Long Kesh Diary.
1987. Special Category Status. The Cages of Long Kesh. The hunger strikes had come and gone. The 1983 escape from the H-Blocks was a memory. The troubles stumbled on in N. Ireland. Some of the darkest periods still lay ahead. A certain M. Thatcher was Prime Minster and the N.I. Sectary of State was Tom King. The average prisoner in the Kesh had served about 12 years and there were no more fixed sentence year men in c.21 that housed the UVF/RHC men. A major turning point was 1985 when, for the first time, a lifer or SOSP prisoner was released directly from the cages. They happened to be prisoners from c.21. From then on a process of sorts was implemented to look at the cases concerning lifers and to recommend that a case go to the judiciary for a release date or the case to be deferred or ‘knocked back’ for 1 to 4 years. At this time, I had started to keep a very hap hazard diary of events. It is a snapshot of life for a special category prisoner. And it stands testament to the tricks that memory can play. Having only recently discovered this diary I am amazed at what I have readily forgotten. It does evoke memories, both good and bad, but as such, it is a contemporaneous, albeit small, record of the end days of a very unique prison environment in British penal history.
I will outline my recordings in bold and follow up with an explanation or by putting the notes in context.
Saturday 24th January 1987. Mother leaves in a parcel. She brought up soya after being told 2 weeks ago she could bring meat or soya but not both. So why stopped? Get XX to ask Assistant Governor why it was stopped. He passes buck. Says its Chief Officer decision. Can’t get a hold of the Chief. Visits still messed up. Pretty cool these mornings. Spoke to pira men at dentists. One man xxx (UDA) seeking compassionate parole to see his seriously ill father.
One of the many ways of the prison system messing prisoners about was the weekly parcel. Special category was allowed a generous parcel each week which include food items. Most prisoners would try and avoid prison food for various reasons. As time has passed the prison has started causing frustration and anger by disallowing various items in the parcel. This was perceived as a harassing by the prison regime knowing that we will not react or start a serious protest. The special category numbers had greatly reduced and there was now a serious hope of getting out – for some men. The days of massive protest with threats of violence in this prison had gone.
Sunday 25th Jan 1987. Weekend World TV programme on the ‘shoot to kill’ policy of the RUC.
I was interested in this programme since I had a close friend executed on the streets by the RUC. Another friend was shot and seriously wounded with life changing injuries.
26th Jan. Channel 4 and ‘The taming of the Screw’. Clash between Hurd and POA. A right wing union vs a law and order Tory Govt.
Of interest to us due to being caught before between the local POA and various governments. At one time previously, all the prison staff left our part of the prison, Phase 6, before police could be drafted in to act as impromptu screws. An interesting time for all.
Thursday 29th Jan. Still no reports this year so far. XXX is on searches. Still antagonistic towards prisoners.
We were awaiting word about prisoners who had taken reviews the previous year. Either a prisoner got a recommendation for release or was put back for a period of years. The situation produced its own sense of despair at knockback but elation for them that knew they would soon be released. XXX was a well-known senior officer who had a terrible attitude towards prisoners. He was confrontational, unreceptive to requests and generally an unpleasant man. At this stage none of the cage prisoners wanted any trouble or hassle since we had a chance of possible release. And he knew it. He would eventually be seriously assaulted in the H Blocks when he tried to humiliate prisoners while showing off to a governor.
February 4th. Some results back. DB got a one year knock back. (not happy). CT and BR got 2-year knock backs.
First results this year are not to encouraging. Its difficult not to get hopes up but still very upsetting when a knock back come along.
Friday 6th Feb. I had letter hand delivered by parents but did not get it that day as usual. It seems posted letters get read first. Why is this? Some explanation that letters in the visitors box not done by censors? Why? More messing about.
Another very sensitive area to mess with a prisoner’s mail. In an oppressive regime this is another way of inflicting more pain on the prisoner. Bad enough that a complete and often hostile stranger, the censor, is reading private stuff but there are enough anecdotes that the censors would openly mock the private lives of prisoners especially if it involved a wife.
Sunday 8th Feb. Naming the Names. Woman names the streets of the Falls after she become involved in troubles.
An Anne Devlin TV show it stars Finn Mc Quillen about a west Belfast girl who gets involved in the troubles and is soon well out of her depth.
Thursday 12th Feb. PIRA prisoners moved up to Cage 19. Rumour that C.15 going to H2. The walls of the phase are being painted white to about 7 feet high.
This was quite some news. At the start of the year in our phase there was only c.21, UVF/RHC and c.16, UDA. The Sticks (Official IRA) had already gone to the Crumlin Road. The last of the Provos were being held in Phase 5. Which was behind a huge wall and beyond the 2 all-weather football pitches. There was a notable change in atmosphere in that the screws seemed less relaxed hence painting the walls white to see any prisoner who may try to escape. In future we will be sharing the visits mini bus. We only encountered the pira when down on the visits block or hospital.
Sat 14th Feb. My dad up on visit today. Screw wouldn’t let him in until he surrendered his hunter watch. Confrontation. Dad refused to. Good for him. Mum in on her own. So, more restrictions and hassle. One of our guys XX had tin foil refused in his parcel. Our man speaks to AG (assistant governor) who says it is not allowed. Later a screw allows the tin foil in?
Most of the time a sentenced prisoner was allowed one Saturday visit per month. The visits were 30 minutes long. The Saturday visit usually fell to my father or friends who were working through the week. There were no Sunday visits. Sadly, my father got one of the more intolerant screws that day. As time passed and with less prisoners we were gradually allowed more Saturday visits per month. The tin foil issue is indicative of the current position. It appears that sometimes one section of the prison does not tell another section what is going on. Or simply it is more messing about with us.
Mon 16th. Feb. Talk -rumour of shop moving this week. Towers not complete yet after 3 weeks. Talk of one year in the Crum to be dropped to 9 months then 6 months. Out to A.G. on Friday 20th to get white form. 4 of us. 6 men waiting on word as to their cases. XX etc. yy waiting on word. He got a 2 year knock back in April ‘85. A few unannounced visitors to compound. Screw stopping picture of L.K. Sunday Times was stopped coming in because XXs photo was on front page! RTE programme about the Miami incident and MI5. Got a cold hanging on me. 14 people in the half hut. 11 in the middle hut and 13 in the end hut. Only 38 men left.
As this part of the prison was being run down we found the focus moving to the H-Blocks. So, the hospital was already there and now we hear that our shop will be moving over there. Simply put it was costing a huge amount to staff these relatively few special category prisoners. But we were still regarded as high-risk prisoners. Life sentence prisoners who were being released, had to go to the Crumlin Road prison as part of a pre-release programme. This was a serious retrograde step and caused untold frustration. The Crum was experiencing protests, the staff were unused to special category prisoners and to be released back into society someone thought it was a good idea to start locking a prisoner in a cell again. The process for assessing lifers was to go and have a chat with one of the AGs. He would then write up a report that would go up to the Review Board.
We often got visitors in the prison which included politicians, clergy and other dignitaries. We often sent out paintings and leatherwork with Long Kesh or UVF/RHC inscribed or painted on the item. Now we found that the screws were saying we could not do that as it was an illegal organisation. Despite their explicit acknowledgment of the groups on the inside! More pressure, more control and more potential conflict. One of the men in the cage appeared on the front of the Sunday Times. The prison promptly banned the paper. They never did seem to understand that the said paper could be kept by a relative and sent in some weeks later!
Wed 4th March 1987. Tom King + 6 others + 2 uniforms in the cage visiting. Portacabins moved up to c.20 and c.21 from bottom phase. Work on towers goes on. Reaction to news of xx, xx, and xx going to judiciary. MS gets a one-year knockback. WH 2 years and RG 3-year knockback.
Quite unusual for a Secretary of State to honour us with his presence. On reflection it was indicative of the moves that were about to take place. With any ‘outsider’ there was usually the Governor, some underlings and then a couple of chiefs to put on a good show. The portacabins where no use in Phase 5 with no one there and they were bought into this phase. At the end c.20 was a study area. The work on the towers was a glorious waste of money. Before being released and with no likely attempt at escape the system decided to put 6 rolls of German razor wire around the whole phase. We were told that cost a cost half a million pounds. We reckoned that it would take approximately 20 seconds to breach this ‘barrier’ if we really wanted to. What a waste of money. Once we left the cage the wire was left to rust into the ground. While some men were given a virtual release date, others were getting knocked back. One must remember that on a 3-year knockback this meant realistically 4 years before a real chance of release. There were very mixed feelings in the cage with some men elated and some not elated. But it was a very real situation that some of the men had come in 1974 while others got to the cage in 1977 and 1978 before this route was cut off.
Wed 15th April. Rumour of us getting strip searched going to visits. Fri. 17th Good Friday. holiday routine plus also Monday and Tuesday. Held 4 a side football due to low numbers. Surprise search on Tuesday morning despite it being holiday. Seemed very half hearted. Wed 22nd men went for visits as usual, but strip searches have started. JMcF, BW and RH (c.16). JW got on way out but sent to boards but let out later. Wed afternoon me, WH and RL on visits. WH refuses search and loses visit. I refuse but go to the boards. Later let back to cage because there was not full consultation? Next day 23rd we hold meeting of all men as to what to do about this change. Men evenly split 14 to 12. Do we reject strip searches or bow to the inevitable? Thursday visit RJC away to the boards. We are told that pira are accepting this new regime. New meeting at 2pm. Straight majority vote as what we do. Majority vote to accept. Only one against. The 3 away to judiciary abstain/don’t vote. A lot of tension. Late lock up due to RJC being on the boards.
Our days as top dogs were numbered. These orders and new rules where coming from the top down and how ironic that the staff we had, were quite happy with the quiet status quo in this backwater. During my years 1977 to 1988 in the cage no staff member was injured or attacked in a UVF/RHC cage. There was no serious violent protest either. There was the odd throwing prison food back over the wire. So strip searching was now the new norm in going to the visits. No doubt this was to bring us into line with the H-Blocks? Plus, it reflected the increasing loss of power we wielded, and the reality of lifers being released. There was a split between those who didn’t want to meekly agree with the new system and those who took a more pragmatic view. Ironically, once we went to the punishment unit for refusing a strip search, then we certainly got a strip search there. And in there, it could be done the easy way. Or the hard way.
The late lockup was a neat way of protesting. Our lock up is 9pm. Usually 6 screws and one senior come in and get a head count as all the men walk into the hut. By refusing a head count we keep the day shift cre from going home. The prison don’t know if we are refusing all night or, as we often do refuse for 30 minutes then give them a head count. It mucks up their night far more than ours.
Saturday 2nd May. Just back from punishment cells. I got caught on my visit last Monday. XX got called on way into visit – I got called on way out. I refused to strip. PO Deacon and AG XXX there. They had a debate. XXX insisted I be punished. On boards by 11am. CG already there from last Saturday. I got 3 days on punishment, but the AG made a smart remark about risking my chance of a release date. Screws OK with me but the senior screws a different matter. It was a heat wave when I was in cell. Stinking of sweat. Tuesday; screw opens door and tells me that Frenchie was shot dead. Wed, TT down. Thursday, RMcD down. Decision made to accept new regime.
‘On the boards’ or punishment was the prison system response to disobeying orders. This consisted of being on your own, in a small cell without any privileges. For at least 3 days. No TV no association with others, no radio, no mattress or chair. Very modern and enlightened way of dealing with prisoners. Dates to the 1800s. In front of the Governor, we have no witnesses, no representation and we would later find out that this untrained, unqualified person had no legal right to deprive people of loss of remission. This loss of remission did not apply to lifers as we had no release date. Paradoxically I enjoyed the peace and quiet and time to practise some yoga. I was very amused that the screws wanted to inflict the most discomfort by taking away cigarettes and tobacco. As I had never smoked in my life this was one thing they didn’t get over on me.
27.5 Deacon talks about having our visits over in H-Blocks.
More rumour about what is going to happen us. Definite strategy from prison to pull us into the mainstream system.
29.5 RG back from boards today (Fri) He got 3 days last Tuesday. XXX again. RG say she was well treated below. Work continues on trenches along the wall. What a waste of money. Go to welfare on Tuesday afternoon to see Maguire to ask about the stuff that was held. Still no word on BW/SMcC/EK. Rumours that over 20 men will be done by the Parole board this June.
Thursday 4th June all UDA prisoners taken to boards. Screws wreck the cage and take a long time doing it.
This was a consequence of the UDA refusing to take wholescale strip searching. They all decided to refuse the strip but that left the cage unattended so that the search team could spend a lot of time wrecking it. We heard the hammering going on most of the day.
Monday 8th June. Major search. No study hut allowed. Full prison search. Even on the TV news. Wright and XXX about. Not allowed to bring stuff to the canteen as per usual. All being forced to strip. 10 of us have been chosen to remain. CG VL NC EK WG AR BW SMcC BR JC. Held in canteen from 9.30 to 1.30. 28 on the boards. RMcD already down. Shift to H1 (10 of us) and B wing (17 men). Treated well and fairly! Hanna PO comes into my cell. Arrogant man. CCC is the AG. We are all back on Friday (12th) morning. Talk /rumour of Special Cats going to Maghaberry prison. Deal with the NIO. UDA on boards from Thurs to Monday. Pass them. CS team in phase all week. Give us hassle. Decision of no strip search taken Sunday night. I have lost badges, knife and pen.
The senior screw Hanna, referred to above, was eventually arrested, charged and convicted of the murder of his colleague Brian Armour. He was sentenced to life but died at the age of 45. It was a source of concern at the time that he could have leaked details of all of us e.g. visitors addresses to the PIRA. This constant pressure and hassle would be part of a ‘conditioning’ process that had had become policy from the top. I knew the Assistant governor CCC previously in another capacity!
Monday 15th June. Get board paper to ask about why pen taken. C.16 get search 6, picked for stripping.
Friday 3rd July. GS taken to boards. But not well, so taken to hospital. I have visit with American author. RF. She is not allowed in.
Sat 4th July visit with my parents. Little work on the new fence around the cages. Very warm spell at present. K Jackson letter not yet got by my dad. Called out to Maguire. Re pens and books being stopped. Get apology. Am amazed.
Life goes on as best it can. There is a constant power struggle between us and the prison. If something is not allowed in via a parcel, we can get a board paper to enquire about it. About 95 % of my board papers would be answered in the negative. The prison reserve the right to refuse entry to any visitors. My American visitor was a journalist and author. They obviously didn’t like the idea of an outside contact with some clout. No official explanation given to me. I have found that the prison and NIO are very sensitive to American influence in these situations. Part of the media /propaganda war.
Week ending Friday 10th July. Had one search on Monday. UDA and PIRA one each this week. We get extra one on Friday afternoon. But seems half hearted. News of JT and GC (Feb). also, Duggan. Extra visits not granted yet, in fact we are losing visits. Friday we are told that football pitch is flooded. Everyone ready and some wet as we out kicking about. Rain has been heavy. I take issue with BOV about all the hassle I have had re pens and books. Still no sign of RMS. Some work being done on the new fence. Screws have meeting this afternoon re pay. RL gets visit. Talk of a strike? Over at dentist. Talk to a pira who got 7 years for manslaughter? News today re judiciary. JT GC and Duggan away to judiciary.
Another factor that impacted our lives was the POA or the screws union. The Tory government was putting out a new start for the POA which appeared to cause a few issues for members of the union.
Friday 17th July. All told yesterday. Mixed feelings. AR, N.McC, HT, all judiciary. 3 UDA also sent. 1 pira put back 2 years. UDA man put back 2, JG put back 4, DB put back 1. BM and TT put back 1 year. I am put back 2 years to June 89. Lot of mixed feelings about. Men who are going are very happy. But us that are left? I have been rocking the boat recently but was it worth by falling into the water? Is it possible that XXX put in a bad report on me? I haven’t a clue what the RB (Review Board) was told. There’s been a lot going on. Strip searches. Letters to MPs, on the boards. Sense of emptiness. Feel sorry for my folks when they hear. So hard to not let hopes build up.
I get a 2 year knock back. Not unexpected but still disappointing. Back to routine. Happy that some guys are going. But our numbers keep dropping. I had downplayed my chances of release with my parents so it was not as hard on them when I told them.
Wed 12th August. Work continues on joke fence. Football cancelled. Talk of changes in staff. 99 are to go to Maghaberry. They don’t want that. So, Sept we are under H Block screws? Rumour of 2 H-Blocks closing down! Violence back on the streets. Our visiting area to move soon over to the blocks? Soon all services to be based in blocks? Shop, sport, education, films, food, screws, parcels etc. Suggestion of a haven in Maghaberry prison for those wishing to break paramilitary link.
Friday 21st August. Two evening head counts this week. One on Tuesday. Talk of trouble over in H Blocks. No search today. Pira get 2 searches this week. Lot of new screws; H-Blockers in looking around. Many of our screws away. RJC out to see his son in Musgrave. AT up to see his brother in the Crum! One-man morning counts. Unusual. Wire fence complete around the wall. No more screws coming via the big wall between us and the football pitches. Work continues on gate and path to back tower. Weather poor.
Seems a lot of changes for screws. Previously we have 2 screws in the hut in the morning to count heads. Bit of a task for the screws as some men itching to get out for running, training or showers while others are sleeping. Now it only one screw in counting.
Sept 87. BM to boards early sept. Now no tops allowed in with writing or logos on them. Not allowed to toilet during searches. But held in hut with no toilet. Madness. Have withheld a colour magazine bought in a shop about the Vietnam war.
Still more people going to the boards. More restrictions. The no toilet rule during a search is oppressive. There is no toilet where we are held for up to hours at a time. At one-point men starting to urinate out the windows. Another favourite hassling tactic was to withhold various items from parcels. In this case some screw held a Vietnam War magazine, freely available in shops. I failed to see how this was a security threat. No explanation given as to why it was held.
28th Oct Robbo dies in room. My pet bird, a parakeet, died in the morning. Due to lead poisoning!
Nov. 1987,HMP Maghaberry opens.
————————————————————-
1988.
21.2.88. waiting weeks on reply to paper about my tops. Bishop Eames in with Eardly. RJC gets 8 hrs for c/p for death of father. Other spec cats including Joe Mc A, Fuzz, curry. All c.16. Ed. K? out 2 weeks earlier due to illness of father. Staff good at present. Search team bad. Searches 1 every 10 – 14 days.
c/p is compassionate parole. At one time no special category prisoner got compassionate parole for anything. Sadly, when it was eventually brought in one of our men messed things up totally by absconding. New year starts of with apprehension. Bishop Eames comes in for a walkabout with the assistant governor. We think that the new Fresh Start thing means doing away with old titles and simply bringing different Grades from the number 1 down.
Tuesday 1.3 88. Yesterday had No 1 Gibson in cage. Seems a much more reasonable man. Fresh start for POA today? All blue shirts now wearing white shirts. Told of NIO official coming to speak about lifers or release unit. Gibson brought news? Tues, BOV in. Sat 27th mum left in books on prison medicine held.
BoV. Board of visitors is an independent selection of people from the outside who are allowed into the prison to look at situations for themselves. While well meaning they were impotent against the security dictatorship where security trumped everything. I believe they are called the Independent Monitoring Board today.
Tues ask for petition. Stuff arrives 3.30. Seems chiefs dealing with compound requests now. Rumour of NIO worry over effects of H blocks on men in wings. Apparently drug abuse and mental breakdown on the increase.
More hassle from the prison. I had bought some books, literature about prison medical services. The prison is paranoid about people reading up on the prison system. I was unhappy with the prison doctor and wanted to see my own family doctor. This was not allowed. Hence if a prisoner was unhappy with the prison medical provision then that was tough. No prisoner allowed to see a doctor privately. There was always a screw present. So, no privacy at all.
Tues 8.3. 88. Interview with A/G Kennedy. Usual ‘go to H block stuff’. But told by a screw not to go! Hear PJB and Buff have got judiciary. Crow of c.19. PIRA SOSP. Out of batch of 20 only 4 got the word to get out. Saturday 12.3. 88 top refused.
Prisoners now could be interviewed by an assistant governor with a view to making a report to the review board. I found these meaningless exercises. Tick box exercises? The most famous example of an assessment was an A.G. talking through the wire to a prisoner. Not very professional nor adequate. Another feature was that a screw would sit in on the interview. I unfortunately go one of the most hostile screws. I wanted him changed. When this didn’t happen, I walked out of the interview. There was a general view from the top for special cat men to go to the H-Blocks to increase the chances of release. Yet ordinary screws on a 1 to 1 basis would say for us to stay in the cage. SOSP was a person detained at the Secretary of States Pleasure. Deemed too young to receive a life sentence this was indefinite detention. At its peak there was 66 such prisoners in N. Ireland’s prisons.
Monday 14.3.88. International Red Cross in cage. Speak to Dr Pierre for an hour in half hut. News of SOSP releases. 3 funerals. UDA threat to start more violence. Friday 18.3. 88. Terrible weather. Await NIO visitor. New windows put in. attack in Milltown. How will all this stuff affect us here?
Another example of money being wasted. High level discussions had been ongoing about moving us from the cages yet here more money being spent on new windows that is of no long term value. Events outside were taking a dramatic downturn for the worse. The army had taken out 3 ira people in Gibraltar (6.3.188) . Then at their funerals M. Stone had killed 3 people on the 16th.
Friday 25th March. No 1. Gibson in to say H-Block meeting at 12.30. Mood of acceptance?
Sat 26th told that PIRA accepting move. 29.3.88. Lots of tension.
April. Afternoon Spoke to Joe Kennedy in canteen. in the cage talking.
Now generally accepted that we will be moving to an H-Block. The prison department are making arrangements, having meetings, to ensure move goes ahead. You meet the strangest of people while a special cat prisoner! I was asked to talk to yet another important visitor. Joe Kennedy is the son of Robert Kennedy of the famous American family. When he gets out into Belfast he has a publicised row with a patrolling British soldier. Kennedy says he should go home!
May. Getting ready. All gear to be sent over first. (This will be searched of course).
Sunday 5th June. D Day. Moved in vans. C. 21 will be in 2 wings of H2. I’m next to last cell in the C Wing. part. I’m down with Roddy, the Gannet and the Swine.
The move goes well. Early morning and the prison mini bus takes us away in small groups. The bus windows are blacked out and we cannot see the cage as we drive away. We have left so much of our young lives there and now that chapter is over. The long nights, cold mornings, endless searches, the years of studying, the running, the crafts, football, the bad times, the banter. The era of the cages with its thousand lights, towers, miles of barbed wire, tunnels, Nissen huts, protests, army patrols, etc is over.
There is a lot of work getting all our stuff in place. e.g. lockers, gym equipment, bags of clothing, kitchen items, etc. The wings are a flurry of activity as people get settled in. The cell doors are locked back so we can walk from one wing end to the other wing end. Now its time to get another routine going. The place is dry and clean. I start a wall mural in my cell. I have started another degree and am doing A level Art. Xmas is always a tense time, but it is a different atmosphere this year.
December 1988. The majority of the UVF/RHC have been granted a weeks’ leave. So have the other factions. Real excitement in the wing as people get ready for their first Xmas in a long time. I really feel for those who will be left behind. They came in late and did not make the cut. There’s not a lot to say to them only that next year will be their turn. The morning comes. Nearly 40 of the UDA and UVF/RHC groups are in a bus going for reception. We get released in batches, but the car park is packed when I get out. My mother is there with a friend from the cages. Amazing day. Amazing Christmas.
1989.
January to June. Back in and back to a routine. Now waiting on July. We busy ourselves studying, reading, some football and training in the gym.
11th July license. I am told by Governor that I have my license and will need to go to the Crumlin Road prison Working out unit. Released over the 12th period to home.
July. The day after I get back I am moved to the Crum. Working out unit. Awful. Back in high security. Spend 2 weeks in the unit with no outings. Then we are granted only weekends while we work through the day and return to the unit at night. No alcohol. Then get out for longer periods. Get supervised walks but these are a source of annoyance. We don’t need them?
Xmas 89. At home. Out on full time basis. Have one-year job (ACE post). Have to go to the Crum regularly to sign a book. Start Masters Course in QUB after job finishes.
1990.
May. Sign off. Fingerprinted and photographed. Governor reads the riot act. If you get into trouble again you can be brought back to complete rest of your sentence, etc. Free now, but on license for rest of my life.
(If you have any questions, please contact the page administrator and I will respond. Have any of the other special cat men any memories of this period as this is obviously not a full recollection.)
JHA.
