BELFAST HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION NIGHT
Domenica 16 agosto si terrà un evento presso il Whiterock Leisure Centre di Belfast, in commemorazione dell’hunger strike del 1981
Relatore della serata sarà Pádraic Wilson, leader repubblicano e Direttore degli Affari Esteri del Sinn Fein, che condividerà i suoi ricordi dell blanket protest e dello sciopero dellla fame del 1981 a Long Kesh. Fulcro del suo intervente saranno gli eventi avvenuti tra il 1976 ed il 1982 negli H-blocks e l’affetto che l’hunger strike e gli scioperanti hanno avuto su di lui.
Pádraic Wilson conosceva molti degli hunger strikers, alcuni incontrati in carcere altri incontrati al di fuori di quelle mura. Il suo ricordo va subito ad uno di loro, Kieran Doherty, colui con il quale aveva stretto maggiormente i rapporti.
Abitava a poche di distanza da lui ed era di qualche anno più vecchio. Lo definisce un tipo che non passava inosservato, vuoi per la sua altezza, vuoi per l’essere fonte di ispirazione. Bastava stargli al fianco per sentirsi su di morale, come gli era successo durante una messa a cui era stato permesso ai prigionieri di partecipare.
“Anche i secondini avevano paura di lui, e non lo affrontavano faccia a faccia come facevano con gli altri”.
Non mancheranno le riflessioni di Wilson in merito alle polemiche sorte intorno all’hunger strike del 1981, secondo le quali Margharet Thatcher ed il governo britannico avrebbero proposto un accordo agli scioperanti, in seguito rifiutato dal Sinn Fein (vedi se. ‘The Truth Behind the 1981 Hunger Strike‘).
Sarà volontà del leader repubblicano riflettere sul peso che ha avuto lo sciopero delle fame nell’arrivare a dove si è giunti fino ad ora.
“Per me, è la stessa lotta con gli stessi obiettivi, l’unica cosa che è cambiata è il modo di raggiungere gli obiettivi.”
The hunger strikes of ’81 and what they mean today (Anderstown News)
The 1981 hunger strike is to be remembered at an event being held at Whiterock Leisure Centre this Sunday.
Leading Belfast republican Pádraic Wilson will share his memories of his time on the blanket and the dark days of 1981.
Pádraic, Sinn Féin’s Director of International Affairs, spent three separate stints in prison and recalls vividly the effect both the hunger strike and the hunger strikers had on him.
Pádraic told the Andersonstown News that the talk will focus on his time in Long Kesh from 1976 to 1982.
“I was in Long Kesh during the blanket protest and the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981,” he said.
“I knew most of the hungerstrikers, some from the outside and others I got to know while inside. I will be talking about the hunger strke in general and what it meant for me.”
Pádraic says it was Kieran Doherty who gave him the morale boost he needed to get through the bleakest of times in Long Kesh.
“Of all the hunger strikers, I knew Kieran Doherty the best,” he said.
“He lived a few streets away from me and was just a few years older than me.
“Kieran was someone everyone looked up to, literally, because of his height, but also because he was an inspiration.
“Big Doc just instilled confidence in everyone, he was practically fearless. Just standing beside him at Mass on a Sunday – the only time we were allowed out of our cells – was enough to boost my morale.
“Even the screws were afraid of him and would never take him on one-to-one like they would have done with the others. He was the one who kept my morale going.”
Pádraic is also ready to address the current debate surrounding the hunger strike.
“There is no way I could talk about that time without mentioning that there is some controversy at the minute regarding the hunger strike.
“For anyone to suggest that Margaret Thatcher and her government wanted to offer a deal that republicans rejected, well, they need their heads examined.
“I intend to talk about this in reference to the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981.”
Pádraic will also touch on the path republicanism has taken in the years following the hunger strikes right through to today’s peace process.
“I’m going to speak about the relevance of the hunger strike in terms of where we are now.
“For me, it is the same struggle with the same objectives, the only thing that has changed is the way of achieving the objectives.”
Pádraic will be speaking at the commemoration night in Whiterock Leisure Centre this Sunday (August 16).
Admission is £5 and the doors open at 7pm.
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