I hope Pádragín Drinnan doesnt mind me saying that I hope once again this year the Rosemary Nelson Annual Lecture has the great turnout that it has had in previous years,its a worthy tribute to Rosemary and indeed to Pádragín herself.both of these wonderful women have given so much in the fight for justice and human rights here with Rosemary paying the ultimate price for standing up to the corruption of this state ..
Once again Pádragín Drinnan has surpassed herself in organising this memorial event on behalf of the late Rosemary Nelson, the buffet alone was was superb, the well attended gathering was chaired by John Mc Stea who brought a relaxed and easy style to the proceedings, the theme of this years event was the injustice of the so called justice system here ,the speakers were Pat Mc Cotter Patrica Campbell, Cait Trainor and Dr Linda Moore,who all gave us a short address on prison issues and the cases of Marian Price, Sharon Rafferty ,and Stephen Murney, from the floor we heard from Sharons friend and Alec Mc Crory took time out from counting his millions to call for unity amongst republicans on the prison issue,if I had any complaint about last night it would be that it ended far to early leaving us with more questions than answers, but it was good to see genuine people there who are concerned about their fellow man and the general consenus seemed to be that what is happening to those prisoners now could be very easily happening to us next ,indeed the famous saying of the rev Martin Niemoller "first they came"his fear about the abuse of power by the nazis is now relevant in this part of the world this time the abuse is wielded by MI5 who it seems run this statelet !they have a mighty task ahead of them when we have people like the late Rosemary Nelson and our Pádragín Drinnan who show immense courage in highlighting their activities and the injustices of their little grubby enterprise called norn iorn.
Former IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in Long Kesh, 4 years on the blanket and no-wash/no work protests which led to the hunger strikes of the 80s. Completed PhD at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process. Lead researcher for the Belfast Project, an oral history of the Troubles.
I hope Pádragín Drinnan doesnt mind me saying that I hope once again this year the Rosemary Nelson Annual Lecture has the great turnout that it has had in previous years,its a worthy tribute to Rosemary and indeed to Pádragín herself.both of these wonderful women have given so much in the fight for justice and human rights here with Rosemary paying the ultimate price for standing up to the corruption of this state ..
ReplyDeleteTeach Na Fáilte educational event. (IRSP)
ReplyDeleteOnce again Pádragín Drinnan has surpassed herself in organising this memorial event on behalf of the late Rosemary Nelson, the buffet alone was was superb, the well attended gathering was chaired by John Mc Stea who brought a relaxed and easy style to the proceedings, the theme of this years event was the injustice of the so called justice system here ,the speakers were Pat Mc Cotter Patrica Campbell, Cait Trainor and Dr Linda Moore,who all gave us a short address on prison issues and the cases of Marian Price, Sharon Rafferty ,and Stephen Murney, from the floor we heard from Sharons friend and Alec Mc Crory took time out from counting his millions to call for unity amongst republicans on the prison issue,if I had any complaint about last night it would be that it ended far to early leaving us with more questions than answers, but it was good to see genuine people there who are concerned about their fellow man and the general consenus seemed to be that what is happening to those prisoners now could be very easily happening to us next ,indeed the famous saying of the rev Martin Niemoller "first they came"his fear about the abuse of power by the nazis is now relevant in this part of the world this time the abuse is wielded by MI5 who it seems run this statelet !they have a mighty task ahead of them when we have people like the late Rosemary Nelson and our Pádragín Drinnan who show immense courage in highlighting their activities and the injustices of their little grubby enterprise called norn iorn.
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