And the Brits surrounded the compound and they fired in CS gas all round. Now, the prison authorities referred to them as compounds but we as prisoners referred to them as cages., The prison officer would have came around 7.30, would have opened the door, would have came in and done a head count. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. In January 1999, British Armed Forces Minister John Spellar, responding to a question from Labour MP Ken Livingstone, wrote: The British Army has never used CR gas operationally. Yet, in a subsequent answer, Spellar wrote: CR gas was selected some decades ago as a potential counter-terrorist response capability and there are no surviving records of this decision. More than 100,000 people attended Sands' funeral in Belfast. There was a scattering of ancient men in their 30s and 40s; veterans of previous campaigns, decrepit by our youthful harsh lights, but the men in Long Kesh and Crumlin Road and the women in Armagh jail were terribly, terribly young. And it is here I start (and I encourage you to start), with personal testimony when trying to understand The Troubles. In January 1988 we produced a conditions document, (SEE APPENDIX) a six page paper explaining our dissatisfaction with our conditions of existence and setting out a comprehensive range of proposals whose implementation would, we felt, transform the climate of confrontation and conflict within the prison. The helicopter banked again into position and the next canister was dropped. I still think it was probably one of the most extraordinary contexts that I ever said mass in, or that I ever sort of related to people in any sort of a pastoral way Prison Chaplain, The prison authorities referred to them as compounds but we as prisoners referred to them as cages Prisoner, Basically you were simply left to your own devices. Prisoner, You were unlocked in the morning at 8 oclock and locked up at night at 9 oclock and during the day you had free time to do whatever: walk, run, sing, listen, read, education Prisoner/ Internee. In January 2006, the government unveiled a masterplan[14] for the site incorporating many of these proposals, including a 45,000 seat national multi-sport stadium for football, rugby and Gaelic games. I do not know that I have ever seen a film as powerful, beautiful, haunting and individual as Hunger, Steve McQueen's movie about the dirty protest and the hunger strike. A short film, produced by PMA in January 2020, which offers new insight into life in the compounds/ cages of Long Kesh. The motor mechanics vocational training course , 1981 . In addition the General Directorate for Penal and Arrest Centres presents a total of 384 prisons (omitting prisons that have no separate administration) having a total capacity to accommodate 98,238 prisoners. Are these photographs of memory, for memory, for memorial? It reflects the situation as of 1 December 2008. And the noise was just absolutely incredible Prisoner. The beatings meted out to the protesting prisoners are not highly stylised James Bond-like affairs. Yet, as a child my family rarely discussed the situation in Northern Ireland. Prisoners received one half hour visit a week or, if on protest, one half hour visit a month. This chapter examines Long Kesh/Maze prison in Northern Ireland as a place of dark heritage in order to contextualise the way the physical manifestations, structures, philosophy and understandings of the prison have mutated since its closure to an as yet undecided and increasingly contested cultural entity. We huddled together against the cold and sang songs, told jokes and talked endlessly about politics and what the future might hold. During the breakout, four prison officers were stabbed, including one, James Ferris, who died of a heart attack. All sides (there were more than two) were guilty of arrogance, obstinacy and extreme violence. There was ordinary prisoners serving the food out and there was a Newry man took exception to one of them because this prisoner was from Newry. They viewed themselves as political prisoners as they felt they had been imprisoned for politically-motivated offences. For the locations neither the districts nor the provinces were mentioned. All naked to the waist, just wearing the prison, the trousers from the prison uniform. He was taken to court and convicted then returned to the jail as a common prisoner and incarcerated in the H-Blocks as an ordinary prisoner, all within the space of several hours. There was a lot of noise and movement and I didn't know which way to run or what I was doing or what I was supposed to do. Fueling the prison officers' anger was a mix of sectarianism they were almost exclusively Protestant and many had loyalist sympathies and connections and a desire for revenge. Why do you think he described Long Kesh as a prisoner of war camp? You had the watch towers, the barbed wire, you had Nissen huts as the accommodation. That was when you saw them really happy Educator, The physical instructor would have been, he would have been refereeing the match and done everything by the book Prisoner, There must have been over a hundred men, all with long, dirty, greasy hair, long beards some longer than others totally unkempt. We were herded back to our cages and the beatings began. Every morning he performs the ritual that he and his colleagues have come to regard as second nature: he checks his car for booby-trap devices (over the course of the protests and hunger strikes the IRA killed some 18 prison officers). It's the violent desperation of a drowning man who will clutch at anything, even a child, even his own child. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Why are they smearing their own shit on the walls? This resulted in the blanket protest escalating into the dirty protest, as the prisoners would not leave their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), and started smearing excrement on the walls of their cells to "mitigate the spread of maggots".[6]. [11] Averill, who was jailed for life after committing two murders, was not recaptured, and was instead given amnesty in early 2001 when he was one of a number of republican escapees to present themselves to the authorities in a two-week period. Most of us had had experience of CS gas before prison, on civil rights marches or in riots. HM Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh and the H-Blocks, held some of the most dangerous men in Europe during its 30 year operation. The British government refused to back down. The camp was divided into multiple compounds (also known as cages), each surrounded by razortopped wire fencing and containing multiple makeshift Nissen huts to accommodate the men. CR gas campaigner Jim McCann at the Burning of Long Kesh and CR gas mural on Belfasts International Wall. Many, even most, producers would have insisted on the need for backstory. [6] At the end of April 1978, a fight occurred between a prisoner and a prison officer in H-Block 6. In July 1972, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, William Whitelaw introduced Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence. Explain your answer, using the clip and your contextual knowledge. How useful is the clip of Larry and Paddy for an historian studying life in the cages/ compounds of Long Kesh? The sky was low and grey and the smoke from last night's fires hung in the air. It was situated at the former Royal Air Force station of Long Kesh, on the outskirts of Lisburn. They dried him off, got him into his clothes and back to bed. Through Donovan Wylies work I learnt of Dr. Louise Purbricks excellent continuing research concerned above all with the meanings of things and how those meanings are contained or revealed, experienced and theorised. Purbrick wrote the essay for Donvan Wylies book, Maze. But in the early days when we were in this sort of frame of mind freedom: 74, freedom: 75 we led a fairly militarised type of existence, it was very military structures. McConnell is from Northern Ireland so I was not too surprised upon looking through his portfolio to find a series on the Maze prison. Which ties nicely back into the crucial question about McConnells photographs of the site. The Maze was actually pioneering the development of control rooms Prison Officer. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The inspiring Just Seeds Collective which peddles art to fund prison rights activism pointed me via its blog toward the Poster Film-Collective of London. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. In the 1923 Irish hunger strikes thousands of Irish prisoners went on hunger strikes resulting in several deaths. [17] The site is now known as Balmoral Park. A prefabricated building which received visitors and checked parcels. However, this number does not include about 50 000 people convicted or jailed pending trial on 'terrorism' charges. Sands probably did more to turn the tide of the republican struggle than any other individual. The camp was divided into compounds (also known as cages), each surrounded by razor-topped wire fencing and containing multiple makeshift Nissen huts to accommodate the internees. That was when you saw them really happy Educator, The physical instructor would have been, he would have been refereeing the match and done everything by the book Prisoner. Unfortunately so did the hundreds of gasping, spewing, half-blinded men I was among. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Those convicted of "scheduled terrorist offences" after that date were housed in the eight new "H-Blocks" that had been constructed at Long Kesh, now officially named Her Majesty's Prison Maze (HMP Maze). Born in Belfast in 1971, DONOVAN WYLIE discovered photography at an early age. You had four huts which were in they had four huts which were in one compound, you had an ablutions block and a canteen area which we converted into a five a side area. A red brick, multi-storey building within the prison complex. McConnell: "HM Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh and the H-Blocks, held some of the most dangerous men in Europe during its 30 year operation. With direct politics and robust graphics, poster arts are a nostalgic favourite for many art historians. A selection of clips from the archive exploring the theme from different perspectives. In the summer of 1974 Long Kesh was a vast and weird encampment, white and grey. Thu May 5 2016 - 12:48 While the Long Kesh/Maze prison was synonymous with protest and hostility, a quieter, more benevolent activity also took place within its walls. In pursuance of their demands, prisoners began to resist and rebel. By the time of the events depicted in Hunger I had been released from a second spell of imprisonment, but my life was starting to run on new and different lines. It was terrible, it really was. Used for exercise and outdoor recreation by the prisoners. Pictured on Tuesday, July 18, 2006. The prisoners seized control of the interior of the camp as the prison warders retreated, leaving the protesting POWs to ignite what they could. Canteen facilities in an H Block, 1981. A dozen or so cages, a hundred men to a cage, cannot be controlled, as the burning down of Long Kesh in October 1974 demonstrated. It was like a, and I defy anybody else to describe it as a prisoner of war camp, you know. In 1981 they took their demands for the right not to wear prison clothing and the right to free association to the ultimate level: hunger strike. Formerly a Royal Air Force Base, the 140 ha (350-acre) prison hosted thousands of prisoners during The Troubles, several of whom died during a hunger strike. Eventually and inevitably, the British Army wrested back control of the camp. In December 1997, IRA prisoner Liam Averill escaped dressed as a woman during a Christmas party for prisoners' children. Instead they rely on McQueen's powerful visual lyricism. It says a lot about how little the British understood their republican enemy and how little they had absorbed of the lessons of Irish history that the government of the day - Harold Wilson's - thought that all it would take to break the prisoners was to isolate them and force them into prison uniforms. In 2007, Purbrick extended the survey, jointly editing the book Contested Spaces. And you got your day in by studying, by walking the yard, by running around the yard in the mornings, doing a bit of training, by doing handicrafts, by political discussions, reading, arguing. Corrections? A minibus would pull up, the bride in her full regalia, her bridesmaids, would step out the back of a minibus, come in and come up and have a wedding in here. Prison Chaplain, Once a week youd maybe get out to the gym Prisoner, You could have played basketball, 5 a sides, volleyball, stuff like that Prisoner, Youd never stop the men going to their football match. On 29 September 2000, the remaining four prisoners at the Maze were transferred to other prisons in Northern Ireland and the Maze Prison was closed. The H-Block from which thirty-eight PIRA prisoners escaped by taking prisoner officers hostage and hijacking a food lorry, on 25 September 1983. [8] In 1978, the British government was found guilty and censured by the European Court of Human Rights for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in the interrogation procedures". In fact, despite the opening of the H-Blocks in 1976, they remained in use until 1988, with people who had been sentenced before 1976 finishing their sentence in the cages/ compounds and anyone sentenced after March 1976 going into the H-Blocks. Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary-linked prisoners gave them the same privileges previously available only to internees. He sprays the urine-drenched floor with disinfectant then takes a squeegee and starts to push the piss-disinfectant mix in front of him, cleaning the corridor as he goes. PRONI ref: INF/7/A/8/15, H-Block classroom, 1981. Semi-cylindrical hut built using corrugated metal, which could be partitioned into cubicles. Control Building Plan. On 9 January 1998, the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, paid a surprise visit to the prison to talk to members of the Ulster Defence Association including Johnny Adair, Sam "Skelly" McCrory and Michael Stone. Archive of Steve Jensen Design www.stevejensen.design, This is a part of the Maze that will be in my very bones til the day that I die Prison Officer. And then that escalated into a massive riot. The bathroom image (above) is admittedly more powerful to me, having seen the bloodied-knuckle washing scenes in Steve McQueens powerful debut film Hunger. McConnell: HM Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh and the H-Blocks, held some of the most dangerous men in Europe during its 30 year operation. When you are fighting for breath, tears streaming down your face, snot in your nostrils and bile in your mouth, it becomes every man for himself. Aircraft hangars built for the Royal Air Force (RAF) station at Long Kesh, 1941-1946. Under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, most prisonersincluding many who were convicted of murderwere released, and the prison was closed in 2000. Also, admittedly the image of the football (below) is more loaded given the now-defunct plans to convert the site into a national stadium. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They would have walls. Hunger marks a significant break in cinema's treatment of the Troubles. Focusing on the violence inflicted by republican and loyalist organisations, treating both as essentially apolitical and gangsterish, individual members were depicted as bullying cowards, inadequates, psychopaths, terminally moronic or as wanting out. The film's producers and backers - Blast! But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Held in the notorious Northern Irish jail in the 70s, Ronan Bennett recalls the gas attacks, the beatings, the smell - and the jokes - and applauds Steve McQueen's haunting new film about its best-known inmate, IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. The helicopter simply made the short hop and more canisters came down. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Following the introduction of internment in August 1971, Long Kesh - a disused WWII airfield near Lisburn, south of Belfast - was used as an internment camp. Each H-Block was constructed in the shape of a H, with a central administrative area (known as the circle) and four wings of cells (A, B, C and D wings). Each H-Block also had its own individual control room. Apr 7, 2009 Ceartais is a lobby group of former Long Kesh Prisoners and their families who are campaigning to reveal the truth behind the exposure of Long Kesh prisoners to CR gas used by the British army on October 15th, 1974, during the disturbances and burning down of the prison camp by inmates. One example: we cut to a man in the prison corridor. In total, 22 compounds/ cages were constructed in Long Kesh. Experience tells us these answers will be a long time coming but Jim McCann and his comrades among the ex-POWs arent giving up. Although there were some variations across the compounds/ cages, they generally consisted of four Nissen huts which were designed to accommodate 80 men, with half of one hut serving as a dining/ recreational area. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Research by the ex-POWs and others has established that CR gas was stockpiled and ready for use at Long Kesh. Watch the clip of William. Within days of the agreement, the authorities went back on their word as the British Army continued to carry out intensive searches. I was at university, studying history, and I had not been home to Belfast for some time. 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