Joe Myles

It was with deep regret and sadness that republicans everywhere learned of the death of lifelong republican Joe Myles in Dublin recently.

Joe was from the Markets area of Belfast and at a very young age joined the republican movement. It was in this area, in 1941, that Joe, at the tender age of 17 years, along with a number of comrades, was apprehended in a house by the RUC while in possession of firearms.

After a period on remand in Crumlin Road Jail he was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment. While incarcerated he and his comrades were forced to embark on a short hunger strike in protest at the atrocious conditions in which they were living.

Soon after his release he emigrated to America and in doing so spared his mother, father and six sisters the hardships and intimidation of regular house raids by the RUC. While working there he met a girl from Beechmount, Josie Fay, whom he married, and settled in Detroit to raise a family of five children.

Josie was a cousin of the late Tom Williams and it is ironic that Joe was in Crumlin Road jail at the time of Tom's execution. It was Joe and Josie's dearest wish to see Tom's body retrieved from the jail and interred in Milltown cemetery.

His republican involvement did not cease and in 1973 he was arrested in Canada while in possession of firearms which were to be used to assist the struggle back home in Ireland. When the case came to trial he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. However, the judge accepted that he and his co-accused were not criminals but were politically motivated and, as such, directed that they serve their sentence in an open prison.

While in America, Joe refused to take out American citizenship, claiming that being born in Ireland he would always be an Irish citizen. On his release he was offered the opportunity to remain in America on the condition that he reveal his contacts and his sources. He refused. As a result, he was taken straight to the airport and deported to Shannon airport.

He settled in Dublin, where he was soon joined by his wife, Josie. Unfortunately, Josie could not content herself being away from her family back in America and, reluctantly, decided to return to them. Joe accepted that being a republican entailed hardship and sacrifice and thus accepted that Josie would only be able to make limited trips to visit him. Sadly, in January of last year Josie took ill and died and this had a devastating effect on Joe, so much so that his health slowly declined and he died on 21 January, barely a year after her.

His lasting wish was that, upon his death, he be cremated and his ashes buried alongside his beloved wife Josie. His wish has been granted. He is survived by his children, Patricia, Jack, Kathleen, Annie and Gerry. The officers and volunteers of the Belfast Brigade Óglaigh na hÉireann and the volunteers of `D' Company (Markets) offer their sincere sympathies to the Myles family.

Go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire ar a anam.

Eileen Mallon

It was with sadness and a sense of great loss that republicans in Newry and throughout Ireland learned of the death recently of Eileen Mallon (née Savage). Eileen had been unwell for a while and passed away peacefully in Daisy Hill Hospital on Tuesday of last week. Eileen had been a lifelong dedicated republican steeped in the history and tradition of the struggle, the roots of which stretched back into the annals of her family history.

From the outset of this phase of the struggle, Eileen was always available to help in any way possible, nothing being too big or small. Her house in Newry was always open to those in need, indeed with the kettle always on the boil it became a place of refuge for many a weary leg. To those who knew her, memories of Eileen's love of Irish culture always shone through. Her ability at dancing solo reels and sets won her many prizes at Feiseanna.

There are many who have fond memories of Eileen, of her determination before and during this phase of the struggle, of how she kept the dream alive during the `60s, when many thought it was lost. There are other memories that due to the nature of republican philosophy will always go untold. Eileen's vision of a free Ireland was that taught to her by her father Bob and mother Margaret, both Volunteers in the 1920s Campaign. It was the vision of a free Ireland enshrined in the Easter Proclamation of 1916, a vision that she held fast too. She will always be remembered by her friends and comrades in the Republican Movement.

Go mbeannaí Dia Trocaire ar a h-anam.