Celebration
and pain in walk to freedom
By Aeneas
Bonner
IT HAD been a military operation in itself to ensure the arrival and departure
of rival groups were staggered throughout the morning. But if there had been an
intimidating atmosphere surrounding the earlier loyalist releases, the mood
among republicans was simply joyous. Gone were the paramilitary flags, the gold
jewellry and tattoos on bulging biceps – just champagne, confetti and party
streamers.
INLA supporters arrived first to greet their five prisoners, replacing the
morning’s anti-IRA posters with their own prepared slogans. The media then
jostled with relatives around the turnstile for the main event: the release of
46 IRA men, exactly on time at 11.15.
Danny Morrison, holding a bottle of champagne, said it was a “day of
celebration” for republicans – and particularly himself. His brother Ciaran
(36), who had visited him as a four-year-old when he was interned, was among the
first to emerge alongside David Adams (41), cousin of Sinn Fein president Gerry.
Danny said he believed the release of prisoners was the “most stabilising
thing” that could happen. “You can now draw a line under the past,” he
said.
He described the closure of the Maze as a major defeat for successive British
governments, “built on lies” about talking to the IRA. And although he
favoured retaining the hospital where the hunger strikers died, he said a
testimony to prison officers should also be included. “It would be an act of
reconciliation and a great recognition of one another’s humanity,” he said.
Also present was Martin Meehan, the last internee to be released from Long Kesh,
who also served a prison term in the 1990s alongside his son. He said his
thoughts were with the suffering of prisoners’ families over the years, as a
“sad chapter for all” finally came to a close. “It is a momentous day, but
there is a lot of suffering outside as well,” he said.
“There should be no triumphalism because there is a lot of hurt out there.
Prisoners are hurt, families are hurt, victims are hurt.”
Sinn Fein councillor Paul Butler, who served 14 years in the prison, also
returned and called for part of it to be preserved as a museum. “If that is
done, it could hopefully be seen as a final chapter in the whole conflict. It
should be a true beginning for everyone in the north,” he said. “Whatever
you say about the people who were in the jail and what they did, we need to
learn from the failures of the past.”
Waiting outside all morning had been William Frazer of south Armagh victims
group FAIR – Families Acting for Innocent Relatives. He took the opportunity
to confront a number of IRA men, including Brian Arthurs (35), and Micheal
Caraher (32), accused of being the ‘trigger man’ of the notorious south
Armagh sniper team. “The British government may have forgiven you, but the
people of Northern Ireland haven’t” he said, as they left the jail for good.
But with clouds gathering for the torrential downpour ahead, a supporter of
Arthurs just smiled back. “The war’s over. Be happy,” she said.