Political World
Disappeared documentary shows Adams’ baggage is too much for Sinn Fein to bear
World of Politics with Harry McGee – harrymcgee@gmail.com
The power of television to have a massive impact on the world of politics can never be underestimated.
The Birmingham Six won their eventual freedom because of the impact of an investigative documentary on ITV made by Chris Mullin, which questioned the evidence that led to their convictions for the pub bombings of 1974.
The Beef Tribunal came about because of a documentary made by journalist Susan O’Keeffe for World in Action also on ITV. Ditto for the State inquiries into sexual and phsyical abuse in Ireland’s State and religious-run institutions, which were established after the powerful investigative documentary ‘Suffer Little Children’ made by the late Mary Raftery.
Darragh MacIntyre was responsible for ‘The Disappeared’, an equally compelling and important documentary for the BBC in recent weeks that examined in detail the plight of those poor victims who were ‘disappeared’ by the IRA during the Troubles.
There was nothing particularly new in the documentary. Its great skill was in compiling and stranding together all the available evidence into separate narratives, each telling the story of a person who was murdered by the IRA, and the terrible effect it had on their loved ones.
And the third element that really catapulted it into the public consciousness was the investigative stuff about Gerry Adams’ role in those who disappeared from Belfast when he was in charge of the IRA there, including an interview with the Sinn Fein leader in which he failed to dispel the whiff of sulphur that surrounds him on this issue.
There is no doubt that the documentary and subsequent reaction to it in the public sphere has damaged Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams. The Sinn Fein leader was repeatedly challenged and criticised by political opponents during the week – both in the Dáil and outside – to admit his role in the disappearance of Belfast woman Jean McConivlle in the early 1970s.
Two former colleagues of his, Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes (both now dead), alleged that he was centrally involved in the abduction and ‘disappearance’ of McConville, a widow whose death left a large family of mainly young children to fend, essentially, for themselves.
Of all the heartless killings done in the name of Irish freedom, this was one of the very worst.
Adams made no admission during the programme and reacted to the allegations in the same calm implacable manner he has reacted to countless similar allegations over the years. But his protestations – that he was not the leader of the IRA in Belfast; that Hughes and Price were lying because they had fallen out with him – just rang hollow to the ears of just about everybody who saw the programme. The reflex defence of “We are all to blame” just doesn’t do it anymore.
That this was so was evident by the reaction of Sinn Féin during the course of the week. Adams issued a long statement on Tuesday and followed it up with a blog at the weekend when he again defended himself against the allegations, and argued that he, his party and its shadow (the Provos) had done everything possible to help relatives.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
World of Politics with Harry McGee
Academically, politics is described as a science. But in the real world, it’s more of an art – and one of the big decisions a Government has to make is to decide when to call an election.
Will they see out the full term, or will they go early – either to mitigate the damage they will ship, or to secure a victory before things go awry, or the economy takes a dip, or some kind of controversy erupts?
Timing is everything.
And there’s a bit of art to that – not to mention a lot of luck. If you call it early and win big, you’re a genius. If you call it early and lose, you are the political version of the village fool.
Charlie Haughey was a poor judge of the public mood. Twice he called snap elections and on both occasions they backfired. Haughey succeeded Jack Lynch as Taoiseach in late 1979 and did not – technically – have his own mandate. He tried to remedy that by calling an election in 1981. But it recoiled. Ray MacSharry warned him not to hold it during the H Block hunger strikes when republican prisoners were dying each day. He did not listen to the advice and found himself out of office.
After his return to power in 1987, Haughey tired of presiding over a minority government that kept on losing votes in the Oireachtas (the opposition won nine private members motions).
So he called a snap general election and it backfired. Fianna Fáil lost seats and had to broker a coalition deal with the Progressive Democrats and his long-standing political adversary Dessie O’Malley.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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World of Politics with Harry McGee
I was cycling down Mount Street in Dublin on Tuesday. It’s a wide esplanade that links the Grand Canal with Merrion Square. The street is a mixture of fine Georgian buildings and modern office blocks.
About half-way down is the office of the International Protection Office, which deals with asylum seekers who have arrived in the country.
Needless to say, the office has been overwhelmed in the past year. Besides an estimated 80,000 refugees who have arrived from Ukraine, there have been about 20,000 people from other parts of the world who have arrived into Dublin (mostly) claiming asylum.
The numbers peaked around Christmas, but they have been falling a little. In January, more than 1,300 people arrived seeking asylum but the numbers fell back to 831 and 858, in February and March respectively.
They are still huge numbers in a historical context.
So back to my cycle on Tuesday. I knew that some asylum seekers were camping outside the International Protection Office, but I was taken aback by how many. There were six tents lined up on the pavement directly outside. Then on the ramp that led down to the basement carpark on the side of the building, there were about another 20 tents.
It looked like what it was, a refugee camp in the middle of Dublin’s business district. If you pan out from Mount Street, you will find tents here and there in nearby streets and alleys. There were a good few tents in an alleyway off Sandwith Street about 500 metres away.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
World of Politics with Harry McGee
God that was a dramatic and historic weekend in England, wasn’t it? So much excitement, so much change, so much hype, so much out with the old and in with the new, and what looks like the coronation of a new leader. Yes, the local elections in Britain were something else weren’t they!
Apologies for not going on about King Charles III but the contract I signed when I became a lifelong republican forbids me to discuss the topic!
I know the British local elections sound a bit boring by comparison, but the results were stunning.
The Conservatives lost nearly 1,000 seats, the British Labour Party gained almost 500 and both the Lib Dems (with 350 gains) and the Greens (gaining over 200) also had amazing days at the polls.
It was Labour’s best day since 2002 but its victory was only partial. The Greens and the Lib Dems actually made gains at the expense of Labour in more affluent areas, and in parts of Britain where there were high numbers of graduates.
It was in the Red Wall constituencies in the North of England where the Labour recovery was strongest. These are working class constituencies with pockets of deprivation where people voted for the Labour Party forever. But all of those constituencies voted for Brexit and then voted for the Tories in the next general election. Labour is now winning back some of those votes.
Local elections are classified as second-tier elections which essentially means – from a national perspective – they are not life-or-death affairs, and not everything turns on them. Of course, it’s really important to have good local representation. But they are not an amazing weather vane for who rules the country.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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