We look back at the stories that were making the headlines in the Andersonstown News this week in 1981
Prisoners forced back on protest
The following press statement from the National H-Block Armagh Committee was issued at 6pm last night (Wednesday).
The British have thrown the agreement of December 18th in the faces of the prisoners. By their lies and double dealing they have squandered the real chance of ending the trauma of H-Block and Armagh Gaol brought about by the ending of the hunger-strike and the responsible attitude of the prisoners in the ensuing weeks.
The bullying and intimidation of the past week by the prison authorities have pushed the patience of the prisoners to breaking point and put the prisoner situation hurtling down the slippery slope to total deadlock. In protest against the increasing brutality against the prisoners, at 9pm last night prisoners in H3 and H5 wrecked their cells. A communication received this afternoon from H3 states that at 10pm last night POs arrived on B Wing H3 and moved 47 men from B Wing H3 to C Wing.
The cells to which they were moved were completely filfthy, there were puddles of water on the floor, the cells were in total darkness, there was no drinking water, and no beds, mattresses or blankets. They were given only a towel to wrap themselves in and spent the night in freezing cold.
POs and governors remained on the wing all night and were still there at 1.30 today.
One prisoner, Gerry McNally, became sick twice during the night but was refused a blanket or a drink of water. None of the men received water until 11am this morning. By this morning all the men were completely exhausted, but when some of them got to see a prison doctor he dismissed them, saying it was not a medical matter.
Reports from H5 indicate that an even worse situation exists there. One man, Eamon Digney, from Andersonstown is reported to have had a limb broken, while Eddie Brophy from Turf Lodge is reported to have taken a heart attack.
The responsibility for this grave situation rests totally with the British Government. By putting the protesting prisoners back into dirty cells, they have effectively forced them back on to the dirty protest. In the present crisis we call on all our supporters to mobilise immediately to defend the prisoners and win their five demands.
David and Annabella Collins from Brooke Drive celebrate their Ruby Wedding at the Greenan Lodge
No Irish allowed in Long Kesh
Political prisoners in Long Kesh cages are not being allowed books in Irish and according to a prison warder this is the official policy.
Last Saturday the sister of a prisoner visited her brother and tried to bring him an Irish book which he had requested. A particularly ill-mannered warder told her: “This won’t be allowed in. It’s in a foreign language.”
When she argued that her brother had received many books in Irish over a number of years, the warder became very abusive and said: “I told you. No books in a foreign language will be admitted.”
She visited the prison again on Tuesday and tried to have the book signed in. This time she was told by a warder (whom she described as ‘pleasant enough’) that no books in Irish would be admitted and that this was a new rule being enforced.
The St John's committee with wives at St John's GAC Ceilí Dinner
Concern for welfare of teens
The increase of ‘glue sniffing’ by teenagers has increased so dramatically in recent times, that a group of Lenadoon parents, concerned about their children’s present and future welfare, have banded together in an effort to defeat the problem.
They intend to call a public meeting shortly, of all interested parties (parents, clergy, teachers, youth workers, shopkeepers etc) at a local venue.
“There are literally hundreds of youngsters, boys and girls, ‘glue sniffing’ at the moment in this area,” said one man. “They’re aged from as young as ten years to twenty. They use a number of houses in the area when the parents are out at work. They also use garages, car parks, entries and doorways of flats.
“Sometimes they go down to the city centre subways, where they meet teenagers from other areas of the city, who are up to the same caper.”
Another parent told us of the serious problem he had with his fifteen-year-old son.
“We can’t seem to stop him,” he said. “We’ve tried everything. A doctor who examined him, said that if he continued to sniff he could start to hallucinate and maybe have a serious accident. In the long term he could suffer brain damage or even cirrhosis of the liver, not to mention bronchitis. He said that ‘glue sniffing’ has much the same effect on the body as mustard gas which was used extensively in the First World War.”
Apparently, the teenagers use Evostick, and other adhesives easily got in hardware DIY and model shops. Sometimes they mix the glue with alcohol. The police told parents of young people who had developed the habit, that there is no legislation about ‘glue sniffing’.
“It is not an offence,” said one policeman. “All we can do is try to control it at a community level.”
In Dublin, where the problem is very serious, eight teenagers died of ‘glue sniffing’ last year. Four died in Belfast. The parents involved in the campaign to end the problem, would like to see restrictions such as exist in the sale of alcohol.
Said one man: “We would like to ask shops to refuse to sell the stuff to young people under a certain age. If we succeeded, say in this district, the ban might spread to other areas.
“On Monday night this week,” he said. “I collected sixteen plastic shopping bags containing glue on the Shaws Road. We’re really worried about the thing, and we want to see it stopped as soon as possible. Only a combined effort by parents, teachers and others will solve the problem.”
Neil Peden, Jinger McKernan, Peter McGinnity, Cut Cunningham, Eugene McNeill, and Damien Morgan at St John's GAC Ceilí Dinner
