| Subject: Guildhall Visit |
Author:
CR Vets
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Date Posted: 09:48:09 08/13/02 Tue
In reply to:
Oct5th. Assoc.
's message, "SDLP/PSF Prison Visit" on 07:09:54 08/13/02 Tue
>Last night’s presentation by Mrs. Bernie McLaughlin to
>members of Derry City Council @ Derry Guildhall. Time allowed for 2 speakers – 10 minutes, or 5 minutes each! 3 media persons covered the event. Several councillors spoke in support – none opposed the guest speakers’ proposals.
>
>
>Presentation #1
>
>I wish to begin by thanking you all for allowing us to
>make two brief presentations to this meeting this
>evening Let me begin by introducing ourselves. I am
>the wife of Ciaran McLaughlin who is currently serving
>a sentence in Maghaberry prison. I am also the
>grandmother of Kyle, a two and a half year old child
>who has been hospitalized for most of his life,
>suffering from severe hydrocephalus, which is best
>described as an abnormal amount of fluid within the
>brain, which makes the head enlarge and has caused
>other major ailments.
>
>
>
>I will concentrate on matters relating to our family’s
>immediate concerns, and my colleague, Mr.O’Dochartaigh
>will raise wider issues as viewed by him and other
>veterans of the civil rights movement. I also thank
>him for being with me this evening, and for his help
>and all those other people who have expressed concern
>at our family’s tragic plight.
>
>
>
>My husband was attacked in Maghaberry Prison earlier
>this month while asleep in his cell. The weapon used
>was a heavy electric iron. He was treated within the
>prison for his injuries, and after being release from
>hospital he received verbal threats. My life, and that
>of other family members has become a living
>nightmare, daily visiting a very ill grandchild in
>hospital, or dreading every phone call and knock on
>the door, not knowing where the next bad news will
>come from, a hospital ward or a prison cell.
>
>
>
>I really pray that all members of this council,
>regardless of political or other differences, will
>help us in any way they can. My grandson, as you will
>know from the local media, is suffering from a life
>limiting illness. God could call the child at any
>moment, and my husband, his grandfather, desperately
>wishes to visit the child. and be with other members
>of our family at his bedside. Maybe even we could have
>Ciaran sitting down with us for a meal at home to
>meet with our extended family and friends. Surely any
>prisoner, especially a husband, father and
>grandfather, should be entitled to compassionate
>parole in such a dire situation. I ask you all to
>support us in this call.
>
>
>
>
>I will here again publicly state that I am personally
>prepared to enter Maghaberry Prison if Ciaran is
>granted compassionate parole, and will wait there
>until his return. Even their sworn enemies have
>admitted that republican prisoners have traditionally
>honoured the terms of compassionate parole. We are
>being told that we are experiencing a new political
>beginning, one that is more enlightened and democratic
>than in the past. Therefore as a wife, mother and
>grandmother I am using the democratic process, in a
>bid to achieve what to most people would be a purely
>humanitarian objective.
>
>
>
>My family and others have taken to the streets, spoke
>to the media, petitioned government, lobbied
>individual councillors and parties, placed adverts in
>newspapers, while some took other actions at home and
>abroad to highlight our plight. But I am not merely
>concerned for my own wishes, for I know that other
>families, be they loyalist or republican, are
>concerned at the continuation of non-segregation
>within Maghaberry, and elsewhere. We have compassion
>on all those prisoners and their loved ones.
>
>
>
>The accepted value of Compassion is that it always
>helps and enhances, never harms any situation to which
>it is applied. Like Mercy there is never too much of
>it and it never wears thin, it only helps both giver
>and receiver.
>
>
>The Good Friday Agreement for instance could be
>enhanced by applying Compassion to many situations and
>problems especially those relating to the families of
>prisoners and those currently incarcerated. The state
>should show that it also has a heart as well as well
>as jail keys.
>
>
>
Our family, and those of other prisoners are going
through mental torture. There have been deaths in the
jails due to non-segregation, and one incidents have included an explosive device and firearms. Our
situation is not legislated for in any law or jail
sentence, but surely we are entitled to the benefit of
at least a few human rights. We are also serving a
sentence, which too often people and politicians
forget. We are appealing to you all to support our
request for compassionate parole for my husband, and
we welcome recent statements from some councillors who
indicated that the conditions in Maghaberry would be
the subject of a fact-finding delegation to that
facility. I hope that delegation goes in soon and that you will make public your findings, and take other affirmative action that could lead to the families of all prisoners experiencing some much-needed relief I again thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all. I will conclude my remarks by introducing Mr. O’Dochartaigh, a
co-founder of the civil rights association in 1967,
who will also make a few brief points..
>
>.
>FOOTNOTE: The civil rights speaker pressed for an
>all-party deputation to visit Maghaberry.
>This and other proposals were well received, and it
>was agreed that a Council deputation would visit Mr.
>McLaughlin, and other prisoners. A fuller report will
>appear in tomorrow’s newspapers. Last night’s
>deputation has figured in to-day’s radio news
>bulletins.
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