19 July 2001 Edition

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Classic resistance album reissued

Throughout Ireland's proud history of rebellion and struggle, songs and verse have been used to capture the atmosphere of momentous events, and the prison struggle against criminalisation is no exception.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, which culminated in the deaths of ten young men, the album H-Block, originally produced in 1980 in support of political prisoners' rights in Long Kesh and Armagh, has been reissued.

This digitally remastered CD features memorable tunes including The Rights of Man and Táimse i mo Chodladh, songs including the H-Block Song and 90 Miles from Dublin, and poems including Guest of the Queen and A Retort.

The wealth of talent on display in these ten tracks is formidable. Christy Moore, Francie Brolly, Dan Dowd, Mick Hanly, Noel Hill, Tone Linnane, Donal Lunny, Matt Molloy, and Declan Sinnott. Actor Stephen Rea reads three poems, two of them written by prisoners in the H Blocks and smuggled out by relatives.

Through words and music, the plight of the prisoners and the strength of their endurance and resistance is emotively evoked. This one could be handed out as a primer on the prison struggle along with David Beresford's Ten Men Dead. If you haven't got the original album, get out and invest today.

H-Block is available, price £10.99, from all Sinn Féin outlets ([email protected]) and branches of Dolphin Discs.


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