IF you get a chance, watch this new video below posted on Sunday on YouTube about the life and times of Fra McCann.  Just before Christmas 2019 Fra announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. He did several media interviews and spoke out because he believed his words might succeed in persuading other men suffering similar symptoms to speak to their doctors.

Through an interview with Joe Austin and the use of archive film and family photos, Fra tells the story of his life – a life of struggle. It’s an amazing account of an amazing man told honestly and in the self-deprecating manner that all of us who know Fra understand.

Fra’s courage and tenacity were uniquely recognised when he was awarded a ‘citation for bravery’ by the Massachusetts State legislature. It was the first of six states that year to support the prisoners’ five demands. The British government was outraged at Fra’s success and at the effectiveness of the lobbying campaign. London urged the US authorities to arrest and deport him.

I have known Fra McCann for almost 50 years. Even as he battles prostate cancer Fra continues to live his life as a republican activist – an MLA representing the people of the Falls, an area and a people he loves.

Like many others it was the pogrom of August 1969 that changed Fra’s life.  The barricades went up in Belfast and local people stepped forward to defend their community. Among them was a very young Fra. Several years later, aged 18, he was interned on the prison ship Maidstone for a month before being sent to Long Kesh in February 1972. He was released in May of that year. Six months later he was interned again and returned to Long Kesh in November 1972 where he was held until his release on December 23, 1975. 

During this time he was sentenced to an additional nine months for an escape attempt. He was part of a group of POWs who tunnelled their way out of the camp. One republican prisoner, IRA Volunteer Hugh Coney, was shot dead by British soldiers. He was lying beside Fra at the time of his murder.

Fra was arrested many times during 1976 and found himself in Crumlin Road Jail in November of that year. He and three other republican prisoners went on the blanket protest, famously written about by Bobby Sands in his piece ‘The Forgotten Blanketmen’. 

Eventually he was sent to the H-Blocks where he joined other comrades on the blanket demanding political status. He was released in November 1979 and travelled throughout Ireland, France and North America highlighting the plight of the prisoners. Fra spent a gruelling four and a half months in 1980 campaigning in the USA. He had been denied a visa but like other ex-prisoners and republican activists at that time he entered the country illegally during the summer.

With the help of Noraid activists he travelled back and forth across the USA, talking to Irish American organisations, politicians, councils, trade unions and any media willing to listen. He did hundreds of meetings and interviews. Fra’s courage and tenacity were uniquely recognised when he was awarded a ‘citation for bravery’ by the Massachusetts State legislature. It was the first of six states that year to support the prisoners’ five demands. The British government was outraged at Fra’s success and at the effectiveness of the lobbying campaign. London urged the US authorities to arrest and deport him.

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT


On October 1 1980, Fra and another legend, Dessie Mackin, were arrested. They were held in solitary confinement and on 23-hour lock-up in the Correction Centre in New York. While in court fighting the extradition warrant the judge asked Fra why he hadn’t applied for political asylum. Fra’s lawyer, the late Frank Durkan, seized on the suggestion; Fra applied for political asylum and was released on bail. This allowed him to legally go back on the road campaigning. Desi was not so lucky. He stayed in detention. Later, in 1983, Fra joined the Divis Residents’ Association. 

Divis Flats was a monstrosity. It had been constructed in the mid-1960s. Thousands of men, women and children were packed into the 19-storey Divis Tower and 12 eight-storey inter-connected ‘Sectra’ concrete slabs. It was a bleak, depressing environment – an overcrowded slum in which the residents fought a daily battle against inadequate public services; poor health; an inefficient heating and lighting system; water penetration and excessive dampness; rat and insect infestation; and in the early 1970s the omnipresence of British soldiers, including a permanent base on top of Divis Tower. To add to all of this, in 1984 asbestos was discovered.

There were other blocks of flats in Turf Lodge,Unity Flats, Moyard and disastrous housing developments in Beechmount and the lower Shankill which also became significant housing action campaigns for demolition. The Demolish Divis campaign and the people of Divis fought a prolonged campaign. It was difficult, dangerous but ultimately successful and in September 1986 the Housing Executive announced that Divis was to be demolished.   

I consider the Divis campaign and the other successful housing campaigns to be among the great achievements of working class people at that time.  The following year Fra was elected to Belfast City Council. It was a dangerous time to be a member of Sinn Féin and especially an elected representative. Many were shot. Family members were killed and injured. Homes were attacked. Fra remained steadfast.

ELECTED TO ASSEMBLY

In 2003 he was elected to the Assembly. He also remained active in many of the local community organisations that play a part in the provision of housing, education, health and leisure facilities.

Fra has been physically attacked. Threatened by unionist paramilitaries, the British army, the RUC and other anti-social elements. He has never allowed these threats to deter him. Unbowed and unbroken. A Falls Road man, proud of his roots and proud of the struggle for freedom and self-determination that he has dedicated his life to.

Me, Larry King and the SF broadcast ban

THE legendary American broadcaster Larry King died at the weekend. For over 60 years he worked in radio and TV. He was a master at doing interviews with a style that discouraged abrasive and hostile questioning.  David Frost once told me that he believed in civility and asking questions reasonably. He told me if an interviewer comes at an interview like a storm then the guest buttons up and shelters from the storm. But if the interviewer is like the warm sun the guest relaxes and opens up. Larry King’s approach was similar.

I first met him during my 48-hour visit to New York at the end of January 1994.  I was invited to participate in a peace conference organised by the National Committee on Foreign Policy. The British government began an intense private and public campaign to keep me out. The British Embassy worked round the clock arguing that a visa for me would be a diplomatic catastrophe.

They sought and received the support of the House Speaker Tom Foley.  Years later when Tom and I met in the Capitol Building he graciously apologised. The Secretary of State Warren Christopher opposed granting a visa, as did the Attorney General Janet Reno and the Head of the FBI Louis Freeh. On the other side, Ted Kennedy and three Democratic Senate colleagues, Chris Dodd, John Kerry and Daniel Moynihan, wrote to President Bill Clinton backing the visa. Others in Irish America rallied to the issue. In addition, full-page advertisements appeared in the New York Times calling for US support for efforts to find peace.

To his credit, President Clinton made the right call. I was surprised at the furore my visited caused and the media interest it generated.  I spent most of my two days in New York doing round-the-clock interviews. Among these and probably one of the most important was with Larry King. His interview slot was internationally famous. It was watched by millions in the USA and around the world.

The interview was to be broadcast by CNN into Britain and across Europe and into Africa. But there was a snag. At that time my voice was banned under the censorship restrictions introduced by Margaret Thatcher. Consequently, any broadcast of an interview with me had to have an actor’s voice. CNN’s uplink connection was based in London making it subject to British law.

To be honest, much of those 48 hours are now a blur. Little sleep and a lot of talking. I vaguely remember Larry King opening the interview by pointing out that it was against the law in Britain to put my voice on television. Most US journalists and broadcasters were not even conscious of censorship and many disapproved of the denial of this basic civil right.

The fact that CNN also had to use an actor to lip-sync my answers made it even more newsworthy. As a consequence Larry King’s interview with me was not broadcast into Britain, Europe and Africa until 12 hours later. I have always believed that the USA media’s ridicule of Thatcher’s censorship nonsense to be a key factor in the decision to scrap it. Actors voices and all.

I met Larry several times after that and we did more interviews. He was always generous with his time and, though friendly. he still asked the hard questions. To his family and friends I want to extend my condolences. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Growing support for a border referendum

A LUCIDTALK poll published by the London Times at the weekend is the first major examination of the potential impact of Brexit on voter attitudes in the North of Ireland and in Britain since the EU and the British government concluded a deal toward the end of December.

It suggests that the trend toward a fragmentation of the British Union is growing stronger. In particular, it says that a majority of citizens in the North and in Scotland want referendums on unity and independence within the next five years if of enormous significance.

The LucidTalk poll found a majority of voters in the North – 51 per cent to 44 per cent – support a unity referendum within the next five years. It also claims that “unionists hold only a slender lead over those who want a united Ireland now – 47 per cent to 42 per cent.” Eleven per cent are undecided.

All of this underpins the importance of the Irish Government planning now for a referendum on a united Ireland and planning to win that referendum. All United Irelanders should note that growing support for a referendum does not necessarily mean support for unity. So we have work to do. Securing a referendum on unity is one thing. Winning that referendum and moving inclusively and in agreement into a new Ireland is another piece of work entirely. 

Let’s do it