Emasculation

Alan Lundy is a 33 year-old Ardoyne man who was recently remanded to jail on charges that many suspect were contrived to remove him from the streets where his republican worldview had been causing problems for those sentinels of partition, Sinn Fein and the PSNI. In the public discourse of those campaigning on his behalf there has been no attempt made to portray the imprisoned man as a disinterested member of the local community. His family are quite candid about his politics, stating:

Alan is an unrepentant Republican, and does not hide his perfectly legitimate beliefs from anyone. He is involved in numerous Republican projects such as commemorations and Prisoner Welfare, and also takes part in community initiatives including anti-drug projects and opposing sectarian parades.

At the time of his arrest he was also vice chair of the local Seán Mac Diarmada 1916 Society, which indicates he was walking in the republican footsteps of his late republican father. He was further involved in the Greater Ardoyne Residents Committee (GARC ) which Sinn Fein, copying what the British used to do to it, has been trying to demonise, something even the most rudimentary bullshit detector is easily capable of picking up:

This continuing saga has delivered the anti-peace elements both an issue for building on and an unwelcome level of influence within the Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective (GARC). This and other similar groups, like the Rasharkin Residents Collective, are clearly opposed to our peace process and the new policing dispensation.

Sinn Fein alleging that? Surely it has to be an act of ‘diabolical mimicry.’  Borrowing from the template of evangelical religion the auld peace process realises that it just couldn’t survive had it not an array of devilish enemies lined up trying to wreck it. And they all must be banished: to Hell or Maghaberry.  

The name at the centre of this case is not unfamilar to me. I attended the funeral of Alan Lundy senior in 1993. It seemed inconceivable at that point that the republican struggle would collapse so ignominiously that his son, then barely into his teens, would be in prison twenty years later courtesy of the same British police force that had jailed his father. Alan senior had been a republican prisoner with whom I had spent time in jail. He had been gunned down by the UDA, presumably armed with weapons allowed into the country by the British state. The PSNI, then called the RUC, had been in the vicinity of the attack all day but had left the scene just prior to the arrival of the loyalist death squad. Nothing sinister in that, just colleagues changing shifts you might say.

One of the charges currently laid against Alan Lundy dates back to a 2005 Ardoyne riot for which he could have been arrested at any time. He lived openly, and as recently as this year’s 12th of July parade was visible as a GARC protest march steward. This invites comparisons with the case of the imprisoned Gerry McGeough, and has noses twitching around the scent of the British Police Service of Northern Ireland once again finding it hard to learn new tricks, instead reverting to form and resorting to base instinct. 

McGeough, a former republican prisoner, was arrested and subsequently imprisoned for a 1981 IRA operation, as he left a polling station in Fermanagh South Tyrone. He too had been living openly and could have been swooped up at any time. It was only after he had demonstrated an unerring ability to publicly articulate a critique of the Sinn Fein position on policing that British police moved to take him out of the game. It had all the hallmarks of a political prosecution and there is nothing to suggest that the pursuit of Alan Lundy is anything different. In court this week his defence counsel John O'Connor said it "beggared belief" that alleged evidence from 2005 was only emerging now.

The Irish Law and Democracy Committee too has expressed its concerns, and raised a number of serious questions which significantly taint the PSNI action in relation to this case. It had observers on the ground in Ardoyne during this month’s Twelfth disturbances and disputes claims made by the PSNI.

On Thursday last the mother of the imprisoned man was approached by 2 members of Sinn Féin, Brendan McFarlane and Gerard McCabe who offered the party’s help. The mother referred both men to her son Daniel who was more au fait with the issues. Concerned about his jailed brother, Daniel decided to explore the offer. That evening the North Belfast News was running an ad inviting members of the public to attend a local ex-prisoners centre the following day where their concerns about heavy handed policing on the Twelfth could be discussed. Accompanied by two other family members Daniel Lundy turned up at the centre where Councillor McCabe told him nothing could be done at that time as it was a legal clinic. A strange answer given that concerns about the PSNI abuse of legal processes had brought the family to the centre in the first place.

Frustrated at feeling they were being played, the trio left unhappy but were phoned by Gerard McCabe within 20 minutes and asked to return as Gerry Kelly, on occasion the recipient of heavy handed British policing methods in North Belfast, had arrived in the office and was prepared to speak to the family. In the 1970s Kelly had served time in the same Long Kesh cage as the late Alan Lundy. Now he serves on the same policing board as the force that helped kill him. 

To the consternation of the family reps Kelly, they say, informed them that he would not be able to publicly support them. His rationale for taking this stance was not that he doubted Alan’s innocence; he had in fact acknowledged it was ‘ludicrous that Alan, or indeed anyone, should be charged with an offence of rioting in 2005 after a lapse of 7 years’.

In the family’s account Gerry Kelly would not help it because two sons of the late Alan Lundy, including the imprisoned one, were 'political opponents' of his and that precluded him offering any help to the family.  If accurate this is clientelist politics at its vilest, doused with a streak of malice to add some tang.

Gerry Kelly has disputed this version and issued a statement to that effect in which he stated that ‘I am left with the belief that Daniel saw it only as a means to attack myself and Sinn Fein politically.’ But as suggested by Martin Óg Meehan ‘isn't it an indication of his credibility on this issue?’ To the discerning ear Kelly only manages to make his retort sound like yet another rerun of the redundant securocrat argument.

The Lundy family is angry that Sinn Fein has refused to help:

... given the sacrifice that our Father and Husband, Alan Sr. gave to the Irish freedom struggle including losing his life 1993. Is Gerry Kelly only representing those who support Sinn Fein or the wider community? 

The short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes. The upshot – only yes-men to Sinn Fein stand to benefit from the party’s patronage. 

In Ardoyne, as elsewhere, Sinn Fein is being cruelly exposed on the issue of policing and justice. It has often been said that when the tide goes out it is then we really get to see who is naked. On this issue Sinn Fein has been beached wearing only the emperor’s new clothes. The prolonged false tide the party needed to give it cover has receded and its leaders are streaking about the beach ‘naked as jaybirds.’ Meeting monarchy has done little to mask that. Nobody is pointing the finger and saying ‘the queen has no clothes.’ And the Union Jack offered to Martin McGuinness as a loin cloth is too small to provide sufficient cover for the stones which are being squeezed with increasing force and frequency. While Sinn Fein might try to scream in a high pitched voice ‘no sharks’ this is belied by the gathering of voracious British police mouths eager to feast on the party’s powerlesness. 

That the republican son of a former IRA volunteer and Sinn Fein activist languishes in a British jail almost two decades on from the assassination of his father suggests Sinn Fein achieved something more akin to emasculation than emancipation.

21 comments:

  1. cant help wondering if bik and mccabe were being genuine when they called to the lundy family home on thursday and if they were im sure they must have had a right redder when they heard what gerry kelly had to say to the family on friday.The ruc/pissni officer who has pointed alan out for the 2005 offence is a regular host in the local sf run crj office,so i think the shinners know more about this case than there letting on and you would never guess who is the paid worker in that office Big h brother????fucking stinking.

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  2. Mackers,
    Ardoyne and the contiunued resistance to orange marches is a cross which Sinn Fein would be quite happy to dump in the nearest loyalist bonfire.
    Ardoyne cannot be trampled down and delivered to the chief constable the way the Upper Springfield has.
    With total respect to the Upper Springfield residents, what is passed off over here every year as a form of protest is nothing more than Sinn Fein window dressing.
    The whole event on the Springfield Road is stage managed and choreographed to the extent, if anyone steps out of line and crosses the pre-designated protest area it will be a shinners fist in their face not a cops.
    Yet, people turn out to this farce every year and actively protest in a way that gives credence to a nonsense event.
    Sinn Fein do not have the strangle-hold in Ardoyne that the have in Clonard and the Springfield and it is an embarrassment to them.
    Alan Lundy is not in gaol for anything he has done, he is in prison because Sinn Fein cannot deliver Ardoyne.

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  3. Nuala,

    'Alan Lundy is not in gaol for anything he has done, he is in prison because Sinn Fein cannot deliver Ardoyne.'

    A interesting way of putting it

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  4. My way of reading all of this is, "If your not for psf and toe the line", then, "They are against you", and that is exactly what has happened to the Lundy Family.

    After all the support this whole family gave to PSF and now they are being used as pawns.
    Its an utter disgrace, One wonders where all this information from 2005 suddenly came to light, and, the trumped up charge of 2012, are the spies still within PSF, I don't think they will ever get rid of them, or, they just want to keep them within their little toe the line group. Alan jnr should be released forthwith.

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  5. This is a much more transparent example of the SF peace/piss process. There is nothing here to cast doubt on the individual and he has become the latest victim of a loyalist police force that not only escaped the Patton recommendations but NEVER entered 'peace' mode. SF are a disgrace. Vote SDLP.

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  6. Wouldn’t Gerry Kelly’s criticism of this action be all the more effective if he were to acknowledge that his IRA did likewise on occasion as well as taking over people’s homes to use for the purpose of shooting at British police? It is impossible to say it is cowardly today but brave in his day. There is no case that can be made for using a human shield to shoot at cops.

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  7. Breaking News poor Gerry Kelly MLA has Alzheimer’s ah the poor guy what a shame, but it must remembered that Sinn Fein members were well warned in advance that trying to play at Politics can do strange things to your mind, he has now forgotten everything about the past. On UTV recently he condemned a republican for using the crowd as a human shield, wow what a cowardly act that is said he. I was always open to the opinion that some Sinn Fein members had brains but here is evidence to the contrary. I am here waiting patiently for the day when a Sinn Fein member tells us
    “That we are as much British as the people of Finchley “next up we will be wearing Union Jack shorts and The Poppy because all the Gerry’s say so.
    I have just thought of a better name for Sinn Fein how about The Rubik’s Cube Party

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  8. AM.
    Re the Sean MacDiarmada Ard Eoin.
    Alan Lundy.

    As always, republican unity is crucial in the face of this dangerous yet predictable threat to legitimate political dissent in modern Ireland. If they can do it to Alan Lundy and Tá McWilliams they can do it to all of us.

    That is exactly what I have written several times, also with this ; "Who will be next"


    Wouldn’t Gerry Kelly’s criticism of this action be all the more effective if he were to acknowledge that his IRA did likewise on occasion as well.

    There are things we can never forget, Not only the taking over of other peoples houses, but , "Also their cars", never their own cars!, they were needed for a quick getaway when it got a bit hot!, and, all doors were to be left open and house lights off ,My front and back doors were never closed , they got kicked in that many times by RUC and the BA ,I just gave up because No compensation from any of those bastards. So , MLA Kelly , get your finger out of your arse , and , never forget were you came from , That's something I will never do, I know my roots and I am proud of them, although the Auld days were hard for everyone, You seem to think you are on a roller coaster , maybe the safety harness will fail you one of these days, or , I wish it would fail the lot of you grassing trash.

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  9. Its a mistake to continue hoping
    SF will magically revert back to where they came from politically. That is to continue giving the party and the johnny come lately partitionists in it credfit they do not deserve. They are political hoods and should return the SDLP clothes they robbed.

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  10. From Martin Óg Meehan:

    A Chairde,

    Five years have passed since Sinn Féin held a Special Ard Fhéis that
    promised the Catholic/Nationalist and Republican community in the North they would help deliver a new Policing Service. Since then, the Party has joined a host of District Partnerships and the Policing Board to follow
    through with its promises. As part of this strategy, it has encouraged everyone to join, support and actively work in favour of the re-named RUC.

    Has the re-branded British Police Force changed during those five years?

    Has the inclusion of Sinn Féin on the District Partnerships and Policing Board delivered a new Police Service?

    Has British Political Policing endedin Ireland?

    In short, the answer to the three questions above is no. Not only does the British government continue to control the PSNI through its Secret Service, MI5. It is helped in its endeavours with unswerving and unlimited political support from Sinn Féin who once promised a new
    dispensation in Policing.

    The recent arrest and incarceration of Alan Lundy and Ta McWilliams is further evidence if needed that British Political Policing is still rife. Both Republicans were lifted within days of the Twelfth in highly
    publicised arrests announced by PSNI Headquarters. They also appeared in Belfast Magistrate's Court to give the charges a cosmetic semblance of a
    normal judicial process. The two Ardoyne men have since been refused bail on instruction from the 'new' Police Service and are currently imprisoned in Maghaberry Gaol on remand. Amazingly, there is no photographic evidence linking Alan Lundy to the charges against him. Likewise, there is no
    forensic evidence against Ta McWilliams.

    Has the Ardoyne community not witnessed enough unjust prison sentences down the years, without more? Has the Lundy and McWilliams' families not
    seen enough of British Prisons and Courts, without more?

    How long will the Lundy and McWilliams families have to wait before justice is delivered?

    A Campaign has began to end their nightmare and I urge everyone who believe in justice to help the campaign!

    Is Mise,
    Martin Óg Meehan
    Republican Network for Unity(RNU)

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  11. The contentious areas of Policing and Justice have become a nightmare for Sinn Fein. These two institutions are tasked with ensuring the political stability of the system based on Britain's national interests. Sinn Fein totally overestimated it ability to shape the way in which these two important areas would develop. The Britsih, on the other hand, made sure to build sufficient protections into the system so as to limit the extent of any interference by untrustworthy political parties. Today Sinn Fein has shown itself to be extremely trustworthy as a partner in local government whilst having little influence over policing and justice. This is precisely how the British intended it would be.

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  12. Alec,

    which is why so many republicans today treat SF as a dog does a lamppost

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  13. Hard to read this as anything other than being in the same type of strategy that was used against Alan Lundy. Colin Duffy's sister-in-law held in dissident probe

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  14. Boyne Rover

    Rubik’s Cube takes a bit of working out. SF are so transparent. Nothing to work out there as to where they have ended up.

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  15. Comments from GARC:

    Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective responded to the Sinn Fein / CRJ smokescreen in this weeks North Belfast News.

    Following a white line picket in support of fellow GARC community representative Alan Lundy who is wrongfully interned on the perjured word of a PSNI officer, last week a letter of protest was handed in to CRJ who invite the PSNI in to Ardoyne asking them to review their position given the evident political policing of the community in Ardoyne.

    Sinn Fein/CRJ responded by spuriously accusing GARC of threatening the /community and voluntary sector.

    In response Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective held a white line protest outside today’s Inter agency community meeting held in Ardoyne Hall, a meeting that included a PSNI delegation of McDowell, Freeburn and the perjurer himself Kirkpatrick.

    A GARC delegation handed a letter of response to CRJ representative Harry MCGuire.

    FAO –Community Restorative Justice (Ireland), Ardoyne Office

    From - Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective

    Date – 3rd August 2012

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  16. Comments from GARC (Continued):

    In response to your July letter to GARC and tissue of lies in this weeks North Belfast News will not fool the residents of Ardoyne who recognise political propaganda when they see it. Your response to our letter of protest handed in to your office following a white line picket to highlight the plight of Ardoyne resident and GARC activist Alan Lundy presently being interned on the perjured word of a PSNI officer demonstrates that you have little or no interest in defending the civil and human rights of Ardoyne residents.

    Community Restorative Justice chose to interpret the protest letter as a threat, let us clarify the situation; there is no threat implied or otherwise against the community and voluntary sector working in greater Ardoyne. We hope this clarifies our position.

    Furthermore, when the smoke and mirrors clear and when the mock outrage whipped up by your organisation and its political supporters ebb, the people in Ardoyne will still be hemmed into our community by a paramilitary and sectarian PSNI whilst unwanted sectarian parades continue unhindered through Ardoyne, Mountainview and the ‘dales’.

    Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective was set up following the demise of the Ardoyne parades dialogue group to peacefully protest against the denial of the right of residents of Ardoyne to live free from sectarian harassment. We are an inclusive coalition of greater Ardoyne residents and we will continue to agitate and protest against sectarian coat trailing and the associated political policing operation. The object of our peaceful protests is the Orange Order and the PSNI.

    In regards to your invitation to meet our group we see little purpose in meeting with you at this time unless the issue of political policing by the PSNI of Orange Order marches through Ardoyne, and the arrest and imprisonment of peaceful protesters is on the agenda. However, if your unwillingness to acknowledge the political policing issue and its negative effect on the Ardoyne community changes we would be prepared to review our position.

    Paul Carson (Contact Delegate)

    The PSNI amid heavy security were escorted from the monastery were they had been hiding by Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly to Ardoyne Hall which lies within the church grounds.

    A delegation from GARC which included the family of Alan Lundy went into the meeting and read a statement asking the community representatives to withdraw from a meeting attended by the same PSNI that has wrecked and imprisoned many Ardoyne homes and people. The GARC delegation having made its legitimate protest returned to the white line picket on the Crumlin Road and dispersed peacefully.

    Speaking after the protest, which was attended by local IRSP personnel, north Belfast representative Paul Little said,
    ‘The IRSP support the right of the residents of Ardoyne to live free from sectarian intimidation and harassment from the Orange Order and other secret sectarian societies. We also support the right of the residents of Ardoyne to live free from political, sectarian policing from the PSNI. The right to peaceful protest is a democratic right and the IRSP fully support the residents of Ardoyne in their quest to highlight and fight against injustice.”

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  17. I note with interest that the Irish news carries in its lead article this morning the dire threat that the parades commission may ban the band that played outside St Patricks church from that part of the parade OH DEAR! whats the point of them marching if its not to intimidate ffs,also the commission has spent £100k on "mediation" fuck would I love to see how that was divvied out..mediation my arse drinks anyone!!

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