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Shame and Hope

Perhaps there are signs of moving with the times. Prior to Pope Benedict bowing out there was a report that some German Catholic hospitals might be permitted to issue certain types of morning-after pills for women who have been raped.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne suggested changing the policy after two Catholic hospitals refused to assist a rape victim due to prohibitions on issuing the pill. He reasons some pills rather than induce abortion actually prevent fertilisation.

Might all sound like angels dancing on the head of a pin type reasoning to those of us not the slightest interested in theological jabberwocky but at least the clerics are bowing to the pressure of a public opinion concerned that the de facto rights of the rapist to force his victim to bear him a child are considered greater by the Catholic Church than the rights of the rape victim to terminate. The refusal by the Catholic hospital in Cologne caused a public outcry in Germany leading to an apology from the Cardinal who said the refusal to help rape victims "shames us deeply because it contradicts our Christian mission and our purpose".


Inappropriate

Shame is not something Cardinal Keith O’Brien was much given to prior to his outing as someone who liked to try it on with fellow priests once he had downed a few drinks. Priests banging priests is okay by me if it is consensual and they don’t pester those not inclined towards sex with the sexton.

For long enough O’Brien attacked the gay community for promoting and practicing same sex relationships. It earned him a bigot of the year award from the Charity, Stonewall.

Since then four men, three of them priests and one a former priest, have made complaints to the Vatican about o'Brien behaving 'inappropriately' towards them while they were young ckerics. O’Brien was the spiritual director of one of the men when an inappropriate relationships developed. Seems spiritual erection concerned him more. The men made their complaints just prior to the resignation of Pope Benedict.

They later expressed fears that feared that ‘if O'Brien travels to the forthcoming papal conclave to elect a new pope, the church will not fully address their complaints.’ One of the men making the allegations stated.

It tends to cover up and protect the system at all costs The church is beautiful, but it has a dark side and that has to do with accountability. If the system is to be improved, maybe it needs to be dismantled a bit.

O’Brien consequently was not permitted to travel.

But Cardinal Sean Brady was allowed to travel. Whatever O’Brien’s transgression it did not involve the failure to protect children. How he was considered an inappropriate delegate and Brady appropriate.



Little Red Biting Hood


Luiz what big teeth you have got!

All the better to eat you up with.
 
Luiz Suarez is protesting that press criticism might drive him away from Liverpool FC.

It is regrettable   .... that it takes the media to do the job that the fans should be doing. Suarez should not be allowed to feature in a Liverpool shirt ever again. A talented player but a thug who thinks nothing of sinking his teeth into the arms of an opponent. Perhaps he has been watching too much of The Walking Dead. 

My seven year old son says of himself that he is ‘zombie mad and soccer mad’. But at least he knows what his teeth are for. He watches soccer avidly and there is no way that he should see a role model savaging an opponent. Even Norman ‘bites yer legs’ Hunter of the famous but physical Leeds United side never took the description literally.

If Lupine Luiz wants a taste of Spanish soccer opposition let him have it. It might take the bite out of the English game. Hardly a bad thing.









This & That: Take 20

Guest writer Thomas Dixie Elliot with a humourous take on the recent border poll. The writer is a former blanket man who still campaigns for prisoners' rights.

Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy declared victory in the recent border poll held in South Armagh.

South Armagh wins Border Poll

Tonight The Pensive Quill carries commentary from Guest Writer Carrie Twomey

Enda Kenny and Boston College

Kevin Cullen writing in the Boston Globe earlier this month examined the issue of Boston College's invitation to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to speak at their commencement. Because Boston College is a Catholic University, some people were upset at the invitation given the recent abortion debate going on in Ireland and Enda Kenny's refusal to automatically bow down to demands of clerics. Previously, Kenny had given a landmark speech about the Church and its shameful handling of child abuse; it was much needed, and reflective of the changes in Ireland. For whatever else one may think about Kenny's leadership, he has been very strong in publicly distancing the State from the Church -- much to the Church's chagrin.

Comment from Carrie

Guest writer Aodan Ferguson with a piece on the ongoing British state harassment of Republican Society activists.

If you are asked to believe all the Political and Media hype about this ‘‘shared future’’ or ‘‘island of equals’’ and the new dispensation that is being promoted by Sinn Fein and other politicians, then you must ask yourself the following questions. Is there freedom of expression? Is there freedom of speech? Is there freedom to express your political view? What type of treatment is given by the State and the Forces of the State to those Republicans who express their view publicly?

Political Harassment


Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the last of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

55 Hours: Wednesday 8 July 1981

We have never accepted or used the word murder. We would regard it as legislative language and aggressive language. It was the sort of language was always used against us. It would be like acknowledging that we were ‘criminals’ or ‘terrorists.’ - Michael Culbert, Irish News, 4th October 2011.

Bloody Murdah

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the third of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

55 Hours: Tuesday 7 July 1981

Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective steering committee held a meeting on Friday May 10th 2013 in relation to the proposed/leaked talks in Cardiff, Wales to be held sometime next week organised by O.F.M.D.F.M and the PSNI re: contentious parades/protests and flag issues. We in GARC after lenghthy discussion around the above development.

GARC calls on Loyal Orders to Cease Unwelcome Marches Through Nationalist Communities

Today the Pensive Quill carries the second of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.


Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

55 Hours: Monday 6 July 1981



Ardoyne White Line Vigil

Tonight the Pensive Quill carries the start of a four part series by guest writer Carrie Twomey that takes readers through a day-by-day account of the events of early July, 1981.

Sunday ● Monday ● Tuesday ● Wednesday

Using the timeline created with documents from ‘Mountain Climber’ Brendan Duddy’s diary of ‘channel’ communications, official papers from the Thatcher Foundation Archive, excerpts from former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald’s autobiography, David Beresford's Ten Men Dead, Padraig O’Malley’s book Biting at the Grave, and INLA: Deadly Divisions by Jack Holland and Henry McDonald, Danny Morrison’s published timelines, as well as first person accounts and the books of Richard O’Rawe and Gerry Adams, the fifty-five hours of secret negotiations between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Gerry Adams’ emerging IRA leadership group are examined day by day.

55 Hours: Sunday 5 July 1981

A piece by guest writer Jim McIlmurray, spokesperson for Martin Corey, which was written on the 3rd of May highlighting the injustice being endured by the Lurgan internee.

At 4:50 pm yesterday, May 2, 2013, I received  the news that the High Court  had overruled the application to take Martin’s case to the Supreme Court in London.

Making a Mockery of Truth

Anthony McIntyre ✒ Jo Nesbo is an engaging novelist, a plot builder but not so lost in intricacies as to make the leader lose the thread if not their interest, something I found a deficiency in Robert Ludlum works. A magnetising story teller he pulls the reader close even when discoursing on what seems the most mundane of matters.


I had watched the film that had emerged from this book and was engrossed by it in a way that I didn’t think I would be. Part of the Scandinavian crime fiction genre that I have grown to love, there is something very Americanised about his writing style. Despite the first person narrative reflecting and explaining, there is not the same sense of moodiness and brooding that often comes with the more Nordic writers.

Roger Brown is a very driven character. He needs to be to keep the woman he loves in the style that she has become accustomed to. Since meeting her in London where he also got married, he has been on a mission to keep her happy. But there is a certain tension. She wants a child and he knows he cannot afford it. As it is, she has no idea of the risks he takes to finance the lavish life style she lives, thinking he is just a head hunter for a recruitment agency. She is in the world of art but so is he. She sells it and he steals it, not to or from one another. He also worries about his height and is absolutely in love with his own hair, which almost proved the end of him. Narrated in the first person through the eyes of Roger Brown the reader need not expect much in the way of self criticism.

But in a world of prickly characters Roger Brown grows on the reader. The more reflective and less impulsive he becomes the more he burrows under the surface of the imagination. While he comes over as a bit of a rotter (not the In The Flesh type) in the earlier stages, events strip away the smug self assuredness. Ruthless necessity usurps greedy opportunism, and all done in a good cause – saving Roger’s neck. The humour oils the wheels of the narrative but is sufficiently black not to compromise the seriousness of the plot.

Clas Greve the one time Dutch Special Forces soldier assumes Roger is there for the taking. Roger thinks initially that Greve’s painting is there for the taking and so the two are thrust into a battle on terrain more suitable to Greve’s experience and training than Roger’s. Because most of the characters in this novel offer something that makes them smell, they irritate the reader, so sympathy hardly abounds when they meet the range of fates that awaits them.

A book that contains much violence, the gratuitous nature of it, if situated in real life, does not make it look out of place in the world of fiction. If Roger Brown is a successful headhunter, so too is his creator. Jo Nesbo has successfully recruited me to his literature, a small shelf of it now waiting to be devoured.

Jo Nesbo, 2011, Headhunters. Harvill Secker: London. ISBN 978-1-846-55593-0

Heads Up

Guest writer Sean Bresnahan with a piece on Marian Price



Marian Price first entered my consciousness many years ago when I heard the famous ballad Bring them home, probably on a cassette stored in my Father's private collection, supposedly kept away from young, prying eyes along with political memorabilia from the Hungerstrikes of 1981 and wood-crafts made by my Mum's brother during time spent in Long Kesh in the 70's.  I think it may have been the Wolfe Tones who recorded it though I don't recall for sure. For a young, inquisitive soul such as myself 'the tapes' wouldn't stay hidden for long and thus my parent's best efforts to keep at a remove from their first-born the terrible political events afflicting our country came to nothing as I heard for the first time the powerful message that "the IRA will set them free!" It was a poignant but inspiring song written of Marian and her sister Dolours, two women forever known in the republican lexicon as 'the Price sisters', two women I immediately developed an affinity for along with the cause they served so well. But who would ever have thought that all these years later we would be calling yet again for the release of one of those poor, long-suffering women from the wretched gaols of England?

721 days and counting...

Incredible as it may seem Marian Price has now spent two full years effectively interned by the British state. What's worse is there is no end in sight to her terrible ordeal. What questions does this ask of us as a society, especially given that we have supposedly entered a new era where the conflict of the past can be resolved through the political process? What does it say about that process itself given that a woman can be held in this manner without recourse to natural justice while those who administer the state fail or refuse to take onboard the gravity of the situation? These are serious questions to be reflected on if our imperfect peace is to prove sustainable rather than for a new generation of Irish men and women to form the opinion that there's no recourse but to lift the gun to once more "set them free". Level-headed people will agree that this is the last thing we need but while Marian Price remains imprisoned against all principles of natural justice then it becomes harder to argue otherwise.

So what kind of society and what kind of political system is this where those like Marian are taken out of circulation on the say-so of a colonial overlord and his faceless spooks, to be locked up without appeal to anything resembling justice? Marian Price is being interned because she has been deemed a threat to the Stormont status quo and as such is to be silenced - just as Gerry McGeough and Martin Corey were silenced in the same manner by those who continue to control Ireland. Martin of course remains imprisoned to this very day, over three years since first they came for him; Gerry thankfully is at home now with his wife and children but not before time.

It should be glaringly obvious that this is unacceptable. It's surely as plain as day that we continue to live in a warped society despite protestations to the contrary that things have moved on and we're living in a 'new dispensation'. The illegal imprisonment of Marian Price, among other things, tells us different. It tells us that when you scratch the surface of the seemingly reformed Northern Ireland state it remains overtly capable of the same repression against those it considers hostile to its aims and objectives. It's fine to use political means to further your goals but only so long as they remain consistent with those of the state. And that is a fundamental wrong and contravenes even the most basic of civil rights.




We rarely hear mention of Marian's plight in the mainstream media, it's as if someone doesn't want us to know just what's going on. But wait a minute, when you stop and think about it they don't! Control of the media is one of the most powerful weapon's in the state's arsenal - a compliant media prepared to tolerate and ignore injustice is a God-send for those who carry out or abide repressive acts such as the ongoing isolation and torture of Marian Price.

Given the distinct lack of attention paid in the mainstream media to the legal processes involving both Brian Shivers, who returned to Roe House to shouts of "innocent man on the wing" despite having his conviction quashed but thankfully has been found innocent of all charges and finally set free this afternoon, and the so-called 'Craigavon Two', who's case, now under appeal, has drawn comparisons to the notorious convictions of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four, we can determine that the state has an interest in limiting knowledge about what goes on inside our society where required to further its own corrupt ends.

It's high time those in positions of power spoke out to smash this media blackout and to challenge the very injustices once so rigorously opposed and condemned in the past, particularly after the damning vindication today of Brian Shivers, who in all likelihood has had years taken of his life by his experience of the British 'justice' system. Party politics just can't come into such an important aspect of public representation. If the media refuses to do its job properly, if it compromises its independence and integrity for fear of coming into conflict with the state, then there is an onus on those who claim to represent us to make a loud enough case so that the issues that matter cannot be brushed aside and ignored.

If this is the foundation of the post-1998 'justice' system in the occupied six counties then it is beyond what is acceptable by even the most minimal democratic standard. The fact of the matter is Marian's imprisonment is not only undemocratic, it is illegal. Yet despite the best efforts of those who campaign tirelessly on her behalf to expose all of this nothing ever seems to change, it seems as though we're banging our heads of a brick wall. And all while those republicans with real political influence, in those positions of power mentioned above, seem like they're just playing to the gallery.

If only the likes of Nuala Perry and the others who work so hard alongside her had access to the kind of power readily available to former comrades of Marian's such as Gerry Kelly or Martin McGuinness - no way in hell would she have been in prison for two weeks never mind two years. Despite a few Council resolutions, and the odd call for her release at a party Ard Fheis here and there, for all our political representatives really seem to care Marian Price could spend another two years interned by the British, then another two, then another. At least that's how it appears, because actions speak louder than words and the one thing we've yet to see here is action.

We can call for Marian's release 'till we're blue in the face, we can burn the candle at both ends behind the scenes, we can pass resolution after resolution after resolution. But it's there for all to see that the Brits simply don't care, they're determined to carry on regardless. Because there's no real compunction for them to seriously address this situation, there's no political pressure of significance being applied to make them seriously reconsider their actions. Is this something we as a society should be prepared to tolerate? What kind of a political system is this when it accepts the silencing of political opponents and buries away reality to keep up the pretence that all is well and normal?

Not one we should feel obliged to give any allegiance to, that's for sure.

I feel if Sinn Fein, both as the largest Nationalist party and as a constituent element of the government here, really believed the situation to be as serious as they say then a much stronger course of action would be pursued, just as we saw upon the arrest of Padraig Wilson. We would see the full exercise of their power for to bring about justice. Imagine the spectacle of Martin McGuinness using his position as Joint-First Minister to draw awareness to Marian's plight; imagine if Gerry Kelly offered to resign his seat in protest at the continuing failure of the state to resolve the unjust situation relating to the imprisonment of a one-time comrade; imagine if Sinn Fein said it would resign all its seats if this was not dealt with immediately because it could not in all conscience continue to prop up a regime that regards internment as a viable policy to deal with political opponents.

The fact that Marian Price or internment does not feature in the conversations between the First and Deputy-First Ministers regarding the 'roadmap' for the way ahead tells its own story. But what kind of 'shared future' is it anyway if it has at the level of its foundation an innocent woman being held without charge or trial for years on end against even the most basic concept of justice?





Whether it's 1971 or 2013 internment is wrong and an indictment on any society that claims to be 'normal'. Because there is nothing normal about internment, there is nothing normal about what is happening to Marian Price.

The politicians at Stormont would do well to remember they are supposedly there to represent us all, regardless of political persuasion. After all in any fair society both human and civil rights should be universal and not selective. If some of those aptly named 'folks on the hill' had the courage of their private convictions they'd be pressing for an immediate, unconditional resolution to this sad, sad situation and they would not take no for an answer. That they can't or won't do so invites accusations that they just don't care. Do they care? At times its very hard to know. What's for sure is that, just like the media, their continuing silence can rightly be considered as complicity whether they choose to accept this or not, whether they do genuinely care or not. By choosing to effectively ignore all that's happening, despite being in full possession of the facts, by continuing to prop up a system that interns and tortures and victimises the likes of Marian Price, then they share in the guilt of the state that has brought all this about. They would do well to remember the famous words of Martin Niemoiller in his poem 'First they came' - for God only knows where this will end. The likes of Marian Price, Gerry McGeough, Martin Corey and Tony Taylor may be among the first but it's unlikely they'll be the last if Britain is allowed to roll out its modern version of internment unopposed.

Somewhere along the line our representatives must decide are they prepared to tolerate this, to stand still for this; somewhere along the line Sinn Fein and the SDLP are going to have to decide where it is they stand - for a role in government at all costs or for human rights and justice no matter the consequences.

We have to remember - we must never forget - that Marian Price, this true and unstinting republican who never once in all her long years of struggle let us down, is in there for us. She could easily have walked away from this fight years ago and no-one would ever have suggested she'd let anyone down or failed to play her part. But she didn't; she played her part and more. She continued to stand up for the oppressed people of Ireland, those 'wretched of the earth'. She continued to give voice to their rightful demands for freedom, justice and peace. And so we must be out there for her.

It's incumbent on us all that from this day on we do more, that we renew and redouble our efforts to draw attention to this shameful situation and put yet more pressure on those with political power or influence to demand that something is done, to demand and to secure the release of our comrade. We know what her response would be if this were done to you or I because ultimately and at the end of the day, no matter how iconic the name, no matter how high she may be held in our esteem, Marian Price, our very own Aung San Suu Kyi, remains and will always be simply 'one of us'.

Marian Price - One of Us

Former republican hunger striker Gerard Hodgkins delivered the 2013 annual Brendan Hughes memorial lecture in Derry on the 1st of May.

Being asked to come here tonight and present this lecture is an honour which I feel I do not deserve. Brendan Hughes was my friend and my comrade in life and in death he remains an inspiration to me, and many others; because if the life and times of Brendan Hughes have taught me anything it is that it is possible to remain a principled and decent human being both amid the smog of war and the lessening of moral codes that all wars bring and more importantly during the post-war carve up when unscrupulous politicians rise like scum to the surface and hoover up all the gains of the sacrifices for their own personal ends.

Brendan Hughes Memorial Lecture 2013

Gerry Adams has performed worse on live TV. His 2007 debacle in which he underwent intellectual humiliation at the hands of Michael McDowell is a case in point. But Monday night’s Prime Time was a bad outing for him. It is hard to see how it could have been anything else in the absence of Jim Gibney being the interviewer. The deodorant of peace has never managed to suppress the stench of war that lingers around the Sinn Fein president. And until he goes away the stench shall continue making its way up noses and will invite the question ‘what’s causing that smell?’ The entrance price to the political establishment in the South is considerably higher than in the North where an artificially deflated fee gets just about anybody in, few questions asked.

Miriam, Gerry & Harold

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