{"id":818,"date":"2012-06-12T09:29:18","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T08:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=818"},"modified":"2012-06-12T09:31:43","modified_gmt":"2012-06-12T08:31:43","slug":"all-victms-of-circumstance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/?p=818","title":{"rendered":"All Victims Of Circumstance"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Are all Victims of Circumstance<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s going on over at Commercial Court?\u00a0 First it was columnist Hugh Jordan and now it\u2019s the turn of his colleague Richard Sullivan.\u00a0 Is there a wind of change blowing through the corridors of the Sunday World building?\u00a0 Perhaps underneath all the vitriol and rage we witness each Sabbath there lies a softer well mannered and well meaning heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 On Sunday 8th<\/sup> 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.\u00a0 What the continued and prolonged imprisonment amounted to, according to Jordan was internment by another name.\u00a0 Hugh produced, at least on this occasion a very competent piece on a relevant subject.\u00a0 It certainly makes a change from his normal Sunday column were he seems to be preoccupied with Rangers Football Club.\u00a0 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…\u201d I mention all of this only to highlight the fact that we are all products of circumstance and we should think twice before<\/strong> condemning others out of hand\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0 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 \u201cThe Troubles\u201d.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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 <\/strong>victims of those circumstances.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yesterday\u2019s edition of the Sunday World carried, as usual the weekly column by Deputy Editor, Richard Sullivan.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 If then, we follow this edict yesterday\u2019s musings are to be welcomed.\u00a0\u00a0 In a lengthy article Richard commented on the Evelyn Glenholmes situation and the dangers around dismissing her as an ex terrorist who shouldn\u2019t be involved in any reconciliation process let alone serving on the newly formed Commission for Victims and Survivors.\u00a0 Much has been written on this subject in this past seven days\u2014mostly from a negative perspective but again the Sunday World, on this occasion cannot be accused of negativity.\u00a0 No\u2014Sullivan is in great complimentary form when it comes to lauding Ms. Glenholmes.\u00a0 Certainly he alludes to her past and of her undoubted involvement in the Republican struggle but goes on to say that anyone\u2014irregardless of their past\u2014who has a genuine desire to promote reconciliation in today\u2019s society is deserving of a place on the Commission for Victims and Survivors. \u00a0Sullivan 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.\u00a0 Glenholmes, like Marion Price, according to Sullivan unquestionably falls into this category.\u00a0 He says…\u201d If anyone recognises a victim it should be her…perhaps she is a<\/strong> victim herself\u201d.<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0So, 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.\u00a0 Any thoughts on the fact that the eulogy delivered in both cases were for high profile\u2014and once, high ranking Republicans rather than equally deserving Loyalists, just keep to yourself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Share\"\/<\/a>