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May 1998

 

Joiner Center sponsors talk
by Irish human rights activist

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, former Member of Parliament from Northern Ireland and long-time civil and human rights activist, addressed a standing room only crowd here on April 16. She spoke on two issues: the recent release of her daughter Roisin from an English prison, and prospects for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland in the wake of the "Good Friday" peace agreement.

Roisin McAliskey was held without charge for almost two years on an extradition request from Germany, which suspected her involvement in a bombing attack in Osnabruck, Germany, in 1996. Pregnant at the time of her arrest, she was named a "Category A" high-security risk prisoner, and held for a time in an all-male prison, without proper obstetric care. Extradition hearings were delayed numerous times because she was too ill to attend. McAliskey was recently released based on her medical condition, and she and her daughter have returned home.

Devlin McAliskey thanked everyone who supported the Human Rights Watch/Helsinki campaign to secure Roisin's release. "Small victories are needed to sustain peoples' commitment to human rights," said Devlin McAliskey. "What needs to be remembered is that Roisin is not the only person in that position--we must take a broader look at human rights situations in prisons,"she said.

Regarding the recent peace accord, McAliskey expressed skepticism. "I don't think the parties have come to the agreement intending to make it work, because I don't believe that the majority of people who participated in the settlement want to live in harmony with their neighbors," she said.

The parties have bought themselves a breathing space, says McAliskey, and while she believes that this is not a bad thing, she states that "none of the parties have a clue what to do with the agreement other than promote their own self interest." Her concerns stem from the fact that issues of national rights and identity rights have not yet been discussed.

Devlin McAliskey's visit, one of several she has made over the years, was sponsored by the Joiner Center and coordinated by Edith Shillue.