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John Joe McGirl – an unbreakable Fenian
In the course of almost 60 years of activism I have
been very lucky to meet many wonderful, committed, compassionate republicans.
On Saturday, in Ballinamore in County Leitrim, Republicans from Leitrim and
beyond will gather to celebrate the life of one of these – John Joe McGirl. The
annual John Joe McGirl commemoration is one of the highlights of the
Ballinamore Festival Week and the participants will walk from John McGahern
Square to the monument to John Joe opposite Amharclann an Oileáin (the Island Theatre).
The monument was designed by Robert Ballagh.
For
many of my generation John Joe was an inspiration – a legend. I first met
him in the late 1960s. I was in my late teens. I had travelled by bus from
Belfast to Enniskillen one Friday evening and then hitch-hiked to Ballinamore.
I slept in a field in my trusty sleeping bag and I landed in Ballinamore on a
Saturday morning.
John
Joe brought me to Sliabh an Iarainn, to Lough Allen and to Drumshambo. The coal
miners in Arigna were on strike and we attended one of their meetings. John Joe
was deeply committed to transforming the lives of ordinary citizens burdened by
poverty and deprivation; and his concern for rural Ireland, and for the tens of
thousands forced to emigrate, helped to shape my own politics.
He
connected the national and the local – a lesson I have never forgotten. Before
anyone else he understood the importance of the restoration of our inland
waterways. He was a champion of education and a great suppkrter of libraries.
He was also a strong gaeilgeoir. And like me a faithful and hopeful supporter
of our respective country teams.
I also met Bridie, John Joe’s wife. They had
married in 1951 and had five children Liam, Áine, Cait, Feargal and Nuala.
Given the frequency of John Joe’s periods in prison Bridie did a great job of
rearing the children.
As
well as being Vice President of Sinn Féin, a former POW and a TD and a
republican activist for decades, John Joe also had a long connection with
Belfast. He had the distinction of being in two different prisons when both
were set on fire by Republican POWs. The first time was in the notorious
Curragh in December 1940 where he was savagely beaten. The second time was Long
Kesh in 1974. John Joe had travelled to Belfast at Easter 1974 to give the
Easter Commemoration speech. The Brits thought he was Seamus Twomey and he was
arrested. When they discovered their mistake John Joe was sent to the internee
end of the Long Kesh camp.
When
he arrived all us internees thought – poor oul John Joe – we all felt so sorry
for him. But there was no sadness or despair in John Joe. He had been down this
road so many times before. Later in October that year the republican POWs
burned Long Kesh to the ground. There was a fierce series of running battles
through the night and the following morning in different parts of the camp
between the Republican POWs and the British Army. In the midst of this John Joe
was hit in the face by a rubber bullet. If my recollection is right his jaw was
fractured. As flames licked around the watch-towers I made my way to John Joe
and asked how he was. His response – “I’m alright as long as you people
are alright”.
Speaking
later about his time in Long Kesh John Joe said:“I spent nine months there…I
saw young men fight hand to hand with British soldiers. I know what it means to
be kicked, beaten, gassed, made to sleep in a blanket under a sheet of iron in
the month of October. I was glad to join this new generation in writing their
chapter in the fight for independence. I am proud to say of them – that no
generation has produced braver or better”.
John
Joe’s entire adult life was a reflection of the years of republican struggle
through the 1930s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Five decades of selfless
commitment to the struggle for Irish freedom and independence. He was the ‘unbreakable
Fenian’, the ‘gentle soldier’.
During
the 1981 hunger strike John Joe travelled the length and breadth of the state
rallying support for the hunger strikers. In the June 1981 general election
Ciaran Doherty and Paddy Agnew were elected as TDs. Joe McDonnell came close to
taking a seat in Sligo Leitrim. Despite the risk of arrest John Joe attended
his funeral in Belfast. He gave the oration at Joe’s graveside in Milltown. He
said: “Joe McDonnell died rather than debase the cause he served,
rather than live with the forced tag of criminality on him… We will build Joe
McDonnell a memorial… that will be the freedom and the unity of the Irish
people.”
In
1986 John Joe seconded the motion calling for an end to the abstentionist
policy towards Leinster House. As a former abstentionist TD it was a big
decision for him to take. It was for him a necessary step if, in his
words, “we are not going to hand down this struggle to another
generation”.
Martin
McGuinness like me loved John Joe. In a tribute to him Martin described John
Joe as a “progressive thinker, always prepared to consider, support and
propose new ways for the Republican Movement to advance. He wasn’t prepared to
stand still or hold to old outdated tactics which were incapable of developing
the struggle on all fronts… He was an extraordinary man, an inspiration to
everyone who knew him. We treasure his memory”.
Ailbe Smyth with Colin Harvey
A
master class on campaigning
Féile
an Phobail was a resounding success and in particular it provided a wonderful
range of debates and conversations on the many issues surrounding
constitutional change. Well done to Harry and Kevin, Sam and all the Féile
team. Maith sibh. The quality of the debates was excellent. All were packed
out. The breadth of speakers – academics, journalists, political and community
activists, sports people, - and the many shades of opinion, including a greater
number than before of people from the broadly cultural Unionist/Protestant
tradition, was uplifting.
Among
these was a hugely informative conversation between human rights lawyer Colin
Harvey and Ailbhe Smyth, a well known and highly respected campaigner
on many social justice campaigns. Ailbhe was a key player in the successful
Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment and was co-director of
Together for Yes in 2018. She told of one of her first decisions to take a
stand in 1973. At that time she was a young academic in University College
Dublin. When she got married in early 1973 UCD told her to leave. At that time
there was a bar on married women joining the civil service and if a woman
married she had to resign. Ailbhe refused to leave. In June of that year new
legislation was introduced to lift the bar. Ailbhe stood her ground and won.
Colin
and Ailbhe’s discussion centred on the role of Citizens’ Assemblies in
creating change and the risks and opportunities such Assemblies can present.
Colin reminded us that there is a “huge political transformation taking place across
this island. And people across all sections of society are increasingly getting
involved in the conversation on our constitutional future.”
It
was a master class from Ailbhe on how to run a campaign. The importance of
being inclusive, of strategising, the need to build alliances, the use of
language in messaging, the framing of the campaign and the managing and nuts
and bolts of creating a cohesive multi-layered organisation.
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