Jordanstown Ógra Shinn Féin tour Long Kesh

antrim | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday April 12, 2006 22:22 by Lappalitis - Ógra Shinn Féin osf6county at yahoo dot com

Members of the Vol. James Sheridan Ogra Shinn Fein Cumann in Jordanstown University recently toured the site of Long Kesh outside Lisburn.
The cumann were privlidged to be accompanied on the tour by South Derry Republican, Paul McGlinchey who was incarcirated in both the cages and the H-Blocks during the 1970's and 80's. Pauls personal accounts and recollections on the republican history of the prison gave the cumann members a more indepth and real sense of the struggle fought by republican soldiers especially during the time of the no wash protest and the hungerstrike.

H Blocks of Long Kesh - The site of so much pain and struggle!

The touring party visited the the most prominant parts of the prison including the main Control Block which was comandered and taken under the control of Oglaigh na h'Eireann during the mass escape of 38 volunteers in 1983.
The cumann were then taken to the prison hospital which was probably the most emotional
aspect of the tour considering that 10 courageous republican soldiers had breathed there last breath in that particular building in back in 1981.
Speaking afterwards, the Cumann chair Joe Donnelly said, "This tour and the personal accounts from Paul gave us all a greater understanding of the conditions in the prison in the late 1970's and early 80's which was probably the most significant phase of the prisons history, considering that hundreds of republican prisoners had undertaken a no-wash protest against the criminalisation policy introduced by the British government. The 1980's
then began with the hungerstrike which lead to the death of 10 men, and then within 2 years Republicans within the prison had been involved in the biggest escape of any prison in western europe. It was amazing to be in the building where all this took place and on this the 25th anniversary of the hungerstrike. I would encourage all republicans to arrange a tour before the site is redeveloped."