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http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38053
Ireland’s future – A national conversation
DETAILS of 10 public meetings to be held across the North in the coming weeks as part of the Sinn Féin’s programme of promoting a ‘National Conversation for a United Ireland’ have been announced by Gerry Adams.
The public meetings will provide an opportunity for a discussion between the party leadership and the public on this key republican objective and on other matters of concern, including the current economic crisis.
The first public meeting will be in Galbally for south Tyrone and east Tyrone on Wednesday night, 22 April. It follows a series of public meetings and engagements across the 26 Counties and the announcement that Sinn Féin will host two major conferences in the USA this summer and a conference next year in Britain.
Gerry Adams said:
“In recent weeks, the Sinn Féin leadership has travelled the length and breadth of Ireland, holding a series of public meetings and engagements in Dublin, Cork, Longford, Westmeath, Clare, Ennis and Kerry. There have also been hugely successful Easter events rights across the island.
“Over the next few weeks, Sinn Féin will be holding public meetings throughout the North and two major conferences in the USA on 13 June in New York and on 27 June in San Francisco. This is part of our commitment to engage with people in Ireland and internationally about the future of Ireland and our commitment to a process of reconciliation and nation-building– a national conversation about the future direction of Ireland and achieving Irish reunification.
“Sinn Féin seeks to engage with people and particularly those who genuinely care about the future of Ireland and Irish unity.
“This is an important opportunity for people to speak directly to the Sinn Féin leadership about their hopes for the future and about how we can meet the political, economic and other challenges.
“Democracy requires the active participation of citizens and demands that political activists engage directly with local communities.
“Representatives of the Sinn Féin leadership, of the Sinn Féin Assembly and Executive teams, our Leinster House team, our European team and local government representatives will attend at all 10 public meetings.”
• TYRONE: 8pm Wednesday 22 April – Galbally Hall
• ANTRIM: 7.30pm Thursday 23 April – Leighinmohr House Hotel, Ballymena
• FERMANAGH: 7.30pm Friday 24 April – Clinton Centre, Enniskillen
• Belfast: 12 noon Sunday 26 April – St Mary’s
• ARMAGH: 7.30pm Wednesday 29 April – The Caledonian, Keady
• TYRONE: 7.30pm Thursday 30 April – Fir Trees Hotel, Strabane
• DOWN: 7.30pm Tuesday 5 May – Downpatrick Arts Centre
• DERRY: 7.30pm Wednesday 6 May – Gulladuff Centre
• DERRY: 7.30pm Thursday 7 May – Tower Hotel, Derry
• ARMAGH: 7.30pm Friday 8 May – Craigavon Civic Centre
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http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/politics/mcguiness-dissidents-trying-kill-me-$1290470.htm
Friday, 24 Apr 2009 12:17
Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Martin McGuinness has been told by police dissident republicans are planning to kill him.
Mr McGuinness confirmed he had been aware of the plot in the last 24 hours.
It is believed the threat is a result of Mr McGuinness' condemnation of three sectarian murders in the space of three days last month.
The high profile Sinn Fein figure spoke out after two British soldiers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were shot outside their barracks in Massereene, County Antrim, and PC Stephen Carroll was lured to his death in Craigavon, County Armagh.
Mr McGuinness slammed the dissident republicans who claimed responsibility as "traitors" who had "betrayed the political desires, hopes and aspirations of all of the people who live on this island".
In a statement issued this morning, Mr McGuiness said: "It is believed this threat comes from a so-called dissident grouping.
"I have spent my entire adult life engaged in the republican struggle to bring about Irish unity and independence.
"Throughout that time there have been numerous attempts made to silence me and stop me going about my republican work."
And he vowed the latest threat would not distract him from his political goals.
He said: "One thing is for certain: neither I nor Sinn Fein has allowed these sorts of threats to stop us representing our community and driving forward the republican agenda in the past and we will not allow it to deflect us from our work in the future.
"The task of building the peace process and advancing republican and democratic goals is far too important for us to let that happen."
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38027
SINN FÉIN has again called for greater fiscal autonomy for the North and a single, all-Ireland strategy on taxation and economic development.
Speaking prior to the British Chancellor Alastair Darling tabling his budget on Wednesday, Sinn Féin Economy Spokesperson and South Antrim MLA Mitchel McLaughlin said: “The present economic climate in which we find ourselves only strengthens the argument for greater fiscal control in the hands of locally elected politicians. Politicians who are responsible to the electorate need to take more control of our economic destiny. Decisions taken by the British Treasury are taken in the interests of the British Government, the British Banking system and economic conditions pertaining principally on the island of Britain. Any affects that these decisions have on conditions in the North of Ireland are peripheral to the thinking of the British Treasury.
“Sinn Féin believes that the only long term solution facing us on this island, both north and south, is a single strategy on taxation and regional and economic development.
“This Budget as with previous British Budgets will only serve to highlight the continued futility of partition and it’s detrimental impact on the lives of all citizens living here.”
Articles may not be reproduced without the consent of An Phoblacht. For further information, please contact
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38048
BY LAURA FREIL
POLITICIANS and community leaders in south Belfast have been urged by Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey to unite in support of foreign nationals who live in the area in the wake of an upsurge of hate crimes. “Political and community representatives have a duty to make it clear that racism has no place in this community,” said Maskey.
It is clear that such racist attacks and attitudes do not have the support of the majority of people in the Village area – Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey
The South Belfast MLA was speaking after an attack by a racist mob from the loyalist Village area of south Belfast last Thursday. Five people, including four from Hungary, were in a house on Donegall Road when a gang attacked the property.
The women in the house barricaded themselves in behind a kitchen table after a mob broke windows and tried to smash their way through the front door. The mob shouted abuse and threatened to kill the residents if they didn’t leave the area.
“We were crying and screaming and they were yelling they were going to kill us” said one woman. “It was terrible. None of us can go back to Donegall Road.”
Last month, the homes of Eastern European workers and their families were targeted by a racist mob in south Belfast. The attacks took place after loyalists targeted homes following an unrelated confrontation between rival soccer fans from Poland and those supporting the local team during a European qualifying match at Belfast’s Windsor Park.
Over 40 foreign nationals were forced to flee from their homes. Slovenian, Hungarian, Lithuanian and Polish families were attacked as a racist gang rampaged through the area.
Windows were smashed, front doors kicked in and homes were pelted with stones and bricks. The assailants yelled abuse, including death threats.
Eastern European families have also been targeted by racists in Ballymena.
A house where a group of Polish people were staying was attacked on Easter Monday. The attack took place just before 2pm when stones were thrown, smashing six windows in the house.
“There have been attempts to link these attacks to the trouble before and after the Poland v Northern Ireland soccer match,” Alex Maskey said. “This is a smokescreen being used by the narrow-minded thugs who engage in racist attacks.
“The whole Polish community and the wider community of foreign nationals cannot be held responsible for the actions of a small minority of football hooligans.
“Let us be clear: these types of racist incidents were taking place for years before this soccer game. They were wrong then and they are wrong now,” said the Sinn Féin Assembly member.
This is not the first time loyalists in south Belfast have engaged in racist attacks.
In 2004, a series of racist incidents led to the formation of a Roundtable on Racism.
A Romanian family and two Chinese families were forced to flee. People from the 26 Counties were also targeted
The move followed repeated attacks on the Village and Donegall Road area picking out Asian and Chinese families. In one incident, a Pakistani family were forced to leave only hours after moving into the neighbourhood.
Other homes were subjected to arson attacks, resulting in a Romanian family and two Chinese families being forced to flee. People from the 26 Counties were also targeted.
Racist slogans were painted on walls and loyalists held a mass rally in an attempt to intimidate people into leaving the area. But Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey has pointed out that such actions are not supported by the majority of local people.
“There have been increasing reports of racist attacks and intimidation directed at foreign nationals. Within south Belfast, much of the media reports have focused on the Village area,” said Maskey.
“I have spoken to a number of people from the Village area and it is clear that such racist attacks and attitudes do not have the support of the majority of people in this area. Those responsible for racist intimidation are a very small minority, a minority whose actions are abhorred by the local community,” said Maskey.
These types of racist incidents were taking place for years before the match with Poland. They were wrong then and they are wrong now – Alex Maskey
Meanwhile, funding to support the integration of ethnic communities has been announced.
Stormont Junior Ministers Gerry Kelly (Sinn Féin) and Jeffery Donaldson (DUP) said funding of around a million pounds is to be made available to support organisations representing ethnic minorities.
Those to benefit include Belfast Islamic Centre, Polish Association, Derry Traveller Support Association, Ballymena Inter Ethnic Forum, Chinese Welfare Association, South Tyrone Empowerment Programme, St Patrick’s Conference, and St Vincent de Paul Society.
Articles may not be reproduced without the consent of An Phoblacht. For further information, please contact
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0424/bradys.html
Friday, 24 April 2009 12:47
The Archbishop of Armagh and Catholic primate, Cardinal Seán Brady, is holding a meeting with loyalist leaders.
The talks are with members of the UDA-linked Ulster Political Research Group.
Since becoming Catholic Primate of All-Ireland 12 years ago, Dr Brady has broken new ground.
He was the first Primate to attend the Presbyterian General Assembly and the first to meet Orange Order leaders when he discussed tensions over the marching season.
He met Ian Paisley and was the first Primate to call on Catholics to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Now he is extending that outreach to meet loyalist representatives from the Ulster Political Research Group, which has links to the paramilitary UDA.
A Catholic Church spokesman said Cardinal Brady would urge them to reject violence once and for all.
The meeting has been taking place at the Cardinal's private residence in Armagh.
UPRG spokesman Frankie Gallagher said the group was working towards creating an environment where political violence is no longer a viable option and weapons are a thing of the past.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/ireland/uda-delegation-says-there-is-no-going-back-to-past-14280762.html
Friday, 24 April 2009
Representatives of the UDA have reassured the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland that there is no going back to the violent past in the North.
The Ulster Political Research Group, which has links to the loyalist paramilitary group, made the comment after meeting Cardinal Sean Brady in Armagh today.
Cardinal Brady says he used the occasion to convey the fear felt by Catholics about the possibility of future violence by loyalists in response to recent attacks by dissident republicans.
However, both sides agreed the only future for the North was a totally peaceful one.
The UDA is coming under increasing pressure from the British Government to finally begin decommissioning its weapons.
http://u.tv/News/Paisley-declines-to-make-payment-towards-Wright-inquiry-legal-costs/c13dfb8d-f093-4365-82bf-8a73e96ed339
Ian Paisley Jr today resisted an offer to pay £12,000 towards the Billy Wright Inquiry's legal bill for challenging his refusal to reveal a source.
Friday, 24 April 2009
t was also revealed that the Democratic Unionist MLA has yet to be served with a High Court order to give the tribunal the name of an informant who told him about an alleged file destruction policy.
With Mr Paisley having defied the original deadline to co-operate, he is now expected to be given a further seven days to comply when papers are received.
His stance, which he has vowed to maintain, could leave him exposed to a fine or even imprisonment for contempt of court if the Inquiry presses for sanctions.
Mr Paisley was directed to disclose his source earlier this month after a judge who balanced freedom of expression rights against the interests of justice found against him.
He says he was told about alleged moves within the Northern Ireland Prison Service to scrap up to 5,600 files as an emergency after Wright, 37, was shot dead by republicans inside the Maze Jail in December 1997.
Two people were paid to carry out the destruction following a decision taken "at the top", according to Mr Paisley's informant.
The Inquiry examining collusion allegations surrounding the assassination of Wright, leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, went to court after the DUP representative refused to reveal the name.
During the case First Minister Peter Robinson went into the witness box to support his DUP colleague's stance.
In a hearing today around the issue of costs, John Larkin QC, for the Inquiry, said he had been told to ask for a fixed sum towards his client's costs.
He said: "I'm instructed to ask for £12,000 plus VAT."
Although Mr Larkin did not disclose the scale of his client's legal bill, he confirmed it was heavily in excess of the contribution being sought.
Sources close to the case have indicated it could be up to five times as much.
In his submissions Mr Larkin also stressed how Mr Paisley had made it clear he would not adhere to any ruling made against him.
"One hopes with the service of a proper order he may reflect on that," he added.
However, Joseph Aiken, appearing for Mr Paisley, argued that no order for costs should be made.
Mr Aiken pointed out how the case involved the first court examination of the relevant section of the Inquiries Act, with major public interest issues raised over an elected representative's rights of confidentiality.
He added that Mr Paisley only "failed at the final hurdle" of the judge's balancing exercise.
Mr Justice Gillen reserved judgment on the costs issue, with his decision expected within seven days.
He also directed that his original order be served on Mr Paisley after remarking that the content of his ruling in the case was "crystal clear".
© Press Association
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0424/1224245295460.html
MARY MINIHAN
Fri, Apr 24, 2009
THE PROPOSED redevelopment of the Carlton cinema site on Dublin’s O’Connell Street will have a “positive impact” on buildings used during the 1916 Rising, An Bord Pleanála has heard.
Gráinne Shaffrey, of Shaffrey Associates Architects, said the “Dublin Central” plan would give 16 Moore Street, “the final headquarters of the rebel leaders”, and surrounding buildings a role in the regeneration of the area.
Ms Shaffrey was commissioned by Dublin City Council to carry out the architectural and historical assessment of Number 16 and recommended its inclusion on the record of protected structures.
At yesterday’s sitting of the oral hearing on the €1.25 billion mixed-use plan by developers Chartered Land, Ms Shaffrey said it was proposed Number 16 become a “commemorative centre”. She said trying to protect the national monument buildings at 14-17 Moore Street would “involve some change”.
Ms Shaffrey said the buildings had previously only “presented themselves publicly” on Moore Street but the proposed redevelopment would give them a “much more three-dimensional role”.
She said: “Overall we would conclude it’s not a negative impact and indeed in bringing them back into focus, the buildings themselves, it’s a positive impact.”
Sinn Féin TD Arthur Morgan told the hearing he believed the political and historical value of the Moore Street buildings was “almost incalculable”. He added: “I wouldn’t trust that site to the hands of developers. I think it’s much too important.”
David Slattery, the project’s conservation architect, said O’Connell Street was in a “pretty horrendous” state from Henry Street up to Parnell Street. He said he had been surprised at the number of buildings with bouncers on the door, “even at 11 o’clock in the morning”.
He was particularly critical of the facade of Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium.
Mr Slattery said the redevelopment proposal would not compromise O’Connell Street architecturally but would be “significantly beneficial”.
Earlier, Eamon Galligan SC, for the applicant, said the height of the scheme had been “radically altered” from 13 to eight storeys.
It would be 1.6m lower than the top of Clerys department store, according to Dublin Central Architects, the partnership which designed the scheme.
© 2009 The Irish Times
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38041
Activists take up arms for 1916 HQ under threat
HUNDREDS of campaigners who want the last headquarters of the Easter Rising 1916 garrison in Dublin preserved as a national monument as part of Ireland’s history linked arms around 16 Moore Street on Sunday to publicise their cause. 16 Moore Street is in an area earmarked by property developers for a €1.25 billion shopping centre. A Bord Pleanála public hearing on the plan began this Monday.
On Wednesday, Dublin Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh launched the Planning and Development (Amendment Bill) 2009 which has been drafted by Sinn Féin as part of the party’s efforts to Save 16 Moore Street. Ó Snodaigh was joined at the launch by Sinn Féin local election candidate in Dublin’s North Inner City Ruadhán MacAodháin.
Taking part in ‘Arms Around Moore Street’ on Sunday, Dublin Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said:
“The significance of this and surrounding buildings in terms of our history cannot be underestimated. 1916 was a defining moment in the history of this island and it acted as an inspiration to people around the globe struggling for freedom and against colonialism.
“It would be an absolute tragedy if the opportunity to construct a comprehensive historical and cultural quarter associated with 1916 and linked to the GPO on O’Connell Street, was lost.
“The potential of such a development would be immeasurable not only in achieving a better cultural, historical and educational appreciation of the period but also in terms of constructing a lasting memorial which could become a major visitor attraction for the capital.”
FULL PRESERVATION
The Sinn Féin Vice-President said the party wants the full preservation of 16 Moore Street and the adjoining buildings (14 to 17), including any and all contents and fittings that date back to 1916, and their conversion to a museum and cultural centre honouring the men and women of 1916.
The party also wants the Moore Street, O’Rahilly Parade, Moore Lane, Henry Place and O’Connell Street, including the GPO, designated as an historic quarter and national monument of the capital city and its development for cultural and educational use “with appropriate commercial and residential aspects in keeping with its heritage”.
FAMILY SUPPORT: Relatives of the 1916 signatories rally round Moore Street
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http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Conflict-still-surrounds-Maze-prison-43471617.html
Competing plans for former infamous Northern Ireland prison
By FRIEDA KLOTZ , IrishCentral.com StaffWriter
Published Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 6:22 PM
Updated Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 6:37 PM
The site of the Maze prison will have the same symbolic value for world peace as Ground Zero, Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister, said yesterday.
“Sites which were previously linked with conflict are more and more being recognised as key components of peace building and reconciliation processes,” he said.
"Examples of this can be seen in Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg [and] the World Trade Centre site in New York." The former Maze prison now has potential as a conflict transformation center, the Deputy Minister went on.
The European Union funded the project.
But the plans for the prison have already seen some political conflict. The Northern Irish government recently shelved a proposal to develop a multi-sports stadium there, following political disputes.
"At a time of a deepening economic crisis the Maze/Long Kesh development, including the multi-sports stadium, had the potential to create between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs," Paul Butler, a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Sinn Fein in Lagan Valley, said in an interview with BBC Northern Ireland earlier this month.
"This has been squandered entirely due to power struggles, personal ambition and petty politics inside the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party).”
Yesterday McGuinness was optimistic about the future development of the former prison, suggesting that “this peace building and transformation project would be recognised as a significant legacy to the European Union's peace investment here.”
The Maze prison has played a long and fraught role in Northern Ireland’s history. Its origins are bound up in the policy of internment, which the Northern Irish government introduced in 1971 in an attempt to deal with growing street violence, and as part of a more general bid to destroy the IRA.
Riots followed as people protested against indefinite imprisonment without trial, but internment remained in place until 1972. In 1980, six prisoners in the Maze went on hunger strike, demanding political status, a campaign that culminated in the death of 27-year old Bobby Sands in May 1981.
In this decade, the Maze prison has been drawn into the peace process. As part of the Good Friday Agreement, 428 prisoners were released from the prison, which was closed by the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2000.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0424/cancer.html
Friday, 24 April 2009 12:58
Mortality rates for cancer have been found to be 4% higher in the Republic than in Northern Ireland.
A cross-border report, compiled by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and the National Cancer Registry of Ireland, also shows that while the number of cancer cases across the island is up, overall the number of cancer deaths has fallen.
The figures cover the period 1994 to 2004.
The report found that 21,000 people each year on the island of Ireland are diagnosed with cancer.
Among the most common forms are breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancers.
It found the total number of diagnosed cancers rose during the period in question due to population growth, an ageing population and increased detection.
However increased survival rates were due to improved testing and diagnosis, it said.
Cancer rates are higher in large urban areas and in areas that are economically less well-off.
Read the Report here
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38052
THE Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) has said that 6,000 frontline nurses would be lost under plans by the 26 County Health Services Executive (HSE) to not fill posts that become vacant.
In a leaked document that was sent to managers and unions, the HSE said it was seeking major cuts in staff numbers. The document also warned managers that they could face disciplinary action if they breached new restrictions on hiring agency staff. The HSE document repeats proposals announced after the Government introduced a ban last month on recruitment and promotion in the public service.
Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) general secretary Liam Doran slammed what he called “draconian” plans saying they had the potential to “take 20,000 staff out of the Irish health service”.
Pointing out that 13,500 people were working in temporary capacity he added: “If the non-filling of posts was adhered to over the next 20 months, over 6,000 front-line nursing posts will be lost.”
Doran warned that those lost would be staff nurses and nursing managers, “not backroom staff, middle management people,” and that nurses would be short staffed if staff members were out ill.
“We all recognise there is a financial problem in the country . . . but this is an impossible circular from a nursing perspective to implement because it compromises the very essence of what nursing’s about – patient care,” he said.
Following exposure of the document’s contents on Tuesday night the HSE said it would hold off on the cuts and changes ahead of talks with trade unions next week.
SMOKESCREEN
Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, who is also the party’s spokesperson on Health and Children, described the plan as “savage health cuts” that “cannot be dressed up as reform”.
Ó Caoláin said: “The HSE has already been directed by the Fianna Fáil/Green Government not to renew any temporary contracts when they expire, not to fill posts that fall vacant due to retirement and not to fill posts that fall vacant due to resignations, career breaks or the early retirement scheme.
“Over 14,000 staff throughout the health services are on temporary contracts, so the full implementation of the Government directive to the HSE will have a massive effect on patient care. The further cuts revealed in the HSE memo will add to the chaos.”
The Sinn Féin spokesperson said that while the transfer of staff from administrative duties to community health services is welcome this is being used as a “smokescreen” to hide the effects of cuts on frontline care.
“Hospital waiting lists and A&E queues are as bad as ever and will worsen with the massive cuts in jobs in the public health service.
“At the same time, the Health Minister has given a gold-plated guarantee to the hospital consultants that their €250,000 per annum contract will not be touched. This is for a 33-hour week in the public system and they can still work up to 25 per cent of that time in private practice.
“Savage health cuts cannot be dressed up as reform.”
Irish Nurses’ Organisation General Secretary Liam Doran said: “The staffing cuts proposed by this draft circular would render the delivery of safe care, to patients and clients, impossible. Local managers would no longer have the authority to ensure safe and adequate staffing levels and, furthermore, would be threatened with disciplinary action if they did not adhere to the terms of the circular.”
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http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/dn/free/365483391639300.php
BY SEÁN P. FEENY
PEOPLE from the Rosses made their way to Belfast to pay their final tributes to a well-known Belfast solicitor with long-standing ties to West Donegal who was laid to rest at Milltown Cemetery yesterday (Thursday).
Oliver Kelly (62), a regular visitor to the Gaeltacht and one of the best known solicitors of the Troubles, died suddenly on Tuesday after a short illness. Mr Kelly first came to Rannafast while still attending St Mary's CBS in Belfast to study Irish at the college, and throughout the years regularly came and stayed in the family's house near the Rannafast Crossroads.
RnaG broadcaster and Rannafast native, Conail Ó Dufaigh, said he was stunned when he heard the news of Oliver Kelly's passing.
"It was just a total shock, Oliver had been coming to the area for years and years, even in the depth of winter, when no other visitors were around, you would see him about.
"Oliver was very much a part of the social scene in Annagry, Meenaleck, Crolly and Gweedore as if he had always been living here. He was very well liked and respected so, needless to say, it was very sad to hear the news of his death," said Mr Ó Dufaigh.
Crolly business man Stephen O'Donnell said Oliver and his extended family were like members of the local community. "Oliver was highly regarded in the community. A big GAA man he not only took interest in his native Antrim, but also showed support for our club, Niamh Mhuire.
"A lot of people went to Belfast for his funeral which just shows how well-liked Oliver was. He always got involved in local events and activities such as the Crolly Choir. Oliver was a great man for a sing song and gelled well with young and old.
"Oliver would never leave the Rosses without calling to the shop for a chat and he will be sadly missed," said Mr O'Donnell.
Born in Belfast in 1946, Mr Kelly was among hundreds of nationalists interned without trial in 1971 alongside his brother Billy. Another brother, John, who went on to become a Sinn Féin assembly member, was involved in the Arms Trial alongside Charles Haughey.
He was released in April 1971 but rearrested a short time later and was one of the last people to be release at the end of internment.
He completed his law degree while interned, but when finally released the Ministry of Home Affairs refused him permission to enter the High Court to receive his law certificate.
Mr Kelly began working as a solicitor with Belfast solicitor PJ McGrory and acted as a mentor to Pat Finucane. In 1981 he was one of a number of solicitors held captive as PIRA prisoners broke out of the Crumlin Road Prison.
Throughout the 1980s Mr Kelly was prominent in defending those charged under the supergrass system and represented Paul Hill of the Guildford 4.
It would later emerge that the UDA had planned to kill Mr Kelly and PJ McGrory days after it murdered Pat Finucane in February 1989.
Kelly was a great promoter of all aspects of Irish culture and of the Irish language, in which he was fluent. He was also heavily involved in the GAA, representing Antrim as a minor hurler and with Queen's University in the Sigerson Cup and later went on to act as chairman of the Antrim County Board for 12 years, culminating in an appearance in the 1989 All Ireland Hurling final.
http://www.inthisweek.com/view.php?id=341468
Depending on whom you talk to, Bobby Sands is either a hero or a terrorist. As a collaborator with the IRA, Sands was arrested and detained as a "noncitizen" which allowed him to be kept and treated in an inhumane situation. Locked within a cell, the walls smeared with excrement due to the absence of a toilet, sink or any amenity other than a small window, Sands and other captured IRA members and sympathizers screamed for their right to be treated with the same respect given to prisoners of war.
"Hunger" isn't so much about Sands' life as it is about his existence in jail when his life had been taken from him. Many will claim that the film is sympathetic to the IRA cause, because it only portrays Sands and his fellow inmates as victims of an unjust system rather than devoting the same amount of time to show the revolutionary crimes that landed them in prison in the first place. I chose to see it as a film that asks how humane people, who believe their cause to be righteous, could lower themselves to torture their enemies.
The performances are taut and the script boasts at least one phenomenal scene between Sands and a priest that embodies the divide that was forming between the radical groups and the religion that history lumps into one unified cause. The bleakness and inevitable end (this is, after all, based on a true story) are difficult to endure as first-time writer/director Steve McQueen offers a detailed, and often grotesque, view into the horrors that are beset upon people who are no longer recognized as human.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705299256/Hunger-is-a-brutal-one-sided.html
By Jeff Vice
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, April 23, 2009 2:59 p.m. MDT
HUNGER — ***1/2 — Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham; not rated, probable R (violence, profanity, nudity, torture, gore, slurs, vulgarity, brief drugs); Broadway Centre
"Hunger" is brutal. Seriously brutal.
The film, a UK-Irish co-production, contains some of the most disturbing violent imagery and content in any film this side of one of those supposed, "torture-porn" thrillers. However, here it's done for a point, at least one that's not about sheer exploitation or done for shock effect.
And yes, that does mean that this fact-based drama is not an easy movie to watch. But those who are able to stand the assault on their senses won't be able to shake it off. If you're not left feeling a little sick or a little weary after watching this film, there's something seriously wrong with you.
The title refers to the much-publicized 1981 hunger strike by members of the Irish Republican Army as well as some sympathizers. Michael Fassbender stars as Bobby Sands, the rabble-rouser who led the strike.
First-time filmmaker Steve McQueen dramatizes some of the events that led to the hunger strike — especially horrific abuses by the guards at the so-called "Maze" prison in Northern Ireland.
Sands and the others are hoping to gain political prisoner status, which would ensure more "humane" treatment. Or at the least, they're hoping it will shed some light on what's been happening at "The Maze."
Co-screenwriter/director McQueen doesn't pull any punches here, and the film is clearly on the side of the IRA protesters and prisoners.
While that might make it too one-sided and distasteful for some, it's also skillful and riveting filmmaking.
A dialogue-heavy sequence in which Sands debates the morality of the hunger strike — as well as IRA activities — with a priest (Liam Cunningham) is very well-done.
You do have to wonder what kind of physical toll the film might have had on up-and-coming actor Fassbender (HBO's "Band of Brothers"), though. It's obvious he starved himself for his craft, though his performance certainly didn't suffer as a result of that.
"Hunger" is not rated but would probably receive an R for strong, often disturbing violent content and imagery (beatings and prison abuses), strong sexual language (profanity and crude slang terms), full male nudity, scenes depicting torture and interrogations, gore and blood, slurs based on nationality, religious beliefs and sexual orientation, some off-color humor, references and content (some of it scatological), and brief drug content (use of ointments and prescriptions). Running time: 96 minutes.
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http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12209634
Film about 1981 IRA prison hunger strike is a compelling study in detail.
By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:04/23/2009 12:15:26 PM MDT
It may seem incongruous to describe as "beautiful" a film that features prison beatings, fecal material on walls, and the sight of a man starving himself to death, but "Hunger" may be one of the most beautifully composed movies you'll ever see.
Director/co-writer Steve McQueen (no relation to the late actor) artfully examines a gruesome bit of history -- the 1981 hunger strike by imprisoned Irish Republican Army leader Bobby Sands and his fellow inmates -- and strips away everything but the most essential details of pain and suffering. The result is hard to take, but impossible to dismiss.
McQueen and co-writer Enda Walsh begin by showing the day-to-day movements of the people who work and are incarcerated at Northern Ireland's Maze prison. A guard, Raymond Lohan (Stuart Graham), goes out to his car in the morning -- but looks underneath first, in case the IRA has placed a bomb there. New prisoner Davey Gillen (Brian Milligan) refuses to wear the prison uniform, declaring himself a political prisoner (a status denied IRA prisoners by the Thatcher government), and joins fellow militant Gerry Campbell (Liam McMahon) in "blanket" and "no wash" protests that have turned the jail cells into pits of filth.
When the IRA prisoners are granted clean cells and civilian clothes, they sense a breakthrough in negotiations with the British. But when they see the Brits are mocking them with "clown clothes" -- outfits a colorblind golfer wouldn't wear -- they start a riot to trash the new cells. The guards retaliate with beatings and violent body cavity searches.
There's little dialogue during all of the above, which makes the next scene even more striking: An unbroken 17-minute take of a conversation between the lead IRA prisoner, Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender, from "300"), and a priest, Father Dominic Moran (Liam Cunningham, who appeared in the last "Mummy" movie). In that talk, Sands states his goal to launch a hunger strike -- and bats back the priest's questions about the morality of leading other men to certain death.
In the final stretch, McQueen and Fassbender show the effects of Sands' malnutrition in disturbing and oddly tender detail.
"Hunger" doesn't merely wallow in the lurid details of a distant political conflict between the British and the IRA. By focusing intensely and painstakingly on the minutiae of riot squads and resistance, of brutality delivered and received, McQueen points out how any imprisonment -- particularly when political ideologies are involved -- tend to turn men on both sides of the cell door into savages.
Hunger
Hard to take, but impossible to dismiss: The most beautiful film you'll ever see about a man starving himself to death.
- WhereBroadway Centre Cinemas.
- When Opens Friday.
- RatingNot rated, but probably R for male nudity, violence and language.
- Running time 96 minutes.
Updated: 11/1/2009
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