraine to help make this community that works for cleaner and tidier. By looking after our communities and environment locally, we can impact the environment globally and I will work at a families local level to prioritise fighting against Climate Change and protecting our planet for future generations.

I believe that those in elected roles have a responsibility to represent everyone in society and I was proud to see the first ever Causeway Pride event in the north coast and to play a small part in its organisation. This event was a positive display of how of inclusive and progressive change can come about.

• Paul Donnelly cleaning up Blanchardstown Village

literally months or weeks or sometimes even days to leave their home and face going into homeless services is terrifying.

People are fed up with this government and they are deeply frustrated with their inability to deal with the housing crisis, the crisis in health and mental health services, the spiralling costs of the children’s hospital, and the cost of living and energy bills crisis. They want an election now.

The team of dedicated party activists, each one with their own style of canvassing, go door to door, whizzing through an estate, engaging with people, making connections with them, and sometimes meeting old friends or workmates on the doors.

There are plenty of ‘not in’s’, some negative responses, but a nod of support or a “You’ve got our votes”, “Keep up and the good work”, always puts a bit of a spring in your step.

One of the most regular comments from constituents is “Make sure you run enough candidates next time!” A hangover from the 2020 general election when we left a number of seats behind. That will not happen again I tell them, they can be assured of that.  Paul Donnelly is the Sinn Féin TD for Dublin West 16

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Coleraine

WORKING IN YOUR COMMUNITaIEil S A g ob a i r i d o p ho b

• Niamh Archibald believes that those in elected roles have a responsibility to represent everyone in society

I am passionate about our young people and believe they need adequate services. This is why I am supporting the Heights community in Coleraine in their call for better play facilities in the area. I met with children who attend one of the local primary schools about the playpark and heard first-hand what they want to see in a much needed and updated playpark. I will continue to work through the Council with both the school and the local community to help make this a reality.

I have also met with community, sporting, and youth organisations across the area to hear about their vision for making Coleraine better for everyone in our community.

I am proud to be part of the Sinn Féin team in Causeway Coast and Glens Council and I will work to do my best for everyone in Coleraine and across Causeway Coast and Glens to make the area an even better place to live.  Niamh Archibald is a Sinn Féin councillor for Coleraine on the Causeway Coast and Glens Council

• Niamh (right) at the first ever Causeway Pride event anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• Mairéad Farrell

It’s the housing crisis – stupid!

BY MAIRÉAD FARRELL I hadn’t realised quite how many people go on their holidays to Clifden until my clinic poster was propped up outside Vaughan’s bar in the centre of the town. A simple poster outlining when, where, and what time my monthly clinic is on at.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of WhatsApp photos of the poster being sent to me with various people A g ob a i r i d o p ho ba i l posing in front of that poster.

It reached international levels when my parents’ Swiss house swap partners sent a photo of the poster. Confused, I queried with my mother how they knew it was me and she quickly reminded me that I have the woman tortured with posters of me all over her house – that was me told anyway!

I use those clinic posters not just in Clifden, but across Conamara and the islands and then I also hold my weekly clinic in the office in Bohermore. All of these clinics, be they in the centre of an urban area or the most remote parts of rural Conamara are all dominated by the All of these clinics, one issue – housing. be they in the We are all aware of how badly our centre of an urban cities are impacted, Galway as badly area or the most as Dublin, but what doesn’t get as much air time is the disastrous effect remote parts of on our rural areas. rural Conamara are it has In one heated meeting, a man told all dominated by the me, “You can’t build, you can’t rent, one issue – housing and you can’t buy in Conamara”, and he’s right on that. For many, it is proving impossible to get planning permission at a time when the Government is failing to provide alternative accommodation.

Frustration on this particular issue is only growing. When Covid hit and people realised they could work, at least partly from home, many of the most scenic places in Conamara saw the cost of rent increase enormously. With the seasonal nature of much of the work in those areas, it simply priced people out. Similar can be said for houses to buy, holiday homes being snapped up at costs that would astound you.

In clinics, people are more honest about their worries then they are often to their best friends, families, and neighbours. The key thing I’ve learnt from my clinics though is that if one street in an estate or one rural village came together and told each other what was actually going on in all their lives, everyone would feel far less alone. 

WORKING IN YOUR COMMUNITIES

Mairéad Farrell is a Sinn Féin TD for Galway West 17

Coping with the legacies of WORKING Tory austerity and neglect IN YOUR S IE IT N

COMAg MU hobail ob a i r i d o p

BY AOIFE FINNEGAN

Like all Sinn Féin councillors, much of the work I do is on the ground in my local area.

Before I was co-opted as a councillor in 2020, I had been working in Conor Murphy’s MLA constituency office, where I still have a role as a welfare and housing advisor, along with my council work.

Working in Conor’s office, I deal with so many people from not only my own local area, but across the whole of South Armagh and the priority is always to do everything we can to deliver for them.

Most of my work in this role is taken up in welfare advice and support, helping people with forms for various benefits, and working on other similar issues such as housing, health and education issues.

From this frontline role, you can see firsthand the impact that a decade of Tory austerity has had on our welfare system, particularly during the cost of living crisis where prices have continued to rise but the support for the most vulnerable have not matched this.

While the current blockade of the Executive by the DUP prevents our ministerial team from taking substantive actions to help workers and families, both Conor Murphy as Finance Minister and Deirdre Hargey as Communities Minister went above and beyond to support ordinary people. Deirdre in particular delivered for those on means tested and sickness benefits.

Another issue that I deal with, as I’m sure many of my comrades do as well, is passports. Living in a border county we have a huge number of people applying for Irish passports but as we’ve seen in recent years the system just isn’t fit for purpose.

We recently saw that more people from the north had actually applied for Irish passports than those in the South and yet the Irish Government still refuses to open any passport office in the North.

Beyond the office, I’m also busy every day working on the ground to tackle the issues that local people contact me with. My area consists largely of the communities of Crossmaglen and Culloville and there’s always plenty of work to do.

All across South Armagh, we have roads that are in a crumbling state, damaging cars and posing a real risk to all who travel on them, particularly in winter months.

We also have families and businesses who either have a

broadband connection that is nowhere near fit for purpose or no signal at all.

Tackling these issues have been key priorities for myself and our whole Sinn Féin team locally, and we’ve had some great results; securing the resurfacing of Malachy Conlon Park and other roads in the area, as well as advancing projects to get phone signal to areas of South Armagh that have never had it before.

Another issue locally is the former barracks on the square in Crossmaglen, where the land was stolen from the community by the British Government and a huge British military fortification erected on the site.

Thankfully, the South Armagh Police You can see Review, which Sinn Féin pushed for, firsthand the impact has recommended the closure of the that a decade of barracks and we’re working to make Tory austerity has sure this is delivered, and the land fully had on our welfare returned for the use of the community.

Like the legacy of the barracks, the system, particularly infrastructure issues impacting South during the cost of Armagh are also the result of political decisions by the Tory government that living crisis have seen us with a backlog of over £1bn to bring the roads across the North up to spec.

However, these are the issues that Sinn Féin is determined to tackle, and it is this determination to tackle the problems that matter to ordinary people which I feel contributed to the historic result where Sinn Féin became the largest party in local government in the North, following up our achievement in last year’s Assembly election where we also became the largest party.

These results are driven by the hard work of our councillors North and South and it is these results that continue to fuel the momentum on our drive towards holding and winning a referendum on Irish Unity.  Aoife Finnegan is a Sinn Féin councillor for Slieve Gullion on Newry and Mourne Council

• As a border county Armagh has a huge number of people applying for Irish passports but Aoife says the system just isn’t fit for purpose, and the Irish Government still refuses to open any passport office in the North 18

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

'An Cailín Ciúin' and Irish language filmmaking

You can watch an Irish language film right now on the TG4 player or through the Irish Film Institute website, while more are due to be released in Irish cinemas this year.

LUKE CALLINAN explores the important reasons fuelling the growth in films as Gaeilge.

‘An Cailín Ciúin’ (‘The Quiet Girl’) is the first Irish language film to receive an Oscar nomination and it has certainly proven to be the most successful of all time. It was the first Irish film to gross over a million euro at Irish cinemas, and its takings internationally were $5.89 million.

For many viewers, it is their first time to come across an Irish language feature-length film and while it may seem like the birth of a genre, the seeds of this success were planted some years ago.

Although the German anti-war epic ‘All Quiet on The Western Front’ (Im Westen nichts Neues) took home the 2023 Os-

‘An Cailín Ciúin’ was screened in 244 cinemas across the United States the weekend following the Oscars and, according to US Box Office figures, the film grossed $400,000 car for Best International Feature Film – the award for which ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ had been nominated – the Irish language certainly left its mark on the Oscars this year.

The very presence of the cast and crew of ‘An Cailín Ciúin in itself was significant, but there were other telling signs. In accepting the award for Best Visual Effects due to his work on ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, Richard Baneham from Tallaght said “Go raibh maith agat” to the film’s director, James Cameron. The subtitled ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ was screened in 244 cinemas across the United States the weekend following the Oscars and, according to US Box Office figures, the film

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

grossed $400,000, making it the 11th most successful film in America that weekend.

‘An Cailín Ciúin’ is based on Claire Keegan’s novella ‘Foster’. Nine-year-old Cáit is sent to An Rinn Gaeltacht in Co. Waterford to spend a summer with relations, Eibhlín and Seán. Here in Waterford, Cáit receives all the attention, love, and care absent in her own home, flourishing in this environment.

The drama captures perceptively the human need for more than just shelter and food - a child’s need to grow in every respect, and to learn about different aspects of growing up.

And yet, Eibhlín and Seán too have had tragedy in their lives and their fostering is shown against this background.

The narrative point of view remains that of Cáit, however, and viewers can only guess as much as becomes evident to the young girl during her summer stay. Nevertheless, the themes of love, mental health, psychological and physical

19

abuse, poverty, trauma, joy, and suffering are explored sensitively and leave a lasting impact on the viewer.

Director Colm Bairéad must be congratulated on ‘An Cailín Ciúin’. The cinematography, music, lighting, props, and costume are all well-adapted to the period and help to intensify and lighten emotions as appropriate.

Special recognition must be given to Catherine Clinch, the young actress in the part of Cáit. She powerfully portrays the inhibiting impact of negligence, poverty, and lack of care on the development of a young child as well as the deeply positive and humanising impact of a loving, encouraging environment.

The production of ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ is due in no small part to Cine4, a scheme funded by TG4, Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) now known as Coimisiún na Meán. This development fund scheme selects two projects each year for production with a budget of up to €1.2 million per film. Projects seeking funding must offer “a storyline that has a strong credibility as Gaeilge, prove potential to appeal to Irish and international cinema

A sustainable, long-term plan for the development of Irish-language medium films that involves all stakeholders is now required audiences and demonstrate Irish language capability and gender balance across the creative team being proposed.”

Those fundamental criteria are met in all five films produced under the scheme since its inception in 2017: ‘Finky’ (Abú Media, 2019), based on Pádraic Ó Conaire’s novel ‘Deoraíocht’; ‘Arracht’ (Macalla, 2019), a very impressive period drama set during the Famine; ‘Foscadh’ (Tua Films, 2021), a story of greed and exploitation from the Celtic Tiger years based on Dónal Ryan’s novel ‘The Thing about December’; ‘Tarrac’ (Icebox Films, 2022), an intimate character drama set in the Kerry Gaeltacht; and ‘Róise and Frank’ (Macalla, 2022), the story of a widow who finds joy again in a dog that mysteriously comes in to her life after her husband’s passing.

These films have all won a variety of award. Three of them are currently available on the TG4 player – ‘Finky’, ‘Arracht’, and ‘Foscadh’ – while the two newest will soon also appear on TG4.

Four other Irish language films are in the pipeline. Due to appear in cinemas shortly are ‘An Fhidil Ghorm’ (Abú Media) and ‘Fréamhacha’ (Doubleband). ‘An Fhidil Ghorm’ is the story of a ten-year-old girl, Molly, who aims to win the Irish fiddle-playing championship so that she can revive her comatose father.

‘Fréamhacha’ addresses the theme of trauma and the mark it leaves on a person’s life. Two further films are in development, ‘Sonc’ (Tua Films) and ‘Báite’ (Danú Media). In ‘Sonc’, we meet a young woman who is suffering severely having

20

helped her father die by suicide, while in the film ‘Báite’, based on the novel ‘The Lake’ by Sheena Lambert - a body is found in the receding waters of a lake and life is changed utterly for the proprietress of a local pub.

There have of course been other important developments in the world of Irish-language film: ‘Song of Granite’ (2017) is an excellent lyrical biopic based on the life of Seosamh Ó hÉanaí (Joe Éinniú) from Carna in west Connemara, one of the best-known sean-nós singers of the 20th century.

‘Doineann’ (DoubleBand Films, 2022) was the feature debut of director Damian McCann. Produced with the support of the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, the BBC, and TG4, it is the first Irish language feature to be made and produced in the north of Ireland. The Belfast-based music group Kneecap, meanwhile, have produced a bilingual film due to be released soon which will include an appearance by renowned Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender – speaking in Irish.

The body of Irish language films produced, and in production, over the past decade demonstrates that the conditions are right for this industry to grow and be supported. Ireland has the artistic talent in directors such as Colm Bairéad, Tomás Ó Súilleabháin, Seán Breathnach, Damien McCann, and others; production companies like Macalla, Abú Media, and Tua Films; fantastic, versatile actors in Dónall Ó hÉalaí, Dara Devaney, and Carrie Crowley to name but a few; and the landscape for a variety of different genre settings.

It is important to recognise, however, that these developments do not exist in a cultural or political vacuum and to support them is to challenge the dominance of the English-language film industry and its intrinsic colonial world view. A sustainable, long-term plan for the development of Irish-language medium films that involves all stakeholders is now required, not least RTÉ who have for too long placed Irish-language media in áit na leathphingine.

‘An Cailín Ciúin’, along with the other films mentioned here, shows that Ireland can go beyond the stereotypes frequently presented in English language cinema and has a real artistic contribution to make in addressing unflinchingly the realities of Irish society and history.

That this is done through the medium of Irish is fitting.

‘An Cailín Ciúin’/‘The Quiet Girl’ can currently be rented for €4.99 by going to: https://ifi.ie/film/ an-cailin-ciuin-2022/. The following films are available on TG4 Player at the time of going to print: ‘Finky’, ‘Arracht’, ‘Foscadh’, ‘Doineann’, and ‘Song of Granite’.  Luke Callinan is a Sinn Féin activist and organiser in Connacht.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• Gerry Adams speaks at the recent youth session of the Commission on the Future of Ireland in Dublin

Letting people have their say on Ireland’s future As the People’s Assemblies organised by the Commission on the Future of Ireland moved onto their next stage, EMMA McARDLE reflects on the elements that help make an excellent engaging political discussion.

INGREDIENTS: n Enthusiastic and informed participants n A Room n A Facilitator – high quality in this ingredient is essential! n Materials n A Feedback Mechanism

STEP 1 – Put the enthusiastic and informed people in a suitable room STEP 2 – Provide engaging materials to stimulate discussion STEP 3 – Let the Facilitator work their magic STEP 4 – Marinade for approx. 2 hours STEP 5 – Observe the amazing dynamism, energy, and fresh ideas which are generated

Prior to June 2023, Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland had focused its energies on running a series of very successful People’s Assemblies.

Four such meetings have taken place to date in Belfast, Derry, Donegal, and Louth and two more are planned for Waterford in October and the Connemara Gaeltacht in November.

The nature of People’s Assemblies is that they are large in scale and are open to any member of the public to attend. The meetings feature a chairperson and a panel of speakers, but the style of the meeting is discussion focussed with an equal balance between comments from panel members and audience participation.

In June, the Commission pivoted to organise two sectoral events – the Belfast Women’s Assembly and the Dublin Youth Assembly.

These events had a totally different style and method to the previous meetings, but the basic premise was the same – letting people have their say on the future of Ireland.

The Belfast Women’s Assembly took place in the anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

Europa Hotel, and over 140 women from across the wider Belfast area joined in the discussion about what a new united Ireland would mean for them.

Women from diverse backgrounds and political persuasions were there, contributing and sharing experiences and ideas generously.

Belfast remains a divided city and, in the past, many might have had reservations about attending a political party event, but this meeting was oversubscribed within days of its announcement.

The event chairperson, the calm, competent, and positive Eilish Rooney, ensured that all voices were heard and the questions she posed to the women in the gathering were engaging and thought provoking. Eilish’s decision to include the question ‘What parts of the Union do you want to retain?’, is evidence of the mature and respectful discussion which characterised the event.

21

• Belfast Women's Assembly; (below) Ógra Shinn Féin members at the Commission on the Future of Ireland Youth Assembly

The Dublin Youth Assembly took place in the Communication Workers Union headquarters and while it was a smaller event, with 50 people attending, the buzz and energy and positivity was evident from the outset.

For many of the young participants, it was the first time they had really considered the question of Irish unity and the effect that it could have on the nation and on them.

The star of the show on this occasion was the lead facilitator Daisy O’Brien. Daisy is a youth leader of many years’ experience and it showed. He was effervescent and the young people responded to his energy with zeal of their own.

The round table nature of the discussion at the Youth and Women’s Assemblies meant that everybody who wanted to had numerous opportunities to speak. The dynamic generated within a small group is interesting to observe – the over and back around the table enables participants to hear new concepts or to see things from an alternative point of view. It is also easier for many 22

people to speak to a table of 8 or 10 instead of a room of 200.

As with many events looking towards the future, participants at the Women’s and Youth Assemblies were frustrated with the dreaminess of ‘the future’.

Exasperation was expressed around the lack of detail and the absence of a plan to help navigate from ‘now’ to ‘then’. People were incredulous and angry regarding the lack of planning which has been undertaken by the southern government.

Seanadóir Lynn Boylan, who is vice chairperson of the Commission and who addressed both events, said, “There is an urgent imperative for the Irish government to establish a Citizens’ Assembly to begin the work of planning for the future. It should work with the British government to set a date for the unity referendum provided for in the Good Friday Agreement.”

And that’s what it always comes back to, the Good Friday Agreement and the inclusion within of the mechanism to achieve Irish unity – the referendums.

The road to the referendums is only unclear because the government in Dublin don’t want to travel that path.

They want to halt discussions and stymie plans for Irish unity. There are many reasons for this, but selfpreservation trumps them all.

Speed on the day a government rules in Dublin in the interests of the Irish nation and all of the people who call this island home.

In addition to the Waterford People’s Assembly which will take place on 12 October and the Connemara Gaeltacht Assembly which will occur on Monday 27 November, the Commission is hosting an event ‘Exploring northern Protestant identities & culture in a shared future’ in Derry on 13 September and a ‘Rural Communities in a New Ireland’ event at the Ploughing Championship on 21 September.  For further information on the work of the Commission, please see www.sinnfein.ie/futureofireland Emma McArdle is a Campaign and Policy Manager on Sinn Féin’s Uniting Ireland project.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

GER

S

AD RY AM

By Gerry Adams TD

Máire Drumm

The annual Pat Finucane lecture

N

AD RY AM

S

By Gerry Adams TD

John Joe McGirl 30th Anniversary Commemoration, Ballinamore Community Centre, December 2018

A Community Reflects

St Mary’s College of Education, Falls Road, 10 February 2019 Léargas ‘An advocate for human rights’ by Gerry Adams TD UIM IR ‘AHCommunity Reflects’ by John Finucane Katherine Finucane on ‘The family’s fight for justice’ Published by Republican Merchandising Ltd, Trading as: The Sinn Féin Bookshop with an ‘Introduction’

by Joe Austin 58 Parrnell Square, Dublin 1. 00 353 1 8726100 www.sinnFéinbookshop.com sales@sinnFéinbookshop.com SI N N F É I

N

UIMHIR

3

Pat Finucane

30th ANNIVERSARY

Thoughts and recollections

SI N N F É I

4

N

UIMHIR

Michael J. Murphy

The Michael J. Murphy Winter School 2018 Friday 16th November, Tí Chulainn, Mullaghbane, County Armagh

GER

GER

SI N N F É I

AD RY AM

Léargas

GER

N

AD RY AM

Léargas

4

GER

GER

SI N N F É I

UIMHIR

John Joe McGirl An unrepentant Fenian

MÁIRE DRUMM – A VISIONARY: A REBEL HEART

Seanchaí, Sage and Citizen

2

1

N

Léargas

S

SI N N F É I

UIMHIR

AD RY AM

S

Léargas

S

S

AD RY AM

Léargas SI N N F É

IN

A Visionary: A Rebel Heart

TELLING STORIES OF STRUGGLE AND HEROES

GERRY ADAMS outlines the thinking behind the Léargas books series calling on us all to be active citizens.

Campaigning and organizing together for democratic empowerment.

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

23

• Sinn Féin at Downing, December 1997. Martin McGuinness, Martin Ferris, Gerry Adams, Lucilita Bhreathnach, Siobhán O'Hanlon and Richard McAuley, with the research and help of Richard, a future Léargas edition will focus on Siobhán

The idea behind the Léargas series of books grew out of a lecture I gave in the Tí Chulainn centre in Mullaghbawn, South Armagh in November 2018. The local Michael J Murphy committee heard that I was a fan of his and asked me to give a talk.

I was pleased to accept as I had first come across his writings when I was in Long Kesh. In the early 1970s, Michael used to send copies of his books into the Kesh to the internees. His accounts of Irish folklore and of rural and community life of South Armagh and the Ring of Gullion were hugely interesting. Some of his stories have stayed with me until today.

Michael wrote six plays, ten books, and was an accomplished poet, photographer, and broadcaster. He was a Seanchaí, a Sage, and a Citizen. His parents were from South Armagh, though he was born in Liverpool. He returned to Dromintee in 1922 aged 7. When he left school aged 14, he started to work as a farm labourer.

He began to write down the stories he heard from the people he worked with.

He amassed, through his work at the Irish Folklore Commission, the largest collection of oral tradition ever collected by a single individual in the English-speaking world which runs to over 150 volumes.

He was also a prolific photographer.

Michael took thousands of photos. He also developed them himself. At a time, with some notable exceptions, when few photographers recorded the lives of poor people or working people, particularly in rural communities, Michael’s photos are a treasure trove of people at work, at play or relaxing in their homes or in the field. In the ordinariness of their lives.

He was a man with a progressive 24

social view and a belief in social justice.

He loved the landscape around Sliabh Gullion particularly. His writings about the countryside around Gullion are particularly uplifting and enchanting. That was Michael J Murphy.

After the talk was completed, I suggested that we publish it along with some of the photographs that Michael had taken of South Armagh and Rathlin Island.

In July 2018, ‘Michael J Murphy – Seanchaí, Sage and Citizen’ was published. It was to be the first of what is now a series of eleven books.

I have long held the view that it is enormously important that we tell our own story, especially for those engaged in struggle. The establishment media is generally hostile and is usually only interested in the lives of the elites. It is essential therefore that people in struggle know who we are and where we come from. We need to learn the lessons of the past and celebrate the lives of those who came before us.

Next year, I will have been an activist for 60 years. I first joined Sinn Fein in 1964. In the intervening years, I have had the good fortune to meet many solid, sound, learned women and men. Léargas is my tribute to all of them.

All of those who are part of the series, except for Fra McCann and Alex Maskey, are now dead. Of the eleven Léargas published thus far, I personally knew all but two of whose stories I tell. Michael J Murphy and Michael Davitt are the exceptions. The others are John Joe McGirl, Pat Finucane, Máire Drumm, Kevin McKenna, Bobby Storey, Kathleen Thompson, Eddie Fullerton, Fra McCann/

Alex Maskey, and Rita O’Hare. Next year, le cuidiu Dia, the Léargas series will continue.

Richard McAuley has done great work researching and helping with all this.

Next year, we hope to focus on republican women, starting with our friend the late Siobhán O’Hanlon.

Each book tells the unique story of the life and times of an individual. All of them encountered danger and took risks in pursuit of Irish freedom and independence.

I have long held the view, especially for those engaged in struggle, that it is enormously important that we tell our own story Máire Drumm, Pat Finucane, and Eddie Fullerton were killed by unionist death squads acting in collusion with the British state. Alex Maskey was also shot, but thankfully survived. Michael Davitt, Bobby Storey, John Joe McGirl, Kevin McKenna, Fra McCann, and Rita O’Hare spent many years in prison. Kathleen Thompson dedicated years of her life to the republican cause and to shielding those of us on the run.

Collectively, their stories also tell of the decades of repression faced by the nationalist/republican people in opposing English rule in Ireland and in particular the brutality of the apartheid system in the North created by unionism.

Together, these eleven Léargas books tell the stories of twelve extraordinary

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

men and women. Together they were and are exceptional. When strong women and men were needed to fill an bearna bhaoil, they stepped forward. They cared deeply about their families, their friends, the Irish people. They wanted a better future for all of us. They were activists down to their fingertips.

Big Bobby Storey summed it up well.

In a conversation with his parents, he told them, “If anything ever happens to me and if people ask you if it was worth it, you be clear. Tell them that up until the last minute it was worth it for me.”

As for the rest of us? Change is underway. Let’s be active in shaping and deepening that change. If we are already

I have had the good fortune to meet many solid, sound, learned women and men.

Léargas is my tribute to all of them activists, we need to be more active. If we are not activists, today is a good time to start. It’s time to move beyond talking about it. Or leaving it to others. There is a role for everyone.

We don’t have to be a Bobby Storey or a Máire Drumm or a Rita O’Hare or any of those in the Léargas series. Just be yourself and do your best to bring as much or as little as you can to the great historical mission to end Partition and the Union and to build a new union between all the people of the island of Ireland. That’s what those I have written about in the Léargas series have done.

It’s time to be an active citizen. It’s time for campaigning, organising, for democratic empowerment. Let’s do it together. 

• The Léargas series tells the story of the life and times of those that encountered danger and took risks in pursuit of Irish freedom and independence

The Léargas series is published by Republican Merchandising Ltd. Available from Sinn Féin Bookshop  www.sinnfeinbookshop.com and An Fhuiseog  www.thelarkstore.ie ALL PROFITS GO TO THE GREEN CROSS anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

25

• Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project members wearing Palestinian football jerseys and with the Irish consulate in Ramallah

• Mark Ward with Jibril Rajoub, Palestinian FA Chairman

• Mark at the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem

• At the Palestinian National Stadium

• Mark Ward called an for a Ireland v Palestine international friendly

26

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

A GAME OF FOOTBALL CAN GO A LONG WAY Despite being a FIFA member for 25 years, no EU teams have ever played a soccer match against Palestine. MARK WARD writes on Sinn Féin’s support for a demonstration of sporting solidarity with Palestine.

Palestine became a member of FIFA in 1998 and, in the time since, not one European country has ever played a soccer match against Palestine. I met the Palestinian Football Association in Al-Ram last year and was told that it would welcome the opportunity to play the Irish soccer team. Given the historical connection between Ireland and Palestine, this would be a wonderful show of solidarity. If it was an all-Ireland soccer team, it would be even better.

Ireland has played historic matches previously. In 1951, Ireland became the first country to host Germany after World War Two. We were

� I previously asked the Taoiseach to ask why no members of the EU have played Palestine in international football matches. A FIFA member for 25 years and not a single friendly against an EU team �

world leaders then and we could become world leaders again by offering the olive branch to the Palestinian people.

Before each European Council meeting, which brings together heads of Government across Europe, TDs have the opportunity to raise questions with the Taoiseach before they visit Brussels. Recent topics rightly include sanctions against Russia while they carry out their illegal war in Ukraine.

Sinn Féin deputies often raise ongoing war crimes being caried

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

out by Israel and the need for this to be included in the debate with the need for sanctions there also. I previously asked the Taoiseach to ask why no members of the EU have played Palestine in international football matches. A FIFA member for 25 years and not a single friendly against an EU team. Would the Irish Government support the hosting of Palestine for an international friendly to make an historic gesture of solidarity? As often is the case, when the Taoiseach returns, there is little to report on Palestine.

The Dáil passed a Sinn Féin motion in 2014 to recognise the State of Palestine and this has still not been carried out by the three Governments since. Sinn Féin are happy to lead this conversation. Deputy Chris Andrews and I wrote to the FAI to ask about having an international friendly between Ireland and Palestine. The FAI wrote back to say it has no fixtures available in 2023, which I accept, and it is mandated with regard to fixtures by FIFA in 2024.

We have asked it to reconsider and to play a League of Ireland select international, perhaps this year or next year. I tried to put this down as a parliamentary question but it was ruled out of order. We still await clarity on this and we are happy to work with the FAI and the Department of Sport and their Palestinian counterparts in delivering such a match.

I was in Palestine last year as part of a boxing delegation, the ‘Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project’. The project involved clubs from all of Ireland including Belfast, Dublin, and Waterford.

When we were travelling from one zone to another, armed Israeli soldiers came onto the bus. They singled out one young lad from Belfast who had the audacity to smile at them when they came on to the bus. The soldiers asked him what he was smiling at and then started roaring and shouting at him.

I intervened and said he was smiling because he was nervous and that he was Irish and we are a friendly people. They pointed the gun directly at me.

Their words to me are ones I will never forget. They said to me there is no Palestine. I saw at firsthand what the Palestinian people have to put up with on a daily basis and it is horrific.

Irish awareness of the struggles • Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar

27

• SPORTS WASHING – It was deeply disappointing to see a player of the stature of former Irish international Robbie Keane, go to manage Maccabi Tel Aviv, only miles from where he now works, Palestinian people are subjected to the apartheid Israeli regime

in Palestine has always been strong, particularly within the republican movement. The similarities of the Irish struggle of a foreign occupying power annexing land and mass evictions of the native Irish has been prevalent for over 800 years and the island of Ireland is still not free, Britain still occupies the North.

There has always been great solidarity between Irish political prisoners and those in Palestine and there are murals in both Ireland and Palestine that show this.

Support continues to be strong to this day where local councils often fly the Palestinian flag, student unions pass motions to recognise the state of Palestine, and if you ever watch an Irish international soccer match, you will often see a Palestinian flag in the crowd.

The Irish people have a real understanding of what it means to be occupied by a foreign power and it is easy to see why we have strong solidarity with the Palestinian people.

There have been many demonstrations held in cities and villages across the country, the most recent following the murders in Jenin.

� I saw at first-hand what the Palestinian people have to put up with on a daily basis and it is horrific �

The Irish people are awake to the atrocities that apartheid Israel are carrying out.

There is quite rightly a sporting boycott on Israel because of the apartheid crimes against the Palestinian people. It was deeply disappointing to see former Irish international soccer player, Robbie Keane, go to manage Maccabi Tel Aviv. My concern is that this move is another attempt at sports washing.

When people of the stature of Robbie Keane ply their trade in Israel, it is an attempt to gloss over and legitimise the apartheid regime.

Robbie Keane said in an interview recently that he was going to Israel for sporting reasons. This is no consolation to the Palestinian people who, only miles from where Robbie Keane now works, are subjected to an apartheid Israeli regime.

The contrast of an Irish legend going to work in an apartheid state and that of our attempts to bring about an international friendly with Palestine, cannot be starker. The Irish people show a strong sense of

28

• A game of football can go a long way in bringing our two countries closer

solidarity towards the Palestinian people because the struggles of our two countries are so similar.

While others legitimise the crimes against humanity with their presence, the Irish public advocate for an end to the ongoing annexation and lands, the return of displaced Palestinians and the recognition and support of the Palestinian state. A game of football can go a long way in bringing our two countries closer and reinforce our support for their struggle.  Mark Ward is a Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid-West

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

A GOLDEN TIME FOR

WOMEN'S FO TBALL IN IRELAND

BY ANNA CARROLL

This is a golden time for women’s football in Ireland. They’re playing for the top super league clubs, inspiring a new generation of football players and making history, having qualified for their first ever Women’s World Cup. The attendance and viewership of women’s games has been growing substantially in recent years and records were smashed at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

According to Euromonitor, the viewership of the FIFA Women’s World Cup surpassed 2 billion viewers. This is up from 1.12 billion in 2019 and more than double the 839 million viewers in 2015. Australia’s opening match against Ireland achieved a standout 75,784 attendees, making it one of the highest attendances at a Women’s World Cup game.

I had the privilege to speak with Lorna Payne who lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her sister, Heather Payne, plays for Ireland and plays club football with Florida State University in the US. Heather has earned 37 caps for her national team.

Lorna attended numerous Irish matches and very kindly shared her experience with me, “I was lucky enough to attend the World Cup as my sister Heather was selected for the squad. I was living in Vancouver at the time, so I’ve been following all the celebrations and the support from Ireland. Since my sister has been playing for the Irish team, I have gotten to a lot of games including the Euros and the qualifying matches in Tallaght Stadium. This was my first time attending a world cup.

“There was always great excitement, but it’s evident that in the past two years, the support and excitement, particularly among young girls, has been steadily growing in anticipation of this World Cup. You could really get a sense of that when you arrived in Sydney given the huge presence of Irish that are over here. The streets and fan zones were bustling with Irish supporters. All of that really added to the atmosphere around there and I think the girls really appreciated the support that they were given. It undeniably boosted the team’s confidence and morale.”

Back home in Lorna and Heather’s local town of Ballinasloe, a massive amount of support was shown by the local community. Lorna told me of banners and posters in shop window fronts. This undoubtedly had a • Heather Payne from Ballinasloe, has earned 37 caps for the Irish team

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• Thousands of supporters turned out for the women's team homecoming event in Dublin

The continued growth of soccer is promising for our country, so we need to make sure that we continue to provide unwavering support to young girls in sports very positive impact on Heather’s World Cup journey.

“The highlight for me was watching the squad walk out in their opening game against Australia. The resounding chants of ‘Olé’ 29

Witnessing young children getting their jerseys signed was particularly heartening. It showed the huge significance of this time for the youth of Ireland

echoing in the background and the cheers of the crowd created an amazing atmosphere that I hadn’t experienced before. There were 75,000 in attendance, so the noise and the energy was just amazing. In that moment, I was so proud of my sister and what the team had accomplished. The fact that not only had Irish people travelled over, but even the Irish girls and boys living in Australia all came together to be a part of it which made the occasion even more special.”

Unfortunately, Ireland were eliminated in the group stage; a draw against Nigeria putting an end to their dreams of advancing in the World Cup. “The Nigeria vs England game really goes to show Ireland’s progress and the significant development of the team. Nigeria brought England really to the test with penalties in the end, but Nigeria unfortunately were knocked out. This reiterates the potential path Ireland could have taken and the possibilities that might have unfolded for them, had things worked out in that opening or second game.”

Undoubtedly, this will be an unforgettable experience for Lorna. “To me, what stood out 30

the most was the interaction with the players. Even before the last game, there was a fan zone organised event and all the Irish were proudly sporting their Irish jerseys.

Many of the Irish players actually decided to come down to the fan zone and meet with the fans and I think that gesture made it quite special. The girls are so humble and modest and they just want to be around the Irish people and they’ve been just so delighted with the support. They truly are normal Irish girls who have managed to capture their dream through the World Cup. “Witnessing young children getting their jerseys signed was particularly heartening.

It showed the huge significance this time is for the youth of Ireland, serving as a powerful source of inspiration to revive their interest in sports as well.”

On what steps we now need to take as a nation to support them, Lorna says, “Right now is a critical time for everyone to capitalise as a nation on this World Cup. We need to use it as an opportunity to stress the importance of equal opportunities for both girls and boys. Ensuring we have the necessary structures and the funding in place to de-

velop is vital. It’s evident that a considerable number of young girls are now venturing into England’s super league division, while some are also making their mark in American soccer and therefore expanding horizons for aspiring female players.”

The continued growth of soccer is promising for our country, so we need to make sure that we continue to provide unwavering support to young girls in sports especially within educational settings, encouraging them from an early age to try a wide array of sports paving the way for their dreams to come true. For these Irish girls, that’s exactly what happened.

As a nation, their achievements have filled us all with immense pride and it’s something that we should be grateful for. This summer has undoubtedly provided countless girls with an unforgettable experience, and it holds the potential for a promising future. It’s high time the girls were given the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments and ongoing achievements. Long may it last.  Anna Carroll is a Digital Media Officer for Sinn Féin

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

The inspiring spirit of JIM GIBNEY recaps the key moments from Féile 35, including standout contributions from Jeremy Corbyn, Michelle O’Neill, the ESRI’s Gerry McGuiness, Terry O’Sullivan, TDs Eoin Ó Broin and David Cullinane, and Seanadoirí Eileen Flynn and Niall Ó Donnghaile.

Born in one of the worst periods of the war in the summer of 1988, Féile an Phobal has been at the centre of the national debate about Ireland’s future across the broadest political spectrum for 35 years.

In his introductory comments to the booklet which carried the detail of Féile’s 85 events and the impressive visual arts and exhibitions section with 50 displays from artists across Ireland and abroad, Bill Rolston, Chair of the ‘Debates and Discussions Group’ said, “As I sit here, I have in front of me the programme of the first Féile an Phobal in 1988. It’s a large, single sheet folded in two and printed on both sides in red and black to create a four-page leaflet.

Thirty five years later, the glossy full programme is like a four-wheel drive automatic car to the horse and cart of 1988. But the spirit of Féile remains what it was at its first offering. The same mixture of entertainment, craic and politics is there throughout.”

As Féile ended, organisers issued a tweet saying, “The total reach across our Féile an Phobail social media channels for Féile 35 was 35.2 million”. Over a ten day period, the irreplaceable venue that is St Mary’s University College hosted 85 events and the Visual Arts and Exhibitions.

Not surprisingly, Ireland’s constitutional future was foremost on the clár, with nearly 20 separate events and an informed ‘working assumption’, reflected in most of the formal and informal commentary, that a new and independent Ireland was a real and growing possibility as was a referendum on constitutional change.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the meeting where former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke. It was standing room only for the interview with Michelle O’Neill

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• 1,000 people attended the Jeremy Corbyn meeting

by Andree Murphy and the ‘Ireland’s Future’ event was also oversubscribed.

‘Ireland’s Future’ presented a detailed argument calling for a referendum based on the Good Friday Agreement in 2030. It is working on a comprehensive document that will outline a detailed pathway from now until 2030 when it believes a constitutional referendum will be held. They also announced plans to hold a public meeting in the SSE arena on June 15th next year.

A report from an International Expert Panel on Impunity was presented by panel members Gisle Kvanvig and Brian Dooley. It examined state impunity for killings, torture, and collusion during the conflict here. It is a timely report in the midst of the British government’s Legacy Bill.

31

• Launching new book of poems, ‘The Pen Behind the Wire’ by Eoghan 'Gino' Mac Cormaic with Danny Morrison

Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute Seamus McGuinness gave a presentation on developing economic plans in the event of a successful referendum for reunification.

McGuinness posed the question of how NorthSouth outcomes differ across key areas. According to McGuinness, future voters will require a clear vision to be set out in terms of how key areas of public provision will change in the event of a referendum ratifying reunification.

Michelle O’Neill spoke to another packed meeting about the unstoppable momentum for constitutional change which was reflected in the Assembly election last May when the voters elected her as First Minister and in the local government election a few months ago when for the first time since over a century of Partition, more people voted pro-unity than pro-union.

O’Neill spoke about the importance of making powersharing work among the parties in the Executive who were open to it. O’Neill believes that there is no contradiction to having the North’s institutions functioning fully while advocating and promoting constitutional change.

The importance of women and young people in elected office was highlighted by O’Neill. More than half of Sinn Féin’s Assembly team are women. O’Neill believes that more women and young people were needed from all political parties.

Speaking about attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and the coronation of King Charles, Michelle O’Neill said that respect was at the base of her approach to these occasions. It was also important for the unionist and Protestant people to see her as First Minister in waiting, acting in their interests as First Minister for all.

Respect for unionists was also reflected in an event where unionists, Ian Marshall, Julie-Anne Corr, and Sarah Creighton argued the case for the Union. Another

32

group, Claire Mitchel, Linda Ervine, and the Rev. Karen Sethuraman, presented stories of alternative Protestants lives.

Cultural recognition and accommodation now of the diversity of identities in advance of change to existing constitutional arrangements, particularly the British unionist identity, was the topic of debate for Judge Richard Humphreys, policy analyst Catriona Mullan, Professor Pete Shirlow, and academic and commentator Patricia Mac Bride.

There was a ‘homecoming feeling’ to a series of events organised by the Rev David Moore, Presbyterian Minister for the Mission of West Belfast, to introduce the history of the Presbyterian Churches in West Belfast. These events

THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION TO HAVING THE NORTH’S INSTITUTIONS FUNCTIONING FULLY WHILE ADVOCATING AND PROMOTING CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE included a book launch in English and Irish involving Forbairt Feirste, ‘West Belfast’s Presbyterian Heritage: Bringing it Back Home’, a talk on the history of Albert Street Presbyterian Church and a gathering of former members and residents of Albert Street sharing memories and craic.

The title of the gathering, ‘So Much A Part of Us’, was from a speech made by the historian and veteran Sinn Féin member Tom Hartley who has published two books on the Protestant community, ‘Belfast City Cemetery’ and, about Presbyterians, ‘Balmoral Cemetery’.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• Claire Mitchell and Siobhán McCallin, Áras Uí Chonghaile | James Connolly Visitor Centre

Four members of the Oireachtas, Seanadoirí Eileen Flynn and Niall Ó Donnghaile and TDs Eoin Ó Broin and David Cullinane, contributed to Féile’s ambition to set political debate in a national context.

Eileen Flynn is the first Seanadóir from the Travelling community. She said Travellers never had a problem being Travellers. It is the state which has a problem. Both states have failed the Travellers. Travellers are the indigenous heart of Ireland; their language needs to be revived. At one stage, all Travellers spoke Irish, said Seanadóir Flynn, who also argued that Travellers are entitled to the same rights as the settled community and the institutions of both states should respect them and guarantee their human and civil rights.

Eoin Ó Broin, in conversation with Niall Ó Donnghaile about the housing crisis in the South, was spellbinding in the detail and expanse of his knowledge about the crisis and the solutions to the crisis.

Sinn Féin’s Oireachtas spokesperson on Health David Cullinane advocated for a national health service. He said Partition had created two very different systems, North and South and there is little shared public knowledge of the services – their advantages and disadvantages.

For Jarlath Burns, the President of the GAA in waiting, his presence at Féile was, in part, a romantic trip down memory lane. He was interviewed by Peter Finn, the principal of St Mary’s University College, in the University’s assembly hall where, as a student, he met his future wife.

Prior to the interview, he had attended the Gaels Le Chéile event and spoke about the GAA playing a constructive part in helping to change Irish society to bring about constitutional change.

Gaels Le Chéile reviewed their campaign plan which included collecting almost 20,000 signatures, meeting representatives of the Taoiseach’s office, and planning to expand its organisation inside the GAA.

• Deirdre Hargey and Alex Kane

• There was standing room only for Michelle O'Neill

• John Finucane speaking at the 'Time for Truth' campaign session

• Terry Sullivan delivers the annual James Connolly lecture

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

33

• Colin Harvey, Allison Morris and Martina Anderson at the role of the EU in Irish Unification session

Frank Connolly, trade unionist, socialist and lifelong activist, and author of several books, most recent being ‘United Nation’, spoke at two separate events, ‘No neoliberal Ireland’ and ‘The Road to a progressive all-island education system’.

In his contribution to ensuring a new Ireland was free of neo-liberal dogma, Frank Connolly spoke about the importance of a series of Citizens Assemblies to discuss a range of societal issues; workers’ rights, women’s rights, a Bill of Rights, human rights, and rights for minority communities.

The annual James Connolly lecture was given by Terry O’Sullivan, General President Emeritus of the trade union LIUNA. O’Sullivan dedicated his remarks to Rita O’Hare and unveiled a plaque to Rita in Áras Uí Chonghaile for her work in securing the support of the Trade Union movement in the USA for Áras Uí Chonghaile.

O’Sullivan spoke about the twin struggles of workers’ rights and national liberation. He said Connolly’s legacy to both struggles were a beacon of hope. The labour movement was on the rise, he said, in the US and that it was larger and more powerful than ever before.

Praising US President Joe Biden, O’Sullivan said. “He is ‘one of us’. He is pro-worker. His policies have helped working class people and the trade unions”.

A packed Áras Ui Chongaile listened intently to the discussion chaired by Danny Morrison about internment between the first woman interned Liz Maskey and Martin Taylor, one of the seven prisoners who swan to freedom from the prison ship 'Maidstone' in a daring and dangerous escape.

A Féile meeting heard that the ‘People’s Archive’ belonging to the popular ‘People’s Priest’ Fr Des Wilson was being compiled for preservation and public display.

The archive offers a unique insight into life in working class West Belfast during the conflict and the special role and special place that Fr Des occupied throughout the most dangerous of times with his irrepressible leadership and optimism and humour.

A panel of activists and academics discussed the rights

34

of transgender people in the midst of a malign and nasty campaign of vilification. Caitlin Wickham and Alexa Moore spoke of their personal experiences as the objects of this campaign and the psychological damage it was having on the mental health of transgender people especially young people.

John Gibson chaired the event and Dr Caoimhe Ní Dhónaill provided an historical overview to the demonisation as she recalled life for gay and lesbian people in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.

Travellers are entitled to the same rights as the settled community and the institutions of both states should respect them and guarantee their human and civil rights On the last day of Féile, ‘The Media in a United Ireland’ and the ‘The Rights of Nature Movement in a United Ireland’ were discussed.

The discussion at both were of the highest quality and thought provoking – would the BBC continue to exist in a United Ireland – generated a passionate response as did the question of whether Ireland and Britain would exist above water in their current land mass or would one-third of both countries be under the sea in a few decades.

Féile is over for another year, but you can rest assured we will all be back next year to mull over the progress made from now until then on the many issues raised at the debates.  Jim Gibney is a Republican activist, former political prisoner, and parliamentary adviser to Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Is as Rinn Ó gCuanach i nGaeltacht na nDéise, Co. Phort Láirge ó dhúchas do Shorcha Ní Chéilleachair atá ag cur fúithi ar an gCeathrú Rua i nGaeltacht Chonamara le fada, mar a bhfuil clann á tógáil aici. Is iar-leasphríomhoide bunscoile í a chaith 17 mbliana ag obair mar chlár-reachtaire in RTÉ

Raidió na Gaeltachta agus tréimhse roimhe sin mar iriseoir leis an nuachtán Foinse. Tá sí ina ceannasaí ar Thuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta ó 2018 agus chuir LUKE CALLINAN ó An Phoblacht roinnt cheisteanna uirthi le gairid faoi na dúshláin agus na deiseanna a bhaineann leis an ról sin.

‘NA MÍORÚILTÍ BEAGA’ Ag Tógáil Clainne le Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht

An Phoblacht: Ar dtús, an féidir leat stair Thuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta a rianadh dúinn?

Shorcha Ní Chéilleachair: Cuirtear an cheist go minic orm ‘Cathain ar bunaíodh Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta’ agus is deacair í a fhreagairt! Ní raibh aon bhunú ceart ann i ndáiríre. Tháinig roinnt tuismitheoirí le chéile ag deireadh na bliana 2010 agus bhí an chéad ócáid againn i bhFeabhra na bliana 2011. D’fhás an eagraíocht as sin – mar sin más bunú é sin, bhuel bunaíodh an eagraíocht i 2011!

Ach ó shin i leith, is ag fás agus ag forbairt as cuimse atáimid.

Fuaireamar maoiniú teoranta i 2014 ach ní raibh cead againn aon duine a fhostú. Ansin cuireadh leis an maoiniú i 2017 agus fostaíodh Oifigeach Forbartha. Is go háitiúil i gConamara agus i dTír Chonaill a bhíomar ag feidhmiú i dtús aimsire. Ansin i 2018 ceadaíodh maoiniú suntasach don eagraíocht agus bhí dualgas náisiúnta Gaeltachta orainn. Fostaíodh mé féin agus cúigear eile. Is mar sin atáimid ó shin.

Táimid anois ag obair sna 26 Limistéir Pleanála Teanga – táimid ar an ngannchuid ach tá go leor á bhaint amach againn. Is ó Roinn na Gaeltachta a thagann an maoiniú.

AP: Inis dúinn faoi na tograí nó tionscnaimh is mó atá ar bun agaibh faoi láthair?

SNC: Is dócha gurb é ‘Cuideachta’ an togra is mó atá ar bun againn faoi láthair. Tá go leor á fhoghlaim againn ón méid atá á fheiscint againn agus an taithí atá á fháil againn. Bhí, agus tá go fóill, ag

�

Bíonn an-spraoi ag na Gligíní. Thug mé cuairt ar chúpla grúpa le déanaí agus bhí mo chroí lán ag imeacht uathu – lán de dhóchas agus de mhisneach.

Tá obair mhór á déanamh ag tuismitheoirí sa Ghaeltacht agus moladh mór tuillte acu

�

éirí thar barr leis na Siamsáin a bhíonn ar bun againn. Is éard atá i gceist le siamsán, ócáid bheag siamsaíochta don teaghlach, baineann teaghlaigh an oiread sásaimh as. Ach ní raibh mórán den ‘ngréasánú’ ag baint leis. Ní maith liom na focail mhóra nua seo – ach níl aon fhocal eile agam go fóill air! Sé sin, ní raibh teaghlaigh ag cur aithne ar a chéile mar ní raibh an oiread sin leanúnachais ag baint leis na siamsáin. Bhí grúpaí éagsúla teaghlaigh ag freastal orthu, bhíodar ar bun in áiteanna éagsúla agus mar sin. Thángamar le chéile agus chruthaíomar ‘Cuideachta’. Is scéim é ina dtagann grúpa teaghlaigh le chéile agus go mbíonn sraith imeachtaí ar bun dóibh. Bíonn sé ar bun go háitiúil de réir Limistéir Pleanála Teanga mar sin is teaghlaigh sa cheantar céanna a bhíonn i gceist.

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

Bíonn rud éigin comónta i gceist leis an ngrúpa i ngach cás – mar shampla i gceantar amháin d’fhéadfadh gur teaghlaigh le páistí ón 0-4 bliana tá i gceist, teaghlaigh le páistí bunscoile i gceantar eile nó sna ceantair a bhfuil daonra íseal de theaghlaigh atá ag tógáil a gclann le Gaeilge is meascán a bheadh i gceist. Tá an-éileamh ar an scéim agus teaghlaigh ag baint an-sásamh as. Tá súil againn go leanfaidh an cairdeas agus an tacaíocht eadarthu agus gurb í an Ghaeilge an teanga labhartha a bheidh ag na páistí sa ghrúpa eadarthú féin. Ag cruthú agus ag cothú pobail teanga atá i gceist is dócha.

Seachas sin, tá go leor ar bun do theaghlaigh le páistí óga – tosaíonn sé le Babaí ar an mBealach (ceardlann réamhbhreithe), tá

35

• Shorcha Ní Chéilleachair

AP: Céard iad na hathruithe polasaithe is fiúntaí a d’fhéadfadh rialtas a chur i bhfeidhm d’fhonn éascaíocht a dhéanamh do thógáil clainne le Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht?

SNC: Tá lúb ar lár ann agus ní mó ná go dtuigim féin é. Níl fhios agam an bhfuil an tuiscint ann ar cad is Gaeltacht ann nó ar cad

�

Ní gníomhaithe teanga sinn sa Gaeltacht, is gnáthdhaoine sinn atá ag iarraidh lá a bhaint amach ach tarlaíonn sé gurb í an Ghaeilge an ghnáth-theanga chumarsáide atá eadrainn go leor cúrsaí suathaireachta ar bun againn ar fud na Gaeltachta anois. Sraith seisiúin suathaireachta do thuismitheoirí agus leanaí atá i gceist anseo a thosnaíonn nuair atá an leanbh thart ar sé seachtaine d’aois. Láidríonn sé an ceangal nó an caidreamh atá ag an tuismitheoir agus an leanbh agus ar ndóigh má tá sé sin á dhéanamh i dtimpeallacht Ghaeilge, tacaíonn sé leis an tuismitheoir a bhfuil rogha déanta acu a gclann a thógáil le Gaeilge.

I gcásanna áirithe tacaíonn sé le tuismitheoir nach bhfuil an rogha sin déanta go hiomlán acu chomh maith. Tá sé iontach. Tá grúpaí ‘Gligíní’ againn timpeall na Gaeltachta chomh maith – seo grúpaí tuismitheoirí agus leanaí. Bíonn an-spraoi ag na Gligíní. Thug mé cuairt ar chúpla grúpa le déanaí agus bhí mo chroí lán ag imeacht uathu – lán de dhóchas agus de mhisneach. Tá obair mhór á déanamh ag tuismitheoirí sa Ghaeltacht agus moladh mór tuillte acu.

AP: De réir taighde a rinneadh do Thuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta i 2021, níl ach 23% de theaghlaigh sa Ghaeltacht ag tógáil a gclainne le Gaeilge. Céard iad na dúshláin is mó a bhíonn roimh thuismitheoirí ag iarraidh a gclann a thógáil le Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht?

SNC: Léiríonn figiúirí atá sa taighde céanna go bhfuil céatadán na gcainteoirí laethúla ar tuismitheoirí iad níos airde ná an meán ach go bhfuil céatadán na bpáistí 3-18 bliana ar cainteoirí laethúla Gaeilge iad i bhfad níos ísle ná an meán. Tugann sé seo le tuiscint go bhfuil daoine ann le Gaeilge ach ar cúis amháin nó eile nach bhfuil siad á labhairt sa mbaile. Tá taighde déanta don Roinn Oideachais a thacaíonn leis seo agus a léiríonn níos soiléire fós é.

Anois níor cheart aon bhreithiúnas a thabhairt ar aon duine faoin rogha teanga a dhéanann siad, bíonn a scéal féin ag gach aon duine againn, ach tá obair le déanamh leis na daoine seo a mhealladh le Gaeilge a labhairt sa mbaile. Bheadh an-tionchar ag macasamhail scéim labhairt na Gaeilge ar a leithéid déarfainnse.

36

is cainteoir dúchais Gaeilge ann. Ní gníomhaithe teanga sinn sa Gaeltacht, is gnáth-dhaoine sinn atá ag iarraidh lá a bhaint amach ach tarlaíonn sé gurb í an Ghaeilge an ghnáth-theanga chumarsáide atá eadrainn. Ní foghlaimeoirí sinn, níl aon difríocht idir sinn féin agus aon duine eile sa tír ach amháin gurb í an Ghaeilge ár dteanga dúchais. Dá dtuigfí é sin agus dá mbé sin an tús phointe a bheadh ag lucht ceannais, d’athródh rudaí ó bhonn.

�

AP: Céard é an rud is mó a thugann misneach duit mar cheannasaí ar Thuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta?

SNC: Tugaimse na míorúiltí beaga ar na teaghlaigh atá ag tógáil a gclann le Gaeilge. Ola ar an gcroí. Tá meath na Gaeilge, bás na Gaeltachta agus go leor eile á thuar le blianta. Ní féidir na figiúirí, an taighde agus na staitisticí a shéanadh, agus glacaimidne leis sin, ach ní féidir na míorúiltí beaga a shéanadh ach oiread. Chím iad i ngach aon cheantar Gaeltachta agus sin a thugann misneach domsa.

AP: Aon cheo eile?

SNC: Déan teagmháil linn ag eolas@tuismitheoiri.ie nó www. tuismitheoiri.ie 

Tá Sorcha Ní Chéilleachair ag feidhmiú mar cheannasaí ar Thuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta ó 2018. Is iarleasphríomhoide bunscoile í a bhfuil blianta fada caite aici i mbun na hiriseoireachta agus na craoltóireachta.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Grúpa Cónasctha den Chlé Aontaithe Eorpach • den Chlé Ghlas Nordach

GRÚPA PARLAIMINTEACH EORPACH

www.guengl.eu TREO EILE DON EORAIP ANOTHER EUROPE IS POSSIBLE

FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNITED LEFT/NORDIC GREEN LEFT (GUE/NGL) anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

37

n coloured o x, o b k c la b in o g Lo

backgrounds

PR ES ER VATIO N TR PR ES

PR ES ER VATIO N TR

ER VATIO N TR US T

US T

US T

• The corner of Moore Street and Henry Street which Hammerson plan to demolish

CRUCIAL STAGE IN CAMPAIGN TO SAVE MOORE STREET ial media

Circular logo for soc

BY MÍCHEÁL Mac TI ON TR US T ER VADONNCHA

TR US T VATI ON ES ER campaign to save the Moore Street 1916 PRThe

PR ES

battlefield site has reached a crucial stage. At the time of writing, we await the decision of An Bórd Pleanála on whether to confirm permission for plans that would see much of historic Moore Street and the surrounding streetscape demolished to make way for a shopping precinct to be developed by British-based property company Hammerson.

The Moore Street Preservation Trust, the relatives of participants in the 1916 Rising, and other campaigners have lodged appeals to An Bórd Pleanála against the Hammerson plans. Dublin City Councillors have added some key buildings on the battlefield site to the Record of Protected Structures – thus affording them special protection under planning laws – but

38

PR ES ER VATI ON TR

US T

Hammerson are now challenging this in the courts.

Management in Dublin City Council have signalled their intention to defend the Council decision when the Hammerson challenge comes to court later in the autumn.

And there may well be a second and bigger courtroom battle. If An Bórd Pleanála upholds planning permissions for Hammerson, there is the possibility of a challenge to this decision by applying to the High Court for leave to seek judicial review.

In May, it was announced that the Office of Public Works was commencing conservation work and the development of the long-promised 1916 centre at 14-17 Moore Street, an officially designated National Monument in State ownership after its purchase from

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Moore Street update

New Robert Ballagh limited edition prints can be purchased online.

For details go to Moore Street Preservation Trust on Facebook Hammerson by the Government some years ago. The development of the museum and visitor centre was originally promised for the 1916 centenary in 2016. In response, James Connolly Heron said on behalf of the Moore Street Preservation Trust: “News that work is finally to begin on 14-17 Moore Street is welcome, if very long overdue. This could

The destructive Hammerson plan for the Moore Street area, described by the National Museum as “a theatre of conflict and the most important historic site in modern Irish history”, must be rejected JAMES CONNOLLY HERON be the first phase of a 1916 Cultural Quarter but for that to happen the destructive Hammerson plan for the Moore Street area, described by the National Museum as ‘a theatre of conflict and the most important historic site in modern Irish history’, must be rejected. anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• James Connolly Heron and other relatives of James Connolly, speaking at the unveiling of a new plaque on his great grandfather’s former home on South Lotts Road, Ringsend

39

“However, we must await full details of what is planned and this should be published immediately by Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan.”

Further details of the plans for 14-17 Moore Street have still not been revealed. What is clear is that the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Green government up to now has wanted to do nothing to jeopardise the Hammerson plans. Former Taoiseach, now Tánaiste, Mícheál Martin went even further.

Back in June 2001 when Hammerson unveiled their plans for Moore Street, then Taoiseach Mícheál Martin supplied them with a glowing endorsement which they included in their press release, an astonishing direct intervention in the planning process by a serving Taoiseach. The same Taoiseach refused to meet Relatives of the Signatories of the Proclamation on the grounds that a Ministerial Moore Street Advisory Group was still deliberating – though this did not stop him endorsing the Hammerson plan.

The Moore Street Preservation Trust has continued to campaign steadily in opposition to the Hammerson plan and for the Trust’s own innovative and exciting masterplan for the area, an alternative vision for the 1916 battlefield site. It has held exhibitions, public meetings, walking tours and concerts, as well as lobbying public representatives.

The latest initiative of the campaign to raise awareness and funds for its efforts has been the commissioning of a striking new work by renowned Irish artist Robert Ballagh, depicting the 1916 leaders in 16 Moore Street around the bed of the wounded James Connolly at the end of the Easter Week. It is viewed through one of the breaches in the walls made by the insurgents as they moved between the houses 10-25 Moore Street. In the Hammerson plan, much of this terrace would be destroyed, including its centre at 18 to facilitate a new route between Hammerson’s proposed developments in O’Connell Street and the Ilac Centre on the west side of Moore Street which it also owns.  Mícheál Mac Donncha is a Dublin City Sinn Féin councillor

• Street traders continue to work on Moore Street but the Hammerson plan would mean years of disruption

• Architect Seán Ó Muirí presents the Trust plan at Liberty Hall public meeting

• Damien Dempsey was among an all-stare line-up at a Liberty Hall concert for Moore Street

• The Moore Street Preservation Trust Plan on show in Tallaght

40

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

September and October 2023 mark the 40th and 50th anniversaries respectively of the H-Block escape of 1983 and the Mountjoy helicopter escape of 1973. As well as breaking tight security and securing the release of IRA prisoners, these escapes – and the popular acclaim that greeted them – struck blows against the propaganda which sought to criminalise Republicans and to isolate resistance to British oppression.

The ingenuity of republican escapes in centuries of political struggle is unmatched. The breakout of James Stephens from the Richmond Bridewell in 1865, passing through six doors. Liam Averill’s

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

an d

S E P A C S E

Byair By land

departure from Long Kesh dressed as a woman in 1997. John Francis Green walked out of Long Kesh in 1973 disguised as a priest. The five republicans who escaped over the wall from the supposedly high security Whitemoor Prison in 1994. There are a litany of republican breakouts from prisons in Ireland and Britain. There are also the close-run things such as the 1997 discovery of 40 foot tunnel dug by prisoners in Long Kesh.

From the An Phoblacht archives, we tell the story of these two escapes, as well as some other key IRA jailbreaks. We also carry a separate piece written

by Dermot Finucane, one of the 1983 Long Kesh escapers.

41

�

One shamefaced screw apologised to the Governor and said he thought it was the new Minister for Defence arriving. I told him it was our Minister of Defence leaving SÉAMUS TWOMEY

�

CHOPPER ESCAPE FROM MOUNTJOY

BY SEÁN Mac BRÁDAIGH Halloween 1973 in Dublin; one of the most audacious, cleverly planned jail escapes in Irish history occurred when three political prisoners – JB O’Hagan, Séamus Twomey, and Kevin Mallon – were lifted by helicopter from the exercise yard of Mountjoy Jail’s D Wing at 3.40pm to the cheers of other prisoners and to the bitter embarrassment of the 26 County coalition government.

As the hijacked helicopter landed in the yard to collect the three Republicans, one screw was heard to shout vainly and ludicrously “shut the gates”.

Another Republican prisoner who was incarcerated in Mountjoy at the time of the escape wrote in particular reference to one of the escapers, Séamus Twomey, “One shamefaced screw apologised to the Governor and said he thought it was the new Minister for Defence arriving. I told him it was our Minister of Defence leaving.”

In Belfast, bonfires blazed in celebration of the event while over 300 Garda detectives searched hundreds of homes in Dublin in a vain attempt to track down the escapers. A typically downbeat IRA statement referred to the Mountjoy escape at the end of a list of IRA operations against the British crown forces: “Three Republican prisoners were rescued by a special unit from Mountjoy Prison on Wednesday. The operation was a complete success and the men are now safe, despite a massive hunt by Free State forces.”

The escape was a great morale boost for Republicans throughout Ireland and abroad and a bitter disappointment for British political and military leaders who were attempting militarily to suppress Republican resistance in the Six Counties.

It was also a cause of deep embarrassment for the Cosgrave coalition in Dublin, widely regarded as the most repressive 26 County administration since the 1940s. This was a government which was a self-proclaimed ‘law and order’ regime and which was making a particular crusade of suppressing support for the Republican cause in the 26 Counties.

On the day following the escape, a conference of military and Garda security chiefs took place in Dublin. Top of the 42

• The Aérospatiale Alouette II helicopter used in the spectacular escape from Mountjoy Jail

agenda was how to ensure that such an occurrence could never take place again.

At the same time, a judicial inquiry into the State’s ‘security system’ was initiated by the Dublin government.

The Mountjoy helicopter escape became one of the most celebrated jail breaks of all time and has been immortalised by the highly popular ‘Helicopter Song’, which contains the memorable lines: “It’s up like a bird and over the prison, There’s three men a missing I heard the warder say”.  ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

�

One cannot fail to admire the competence of an organisation which enables the prisoners of war to bring to fruition an escape plan which, apart from last-minute calamities, was largely successful

�

LORD COLVILLE

THE GREAT ESCAPE FROM THE H-BLOCKS

BY MÍCHEÁL Mac DONNCHA Two years after the epic 1981 H-Block Hunger Strike in which ten young Republicans died, there was another epic event at Long Kesh that dealt a huge blow to the Thatcher regime in Ireland. This was the escape of 38 IRA prisoners from H-Block 7 on Sunday 25 September 1983.

At 2:15pm, three prisoners, carrying concealed pistols fitted with silencers which had been smuggled into the prison, moved into the central administration area of H-Block 7 on the pretext of cleaning out a store.

They were joined by four others who took up key positions covering prison officers (or ‘screws’, as the prisoners called them) stationed beside alarm buttons. Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane (IRA Officer Commanding in the H-Blocks during the Hunger Strike) was allowed through two locked grilles on cleaning duties. His job was to arrest the prison officer there.

When a signal was given, the IRA prisoners overpowered and arrested all the screws, whose uniforms were then donned by a number of the prisoners. Complete control of H-Block 7 was gained when ‘Bik’ McFarlane, with two prisoners dressed as screws, arrested the officer on duty at the front gate enclosure.

When the food lorry arrived, 37 prisoners climbed into the back while the 38th lay on the floor of the cab, covering the driver with a gun.

The food lorry was then driven through a series of security gates in full view of prison guards and British Army watchtowers.

The use of the food lorry led to the most memorable wall slogan celebrating the escape: “Open up the Long Kesh gate – Meals on wheels for 38!”

The lorry arrived at a first ‘tally hut’, where the plan was to take control, arrest all the screws, leave prisoners in charge, and drive the lorry on to the front gate ‘tally hut’ and then out of the prison to freedom. However, there was a larger number of screws than anticipated at the first hut, where others were coming on and off duty. The escapers could not control them all and the alarm was raised.

• British troops at scene of 1983 H-Blocks escape when 38 Republicans POWs broke out in a food lorry (below)

Now unable to use the lorry, the prisoners made a dash for freedom across the fields, some of them commandeering vehicles.

Of the 38 prisoners who broke out, 19 were recaptured while 19 got clean away.

In an interview in An Phoblacht/Republican News at the time, the IRA described the escape, “We perceived the escape as a military operation from beginning to end.

It could not have been achieved in any other way, and the Active Service Unit – as Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army – were under strict orders throughout from an

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

operations officer whose judgement was crucial and whose every order had to be obeyed.”

A number of the 19 escapers later died on active service with the IRA, while others were extradited back to prison in the Six Counties.

The escape remains one of the most significant IRA operations of the entire conflict. Thatcher described it as “the gravest in our prison history”. Lord Colville, a senior British judicial figure who conducted a report into the escape, had to admit: “One cannot fail to admire the competence of an organisation which enables the prisoners of war to bring to fruition an escape plan which, apart from last-minute calamities, was largely successful”.  43

1972 witnessed one of the hardest and most daring escapes when the ‘Magnificent Seven’ captured the headlines with their escape from the prison ship Maidstone

BY BRIAN Mac DOMHNAILL Published 29 September 1983

IRA Jailbreaks A LONG TRADITION

THERE has been a long tradition of IRA jailbreaks which stretches back over more than six decades.

teacher in the camp prompted prisoners to take over a class and dress Monaghan in the teacher’s clothes. Without any bother, he then walked to freedom, as did Derry man Patrick O’Hagan and Toomebridge man Malachy McCann who hid in a laundry basket and when this was brought to the laundry both escaped through a window and left the camp.

1981

The one immediately prior to the mass breakout from the H-Blocks of Long Kesh displayed similar ingenuity and courage. On 10 June 1981, eight remand prisoners in Crumlin Road Jail shot their way to freedom and managed to evade arrest or injury despite coming under heavy fire from RUC and British Army personnel stationed opposite the jail in Crumlin Road Courthouse.

1980

A year earlier, on 16 December 1980, Gerard Tuite managed, with the aid of two non-political prisoners, to escape from the top-security wing of Brixton Prison in England.

1977

The Dublin government suffered severe embarrassment in the Special Court when, on 15 July 1977, four prisoners escaped after explosives blew a hole in the wall. Although three were caught in the vicinity of the court, the fourth, Michael O’Rourke, succeeded in escaping.

1975

An escape planned for Portlaoise Prison in March 1975 failed, with IRA Volunteer Tom Smith shot dead by troops guarding the jail. Elsewhere the same month, there was a successful escape when 12 prisoners broke free from Newry Courthouse. Ironically, the prisoners were being tried for previous attempted escapes. Two of the men were quickly recaptured but the remainder got away.

Magilligan Camp also lost a few prisoners in 1975, including Tyrone man Martin Monaghan whose resemblance to a 44

1974

• IRA Volunteer Tom Smith and 'An Phoblacht' report on the escape

In November 1974, a mass break-out from Long Kesh by 33 prisoners using a tunnel witnessed the death of Volunteer Hugh Gerard Coney, who was shot dead by British soldiers concealed in a secret observation post. As the prisoners had to escape on foot, all were captured within hours.

Other individual escapes in 1974 included that of Owen Coogan in July. Following the pattern of a previously successful escape, he left the prison camp in a refuse lorry. When he was ‘dropped off’, he stripped to his running shorts and sneakers, pretending to be a jogger. Unfortunately, his performance did not convince a British Army patrol and he was recaptured.

Belfast man William ‘Blue’ Kelly had more luck when, with the help of two comrades, he cut his way out of Long Kesh. As they finished their task, on a miserable night, a British patrol arrived on the scene. They failed to notice Kelly as they rearrested his two comrades and he managed to get away.

The most successful breakout of 1974 was without doubt, the 18 August mass escape from Portlaoise. A total of 19 prisoners got quickly away through a hole blown in the wall. For days, the gardaí searched high and low, occasionally announcing that arrests were imminent as they looked in the wrong places.

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• British prison ship, HMS ‘Maidstone’; (left) was used to hold Republican prisoners; (below) 'The Magnificent Seven' Maidstone escapers speaking at a press conference in Dublin

1973

Nor were republican prisa prisoner in Long Kesh, when, also in Februoners idle in 1973, which ary, he availed of something more than spirwitnessed yet more escapes from Long Kesh, itual comfort when a group of clerics visited the camp. After putting on a dog-collar and including separate escapes by Brendan Hughes in December and John Francis Green pious air, he walked with the group to freein September. Hughes, who later led repubdom.

Renovation work often provides a ready lican prisoners in the 1980 hunger-strike, means of escape as Daniel Keenan, a prisonmade use of the refuse truck and was, along with several tons of rubbish, dumped in a er in Magilligan, found out. He simply lay in a tip-head at Dromara, County Down, and from skip which workmen in the camp were using there returned safely to Belfast. and left with them.

Green, on the other hand, used a visit by his brother Gerard, a priest, to change garb Besides the escape of and leave as his brother had come in. NoJames Brown, who was being held under guard at Lagan Valley Hosbody recognised that he was not the same priest until some time later when Gerard • IRA Volunteer Hugh Gerard Coney and 'Republican pital, 1972 witnessed one of the hardest and News' report on the escape was found tied up within a compound. John most daring escapes when the ‘Magnificent Green was later assassinated by SAS men Seven’ captured the headlines with their who crossed into County Monaghan to kill escape from the prison ship Maidstone. him.

Covered in grease, the men, including Jim In September, Eamonn Campbell was Bryson, swam through icy waters, having to dressed only in pyjamas when he broke avoid the barbed wire surrounding the ship, away from his captors in the Royal Victoria until they reached the shore. There, after hiHospital, West Belfast, where he had been jacking a bus, they headed for the Markets sent for treatment. He was forced to jump area and later to West Belfast. through a plate glass window to make his escape, but his plans almost ended in diThere was serious overcrowding in Crumlin Road saster when a passing motorist gave him a Jail in December 1971, with more than 900 lift and presuming he was sick, drove back into the RVH before being told that this was inmates in the building. Perhaps to ease not quite what Campbell had intended. All this congestion three prisoners, Martin ended well and yet another prisoner was Meehan, ‘Dutch’ Doherty and Hugh McCann whisked away to freedom. made their exit by hiding under a manhole The late Jim Bryson of Belfast was one in the exercise yard and then, under cover man who could not stomach imprisonment of darkness and a thick fog, climbing over as was shown in February 1973 when he esthe wall.

A month earlier, in an escape rememcaped from captivity in Crumlin Road Courthouse. His four guards were somewhat at a bered in folk song ‘Crumlin Kangaroos’ by loss when Bryson produced a revolver and Wolfhound, 11 prisoners, dressed in footafter forcing one of them to strip, escaped ball gear, cut short a football match by through a window dressed as a screw. clearing the walls of the prison and escapEscape was easier for John Francis Green, ing in two waiting cars. 

1972

1971

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

45

The

republican struggle IS greater than ever • 38 Republicans POWs escaped from Long Kesh the biggest prison break-out in British and Irish penal history, a British Army hand-out of some pictures of the escapees (Dermot Finucane outlined)

46

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

I

BY DERMOT FINUCANE

am often asked to tell my story of how we escaped from the H-Blocks in 1983, who was the key person, etc. Well in truth, there was no ‘key person’ and the escape was complex in that so many things had to fall into place.

When I first arrived in the H-Blocks in June 1982, I had just been sentenced to 18 years in jail. The hunger strikes had ended without clear winner or loser titles. I had heard rumours of demoralisation among the Blanketmen and indeed some had come off the protest, including my brother Seamus.

I knew their hearts were broken and now I thought so too were their spirits. When I arrived in H3, Bobby Storey, Brendan Shannon, and I had decided to join our protesting comrades in the no work protest, but we were placed in the conforming blocks.

Loyalist and Republicans next door to each other in the wings. As luck would have it, I was placed in a cell with my brother Seamus.

Far from having broken spirits, I was briefed on a new strategy; one devised by the jail leadership of moving into the system in order to expose and change it.

They assembled a ‘task force’ and chosen POWs were sent off the protest in small numbers to penetrate the jail and gather

As our numbers grew, we had unfinished business to attend to in that we needed to complete the POWs five demands information on our surroundings and also to build structures in preparation for the ending of the prison protest.

As our numbers grew, we had unfinished business to attend to in that we needed to complete the POWs’ five demands. In the aftermath of the hunger strikes, the POWs were granted their own clothes and the loathsome criminal uniform was discontinued. Had this been granted earlier to the hunger strikers, their deaths could have been averted in my view. Thatcher wanted her pound of flesh and thought she could finish us.

Just like the executions in 1916, the deaths of Bobby Sands and his comrades would reignite the flames of resistance in many people around the world.

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

• The British and Irish authorities luanched a huge security operation after the escape

As we took in our new surroundings, we knew we would have to organise the taking of another ‘demand’. That of segregation.

We set about undermining the loyalists through discussions, threats, and confrontations. Their ‘leadership’, if you can call them that, were not up for sacrifices, nor were they willing to lead from the front. They were willing to take the gains we had fought for and won but were not willing to fight for this themselves.

So, in a very short campaign, we quickly removed them from the wings. The psychology of the screws was similar. The majority were sectarian. They were bullies and sadistic when confronting naked, defenceless prisoners in individual cells but now the prisoners were clothed and out of their cells and in numbers.

T

he prisoners were unbroken and unafraid to confront the system that brutalised them. The screws were glorified mercenaries. They were handsomely paid to inflict brutality when the conditions suited them. But

47

they were no fools either. They quickly realised that the dynamics had changed. The prisoners were unbroken, united, and defiant.

So, a choice had to be made. It was the screws who had to conform to the ‘non-conformist’ POWs. In the screws’ eyes, they were not paid enough to be heroes. These battles and victories opened up new challenges. Our conditions had changed and our new structures were in place. Hundreds of POWs achieved this, but we were not finished. POWs never are!

Talking to one senior POW years later, he reminded me of plans to burn the place to the ground! These plans co-existed as advanced plans were being made to bring about a mass escape.

Republicans have proven time and again that when united they can achieve anything. The H-Blocks were supposed to be the break-

There are more people involved in our struggle than ever before. They are educated and confidant in moving us forward. They give leadership and have advanced our struggle more than I could have dreamt possible as I sat in my cell back in 1983 ers yard to crush republican resistance. The Blanketmen and women, the hunger strikers, the escapers, the POWs, call them what you will, collectively destroyed the H-Blocks and their criminalization policies.

New flames have been lit in new generations. In Bobby’s bleak cell, with his body dying he thought of the future. He thought of new generations playing their part in creating a new Ireland. He reminded us that “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”.

Now there are more people involved in our struggle than ever be-

Pádraig McKearney Gerry Kelly

Martin McManus

Jim Smyth

Jim Clarke

Jim McCann

fore. They are educated and confident in moving us forward. They give leadership and have advanced our struggle more than I could have dreamt possible as I sat in my cell back in 1983.

W

hen I was preparing myself mentally for the escape, I can’t say if I was fully convinced that it would succeed but I knew if we didn’t try it that it would be a failure in myself. I also knew that, with this group of comrades around me and our unity of purpose and determination, we could achieve anything. I believe that to this day.

We can achieve anything..

As in the H-Blocks with new victories comes new challenges. It seems the laughter of our children is offensive to the British/unionist/ loyalists. Our language is offensive and so too is our culture. Our identity threatens those that treated us as second-class citizens for decades, and so they and their media supporters continue to try and demonise us. They won’t be successful because we won’t let them. Just like the Blanketmen and women we are out of our cells, we are united and we will not allow our children or our community to be criminalised.

So, this anniversary of the 1983 escape will always be a mixture of emotions for me. I will mourn my comrades that have died. The loss to their families is immeasurable. Each year brings more sad news. I recall stories of those I knew well and keep their memories alive. The funny and human stories that we share when we meet upon those sad occasions.

The impact of the escape was felt by Thatcher and her government worldwide. She failed to criminalise or break us. The republican struggle is greater than ever. We all play a part in this. That’s how you achieve victory, by creating the conditions for success. So, on 25 September, I will toast to my comrades of the escape and I will enjoy the laughter of our children.  Dermot Finucane is a republican ex-prisoner

Dermot Finucane

Kevin Barry Artt

Tony McAllister

Gerard Fryers

Joe Corey

Dermot McNally

Jimmy Burns

Marcus Murray

Brendan Mead

Eddie O'Connor

Paul Brennan

Seán McGlinchey

Séamus Campbell

Terry Kirby

Rab Kerr

Séamus Clarke

Billy Gorman

Joe Simpsons

Harry Murray

Paul Kane

Dennis Cummins

Bobby Storey

Paddy McIntyre

Jimmy Donnelly

Gary Roberts

Robert Russell 48

Brendan McFarlane

Peter Hamilton

Gerard McDonnell

Tony Kelly

Kieran Fleming

Séamus McElwaine

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

SINN FÉIN CENTENARIES COMMEMORATION COMMITTEE COISTE COMÓRADH CÉAD BLIAIN A TALE OF SORROW AND GLORY RE-PRINT OF THE 1924 CLASSIC BOOK BY

Tragedies Tragedies of ry er K Kerry

DOROTHY MACARDLE

DOROTHY MACARDLE’S

of how tense, restrained and true story men and women, boys and girls, fought for the freedom and honour of Ireland; and of how, despite almost incredible torture and brutality, they refused to admit defeat.

Telling the horrific brutality and murderous campaign against republicans carried out during the Civil War by the OW OF SORR A TALE AND GLORY authorities of the British-founded state.

TRAGEDIE S OF KER RY

Tragedies of Kerry

€8

BLICANS MURDEROUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST REPU TELLING THE HORRIFIC BRUTALITY AND ES OF THE BRITISH-FOUNDED STATE ORITI AUTH THE BY WAR CIVIL THE G CARRIED OUT DURIN

TRADING AS: THE SINN FÉIN BOOKSHOP

AVAILABLE FROM SINN FÉIN BOOKSHOP

􀵨 www.sinnféinbookshop.com  sales@sinnféinbookshop.com  58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. + 353 1 8726100

S

of y

ist, dent man

WITH A PREFACE

BY MARY MacSWINEY NEW FOREWORD

BY MARY LOU McDONALD

ONLY

€7

THE JA NGLE OF THE KEYS

PLUS POSTAGE & PACKAGING

MMITTEE

es@sinnféinbookshop.com

THE JANGLE OF THE KEYS A STORY OF COURAGEOUS REPUBLICAN WOMEN Margaret Buckley’s story of the hundreds of women Republican prisoners locked up by the Free State in 1922 and 1923.

Margaret Buckley was a Republican activist, prisoner of war, trade unionist and President of Sinn Féin 1937-1950, the first Irish woman to lead a political party.

d first

OOKSHOP

DORO THY MACA RDLE

SINN FÉIN BOOKSHOP hop.com op.com  sales@sinnféinbooks

353 1 8726100 􀵨􀵨􀵨 www.sinnFéinbooksh ING LTD.

of

PLUS POSTAGE & PACKAGING

AND PRODUCED BY THE

PUBLISHED BY REPUBLICAN MERCHANDIS

BOOK BY

DOROTHY MACARDLE

ONLY

Dorothy Macardle’s tense, restrained and true story of how men and women, boys and girls, fought for the freedom and honour of Ireland and of how, despite almost incredible torture and EMORATION COMMITTEE SINN FÉIN CENTENARIES COMM BLIAIN brutality, they refused admit RADH CÉAD defeat.

COMÓ COISTEto  58 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. +

RE-PRINT OF THE 1924 CLASSIC

BY MARGARET BUCKLEY anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

Her account, full of incident, humour and commitment is now republished for the first time since it appeared in 1938.

49

DARREN O’ROURKE TD

SINN FÉIN DÁIL SPOKESPERSON ON ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE ACTION

IRELAND NEEDS AN

ENERGY

REV LUT ON

In the midst of a climate and biodiversity crisis, and at a time when there have been repeated amber alerts on our electricity grid, when energy prices have been brutally high and when rates of energy poverty have been at unprecedented rates, it is clear that transformational change is needed in the Irish energy system.

Market-driven chaos has reigned for far too long. Over the last 18 months, war in Ukraine and the energy crunch in Europe have exposed the danger of market vagaries combined with an almost absolute dependence on fossil fuel imports.

It is now more urgent than ever that we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and on to clean, green, renewable energy. It is more urgent that ever and more apparent than ever.

We in Sinn Féin recognise the importance of this energy transition from fossil fuels. It is an essential part of our climate obligations and it makes absolute sense for our country – socially, economically and environmentally.

We need an energy system that rapidly reduces emissions and that meets the demands of local communities and industry. We must ensure the lights don’t go out. Equally importantly, from our perspective, we must ensure that ordinary workers and families can afford to turn the lights on in the first place. Better again, we must ensure that those same workers and families are a primary focus – in terms of inputs and benefits – of our new energy system. This energy transition must be ambitious and it must be just.

Sinn Féin would ensure that the move from fossil fuels to renewables on our energy system delivers long-term social and economic benefits for all in Irish society, ensuring that natural resources are translated into national wealth.

We know this transition will require significant public and private investment. This investment must be leveraged in a manner that delivers for families and communities across the island.

Our abundant offshore wind resource alone, if properly developed, will meet our island’s total energy demand many times over, meaning we can export surplus (most likely in the form of hydrogen, ammonia or through interconnection). Sharing the benefits of the energy transition and delivering more affordable energy is at the heart of our ‘Vision for Renewable Energy’ plan to deliver a just transition and to secure our energy into the future.

‘Rip-off Ireland’ Recent figures released by Eurostat show a continued slide in Irish

An energy system that rapidly reduces emissions meeting the

 demands of local communities as well as industry is needed

living standards compared to other European states, a downward trend beginning in 2011 when Fine Gael entered government. Workers and families are struggling to cope.

Alongside the crises in housing, health and elsewhere, the costof-living crisis continues to rage. Sky-high energy bills are a major part of this.

Household energy costs have more than doubled over the last two years; the average home now pays around €2,000 a year for electricity alone. In the 12 months to March, overall energy consumer prices rose by an eye-watering 72%. Over the same period, wholesale energy prices decreased by 50%. Compared to European counterparts, the picture is even more bleak.

Last year, Ireland had the 7th highest electricity prices in Europe.

Since then, we placed 3rd highest in the EU, with prices having shot up by 41%. They now stand a staggering 48% above the European average.

Unsurprisingly, the number of households in arrears has risen dramatically. Between February and May this year, they rose by over 10%, from 364,131 to 405,997. Consequently, energy poverty now im-

It is now more urgent than ever that we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and on to clean, green, renewable energy.

50

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

We must ensure the lights don’t go out. Equally importantly, from our perspective, we must ensure that ordinary workers and families can afford to turn the lights on in the first place.

From 2001 the ESB shifted from being a socially-minded provider

In the last seven years, data centres power consumption increased

 of an essential public good to a profit-oriented enterprise

 from 5% to 31% of all our electricity generated

pacts a devastating 1 in 3. SVP reported a 40% increase in energy related requests in 2022, rising to a 50% increase so far in 2023.

The ESB went from owning and operating 96% of the installed generation capacity in 2001 to 54% by 2013. ESB now holds less than a third of the share of generation in the all-island market, falling from 33% to 31% in 2021-22.

Systematically selling off national assets was presented as an EU requirement and means of delivering more affordable electricity.

Neither is remotely true.

If this rampant privatisation wasn’t bad enough, successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led governments have also failed to develop our incredible indigenous renewables potential in wind and solar. A long list of missed opportunities means we’re behind our international counterparts in developing a secure and clean energy supply.

The state’s energy security is further threatened by significant gaps between energy supply and demand here. Data centres, as a particular and notable case, have increased their power consumption by an astounding 31%, meaning they now consume almost one fifth of all electricity generated. Seven years ago, this figure stood at 5%. To put this into context - overall energy consumption has risen by 20% over the past seven years whereas for data centres, consumption rose by an eye-watering 400%. Unsurprisingly therefore, there were more amber alerts on our electricity grid in 2022 than in the previous five years combined!

Despite the dire situation, the government seems determined to continue a ‘business as usual’ approach. They act as mere commentators when energy companies do not pass on wholesale price reductions despite them coming down among other EU states. (Even the Central Bank and the ESRI have referenced Ireland’s lag.) Opposition to holding energy companies to account remains steadfast.

Apathy and lethargy similarly define progress on renewables and electricity generation. Targets, even ambitious targets, are set, yet the fundamental building blocks in grid, ports and planning reform remain undelivered. Ireland deserves better.

How did we get here?

One reason lies in energy system mismanagement by successive governments. This has not only jeopardised an ability to take advantage of our renewable energy opportunities, it has also resulted in energy security and affordability being decimated and national wealth sold off.

The failure to sufficiently invest in clean, indigenous energy – in onshore and offshore wind, and solar at residential, community/industry and utility scale, for example – has left us dependent on imported fossil fuels and excessively exposed to the negative impacts of global market shocks.

Likewise, excessive reliance on the private sector fails to ensure that the benefits of the energy transition will be adequately translated into long-term benefits for Irish society. While successive governments pursued data centre expansion instead of investing in state-owned renewables and enhancing grid capacity, they also implemented an aggressive privatisation of the energy sector here.

This liberalisation has had a disastrous impact on ordinary workers and families, resulting in the decline in the social value, affordability, and security of energy resources.

Household electricity prices in the 26 Counties, excluding taxes and levies, gradually went from being one of the lowest in Europe to amongst the highest. Further, post-liberalisation, the ESB’s dwindling market share resulted in a radically decreased surplus available to invest in public services.

The ESB shifted from being a socially-minded provider of an essential public good to a profit-oriented enterprise. To bring about a ‘free’ market in electricity, the ESB was forced to artificially inflate its prices to attract competitors into the new market. Its statutory requirement to operate on a not-for-profit and break-even basis was repealed in 2001, translating into sky-rocketing energy prices and increased disconnections.

Market liberalisation furthered the interests of private enterprise. anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

Realising an unprecedented opportunity through fundamental reform With spectacular natural resources, particularly in offshore wind, Ireland has the potential to become a world leader in renewables, 51

The average home now pays around €2,000 a year for electricity alone. In the 12 months to March, overall energy consumer prices rose by an eye-watering 72%.

We have the potential to become a world leader in renewables, to be entirely self-sufficient, independent and more, to be a major

 exporter in clean energy

SINN FÉIN VISION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

to be entirely self-sufficient, independent and more, to be a major exporter in clean energy. Unlike, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, Sinn Féin would not squander this opportunity. The potential for a United Ireland to be energy secure and independent is immense. Reduced emissions, quality jobs in every corner of Ireland, new export opportunities, new local energy economies, and lower electricity costs for workers, families and businesses are just a handful of the reasons we need a step-change.

Schools and Community Buildings) Bill and the proposal for solar for schools in our Alternative Budget last year, Sinn Féin has consistently set the agenda on solar energy.

Sinn Féin would realise Ireland’s solar energy potential to generate long-term benefits for workers and families – making solar accessible to all, delivering reduced bills and allowing people to positively contribute to the electricity grid (and to make some money while doing so). As part of our ‘Fairer Retrofit Plan’, we would increase the budget for solar PV and introduce tiered grants, ensuring those on lower incomes have full access to benefits.

A fit for purpose planning and regulatory system

Solar – power to the people

To address Ireland’s stubbornly high energy prices, Sinn Féin would strengthen the staffing, resources and mandate of the utility regulator, the CRU. An urgent review of the hedging strategies and standing charge policies of energy companies is required, for example.

We would ensure that the CRU has the capacity to regulate these practices, so energy companies cannot profiteer while households suffer.

We would also rapidly reform the planning system. We live in a democracy and recognise that the planning system must always protect citizens and communities. Our current system is slow, adversarial, and racked with uncertainty, however. Planning authorities lack adequate staffing and resources.

To address this, Sinn Féin would properly resource state bodies and stakeholders involved in the environmental planning process, ensuring that they can effectively carry out their responsibilities. We would also establish a dedicated Environmental Court to ensure that legal challenges are dealt with in an appropriate time frame.

Ireland cannot afford more delays, stops, and starts or stunted progress. The destination is clear, and Sinn Féin has the roadmap to get there. This process will not be without challenges, but it also provides us with immense opportunities. We must seize Ireland’s potential and become a world-leader in renewables and leverage it to deliver just and equitable outcomes for all. 

From the publication of the Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill in 2017 by then spokesperson Brian Stanley TD, to the Planning and Development Regulations (Amendment) (Solar Energy for

Darren O’Rourke is a Sinn Féin TD for Meath East and is the party’s Dáil spokesperson on Environment & Climate Action

52

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

Increased community, state and domestic-owned renewables Sinn Féin would fundamentally reform our liberalised energy sector. We would increase community, state and domestic-owned renewables. We would reform the current, regressive, public service obligation (PSO) and increase direct state investment in renewables. This would allow us to meet climate targets while delivering wider social and economic benefits for workers and communities.

We would democratise our energy system. Such ownership models better retain, recirculate, and reinvest wealth generated within the state and local communities, rather than siphoning off profits abroad or to corporate shareholders. We would increase the target of community owned renewable energy projects to at least 10% of new capacity by 2030.

Empowered semi-states Sinn Féin would also revise the dividends policy of energy sector semi-states. We want to increase the level of reinvestment into renewable energy in this decade. This would strengthen our semistates and allow them to capture a larger share of overall new green energy production, improving our energy security. It would also position these companies to return dividends to the taxpayer from green energy generation in the future.

A fairer retrofit plan

OCTOBER 2022

Where is Unionism at today?

BY PAUL KAVANAGH I am sure that the question of where Unionism is at today has occupied the minds of many of the public, political commentators as well as the political establishments across these islands and beyond.

In seeking to answer the question as to where Unionism is at, it is important to understand one part of the Unionist psyche that has existed down through the years. Political Unionism has continually displayed a siege mentality in their public actions and pronouncements.

This has usually manifested itself along a psychological continuum from unionist Prime Minister Basil Brooke’s 1933 declaration of “not having a Catholic about the place”, to the patronising condescension of Terence O’Neill in 1969 asserting: “If you give Catholics a good job and a good house, they will live like Protestants”.

Today’s unionists are in a position they never expected to find themselves in; they are a minority in a statelet originally designed to ensure that they would always be the majority.

Today’s version of the siege mentality has manifested itself along new continuum of a ‘hard Brexit’ to reinforce Partition to ‘the best of both worlds’ where access to both the European and British markets would make the North more acceptable to nationalists.

There had been much political commentary to the effect that the DUP would go back into the Executive and Assembly once the EU and the British government settled some outstanding issues. This came about with a revised Protocol, the Windsor Framework, but of course the DUP balked at reestablishing the political institutions.

The current political commentary now is that the DUP will restore the political institutions once the summer is over. It isn’t even clear if unionist themselves know how to respond to a set of political conditions beyond their comprehension, that unionist hegemony is clearly at an end.

If the DUP were minded to reinstate the political institutions at the end of the summer, they would be embracing the current status quo. This would entail their collaboration with a Sinn Féin First Minister.

A prevalent belief among many is that a key factor to the DUP’s refusal to reestablish the political institutions is because they couldn’t stomach serving alongside a Sinn Féin First Minister. An updated adoption of ‘not having a Catholic about the place’.

Furthermore, in a scenario where the political institutions were to be reinstated based on the present mandate, the DUP are aware they could likely confront an Irish government led by a Sinn Féin Taoiseach.

• Political Unionism has continually displayed a siege mentality in their public actions and pronouncements anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

53

The British government has made it clear that its negotiations with the EU have concluded and that the Windsor Framework will not be amended. Whatever fig leaf the British government may offer unionism, they know • Former British Prime that they cannot wind Ministers, Margaret the clock back to impleThatcher and John Major ment the original terms of the 1800 Act of Union.

The world has moved on.

Unionism’s majority is gone.

So, what are their options? The DUP could simply refuse to form an Executive in Stormont, hoping that the British government will re-introduce Direct Rule. They • 1984 - FAILING TO LEARN THE LESSONS FROM HISTORY: DUP early morning protest, GPO, Dublin, Ivan Foster, Peter Robinson, Ian Paisley and Jim Allister might see this as a strategy to delay the onward march Protocols, claiming that they damaged the Union but that towards a United Ireland. has cut no ice with British governments.

They may feel that with an expected general election in In reflecting on unionism’s experience of dealing with Westminster next year that they could have some influence British governments, the words of Edward Carson come to in the event of a hung parliament. In the past. unionism has mind. “What a fool I was, I was only a puppet, and so was propped up Conservative governments. The UUP propped up John Major’s government in 1996 and the DUP signed up to the Supply and Confidence deal to support Theresa May in government in 2020.

On both occasions, their price of support was financial.

They were not able to get any political concessions. The understanding that British governments took from these experiences was that unionism can be bought and what can be bought can also be sold.

Despite their experiences of trusting previous British governments to look after their interests, the DUP has failed to learn the lessons from history. Do they forget that it was a Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher that introduced the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 and that John Major introduced the Joint Declaration in 1993.

Under a Labour government in 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed. In more recent years, the Conservative government negotiated and signed the Withdrawal Agreement, the Protocol and, most recently, the Windsor Framework. The DUP have opposed all of these Agreements and

A prevalent belief among many is that a key factor to the DUP’s refusal to reestablish the political institutions is because they couldn’t stomach serving alongside a Sinn Féin First Minister Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into power”.

The DUP supported a hard Brexit in the hope of reinforcing Partition on the island of Ireland despite knowing the political and financial consequences. Today’s DUP leader Jeffery Donaldson said at the time that he could live with 40,000 job losses as a result of Brexit.

They were taken in by a contender for the Conservative

“What a fool I was, I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative Party into power” EDWARD CARSON

54

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• DUP leader Jeffery Donaldson said he could live with 40,000 job losses as a result of Brexit

• Sinn Féin First Minister (Designate) Michelle O’Neill leadership, Boris Johnson, when he told them that only “over his dead body that there would be a border in the Irish Sea”. Of course, when Johnson became British Prime Minister, he negotiated and signed the EU Protocol which reinforced the Irish Sea border, which had existed for decades.

The question has to be asked, at what point will the penny finally drop that Britain will always look after its own interests and that consideration of what unionism wants will always play second fiddle.

The recent email from the DUP leader to party members, warning members over briefing against the party, makes it clear that there is a group within the Party that will never learn the lessons of history.

The current DUP leader may want some sort of a fig leaf from the British government in the hope that he can sell it as a victory to his supporters. However, he knows that any claim to a hollow victory is long gone with their refusal to accept the Windsor Framework, and that their nemesis, Jim Allister, will expose any such fallacy alongside the naysayers within his own party.

They may want a new Assembly election in the hope that they can regain the position of First Minister. That’s a throw of the dice where they may feel that they have nothing to lose because the current political situation means

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

that they have to serve with a Sinn Féin First Minister.

So, to return to the question that I asked at the start, where is unionism at today. The answer is, ‘who knows’.

It’s not even clear that unionists and unionism know themselves what their next move is. One thing we can be clear about is that their calculations will focus on what many people now see as Ireland’s future, a United Ireland on the horizon.

Thankfully, there are those from within the unionist tradition who are starting to look to Ireland’s future with a different perspective. They know that being part of an all-island political, social, and economic unit offers a brighter destiny for them and their children. A future where their rights and identity will be protected, a place where they are

Despite their experiences of trusting previous British governments to look after their interests, the DUP has failed to learn the lessons from history wanted and respected, a space where they will have a political voice that is heard, that matters and where they will have a real say in their future.

That future must be planned for. We have all witnessed the mess of an unplanned Brexit. With that lesson in mind, it is imperative that the Irish government starts preparing and planning for Irish reunification. That is the call from communities across Ireland.

We need to plan for a transition out of a failed two state system to a unity stage. That requires proper planning and careful preparation and only a foolish Irish Government would ignore the most recent lessons that history has taught us.  Paul Kavanagh is a former Republican prisoner and was a Special Adviser to the late Martin McGuinness

55

Birney and McCaffrey case is vital for press freedom

BY ROY GREENSLADE News that a British judicial body known as the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is to examine a complaint by two Irish journalists that they were subject to surveillance by police and secret services deserves the widest possible publicity.

At this point, the story hasn’t had much coverage because, as we know, Britain’s and Ireland’s mainstream media are controlled by individuals and corporations who constrain their journalists from holding intelligence agencies to account.

Down the years, these cloak-and-dagger bodies have avoided proper scrutiny, often operating with impunity, by asserting that their work is all a matter of “national security”. Many such claims are bogus.

That’s why the case of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey is so important and so fascinating because it offers an unrivalled opportunity to cast light on the unwarranted secrecy of the secret services in their dealings with journalism.

To recap. These two upstanding men, ornaments to their journalistic trade, had the temerity to discover evidence – by which I mean unimpeachable proof – that there was a cover-up following the murder of six Catholic men by the UVF in Loughinisland, County Down, on 18 June 1994.

Those men were sitting in a pub, watching World Cup football, when a loyalist gunman burst in and sprayed the place with bullets from an automatic weapon.

He was accompanied by two other men. All were masked.

However, the killers’ identities were known to the RUC Special Branch who watched, and occasionally interfered, as the regular

Before his work on the Loughinisland massacre, McCaffrey learned that while he was looking into a case of potential corruption within the PSNI in 2013, the force accessed his phone

56

• Irish journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey are hoping that the Investigatory Powers Tribunal will hold a full hearing into their complaint

police carried out what was a make-believe investigation into the crime. This is a matter of record, having been revealed in a distressing 2016 report by Michael Maguire, the then police ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

His findings of collusion were devastating. The RUC Special Branch had prevented a proper investigation by destroying key information and spiriting away physical evidence. They did so in order to protect an informant who was one of the gang.

So far, so bad. Enter award-winning documentary maker Trevor Birney and award-winning reporter Barry McCaffrey. Following Maguire’s report, they produced, in company with American film director Alex Gibney, a documentary film ‘No Stone Unturned’, which explored the police cover-up in forensic detail. It identified the suspects and pointed to the links between the police and the UVF gang.

The police, in the guise of the RUC’s successor, the PSNI, were outraged at having the facts presented to the pubISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

• The scene at Loughinisland on the morning after the UVF shot dead six people

lic. So, in time dishonoured fashion, the cops decided to obscure the message by attacking the messenger.

In order to avoid an alleged conflict of interest – hard not to laugh at the cynicism – the PSNI recruited an English force, Durham Constabulary, to carry out an arm’s length investigation into Birney and McCaffrey. Not, you might note, to investigate the murders and those responsible for covering up the crime. Much more important, in their view, was to discover how the journalists had allegedly obtained an unredacted copy of the Ombudsman’s report.

Durham police obliged by arresting the journalists and raiding their homes and offices to seize thousands of documents and digital files. This was an outrageous assault on press freedom, a gross intrusion of privacy, and a breach of the men’s human rights.

Northern Ireland’s Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, agreed.

When the pair went to court in 2019 to challenge the legality of the police action, he declared that the search warrants were “inappropriate” and the journalists had been acting properly in protecting their sources.

He ordered the police to return the confiscated documents. A month later, it was announced that Durham police and the PSNI had dropped their inquiries into Birney and McCaffrey. Bail was eventually lifted. The PSNI’s police chief issued an apology. Then, in November 2020, the PSNI paid out £875,000 in damages; £600,000 to the film-making company, £150,000 to Birney, and £125,000 to McCaffrey. That settlement seemed to be the end of a disgraceful episode.

But the truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth – had not emerged in public. Both Birney and McCaffrey had long suspected that they had been subjected to covert surveillance by agencies of the state. Before his work on the Loughinisland massacre, McCaffrey learned that while he was looking into a case of potential corruption within the PSNI in 2013, the force accessed his phone.

With that in mind, along with suspicions that their phones had been compromised while making ‘No Stone Unturned’, McCaffrey and Birney lodged a complaint in 2019 with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, a body created specifically to look into allegations of unlawful surveillance by the intelligence services.

For two years until July this year, the IPT kept the matter behind closed doors. Now, the journalists are hoping that the

The RUC Special Branch had prevented a proper investigation by destroying key information and spiriting away physical evidence

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

tribunal will hold a full hearing into their complaint. As McCaffrey points out, with the PSNI treating journalists as the enemy in the Six Counties, every reporter working there has to wonder if they have been subjected to similar treatment.

His solicitor, Sinn Féin MP for Belfast North John Finucane, also sees the wider significance of the case, arguing that it is “a matter of huge public interest as we seek to ensure the freedom of our press and the rights of journalists”.

It is also significant that the Birney-McCaffrey persecution has not engendered an outcry in Britain, neither among journalists nor the wider public. Partly, that is because so much of what happens in the north of Ireland is entirely ignored in Britain.

In addition, there has long been a journalistic failure to report properly on the shadowy activities of Britain’s secret services. The spooks – and the police acting as spooks – have traditionally been given a free ride by the press.

Even when the police secretly obtained the phone records of a reporter for The Sun during a Westminster political scandal in 2014, the so-called ‘Plebgate’ controversy, it did not generate a full-throated campaign against surveillance.

Around the same time, police desperate to know the source of a Mail on Sunday story about a British politician accessed the phone records of one of its reporters.

Despite understandable anger by the individual journalists involved, and leading articles in their newspapers criticising such actions, the protests were tame.

Underpinning these intrusions is a British law, enacted in the name of fighting terrorism, called the ‘Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act’ (Ripa), which is rightly known as the snoopers’ charter.

Spying on journalists is not only a British disease. In June, the European Union published draft legislation, risibly called the ‘European Media Freedom Act’, which would allow national security agencies to spy on journalists.

It would make it legal for governments to place spyware on journalists’ phones if deemed necessary for the sake of national security.

This initiative, as with Ripa, as with the Birney-McCaffrey case, exemplifies a sad truth; journalism is viewed by state authorities, wherever they exist, as the enemy of democracy rather than its hand-maiden. Now that really is spooky. 

There has long been a journalistic failure to report properly on the shadowy activities of Britain’s secret services

Roy Greenslade is a journalist, author and former Professor of Journalism, City, University of London 57

MERCOSUR MUST BE TRADE DEAL REJECTED

BY CHRIS MacMANUS

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES MUST NOT COME AT THE EXPENSE OF FARMERS AND OUR ENVIRONMENT Over the last number of years, many will have heard of the EUMercosur trade deal. This international trade deal is an agreement between the EU and the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The deal aims to increase bilateral trade and investment, and lower tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, notably for small and medium sized enterprises. This increased international trade seems on the surface a positive advancement. However, there is widescale criticism of the detail of the agreement on the basis of unfair competition, industry bias, and many alarming environmental factors.

In 2019, the Dáil voted in favour of a Sinn Féin’s motion on the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement. It sent a very strong message to the Irish government that Ireland must reject this deal, a position that had the wholesale backing of family farmers and environmentalists in Ireland.

However, it seems that the sovereign and democratic wishes of Ireland have fallen on deaf ears and have been conveniently forgotten in Dublin and Brussels. No doubt this is convenient for Germany where the EUMercosur agreement enjoys broad support, mainly driven by the export-oriented industrial sectors, such as the automotive industry and mechanical engineering.

But why should Ireland, especially our rural economy, be placed on the sacrificial altar of international trade to placate German heavy industry and to appease the aspirations of the Spanish Council presidency? This is an unacceptable scenario, and the disregard Brussels has shown for this reality, is worthy of contempt.

In July, heads of state and government from the EU and from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Brussels for a special summit for the first time in eight

years. A significant point of discussion was Mercosur.

Trade unions, family farms from all backgrounds, socials movements and environmentalists alike from both Latin America and Europe are united in their opposition to the announcement by political leaders from the EU and Mercosur countries that they were going to press ahead with the EU-Mercosur trade agreement by the end of 2023.

Environmentalists feel that this trade deal is catastrophic, and that backroom deals will further endanger the rainforests, climate and human rights according to Greenpeace in Europe. Their Latin American counterparts, such as Friends of the Earth in Latin America, are resolute in their view that this agreement is one that is neo-colonial and driven by corporate profit.

I share their view that we need enforceable multilateral socio-environmental agreements. We

58

ISSUE NUMBER 3 – 2023 - UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht

vour In 2019, the Dáil voted in fa e of a Sinn Féin’s motion on th ent.

EU-Mercosur Trade Agreem ge It sent a very strong messa to the Irish government that Ireland must reject this deal need to bring greenhouse gas emissions down and protect the world’s carbon sinks, such as rainforests.

We cannot continue to encourage false market-based solutions, multinational companies’ net zero promises based on carbon offsetting, or dispute panels in free trade agreements that are totally biased in favour of corporate profits.

Assessments from several organisations show that lower tariffs and controls on products like car parts from Europe and beef and poultry from South American countries will accelerate the already

alarming rate at which nature is being destroyed.

It is important to recognise that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell 34% in the first half of 2023, according to preliminary government data, hitting its lowest level in four years.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is also enacting tougher environmental policies, a welcome change from his predecessor Bolsonaro whose policies were an existential threat to the Amazon rainforest. However, more needs to be done so that the long-term survival, strict protection, and restoration of the Amazon can occur.

From an agricultural perspective, farmers in Ireland and across the EU also feel that this trade deal will be catastrophic for their livelihoods. The European organisation representing small-scale farmers, European Coordination Via Campesina, rightly believe that agreements such as Mercosur will make conditions unbearable for small and medium scale farmers. Many of these farmers prioritise local, regional, and national trade markets, providing food security and affordability.

Many farmers and Irish farming organisations are of a view that the EU-Mercosur trade agreement promotes agricultural production and land use in parts of the world that have “no environmental standards”, particularly in relation to the destruction of rainforests that is taking place.

This is a view that we in Sinn Féin share. Why should they not be held to the same standards as Irish farmers, especially when these producers will get significant and favourable tariff reductions that would see them directly compete with Irish farmers on the Irish and European market?

The prospect of allowing an additional 99,000 tonnes of beef from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay to enter the EU at only a 7.5% tariff rate, phased in over five years, on top of a tarifffree 180,000-tonne quotas each for sugar and poultry, could end

Trade unions, family farms from all backgrounds, socials movements, and environmentalists alike from pe both Latin America and Euro n are united in their oppositio

any hopes of a revived domestic sugar industry in Ireland, whilst also causing concern for Irish poultry farmers.

This is the position of Sinn Féin, and we will hold Irish MEPs from other political parties accountable should they not join us in opposing this deal.

The bottom line is such trade agreements serve corporate interests. In doing so, they threaten our already endangered biosphere, decent working conditions, jobs, and animal welfare, whilst further driving untenable social inequalities.

Instead of more competition, we need to see better co-operation between the two regions to confront the major challenges of our times, such as the climate crisis, massive biodiversity loss, growing poverty, unemployment, hunger and escalating geopolitical conflicts.

We live in a world where it is clear that dialogue, diplomacy, mutual beneficial socio-economic cooperation, and multilateralism are without doubt the way forward. We should not for a moment accept or tolerate big finance or corporations hijacking these principles to serve their own selfish and profit driven interests.

Mercosur, as it currently stands, must be rejected.  Chris MacManus is the Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands North West

• Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell 34% in the first half of 2023 due to tougher environmental policies of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, but more still needs to be done

anphoblacht  UIMHIR EISIÚNA 3 - 2023 - ISSUE NUMBER 3

59

60

• In the wake of the September 1983 escape from Long Kesh An Phoblacht/Republican News carried an exclusive ISSUEin NUMBER – 2023 EISIÚNA 3  anphoblacht interview with IRA escapees who were then on the run somewhere Ireland —3see page- UIMHIR 41