Léargas

  THE MUSIC MEN.   My recent tales of singsongs in the H Blocks have triggered more reminiscences of other such events. Two in particular stand out. Both were after Long Kesh was burned down. That was in October 1974. Following that eventful evening prisoners lived a very primitive shanty-town like existence among the ruins of the Kesh until the new huts were built. After the fighting stopped, the wounded were tended to, and the British Army pulled back we quickly readjusted to living in the ruins of the camp.  Some remnants of burnt huts remained after the fire and that gave shelter of sorts. I was in the internee end. In Cage 2. Some intrepid souls re-plumbed the piping from the demolished wash huts and there was an open air bathing area for those fussy folks who were obsessed by cleanliness like Mr Sheen, one of our older dapper comrades. Someone lit a fire below a tank filled with water and our intrepid plumber - was it Gerry Fitz - the Commander? - fix...

  Celebrating the Easter Rising Last Sunday Irish republicans across Ireland and globally commemorated and celebrated the men and women who rose up against the British Empire and in favour of an Irish Republic, at Easter time 1916. A century later their extraordinary courage is often passed over by some, particularly in the political establishment in Dublin, who occasionally pay lip service to their sacrifice. A few even dismiss it as foolish and a mistake. But to understand the risks they were taking and the immensity of the challenge they faced it is important to remember that at that time the British Empire was the largest in world history. It was the global super power of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Twenty three per cent of the world’s population was held in bondage and it occupied or controlled almost one quarter of the total land mass of the world. It was hugely wealthy through its ruthless exploitation of other people, their land and resources. It had a m...

Celebrating the Easter Rising  On Sunday Irish republicans across Ireland and globally will commemorate and celebrate the men and women who rose up against the British Empire and in favour of an Irish Republic, at Easter time 1916.  A century later their extraordinary courage is often passed over by some, particularly in the political establishment in Dublin, who occasionally pay lip service to their sacrifice. A few even dismiss it as foolish and a mistake.  But to understand the risks they were taking and the immensity of the challenge they faced it is important to remember that at that time the British Empire was the largest in world history. It was the global super power of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Twenty three per cent of the world’s population was held in bondage and it occupied or controlled almost one quarter of the total land mass of the world. It was hugely wealthy through its ruthless exploitation of other people, their land and resources. It...

UDR Declassified by Micheál Smith On 1 April 1970 the Ulster Defence Regiment of the British Army formally took its place in the ranks of the British Army. The UDR was a locally recruited militia established by the British government following its disbandment of the B Specials the previous year. When it too was disbanded 22 years later it had achieved an even greater level of sectarian notoriety than the Specials. Micheál Smith who is an advocacy case worker with the Pat Finucane Centre and who previously worked as a diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, has just published ‘UDR Declassified’ – an account of the British Army Regiment which looks at the “background to the regiment and the traditions from which it was born” … “the experience of those who served in the UDR and acknowledge their losses; we also aim to show the range of illegal, collusive and murderous acts of some if his numbers …” Smith describes the book as being “not a history of the regiment” r...