Open Letter from O’Hara
and Devine families to Adams, Morrison, Gibney, McGuinness, Hartley and
McFarlane
We welcome the fact that
Danny Morrison has broken his silence and has given some insight into the events
of the first week of July 1981 concerning the hunger strike in Long Kesh. In
that light we would like to ask a few questions in the hope of getting answers
that may finally put to rest the events surrounding the tragic deaths of our
loved ones.
Danny has stated that he
relayed the contents of an offer to the PIRA prison OC, Bik McFarlane, on July 5
1981.
Richard O’Rawe, the prison
PRO, has said that Bik sent him down a comm detailing what was on offer, and
that he said to Bik “Ta go leor ann”
(There is enough there). This has been verified to some of our families by
two ex-Blanketmen who had been there on the wing and heard the words. Also, Bik
himself, in a press interview in 2009, finally admitted he had had a conversation with Richard, and that he thought
the Brit offer was “amazing.” In light of this, we must assume that Bik made his
and Richard’s views known to their outside leadership. What we would like to
know is:
Q1: Why was this offer not
accepted?
Q2: Who, on the outside
overrode Bik’s authority?
Q3: Why was the Hunger
Strike allowed to continue, on direction from the outside (not the
POWs)?
Q4: Mrs McDonnell asked
Gerry Adams to save her son’s life and put an end to the Hunger Strike by
ordering the POWs off it. Mr Adams’ reply was that he did not have the authority
to do this. Who had the authority (Brendan McLaughlin was ordered off it due to
his medical condition)?
Q5: Why was the IRSP (who
were joint participants in the Hunger Strike) not informed about the offer
through Mountain Climber?
Q6: The British sent you
their offer (to be released upon the ending of the Hunger Strike) in the form of
dictated statements on the 6th and 20th of July. Why were these statements never
shown to the POWs?
Q7: Who took the decision
to withhold the statements from the hunger strikers and the prison
leadership?
Q8: On the 29th of July, Gerry Adams
told the mother and father of Kieran Doherty, and the hunger strikers, that
”there was no deal on the table, no movement of any sort” despite him being at
the centre of ongoing communications/negotiations with the Brits from July 4th
to July 20th.
Why did Adams deliberately mislead the hunger strikers? Did he
think that they might call off their fast if they found out what was really
happening? We should not forget that four of those men who listened and joked
with Adams, went on to die horrible deaths in
total ignorance of what the British were offering.
In Danny Morrison’s recent
letter he spoke of the “families’ pain”‘. Danny can’t even hope to imagine the
pain felt by some of our families. We, the undersigned, believe that the Hunger
Strike was prolonged when an honourable settlement was available, a settlement
that would have saved the lives of six brave men.
We called for an
independent inquiry three years ago, asking all those involved in this matter to
attend. Only Richard O’Rawe and the late Dr. Garrett FitzGerald said they would
attend.
We once again call for on
Gerry Adams, Danny Morrison, Jim Gibney, Martin McGuinness, Tom Hartley, and
BikMcFarlane to attend. The least we deserve, is a reason why they won’t attend,
and failing that, they could provide answers to our
questions.
Is sinne
Peggy and Tony O Hara, Michael and Louise Devine.
Peggy and Tony O Hara, Michael and Louise Devine.
Comment:
I have written about this
issue before and I am in contact often with my good friend and Hibernian Brother
Joe McCloskey from AOH Derry Div. #1. Joe is a brother of Peggy O’Hara and uncle
of Tony and his brother Patsy, who died on Hunger Strike in 1981. Michael and
Louise Devine are the son and daughter of Mickey Devine, the last hunger striker
to die. If anyone has a right to full disclosure of the facts regarding the
deaths of those ten valiant young Irish patriots, it is without doubt their
families, some of whom very obviously still harbor serious doubts about the
circumstances surrounding the deaths of their loved ones. May God Bless those
troubled families and grant them the peace that they deserve. As far as others
are concerned, we must form our own opinions based on available
information while keeping an open mind to further information that may become
available at a later date.
Jack Meehan, Past National
President
Ancient Order of
Hibernians in America
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