Caitríona To Speak At A Public Meeting in Belfast
On August 9 1971, internment without trial was introduced in the occupied Six Counties. Within hours hundreds of republicans were being rounded up in dawn raids. For some of those detainees it would be years before they would be released from British custody. That introduction of internment marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict that was then raging across the Six Counties. Within less then five years, in December 1975, internment ended – in complete failure.
In 2009, Britain has reintroduced internment without trial to Ireland, in the form of twenty-eight day detention periods. Irish citizens can now be held by the occupation forces for up to four weeks without being charged or convicted. Earlier this year republicans were detained for the first time using this draconian legislation. Our family member Colin was one of those detained.
On the 9th August, there will be a public meeting on Belfast’s Falls Road, focusing on the introduction of internment in August 1971 and the contemporary use of repressive legislation by the British government. Colin’s eldest daughter Caitríona has accepted an invitation to speak at the meeting. Other speakers will include former Guantanamo Bay detainee Ruhal Ahmed, former Long Kesh internee and H-Block escaper Gerry McDonnell and human rights lawyer Pádraigín Drinan, who represented the hooded men. The meeting will start at 3pm on Sunday, August 9 in the Conway Education Centre, Conway Mill, Falls Road, Belfast.
