Frank Collins (Co. Cork) Hunger Strike: 68 Days

Monday November 17, 2003 12:17

by Concerned

Frank Collins of Ballinspittle, Co. Cork has entered the 68th day of a hunger strike. His health has deteriorated and his weight is down to 10 stone; Mr Collins weighed 17 stone at the commencement of his hunger strike.

Mr Collins says he undertook the hunger strike in protest at what he considers to be a campaign of harassment by gardaí over a period of thirty years. Mr Collins has engaged in three previous hunger strikes; on the third occasion, the Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne, and the Minister for Justice, John O’Donoghue, persuaded Mr Collins to end his hunger strike with a promise of an enquiry into his allegations. However, according to Mr Collins, the enquiry failed to materialise.

Mr Collins says he fears for his safety and will continue his hunger strike until he dies unless his grievances are addressed by the Minister for Justice.

A report in Thursday’s Irish Times (13 November 2003, p. 10), headlined “Minister cannot assist man on hunger strike”, stated that the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, “is not in a position to assist a man who is reported to have been on hunger strike for the past 63 days because of his grievance over the outcome of court proceedings, the Dáil has been told.” Mr McDowell’s statement was in response to a question by Labour’s justice spokesman, Joe Costello. According to the report in the Irish Times, Mr McDowell “stressed that because of the separation of powers ‘it is not possible for me as Minister to attempt to influence or second-guess the courts in the way in which they exercise their functions.’” Mr McDowell also stated that inquiry “into wide ranging allegations against many serving and retired members of An Garda Síochána as well as staff and officials of Cork County Council, members of the legal professions and members of the judiciary in Cork concluded that there was no credible evidence to support and sustain the allegations.”

Mr Collins, however, is aware of no such enquiry, and intends to maintain his hunger strike until an enquiry is undertaken.

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Comments (7 of 7)

What is

by Lone gunman

Mon Nov 17, 2003 13:20

This fellows problem?What specifically is he alleging happened to him.Enquiring minds want to know

He's a nutcase

by Farrell Cawley

Tue Nov 18, 2003 03:05

He's got a history of mental illness.

Not true

by Cop Watcher

Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:15

Frank Collins does not have a history of mental illness, Inspector, as you well know. What he has is a history of garda harassment (as you also well know). Still, it'll all come out in the wash, and heads will roll.

Details?

by Moi

Tue Nov 18, 2003 14:44

Any chance of a few details, or are they 'Sub Judice'? It would be helpful to know. Has to be very serious if he has gone to these lengths.

Hardly Sub judicie

Wed Nov 26, 2003 23:45

If he is making allegation s that have been in a public court of law or have been dealt with in same.

is the above Frank Collins the same?

by one of the archivists

Mon Feb 16, 2004 19:28

who was reported as wanting to break the "buried alive" record in the Irish examiner of march 1999?
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1999/03/27/ihead.htm
It was certainly an interesting case, it took Mr Collins hunger strike 68 days to reach our pages , 67 days to reach the pages of the Irish Times (whence i suppose "concerned" the author of the above post got the idea)
and interestingly it had reached the Dail on the 63rd day , where it was a topic of question time under the egesis of "Garda Complaints".

I think some might read the exchange between deputy Costello and Minister Mc Dowell. It focussed on his offences which were mostly of a driving nature...

http://www.irlgov.ie/debates-03/12Nov/Sect5.htm

Certainly such a protest method is not to be much encouraged, it clouds the protesters judgement and is rarely quickly effective and only leads to shaking other supporters resolve bearing at times close to abuse of one's body for we must never forget the body suffers much through fasting.
Hunger Strike has though been used a protest method in the past, Ireland's history is full of lengthy fasts which led to martyrdom and also of special short "solidarity" ones.
Indeed the above Frank Collins had previously refused food for periods of more than a week, as have many anti-war and justice issue protesters.
Last year Caoimhe Butterly and Eoin Rice were amongst those who fasted for a short period at the Dail March 24.
And certainly none could forget the hunger strikes undertaken by the Thessalonika 7, and none can underestimate the effectiveness of the solidarity fasts undertaken by those who unstintingly supported the now _completely free and vindicated_ Thess 7. But they were fasts under very different conditions to a prison fast {the little magpies went home to vegetable stew I suppose}

What in the end, happened to Frank Collins?
any one know?
It is often a good idea to keep track of things like this.

in reference to the last post -oh well no answer to that one then.

by iosaf

Thu Feb 19, 2004 23:31

never been a fan of hunger strikes I must admit.
50 days? from this week to mid April.
60 days brings us up to May day.
record breaking 70-80 days summer time.
not really very helpful @ all @all.

Wouldn't it be better to pay the fucking fine purge the contempt and take up the fight outside the prison walls?

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Frank Collins (Co. Cork) Hunger Strike: 68 Days

Comments (7 of 7)