25 January 2001 Edition
Hunger strikers to address Clonakilty public meeting
Two former republican prisoners who participated in the 1981 Hunger Strike in Long Kesh, will address a public meeting on the topic in Clonakilty next Thursday 1 February. The Clonakilty 1981 Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee, which was recently established, this week confirmed that Jackie McMullan and John Pickering will be special guests at the meeting, which takes place at the Strand Hotel at 8.30pm.
Both men spent years on the blanket and no-wash protests in the notorious Long Kesh prison, before joining the hunger strike in 1981, in which 10 prisoners sacrificed their lives.
Jackie McMullan was arrested in May 1976, two months after the withdrawal of political status, which led to the years of protest culminating in the hunger strikes. He was aged 20 at the time. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1976 and joined the blanket protest, and also the no-wash protest until it ended in March 1981 when the second hunger-strike started. He joined the hunger strike in August of that year and was on it for 48 days until 3 October 1981, when it was called off. Released in 1992 after 16 years, Jackie is now a political activist and also works for Coiste na n-Iarchimí, the co-ordinating group for a number of republican ex-prisoner groups.
His close friend, John Pickering, was one of hundreds of young nationalists in the Six Counties who were arrested and imprisoned without trial. He was interned as a 17-year-old in Long Kesh camp from 1972 until 1975. He was re-arrested in September 1976 along with Kieran Doherty (later elected a TD and who died on the 1981 hunger strike) and three others. Sentenced to life in 1978, he immediately joined the hundreds of other republican prisoners in Long Kesh on the blanket protest and subsequently the no-wash protest. He joined the first hunger strike in 1980 before it ended and was on the second one for 27 days when it ended on 3 October. He was released in 1994, having spent a total of 21 years in prison, and is now a political activist and chairperson of the greater Andersonstown ex-prisoner association in Belfast.
Needless to say, John Pickering and Jackie McMullan have much to say about that traumatic period in their lives, when they witnessed the death of 10 friends and comrades in Long Kesh.
Everyone with an interest in this period of our history is welcome to the public meeting in Clonakilty next Thursday. The organisers will also reveal their plans to commemorate the sacrifices of the ten hunger strike martyrs in the town later on this summer. Anyone with queries should contact Cathaoirleach of the Coiste, Séamus de Búrca, at 023-33729.
Both men spent years on the blanket and no-wash protests in the notorious Long Kesh prison, before joining the hunger strike in 1981, in which 10 prisoners sacrificed their lives.
Jackie McMullan was arrested in May 1976, two months after the withdrawal of political status, which led to the years of protest culminating in the hunger strikes. He was aged 20 at the time. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1976 and joined the blanket protest, and also the no-wash protest until it ended in March 1981 when the second hunger-strike started. He joined the hunger strike in August of that year and was on it for 48 days until 3 October 1981, when it was called off. Released in 1992 after 16 years, Jackie is now a political activist and also works for Coiste na n-Iarchimí, the co-ordinating group for a number of republican ex-prisoner groups.
His close friend, John Pickering, was one of hundreds of young nationalists in the Six Counties who were arrested and imprisoned without trial. He was interned as a 17-year-old in Long Kesh camp from 1972 until 1975. He was re-arrested in September 1976 along with Kieran Doherty (later elected a TD and who died on the 1981 hunger strike) and three others. Sentenced to life in 1978, he immediately joined the hundreds of other republican prisoners in Long Kesh on the blanket protest and subsequently the no-wash protest. He joined the first hunger strike in 1980 before it ended and was on the second one for 27 days when it ended on 3 October. He was released in 1994, having spent a total of 21 years in prison, and is now a political activist and chairperson of the greater Andersonstown ex-prisoner association in Belfast.
Needless to say, John Pickering and Jackie McMullan have much to say about that traumatic period in their lives, when they witnessed the death of 10 friends and comrades in Long Kesh.
Everyone with an interest in this period of our history is welcome to the public meeting in Clonakilty next Thursday. The organisers will also reveal their plans to commemorate the sacrifices of the ten hunger strike martyrs in the town later on this summer. Anyone with queries should contact Cathaoirleach of the Coiste, Séamus de Búrca, at 023-33729.