.jpg)
An Féile Abú
Well done
Féile an Phobail and to all of the staff who plan and prepare Féile. Many
thanks to all those volunteers who work around the clock every August to make
it all come together. This was Féile’s 33rd year and despite the
pandemic and all of the restrictions and understandable worries that people
have at this time Féile an Phobail was another wonderful August extravaganza
and community celebration.
The Fight
Night was extraordinary and from earlier that day there was a buzz on the road.
The 80s music night and the Wolfe Tone concert were amazing. Well done to the
Wolfe Tones who gave a shout out to the efforts of the Moore Street
Preservation Trust to preserve and protect the historic 1916 Battlefield site.
This is a hugely important campaign that deserves the support of everyone. The
free night for young people – The Féile Dance Night – was absolutely super. It
is a successful alternative by Féile to the bonfires and riots of previous
years.
Well done also
to the all the smaller but no less important debates and discussions. The
hybrid model of real gigs, limited quite rightly in size, being streamed or
zoomed across social media is a mark of the ingenuity, creativity and sheer
expertise of the Féile team. And of the living loving singing dancing acting
the eejit generous outward looking artistic community which Féile represents.
Finally, as a
lapsed Póc Fada champ, comhgairdheas to all of this year’s winners. Tá muid
fior buioch daoibhse. An Féile Abú!
Black Mountain
Thanks also to
Féile for hosting the launch of my latest book Black Mountain And Other
Stories. Harry Connolly- Féile Chair- was very kind and Timothy O Grady
travelled from Poland to be with us. He too was very kind. He also did the
Foreword to Black Mountain. Thanks to them all, and to The Felons who hosted
the event.
The following
Saturday I was in Derry for another book launch in the Gas Yard Féile. Thanks
for the invite and to all of those who came along to listen to me read extracts
from my books and to answer some questions. Both launches were very enjoyable.
So too was Scribes at the Rock where I joined Seamus Carabine and Tadhg Hickey.
Their contributions were much funnier than mine. But I enjoyed reading again
from my book. Thank you one and all.
Black Mountain
is available from An Fhuiseog and wwwsinnfeinbookshop.com. Or from good book
shops everywhere.
Afghanistan
Almost exactly
20 years ago the USA and Britain invaded Afghanistan. On Monday the Taliban
returned to Kabul amid scenes of the chaos as thousands tried to flee. The British pulled their Army out of Afghanistan in
2014 after losing 457 soldiers and spending some £37 billion there. This week,
like the fall of Saigon in another era, they are pulling out their citizens and
Embassy staff.
The future for
the people of Afghanistan is less certain. But a look at the Iraqi situation
gives a sense of the stupidity of these adventures.
Like the
decision to go to war in Iraq the human consequences of the political/military
strategy of western states in that region has proven to be catastrophic. Hundreds
of thousands have died, millions have been displaced, and the political and
economic instability created by the western wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been
disastrous.
Under the
grand title of ‘Operation Enduring
Freedom’ British and US forces invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. Sinn
Féin spoke out against the decision. While we opposed the policies of the
Taliban government we were convinced that a military invasion would only make a
bad situation worse.
The following
year, in the course of Sinn Féin’s negotiations with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, both Martin McGuinness and I repeatedly raised with him the intense
speculation then circulating about a possible invasion of Iraq by British
forces. We reminded Mr. Blair that
British military adventures overseas never end well, but especially for the
people who have been the target of the invasion. Military occupation always
leads to confrontation with local communities and the imposition of special
powers to maintain control. We pointed to the decades of conflict in Ireland following
British soldiers coming back onto our streets in 1969 as evidence of this.
During that first
occasion in Blair’s office in Downing Street we very bluntly told Mr. Blair and
Jonathon Powell, his Chief of Staff, that invading Iraq would be disastrous for
Britain and especially for the people of Iraq. We put this to him again on a
number of subsequent occasions. To be frank both Martin and I were convinced,
even before a public decision to invade was announced, that Mr. Blair was already
committed to invasion.
With military
forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq the techniques of occupation, of
interrogation and torture, of population control and manipulation of the media,
which had been used extensively in the North of Ireland, all came to the fore.
The handling of the media was particularly crucial in covering up or
distracting from the killing of civilians and the many accusations of torture.
The
publication by WikiLeaks of 90,000 US military files in July 2010 revealed the
depth to which these techniques were used in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009.
The WikiLeaks documents provided evidence of previously unreported actions in
which Afghan civilians were killed or wounded. In 144 incidents detailed almost
200 civilians were killed and hundreds more injured. This was almost certainly
a serious underestimation of the true scale of civilian casualties.
Human Rights
Watch, which reported on the war in the North of Ireland, said at that time: ‘These files bring to light what’s been a
consistent trend by US and NATO forces: the concealment of civilian deaths.’ The files also revealed the existence of
Taskforce 373 – a covert operations unit whose task is to ‘remove’ the enemy. All of this was evidence of another dirty war using
old strategies and techniques, and once again failing.
When asked if
the publication of the battlefield and intelligence documents by WikiLeaks
would make a difference the British Foreign Secretary William Hague said; ‘None.’
Six years
later in June 2016 the Chilcot Report into the Iraq War was published. Chilcot
accused Tony Blair of invading Iraq before all ‘peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action
at that time was not a last resort.’ What also emerged from Chilcot’s two
and a half million words is evidence of a British government that had not
prepared its military for the invasion. It had no long term political strategy.
It didn’t even have the right military equipment essential to an invasion.
Afghanistan
and Iraq are examples of western powers thinking they still have the right to
do what they like, when they like and against whomever they like. Their
national interests, however short term, are all that matters. The end result is
chaos and calamity for the peoples they invade.
The stupidity
and incompetence of the British political, military and bureaucratic
establishment, which fought a war in this part of Ireland for almost 30 years,
is underlined by the nonsense claim of Colonel Richard Kemp in 2010. Kemp
worked to the British Cabinet between 2001 and 2006 during which time he was a
senior strategist and Commander in Afghanistan. In the summer of 2010 he
claimed that the British Army won the war in Ireland. Writing in the Guardian
newspaper in August 2010 I said: “If Kemp could get it so wrong in our country, why
should anyone expect him to get it right in Afghanistan? And if he and William
Hague are reflective of British thinking today, then the British are destined
to make the same mistakes in that part of the world they made here.”
Almost exactly 20 years after the invasion of Afghanistan in October
2001 and my prediction in 2010, it would appear that successive British
governments opted to make the same mistakes. The thing about the lessons of
history is that imperial governments rarely learn the lessons of history
instead they ignore them.
The expulsion of Ken Loach
Two
weeks ago my column focussed on the British Labour Party, and the approach of
its current leader Keir Starmer toward Ireland. The internal decision making
processes of that party and the leadership style of Mr. Starmer are obviously a
matter for it and for him. My concern is for its Irish policy and in particular
the Labour leader’s stated willingness to stand on the side of Unionists in any debate on Irish Unity. His
stance is in direct contradiction to the principles of the Good Friday
Agreement which state that it is for the people the island of Ireland alone to determine our own future.
Regrettably,
the news that Ken Loach, film producer, director and writer has been expelled
from the Labour Party has reinforced my concerns.
Ken
Loach has long been a friend of Ireland. The 85-year-old is widely respected,
with an impressive international reputation as a film maker. His style of
filming making is described as “socially critical” and he makes no secret of his belief in socialism. His films have
tackled issues of poverty, and homelessness (Kathy come home), of worker’s
rights, the Spanish Civil War and the power of the state against the unemployed.
The first episode of his powerful 1974 television series Days of Hope showed
British soldiers in Ireland during the Tan War and in one memorable scene Tríona Ní
Dhomhnaill sings The Bold Fenian Men to British soldiers who have taken over
her family farm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtJq5NLTQY8
Loach’s 1990 film Hidden Agenda tackled the issue
of shoot-to-kill and Britain’s dirty war in Ireland and The Wind that Shakes
the Barley, about the Irish Civil War, and I, Daniel Blake both won the Palme d'Or at
the Cannes Film Festival, making him one of only nine filmmakers to win the
award twice.
And
now he has been expelled from the Labour Party. Loach has reportedly said that
his expulsion is because he would “not
disown those already expelled.” The move follows closely on reports that
Keir Starmer is preparing a purge of members supportive of Jeremy Corbyn.
Whatever the
truth of this Ken Loach is someone who has stood up for the downtrodden all of
his life. His expulsion is a significant loss to the British Labour movement.
Comments