Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly

August 9th 1983

I was playing with my mates in the shed at the back of my ma's house when I heard the news about my cousin Thomas. My wee brother Tony ran out to tell me. He said my ma wanted me to go up the street, and tell my aunt, that Thomas had been killed by the British Army.

Confused, stunned, and scared, I flew up the street as fast as my 12 year old legs could carry me. At first I did not know what to say but then the words came thick and fast. Thomas was dead. The Brits killed him. A whirlwind stirred up around Belfast that day, and brought with it fear, hatred, sorrow, bitterness, and grief. Riots spread throughout the night, with people displaying their feelings against this murder in a way that was reflective of the violence that ended Thomas' life.

In stark contrast an outpouring of support for Thomas and his family came from around the world, people paid tribute to a man who made a joyful presence felt wherever he went. Wreaths, flowers, and cards came from famous rock and pop bands whom Thomas had worked for as a road manager. The pop group Bananarama attended the funeral, which was followed by thousands of mourners.

In an unprecedented move, the British Army Private who murdered Thomas was arrested, charged with murder, and subsequently became the first British soldier to be convicted of murder; a charge that was welcomed by the family, but later devastated the family even further, when it was reported a few years later, that the soldier had been released and was back serving in the British army.

Even though Thomas's life was cut short, unlike that British soldier, Thomas will live on in the memories of the thousands of people, whose lives his joyful spirit touched and changed forever.

Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly RIP

South Belfast or South Park

DEY TOOK R DERS

St Pauli FC fans

I thought I would lighten the mood a little with a sing-song from our friends of the FC St Pauli Ultras. Enjoy...

UDA looking for backpay

The announcements of loyalist decommissioning this week by General John De Chastelain should be welcomed by all, even if it is a little bit late in coming. But then the announcement that the UDA wanted money in return for guns makes the extra wait a little more plausible. If I stay in work for a few extra hours per week, I get overtime pay. I guess the UDA leadership believe they are entitled to overtime for the work they have done over the years trying to expunge the world of people other than themselves. Maybe they think they are entitled to a refund for the guns, and maybe they would be better off going to South Africa for repayment, provided they have the receipts of course. I have never understood when the IRA began decommissioning their weapons in 2001, that the UDA were allowed to keep their guns for so long. Were they trying to find all the receipts? Or maybe they were keeping them in case a Romanian insurrection occurred in South Belfast? So what will the outcome be? Quis Separabit Armorum? Maybe they could go see what the scrap man will give them.

A favela é, um problema social

Collusion between armed drug gangs and so called security forces in Brazil, inspired a French artist to use photography to bring the attention of the world to the Rio de Janeiro favela or shanty town where the violence took place. Brazilian soldiers were arrested after the killings of 3 men by a rival drug gang. The men were detained by the soldiers and brought to a rival drug gang's shanty town where they were shot dead.The subsequent outcry from the people of the favela resounded with the artist who in response took photographs of their faces, and plastered the photos on the walls of the shanty town and places of interest in Rio de Janeiro.

Racial hatred in Belfast

Not satisfied with the beating and killing of their own countrymen, now the mob turn their ire upon people from half way across the world. Up to 100 Romanian people, about 20 families, were forced to flee their homes as racial hatred reared its ugly head in south Belfast. Police used a minibus to evacuate the people from their homes in fear of reprisals for an earlier anti-racism march that had taken place. The families are being cared for in a Church overnight.

The scenes, reminiscent of Nazi Germany, being played out in the Lisburn road area of Belfast, should be condemned and the people responsible brought to bear for hate crimes, and prosecuted under the full extent of the law. This makes me wonder which Triangle are these people going to have to wear?




Reference:
Christy Moore. Yellow Triangle. YouTube. Click on picture.

Picture of Romanian newspaper seller Belfast 2009
The Prehistory of the Crisis (II)
Susanne Bosch, Anthony Haughey, Daniel Jewesbury and Sinead McCann

Loyalist Mob Murder

'Disturbing' is how, UUP mayor of Coleraine David Donaldson Barbour, described the brutal beating and murder last night, by a loyalist mob, of father of three, Kevin McDaid. I get disturbed when I hear the phone ring whilst sleeping, not when I hear of such violence perpetrated by lynch mobs. The mob, not happy with the winning result of their football team, went out to score their own prize, and went home leaving tormented, frightened, and fatherless children in their wake. I wonder if the murderers who carried out this attack were like the mayor 'disturbed' by the memories of their victim as they slept last night. I doubt it. If the PSNI are as reformed as they say they are, then they should hunt down the 30 or so murderers involved in this act of terror, and bring justice to the family of Kevin McDaid.

Men of cloth failed us again

As Shakespeare would have it,"Truth will out". In my opinion, the truth was always there, and only needed a few brave souls to shine a light. For too long the 'revered' men in the Catholic Church have failed the people who profess their faith. The newly appointed leader of the Church in England said, that the report on the child abuse in Ireland by Christian Brothers and nuns from the Sisters of Mercy, "overshadowed' the good these institutions have done, and "It is a tough road to take, to face up to our own weaknesses" (BBC, 2009). Well, I'm sorry your Catholic guilt got in the way of owning up to years of abuse and torture of innocent children, and maybe we should 'forgive' these men and women, instead of turning them over to the proper authorities and jail where they belong.

The Irish are well known for their love and devotion to the mother Church, but what is less known is the mother Church's lack of compassion, and understanding for its followers. Throughout the Irish people's turbulent past, as the song goes, 'The men of cloth failed us again'. The Bishops blessed the Nazis on their way from Ireland to fight on the side of Franco in the Spanish Civil War; the Church turned their backs on the fight against oppression from the British by threatening excommunication of people during the famine, who would not pay rent to the British landlords; Proponents of civil unrest were threatened with excommunication in the Eighties by Bishop Daly, and more that are too numerous to rehash.

Brought up Catholic in Ireland I was well aware of the bigotry, and hatred perpetrated against Catholics in that part of the world, since the days of Cromwell and the Penal institutions that he promulgated.The children who were subjected to the horrors of evil men and women must have thought Cromwell's men had returned.

There were always rumours of the abuse, and people surely knew this type of thing was going on, but the fear of the Church was so instilled in the people, that the matter was swept under the carpet and backs were turned to save face. Now faced with the truth, what does the commission report to do? Build a memorial to the abused. And the new leader in England, what does he say? "Pray for those who suffered".
That'll help.

Watching me, watching you

Another Earth Day has come and gone, and we're still spinning. At least that's what I'm seeing on my television. The satellite TV company, DISH Network have a camera set up on their broadcast satellite, 22,000 miles away in space. It is a strange phenomenon being able to watch the Earth 'live' on a television screen. Its even stranger when the network play easy listening music, James Taylor and such, whilst the Earth is there spinning in all its glory. As I sit here watching Ireland disappear into the Eastern clouds, and Hawaii comes into view, Van Morrison belts out his ode to a 'Brown Eyed Girl', and the World keeps on turning, and tuning in.