Guest writer Emmet Doyle writes of his visits to the North's prisons and the injustices he sees there. He writes in a purely personal capacity. 

Bet that title made you inquisitive? He's talking about something sordid, maybe gossip, maybe a rumour - sorry to disappoint, but please do read on.

Now before we start, I want you to think of the people and this post as 100% neutral. You don't dislike them, you don't dislike their politics, only then will you really 'get' what I'm trying to convey.

Today was my third visit to Maghaberry Prison, previously I had visited Marian Price, who has since been moved to Hydebank. Even then, I kid you not when I say it took me a week to return to the real world. In this hideous, grey monster's belly, was a (then) 57 year old woman, looking nothing like pictures I had seen or paintings around the City. Scared the life out of me genuinely, I barely slept over a 3-day period after it - indeed someone who contacted me about the visit afterwards and probably only wanted a 5 minute synopsis of how she was, got an hour and twenty minutes of me trying very hard indeed not to cry down the phone at them!

Since that day the prisoners issue has burned its way into my brain and I can't forget it. I don't want to dwell too much on any individual, so I'll move on.

Today, I went into Roe House, which houses Republican separated prisoners. I should say I hadn't been feeling well at all today, but a new kind of sickness swept through me as we entered the compound which looked to me to be a prison within a prison. A central walkway leads to the entrance of the building, with two large carges on either side - the yards. One for Loyalist separated prisoners to the left, the other for Republicans.

In the right 'yard' circled a group of largely older men, with long grey, black, white beards in jeans or tracksuit bottoms. Walking into the building itself, one would expect to see what Roe looks like in glossy NIPS bookets..



One would be wrong. The smell starts first. Industial cleaner, it smells like a mix of mothballs, formaldehyde and feet. The vapour in the air touches everything, I could smell it in my nostrils 24 hours afterwards.

Then the many people pottering around in chemical suits, like something of 'Alien' fame. On top of this are the search team, clad in white boiler suits. Now, outside of the observations, one must look at the underlying reasons for all of the extra personnel and strange circumstances not shown in the above image.

Republican prisoners of differing ideological shades are involved in a protest. They are smearing their excrement on the walls of their cells and expelling their liquid waste under the doors of their cells onto the landings (look at the picture above and try and imagine the mess). The basis of this protest is the business of the groups involved, I won't seek to delve into the manifestations of the anger felt by prisoners.

This is one strand of the wider issue. The other is our idea of criminal justice. We assume that those who have lost their liberty and are inhabitants of the Prison Estate have been proven guilty of crimes in front of a judge and a jury of their peers. This is not always the case - and I hate to say it. We were promised devolved justice, what we got was devolved policing while the justice systems seem to be stuck in a 1980 phase, controlled largely by politicians in London.

Let me explain. Marian Price. She was arrested for 'eliciting support for an illegal organisation'. She was bailed by Derry Magistrates Court - though her license was revoked by the Secretary of State the day before. She was sent back to prison - and not just any prison, Maghaberry Prison. Here I should mention that Maghaberry is an all-male prison. So the campaign for her release began, and two very disturbing facts - and I mean facts, these can be independently verified - emerged.

One was that the Royal Prerogative of Mercy granted to Marian in 1980, which wiped her criminal record, had been 'lost, probably shredded' - the words of the NIO. FACT.

Two was the basis of her current detention. Under the Life Sentences Order (NI) 2001, the provision of 'protected information' was included. Effectively protected information is info given to the NIO by the Security Services. No-one has any access to it - client, lawyers. The Secretary of State revoked Marian's license on the basis of this kind of information. To this day, she has never been told why exactly she is in prison.

An attempt by some to muddy the waters by some by saying she was returned for a breach of license and will serve the rest of her sentence overlook the principles of the Royal Prerogative. There is no sentence, there is nothing. I should for the purposes of clarity mention that a further charge involving the heinous crimes committed at Massereene Barracks where two British soldiers were killed, have been levelled at Marian. In the interests of sub judice, all I will say is that this was brought forward not long after the terrible event, and yet no evidence has been presented to a court.

Effectively, someone is in prison when they haven't been proven guilty of a crime, an absentee politician is involved as are unaccountable spooks. Some men in Roe are in prison on the same circumstances, albeit there are variations. They involve people who committed, or are accused of committing crimes pre 1998, sometimes in the late 70's, early 80's. Moved on have we?

The Sentences Act Scheme means someone accused of a crime pre-1998 can serve two years then they can apply for release under the Scheme, end of story. So we are putting people in jail for - sometimes alleged - crimes that may or may not have been proven when the justice system spewed out miscarriage after miscarriage of the duty they were charged to dispense.

In the days of 'NI 2012, Our Time is Now' and other slogans - we cannot as a society forget about this situation - whether we agree with someone's view or not - at the very least we must educate ourselves. I don't support any kind of violence, never have, never will - though those who oppose my view say different because it is convenient. If someone committed a crime, and they have been proven guilty in a court of law in an open and transparent manner, no 'protected information', no juryless trials - then they should serve their sentence.

Unionism becomes hysterical when we talk about such things - but what they are missing is simple. We don't have control over certain aspects of our own justice system. Some people who do glorify violence are using the situation in the prison to attempt to drag us backwards. The institutions are being tarnished by the images coming out of Roe House and Hydebank where Marian now is.

If we addressed these cases, all of them, in a transparent manner and accepted the result, then our dirty little secret would evaporate. If we dont, we are going to need a few more Roe's. Some say people in Roe have got their justice, and we cannot interfere with that, then they interfere with it - for right or wrong - in other cases. It can't go on.

What if someone dies in that place? What then? We all want to move on, and rightly so, we've all been through alot. We simply can't move on, in my opinion, until we address every little difficult, dirty, sordid and uncomfortable situation. All of them, Protestant, Catholic, Unionist, Loyalist, Republican, Nationalist, all of them.

I want to move on, I don't want to see Roe extended, I want open justice - I don't want it to be me, or you next.

Emmet Doyle regularly blogs at A Simple Wee Man

Our Dirty Little Secret

Guest writer Emmet Doyle writes of his visits to the North's prisons and the injustices he sees there. He writes in a purely personal capacity. 

Bet that title made you inquisitive? He's talking about something sordid, maybe gossip, maybe a rumour - sorry to disappoint, but please do read on.

Now before we start, I want you to think of the people and this post as 100% neutral. You don't dislike them, you don't dislike their politics, only then will you really 'get' what I'm trying to convey.

Today was my third visit to Maghaberry Prison, previously I had visited Marian Price, who has since been moved to Hydebank. Even then, I kid you not when I say it took me a week to return to the real world. In this hideous, grey monster's belly, was a (then) 57 year old woman, looking nothing like pictures I had seen or paintings around the City. Scared the life out of me genuinely, I barely slept over a 3-day period after it - indeed someone who contacted me about the visit afterwards and probably only wanted a 5 minute synopsis of how she was, got an hour and twenty minutes of me trying very hard indeed not to cry down the phone at them!

Since that day the prisoners issue has burned its way into my brain and I can't forget it. I don't want to dwell too much on any individual, so I'll move on.

Today, I went into Roe House, which houses Republican separated prisoners. I should say I hadn't been feeling well at all today, but a new kind of sickness swept through me as we entered the compound which looked to me to be a prison within a prison. A central walkway leads to the entrance of the building, with two large carges on either side - the yards. One for Loyalist separated prisoners to the left, the other for Republicans.

In the right 'yard' circled a group of largely older men, with long grey, black, white beards in jeans or tracksuit bottoms. Walking into the building itself, one would expect to see what Roe looks like in glossy NIPS bookets..



One would be wrong. The smell starts first. Industial cleaner, it smells like a mix of mothballs, formaldehyde and feet. The vapour in the air touches everything, I could smell it in my nostrils 24 hours afterwards.

Then the many people pottering around in chemical suits, like something of 'Alien' fame. On top of this are the search team, clad in white boiler suits. Now, outside of the observations, one must look at the underlying reasons for all of the extra personnel and strange circumstances not shown in the above image.

Republican prisoners of differing ideological shades are involved in a protest. They are smearing their excrement on the walls of their cells and expelling their liquid waste under the doors of their cells onto the landings (look at the picture above and try and imagine the mess). The basis of this protest is the business of the groups involved, I won't seek to delve into the manifestations of the anger felt by prisoners.

This is one strand of the wider issue. The other is our idea of criminal justice. We assume that those who have lost their liberty and are inhabitants of the Prison Estate have been proven guilty of crimes in front of a judge and a jury of their peers. This is not always the case - and I hate to say it. We were promised devolved justice, what we got was devolved policing while the justice systems seem to be stuck in a 1980 phase, controlled largely by politicians in London.

Let me explain. Marian Price. She was arrested for 'eliciting support for an illegal organisation'. She was bailed by Derry Magistrates Court - though her license was revoked by the Secretary of State the day before. She was sent back to prison - and not just any prison, Maghaberry Prison. Here I should mention that Maghaberry is an all-male prison. So the campaign for her release began, and two very disturbing facts - and I mean facts, these can be independently verified - emerged.

One was that the Royal Prerogative of Mercy granted to Marian in 1980, which wiped her criminal record, had been 'lost, probably shredded' - the words of the NIO. FACT.

Two was the basis of her current detention. Under the Life Sentences Order (NI) 2001, the provision of 'protected information' was included. Effectively protected information is info given to the NIO by the Security Services. No-one has any access to it - client, lawyers. The Secretary of State revoked Marian's license on the basis of this kind of information. To this day, she has never been told why exactly she is in prison.

An attempt by some to muddy the waters by some by saying she was returned for a breach of license and will serve the rest of her sentence overlook the principles of the Royal Prerogative. There is no sentence, there is nothing. I should for the purposes of clarity mention that a further charge involving the heinous crimes committed at Massereene Barracks where two British soldiers were killed, have been levelled at Marian. In the interests of sub judice, all I will say is that this was brought forward not long after the terrible event, and yet no evidence has been presented to a court.

Effectively, someone is in prison when they haven't been proven guilty of a crime, an absentee politician is involved as are unaccountable spooks. Some men in Roe are in prison on the same circumstances, albeit there are variations. They involve people who committed, or are accused of committing crimes pre 1998, sometimes in the late 70's, early 80's. Moved on have we?

The Sentences Act Scheme means someone accused of a crime pre-1998 can serve two years then they can apply for release under the Scheme, end of story. So we are putting people in jail for - sometimes alleged - crimes that may or may not have been proven when the justice system spewed out miscarriage after miscarriage of the duty they were charged to dispense.

In the days of 'NI 2012, Our Time is Now' and other slogans - we cannot as a society forget about this situation - whether we agree with someone's view or not - at the very least we must educate ourselves. I don't support any kind of violence, never have, never will - though those who oppose my view say different because it is convenient. If someone committed a crime, and they have been proven guilty in a court of law in an open and transparent manner, no 'protected information', no juryless trials - then they should serve their sentence.

Unionism becomes hysterical when we talk about such things - but what they are missing is simple. We don't have control over certain aspects of our own justice system. Some people who do glorify violence are using the situation in the prison to attempt to drag us backwards. The institutions are being tarnished by the images coming out of Roe House and Hydebank where Marian now is.

If we addressed these cases, all of them, in a transparent manner and accepted the result, then our dirty little secret would evaporate. If we dont, we are going to need a few more Roe's. Some say people in Roe have got their justice, and we cannot interfere with that, then they interfere with it - for right or wrong - in other cases. It can't go on.

What if someone dies in that place? What then? We all want to move on, and rightly so, we've all been through alot. We simply can't move on, in my opinion, until we address every little difficult, dirty, sordid and uncomfortable situation. All of them, Protestant, Catholic, Unionist, Loyalist, Republican, Nationalist, all of them.

I want to move on, I don't want to see Roe extended, I want open justice - I don't want it to be me, or you next.

Emmet Doyle regularly blogs at A Simple Wee Man

21 comments:

  1. " in the right yard circled a group
    of largely older men,with long grey,black,white beards in JEANS or
    TRACKSUIT bottoms"

    So the prisoners are still wearing their own clothes according to this witness-those who said that the 5 demands were gone have now been caught out lying-

    pity those who lie about prisoners-

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michaelhenry,

    and you didn't know this previously. I thought you might have had something substantial to say on the issue. It is an excellent article and picks at the ugly sore of imprisonment in the North and the nefarious political process that underpins it

    ReplyDelete
  3. AM-

    Yes it is a excellent article but it was wrote by Pat Ramseys PA-

    Emmet has also got a relative who is prisoner on protest so i dont blame him for getting more PR for those inside- prisoners are denied their freedom-but they should not be denied their rights-

    dont know why he cant tell all the facts-

    All political prisoners should be out today and no more arrested and nobody should be held behind bars on a torys word or on any-ones word with no evidence-

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michaelhenry,

    he wrote a strong piece. How is it PR to state the case about the British penal system? What facts did you want told that he didn't tell us? A purely humanitarian piece with no political agenda being pushed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Emmet is a good friend of mine, I have spoken to him before and after each visit and he has been truely horrified by the conditions he observes, he's Pat Ramsey's assistant, Pat is an MLA who has assisted the promotion of political prisoners rights substantially more than other elected representatives, Eamon O'Cuiv too has played a positive role in highlighting the plight of these Irish people, like Pat, without seeking publicity or kudos.
    Emmet will continue to promote human rights and I should ask we all support him, the continued incarceration of Marian Price, Gerry McGeough et. al is immoral and in international law illegal, the continued 'administrative detention must be ended.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great article, in the main. I hope my saying so doesn't do it irreparable damage. It has all the marks of genuine concern.

    Very disappointed by MH's mean spirited response.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The substance of this scenerio cuts stright to and through, the marrow. As I read and digested the words,, I found myself, "in Maghaberry" standing on that floor, seeing the prisoners faces, they're beards, they're clothes, the floor, the smell. He brought be there..

    ReplyDelete
  8. John,

    agreed. Don't worry that your endorsement might harm it. That would only happen if you said it was the work of the devil!

    The author of the piece conveyed an image of prison as strong as any I can think of. He didn't merely bring it to us but took us into the vile place.

    ReplyDelete
  9. From Sandy Boyer:

    John Duddy will be reading at the "Evening in Solidarity with Marian
    Price" on Wednesday June 27 at 7 pm at O'Lunney's 145 W. 45 Street,
    between 6th & 7th Avenue.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Prisons Crisis Group has published a pamphlet 'Free Marian Price'. Contact details are: bettydoherty@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well done to anyone willing to highlight what any political prisoner is suffering.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sam

    Your right , the whole point about defending prisoners whether political or not, is it cannot be party political, the thing is to gain as wide a body of opinion in support as possible.

    Michael,s comments were very sad, it makes me wonder what he is learning within the organisation he belongs too, and who is pulling whose chain.

    I really do not care who highlights these injustices as long as the info gets out there and folk begin to act collectively to bring these injustices to an end.

    Whether they are catholic preiest, members of the SDLP, or anyone else is irrelevant.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That is an excellent piece, anyone highlighting the political prisoners abuse , No Matter what political party they are from , should be praised.

    ReplyDelete
  14. To me your theme is really that we don't have control over certain aspects of our own justice system. Some people who do glorify violence are using the situation in the prison to attempt to drag us backwards. The institutions are being tarnished by the images coming out of Roe House and Hydebank where Marian now is.

    If we addressed these cases, all of them, in a transparent manner and accepted the result, then our dirty little secret would evaporate. If we dont, we are going to need a few more Roe's. Some say people in Roe have got their justice, and we cannot interfere with that, then they interfere with it - for right or wrong - in other cases. It can't go on..
    What confuses and angers me is the reference to justice.There is none and the Govt can freely do as it pleases and accounts to nobody. It would not be too paranoid to state that for some typical rotten dirty immoral British Unionist agenda a conspiracy or similar is at work. This is an ideal recruitment issue to groups who believe in violance. An increase in violance may be what is being sought so as to green light a brutal overreaction/reprisals on these groups. These whole affairs rewceiving little Media and Political intervention is a sure sign of blackmail etc. Another form of the old collusion strategy.
    Very similar to 90 years ago
    A bheannacht dhia libh againn go leir.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you all for your comments, all are appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  16. @IsMise O hEireann


    What confuses and angers me is the reference to justice.There is none and the Govt can freely do as it pleases and accounts to nobody.

    That is also my thoughts as well, But I believe the British want an increase in violence, by British I mean MI5/MI6 in collusion with Those ex R.U.C. Special Branch who were brought in to examine older cases which they were involved with, now we hear that the British Soldiers were given permission to shoot to kill .

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18491093

    But, naturally the British deny this. We all Know what a lying , deceiving , manipulating shower they are.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Very powerful writing - raw and real.

    ReplyDelete
  18. URGENT MESSAGE FROM BERNADETTE DEVLIN MCALISKEY

    The prison issued a statement this morning that Marian had been transferred to hospital. She remains in the prison.

    They had attempted to move her to a psychiatric unit as a prisoner but this requiires invoking powers under the mental health act - the prison medical officer has already given evidence last week that this course of action would be counterproductive and inappropriate as she is not psychotic.

    She is suffering from trauma created by her environment of incarceration.

    The chief medical officer has now sought to over ride this evidence today before the UN visit on Monday - to transfer her to the psychiatric hospital without her informed consent adds another dimnesion to the violation of her rights - her family is issuing a statement and I believe her lawyers will be trying to get into court today. So maybe we are at make or break.

    Urgent alert: e-mails to Ford would be good

    ReplyDelete
  19. Statement from Price and McGlinchey family - June 22nd 2012

    Marian Price's husband Jerry McGlinchey and the Price family have concerns in relation to this latest move to a secure hospital unit in Belfast.

    Past moves made on medical grounds have proved detrimental and indeed exacerbated Marian's complex medical conditions.

    In recent discussions with medical consultants charged with Marian's care it was stated that an unsuitable environment would be 'counter-therapeutic'.

    In fact a doctor representing the state gave evidence that going to a secure hospital unit would compound Marian's acute illnesses and would mitigate against any beneficial treatment.

    We welcome the intervention of the UN doctors who will visit Marian over the coming days and trust that they will make a speedy report on her condition given the urgency of the situation.

    The family hope that this move to a secure unit is not a cynical ploy on the eve of a visit by UN doctors to stymie any criticism of Marian's treatment.

    We are also concerned that the media were privy to information about this move before her family were informed.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am under no illusion that this is a ploy so the U.N. Doctors can't see her ,or , will be seeing her in a , so called better Environment , It's Plain to see, They even leaked the Untrue news to the BBC before the Price , Mc Glinchey families and there briefs new about it.
    That is a sick thing to do, SF have given Mc Guinness the go ahead to meet the British Monarch, he should be visiting Marian , Gerry, and Martin and securing there release, Adams said, This is a great day for Republicans?, what planet is he living on.

    ReplyDelete
  21. From Sandy Boyer:

    Radio Free Eireann July 23

    Radio Free Eireann will be back on the air Saturday June 23 at 1 pm New York time on WBAI 99.5 FM or wbai.org.
    We will interview Cait Trainor from Republican Sinn Fein about the case of Martin Corey.

    Although Martin Corey has been imprisoned for more than two years, he has no idea why he is back in prison. He was imprisoned for IRA activity in December 1973 when he was 19 years old. He was released in June 1992, returned home, worked steadily and formed an ongoing relationship. He became a highly respected member of his local community in Lurgan, County Armagh.

    In the early hours of April 16, 2010, almost 18 years after his
    original release, the police appeared at Martin Corey's door and took him away to prison. He wasn't charged with any crime and wasn't told what, if anything, he was supposed to have done. He was simply informed that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland had revoked his license because he was a "security risk."

    ReplyDelete