Andrée Murphy hails from Dublin but has lived in Belfast since 1994.
She is the Deputy Director of Relatives for Justice, a national victim support NGO which provides advocacy and therapeutic support for the bereaved and injured of the conflict. Holding a Masters Degree in international human rights law, Andrée's particular expertise and research on women affected by conflict trauma has seen her provide evidence to the United Nations in Geneva and to Congressional hearings in the US.
Andrée is a columnist for Belfast Media Group and is a regular contributor to broadcast media, providing political analysis and commentary.
Last week reminded us all what is at stake when we allow the dehumanisation of our fellow citizens. On Tuesday, when the news and visual imagery of a vicious assault emerged, the immediate and quite unique response felt disproportionate to the one-on-one attack. When a statement from Keir Starmer comes out about a stabbing in North Belfast you can be certain that there is something bigger afoot than concern for a North Belfast man’s welfare. It was however an indication of the seriousness with which the Executive and the PSNI, viewed the inevitably violent response.
The Irish far right has been developing in spits and spats across our island, threatening businesses, the right to work, the right to education and the right to freedom of worship – and ultimately the right to safety and the right to life – for a number of years.
They say never meet your heroes. And that may well be true in many cases but I have been lucky to tto come to know one lifetime hero who has surpassed my hopes for what she might be.
“Tommy Tommy Tommy, Brian Hayes had no business trying that score let alone sending it over the bar.”
In 2012 Sir Desmond De Silva said, “It is essential that allegations of (state) collusion with terrorist organisations are rigorously pursued”. This was in his report into the murder of Pat Finucane. This report came after British Prime Minister David Cameron apologised in the British Houses of Parliament for the state collusion in the murder of an officer of the court.
England has lurched to the far right. Scotland and Wales have voted for self-determination. So begins a new phase as Britain’s last colony walks onwards to independence.
For months and months living in the Colin area has been testing, through absolutely no fault of the ratepaying workers who proudly call the area home.
The decision by political unionism to become Mini Magas to regain the position of First Minister is a tactic that requires our attention and determination.
On the island of Britain in the coming weeks there will be elections that will impact our future.
This has been a week of hope, despite the desperate loss of life and irreparable crimes against humanity. Simultaneous to the horror and fear we all see and feel, we are starting to see the turn of history arching, at last, towards better days.
The first time I heard “Something Inside So Strong” by Labi Siffre was one of those seminal musical moments in my life, when lyrics and melody conjured something more. The pressure on the Apartheid state of South Africa was intense and at last the momentum was with the people of a land brutalised and oppressed as part of Europe’s 19th Century Colonial adventure and shame. Nelson Mandela was still in prison, but when Labbi sang we knew that would end soon.
THE crisis facing community and voluntary organisations as we go into April is not a new story. Following Brexit (remember that?) many groups, organisations and citizens warned that this would happen. Leaving the European Union meant leaving an infrastructure that has been designed to develop innovative and progressive programmes which support conflict resolution and address economic deprivation.
It is impossible to imagine a world without violence against women. Impossible to even imagine living in a region where women might be safe. In a week where we see Natalie McNally’s murderer Gareth McCullagh convicted, and watch in despair as the details of Amy Doherty’s life and loves are shared in the wake of her murder in Derry, we must face the truth that living in the most dangerous place in Europe to be a woman has become our normal.
Political unionism is a study in small man syndrome. You don’t even need to be male, but you do need a brass neck. Sometimes you wonder if they just do it to get some high off feeling righteous, or are they just inherently bad mannered?
The issue of the definition of victims and survivors must be the most tawdry and reductive part of our political discourse.