.jpg)
Fr. Des Wilson is a living legend. He has been an integral part
of the west Belfast community for six decades. He is hugely respected and loved
as a priest, a community activist, an educator, a defender of people’s rights, an
author, dramatist and writer. A fear naofa. He is a man of
great courage and vision, a good neighbour, and a decent human being. On Sunday he celebrated his 93rd
birthday with a small group of family and friends. In recent times he has been
in and out of hospital. When he arrived at the Glór na Mona Centre – Gael Ionad Mhic Goill - on the Whiterock Road
he looked frail as he gently pushed his three-wheel walker ahead of him.
But he was in great form. Smiling, laughing, joking and
shaking hands and giving out hugs to everyone there. He toasted his birthday
with a glass of white wine and he took great delight in blowing out the single
candle on his cake. He also joined in the craic and the slagging as Ciaran
Cahill played a nine-minute video showing some of Des’s life. I was intrigued
by the grainy black and white film footage of a teenage Des with his family working
on a farm, and film and photo images of his time as a young seminarian at
Maynooth. There were scores of photos of Fr. Des from a young man in his
twenties to his life in Ballymurphy and Springhill. Some of these included
images of the old Springhill – which was eventually demolished following a
campaign by the community, including Fr. Des. There were photos of him with the many local
people he worked closely with over many years to improve the living conditions
of his neighbours.
Fr. Des and Elsie Best
I have been very fortunate to know Fr. Des Wilson and to
call him friend. The first time we met
was when I called to the priest’s house beside St Johns chapel looking for
advice on a community issue. Probably at the suggestion of Frank Cahill of the
Ballymurphy Tenants Association. The second time was at the top of Springhill
Avenue on the night of August 14 1969. That’s a long time ago. In all those
years Des’ life has been dedicated to helping people. During the terrible years
of conflict, he stood with the Upper Springfield Road community against the
aggression and violence of the British state forces. I formed a view during those dark days that
Des used to go out of his way to cheer us up or to raise our morale during hard
times. He did this at meetings, demonstrations and in his very uplifting
sermons.
He gave comfort and solidarity to those in need. Along with
Frank Cahill and others he also engaged in local projects to bring jobs to west
Belfast through the Whiterock Industrial Estate, the Rock Knitwear Group and
later the Conway Mill project. For him education was always a priority and he
was appalled at the numbers of children and young people who for a variety of
reasons were dropping out of school and who needed help and support.
Fr. Des moved to St. John’s parish in 1966 after 16 years as
the spiritual director at St. Malachy’s College. Ballymurphy was one of those
estates constructed after World War Two to which the planners gave little
thought for the families, and especially the children, who would live there. Like
so many other similar developments there were initially no schools, shops, play
facilities, and employment.
The new Corpus Christi church had no living accommodation
for a priest. Its space was not available for community use outside of
religious services. It sat like a large carbuncle, detached and aloof from the
people who had paid for it to be built. Incidentally me and Paddy Root and
Mickey Maguire erected the railings around the church. I never got paid but
that’s another story. Joe Cahill was the
site foreman.
Allocated
to Ballymurphy but living outside the neighbourhood, Fr. Des and Fr Hugh Mullan
decided to move into a council house The Church authorities were not impressed
and Fr Mullan ended up living in a semi-detached house in Springfield Park. In
August 1971, in the 36 hours after the introduction of internment, Fr. Mullan
was one of 11 people killed by the British Parachute Regiment in what has
become known as the Ballymurphy Massacre. 10 months later in July 1972 the same
regiment was back in Ballymurphy. This week 46 years ago they shot and killed
five local people in the Springhill Massacre; three children, Margaret Gargan
aged 13, David McCafferty aged 15, John Dougal aged 16, Patrick Butler aged 39
and Fr. Noel Fitzpatrick.
Fr. Des found himself increasingly in dispute with the
Catholic Church authorities. He resigned from his clerical positions and moved
into a council house - 123 Springhill
Avenue –in January 1972. The Springhill Community Education and Development
Project was born. It quickly became a refuge for the old and young, for those
who needed education and counselling, and for a community under constant attack
by the British Army, RUC and unionist death squads. Fr. Des, along
with Noelle Ryan and others went on from
there to become involved in a range of progressive community, educational,
economic and anti-sectarian projects.
On a personal
note in 1971, after internment, Fr. Des married Colette and me. I was on the
run, and the times were very dangerous. Only a small number of friends and
comrades knew, and we moved the date and location the night before to avoid any
unexpected and unwanted interruptions by the Brits. Fr. Des married us in a
room behind the altar in St. John’s Chapel on the Falls. He refused to take any
money from our best man Paddy McArdle. A wise man Paddy took the money and the
bridesmaid to the nearby Rock Bar.
In
1977 a feud broke out among republicans. I went to a number of priests to help
to get this stopped and Fr. Des and Fr. Alex Reid quickly agreed to help.
Together they established an arbitration and mediation process between the
different republican organisations which undoubtedly saved lives. The two
priests also embarked on an outreach programme. They spoke to unionist
paramilitaries and facilitated meetings between republicans and loyalists. They
also met officials from the British and Irish governments, and indeed anyone
who would listen to them in the hope that through dialogue they could assist
the work of peace building. They pioneered this work.
They never gave up despite setbacks and serial
refusals to talk by the Great and the Good. Without Fr Des and Fr Alex there
would be no peace process. Of that there is no doubt.
Fr. Des never lost his desire
to help the people of west Belfast. Springhill House helped to raise awareness
about the extent of poverty and deprivation in west Belfast. It produced some
of the first surveys into living conditions and discrimination in employment. He
championed the MacBride Principles campaign, and produced a submission to the
Patten Commission on Policing in 1998. Later, along with Fr. Joe McVeigh, Fr.
Des established the Community for Social Justice. One of their early campaigns
was against the strip searching of republican women prisoners in Armagh Women’s
Prison.
In his very popular weekly
column in the Andersonstown News, which he wrote for decades, Fr. Des challenged
the political and religious establishments. He has also written several books
and pamphlets. And plays.
In a talk to 4th
year student at St. Malachy’s College in 1963 he said: “Our view is that the world must be better when we leave it than when
we entered it; that for every day of our life there should be someone who has
more to eat, to wear or to live for”.
Thank you for
that Des. You have lived your life according to the teachings of Jesus. Because
of that we are better people. Lá breithe shona duit.
Comments