We Are all Victims of Circumstance
What’s going on over at Commercial Court? First it was columnist Hugh Jordan and now it’s the turn of his colleague Richard Sullivan. Is there a wind of change blowing through the corridors of the Sunday World building? Perhaps underneath all the vitriol and rage we witness each Sabbath there lies a softer well mannered and well meaning heart.
On Sunday 8th April Hugh Jordan penned a great piece on Marion Price where he pointed out that she was being kept in prison for no other reason than her well documented support for an anti- agreement dissident republican group. What the continued and prolonged imprisonment amounted to, according to Jordan was internment by another name. Hugh produced, at least on this occasion a very competent piece on a relevant subject. It certainly makes a change from his normal Sunday column were he seems to be preoccupied with Rangers Football Club. Hugh made a number of good points in the article and went to great lengths to express his opinion that behind many of the things that happened here during the conflict there were a lot of complicated reasons. Hugh states…” I mention all of this only to highlight the fact that we are all products of circumstance and we should think twice before condemning others out of hand”. Nothing is as clear cut as we think and he further explained that people like Marion Price had valid reasons for taking the action they did in response to the situation here at the onset of “The Troubles”. He bolstered this argument by stating that otherwise law abiding citizens seen no other course of action than to take matters into their own hands and become paramilitaries. He concluded by saying that perhaps we should all remember that there were many mitigating circumstances here during the conflict and that in ways we are all victims of those circumstances.
Yesterday’s edition of the Sunday World carried, as usual the weekly column by Deputy Editor, Richard Sullivan. Sullivan has a reputation for being very forthright with his views and has upset many people in recent years by relating his brand of the truth. By being Deputy Editor and the leading columnist of the paper I feel leads him to believe that anything he says has to be the truth and to be taken seriously. If then, we follow this edict yesterday’s musings are to be welcomed. In a lengthy article Richard commented on the Evelyn Glenholmes situation and the dangers around dismissing her as an ex terrorist who shouldn’t be involved in any reconciliation process let alone serving on the newly formed Commission for Victims and Survivors. Much has been written on this subject in this past seven days—mostly from a negative perspective but again the Sunday World, on this occasion cannot be accused of negativity. No—Sullivan is in great complimentary form when it comes to lauding Ms. Glenholmes. Certainly he alludes to her past and of her undoubted involvement in the Republican struggle but goes on to say that anyone—irregardless of their past—who has a genuine desire to promote reconciliation in today’s society is deserving of a place on the Commission for Victims and Survivors. Sullivan is unequivocal in making this statement and just like Hugh Jordan previously says that many people became involved in things that were totally alien to their way of thinking but became shaped by the events unfolding around them. Glenholmes, like Marion Price, according to Sullivan unquestionably falls into this category. He says…” If anyone recognises a victim it should be her…perhaps she is a victim herself”. So, it is reassuring and somewhat comforting to know that these respected journalists who formerly took great pleasure in putting ex combatants down are now of the opinion that, yes indeed, ex prisoners or combatants may have been victims of circumstance all along and that they should figure, if not prominently, then at least in the lower echelons of the Victims League table. Any thoughts on the fact that the eulogy delivered in both cases were for high profile—and once, high ranking Republicans rather than equally deserving Loyalists, just keep to yourself.
