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Image of Commercial Court given to Gerry by Fr. Des Wilson
The Duke
of York
The recent cold snap and the sniffles of many of
my associates reminded me of when I was a young curate in The Duke of York pub
in Commercial Court in Belfast in the mid 1960s. In those days a hot whiskey
was the cure for colds of all kinds. In the Dukes a ‘Hot Coleraine’ was the
much prized preference of hot whiskey drinkers whether they had a cold or not.
But in the winter it was regularly utilised to see off the ravages of
Belfast chills for all and sundry.
The Coleraine
Distillery was located in the town of Coleraine. Distilling had been going on
in Ireland since the seventeenth century. The distillery was converted from an
old mill in 1820. In 1845 it was the whiskey of choice of the London House
of Commons, so “HC” was put on the labels of its bottles. Coleraine was
reputed to be one of the most meticulous distilleries ever. No whiskey was
bottled under 10 years old.
The distillery was eventually bought
out by Bushmills and production
continued until 1978. Coleraine Whiskey is still available today courtesy
of Irish Distilleries.
Coleraine was not the only commodity sold by us in the
Dukes’ for the pleasure of
those who were fond of a wee drink. And this column is not an
encouragement to drink. It can be a curse if not contained. Moderation is the
watchword. The Duke of York prided
itself on the moderation of its customers and its stock of fine liquor. This
included liqueurs with fine flavours, from coffee to almond to lemon, orange or mint. Some were used for medicinal purposes or
as ‘a hair of the dog’. That’s a very important medicine . It saved many lives. Otherwise these potions were part
of little concoctions constructed purely to tickle taste
buds and liberate
the imagination. Alongside fine brandies
and rums,there was tequila and other rarer alcohol. From real Russian
vodka imported from the USSR by our intrepid boss wee Jimmy Keaveney, to
draught Barley Wine. Barley Wine is actually a beer. Draught Barley Wine
is so strong customers were limited to carefully rationed servings.
The Dukes was a great place to work in. Its clientele
included many journalists from The Newsletter, including Ralph ‘Bud’ Bossence, Kay and
Jimmy Kennedy, Mervyn Pauley, Jack Midgley
and Hammie Hamilton. Trade Union officials,
Labour Party and Communist Party stalwarts like Betty Sinclair,
Jimmy Stewart and Edwina Stewart, Derek Peters who later helped found NICRA
were regulars. Liam McMillian, Proinsias Mc Airt, Jim Hargey - republican
activists - were less regular visitors and also founders of NICRA.
They rubbed shoulders with writers and broadcasters like
Sam Hanna Bell, John Morrow and
Davy Hammond. Other singers like Jackie Fallis, Dave Scott, Terry Brown, and musicans included Leslie Bingham and Brian Lavery. Ted Furey played for us one time.
Mrs Keaveny ruled the roost with her daughter from their rooms above the
Dukes. Their
son and brother wee Jimmy Keaveney was the boss downstairs. The Dukes, unusually in those days,
served food during the day. Mostly soup and sandwiches. But great soup and
super sandwiches.
We also served coffee. My first taste of real coffee – with freshly
ground beans was in the Dukes. Jimmy Keaveny taught
me how to make Irish Coffees. We
also bottled our own Guinness. Many pubs did that. Draught Guinness was porter
slowly drawn from firkins.
Which brings me back to Hot Coleraines. Jimmy Keaveney used sugar. I use
honey. Here is my receipe. Put a
tea spoon in a suitable glass. Heat
the glass with boiling water. Discard this water but keep the
teaspoon in the glass. Then add
a good go of Coleraine whiskey and top it up
with more boiling water. Ditto with the cloves,
lemon and honey. But do not stir. Leave
that pleasure to the drinker as s/he savours the healing vapours of this
elixir. Sip. Enjoy.
Sláinte
Bloody Sunday
Last Monday – 30 January
- was the anniversary 51 years ago of the deliberate murder of 14 Derry civil
rights marchers by the British Parachute Regiment in Derry.
Following Bloody Sunday
the British Widgery Inquiry blamed the organizers
of the march, the victims and the IRA. Widgery accused the dead of being
‘gunmen and bombers’. According to the British the actions of the Paras actions
were legal.
Martin
McGuinness and I were in Guildhall Square in Derry when the Saville report was
finally published in June 2010. It established that the victims were all
innocent and was a vindication for the families who had campaigned for so long.
It also concluded that the organizers of the march were not to blame for what
happened. Saville acknowledged that British soldiers fired the first shot and
continued firing without any provocation. He dismissed any suggestion that
soldiers acted out of panic or fear or confusion. Their actions were
“unjustified and unjustifiable”.
But Saville’s conclusions are not the end of the matter. It is clear that the report tries very hard to limit blame for what happened to the soldiers on the ground who carried out the killings. That is a fault. So too is the effort of the British government to deny families access to justice.
51 years later and the Bloody Sunday families
are still campaigning. I want to commend their courage and resilience. I
support the proposal from Colm Eastwood for them to be awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Cllr JJ Magee with new Citizens' Assembly billboard
Establish a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity
In recent weeks some
readers will have seen billboards calling on the Irish government to establish
a Citizen’s Assembly on Irish Unity. Thousands of leaflets have also been
produced.
This campaign is a
natural consequence of the Good Friday Agreement which is 25 years old this
year. The Agreement affords the people of the island of Ireland the democratic
opportunity to decide through referendums North and South if they wish to end
the union with Britain or establish a united Ireland. For the first time since
partition there us a peaceful and democratic route to ending the union with
Britain.
Four decades ago when
republicans set our sights on a peace process there were those who said it was
impossible. But it happened. There were those said that an agreement was
impossible. They were wrong. There are those today who say that unity is impossible.
They also are wrong. Unity will happen by united Irelanders staying united,
cohesive, strategic and active. By us reaching out to others. By those who want
unity working intelligently and winning people, including northern Protestants
and others, over to the potential of Irish unity.
The Citizens’ Assembly
is a key step in this process of persuasion. It is an important mechanism for
democratising the debate on the future. In the last decade Irish governments
have held several successful Citizens’ Assemblies. These helped deliver
marriage equality and the repeal of the 8th amendment. The reality is
that the Irish government is against the unity referendums and consequently has
rejected the Citizen’s Assembly proposal at this time.
The establishment of a
Citizens’ Assembly is of crucial importance in preparing the way for the unity
referendums. It will deliberate on the integration of public services; the
all-island economy; culture, rights and identity, and the shape and form of new
democratic institutions.
West Tyrone MP Órfhliath Begley
The public debate around ending partition and achieving Irish unity is now mainstream and one of the most important discussions in our society at this time. A Citizens’ Assembly is the democratic exercise of the right of citizens to have their say on their future. Professor Brendon O’Leary, in his recent book ‘Making Sense of a United Ireland’ writes; “The need to prepare for the possibility of reunification affects all on this island and it affects our diasporas. This book is a call for effective preparation, accurate information and informed judgements. How will reunification happen – if it does? And how should it happen, so it can happen as well as possible.” Professor O’Leary is right. The Irish government needs to plan for the future not ignore it.
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