Republicans will resist enforced integration

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Thursday December 13, 2007 19:11 by Richard Walsh - Republican Sinn Féin

RSF/RPAG have condemned the suggestion that segregation in Maghaberry be ended.

REPUBLICANS WILL RESIST ENFORCED INTEGRATION MOVES

The recommendation of Westminster's “Northern Ireland Affairs Committee” that “high priority” should be given to the ending of segregation of Republican PoWs in Maghaberry Gaol is a matter of deep concern, a spokesperson for Republican Sinn Féin has said.

RSF Publicity Officer Richard Walsh – also PRO for the Republican Prisoners' Action Group, which campaigns on behalf of Republican prisoners in Maghaberry – said that the British appeared to have learned none of the lessons of the past.

“Maghaberry Gaol was variously described as a 'time-bomb' and 'powder-keg' prison under the integrated régime. Indeed, Republican PoW Tommy Crossan was scalded by Loyalists including Clifford Peeples whilst he was housed on an integrated landing. The British-backed 'Steele Report' recommended the reintroduction of segregation in order to protect the health and safety of prisoners.

“It appears that there are those in Westminster who now wish to repeat the mistakes of the past. Republican PoWs in Maghaberry Gaol took part in a ten-month protest for full political status, which was suspended in good faith earlier this year. However, it seems that rather than address the outstanding issues, the Brits wish instead to roll back on the concessions made.

“Any attempt to return to the situation of enforced integration or to criminalise Republican prisoners will be resisted both inside and outside the gaols. In the words of a well-known song, '[They] will wear no convict's uniform, nor meekly serve [their] time, that England might brand Ireland's fight eight-hundred years of crime.'”