Tonight the Pensive Quill carries an article by guest writer Emmet Doyle on his latest visit to Maghaberry.
When I thought I couldn't be shocked..
Emmet Doyle
A Simple Wee Man
MONDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2012
Last Thursday I again found myself in the bleak surroundings of Roe House, Maghaberry Prison. Pat Ramsey and I went to visit some of the men, including Gerry McGeough. I thought that the shell-chocking effect of the place had hit me hard my first few visits, and that I couldn't be shocked any further. Boy was I mistaken.
Usually, we enter Roe at landing four, and enter the Recreation Room to meet individuals and groups. It is a much larger, cleaner and more modern space. Akin, strangely, to my old school canteen. Not this time. We were led by the SO upstairs, to Roe 3 as the Officers and external staff were cleaning the floor on Roe 4, as a result of the on-going protest, and given it was early in the morning, the stench was almost overpowering.
PUBLIC PROTEST MEETING
Rocky Sullivan’s of Red Hook, Brooklyn
34 Van Dyck Street at Dwight Street
For directions call (718) 246-8050
Martin Corey, Gerry McGeough and Marian Price are Irish Political Prisoners.
Martin Corey and Marian Price could be imprisoned indefinitely on the basis of secret evidence they are not allowed to see.
Gerry McGeough is scheduled to be released in January 2013 but could easily be re-arrested on the same kind of secret evidence.
Auspices:
Release Martin Corey Campaign, US
Free Gerry McGeough Campaign, USA
Free Marian Price Campaign, US
For Information Call 718 436 4770
FREE MARTIN COREY, GERRY McGEOUGH and MARIAN PRICE
SATURDAY - OCTOBER 27th - 4pm
Rocky Sullivan’s of Red Hook, Brooklyn
34 Van Dyck Street at Dwight Street
For directions call (718) 246-8050
Martin Corey, Gerry McGeough and Marian Price are Irish Political Prisoners.
Martin Corey and Marian Price could be imprisoned indefinitely on the basis of secret evidence they are not allowed to see.
Gerry McGeough is scheduled to be released in January 2013 but could easily be re-arrested on the same kind of secret evidence.
Auspices:
Release Martin Corey Campaign, US
Free Gerry McGeough Campaign, USA
Free Marian Price Campaign, US
For Information Call 718 436 4770
Maryam Namazie with a piece in support of the radical French magazine Charlie Hebdo that featured on her blog on 20th September 2012.
In a climate where Islamist murder, violence and intimidation is cowering many into silence and submission, Charlie Hebdo's insistence on poking fun at Islam on par with all religions and its refusal to back down despite calls for censorship is one that will be remembered when Islamism is in the dustbins of history.
French professor Marlière writes in the Guardian that the magazine’s aim to reassert its leftwing secular tradition in this climate is more anti-Islamic than anti-clerical. But anti-Islamism is this era’s anti-clericalism.
He adds that the cartoons are ‘unhelpful’ in a ‘climate of religious and racial prejudice’ but like the Guardian and many a liberal and post-modernist leftist, he misses the point. What is ‘unhelpful’ is Islamism’s murder and mayhem.
Criticising Islam and Islamism is not about prejudice – that is Islamism’s narrative – which has been bought hook, line and sinker by those calling for censorship. In fact, in this day and age, criticism is a historical necessity and legitimate challenge to our era’s inquisition.
Also, what the professor and the Guardian seem to forget is that those most at threat of the Islamist herds are not satirical French publications or even US and French embassies worldwide but the many countless human beings living under Islamism and Sharia law – a lot of them Muslims – who daily face threats, imprisonment and death for their dissent from and criticism – like Saudi Hamza Kashgari, Indonesian Alex Aan, Egyptian Alber Saber and Pakistani Asia Bibi.
When will the professor and the Guardian side with them?
As the most wonderful Salman Rushdie says: we “need to be braver”.
Yes, clearly we do if we are going to stop this barbarism once and for all…
As an aside, of course Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon is different from the despicable and racist Christian Right film, the Innocence of Muslims. But free expression is not just for those we agree with. And let’s not forget a bad film is just a bad film. The real problem that needs to be addressed head on is Islamism and censorship is the wrong response.
In a climate where Islamist murder, violence and intimidation is cowering many into silence and submission, Charlie Hebdo's insistence on poking fun at Islam on par with all religions and its refusal to back down despite calls for censorship is one that will be remembered when Islamism is in the dustbins of history.French professor Marlière writes in the Guardian that the magazine’s aim to reassert its leftwing secular tradition in this climate is more anti-Islamic than anti-clerical. But anti-Islamism is this era’s anti-clericalism.
He adds that the cartoons are ‘unhelpful’ in a ‘climate of religious and racial prejudice’ but like the Guardian and many a liberal and post-modernist leftist, he misses the point. What is ‘unhelpful’ is Islamism’s murder and mayhem.
Criticising Islam and Islamism is not about prejudice – that is Islamism’s narrative – which has been bought hook, line and sinker by those calling for censorship. In fact, in this day and age, criticism is a historical necessity and legitimate challenge to our era’s inquisition.
Also, what the professor and the Guardian seem to forget is that those most at threat of the Islamist herds are not satirical French publications or even US and French embassies worldwide but the many countless human beings living under Islamism and Sharia law – a lot of them Muslims – who daily face threats, imprisonment and death for their dissent from and criticism – like Saudi Hamza Kashgari, Indonesian Alex Aan, Egyptian Alber Saber and Pakistani Asia Bibi.
When will the professor and the Guardian side with them?
As the most wonderful Salman Rushdie says: we “need to be braver”.
Yes, clearly we do if we are going to stop this barbarism once and for all…
As an aside, of course Charlie Hebdo’s cartoon is different from the despicable and racist Christian Right film, the Innocence of Muslims. But free expression is not just for those we agree with. And let’s not forget a bad film is just a bad film. The real problem that needs to be addressed head on is Islamism and censorship is the wrong response.
This weekend a number of news reports claimed that the PSNI has requested that journalistic material from the US broadcaster CBS and the British newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph concerning Dolours Price and the abduction and ‘disappearance’ of Jean McConville be handed over to detectives investigating her death.
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| Photo by Ida Milne |
- Introduction
- Origins of the Belfast Project
- Purpose of the Belfast Project
- Confidentiality and Copyright
- Process that led to the publication of the book and the issues surrounding it, including the threat to researchers’ and participants’ safety
- The Press and Dolours Price
- Boston College’s response to the subpoena and the subsequent legal action brought by myself and the Project Director, Ed Moloney, against the US Government to stop the subpoena
- Progress of the case
- Protections and the egregious role of institutions housing material from the perspective of John Lowman and Ted Palys
- In terms of conflict resolution, oral history can play a large part in dealing with legacy issues
- Conclusion
Introduction
The trials and tribulations of the Belfast Project if nothing else should serve as a salutary lesson to oral historians who opt to capture narratives of an acutely sensitive nature. Like other history the oral component often deals with a safe subject, posing no risk to the researcher, research participants or the research project. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with that. But history construction, particularly that which seeks to excavate armed conflict is often going to unearth knowledge that is frequently more toxic, than safe.
Guest writer Mark McGregor with a piece on the Decade of Centenaries.
Saturday (29.09.12) saw the first showpiece event in what has been called a ‘Decade of Centenaries’. Tens of thousands of Orangemen, bandsmen, political Unionism and members of loyalist paramilitary groups marched en masse through Belfast to Stormont to celebrate the signing of the Ulster Covenant. While there was little trouble around event, beyond traditional disrespect outside Catholic churches, it should give pause for thought on how such commemorations are conducted, their role and purpose.
The following notice provides information about an upcoming book launch: In the Footsetps of Anne. The book details the experience of republican women imprisoned during the republican war with the British state.
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