It was fitting that Trevor Ringland’s polemic – ‘The Hunger Strikers’ political ideology was deeply flawed’ (May 11) – scolding all who honour the memory of the Hunger Strikers, appeared on the same day as the Ballymurphy Massacre inquest verdict.
With words reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher circa 1981, Mr Ringland complains about what he calls our deeply flawed political ideology. Why can he not see, much less be troubled by, any flaws in the political ideology on display in coroner Mrs Justice Keegan’s Ballymurphy inquest findings?
Consider first that the Ballymurphy Massacre was regarded as a successful military operation. Why else send Colonel Derek Wilford and his paras to Derry to do the same job on Bloody Sunday? Why else was future general Mike Jackson given the same job on Bloody Sunday? Surely, if British military commanders were displeased by the Ballymurphy killings they would have given orders forbidding a second killing spree on Bloody Sunday.
Mr Ringland says republicans “struggle with the idea that a crime, including murder, committed for the cause is still a crime”. Why are the Ballymurphy Massacre killings, not murders committed for the cause of British rule?
A Catholic priest, Fr Hugh Mullan, waving a white handkerchief, shot dead along with Francis Quinn, for going to help wounded victims. A mother of eight children, Joan Connolly, shot and left to bleed to death, in an act of “basic inhumanity”. Daniel Teggart was felled by a bullet to the leg, then shot at least 11 times as he lay on the ground. Noel Phillips shot in the neck and throat at suspiciously close range. Joseph Murphy died from wounds aggravated by mistreatment.
Edward Doherty and John Laverty, shot in the back then labelled gunmen despite having no guns. John McKerr, a wounded British army veteran, shot leaving Corpus Christi Church and Edward Doherty shot and called a petrol bomber, without any trace of petrol.
Why, in the name of justice, are these killings not crimes, no matter British law making the killers innocent and dead victims guilty for 50 years?
There are hundreds of families who cheered the Ballymurphy Massacre verdicts and believe genuine investigations by a historical investigations unit would prove their loved ones were also murdered by British crown forces, either directly or in collusion with loyalists.
Britain’s plans for those seeking justice today are amnesty laws to stop prosecutions of crown forces and legacy mechanisms without a historical investigations unit, to close down any path these families have to get the truth.
Mr Ringland may see no flaws in his ideology that sanctioned state-sponsored murders, and internment etc. to uphold British hegemony.
Those across Ireland and around the world, including myself, who honour the memory and ideals of the Hunger Strikers, will know better.
MARTIN GALVIN
New York
A lot more needs sorted ahead of NI Protocol
Edwin Poots states his biggest concern is the NI Protocol, shared I am sure by Aiken, Allister, Bryson and others. I listened to restaurateur Micheal Deane’s anxiety over the future of his business and employees and the whole hospitality industry. I pondered what other citizens here consider their biggest concern. Those who have been made redundant from Debenhams and other retail employment, with related financial fears, similarly those on furlough. Those in constant daily pain and illness who endure the longest waiting lists for orthopaedic operations or treatment from NHS. Those families living with mental illness, alcohol, drug or gambling addiction. Those who have suffered loss through Covid and other bereavement unable to have wakes or funerals. The increasing numbers living with domestic abuse. Those parents unsure of plans for post-primary education, GCSE exams and the difficulties of those in third level study. Those living in poor socio-economic circumstances struggling to make ends meet. Those families separated through Covid, unable to meet and greet children, grandchildren and loved ones in residential care. Those pregnant women struggling with guilt, considering a termination. Those parents with children with special needs unable to access the supports required, worries increased during Covid. Those employers and employees trying to manage their way through the consequences of the DUP and others who delivered Brexit. Those farmers and fishermen unsure what the present and future holds for them. Those many, many thousands who try to live their life with the legacy of the Troubles with little hope for justice for the crimes committed. Those with lives traumatised by abuse, from institutions, religious orders, strangers or family members. There are many more major concerns not listed. Mr Poots, et al, are very fortunate their main concern is the Protocol and Irish Sea border and none of the above. For all our sakes I hope he realises these are not what keep people awake at night.
The decisions he makes in the near future will have consequences for us all and come an election I hope he is shown where the Protocol ranks in our list of priority concerns. A lot more needs sorted ahead of the Protocol.
DAVID KEATING
Downpatrick, Co Down
Threatened by protest poem
President Biden is fond of quoting some lines written by Irish poets. He is less likely to reference the work of Palestinian poets such as Dareen Tatour who was censored and imprisoned by the Israeli authorities after publishing a poem they deemed threatening.
Later this month the Scottish poetry publisher Drunk Muse Press will publish Dareen Tatour’s memoir My Threatening Poem – the Memoir of a Poet in Occupation Prisons which chronicles her experiences as a woman Palestinian prisoner from her arrest to her trial, imprisonment and release.
Dareen Tatour’s manuscripts are seized in Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine and her publications are banned.
I’m sure Drunk Muse Press will happily send a copy of My Threatening Poem to the White House. The next time Biden, who is a longstanding friend of Netanyahu opens a volume of poetry he might also ask himself what sort of a regime feels so threatened by a protest poem that it persecutes the poet?
PAUL LOUGHLIN
Derry City
Struggle for liberty
Every few years we see an explosion of state violence and terrorism designed to subdue Palestinian resistance. Expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and their land has been reinforced by an apartheid-style regime, bolstered by US imperialism. In turn, the Israeli state supports and encourages pogroms against Palestinians, furthering the dehumanisation of both the oppressed and oppressor.
Palestinian resistance is not simply the concern of Palestinians, or of Muslims, or of humanitarians – it is the concern of all workers across the world. The success of the Palestinian struggle is dependent on its internationalisation, turning the struggle of this one group into a truly global working class struggle that will not only answer ‘the national question’ but the fundamental question of capitalism too. This is even more the case today as neighbouring Arab governments like Egypt and those in the Gulf abandon the façade of their opposition and formalise their alliances with Israel. If the struggles for liberty in these countries link up with the struggle in Palestine, then neither Israel nor the Arab dictatorships stand a chance.
SEAN MATTHEWS
Crumlin, Co Antrim
