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Nor Meekly Serve My Time
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The Way I See It
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May 2006
Nor Meekly Serve My Time
The H-Block Struggle 1976–1981
25th Anniversary Edition
Compiled by Brian Campbell; Edited by Brian Campbell, Laurence McKeown, Felim O’Hagan
‘That evening I said to her, “I’m sorry that all this had to come about for you”.
She leaned across to me and whispered,
“You know what you have to do and I know what I have to do”.
And I understood what she meant.’
This is the story of one of the most remarkable prison protests in history,
told for the first time by the prisoners themselves.
The protest began when a new regime was imposed on political prisoners
in the North of Ireland in 1976.
For five years, hundreds of Irish Republicans in Long Kesh
prison endured deprivation and brutality.
Then in 1981, ten of them died a slow and painful
death on hunger strike.
How and why did it happen?
This book tells the inside story of those prisoners
who refused to be treated as criminals. Using the accounts of men who
lived through and survived those years of protest and hunger strike, it gives a
moving insight into why ten men gave their lives
in pursuit of a political goal.
This 25th anniversary edition includes
a new introduction by Raymond McCartney
and a dedication to the compiler of the original book,
Brian Campbell, who died at the age of 45,
May 2006
234 x 156mm
298pp plus 16 pages of black and white photos
Paperback
ISBN 1-900960-29-X Price £9.99August 2005
The Way I See It
Fr Des Wilson
Father Des Wilson has been living and Working in West Belfast since 1966. In 1975 he
went to Ballymurphy, one of the most impoversished and demonised areas of the city.
For forty years he has drawn inspiration frm the community around him. In turn he has
inspired and supported many people to develop their own responses to the many
social, economic and political crises confronting the community.
As he writes, "one way to understand what happened in the north of Ireland
is to think of a constant creation of alternative education, alternative welfare,
alternative theatre, broadcasting, theological and political discussion, public inquiries
and much else. They also created at various times alternative police and alternative
armies. The authorities who had power over these in the past were and still are
engaged in an equally constant struggle to regain total control of them. With only
limited success, fortunately."
No wonder Father Des is often referred to ar 'the people's priest'.
In this book, Father Des tells his own story of conviction, of becoming a priest and how
his training did and did not prepare him for the many battles that lay ahead battles
with the church hierarchy, with government officials, with media, with politicians and
with bureaucracy. He talks about the educational and economic development projects
that are so central to his beliefs about improving the human condition and to
demonstrating his faith in action. He also writes about the personal struggles that he has
had to face, including coping with cancer.
Father Des may be the bane of the authorities but he is much loved by the people.
Through this book, everyone can now understand why.
215 x 138mm
192pp.
Paperback
ISBN 1-900960-28-1 Price £9.95 August 2005