The Sinn Fein team going into City Hall. Lily Fitzsimons is flanked by Alex Maskey, Tish Holland, Sean McKight, ,
Fra McCann is hiding behind Alex; Paddy McManus, Joe O'Donnell, Sean Keenan, Mick Conlon and Joe Austin
Former west
Belfast MP and Party President Gerry Adams has expressed his deep sorrow at the
death of Lily Fitzsimons.
He said: “I want to extend my
deepest condolences and solidarity to the family of my friend and comrade Lily
Fitzsimons.
Like many other residents of Turf Lodge Lily was originally from North
Belfast where she was born in 1937. After she married she moved to Turf Lodge.
Lily’s politics were shaped by her family, her
community, her class, her gender and her life experience. She was inspired by
Máire Drumm and Marie Moore and the hundreds of women who daily challenged the
actions of the RUC and British Army. In July 1970 she was one of thousands of
women, led by Máire and Marie, who broke the British Army’s curfew of the
Falls.
She was a strong immensely
able woman. She was a key activist in the Political Status campaign in the
1970s and during the subsequent Hunger Strikes when her son Sean was on the Blanket
Protest. Lily, along with many other Turf Lodge
mothers, sisters and wives took to the streets to highlight the conditions
under which republican POWs were being held. She travelled widely to Britain
and the USA to highlight the appalling conditions in the H-Blocks and Armagh
Women’s Prison.
The Relatives Action Committees took over buildings and blocked
streets and when the British Army and RUC were sent in to beat them off the
streets, the women faced them down.
Lily said of that time: “We
endured a lot of harassment and threats from the British Army and RUC during
these times, but instead of intimidating us, it made us all the more determined
to carry on.''
In 1985 Lily was elected for the Upper Falls as a
Belfast City Councillor along with Alex Maskey, Sean McKnight, Bobby Lavery,
Sean Keenan, Gerard McGuigan and Tish Holland.
It sparked a vicious campaign by unionist
Councillors to deny Sinn Fein representatives any real say in the running of
the council. Lily and her 6 comrades ran a daily gauntlet of physical and verbal
threats and abuse. They were denied speaking rights in the Chamber. They were
shouted down. Deodorant and other sprays were used against them.
Lilly and Tish were especially targeted by some of
the largely male unionist Councillors. But they never backed down. They fought
their corner and represented those who elected them. Today Belfast City Hall is
a different place because of the resilience of Lily, Tish and their comrades.
Lily was hugely
respected and loved. She stood strong in defence of her community at a time
when Sinn Fein Councillors and activists and families were being attacked by
unionist death squads. Three Sinn Fein Councillors and 14 party activists were
killed during the time she was a Councillor. Family members were also killed
when homes were attacked.
Lily loved Turf Lodge and the people of west
Belfast. She believed passionately in the rights of citizens and she brought
that passion to all of her work.
She was an unapologetic
united Irelander. A
woman of compassion – who believed in equality and in citizens’ rights.
Lily was also a wife, a mother, a grandmother. She
was a writer who wrote insightfully of the role of women in the struggle. And
she was a great singer whose party piece was Crazy by Patsy Cline.
I want to extend my condolences to Sean, Bobby, Margo, Gerard and the
wider family circle.
No comments:
Post a Comment