Say Nothing
Page 48
In the autumn of 1976, the republican prisoners rebelled: Tim Pat Coogan, On the Blanket: The Inside Story of the IRA Prisoners’ ‘Dirty’ Protest (New York: Palgrave, 2002), pp.93–94.
‘Brand Ireland’s fight’: Francie Brolly, ‘The H-Block Song’.
‘special category’ status: Coogan, On the Blanket, p.93.
grinding game of mutual escalation: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.17.
refusing to leave their cells at all: This phase was known as the ‘no-wash’ protest. English, Armed Struggle, p.191; Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.27; O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, p.21.
blossomed into the ‘dirty protest’: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.17; ‘Rebels Refuse to Use Toilets in Ulster Jail’, Reuters, 25 April 1978.
Daub it on the walls: Taylor, Behind the Mask, p.257.
Hughes and his men were naked and filthy: Ibid., p.258.
But even placing a protesting inmate: McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, p.140.
Though Gerry Adams was no longer: H-BC.
He succeeded in reorganising: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, pp.159–60.
‘We cannot build a republic’: ‘Ballybofey Republican Reunion’, The Irish People, 10 May 1980.
In August 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten: ‘IRA Bombs Kill Mountbatten and 17 Soldiers’, Guardian, 28 August 1979.
When she was a girl in the East Midlands: Margaret Thatcher, The Path to Power (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), pp.31–32.
Her closest adviser on Northern Ireland was Airey Neave: ‘The Airey Neave File’, Independent, 22 February 2002.
‘So, it’s like the Sudetenland’: This is per the accounts of Sir David Goodall and Michael Lillis in ‘Thatcher and the IRA: Dealing with Terror’, documentary (BBC, 2014).
On 30 March 1979, Airey Neave was driving: ‘Neave’s Assassins Linked with North Political Killings’, Irish Times, 2 April 1979.
after learning the news, a stricken Thatcher: ‘Commons Car Bomber Assassinates Neave’, Guardian, 31 March 1979.
several hundred men were participating in the dirty protest: ‘A Look at Ulster’s Maze and the “Men on the Blanket”’, Associated Press, 16 March 1979.
‘going against your whole socialisation’: Taylor, Behind the Mask, p.258.
As if tensions with the screws were not high enough: Ibid., p.254.
When the secretary of state for Northern Ireland: Ibid., p.253.
‘There is no such thing as political murder’: Margaret Thatcher speech in Belfast, 5 March 1981.
‘Crime is crime is crime’: Margaret Thatcher remarks at a press conference in Riyadh, 21 April 1981.
In the autumn of 1980, Brendan Hughes answered: Peter Taylor, who interviewed Hughes extensively, put the number at 170 (Taylor, Behind the Mask, p.270); in his Boston College oral history, Hughes says it was ‘over ninety’.
They would be led by Hughes: ‘Hunger Strike Begins’, The Irish People, 1 November 1980.
The prison doctor: H-BC.
Because all seven men had embarked: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.28.
One of the younger strikers: ‘Don’t Let Them Die!’ The Irish People, 8 November 1980.
McKenna grew more fearful: ‘Hunger Striker Fights for Eyesight’, Irish Republican News, 20 October 2006.
McKenna started lapsing: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.206.
He saw two priests standing with Dr Ross: H-BC.
Hughes could smell: Ibid.
Finally, he shouted, ‘Feed him!’: Ibid.
A doctor instructed the orderlies: ‘Hunger Striker Fights for Eyesight’, Irish Republican News, 20 October 2006.
But he felt deeply ashamed: O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, p.35.
This time they would stagger the strikers: H-BC.
Chapter 16: A Clockwork Doll
Prior to the Troubles: Raymond Murray, Hard Time: Armagh Gaol 1971–1986 (Dublin: Mercier Press, 1998), p.7.
But during the 1970s: Margaretta D’Arcy, Tell Them Everything (London: Pluto Press, 1981), p.11.
‘a python in a paper bag’: ‘Terror Sisters Flown Out’, Daily Express, 19 March 1975.
WELCOME HOME DOLOURS AND MARIAN: Price, ‘Brixton, Durham and Armagh Gaol, 1973’, in Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.134.
‘Is it them?’: Ibid., p.135.
‘like two film stars’: Recollection of Geraldine McCann, in Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.48.
She was reputed: Recollection of Kathleen McKinney, in Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.142.
They would hang back: Recollection of Dolours Price in Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.135.
She hadn’t tasted: Ibid., p.135.
In March 1975, they were granted: ‘Special Status for Sisters Expected’, Irish Times, 20 March 1975.
They were allowed to wear their own clothes: Ibid.
The space was set up like a suite: Coogan, On the Blanket, pp.236–37.
The head screw: Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.135.
Security was much less tight: Ibid., p.135.
Dolours would paint, and write letters: Coogan, On the Blanket, p.236.
able to take correspondence courses: Dolours Price to Fenner Brockway, 29 September 1977 (Brockway Papers, Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cambridge).
They made handicrafts: Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.144. On such handicrafts, see Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, ‘The Art of War: A Troubles Archive Essay’, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 2009.
Dolours did leatherwork: Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.136.
the sight of a ‘small parcel from N. Ireland’: Dolours Price to Fenner Brockway, 29 October 1977 (Brockway Papers).
Someone would lead them: Brady et al., Footsteps of Anne, p.216.
To Dolours, Armagh jail felt like: Ibid., p.136.
Dolours began to fixate: Ibid., p.136.
Some of the women: Murray, Hard Time, p.11.
‘Things started going a bit askew’: P-TKT.
In February 1978, the IRA: ‘La Mon Bomb Produced Ball of Fire 60 Feet in Diameter’, Irish Times, 26 July 1978.
‘Am I here because I want to incinerate people?’: P-TKT.
‘a freelance republican’: Dolours Price, ‘Bun Fights & Good Salaries’, The Blanket, 27 March 2007.
‘Dolours, like her sister Marian’: Fenner Brockway to Humphrey Atkins, 27 June 1980 (Brockway Papers).
200 ‘We didn’t ever have a normal relationship’: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, RTÉ Radio.
Several other women in the facility: ‘Mystery of the Four Who Got Away’, Daily Express, 24 April 1981.
A confidential government assessment: ‘The Release of Marian Price’, memorandum enclosed in a letter from R. A. Harrington, of the Northern Ireland Office, to Michael Alexander, of Downing Street, May 1980 (no exact date specified) (National Archives, Kew).
On 30 April 1980, Marian was released from jail: Ibid.
A government spokesman said: ‘Marion Price Set Free’, The Irish Times, 1 May 1980.
On 1 May, she checked out of the hospital: ‘The Release of Marian Price’.
engineered a velvet prison break: ‘Mystery of the Four Who Got Away’, Daily Express, 24 April 1981.
‘like I’d been separated from my Siamese twin’: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, RTÉ Radio.
But when Sands was seven years old: O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, pp.36–37, 44–45; Beresford, Ten Men Dead, pp.41–42.
On 1 March 1981, he stopped eating: O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, p.3.
His last morsel: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.57.
‘I am standing on the threshold’: Ibid., pp.62–63.
‘Faced with the failure of their discredited cause’: McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, p.146.
But four days after Sands commenced: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, pp.69–72.
If Sands were to win: Ibid., pp.72–73.
This gambit marked: McKearney
, Provisional IRA, pp.149–50.
This had been part of the basis: Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.198.
‘when Sinn Féin will be a power’: ‘Sinn Féin Vice-President Gerry Adams’, The Irish People, 27 November 1982.
‘ballot paper in one hand and an Armalite in the other’: Coogan, The Troubles, p.282; Moloney, Secret History of the IRA, p.202.
On 10 April 1981, Bobby Sands: ‘Sands Election a Propaganda Win for Hunger Strike’, Irish Times, 11 April 1981.
On 25 April, she spoke with Humphrey Atkins: ‘Prime Minister’s Telephone Conversation with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on Saturday Evening, 25 April 1981’, Prime Minister’s Office Records (National Archives, Kew).
But since Marian had left: Dolours Price interview in The Chaplain’s Diary, RTÉ Radio.
she swallowed a dozen sleeping pills: Unsigned letter from the Northern Ireland Office to Fenner Brockway, 17 June 1980 (Brockway Papers).
As her thirtieth birthday approached: Dolours Price to Fenner Brockway, dated ‘20 Somethingth October, 1980’ (Brockway Papers).
Marian Price had visited Dolours: M. W. Hopkins (Northern Ireland Office) letter to Michael Alexander (10 Downing Street), 2 November 1980 (National Archives, Kew).
When she prepared to leave: Dolours Price to Fenner Brockway, dated ‘20 Somethingth October, 1980’ (Brockway Papers).
‘I will have served eight years in March’: Ibid.
‘become convinced that violence is wrong’: Fenner Brockway to Margaret Thatcher, 25 October 1980 (Brockway Papers).
Brockway may have been a bit: Margaret Thatcher to Fenner Brockway, 11 November 1980 (Brockway Papers).
‘That itself must be disturbing for a twin’: Margaret Thatcher handwriting on Fenner Brockway letter to Margaret Thatcher, 25 October 1980 (Brockway Papers).
‘counteracted the effects of the disease’: Coogan, On the Blanket, pp.236–37.
On 3 April 1981: Tomás Ó Fiaich to Margaret Thatcher, 3 April 1981.
‘Miss Price’s condition will continue to be very closely watched’: Margaret Thatcher to Tomás Ó Fiaich, 13 April 1981 (National Archives, Kew).
In mid-April, Price was rushed: M. W. Hopkins to Michael Alexander, 10 April 1981 (National Archives, Kew).
Street fights were raging: ‘Worst Violence in Eight Nights Hits Northern Ireland’, Associated Press, 23 April 1981.
Every day, people in the hospital: Dolours Price, ‘Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
On 5 May 1981, Bobby Sands died: O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, p.3.
‘a greater international impact than’: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.297.
One hundred thousand people: Beresford, Ten Men Dead, p.103.
‘It was a choice his organisation’: Taylor, Behind the Mask, p.283; McKittrick and McVea, Making Sense of the Troubles, p.144.
But while the world focused: ‘Price Release Sparks Protest’, Irish Times, 23 April 1981.
For years afterwards, Price: Dolours Price, ‘Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
After Sands died, another nine followed: O’Malley, Biting at the Grave, p.64.
‘Once the British Medical Council refused to “force-feed”: Dolours Price, ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
World Medical Association had issued: Steven H. Miles and Alfred M. Freedman, ‘Medical Ethics and Torture: Revisiting the Declaration of Tokyo’, Lancet, vol. 373, no. 9660 (January 2009).
Roy Jenkins announced that hunger strikers: For a close examination of the dynamics that prompted this shift in policy, see Miller, History of Force Feeding, chap. 7. Also see ‘Why H-Block Hunger Strikers Were Not Force Fed’, Irish Times, 5 July 2016.
By triumphing in the particular manner: Dolours Price, ‘Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
Chapter 17: Field Day
Ian Paisley … described: ‘Fury As IRA Terror Girl Goes Free’, Daily Express, 23 April 1981; ‘“She Should Be Left to Rot”’, Daily Mail, 23 April 1981.
‘taken for a sucker’: ‘Price Release Sparks Protest’, Irish Times, 23 April 1981; ‘IRA “Trick” Freed Bomb Girl’, Daily Star, 23 April 1981.
Years later, Dolours would: Dolours Price, ‘Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome’, The Blanket, 29 June 2006.
Technically, she was released ‘on licence’: M. W. Hopkins (Northern Ireland Office) to Michael Alexander (10 Downing Street), 31 July 1981 (National Archives, Kew).
But several months after her release: Clive Whitmore, principal private secretary, Downing Street, to M. W. Hopkins, Northern Ireland Office, 3 August 1981 (National Archives, Kew).
she published a story: Dolours Price, ‘Mind Over Matter Can Lead to Death’, Irish Press, 6 December 1982.
Reports from this surveillance: Derek Hill (Northern Ireland Office) to William Rickett (Downing Street), 2 February 1983 (National Archives, Kew).
In fact, one intelligence report: ‘Dolours Price/Rea’, memo marked ‘Secret’, prepared by M.W. Hopkins, 24 October 1984 (National Archives, Kew).
working on a book about her experience in Brixton: ‘The Saturday Column’, Irish Times, 20 November 1982.
But she managed to publish an excerpt: Interview with Eamonn McCann; Price, ‘Afraid of the Dark’, p.10.
Price reconnected with Stephen Rea: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
He would avert his eyes: ‘Wolf Wistful; Janet Watts Meets Stephen Rea’, Guardian, 3 February 1977.
Rea had grown up: ‘Fame, Family & Field Day’, Belfast Telegraph, 6 December 2006.
‘I grew up in a mixed area’: ‘Stephen Rea: “I Never Wanted to Be a Polite Actor”’, Telegraph, 25 March 2016.
In a children’s production: ‘Wolf Wistful; Janet Watts Meets Stephen Rea’, Guardian, 3 February 1977.
He loved the city but felt: Ibid.
After half a century of repression: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
Rea ended up living in West Belfast: Ronan Bennett, ‘Don’t Mention the War: Culture in Northern Ireland’, in Rethinking Northern Ireland, ed. David Miller (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1998), p.210.
‘Ireland squanders talent’: ‘Wolf Wistful; Janet Watts Meets Stephen Rea’, Guardian, 3 February 1977.
Rea was becoming: ‘Stephen Rea: “I Never Wanted to be a Polite Actor”’, Telegraph, 25 March 2016.
During those years, Rea faced: Bennett, ‘Don’t Mention the War’, p.210.
As a gifted mimic: ‘Fame, Family & Field Day’, Belfast Telegraph, 12 June 2006.
‘triumphant in terms of the language’: ‘The Trying Game’, The Times, 5 June 1993.
For the ceremony, they chose St Patrick’s Cathedral: Interview with Raymond Murray.
Mindful, perhaps, of the spectacle: ‘Dolours Price Marries Actor’, Irish Times, 5 November 1983; ‘Dolours Price Weds in Secret’, Belfast Telegraph, 4 November 1983.
When an English tabloid: ‘Secret Wedding for Actor and Car Bomb Girl’, Daily Mail, 5 November 1983.
Rea had also reconnected: Carole Zucker, In the Company of Actors: Reflections on the Craft of Acting (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp.110–11.
On opening night, scaffolding: Marilynn J. Richtarik, Acting between the Lines: The Field Day Theatre Company and Irish Cultural Politics 1980–1984 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001), p.23.
Friel and Rea decided: Brian Friel, Brian Friel in Conversation, ed. Paul Delaney (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000), p.127; Zucker, In the Company of Actors, pp.110–11.
The company came to include: Richtarik, Acting between the Lines, p.65.
‘cultural wing of the Provos’: Bennett, ‘Don’t Mention the War’, p.207.
‘political action in the widest sense’: ‘Stephen Rea’s Tribute to Brian Friel: A Shy Man and a Showman’, Irish Times, 2 October 2015.
Part of the idea for the company: ‘Working Both
Ends of the Terrorist’s Gun’, Newsweek, 7 February 1993.
But there was not a unionist among them: Richtarik, Acting between the Lines, pp.66, 74.
And, having joined the circus: ‘Two Vehicles Carry an Irish Actor to America’, New York Times, 22 November 1992.
Price helped manage the books: Dolours Price to Julie (no last name specified), 16 May 1986 (Field Day Archives).
They crisscrossed the island: Zucker, In the Company of Actors, p.111.
In some rural areas: This is an anecdote that Rea related in ‘The Story of Field Day’, documentary, produced by Johnny Muir (BBC Northern Ireland, 2006).
In England, a rumour circulated: ‘How Can They Let Back the Girl Bomber Who Ruined My Husband’s Life?’ Daily Express, 2 December 1983.
The British tabloids sounded the alarm: Ibid.
Price did not make the trip, in the end: Jonathan Duke-Evans (Northern Ireland Office) to Tim Flesher (10 Downing Street), 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
She was careful to post: Derek Hill (Northern Ireland Office) to Tim Flesher (10 Downing Street), 17 March 1983 (National Archives, Kew).
‘I think we are just being played along here’: She handwrote this on Derek Hill’s 17 March 1983 letter to Tim Flesher; Thatcher’s position is also summarised in a 21 March 1983 letter from Flesher to Hill (National Archives, Kew).
In May 1985, a police officer in Folkestone: Jonathan Duke-Evans (Northern Ireland Office) to Tim Flesher, 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
The couple had taken up residence: Dolours Price to Julie (no last name specified), 16 May 1986 (Papers of the Field Day Theatre Company, National Library of Ireland).
After the incident in Folkestone: Jonathan Duke-Evans to Tim Flesher, 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
In November, an aide wrote: Neil Ward to Margaret Thatcher, 5 November 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
A report by Special Branch: Jonathan Duke-Evans to Tim Flesher, 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
In fact, she would rather: Charles Powell (Downing Street) to Jim Daniell (Northern Ireland Office), 6 November 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
Some civil servants worried: Neil Ward to Charles Powell, 16 December 1985 (National Archives, Kew).
In a prim flourish of wilful disassociation: Margaret Thatcher’s handwriting on letter from Jonathan Duke-Evans to Tim Flesher, 30 August 1985 (National Archives, Kew).