13 November 1997 Edition
TD ``alarmed'' at conditions for Irish prisoners in USA
``I came away alarmed and dismayed at their conditions.'' This was how Cavan/Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghin O Caoláin reacted to the plight of three Irish prisoners currently on remand in jails in California. The TD visited Kevin Barry Artt, Terry Kirby and Pól Brennan last weekend and on his return to Ireland on Monday called for urgent action on their cases.
O Caoláin said that in Oakland County Jail he found Kevin Barry Artt completely isolated. ``The prison authorities inisted that we could have only a closed visit with a perspex screen between us. Even under the draconian prison regime in England such conditions no longer apply'' said O Caoláin. He met Terry Kirby and Pól Brennan in Pleasonton Federal Penitentiary and said that the prison authorites were pursuing an ``isolation strategy'':
``These three men should be allowed association with one another and open visits with their families. I will be lobbying both the US authorities and the government here for immediate amelioration of their prison conditions pending their speedy release. It is totally unjust on the part of both the British and US governments to pursue these extradition proceedings.''
(The three men were denied bail on 27 November in their appeals against extradition to the Six Counties where they escaped from the H-Blocks of Long Kesh in September 1983.)
•San Francisco witnessed three standing ovations for O'Caolain last Saturday night after he called for an end for partition, a break with the ``colonial legacy'' of the British rule and disbandment of the RUC.
Addressing a packed audience at the National Convention of the Irish American Unity Conference, the Sinn Fein TD stressed Sinn Fein's desire for meaningful dialogue at the peace table.
``Let no one lower their expectations of what can be achieved through these talks. There can be no turning back now.''
The longest and loudest applause came after O'Caolain paid tribute to the H Block 3. Kevin Barry Artt, Pol Brennan and Terry Kirby.
O Caoláin said that in Oakland County Jail he found Kevin Barry Artt completely isolated. ``The prison authorities inisted that we could have only a closed visit with a perspex screen between us. Even under the draconian prison regime in England such conditions no longer apply'' said O Caoláin. He met Terry Kirby and Pól Brennan in Pleasonton Federal Penitentiary and said that the prison authorites were pursuing an ``isolation strategy'':
``These three men should be allowed association with one another and open visits with their families. I will be lobbying both the US authorities and the government here for immediate amelioration of their prison conditions pending their speedy release. It is totally unjust on the part of both the British and US governments to pursue these extradition proceedings.''
(The three men were denied bail on 27 November in their appeals against extradition to the Six Counties where they escaped from the H-Blocks of Long Kesh in September 1983.)
•San Francisco witnessed three standing ovations for O'Caolain last Saturday night after he called for an end for partition, a break with the ``colonial legacy'' of the British rule and disbandment of the RUC.
Addressing a packed audience at the National Convention of the Irish American Unity Conference, the Sinn Fein TD stressed Sinn Fein's desire for meaningful dialogue at the peace table.
``Let no one lower their expectations of what can be achieved through these talks. There can be no turning back now.''
The longest and loudest applause came after O'Caolain paid tribute to the H Block 3. Kevin Barry Artt, Pol Brennan and Terry Kirby.