27 August 1998 Edition

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Mick Sheehan



The death occurred in Dublin on Monday 17 August of veteran republican and former political prisoner Mick Sheehan. He was 71.

Mick was born in Kilkenny and reared in Limerick and Dublin. He joined Na Fianna Eireann at the age of nine in 1936.

In 1969 Mick had been 18 years in England, was working and married with a family. He immediately responded to the renewed political struggle at home and began collections for the beleaguered people of Belfast. Mick deepened his involvement and contributed to the IRA's military offensive in Britain in the 1970s.

Mick was arrested in Birmingham in November 1974, a week after the Birmingham bombings. He was charged with conspiracy and possession of arms and explosives, although nothing was found in his possession.

Standing trial alongside the men who became known as the Birmingham Six, Mick Sheehan's conviction was a foregone conclusion in the hysteria which surrounded the trials at the time and he received a nine-year sentence.

Mick was subjected to a brutal beating by the English police. He received a lasting injury to his spine and permanently damaged kidneys.

In Wandsworth prison Mick was held in solitary confinement, his cell door banged every 15 minutes to ensure sleep deprivation and his food and drink spat on by warders. On another occasion the English prisoners were incited to attack Mick and another Irish political prisoner.

From Wormwood Scrubs Mick was moved to another top security jail Wakefield, where he spent over 18 months and where he met Frank Stagg. This period was interspersed with spells in solitary confinement for defiance of prison authority. Mick was in Wakefield when Frank Stagg died on hunger-strike in February 1977.

In 1976 in Wakefield Mick was involved in a protest over visiting conditions which led to his refusal of all further visits throughout his time in jail.

Mick Sheehan suffered from asthma attacks caused by allergy to certain foods. He was denied substitute foods while in prison he existed on a starvation diet and recurring attacks of asthma. Mick refused to ask for help. Often warders would taunt him during his attacks, banging on his cell door and shouting ``smother you bastard''.

In March 1979 Mick helped construct a ladder in the engineering workshop for five prisoners, four of them Irish republican POWs, who staged a three day rooftop protest.

When the five protestors were in the punishment block it was decided that something should be done to boost their spirits. An incendiary device was made and went off in a prison workshop which was completely destroyed. Mick and another republican prisoner were suspected but no evidence could be found against them.

Shortly afterwards Mick was moved to Wormwood Scrubs where he spent the next seven-and-a-half months in solitary confinement up to his release from jail and expulsion from Britain.

As a result of his exclusion order Mick was never able to maintain proper contact with his family in England. He settled back in Dublin and became involved with the Sinn Féin POW Department. He drove the bus for Portloaise Prisoners relatives and became well known and popular among the prisoners' families who greatly appreciated his work on their behalf.

Mick became known to many younger republican activists in Dublin who came into the struggle through the 1980s and 1990s and he was highly respected by those who came to know him.

At Mick's funeral on Wenesday 19 August, an eight person republican hounour guard flanked his coffin, which was draped in the Tricolour, as it made its way to the Republican Plot in Glasnevin Cemetery. Proceedings at the graveside were chaired by Dublin's Deputy Lord Mayor, Sinn Féin Councillor Christy Burke.

Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle by Martin Ferris and on behalf of Dublin Sinn Féin by Larry O'Toole. There were wreaths also from Dublin Brigade, Oglaigh na hEireann and from the O'Malley/Russell Cumann, Sinn Féin Dublin Central. The main oration was delivered by recently released political prisoner Mick O'Brien.


Aqeelah Alam 1957-1998



Aqeelah Alam died unexpectedly in a London hospital on 8 July. Her untimely death has devastated her partner, Razia Aziz, her family and the many people whose lives she touched.

Aqeelah was a great woman, who always made an impression. She was clear minded and insightful, compassionate and humorous. Completely committed at a world free from imperialism, racism and abuse, Aqeelah's touchstone was her own history and identity as a working-class Asian lesbian living in Britian. Her drive to right wrongs inevitably drew her to support struggles in Ireland, Palestine and South Africa. Joining the Troops Out movement in her late teens, her work spanned more than two decades in which she made a special place in her life for abused men, women and children and for political prisoners.

She was the founding spirit of Sakshi (`Witness'), the violence intervention centre for women and children in New Delhi, India.

Aqeelah was an `old soul' whose answer to oppression and ugliness was to radiate love and beauty unconditionally. She will be most sorely missed, but never forgotten. Her favourite Christy Moore song was `Cry of the Morning', and when sirens are heard in any part of the world, her friends will always know that Aqeelah's spirit is there standing solid with the oppressed, bringing practical support, key insights and the very best of craic.

An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland