Experience

In recent days my work history has become a subject of conversation on some websites, one of which I have followed with some interest. That website, Slugger O’Toole, has now closed the thread in which the matter was under discussion, seemingly on the basis of something referred to as ‘man playing’. Presumably I was the man considered to have been played. I, of my own volition, had no input into the discussion nor had I any complaint to make about it being hosted. No request was made from me to have it closed. As a long standing practice I have invariably asked for nothing, no matter how critical of me, to be removed from websites or blogs. And there has been some hard hitting material hurled my way including private health issues and matters of a personal nature alongside numerous falsehoods which were of no consequence to intellectual discussion. But if that’s what people choose to do so be it.

However, it is my own view that readers of my writing over the years have a right to discuss issues of public concern where they relate to me whether it is legitimate or not. And in my own blog people will be afforded the opportunity to have their say.

The grievance expressed by some posters, Sinn Fein members for the most part, is that I am a former employee of Coalport Building Company, as if it is a discovery they have just made and completely unbeknown to them before now. Coalport has been at the centre of serious controversy over inexcusable building practices at Priory Hall in Dublin. Such was the concern of the Dublin High Court that it ordered the building closed and the residents moved out at considerable cost to Dublin City Council and incalculable material and emotional loss to the residents.

Given that people are interested as to my history with Coalport I will outline it and they can make up their own minds on the choices I made. They are free to question the narrative either in total or in part. That outline will come with the one proviso that I will not say anything even if it is of benefit to my account if it is likely to prejudice the outcome of any legal proceedings that are likely to arise and which might involve me as a witness in a court of law.

By March 2007 I had effectively been out of work for a year. What limited work fell my way, apart from a short run of columns in the Irish News, came courtesy of a former blanket man. Despite his best efforts the income was insufficient to meet family needs. With serious decisions to be made about children’s future I asked another former blanket man and very close friend from the prison, Tom McFeely, if he had any work. It is often how former IRA prisoners find work. It was well known that McFeely had been responsive to appeals from erstwhile fellow prisoners for work. Without hesitation he told me to come down, that no one from the H-Blocks would be denied a job.

I travelled to Dublin by bus and walked to his office. When he asked why I was so late I made some excuse rather than tell him I was short of the taxi money. McFeely being far from stupid knew the score. At the end of our conversation, as he dropped me at the bus station, he dipped into his pocket and pulled out a sum of money in sterling and pushed it towards me, putting his hand in front of my face to silence any feeble attempt at protest. That money paid the mortgage for that month and staved off the onset of arrears.

McFeely made a job offer and explained the salary telling me I would not be worth it at the start but if I persisted and trained up I would be. With a job and good salary guaranteed I was able to borrow £6000 from another former republican prisoner in Belfast which enabled me to clear debts that I had ran up in the previous year trying to pay bills. The job offer at Coalport was manna from heaven as they say.

Whatever fall outs I have had with Tom McFeely since, and there is no point in downplaying their seriousness, his offer put an end to precarious economic times. The irony was that prior to asking McFeely for work I had a job interview for a position in the community sector. Despite coming first in the interview process and being offered the job the people in charge of the project reneged and subsequently refused to hire me claiming that my political views had made me too controversial. In their public life they proclaimed themselves to be progressive socialists who favoured equality and opposed discrimination. At that point I turned to someone who had been a real comrade in prison.

Prior to the economic malaise I had no inclination to work in construction either with McFeely or anybody else. I had told him as much in 2004 when I had met up with him in Dublin and visited one of his sites on our way to lunch. Fortunately I did not need work then, being in employment elsewhere.

In the wake of the political discrimination that denied me the community sector job, the choice to work in construction was made for me. Despite the onset of our differences I have never been as petty minded to forget McFeely for the opportunity he offered. Ultimately his job enabled me and my wife to move our children out of Belfast into a house in County Louth where we have lived since. But for McFeely we would still be in Belfast enduring all the hostility that it entailed. Myself and my wife could readily have faced the prospects of that. But we were not prepared to expose the children to the fallout.

McFeely wasted no time and I immediately started working for Coalport as a site clerk and purchaser in Dundalk. The work was new to me as I knew the price of nothing in that field. Sinn Fein were aware I was working for McFeely as members in Louth regularly saw me on the street managing traffic control around the site. In fact it led to the reestablishment of contacts with some party members I had first met in prison but had not seen for years. In addition, McFeely and I were together at Brendan Hughes’ funeral and remarks were made noting our relationship; references were made to him as my ‘boss.’ On our return from that funeral myself and a Sinn Fein member living in Dundalk boozed for the full train journey while he slagged me off about ‘filling skips for McFeely.’

Coalport financed a first aid course that gained me a certificate in that particular discipline. In 2009 I gained a further certificate, again financed by Coalport, this time in site management from the Construction Industry Federation. The competence level achieved would never have permitted me to operate as a fully fledged site manager in a project director capacity, but it would enable me to site manage remedial works in a project in the post construction stage.

In December 2009 I asked to be allowed to work in Priory Hall, which had been built before I started working for the company. The complex had just been issued with a fire safety notice. I had rapidly acquired some knowledge of fire safety issues despite it being outside my brief as a result of a fire safety notice being served on a Dundalk project. I liaised with the Louth County Council Fire Authority and acquired a feel for the issues.

My request to go to Priory Hall came from having volunteered to attend a meeting with Priory Hall residents, prior to the issuing of any fire safety notice that I was aware of, in respect of their accommodation. The range of complaints from the residents was so extensive that the inescapable conclusion was that their very real concerns were not being addressed in a manner that was remotely satisfactory to them. I undertook to bring the complaints back to the company. Because of my attendance at that meeting I felt there was an obligation on my part to go on site, with a view to tackling what problems existed.

When I arrived at Priory Hall I immediately took control of administrative issues and opened up a line of communication with the residents, trying to address their queries as they came through. I also opened up a similar line with the management company. Both entities despite their very real worries were invariably polite in their dealings with me.

Because of the fire notice – which had materially changed the situation at Priory Hall from the time I attended the meeting with the residents - I also began a process of liaison with a fire consultancy firm who directed me in the areas that needed attended to. I further entered into negotiations with a representative of Dublin Fire Brigade. His concerns were very serious and it was impossible to be anything less than wholly persuaded by his arguments about the problems that confronted the fire authority. I secured undertakings from the company that his concerns would be addressed and immediately set out to tackle the issues.

Both I and the foreman cut short the Christmas holidays to work on the issues. During that period I met with Tom McFeely and raised the issues with him. His response was terse: to the effect that I was in charge – deal with them. Fair enough. Which is what I attempted to do.

Such was the effort on the ground to address the issues that a representative from Dublin Fire Brigade informed Dublin City Councillors on the 18th of January at a meeting which I attended on my own initiative that Priory Hall did not at that point pose an unacceptable fire hazard although it was in serious need of fire safety work which could not be delayed. That was self evident otherwise he would most certainly have moved to have the complex evacuated. I met with him on many occasions and needed little convincing that his approach was guided by one issue – the safety of residents from the threat of fire. He was far from the typical bureaucrat for whom ticking boxes was sufficient to get the day in. Nor was he in the slightest inclined to keep a building open merely to suit the financial constraints of the developer. His attitude was determined by safety alone.

Throughout the seven months of 2010 that I was on Priory Hall we were there from early morning to late evening six days a week. My wife felt like a single parent at times I was so rarely at home; I was always working. I attended at least three meetings with Dublin City Council officials where Sinn Fein was represented. Surprisingly to me, despite the past enmity between myself and the party, the worst I got from them was banter. They seemed concerned about the safety of the building, not settling scores with me.

With insufficient money coming through from the company for necessary materials the challenges posed by Priory Hall proved daunting. When I accompanied representatives from the banks around the building and explained the shortfall in finance to enable us to complete the work I supported my contention with the fact that I and one of my colleagues had covered the cost of some materials out of our own pockets. In my case it ran to several thousand Euro for which I have yet to be reimbursed. Deadlines passed, undertakings were rarely met and the residents grew even more frustrated. Often their despair was visible in private exchanges I had with them. We were simply failing to deliver and in the process were reinforcing the deeply held conviction of the residents that the company lacked any real commitment to do so. Dublin Fire Brigade requested of Coalport that my hands be untied so that it could have confidence that the work would be done. This was not to be.

When the receiver took possession of Priory Hall in the summer of 2010 I was seconded to Coalport’s head office to work on administrative matters which included addressing fire safety issues at another development which were tackled to the satisfaction of Dublin Fire Brigade. This time the flow of sufficient funds allowed the work to be completed and myself to walk into the HQ of Dublin Fire Brigade and present all fire safety certificates to the relevant fire officer.

In the end I was not unhappy to have left Priory Hall. Despite my expectations of success the challenge proved too stressful. The problems were ultimately too much for me to tackle successfully. I had already expressed my deep unhappiness at working for Coalport to my wife, colleagues and to some people who are frequent commentators on this blog. It was the most frustrating work experience of my entire professional life.

Whatever the residents’ charges against the company for what they regarded as its disdainful approach to them I treated them with courtesy and respect and sought to address their grievances as soon as they arose or at least explain why I could not. Despite a recent press report that people felt frightened because of the IRA records of both me and Tom McFeely, I at no point sensed any apprehension from the residents whatever their view of the IRA. Some of them told me directly it had no relevance to them; they simply wanted the work completed; they were determined not to be cheated out of their considerable investments.

I was let go by Coalport around late June/early July of this year. Suffice to say that in my view my departure had its origins in disagreements over the handling of Priory Hall although that was never stated by the company. Since my break with the company Dublin Fire Brigade have discovered serious faults which have raised the fire hazard posed to the level of unacceptable. For that reason the building was closed. These faults did not evolve on their own. They were present in the structure of the building from the construction stage, prior to my involvement in the company. Whoever carried out or supervised the work presumably knew about them. How could it be otherwise? That knowledge was never passed on. If it was, then those in receipt of it who chose to do nothing must stand as culpable as those responsible for the faults in the first place. We who came in at the tail end of 2009 to carry out remedial works as stipulated by fire consultants and Dublin Fire Brigade were unaware of them.

Given that no relationship now exists between myself and Tom McFeely, it would be easy to turn on him and make him the villain of the piece. Just about everybody else has done so. But if there was a time to be publicly critical of McFeely, it was while I was working for him and not from the safely detached position of today. I chose not to publicly raise the issues on the grounds that I made other choices for family reasons. Right or wrong, for me they were necessary on the very simple basis that other people, in particular children, are affected by the outcome of decisions made by their parents. The proper political decision was not to work for Coalport or any other capitalist enterprise. That was an option I consciously decided to discard. I stand over my personal decision to work for Coalport.

I am not a victim of Coalport’s building strategy. I need neither sympathy for my position nor support for the decisions I made. The only victims are the residents of Priory Hall. They are the people who were let down because the industry wide culture of ‘lash it up’ was considered more important than ‘make it safe.’

45 comments:

  1. Mackers,

    If, as you say, you came to this debacle after the apartments were constructed, then absolutely no blame or suchlike, can be attached to you. And you cant blame a man for taking up the offer of a job, I am an exprisoner who has been lucky to be in full employment since my release (albeit in a very low paying job). I would have jumped at the offer Tom Mc Feely made to you.

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  2. If Tom sold his pad on Aylesbury road, that would be a big help.Is he a fraud socialist ? Sean Fitzpatrick would be proud of him.

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  3. SLICK
    Aren't they all? maybe gerry could sell his in Donegal and 'ride in'to the heroic rescue?

    mackers
    Recon you were blessed to get the job and get away from those SF career politicians + rent a mob eejits for a time. The planning stage/architect has surely to be the source of the problems? Has to be at the design stage, no? You have to feel for the residents, god only knows what they paid or what negative equity they have on useless homes.

    The sinners must be a tad miffed at all the truth coming out about them to be hounding you mackers. I saw Adams and Mary Lou looking daft after Gilmore slapped them down on university fees in the Dail, so pathetic.

    Hope you're working now, we didn't all desire to jump on the council/MLA bandwaggon. The hungerstrikers must be so proud and fulfilled.

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  4. AM

    Most of us at one time in our lives have worked for businesses which turned out to be shit, we did so like you to put food on the table and clothes on the backs of our children. No shame in that.

    I tell you what is a dam shame, that a man like you who tries to do the right thing and studied hard and long to receive academic qualifications was unable to find a permanent post which suits those qualification.

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  5. Mackers,
    has the post been withdrawn on 'Slugger'?
    Tom McFeely might have his faults like the rest of us. One thing I know about him though, he did not line his pockets with money that was drip fed from his own community.
    He looked after ex-prisoners which is a lot more than can be said for the prosperous clique on this road.
    They have had their hands in every dodgy sleazy development about the place, however, unlike McFeeley they will ensure their little empires are all signed up in someone elses names.
    Many of the slum landlords in West Belfast are promient republicans, community activists and MLAs.

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  6. AM-

    Read those comments on slugger and thought there was a few rough ones although Dixie was not shy at fighting your corner- a few people on slugger might get the boot whilst the comments are being checked out but round 2 will start shortly- [ i sat on the sidelines ]

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  7. Mick HallI

    'tell you what is a dam shame, that a man like you who tries to do the right thing and studied hard and long to receive academic qualifications was unable to find a permanent post which suits those qualification'.

    Totally correct and what's more the south are still educating nurses and physios by the thousands when there are no jobs here for them. Been going on for years.


    '

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  8. Eddie,

    an ex-prisoner with a job outside the cosy club. You should be kept for a museum!!

    Larry,

    we didn't need away so much as a desire to get the kids away. While no Shinner neighbour ever made it uncomfortable for our kids in terms of playing with their own, growing up there for them would at some point have become very uncomfortable. I have declined every single request to do television commentary since living here in order to permit them anonymity. But every now and then there is a re-run of some documentary from years ago that I spoke in!

    Self regulation is the problem in the South from what I can make of it, not the architect.

    Mick,

    one of the problems with former republican prisoners is that qualifications can often figure little in the world of employment. A friend in SF, eminently capable and qualified - PhD before arrest), came out of jail and immediately started labouring on a site. Later he got a teaching post at a university in the South. And soon they were howling for his head. I actually took to writing in his defence.

    http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu:81/AM2510062g.html

    http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu:81/AM3010062g.html

    He kept his job but I guess the shouting will curb any enthusiasm for the university to employ another similar type.

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  9. Anthony,

    As a resident (ex-resident!) of Priory Hall, I believe that you genuinely did attempt to resolve the problems which existed in the development.
    Unfortunately the full extent of the problems only really came to light afterwards and they had their beginnings during the design and construction stage, of which you played no part.

    While you were involved in Priory Hall, I maintained a small hope that things would improve. I had had significant dealings with two of your predecessors and when you came on board (for me your involvement started in The Marine Hotel in Sutton, Co. Dublin late one night) I thought there was a possibility that some level of real progress would be made.

    For what it is worth, you always treated me with utmost respect and kept me informed of your progress on the site and the frustrations which you were encountering. I always found you to be approachable and always believed that you would take resident's comments (however helpful or unhelpful they may have been!) on board.

    Wishing you and your family well for the future,
    Paul.

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  10. Fionnuala Perry
    “Tom McFeely might have his faults like the rest of us. One thing I know about him though, he did not line his pockets with money that was drip fed from his own community”
    Would you please explain what you mean by the above?
    I for one cannot for the life of me separate him and his kind who have being ripping off the descent citizen of Ireland and abroad of their hard earned cash. This type of person prays on anyone and anybody he feels he can con out of their worldly goods without a care in the world for the repercussions to them and their offspring for the rest of their lives. Cowboy is the word that springs to mind, but from my recollection of watching Westerns in my youth cowboys were not scum they were hard working guys earning an honest crust. Scum in my opinion sits better with this type of person who hasn’t a care in the world for the people who bought his death traps around Ireland. He is now busily counting his money while his victims live in squalor.
    I hope as you say he did not line his pockets from the people of his community , by the way could you tell me were his community is , Mars perhaps because I am fully sure that Priory Hall is in Ireland and being of Irish persuasion myself I would class those poor suckers as being of my community
    AM you were simply the same as us all an employee of a company, with no hand act or part in the crime this guy committed against those poor innocent hardworking people

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  11. Nuala,

    it was withdrawn. It came back but I think (haven't read it though) he took out a lot of the 'man playing' as he calls it.

    If Niall Meehan wants to mix it while hiding behind a pen name let's see how up for it he is now that he is being brought into the open. He won't be brave; he has long regarded courage a contagious disease to be avoided at all costs.

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  12. I was totally unaware of these discussions on Slugger O'Toole or other websites. However, I would like to say that from my discussions with Anthony, both on the Quill and via email, I have always found him to be honest, fair and willing to engage with opposing viewpoints. I see no reason for not accepting his account of his involvement with Coalport and its construction of Priory Hall. A grave injustice was done to the residents of Priory Hall by its developer, but I would argue that ordinary employees of Coalport should not be blamed unless they knew that they were involved in the construction of unsafe housing. Given the fact that Anthony was not even employed by Coalport when the primary construction of Priory Hall took place, how can he be blamed for the serious structural problems in the development, especially since these flaws were only discovered after he had left the company?

    Anthony also seems to have some misgivings about working for a "capitalist enterprise". I would share those misgivings myself. On the other hand, though, we all have to survive in the circumstances/system in which we find ourselves. My parents run a small veterinary business and, because of my chronic mental health problems, I have relied on them emotionally and financially for most of my adult life. My parents' hard work in the capitalist world paid for my medical insurance which allowed me to be treated by the best doctors in the best hospital in the country. Without that assistance, I would be languishing in the underfunded public system. I might even be dead. So I too made a choice that I'm not entirely comfortable with, but perhaps there are times when we must compromise our principles for the sake of ourselves and our families.

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  13. Paul,

    thanks for your comment. It is much appreciated. I hope things pick up for you. I honestly have no idea how things will pan out there. Seems to be in the lap of the courts.

    Best

    Anthony

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  14. Mackers, we have discussed this matter at lenght and I can find no fault your belated role in the Priory Hall project; which was to do the best to redemy the situation in the interestes of the residents. For what it is worth, you have my support.

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  15. Alec,

    We have discussed it for sure. Being one of my sharpest critics over the years despite our personal friendship, your take is always appreciated. At fault or not, the problem is still not solved and the residents are no closer to having their needs met.

    Alfie,

    From what I could make out the discussion on Slugger was the usual onslaught but that goes with the turf. I can hardly claim to be unused to it. I heard about other websites but have not read them. I suppose your criterion is the best one to use in any situation – knowing involvement in anything that is dangerous to somebody else.

    Of course there is always that dilemma of working for any capitalist firm. But in a capitalist economy that is the likelihood of where we end up. And if good work comes along tomorrow from a capitalist I will be considering it. Even if I would prefer to be employed by the state it is still a capitalist state. As much as I do not like the Church or religion I would have no problem throwing my hand in to the St Vincent de Paul which describes itself as a ‘Catholic Christian organisation.’ As you say our principles are our own; they can’t always be inflicted on our families.

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  16. Mackers, this is more a case of guilt by association or, by employment, rather than by actual deed. When you joined Coalport the Priory Hall project was beyond the point where you could have did anything to ensure essentail safety work in the first instance. Becoming aware of the situation later as a an employee with particular responsibilities and limited expertise means you were then in possession of the information. The question at that point was, what to do about it.

    The course of action that you took was the correct one and entirely responsible. You did not turn your head in the other direction out of some misplaced loyality to Tom. On the contrary. you attempted to remedy the situation, even at a cost to your own pocket.

    Should you have blown the whistle and exposed Tom?

    Did you share the guilt by virtue of sharing the information?

    Did you fail to act when confronted with the problems?

    These are the important questions you try to address in the article. For me, and this is why you have my support, your words and reflections have the ring of truth to them.

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  17. Mackers this is the only forum on which I haven't commented regarding this. Well I've commented on two actually, Slugger and Ir.net and it was like trying to catch piranha fish by hand.

    There comes a time when you have to take off the coat and defend old friends.

    Which leads me to something I read on Ir.net....Big Bob threatens DPP protester by pointing to another shinner and saying, 'e'll git ye!!'

    Or as we would say in Derry he 'pissed the dog on him!'

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  18. BoyneRover,
    I think you know what I am saying he did not gather money under the false pretences of furthering a peoples struggle armed or otherwise.
    I don't know what Tom McFeeley is guilty or not guilty of in relation to Priory Hall.
    What I do know is, he did his time the hard way and when he made his money he still had time for his former comrades.
    The point I was trying to make which was apparently lost on you, was in relation to the sheer hypocrisy of many republicans who engage in equally depicable behaviour and yet see fit to attack him.

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  19. Fionnuala
    The point was not lost on me I knew exactly what you were trying to relay across to us. You were making excuses for Tom on the grounds that he was a former prisoner and Hunger Striker for his construction misdemeanours , having myself witnessed people who have falling foul of people like him over the years it really irks me when I see them being defended for something that happened in a different life, this man is exactly what you see today he got caught up in the Troubles from 69 and after his incarceration discovered that Capitalism is the real road to success , Capitalism is his true calling not Republicanism
    He splashed the cash to former comrades because he could , not because he wanted to, I would bet my last cent he has since tried to call in his past “good will gestures “to his comrades that is the nice he is, I have met loads and loads of nice guys like him in my life, stay clear was my advice to myself
    I am very sorry for using the word Scum to describe Tom Mc Feely in my previous post but these guys bring out this type of gutter language in me when I witness the destruction and havoc they bring to ordinary decent peoples lives

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  20. BoyneRover,
    You are perfectly entitled to disagree with what I said, however you are still missing the point.
    I was not defending Tom nor was I justifying his actions, too be honest I don't know enough about the controversy to comment.
    What I was doing was writing about what I do know. That he, Tom McFeeley had a lot more courage and strength of character during the gaol protests than most of those who will now come to the fore to lambast him.
    I doubt your take on his motivation for helping former comrades is correct.
    If you want to steer clear of people like McFeeley, then that's your call, I just know from experience, ex-prisoner experience had there been a lot more like him a lot of former prisoners lives would have changed for the better.

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  21. Alec,

    The degree of culpability in these things is a matter for debate and reflection. We set up the ethical position and evaluate our actions by the distance we fall short of it. It is like in war. We know the ethical position yet don’t always reach it. Support for my account no more makes it right than criticism makes it wrong. Ultimately, there are always choices that can be made. I made mine and others have a right to be critical of it. I worked for the company and fought its corner whether in negotiations or purchasing. And I met some great people along the way both inside and outside the company. It would be all so easy now that I have gone to publicly lambast Tom just to evade responsibility. That would be a disreputable approach. If that was what I wanted to do I should have done it while there.

    It was not a question of us on site being told by the company not to do the work. The opposite was the case. We were invariably told to get the job finished and get the proper certification, and it was never said quietly. We were always there, always working, forever trying to persuade others to come up with the proper certification that would allow the building to be declared safe. It was a battle a day. But finance appeared to be a serious problem. There were considerable sums involved. We were forever waiting on banks to release funds to the office.

    Although we were out of pocket the office always tried to ensure we got paid back. It was not as if they were trying to shaft us. We were forever late putting the invoices in and causing a headache for the office, trying to keep up with us. That’s how the discrepancy develops, not out of malice or intent not to reimburse us. But things had to be kept moving and materials were needed, so frequently we bought them ourselves. When you have responsibility for a project it is the type of thing you do to stay ahead, always in the expectation that it would level out and you would not be out of pocket for long.

    Nor was there any pressure to turn the other way out of loyalty to Tom. As I said in the article his attitude was ‘get it done’. It was not ‘turn a blind eye.’ But getting it done proved very difficult with insufficient funding available.

    It was not a question either of blowing the whistle and ‘exposing’ Tom. The whole issue was so well exposed. The press and politicians were aware of it. Dublin Fire Brigade was on top of it and knew the issues. So speaking out would have been a critique rather than an exposé. While there are always grounds for speaking out, I made different choices for other reasons. Had you been there the choice you might have made was to speak out.

    In the end Alec, I probably bit off more than I could chew. It was the most frustrating job I ever had. It was a constant struggle with internal pressures, issues, agencies and other firms trying to evade their own responsibility, and the problems kept mounting. In sum it probably didn’t suit my temperament. I have come away concluding that construction is a pressure cooker industry that has driven many people to despair, not least its victims.

    The entire focus of the media on Tom allows so many other agencies and the regulatory system in general to get off the hook. While developers must take responsibility for their actions, restricting it to them means the entire system and culture will continue. I think this is why the residents are determined not to be satisfied with being thrown the bone of a jailed developer. They know the problem is systemic and seem determined that more than just the developer will be brought to account.

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  22. Anthony,

    I've never heard of this issue until today. Seems like residents got a pretty rough deal to put it mildly.

    Seems to me like you tried to make the best of a very bad situation but that the mess was so great it was like emptying the ocean with a teacup. No matter, so long as you kept your integrity, and it appears you did, then you can still look yourself in the mirror.

    As for taking the job in the first place, you done right. I'm sure any ex-prisoner, knowing the difficulties facing POW's on release would have shaken your hand and wished you
    well - particularly those who've been intimidated from community jobs or stopped from getting one altogether because their politics were just too awkward.

    We'd all love, I'm sure, to live in a socialist utopia but the reality is we've bills to pay & mouths to feed. Those who've criticised you for doing a job need to take a long hard look at themselves.

    Think I'm right in saying also that Brendan Hughes was put off a job by a so-called republican who was trying to rip working
    men off on the building sites - where were their mouths then?

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  23. Boyne Rover,

    I think that was a good call to withdraw what you termed the ‘gutter’ language. I think it is always commendable when people pull back from that type of language.

    Dixie,

    ‘There comes a time when you have to take off the coat and defend old friends.’

    Fair play. But as I have said to you feel free to criticise where you think I am wrong. Old friends should be able to take each other to task as well.

    No doubt they called you everything for your efforts. I saw your stuff on Slugger, but not elsewhere. I heard Harry Waster has been chased from everywhere. Poor Niall, somebody joked to me that he was a professor of narcolepsy who had put half the net to sleep and was banned. Why does somebody who claims to teach journalism behave like that? I imagine if I believed something I’d have the courage to stand over it.

    Michaelhenry,

    Trust you to bring an element of humour to the thing! You were rubbing your hands with glee!!! There are always rough comments. It has been going on for yonks now. But the mindset is interesting.

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  24. Fionnuala
    I understand your point of view but in the context of the post by AM maybe sticking to point that this man has now wrecked so many lives that whatever good he may or may not have done previous to this simply has been dealt a severe blow

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  25. BoyneRover,
    I appreciate your argument. It was the sheer hypocrisy of the glass house brigade that I found surreal.
    Tom McFeely may have come unstuck but at least he had time for gaol friends when it mattered. I am also aware that this might sound meaningless against unfolding events but for some of us it meant a lot.

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  26. Anthony,

    Are you sure Niall Meehan is behind the smears against you on Slugger O'Toole? I am not a regular reader of that blog and so I'm not familiar with the various contributors' pen names. However, I do have some regard for Niall Meehan's writings on controversies in Irish history, such as the killings at Coolacrease and Dunmanway during the War of Independence, and I would be disappointed if he was involved in these kind of dirty tricks.

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  27. Alfie,

    he has long been involved in the cowards's side of the debate with the dirty tricks dept. Even when writing as Adam O'Toole he was covering for the British agent Freddie Scappaticci and trying to rubbish those republicans who correctly outlined Scap's role. He did his best to get Scap off the hook, a man who effectively set out to destroy the IRA and the republican struggle and compromised many volunteers. His work on censorship is a farce - has he addressed the censorship or revisionism of SF? Did you hear him once challenge the revisionism of McGuinness about having left the IRA in 1974? A paid hack, a paid coward - and because of his role in covering for Scap the question must be asked about what else he has been paid to do.

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  28. mackers
    no punches pulled there in relation to scap. I think anyone in SF at this stage best avoided totally.
    Wouldn't touch any outfit professing to be Irish Republican with a shitty stick these days, nor their hangers on and cheerleaders. Avoid at all costs.

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  29. Anthony,

    I wasn't aware of any of that. I did know that he teaches journalism in Griffith College and that he has links to Sinn Fein. I had read some articles by him on Indymedia and Counterpunch; I even emailed him a while back with some questions on the Dunmanway killings. One thing that I did find a little peculiar was that when replying, he immediately asked what my interest was. I think he wanted to know what side of the debate I was on. If I recall correctly, he did not reply to my second email in which I explained that I was merely an ordinary member of the public who was following the debate and trying to make up my mind on the controversy. Anyway, I was happy enough that he replied to my initial email and answered my principal question. His articles on these historical issues seem well researched and well argued, but I have to say that I am very disappointed to learn that he's an SF apparatchik.

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  30. Larry, why would you? you are clearly not a republican!

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  31. Alfie,

    In his journalism does he teach the students that hiding behind a pseudonym to smear and censor is an approach to be recommended? That seems News Of The World style journalism to me. Fine on Dunmanway and the other issues he addresses but this suggests he uses his own identity to analyse and his false identity to demonise or make arguments that he could not possible believe – Scap, not an agent but a ploy by the British. FFS.

    Belfast Bookworm,

    Thanks. It has been a well publicised issue. It is not my intention to emerge from it well, simply to have the matter framed more accurately than it has been.

    The residents are the only ones to be sympathised with, not me, not anyone else.

    It has long struck me that the method of procuring people for the community jobs in the North is suspect. Banning people because they have a perspective that does not fit is gross discrimination. And in my case it was not even SF discriminating but the so called Left.

    Brendan sought to raise issues about building sites but was censored. If I recall one line of the article that he co-wrote appeared in the AP/RN, the rest was written by someone else and did not deal with the issue raised in the censored piece.

    Larry,

    I think it is impossible not to have grave reservations about people who would cover for an agent of such seniority. This is a story that some people tried to censor. They have yet to explain their role in it.

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  32. fionnuala
    if your definition of republican is to behave like rabid hyenas toward anyone with an alternative viewpoint; I kindly thank you for the complement.

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  33. mackers
    i think there is too big a perception that SF had been contaminated beyond anyones belief from a very long time ago. Also, there is possibly an even greater perception that the dissident groupings are the residue of all of that, trying to wring the last few shillings out of the reptile fund. Bit like an overflowing piss-pot, if you like that kind of thing.

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  34. Anthony, with regards to community jobs in the north you're 100% right but the powers that be would never be so stupid as to blatantly discriminate. Instead they take over meetings, AGM'a etc & basically put pressure on workers til they leave. They'll bring in their own people for interviewing processes to make sure the candidate they want is boxed off for the job. Stinking altogether. I'm sorry you didn't get that jon in the sector - think you'd have a lot to offer.

    Whether it's your intention to emerge well from this incident or not, I sincerely hope you do. You & your family deserve a bit of peace.

    Sounds like you've got Meehan down to a 't'. And if as you say, he uses his real name to analyse but a false one to demonize then it must be asked on whose behalf is he writing? Surely, if he had faith in his own convictions then he'd have no problem attaching his name to anything.

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  35. Alfie,

    Two pieces about Meehan, well worth considering, which detail our experiences of him from the Blanket days.

    Nameless, Faceless - O'Toole Deception

    Story with rusty British blade has Irish adherents

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  36. Just read those two articles. Amazing what conditioning and psychofantism allowed SF to do. Garret Fitzgerald nailed it live on TV when he told Adams he had gotten his movement to do the complete opposite of its stated aims. Adams reply...'Thank you Garret'.

    votail SDLP

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  37. Larry,
    My view of a Republican is anyone who remains loyal to the core objectives of Republicanism.
    I don't view you as that type of person, infact reading your rants about Republican prisoners I would say if anything you are anti-Republican.

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  38. Anthony,

    If Meehan is behind this skulduggery, and from what you've told me, I do believe that he is, then he is not fit to be head of the journalism faculty of any college.

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  39. Fionnuala
    might be old age, but i'm anti futility. Not lending support to what I see as at best stupidity and at worst malicious intent trying to re-ignite trouble. Just the way I've gravitated.

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  40. Anthony forgive me for posting late,I,m playing catchup here mo cara,head has been down arse up and not a sheep in sight,as I,m sure we all know by now if your face dont fit and your not singing from the party hymn sheet then you probably wont work in community jobs.your crime was to look after your family and thats no crime ,the old saying that a friend in need is a friend indeed and in that respect Tom Mc Feely was a true friend,as Nuala said he may be a slum landlord and he surely isnt on his own here,plenty of prominent reps here in Belfast are slum landlords,Tom and those others should look to their conscience,s if they have one not you a cara.

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  41. Belfast Bookworm,

    It seems to work as you say and still amounts to discrimination.

    I am of the same view as you – if you believe what you are saying, then stand over it. It is when you don’t believe it, that you assume a false identity. It strikes me as absurd that any supposed anti- censorship writer would want to censor their own identity. There is room for anonymous comments as they can inform a debate but anonymity should not be used to knife a named individual. Seems cowardly.

    Marty,

    It is the pace of life catching up with you!

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  42. Anthony you may be right a cara ,think I,ll hit the hills around Falcarragh and Gort a hork,have a gander at the bearded one,s country gaff and some of the other cronies weekend pads, I promise for the moment that I wont go chucking any stones,and sometimes I even keep my promises...

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  43. My father use to say that "lifes full of contradictions". Aint that the truth...He gave many things up in his life, including a thriving business, in pursuit of his Irish Republican goals. I remember a few years ago, before he died, walking around a Belfast park. He met a frailing millionaire acquaintance, and commented how he (my father) could have been wealthy, if he had stayed out of politics.
    My reply to my father, was that he was seen by many within his community, with deep admiration. Something money cant buy...and of much more worth, than a healthy bank account. I think at the end of the day, if you can look yourself in the mirror anthony, and are happy...good enough. I met a Sinn Fein person, whom I respect,shortly after Billy Mc Kee had stated--that only for age, he would be over in the short strand helping defend the area. This Sinners response to that, was that Billy McKee was a yesterdays man, a dinosaur..I thought to myself, well, programming had been completed sucessfully in your case. How sad for him, to come of with such a comment.
    To hold on to your principles, and to stay true to the truth, comes at a price, in all walks of life. Some fall at the alter of popularity/ego power and money, to name but a few...

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  44. To true Fergal and some are just slimeballs and carpetbaggers.....

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  45. Feargal,

    the thing about your father and other veterans who are no longer with us is that their history has been pushed to the margins or obliterated altogether. I would imagine there is a book to be written about your father's life. There are many others like Seamus Twomey, Billy McKee, Dave O Connell, Seamus Loughran, Davy Morley, whether we agree with them or not, whose contribution to history has been immense but who are not as prominent in the historical narrative as I think they should be. Even in terms of local history there is much that could be written about all these people. There are so many gaps and if not plugged these stories could be lost to us forever.

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