So here. When should there be an inquest? When it looks as if a death was caused by violence or in suspicious circumstances . That’ll do for a start. So when do you think an inquest should be held – like, how long after the death? Common sense would tell you that it should be held pretty swiftly after the death, while evidence regarding the death is fresh.
The families up at Stormont yesterday are calling for funds to be released so they can have an inquest on the deaths of their loved ones. And when did these loved ones die? During the Troubles. Said Troubles, in case you weren’t counting, more or less officially ended around twenty years ago. So one thing’s for sure: evidence regarding the cause of death in these cases is going to be pretty stale.
But I expect members of the Executive – maybe even the First and Deputy First Minister – were out there like a flash, displaying their support for the families? Ummmm – no, not that I noticed. They do, though, have at least one friend in a high place. The Lord Chief Justice, Declan Morgan, has called for £10 million to be made available for such Legacy cases. And that’s good. Not quite so good is the fact that the First Minister, according to newspaper reports, has blocked the release of such money. Ummmm.
Let me try to put two and two together. The dead people died in violent circumstances during the Troubles. No inquest was held then or has been held since. Would that maybe suggest that people involved in the killings weren’t awfully keen on having their role exposed? And would they have had the support of the authorities, since it’s not just any Jack, Ronnie or Joe that can give the thumbs-up to an inquest. And why has Arlene Foster blocked the money requested by the Lord Chief Justice to assist with inquests now? Ummm. Curiouser and curiouser.
But it looks as if the families have had enough. Their lawyer has said that if the funds for the inquests is not released inside fourteen days, the families will take legal action. Their fire is directed at the Secretary of State, Mr Brokenshire, who is saying “Nothing to do with me, guv – try the Executive”.
What kind of state, faced with people killed violently, doesn’t bother to hold an inquest? What sort of state, about twenty years later, blocks money which might assist the loved ones have their inquests? What will happen now?
Answer as you choose. Personally, I think there are few things like the sharp edge of a legal suit to get people’s minds concentrated. And not a moment before time.
“Let me try to put two and two together. The dead people died in violent circumstances during the Troubles. No inquest was held then or has been held since.”
There was an inquest in 1971.
“What kind of state, faced with people killed violently, doesn’t bother to hold an inquest?”
The state did hold an inquest.
So you believe the families at Stormont were not complaining about the fact that no inquest had been held on their loved ones, MT?
“So you believe the families at Stormont were not complaining about the fact that no inquest had been held on their loved ones, MT?”
I don’t know what they were complaning about, but if it’s an inquest they want it must be a second one. I’d imagine they don’t believe the original inquest was conducted satisfactorily.
But I do know there was an inquest at the time. There’s always an inquest when there are violent deaths and this was no exception .
Thanks for that, MT – that’s very interesting. I was under the impression that no inquests had been held. It seems odd, then, that they should be seeking another so fervently. Btw – I don’t think it’s a question of ‘an inquest’. There are a variety of people involved in the group, so I’d think all of them would want their own inquest. Obviously if there was a mass killing, as in the case of the Ballymurphy families, one sort of group inquest might apply.
Let’s have inquests into every single troubles related murder and let’s get the full information out that seems to be the only fair way forward and added to this if anybody is identified as a killer make them serve time and nobody should be excluded even if they are party leaders.
Odd, all the same, Esteemed Blogmeister, how matters of a legal nature, both general and specific, were also to the fore down here in the Free Southern Stateen in the last few days.
But then, Lady Fair Play has carved out quite a niche for Even Handedness for herself ever since Justitia (for it is she ! ) was first carved as a blindfolded statue, with a sword in one hand and a balance in the other hand. To be unveiled on a pedestal outside those monumental institutions where Statutes (with and to a t) are enacted, and sometimes even, playacted upon (see below).
And on both sides of the Black Sow’s Dyke this very wyke , too.
On Liffeyside, the general was represented by the publication of a gavel-bang-on the-bench book on the history of The Supreme Court while the specific was embodied in a hot issue case held and heard in a district of Dublin District Court.
It is quite a verbal fashion on Liffeyside in these patriotic moments in time, going forward, for the Commentariat to call upon the commonality to, erm, ‘wear the green gansey’.
Sadly, as the newly published history already alluded to (see above) chronicles, when faced with this option back in the tumultuous year of My Lord, 1923, the newly formed Supreme Court of the FSS, opted for another, m’lud.
For, when a sartorial decision (involving both how to dress and also to address) came to be made, they clung to the old die-hard traditions popular in Chambers from chambermaid to Chief Justice himself (and latterly, herself). Faced, as it were, with a choice between, erm, the Wigs and the Green the ermined ones plumped , perhaps even pompously, for the former.
Are there no legal depths which Justice Shallow is incapable of plumbing?
Instead of ditching the black robes and the horse-hair wigs they clasped with a glue-like stickiness with both hands to both as their security blankets: a choice which was, curiously, to play out North of the Black Sow’s Dyke, in latter times as a contest between, erm, Security Forces and Blanket Men.
Thus, on Liffeyside in 1923 , instead of the Wigless being addressed as ‘A Bhreithimh’ (a putative nod to the ancient days of the Brehon Law, so honoured , more in the observance than the breach, by the mere nativists) the Big Wigs in their black gowns continued to be, and to this day still do, addressed as ‘My Lord’.
The tradition of the black robe dates back to the death of King Charles 2 in 1685 when they were first donned as a M.O.R. (Mark of Respect). That was the day, it might be said, that ‘Chucky ar Law’ was first defiantly heard in the dock. We are, in seems, all prisoners of history, not even the horse haired Big Wigs, seemingly, being exempt.
King Charles 2, of course, is still associated with the eponymous spaniel. Fascinating too how the demeanour of the docile spaniel continues to be observed on Liffeyside, where Daniels come to judgement. Thus, is the t-honoured tradish of the bow-wow as well the scrape maintained in rude good health.
If the newly launched book on the Supreme Court represents the general overview, the specific was represented by a not uninteresting case in a district of Dublin District Court.
Students of jurisprudence will have found much to be fascinated by in this particular case.
It concerned the downing of a Dublin dude, the upshot of which was that said dude of the first instance , was given a two month sentence, suspended, having been convicted of ‘a breach of the peace’.
(One suspects, that only for the abolition of the Debt Penalty back in the Fabulous Fifties, involving the paying of the Ultimate Debt to Society, this contemporary Dublin defendant might well have been handed down a, erm, suspended sentence such as the likes of, say, Kevin Barry, might have received).
The guilty party was a slightly built Dublin chap name of Brian Murphy and his ‘breach of the peace’ consisted of being quarterbacked by a burly behemoth by the name of Kevin Vickers. Quarterbacked to the ground in the grounds of Grangegorman on the grounds that by standing up and shouting out ‘This is an insult !’ he was breaching the peace of a peaceful and solemnful historical occasion of the utmost significance. That sorta thingy.
(One knows it was all of the latter because the occasion was graced by the presence of Charlie ‘Je Suis Charles’ Flanagan, who may even have been named for the Royal who gave his name to the eponymous spaniel. And who, in a former existence, was even a, erm, Daniel come to j., not to be confused with Oliver J. or indeed, Oliver C., going even further backwards).
Part of the judgement handed down contained the touching phrase along the lines of ‘ people have a right to honour their dead without being disturbed by breachers of the peace in the bleachers’. That sorta thingy.
In this instance, the Dead being Honoured were the gallant B and T’s, armed with nothing more potent than umpteen G and T’s, Helga Gunboat, Thompson sub-machine guns, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer and, last but far from least, Moral Authority in puttees.
Even while engaged in the peace process of putting down Paddy McUppity and, as RTE reminded us of late, Patricia O’Virago too, in the not so long ago of Nineteen Hundred and Sixteen, as Fat Pat Devlin ( of fond memory ) might have put it.
Even while improving the inelegant architecture of the, erm, Finest Principal Thoroughfare in All of Europe no end , by leaving it look like the gummy mouth of the Crone of Eniscrone. By sacking Sackville Street, Private Alf and Squaddie Syd (including Sherwood Shawn of the King’s Less than the full Shilling Regiment, lest we forget them at the going down of the sun and on Morning Ireland) proved themselves to be the true architects of the Thurible Beauty aka the Free Southern Stateen.
The aptly chosen venue Grangegorman, incidentally, was the Cuckoo’s Nest of Dublin till rather recent times. Thus, this was a case not so much of One flying over the Cuckoo’s Nest but rather One flying through the Cuckoo’s Nest.
(Witness, Kevin Vickers, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Po-lice getting his man, not by plugging this time, but by mounting him, quarterback style).
A diplomat, it is said, is one who is sent abroad to lie for his country. On the evidence of this case Canada is a country which has its own individual take on this chestnut: their diplomats are obviously sent abroad to lay into the nativists for their country.
Kevin Vickers became a household name in 2014 from Ottawa to a Lotta Other Places when, as a security guard who did not believe in remaining as a Sergeant at Arms Length, in the Canadian Dail he ventilated an intruder. By way of recompense, the grateful Government honoured him by his Appointment as the Canadian Ambassador to West Britannia.
Now, as the choice was as wide as the globe itself, including 200 plus countries, give or take, one wondered at the time just why it was the Free Southern Stateen (for it was it !) that was chosen by the Canadians in their wisdom.
(Perhaps, Esteemed Blogmeister, having spent some time ‘deep in Canadian woods’ might have an insight to share?)
Now, there are those whose knowledge of jurisprudence is on the lamentable side of Lanesboro, who will claim that the most serious crime (alleged) committed on that unforgettable day of deranged yet strangely solemn commemoration at Grangegorman was not ‘the breaching of the peace’ but rather of ‘the impersonation of a Garda Siochana’.
Be that as it may not be, (Theresa-speak) , the good news on the streets of Dublin, currently being barked in muted tones by the resident mutts, is that one of the great impersonators of our times will, after he sheds the trappings of his current career, be offered a permanent residency at the home of comedy on Liffeyside:
-Kevin Vickers at Vicar Street !
The gushy phrase from the case under discush in the Dubwhich shall continue to reverberate, and justifiably so, is ‘how people have the right to commemorate the dead without fear of interruption’. Quite so.
To conclude: one Irish mile away from Grangregorman (as the carrion crow flies Ryanair) is located another theatre of the absurd, called (gulp ) Amharclann na Mainistrach /the Abbey.
If the melodramatic scene at the first venue and referenced above clocked in at just under two minutes, another melodramatic work is currently clocking in at just under (gasp) two months.
-Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Huns, from August to September .
This is the Official (rather) icing on the commemorative cake of the Free Southern Stateen, sanctioned by the (after a fashion) Government, bankrolled by the Arts Council, and not insignificantly, perhaps, imprimatured by (genuflect) The Unionist Times.
Blessedly, this seemingly endless run of Somme Enchanted Evenings has been commemorating our dead without disturbance, diplomatic or otherwise. That this is unsurprising can be gauged by the sheer, uber-Shakespearean texture of the text which has truly gobsmacked the awestruck auditorium of packed audience into a silence which if not exactly golden is surely of a conciliatory orange glow:
McIlwaine:
-Did you hear about this boy Pearse? The boy who took over a post office because he was short of a few stamps.
Millen:
-He did more than take over a post office, the bastard. Shot down our men until he got what he was looking for.
McIlwaine:
– Let me finish. He was a Fenian, wasn’t he. No soldier. He took over this big post office in Dublin, kicks all the wee girls serving behind the big counter out on to the streets. When the place is empty, him and his merry men all carrying wooden rifles land outside on the street. Your man read the proclamation of an Irish republic. The Irish couldn’t spell republic, let alone proclaim it. Then he’s caught, him and all hands in gaol. He starts to cry, saying he has a widowed mother and he had led the only other brother astray. Anyway, he didn’’t plan to take over this post office. He walked in to post a letter and got carried away and thought it was Christmas. Nobody believes him. They’re leading him out to be shot. He’s supposed to see the widowed ma in the crowd. He looks at her and says, pray for me, mother. The ma looks back at him, looks at the Tommy, he’s guarding Pearse, the old one grabs the Tommy’s rifle. She shoots Pease herself. She turns to the Tommy and she says, ‘That’ll learn him, the cheeky pup. Going about robbing post offices. Honest to God, I’m affronted’ So you see, Fenians can’t fight. Not unless they’re in a post office or a bakery of woman’s shop. Disgrace to their sex, the whole bastardin lot of them, I say.
(It is fairly reliably reported that Charlie ‘Je suis Charles’ Flanagarn, he who is cursed with a Comedian’s face and blessed with a Humour deficit, was moved to crack the hint of a ghost of a smile during this unforgettable passage, even if it was only on his nineteenth night of attendance).
As J. Millingon Synge might well have sung:
-Frank McGuinness, Master of Arts, the Playboy of the Nor’ by Nor’ Western World, do be putting in some shift, so he do.
PS: At which Theatre of the Absurd, was the greater breeches of the peace dropped?
Judge for yourself, oh Good and Faithful Reader.
Be your own Judge, Jury, tipstaff, tealady and carpark attendant.
Look how long it took the families of Hillsborough victims to get an inquest. There is also an ongoing Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign seeking a public inquiry into police brutality during the miner’s strike. The British state and its agents (army/police/intelligence agencies) have considerable form in their efforts to cover up their more nefarious activities. See also Kincora.
Forgive my cynicism, but I doubt we’ll ever get to the truth behind the violence, murder, collusion and cover up perpetrated by the British state in Ireland. In the meantime look! Over there! It’s Gerry Adams!
“See also Kincora.”
Kincorra was used as a paedophile’s brothel, quite literally. What those poor children went through is beyond imagination, just sheer evil went on there and many of Kincorras survivors are haunted by what they went through to this very day. One victim in particular, Richard Kerr, is someone who I will never forget. I watched the Australian Documentary (available on youtube) where Kerr talks about how senior British officials, such as MP’s and members of MI6, molested him as a child and countless others. Kerr’s eyes shows the torment still going on in his mind. He spoke of how British officials were protected from the Law by the Law itself to this day. Now, doesn’t that sound familiar?…..
Its been said that many Unionist politicians and Loyalist paramilitaries sexually abused children at Kincorra. Prominent Orange men were also involved. Paisley was accused by a woman in his church of refusing to intervene when she informed him of the abuse, she said she told him 7 different times. The RUC were accused of turning a blind eye (which they obviously did) and there’s been accusations senior RUC men were involved at Kincorra too.
But MI5 was said to have deliberately blackmailed those who abused kids at Kincorra, they gave the abusers the option: work for us or be exposed and sent to prison. Red Hand Commando founder John McKeague abused kids at Kincorra and was blackmailed. He was ready to admit what MI5 was up to but was killed by the INLA before he could, which I’m sure was no coincidence.
“Forgive my cynicism, but I doubt we’ll ever get to the truth behind the violence, murder, collusion and cover up perpetrated by the British state in Ireland”
That’s what the British State wants you to believe. The reality is very different. We definitely need a change of tactic, sitting back and thinking they will just open up the files wont work. We need to protest in public and apply as much political/legal power as possible. The truth always comes out.
What kind of a state are we living in? Ian Cobain’s work poses a similar question given the “forced disclosure of a migrated archive hidden at Hanslope Park” on Britain’s former colonies. The carefully constructed narrative about the British Empire continues to unravel given evidence of water-boarding, rape, castration, death, with some burned to death. The author states:
“Operation Legacy allowed the British to nurture a memory of Empire that was deeply deceptive – a collective confabulation of an imperial mission that had brought nothing but progress and good order to a previously savage world…”
The term “Operation Legacy” was designed to ensure that imprisonment, cruelty, torture and death would come to be regarded as:
“the British way of doing things… recalled with fondness and respect, and that the retreat should be recorded as a dignified affair.”
Some sources in the media may wish to engage in subtle forms of censorship in order to create an information vacuum on legacy issues in Ireland. Families however, like nature, abhor a vacuum.
“And why has Arlene Foster blocked the money requested by the Lord Chief Justice to assist with inquests now? Ummm. Curiouser and curiouser.”
Exactly, why HAS Arlene blocked the money for inquests? The so called whiter than white DUP blocking money to victims, who would have thought it? There’s me thinking Ulster Resistance was as bad as it got, though the DUP still refuse to apologize for the weapons imported by Ulster Resistance that was used in the murders of over 100 Catholics and ended up in the UDA’s stockpiles. But why has the DUP did this? Does this have something to do with the dinner certain DUP representatives had at Number 10 Downing last year with Davie Cameron? Did Davie make the DUP feel more British than the British and they both struck a deal on certain things? It doesn’t take a genius to work out the answer to that.
“But it looks as if the families have had enough. Their lawyer has said that if the funds for the inquests is not released inside fourteen days, the families will take legal action”
Its about time. Everyone knows the current tactic by the British State is to delay investigations for as long as possible and to even underfund them. They have so much to hide. Sitting around and expecting the British State to play fair and do the decent thing hasn’t worked over the past 2 decades. Its time for action. This should come in the form of protests and legal action. There should be protests right at the door step of the British State in London. They are protecting British soldiers who murdered innocent people and they should face trial like any other person should.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP need to do more to help the victims and their families. The DUP just cant be allowed to block cash for inquests, just like they blocked the Irish Language Act (despite previously agreeing to it in 2006) and other things. There needs to be consequences for their sectarian acts. It needs nipped in the bud.
PS: Kyle Paisley was in the news today, he has cancelled a reconciliation meeting with Eugene Reavey. Why? Well Kyle said its been portrayed as if he was going to apologize for his fathers unfounded accusations that Reavey was behind the Kingsmills massacre. Kyle has said he could not and WOULD NOT apologize on behalf of his father. Wow. Imagine that, refusing to apologize for accusing a man who had his 3 brothers murdered of committing a massacre, even though he’s been cleared of any wrong doing. Even the RUC said there wasn’t a shred of evidence against Mr Reavey. But yet we know a certain UDR member framed Mr Reavey, in order to blacken his family and “justify” the sectarian murders of his 3 brothers. I don’t know who that individual is but If I had to guess I would hazard its a certain individual who has a grudge against Mr Reavey and who makes nutty videos and, by the looks of it, cuts his own hair with garden shears…..