Ireland's OWN: Hungerstrikes

Ireland's OWN: Hungerstrikes

Mickey Devine Remembered
—by Eámonn McCann

On 23rd May 1981 — the day after Patsy O Hara and Ray Mc Creesh died — Kevin Lynch, a 25-year-old INLA Volunteer from Dungiven (North Derry), became the eighth republican POW to join the hunger strike for political status.

Mickey Devine was one of the Hunger Strikers who died. First time I ever saw him, not the first times I saw him but as it wasn't at all the first time I saw him, Mickey Devine, was in 1968 he was a member of the Labour Party Young Socialists in Derry and I was a member of the Labour Party at the time.

I remember when we were trapped between two Police cordons in Duke Street on October the 5th I was on the chair making a little speech through a megaphone. There had been various speeches made. A number of people like Austin Curry again and Ivan Cooper calling for "moderation", "peace", decorum", "good taste" and "for everybody to go Home!" (Laughter)

You know, myself and one or two others made speeches that were later characterised in the magistrate's court as 'incitement to riot!' (Laughter)

You know, when I remember that as I stood up to speak, I just suddenly saw his little figure, Mickey Devine who was 14 or 15 years old at the time. He was a wee round chap, he looked like Paul Brady the singer, with glasses and his little sort of round face. And he was shouting at me this very curious thing. I got up to speak and he shouted "WHAT ABOUT THE MEXICAN STUDENTS McCANN!" (Laughter) "WHAT ABOUT THE MEXICAN STUDENTS!"

Well it was a bit distressing because I was trying to get my act together, and to be honest, because of all the confusion that we had at the time on the 'Left' about the, I wasn't quite sure what I should say sort of, to this crowd. Cops moving in on us and so on. The last thing I needed was someone shouting "WHAT ABOUT THE MEXICAN STUDENTS McCANN!" You know? (Laughter)

But I suddenly remembered that as I stood there, on this little chair, what he was talking about!

Do you remember 1968 with the Olympic Games in Mexico City? When the Mexican cops or the representative's of the regime massacred over 100 Mexican students who'd been demonstrating, to try to draw attention to the oppression and exploitation that was going on and black Mexico tried to take advantage of the big media presence for the Olympic games. They had been MASSACRED! And the point that he was making, was that if the Mexican students could withstand that. If that was what they had to do to draw attention to the injustice and oppression in Mexico, then this was no time to accept the advice, actually, to go home and sit down sort of and bow our heads and go home. That we should STAND UP and fight for our rights. That's the point that he was making.

Now Mickey Devine had an interesting political history after that, but he wasn't a great internationalist. I don't think he would have been. He never had any sort of great intellectual political discussion with me. But he left the Labour Party, at the time. Joined the, what was then the Official IRA. Joined the IRSP and the INLA when that split came about. Eventually finished up in Long Kesh. Went 'on the blanket'. Went on Hunger Strike and was of course the last of the Hunger strikers to die.

And when we're taking about international things you some times can see that we're talking about sort of little struggles here and there that are disconnected and they ARE disconnected in away. We never thought of ourselves as being involved in a great international movement. A great international conspiracy. At least I didn't anyway.

But I remember after Mickey Devine died. Reading one of those little left-wing British papers, that are sort of, I forget the name of it, on demonstrations. And it had one of these little 'lists of events' down the sides, you know? Like a, PARIS DEMONSTRATION with a little paragraph, demonstration about such and such. And SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: DOCKERS STRIKE BROKEN UP! And BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

In the middle of this, it said "MEXICO!" It said "Last week in Mexico, students in Mexico University gathered in thousands and stood for a minutes silence in memory of Michael Devine, the Irish Hunger striker. And it struck me that in some curious way, and there's nothing mystical about it, but WE ALL FIGHT FOR ONE ANOTHER! And what we're involved in here, just what Mickey Devine was involved in, is no SMALL, NARROW parochial DISPUTE!

It's Not some little sordid thing going on in a backwater! It is part of something great!

What we've been involved in over the last 20 years has been something great and we should be proud to have been involved in it! It's a great thing to have been part of! It would be a great thing to see the completion of!

LONG LIVE MICKEY DEVINE!