A State of High Alert

This blog makes no apologies about returning to the issue of suicide. The recent surge of suicides by young men in west Belfast and in the Colin area in particular, has caused great hurt and anguish for families and friends of those who died. It has also frightened parents of other young people.

But it has also encouraged other young people, including close friends of some of those who died, to come together to help those at risk.

Last Monday a large group of young people came to Parliament Buildings to speak to this blog and other Sinn Féin MLAs. We discussed what has been done and what needs to be done to confront this issue. For over an hour we spoke about the difficulties young people face, the pressures they are under, the issue of drugs and their part in the rising suicide levels and the role of the statutory agencies.



Meeting in Parliament Buildings

It was at times an emotional conversation as some of those present related their personal experiences of drug taking, or of seeking to help friends threatening suicide, and the inadequate response of the agencies charged with helping.

And then on Wednesday evening the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness came to the Sally Garden project in Poleglass. Before meeting the young people we had a private meeting with the families of some of those who have died through suicide since March. The distress and pain and grief was heartbreaking as we talked about the deaths of their sons and daughters in a small side room.

There was a very large number of young people and youth leaders waiting for us in the big hall. They were full of ideas about what is needed. They identified the gaps in funding and service provision by the statutory agencies and they were eager to help. The friends of one young man who died last week explained how they have already produced their own 30,000 leaflets, at their own expense, in an effort to reach young people and persuade those at risk to step back from suicide.



30,000 leaflets

Martin asked questions and listened intently to the young people, almost all of whom contributed to the discussion.

He asked the young people to come to Parliament Buildings and meet the various Assembly committees for government departments like Health and Education, which have a role in providing resources and strategies to tackle suicide.

He promised to go back to the Executive and to raise this with other Ministers. At the end of what was a good meeting we agreed to come again to discuss what progress has been made.

Tackling suicide is a major undertaking and government departments and suicide prevention groups will not succeed if they work in isolation from each other. We need an integrated strategic approach which brings together all of the health, education and other agencies.

The voluntary and community sector understands this. Government departments and agencies often do not.

We need everyone to raise their game.

Government departments, statutory bodies, as well as community groups and families and friends all need to be on high alert at this time for any sign that someone is at risk of suicide.

One suggestion is for a roundtable meeting to be convened of all of the relevant statutory agencies and community organisations to discuss how this crisis can be resolved.

Another is for the creation of an inter-agency crisis intervention team.

We need a high state of alert also in relation to people who have come to A&E and Hospital admissions at risk of suicide or having self-harmed.

The same state of alert needs to be evident with all GPs. Some kind of locum service, specifically in relation to referrals of people at risk of suicide, could be provided.

The fact that in the Colin area only one Family support worker is available only one day a week is evidence of the absence of resources. This is inadequate in providing the necessary support to families already bereaved through suicide or those who are at risk.

A localised and personalised Phoneline or ‘hotline’ service needs to be made available which complements the regional helpline. Young people at risk of suicide cannot be left with a call-back service or an answer-phone.



Martin said that he will be speaking to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education and the Minister of Justice about measures they can undertake to help. For example asking the Minister for Health to support the recommendation of the Health Committee for a dedicated Protect Life website to be established, similar to the Choose life website in Scotland and the Reach Out website in the 26 counties

Those who supply illegal substances like drugs, and those who break the law in the way they sell or serve alcohol need to be brought before the courts. It is not good enough to have specialist drug units tracking dealers across Europe if the supply line of chemicals which contribute to suicidal feelings is not cut off in our own areas.

There is clearly a lot of good work that has been done but also there is much more still to be completed.

Suicide Crisis

Last week there were four deaths by young men from suicide in west Belfast. I visited all of the wake houses and attended one of the funerals on Saturday. My heart was broken by the huge sense of loss and devastation I found in all of the families and among the many young people who were around the wakes or who attended the funeral.

Following the death of the fourth young man a group of young people took an initiative and organised a vigil at the top of the Whiterock Road last Thursday evening. It was held close to the home of one of those who died. It was cold and dark but hundreds attended. Most were teenagers and young men and women coming together in solidarity with each other. There were older people also.



All of us were sad. Some held candles. Groups working on suicide awareness and prevention schemes passed through the crowd handing out information leaflets and little business cards with contact numbers for help. There were songs of love and hope. Speakers appealed for anyone feeling depressed or suicidal to reach out and contact one of the groups that provide support and counseling.

They also appealed for anyone who knew of someone feeling that way to urge them to seek support.



The four deaths in west Belfast bring to 21 the number of people who have died by suicide since January. The statistics do not tell the whole story. There may be others we don’t know of.

In recent years West and North Belfast have each recorded the highest numbers of deaths annually from suicide in the north. In 2008 official figures reveal that 424 people took their own lives in the south of Ireland while 282 suicides occurred in the north.

This means that 706 lives were lost in Ireland in 2008 – more than were killed in road accidents.

Neither do these figures reveal the real extent of this problem. Thousands of people are admitted to hospital every year as a result of self harming. One report in the south of Ireland at the end of last year disclosed that 11,700 cases of deliberate self-harm had been treated in Accident and Emergency departments in 2009.

Suicide is the biggest killer of young people in Ireland. The human cost on families and communities is devastating. Nor is suicide any respecter of class or creed or gender or age.

Internationally the statistics are just as stark. The World Health Organisation estimates that approximately one million people die each year from suicide. This represents 16 people per 100,000 or one death every 40 seconds.

In the last 50 years suicide rates have increased world wide by 60% and the prediction is that the current levels may double in the next 10 years.




This is a crisis that has to be confronted. Too often it is left to bereaved families to cope with their own loss and to organise awareness and prevention groups to help others. Those that are active in West and North Belfast do commendable work and each year save countless lives by their efforts. They deserve our respect and praise.

But raising awareness and putting in place suicide prevention measures requires resources and mechanisms that must be mainstreamed. Governments cannot step back from this crisis.

It doesn’t matter the place or the country. Suicide prevention strategies, properly funded, and bringing together all of the statutory agencies, including health and education, are essential. Crisis intervention projects have to be available for immediate delivery into areas that are experiencing a serious increase in suicides. Voluntary and community groups cannot provide this. Governments must.





The people of the Colin area deserve a crisis intervention response to the surge of suicides in their community. There is a huge amount of good work being done on the ground by youth workers, young citizens, teachers, church groups and others.

But they should not have to carry this burden. The Executive has to provide a properly resourced, round the clock, 7 days a week, programme of support. It has to be cross departmental, strategic and integrated. A visit by the Deputy First Minister on Wednesday will send a clear signal to the citizens of west Belfast that the Executive understands the seriousness of the suicide crisis.

Turf Lodge – A Proud Community

This blog attended a very special celebration earlier this week. It was Turf Lodge: 2010 Anois is Arís 50th Anniversary.

For those of you who don’t know Turf Lodge is a proud Belfast working class community. Through many difficult years the people of Turf Lodge demonstrated time and time again a commitment to their families and to each other.

Like Ballymurphy and Andersonstown, Turf Lodge was one of many estates that were built on the then outskirts of Belfast in the years after the end of World War 2. They were part of a programme of work by Belfast City Corporation known as the ‘Slum clearance and houses redevelopment programme.’

The land on which Turf Lodge was built was eventually bought by the Corporation in June 1956. The name of the estate, it is said, came from a farm on which the estate was built. But it was four years later, in October 1960, and after many disputes and delays between builders and the Corporation, that the first completed houses were handed over for allocation.

The first families moved in within weeks. For them it was a nightmare experience. Essentially they were moving onto a building site in which much of the limited infrastructure wasn’t yet in place, including pavements and roads.

It was a housing estate built in the middle of fields with no public transport; no shops; no facilities for young people; no jobs; no school; no church; no social clubs – just houses. And all built tightly together in streets which were never really intended to see much road traffic and whose residents were never expected to own their own cars.



Turf Lodge suffered from two great curses. The first was discrimination against Catholics. This took two main forms.

One - many of the men and women had no jobs or if they worked at all it was generally in low paid employment.

Secondly, the unionist regime deliberately built as few homes for Catholics as it could.

The property vote meant that to vote in local elections you had to be the owner or rate payer of a property. No rent book – no vote!

Gerrymandering also meant drawing constituency boundaries in a way that maximized unionist representation and minimized nationalist. As a consequence Catholics lived in overcrowded ghettoes scattered across Belfast.

Most of the first residents to move into the new houses that opened in Turf Lodge in 1960 came from areas like the Short Strand, Carrickhill, the New Lodge and the Falls. Each of these was like a small village in which everyone knew each other and many were connected through marriage and family.

For them Turf Lodge was miles away. It was in the midst of green fields and in the shadow of the Black Mountain. It was ‘in the country’ – not a part of Belfast and local campaigns were organised to resist the move. One photo from the time shows Carrickhill residents with a banner saying ‘we will not leave Belfast’!

But conditions in those small communities was often harsh. Two and three families often lived under the same roof. Toilet facilities were frequently shared and the houses were old and damp.

One long time resident Lily Fitzsimons described it well: ‘I had lived in a wee back room of one of those big three storey houses which was all sub-let. And it was my mother, my grandmother and myself and we lived in this wee back room with a bed. We did everything there, cooked, slept, done everything.

And then when I got married I went to live with Sean’s mother; again we were in a wee room and when we had two children, the four of us were all together in this one room.’

The second great curse endured by the people of Turf Lodge was that their estate was built by designers and endorsed by politicians who had no concept of what working families needed, and who probably cared even less.

The nearest facilities were all some distance away. The only shop was on the Glen Road. The buses stopped at the Falls Depot. Going to mass meant a long walk down to St. Teresa’s. Going to school for the children meant tracking across fields to the primary school.

In ‘A Little Book of Memories, Laughter, Sadness, and Tears,’ Bell Webb, who was from Carrickhill, tells of walking down into the town with her three children and pushing a pram to visit her parents.

And then walking back home again. Often in the rain and the cold.

But people are good and despite coming from different parts of Belfast a community spirit quickly arose in Turf Lodge. Neighbours helped neighbours and residents began to organise to put in place what the builders and designers and Stormont government had denied.

The Turf Lodge Tenants Association was founded to fight for community resources and tenants rights. A school – Holy Trinity Primary School - was built in 1966. House shops sprang up. Holy Trinity Church was opened in 1972. A youth club was opened. A boxing club was founded. Gort na Mona GAC was established. The Gateway Club to help the disabled and their families was opened. Social events were organised. The earliest in the Barn at Hannahstown.

All of these and much more were put in place by hardworking, dedicated and visionary Turf Lodge residents. And in most instances it was the women of Turf Lodge who were the heart and soul of these endeavours.

Life was tough but the men and women of Turf Lodge were tough also and rose to the challenges presented by their new circumstances. And then it got even harder. In 1969 the pogroms commenced and the conflict began. Those were dangerous times. Hard times.

And once again the people of Turf Lodge stepped forward. Homes were opened to refugees fleeing from burned out homes. The men and women of Turf Lodge helped to provide the basic essentials for families who had lost everything.

And as the political situation grew worse many other residents decided to make a stand against injustice and the violence of the British state in Ireland.

The Falls Curfew was one such example. The lower Falls had been sealed off by hundreds of British soldiers. CS gas was poured into the area. Residents were arrested in their scores and several were shot and killed.

Once again it was the women who took up the challenge. Filling prams with bread and milk and baby food and other essentials women from Turf Lodge joined others from St. James and Beechmount and Andersonstown and Ballymurphy to break the curfew

Internment was another moment of great turmoil. Men and women from the area were imprisoned. Many of them still in their teens. Families began to make the long journey to Crumlin Road prison, Long Kesh and Armagh. And for some it was a journey that took years.

The war took its toll in lives lost, leaving families to grieve and mourn. Most were killed or injured as a result of actions by the British Army or RUC or by loyalist death squads. But some also died or were hurt as a result of actions by republicans. This is a matter of great regret.

Barely a family in Turf Lodge did not have someone imprisoned. Barely a home was not raided; many were wrecked. I still remember the photograph of Janet Donnelly standing in a huge hole that had been dug in her kitchen by British soldiers using a pneumatic drill.

Barely a young person avoided arrested and harassment. Barely a family in Turf Lodge was not touched by the war. And in the midst of all of this people continued to work hard to help their neighbours, to provide support for the elderly and the disabled and those less fortunate, and to run campaigns which saw blocks of flats demolished and new homes built.

The blanket protest in the H Blocks and Armagh women’s prison saw the struggle enter a new and even more traumatic phase. And once again Turf Lodge citizens were in the forefront of the campaigns in support of the prisoners. One of the first Relatives Action Committees was founded here.

All of those involved did huge work in highlighting the injustice of the H Blocks and Armagh and supporting the men and women political prisoners. For their courageous efforts in standing up to Thatcher and her attempts to criminalise the prisoners and the struggle, the mostly women and young girls of Turf Lodge were frequently threatened and assaulted by the British Army and RUC. But they refused to be bowed or broken.

Instead they travelled inside and outside of Ireland drawing public attention to the conditions in which the prisoners were being held. It was the Turf Lodge Relatives Action Committee which organised the first vigil – a week long vigil in a tent on the Monagh Road.

These vigil’s became hugely popular as a means of highlighting what was happening and also providing information. But often it meant wearing blankets in cold and inclement weather.

This blog commends all those in the community and voluntary sector, our teachers, priests, parents, grand parents and young people who helped make Turf Lodge a caring and progressive community.

Turf Lodge has produced many fine citizens. Some have been first class sports men and women, others international writers, some have dedicated their lives to helping those less fortunate than themselves, while others have given their lives in pursuit of justice and freedom.

Turf Lodge is a proud area full of good people. But as is obvious from even a cursory review of 50 years of life in Turf Lodge its heart and soul have been the women.

Lily Fitzsimons wrote a wee poem which for me sums you up and gives some sense of what Turf Lodge and its women have been through:

Women Moving On

A group of ordinary women
Meeting once a week
Listening and learning
Each one eager to speak
We talk about our many skills
Our stories are all told
Discussion continues
As our ambitions they unfold
We have many talents
We’re all experts that’s for sure
We are the teachers, we’re financiers
The nurse that has the cure
The doctor, the lawyer
The judge who’s always fair
The builder, the juggler
Disputes we solve with care
We’re told we are the weaker sex
Yet no job’s too big or small
The key word is determination
We are women moving on

And you are, and so are all those women and men who live in Turf Lodge.

BOOKS I HAVE KNOWN.

The 1970’s was tough times. Republican Belfast was under military
occupation. This blog flitted from house to house. Sometimes for just one night,
never to return again. Not even a sight of the family who provided the shelter.

In and out of back doors. Other times there was the chance to
stay in the one place for longer periods. One such house backed on to an
RUC barracks. British troops came and went on a regular basis. Our paths
crossed regularly. Timing is everything. I stayed there off and on,
despite a number of narrow escapes, for ages. It was a lucky house.

It was there that I made the acquaintance of some books which had an
enduring appeal to me. One was CALL MY BROTHER BACK by Michael McLaverty,
another OVER THE BRIDGE by Sam Thompson - a play not a book. During that
period I also became aware of the writing of Seamus Heaney. Once
travelling on a bus down the Falls Road, my head buried in DEATH OF A
NATURALIST, I was confronted by one of the British Army’s notorious
Parachute Regiment. A patrol had boarded the bus as it made its way
citywards. The heavily armed terrorist stared at me for a second before
questioning another passenger behind me. Everybody on the bus heaved a
sigh of relief when the Brits disembarked. Heaney became a sort of
talisman for me from then on.

Decades later rambling through the City Cemetery with Tom Hartley in what
was a fore runner of his Graveyard Tours and another very fine book
WRITTEN IN STONE, we came on Sam Thompson’s grave. In 1959 the directors of
the Group Theatre refused to stage Over The Bridge because of the way it
highlighted sectarianism. Jimmy Ellis left the group set up his own
company and went ahead with the play in 1960.

During this year’s Féile An Phobail all of these strands from the past came
together again. In what was a commendable initiative Tom had organised a
rededication ceremony for Sam Thompson’s grave. Seamus Heaney was also in
town to speak at Féile about Michael McLaverty. He and other
contemporaries of Sam Thompsons, including Sam’s son Warren and Jimmy
Ellis gathered with the rest of us in the City Cemetery in the mizzley
soft rain for a poignant little event. Afterwards Seamus and Marie Heaney
went off with Danny Morrison to visit Saint Thomas’ School where Seamus
and Michael McLaverty used to teach and the rest of us adjourned to Saint
Marys College where he was to give the McLaverty talk.

And a wonderful talk it was too.

Michael McLaverty is a brilliant and under acknowledged writer. Over the
years I must have given dozens of copies of Call My Brother Back to
friends as an introduction to his work. His other novels, and particularly
his collections of short stories are among the best I have ever read.
Michael was head master in Saint Thomas’ when Seamus arrived there as a
young teacher. By then Seamus was getting some recognition for his
poetry. Michael, an established author, actively encouraged him. He gave
him books. Advised him on literary matters. And befriended him and Marie.

Seamus’ visit to Sam Thompson’s grave, the walk around Saint Thomas’, his
first time there since 1961, and the talk in the big hall in Saint Mary’s
where he told us he first saw his wife Maire were emotional moments for
this wonderful poet and thoroughly decent man. His tribute to McLaverty,
because that is what it was, was peppered with humorous little insights
and telling observations.

The audience and this blog was enthralled. And then he read us some of his
poetry.

All in all a very fine event in a day of fine events in very fine Féile.
And this blog was pleased to be there.

There is a Better Way

On Wednesday the British government will announce the outcome of its Comprehensive Spending Review and the extent of the cuts that it plans to impose.

Two weeks ago this blog met a senior delegation from the ICTU to talk about these threatened cuts and their likely impact on the north. Cuts to departmental budgets; cuts to public services; cuts to infrastructure investment; cuts that will cost jobs and hurt citizens.

It was a good meeting and most of those involved came down afterward to the front of Parliament Buildings and joined us for the launch of a west Belfast billboard Opposing the Cuts.

Sinn Féin and ICTU are agreed about the need to reject cuts and protect front line services and to build an alliance between political parties, the unions and the community and voluntary sector to oppose any cuts.

There is a lot of speculation about the cuts which might be introduced by the British government. It the speculation is correct they will have a huge and detrimental impact on workers, the disadvantaged and those in poverty.

The poorest will be hit 10 times harder than the wealthy.

It will be the public services they rely on, in health and education and social services and transport, that will be hit hardest.

Lone parents, the elderly and the sick will suffer the most.

In addition, the patterns of poverty which have remained unchanged over decades, will be reinforced. For as long as records exist, concentrations of inequality and deprivation have been ingrained in areas like west Belfast. This is systemic and structured discrimination.

One report published in recent days predicts that 20,000 public sector jobs could go and another 16,000 private sector jobs could follow.

So, political leaders and parties in the north have to stand up for peoples rights and in opposition to cuts. Sinn Féin is focussed and determined to do this.

When Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness met the British Chancellor, Martin McGuinness told him of Sinn Féin’s opposition to cuts and of the need to protect frontline services for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.

And on Thursday morning, before flying off to Kerry to speak at the selection convention for North Kerry and West Limerick, this blog along with all of the Sinn Féin Ministers and Mitchel McLauglhin released details of an economic package of measures – ‘There is a Better Way’ - that Sinn Féin believes can protect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

A significant difficulty for the Assembly and the Executive is that we have limited fiscal powers. This is unacceptable and unsustainable.

Partition too has had a detrimental economic impact. A radical reshaping of how the Government, and the private and the public sectors work is needed. An All-Ireland economic recovery plan is also required to deliver sustainable long lasting economic growth with greater economic equality.

Getting rid of the duplication of services created by partition makes economic sense and can deliver better public services for citizens. This is most obvious with health, but planning and infrastructure – energy co-operation – waste and tourism are only some of the areas that would benefit from an all-island approach.

The goal of the Assembly and Executive must be to deliver the necessary social and economic change that is required for our society. It is critical also that we continue to deliver frontline public services in health, education and transport; invest in capital infrastructure projects; ensure adequate housing for all and end poverty and disadvantage across urban areas and rural communities.

We need strategies to end inequality and deliver a more equal and prosperous society.

All of this is doable. There is an alternative way forward. A better way.

The imperative is to protect frontline services and in particular the most vulnerable in our society who rely on public services for survival.

A team of party activists, under the direction of our Finance spokesperson Mitchel McLaughlin, developed our proposals and passed them to economists and other experts as part of the preparation of Thursday’s document.

Sinn Féin’s proposals are about tackling waste, saving money, raising revenue, and investing this to create jobs, build infrastructure and protect public services. They will bring in almost £1.9 billion in combined savings and new revenue.

If the Assembly and Executive, the political parties and Trade Unions, and the community act together we can protect the public sector, maintain frontline services and grow our economy in a sustainable and effective manner.

The documents, ‘There is a Better Way’ is available on www.sinnfein.ie

BEING DONNACHA.

Donnacha Rynne

I remember very well the time Anne Rynne told me Donnacha had multiple sclerosis. We were on the phone. It must have been about fifteen years ago. Or thereabouts. Donnacha was in his mid twenties. Although she was scared Anne was very brave about this traumatic development in the life of her son. Donnacha was even braver. They are like that, this mother and son who have faced adversity for every minute of the forty years since first they came into each others lives.

Donnacha is one of twin boys. Niall and he are the second born of Davoc and Anne’s family. Then there is Áine - off now doing good in Vietnam - and the wondrous Turlough. Davóg is the oldest. Donnacha’s story is incomplete without them. Especially his amazing parents. And they would be incomplete without Donnacha. He is the touchstone in the lives of his family. And in the lives of many others including this blog. He is a huge inspiration for me.

So who is Donnacha?

Donnacha Rynne was born six weeks prematurely. He had cerebral palsy. Anne and Davoc were told he would never walk. Life for him could not be the same as other boys. Not the same as his twin brother Niall. No school. No boyish experiences. And eventually…..an institution.

Anne and Davoc decided this was not their way. Their son would be reared same as any other child. And he was. In the early days in Kildare, later on the west coast of Clare. He went to school and later to work. For a time he flew the nest and moved back to Kildare to live with his aunt. His mother taught him life skills in Galway. Then back to Clare.

That’s when I first met Donnacha. In the hostel at Spanish Point.
Our Gearóid and I were camping our way around Ireland. I knew Donnacha’s aunt Terry and his uncle Christy (Moore) and I knew of Anne and his Uncle Barry aka Luka Bloom. That was over twenty years ago. Donnacha was working away at peeling and washing spuds, greeting guests and telling yarns. He was great craic and we hit it off from the get go.



Before long he was in Belfast, up for the Féile. In those days Donnacha didn’t need the wheel chair or at least he didn’t bring it to Béal Feirste. He was out and about bopping his way from gig to gig, looking for a girl and to his annoyance being chaperoned by Minnie Mo who shooed all promising females away. He appeared on Féile Radio and promoted disability rights. He camped in our back room, ate us out of house and home, laughed a lot and charmed big Eamon and especially Colette with his take on life, love, lust and the importance of being.

By the time Gearoid and Roísín got married Donnacha was wheelchair bound. But that didn’t stop him bopping it up with the rest of us before ever patient sean Davoc and wonderful Niall whisked him off again the next day. By now Donnacha was living independently in a house of his own in Miltown Malbay and he and I would get together occasionally for coffee as I wandered through the land. Increasingly dependent on carers for everyday necessities, yoga, music, and friendship uplifted him.



Now?

Now Donnacha has a book. Being Donnacha. There are three parts to it. Donnacha’s thoughts as captured by his friend Tom Prendergast, 16 of Donnacha’s poems and short reflections about Donnacha from family and friends.

This blog is biased. I love Donnacha. Read this book and you also will love him. You will get a sense, but only a sense of what it must be like being Donnacha, living alone and confined to a wheelchair. Prepare to be inspired. And his poetry is very good. Whimsical and funny. I like the one about his Nana,

‘….
My Nana’s wisdomwise is a symbol prize to us all.
Love like the scent of a rose
Nana.
Love like the scent of a rose.’

Tom Prendergast deserves great credit. Donnacha is very private and brutally honest. Tom’s interviews and this book provide him with a platform and a means for expressing himself. Many other citizens in his situation will never get that chance. Donnacha is a voice for them. I thank him for that, for his great courage, wisdom and friendship. As he says himself he lives in the nowness of life. Well done Donnacha. Keep er light!

BEING DONNACHA is availible on the web. www.beingdonnacha.tumblr.com. Or in Hurley’s Newsagents, Scéal Eile bookshop in Ennis and the Post Office in Milltown Malbay.


Niall, Holly and Donnacha

THE BALLYMURPHY MASSACRE.

This blog has known many British Secretary’s of State. They have come in all shapes and sizes and with differing levels of knowledge and understanding about the situation here.

Some have done their best by their own lights. Others have been inept. Still others indulged in sleight of hand politics. On one occasion this succeeded in collapsing the peace process. And at other times the political institutions fell.

What they all have had in common was and is a determination to put British interests first.

Last Thursday this blog facilitated a meeting with the present incumbent, Owen Paterson, and the Ballymurphy Massacre families.

Regular readers of this blog will know that in the two days after the introduction of internment in August 1971, 11 people, including a mother of 8 children and a local Catholic priest, were killed by the British Parachute Regiment.

None of those killed had any connection to any armed group. They were all innocent civilians.

The families have always disputed British Army and RUC claims about the circumstances surrounding the deaths. They want an independent international investigation into the deaths of their loved ones and an apology from the British government which recognises their innocence.

This was not the Ballymurphy family’s first meeting with a British Secretary of State. In August 2009 I brought the families to Hillsborough Castle to meet Shaun Woodward. It was an emotional occasion as all the families spoke of the deaths of their loved ones.

For them the events of 1971 are as yesterday. The memories are raw. There were tears. The trauma of those events is fresh and horrifying. The family’s case for an independent international inquiry is compelling.

Shaun Woodward was shaken by the accounts. That was obvious from his reaction. All who listened that evening, as one after another the family representatives exposed their deep hurt and recounted the violent deaths of their loved ones, were visibly moved.

But after that British Secretary of State went back into his system to discuss this case his political response to the families was zilch. Zero. He did nothing.

So, the families and this blog did not have high hopes for our meeting on Thursday with Owen Paterson. His track record thus far has not been good. Even before he became Secretary of State Paterson was part of the short lived and failed effort to re unite the UUP and the British Conservative Party.

He was also at a meeting which brought together the DUP, the UUP and the Orange Order to agree a unionist candidate to stand against Michelle Gildernew in Fermanagh South Tyrone in the last Westminster election. That also failed.



On Thursday we gathered in a stuffy room in Stormont House, where Britain’s Northern Ireland Office is based in a greatly reduced form. For an hour the relatives told their stories. Neither time nor the retelling of these accounts diminished the emotion or the power of their words.

For his part Paterson’s contribution lacked any affinity with the experience or grief of the families. He may have felt for them at a personal level but his stock response was to try and shift any decision on the Ballymurphy case into the wider discussion about how society tackles the fraught issue of the legacy of the past.

A suggestion by him that they use the Historical Enquiries Team was met with derision by all of the families but particularly those who had already engaged with the HET and come away from that experience deeply angry and dissatisfied.

At one point this blog noticed that Paterson was wearing a wrist band. On closer inspection it turned out to be a wrist band in support of the Royal Irish Regiment! This blog challenged him. How could he be so insensitive as to wear a wrist band in support of a British Army Regiment, especially one with a dark history in the north, to a meeting of relatives whose loved ones were killed by the same British Army?

Rather than acknowledge his poor judgement and the inappropriateness of wearing this wrist band to this particular meeting Paterson chose to defend his action.

One relative put it to him that he had the opportunity, by taking the right decision on the Ballymurphy Massacre, to define his time as British Secretary of State positively. And this blog added that the right decision by him could liberate these families and many others and make a valuable and constructive contribution to tackling legacy issues.

Paterson did agree to come back to the families after the New Year in response to their demand for an independent international investigation. I am not hopeful for his response.

But when the meeting was over the annoyance of the relatives was obvious. It had been a tense, emotional and at times bad engagement.

The families made it clear to Owen Paterson that they were not for giving up. They are determined to achieve their demands and secure truth for their loved ones. This blog fully supports their efforts. So should everyone who believes in justice.

Defending services and demanding prosperity

In west Belfast, community groups and residents associations have helped foster a cohesion and civic spirit which held people together when government agencies and statutory bodies ignored appeals for help. This blog is very proud to be part of this community and I am a big fan of those who serve it in the voluntary and community sector.

As October 20th approaches and the details of the British government’s Comprehensive Spending Review are announced many community organisations are understandably worried about future funding, including those involved in community development work in the poorest areas. Often these groups are providing services which offer a safety net to the most vulnerable.

Sinn Féin worked tirelessly with others to persuade the European Commission to help the areas in greatest need through the Peace Programme in the mid 90’s. MEP Bairbre de Bruin led the lobby for the current Peace 3 programme.

However, even as this money was secured, the British government was misusing the funding as substitute for, rather than in addition to, funding for community groups.

This blog has consistently advocated that the community sector deserves to be provided with long-term, mainstream funding to permit groups to plan and sustain programmes of work and to achieve meaningful outcomes.

Six years ago, during a period of British Direct Rule the Department of Social Development commissioned a report into ‘Future funding for the Community and Voluntary sector’ proposed a series of recommendations for resourcing the sector. This included a figure of £25 million per year to support community development. It also recommended the mainstream funding of community development work. These recommendations still haven’t been implemented.

Instead, again under Direct Rule the Department of Social Development introduced a new programme called Neighbourhood Renewal. DSD also started promoting the merger and integration of community groups, and the transfer of services and funding to voluntary organisations.

Last year, £10m was invested in community services in the whole of Belfast through DSD’s Neighbourhood Renewal programme. The same investment will be required next year just to sustain the existing level of services provided.

This blog believes that future funding for community services needs to be stabilised and sustained as recommended six years ago. Funding through Neighbourhood Renewal needs to continue. So far, the Minister responsible has declined to give any such assurances.

When Neighbourhood Renewal was first introduced, the Committee for the Administration of Justice warned DSD that it should emulate, not compete with, home-grown initiatives :
“The Neighbourhood Renewal strategy must therefore examine how the work of initiatives such as the West Belfast and Greater Shankill Taskforce can be built upon and complemented.”

The West Belfast and Greater Shankill Task Force included a package of recommendations aimed together with a series of flagship projects intended to build community confidence in the process and help to transform the social and economic fortunes of people in the most deprived parts of this city.

Even though the West Belfast and Greater Shankill Task Force was endorsed by local Ministers, the system has tried every trick in the book to slow it down, trip it up and stamp it out. Stock-takes, appraisals, reviews and even proposals to wind the Task Force up have all been tried and failed. The result is that whilst important aspects of the Task Force have begun to be implemented, most of it remains outstanding.

This is intolerable. The levels of poverty and deprivation which continue to adversely impact on the quality of life of people in west Belfast and Shankill need to be reversed. The best way to do that is for the government, led by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to work with the local community to renew and reinvest in the West Belfast and Greater Shankill Task Force. With local citizens and local Ministers combining forces, we can create the conditions for all citizens to enjoy prosperity.

Unfortunately, there are some politicians and civil servants who support the Tory policy of ‘slash and cut. They claim that everyone has to share in the cuts. If they have their way it will be the working people, medium and small businesses and disadvantaged citizens, who will carry the greatest burden. According to recent reports by the trade unions, the poorest will be hit 10 times harder than the wealthy

Today, patterns of poverty remain the same as ever. For as long as records have existed, concentrations of inequality and deprivation have been ingrained in west Belfast. This is the result of systemic and structured discrimination. To correct this, we must safeguard existing services for the poorest people and guarantee that extra public and private investment is directed to those areas in greatest objective need.

So political leaders and parties have to stand up for peoples rights and in opposition to cuts. There is an alternative to the slash and cut strategy of the British government.

This involves the promotion of strategies that will foster equality and prosperity for all. That means building and supporting the community and voluntary sector.

Time for government to Go

Pearse Doherty, myself, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin and Martin Ferris at the Dáil on Wednesday

The Dáil resumed on Wednesday. The mood was sombre. This blog spent the day in Dublin meeting Sinn Féin TDs who return to battle against this incompetent Fianna Fáil/Green government. I also attended the European Day of Action against cuts organised by the Trade Unions. But more of that another time.

Thursday saw more bad news on the economy and further evidence of the disastrous mismanagement of the banking crisis by the coalition. The cost of the bank bailout to the taxpayers was revealed to be an incredible €50 billion! This includes an increased estimate for bailing out Anglo Irish Bank bringing that figure to €34.3 billion, almost 40% higher than the government had originally claimed. There will also be additional money for AIB and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

The state is slowly being impoverished by the irresponsible decisions of the Fianna Fáil/Green government. And it is ordinary people who are paying the price of this in jobs lost, homes repossessed and increasing poverty and declining public services.

Having warned that €3 billion will have to be taken out of the economy in December’s budget Government Ministers are already warning of more to come next year. The message to those on social welfare, to low-income workers, to public sector employees, and to struggling businesses, is that they must carry the financial and social costs for the mistakes and crimes of others.

With rising unemployment, a fall in taxes and a squeeze on borrowing, Ministers claim that the government has no choice but to cut spending and attempt to close the deficit.

At the same time the coalition has now acknowledged, what it denied just a few weeks ago, that the total cost of propping up Anglo will now be €34.3 billion.

This is on top of its recent announcement that Anglo is to be broken up into two banks (just what we need) a 'funding bank' and an 'asset recover bank'. Let's call them the silly bank and the bad bank.

There is much confusion over what this policy actually entails. Apparently the funding bank will hold all the current deposits, and will provide loans to the asset recovery bank, which will actually be insolvent. Do you follow? Even highly trained economists are scratching their heads about what all this means.

What remains certain is that whatever you call them, however many banks you create - the cost to the taxpayer remains astronomical.

€34.3 billion for Anglo; €6.5 billion for AIB; €5.4 billion for Irish Nationwide and BoI €3.5 billion. A staggering total of €49.1 billion.

And we ain’t seen nothing yet. There could be an upsurge in borrowing, costs and NAMA could take up to another €50 billion plus.

The current government deficit will be around 32% of GDP.

In Anglo alone subordinated bond-holders, that is investors who lent the bank money and receive a higher rate of interest in return for being next in line to take a hit after shareholders, own about €2.5 billion of the bank’s debts. It’s not clear how much of this will be re-paid. Repaid by who? Repaid by you and maybe your children.

Senior bond-holders, that is investors who accept a lower interest rate than subordinated debt holders on the basis that they are taking less risk, own about €15 billion worth of debt. The government says, even though these investors are aware of the risk they take when they buy bank bonds, that all these investors should be re-paid.

There is no doubt that there is a debt to be cleared up at Anglo-Irish because of the mess that was caused. Depositors are protected for up to €100,000 of their deposits. Nobody is arguing that these savers should lose out.

However, it’s the other debts mounting up at the bank and the government’s insistence in honouring them, that is raising the most questions.

At the same time as the government says it cannot ask bondholders, who understood the risks in the first place, to take a hit on their bad investment, it has no qualms about telling Irish taxpayers – who bear no responsibility for the banking mess - that another a minimum of €3 billion must be cut from the annual budget in December.

Banks cannot suffer, but healthcare, education, social welfare recipients, the young and the old can.

The government says that Anglo must be wound down in a long and expensive process so as not to upset international lenders.

The Greens appear to be unhappy with this but have done nothing constructive to address the issues involved.

Everything about how Anglo has been handled and is being handled stinks to high Heaven. From the lack of prosecutions of its former directors; to the high salaries it is paying those in charge now; to the appointment of members of its recent board, like Frank Daly the former Revenue Commissioner, to NAMA; and finally, to the refusal of the government to come clean on who holds the bonds in Anglo that it is insists have to be honoured.

According to a recent article in the New York Times ‘Can one bank bring down a country? Anglo Irish Bank, the midsize Irish lender whose profligacy has come to symbolize the excesses of the real estate bubble here, is doing its best to find out.’

(Your man tells me that ‘profligacy’ means ‘recklessness; wastefulness; licentiousness and decadence’ and it was certainly all of these!!)

So, the solvency of the state and the well being of four and a half million citizens is at risk because of the corruption of the banking services and the failure of this and previous governments to properly manage and regulate the banking sector.

The north also is affected by this. Allied Irish Bank has put its First Trust Bank up for sale and NAMA now owns many developments, particularly in Belfast.

The reality is that this government is out of ideas and out of time. It has no viable strategy to get people back to work or to turn the economy around. Fianna Fáil and the greens have to go.

Sinn Féin is holding a rally in Dublin on 4th December to protest against government policy in advance of the budget.

Its time to take a stand!