Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Whatever You Say, Say NothingCommunity Conflict Skills: A Handbook for Anti-Sectarian Work in Northern Ireland byMari FitzduffReview by: Rob FairmichaelFortnight, No. 267 (Nov., 1988), p. 22Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25551739 .

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How not

to defeat

terrorism

Brice Dickson

Anthony Jennings ed Justice Under Fire:

the abuse of civil liberties in

Northern Ireland

Pluto Press, ?22.50 hb

THERE IS not a lot that is new in this book, but the points it makes certainly bear repetition. A

collection of essays by barristers and legal aca

demics, it aims to explain how civil liberties

have been unnecessarily curtailed in Northern

Ireland in the name of law-and-order strategies

adopted by the British government to deal with the 'troubles'. The contributions highlight how

undesirable, indeed counter-productive, these

strategies have been. Rather than stem the flood

of violence they have tended to add to it.

Paddy Hillyard's chapter on the political and

social dimensions of emergency law is the most

eloquent. Having indicated how the practical effects of the law's operation are discriminat

ory?with one in four of all male Catholics aged between 16 and 44 estimated to have been ar

rested since 1972, and with one in ten of all

employed male Protestants working in the secu

rity services?he concludes by praising the role

of the civil liberties lobby in Northern Ireland. To ignore justice issues in order to achieve some

'higher' goal, he says?be it the elimination of

terrorism or the withdrawal of 'the Brits'?is to

insult the countless innocent individuals who

daily suffer civil liberties abuses.

The book contains a rambling chapter by Peter Hall on the Prevention of Terrorism Act, written mainly with an English readership in

mind. Part of it covers the same ground as

Dermot Walsh's piece on airest and interroga tion, though it is more up-to-date. He will not

endear himself to many by suggesting that the

IRA should be de-proscribed, though it certainly is remarkable that no one has ever been charged

with membership of the IRA in Britain. Clearly the form a law takes matters less than the way it

is implemented. Even if some of the emergency laws were to be repealed in favour of the existing

'ordinary' laws, the authorities could often

achieve the same ends by applying differently the administrative discretions vested in them.

But there are some distortions which could

not be emulated. Under the PTA a person can be

arrested on suspicion of being concerned in

preparing an act of terrorism, yet being con

cerned in preparing an act of terrorism is not

itself an offence. Remembering also that people can be arrested on the basis of evidence which

would not be admissible at a trial, it is apparent that the scope for making arrests simply for

interrogation purposes is very great. One or two of the chapters?in particular

those by the editor himself on the use of lead and

plastic bullets?are polemical rather than ana

lytical. Jennings could state his case even better

if he explained in more detail the deficiencies in the law on the use of force (to which could be

added the defects in the coroners inquests sys

tern). There is little to be gained from exagger

ating a complaint when the reality is bad enough. Walsh makes the same mistake when he says

that the judges, by their inactivity and interpre tations, have effectively abdicated their control

over the criminal justice process to the RUC.

One would not want to go to the other extreme?

as the lord chancellor, Lord Mackay, did when

he spoke at the Law Society's annual dinner in

Belfast last month. The truth lies somewhere in

the middle. To a large extent the judges can only be as good as the prosecutors and police officers

allow them to be. Until better accountability mechanisms are introduced in those quarters

there will continue to be cause for grave convern

over the administration of justice here.

Whatever

you say,

say nothing Rob Fairmichael

Mari Fitzduff

Community Conflict Skills: a handbook for anti-sectarian work in

Northern Ireland Community Conflict Skills Project, 84 Drumaney Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, ?4.50 + 50p p&p

GRADUALLY, discussion of sectarianism is

coming out of the closet. Arenas are slowly

being opened up where previously Catholic

Protestant differences would not have been dis

cussed because of fears of breaking friendships or encouraging verbal or physical strife. In work

with young people, voluntary agencies and else

where there is increasing awareness of the need

to tackle sectarianism rather than leave it fester

ing under the carpet. But it is only a beginning. Earlier this year a

lecturer in computer studies for day release

youngsters decided it would be fun to teach them

how to draw a Union flag on the screen. When

one girl indicated a preference for a tricolour the

instructor was totally unprepared for the situ

ation which developed. Mari Fitzduff s book is a comprehensive

handbook of ideas, exercises and definitions

from the north's most experienced trainer-cum

facilitator in this area. It includes around 100

exercises that can be used in opening up discuss

ion on Northern Ireland, the positive and nega tive aspects of belonging to a particular commu

nity, prejudice and sectarianism, justice and

rights, how to be politically assertive and how to

deal with conflict?plus some methods for regu

lating discussions. Her introductions to the sec

tions provide useful definitions of terms such as

'prejudice' and 'anti-sectarian work', as well as

some helpful cross-referencing. As Mari rightly points out in her introduc

tion, this kind of work is not a substitute for a

political settlement or adequate legal structures:

"It is essentially about nurturing processes that

might facilitate the discussion and development of solutions, rather than about providing them."

This is an important book which will hope

fully be widely used, though it will require courage and sensitivity from its users. While

flimsy and not attractively laid out, once got to

grips with there is enough here to work on for a

month of Sundays.

Ceim ar

Aghaidh Pol OMuiri

Eag Sean Mac Mathiina Ceardlann '85

An Chead Chlo, IR?4

TA AN leabhar seo rud beag cosuil le raidio

ach in ait athru 6 chaineal go caineal le casadh

diaile, anseo buaileann tu le glor nua le tiontu

leathanaigh agus tugann an glor nua seo leargas

beag eile ar an saol. Ta 'aerog' da gcuid fein ag

gach aon udar agus aimsfonn se/sf eachtra no

mothuchan a ghineann sceal no dan.

Maftear ar chill an leabhair nach 'sar

litrfocht' ata sa saothar seo ach iarrachtai, idir

phros agus fhilfocht, arbh fhiu a fhoilsiu. Agus b'fhiu. Ta splanc le feiceail i saothar na n-udar

uilig agus is leir 6 raiteisi na n-udar gur thug an

cheardlann spreagadh doibh leanstan ar aghaidh a scriobh.

Is cuimhin Horn fein an dearcadh a bhf agam

agus ag mo chuid comradaithe scoile faoi

litrfocht na Gaeilge, dar linn, nfor scriobh rud ar

bith fiuntach 6 thainig 'Duil' amach agus nior

shamhail muid ariamh go raibh a leitheid de rud

ann mar ata 'litrfocht chomhaimseartha na

Gaeilge'. Danglacfaimfs leis an leabhar seo mar

shampla de sin, is cosuil go bhfuil an litrfocht

chomhaimseartha ag streacailt ar aghaidh go maith.

Ba cheart, afach, beim a chur ar reamhra

Sheain Mhic Mhathuna agus e ag iarraidh a

thaispeaint gur feidir an scrfbhneoireacht a

theagasc ar an doigh cheanna le ceol no le

dealbhoireacht. Nf hea go dtiocfadh an chead

Phadraig O Conaire eile as ranganna teagaisc,

(an mbfonn muinteoirf ceoil ag duil le Mozart

eile sa rang?) ach tugann na ceardlanna seo

treoir agus solas do 'abhar scrfbhneora'.

Nfor mhiste, ach an oiread, alt Aoidh Uf Cha

nainn a leamh faoi easpa pobail do leabhair

Ghaeilge. Ta an ceart aige go bhfuil se ria

chtanach pobal leitheoireachta a chothu agus abhar leitheoireachta foirsteanach a chur ar fail

don aos 6g. Is trua nach dearnadh pie ar bith ar

'Ce leann leabhair Ghaeilge?' ach b'fheidir, go raibh sin taobh amuigh de raon na ceardlainne.

22 November Fortnight

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