Open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair

The Republican Sinn Féin POW Department in Belfast said in an open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair on September 12:

"In 1976 a Labour government set out to criminalise Irish Republican POWs as part of their Ulsterisation policy. They thought criminalisation would break Republicans both inside and outside the prisons and would bring resistance to British rule to an end.

"As so many times before, once again the British government underestimated the determination of the Irish people. The POWs refused to be criminalised and were forced into a Blanket protest, which led to the dirty protest. The ill-treatment and inhuman conditions Irish Republican POWs were living under forced the Republican POWs into hunger strikes in 1980 and 1981 with terrible loss both inside and outside the prison; England's inhumanity to man became known the world over.

"Once again your government has introduced the policy of criminalisation and once again your underestimation of the Irish people will see your government making the same mistakes of the past.

"This time the political status struggle has moved to the new Long Kesh, known as Maghaberry.

"It is there that your criminalisation policy is being played out, and the full force of this policy is aimed at a young west Belfast man, Tommy Crossan. Your policy has had this young Irish Republican political prisoner locked up 23 hours a day. Tommy has suffered a number of attacks to his person because you refused to segregate Republican POWs from loyalists, drug dealers and sex offenders.

"Once again England's inhumanity to man is being played out, not in Long Kesh but Maghaberry, the Long Kesh of 2000.

"Mr Blair, you know very well the determination of the Irish Republican POWs; the life of Tommy Crossan is in your hands. Are you willing to repeat your mistakes of the past?

"The issue is a humane one. Ireland's struggle is political, not criminal; you cannot break the resolute Republican people. You will not break the POWs."
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Amnesty for Provos?

A FORMER member of the Provisionals, John O'Shea from Ballylongford, Co Kerry was summoned to court in September following a protest against the extradition of Angelo Fusco to the Six Counties on January 14.

He and five other Provisionals were arrested and charged with obstruction during the protest. However, John O'Shea was the only one to be summoned to appear in court. He believes that he was singled out because he had left the Provisionals, having been a member for 20 years since he was 16. His case has been put back to October 12.

The protest was ironical, considering that the Provisionals were protesting at Angelo Fusco's extradition to the Six Counties where they are part of the British admin-istration. The fact that the only person being prosecuted for taking part in it has rejected the Provisional betrayal speaks for itself.
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Dublin/Monaghan relatives confront British

RELATIVES of the victims of the 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombings met the Six-County British security minister on September 12 to push for an inquiry into the atrocity.

The relatives, members of the Justice for the Forgotten group, were meeting the minister Adam Ingram to try to convince the British to release their files on the case.

Thirty-three people were killed in the four car bomb explosions which went off without warning in Dublin and Monaghan, making it the biggest single atrocity of the conflict. Although the bombings were eventually claimed by the UVF British-backed death squad it is widely believed that the British had a more direct, hands-on involvement in the bombings.

Ever since the victims' relatives have been campaigning for an inquiry with very little response from either the Dublin or London governments.

Twenty-six years on from the bombings, following his meeting with the relatives Adam Ingram would only say that requests for information from the British government by the inquiry being set up would be treated "sympathetically".

Following the meeting, Greg O'Neill, a lawyer for the relatives, said that Adam Ingram had "indicated" that RUC and British military intelligence would be made available.

"During our talk we mentioned the RUC files and the British military intelligence files and at no stage did he say they would not be made available," Greg O'Neill said.

"He said the British government would do everything it could to assist. I asked if we could take that to mean the files would be made available and he made a positive response."
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