"Irish people didn't get me out of jail. It was English people who got me out of jail." – Paul Hill I don't remember Bloody Sunday. I don't remember seeing footage on TV or being shocked by the carnage that left thirteen people dead and a fourteenth who would die later from wounds. How do I explain this? The Ireland I grew up in largely ignored the North. It … [Read more...] about The First Word: Something to Remember
The Troubles
Return to Derry
I had almost a worm's-eye view of Bloody Sunday. I was working as a junior TV journalist covering a protest march through Derry on January 30, 1972, and like every other observer I was dumbfounded when the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on the protestors. I had just maneuvered my way over a low barricade of rubble when the shots rang out, and I flung myself on the … [Read more...] about Return to Derry
News from Ireland:
“H Blocks” to Close
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, 430 Republican and Loyalist prisoners jailed in the notorious "H blocks" have been released as the Maze Prison prepares to close. Only a handful remain who have been ruled ineligible for release because the organizations they belong to are not on the verifiable ceasefire list. These include members of the Continuity IRA, the Real … [Read more...] about News from Ireland:
“H Blocks” to Close
News from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
A feud between two Loyalist paramilitary groups has brought British troops back to the streets of Belfast. Fighting between the Ulster Defense Association (U.D.A.) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (U.V.F.) erupted in August after the U.D.A. organized a parade of uniformed and masked men carrying U.D.A. banners down the Shankill Road in military formation. This demonstration was … [Read more...] about News from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
Hibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove it. ℘℘℘ June, 2000. A bus packed with American tourists pulls out of Newry and takes the road to South Armagh. On one side it passes a British army observation post, currently being dismantled. On the other, a large poster advertises the first Tommy Makem International Festival of Song, which is … [Read more...] about Hibernia: South Armagh