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The Ballad Of Bobby Sands

Anonymous
Language: English


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[1981]
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bsnBOBBY SANDS was born in 1954 in Rathcoole, a predominantly loyalist district of north Belfast. His twenty-seventh birthday fell on the ninth day of his sixty-six-day hunger strike. His sisters Marcella, one year younger, and Bernadette, were born in April 1955 and November 1958, respectively. All three lived their early years at Abbots Cross in the Newtownabbey area of north Belfast. A second son, John, now nineteen, was born to their parents John and Rosaleen, now both aged 57, in June 1962.

The sectarian realities of ghetto life materialised early in Bobby's life when at the age of ten his family were forced to move home owing to loyalist intimidation even as early as 1962. Bobby recalled his mother speaking of the troubled times which occurred during her childhood; 'Although I never really under stood what internment was or who the 'Specials' were, I grew to regard them as symbols of evil '.

Of this time Bobby himself later wrote: ''I was only a working-class boy from a Nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve liberation of my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign, independent socialist republic. ''

When Bobby was sixteen years old he started work as an apprentice coach builder and joined the National Union of Vehicle Builders and the ATGWU. In an article printed in 'An Phoblacht/Republican News' on April 4th, 1981, Bobby recalled: ''Starting work, although frightening at first became alright, especially with the reward at the end of the week. Dances and clothes, girls and a few shillings to spend, opened up a whole new world to me.''

Bobby's background, experiences and ambitions did not differ greatly from that of the average ghetto youth. Then came 1968 and the events which were to change his life. Bobby had served two years of his apprenticeship when he was intimidated out of his job. His sister Bernadette recalls: "Bobby went to work one morning and these fellows were standing there cleaning guns. One fellow said to him, 'Do you see these here, well if you don't go you'll get this' then Bobby also found a note in his lunch-box telling him to get out."

In June 1972, the family were intimidated out of their home in Doonbeg Drive, Rathcoole and moved into the newly built Twinbrook estate on the fringe of nationalist West Belfast. Bernadette again recalled: We had suffered intimidation for about eighteen months before we were actually put out. We had always been used to having Protestant friends. Bobby had gone around with Catholics and Protestants, but it ended up when everything erupted, that the friends he went about with for years were the same ones who helped to put his family out of their home.

As well as being intimidated out of his job and his home being under threat Bobby also suffered personal attacks from the loyalists.

At eighteen Bobby joined the Republican Movement. Bernadette says: .. 'he was just at the age when he was beginning to become aware of things happening around him. He more or less just said right, this is where I'm going to take up. A couple of his cousins had been arrested and interned. Booby felt that he should get involved and start doing something. '

Bobby himself wrote. "My life now centered around sleepless nights and stand-bys dodging the Brits and calming nerves to go out on operations. But the people stood by us. The people not only opened the doors of their homes to lend us a hand but they opened their hearts to us. I learned that without the people we could not survive and I knew that I owed them everything.

In October 1972, he was arrested. Four handguns were found in a house he was staying in and he was charged with possession. He spent the next three years in the cages of Long Kesh where he had political prisoner status. During this time Bobby read widely and taught himself Irish which he was later to teach the other blanket men in the H-Blocks.

Released in 1976 Bobby returned to his family in Twinbrook. He reported back to his local unit and straight back into the continuing struggle: 'Quite a lot of things had changed some parts of the ghettos had completely disappeared and others were in the process of being removed. The war was still forging ahead although tactics and strategy had changed. The British government was now seeking to 'Ulsterise' the war which included the attempted criminalisation of the IRA and attempted normalisation of the war situation.'

Bobby set himself to work tackling the social issues which affected the Twinbrook area. Here he became a community activist. According to Bernadette, 'When he got out of jail that first time our estate had no Green Cross, no Sinn Fein, nor anything like that. He was involved in the Tenants' Association... He got the black taxis to run to Twinbrook because the bus service at that time was inadequate. It got to the stage where people were coming to the door looking for Bobby to put up ramps on the roads in case cars were going too fast and would knock the children down.'

Within six months Bobby was arrested again. There had been a bomb attack on the Balmoral Furniture Company at Dunmurry, followed by a gun-battle in which two men were wounded. Bobby was in a car near the scene with three other young men. The RUC captured them and found a revolver in the car.

The six men were taken to Castlereagh and were subjected to brutal interrogations for six days. Bobby refused to answer any questions during his interrogation, except his name, age and address.

In a ninety-six verse poem written in 1980, entitled 'The Crime of Castlereagh', Bobby tells of his experiences in Castlereagh and his fears and thoughts at the time.

bsstThey came and came their job the same
In relays N'er they stopped.
'Just sign the line!' They shrieked each time
And beat me 'till I dropped.
They tortured me quite viciously
They threw me through the air.
It got so bad it seemed I had
Been beat beyond repair.
The days expired and no one tired,
Except of course the prey,
And knew they well that time would tell
Each dirty trick they laid on thick
For no one heard or saw,
Who dares to say in Castlereagh
The 'police' would break the law!


He was held on remand for eleven months until his trial in September 1977. As at his previous trial he refused to recognise the court.

The judge admitted there was no evidence to link Bobby, or the other three young men with him, to the bombing. So the four of them were sentenced to fourteen years each for possession of the one revolver.

Bobby spent the first twenty-two days of his sentence in solitary confinement, 'on the boards' in Crumlin Road jail. For fifteen of those days he was completely naked. He was moved to the H-Blocks and joined the blanket protest. He began to write for Republican News and then after February 1979 for the newly-merged An Phobhacht/Republican News under the pen-name, 'Marcella', his sister's name. His articles and letters, in minute handwriting, like all communications from the H-Blocks, were smuggled out on tiny pieces of toilet paper.

He wrote: 'The days were long and lonely. The sudden and total deprivation of such basic human necessities as exercise and fresh air, association with other people, my own clothes and things like newspapers, radio, cigarettes books and a host of other things, made my life very hard.'

Bobby became PRO for the blanket men and was in constant confrontation with the prison authorities which resulted in several spells of solitary confinement. In the H-Blocks, beatings, long periods in the punishment cells, starvation diets and torture were commonplace as the prison authorities, with the full knowledge and consent of the British administration, imposed a harsh and brutal regime on the prisoners in their attempts to break the prisoners' resistance to criminalisation.

The H-Blocks became the battlefield in which the republican spirit of resistance met head-on all the inhumanities that the British could perpetrate. The republican spirit prevailed and in April 1978 in protest against systematic ill-treatment when they went to the toilets or got showered, the H-Block prisoners refused to wash or slop-out. They were joined in this no-wash protest by the women in Armagh jail in February 1980 when they were subjected to similar harassment.

On October 27th, 1980, following the breakdown of talks between British direct ruler in the North, Humphrey Atkins, and Cardinal O Fiaich, the Irish Catholic primate, seven prisoners in the H-Blocks began a hunger strike. Bobby volunteered for the fast but instead he succeeded, as O/C, Brendan Hughes, who went on hunger-strike.

During the hunger-strike he was given political recognition by the prison authorities. The day after a senior British official visited the hunger-strikers, Bobby was brought half a mile in a prison van from H3 to the prison hospital to visit them. Subsequently he was allowed several meetings with Brendan Hughes. He was not involved in the decision to end the hunger-strike which was taken by the seven men alone. But later that night he was taken to meet them and was allowed to visit republican prison leaders in H-Blocks 4, 5 and 6.

hugsOn December 19th, 1980, Bobby issued a statement that the prisoners would not wear prison-issue clothing nor do prison work. He then began negotiations with the prison governor, Stanley Hilditch, for a step-by-step de-escalation of the protest.

But the prisoners' efforts were rebuffed by the authorities: 'We discovered that our good will and flexibility were in vain,' wrote Bobby. It was made abundantly clear during one of my co-operation' meetings with prison officials that strict conformity was required. which in essence meant acceptance of criminal status.

In the H-Blocks the British saw the opportunity to defeat the IRA by criminalising Irish freedom fighters but the blanketmen, perhaps more than those on the outside, appreciated before anyone else the grave repercussions, and so they fought.

Bobby volunteered to lead the new hunger strike. He saw it as a microcosm of the way the Brits were treating Ireland historically and presently, Bobby realised that someone would have to die to win political status.

He insisted on starting two weeks in front of the others so that perhaps his death could secure the five demands and save their lives. For the first seventeen days of the hunger strike Bobby kept a secret diary in which he wrote his thoughts and views, mostly in English but occasionally breaking into Gaelic. He had no fear of death and saw the hunger-strike as something much larger than the five demands and as having major repercussions for British rule in Ireland. The diary was written on toilet paper in biro pen and had to be hidden, mostly carried inside Bobby's own body. During those first seventeen days Bobby lost a total of sixteen pounds weight and on Monday, March 23rd, he was moved to the prison hospital.

On March 30th, he was nominated as candidate for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election caused by the sudden death of Frank Maguire, an independent MP who supported the prisoners' cause.

The next morning, day thirty-one, of his hunger-strike, he was visited by Owen Carron who acted as his election agent. Owen told of that first visit 'Instead of meeting that young man of the poster with long hair and a fresh face, even at that time when Bobby wasn't too bad he was radically changed. He was very thin and bony and his hair was cut short.'

Bobby had no illusions with regard to his election victory. His reaction was not one of over-optimism. After the result was announced Owen visited Bobby. "He had already heard the result on the radio. He was in good form alright but he always used to keep saying, 'In my position you can't afford to be optimistic.' In other words, he didn't take it that because he'd won an election that his life would be saved. He thought that the Brits would need their pound of flesh. I think he was always working on the premise that he would have to die."

At 1.17 a.m. on Tuesday, May 5th, having completed sixty-five days on hunger-strike, Bobby Sands MP, died in the H-Block prison hospital at Long Kesh. Bobby was a truly unique person whose loss is great and immeasurable. He never gave himself a moment to spare. He lived his life energetically, dedicated to his people and to the republican cause, eventually offering up his life in a conscious effort to further that cause and the cause of those with whom he had shared almost eight years of his adult life. In his own words: "of course can be murdered but I remain what I am, a political POW and no-one, not even the British, can change that."

NOTE. The picture shows a street sign in Tehran, Iran, dedicated to Bobby Sands. The street was named "Winston Churchill Street", but it was renamed after Bobby Sands in 1983 causing protestations by the British embassy. They were ignored.
Come gather round me one and all
My song to you I'll sing,
In memory of a brave young Irishman,
Who would not concede defeat,
From his stand would not retreat.
I sing of the gallant Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.
Yes I sing of the late great Bobby Sands.

He organised the hunger strike
To win and change, reform,
To stop the evil tyrants in their craze,
To regain the five demands
He took his young life in his hands
For the betterment of comrades in Armagh
And in the Maze
Armagh and the H-Blocks of the Maze.

They tried to break your spirit
But no way could they succeed,
The phoenix in your heart they tried to quell
With their beatings, degradation,
All in vain to their frustration,
For the more they tried, the more you would rebel
You would rebel,
With dignity your principle did swell.

But freedom was to come to you
On a rain soaked Tuesday morn
From the heavens tears of patriots were shed
With the joy that you are free
To walk with Tone and Connolly,
Forever live the name of Bobby Sands
We shall endear
Your name, to foe shall always threaten tear.

So to all you people
My song to you I've sung
In memory of a brave young Belfast man
Who would not concede defeat,
From his stand would not retreat.
I sing of the gallant Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.
Yes I sing of the late great Bobby Sands.

Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2006/1/2 - 13:37




Language: Italian

Versione italiana di Riccardo Venturi
21 agosto 2006
LA BALLATA DI BOBBY SANDS

Venite qui e radunatevi tutti intorno a me,
vi canterò la mia canzone
in memoria di un coraggioso giovane irlandese
che non ammetteva la sconfitta
e dalla sua posizione non si ritirava.
Canto dell’ardito Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.
Sì, canto dello scomparso, grande Bobby Sands.

Organizzò lo sciopero della fame
per vincere, cambiare e riformare,
per fermare i malvagi tiranni nella loro follia,
per conquistare le cinque richieste
prese la sua giovane vita nelle mani
per migliorare le condizioni dei suoi compagni a Armagh
e nel carcere di Maze,
Armagh e i Blocchi H del carcere di Maze.

Tentarono di spezzarti il morale,
ma in nessun modo potevano riuscirci.
Tentarono di soffocare la fenice che avevi nel cuore
con le loro botte, il loro abbrutimento,
ma tutto fu inutile, per la loro frustrazione.
Più ci tentavano e più ti ribellavi,
e più ti ribellavi,
con dignità accrescevi i tuoi princìpi.

Ma la libertà ti sarebbe giunta
un martedì mattina di pioggia battente
dal cielo si versarono lacrime di patrioti
assieme alla gioia perché sei libero
di camminare assieme a Tone e Connolly.
Viva per sempre il nome di Bobby Sands,
terremo caro
il tuo nome, minaccerà sempre lacrime al nemico.

Così a tutti voi
ho cantato la mia canzone
in memoria di un coraggioso giovane di Belfast
che non ammetteva la sconfitta.
Dalla sua posizione non si ritirava,
canto dell’ardito Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.
Sì, canto dello scomparso, grande Bobby Sands.

2006/8/21 - 00:11




Language: French

Versione francese da Chants pour une Irlande libre
Version française d'après Chants pour une Irlande libre
LA BALLADE DE BOBBY SANDS

Venez tous autour de moi
Que je vous chante ma chanson,
En la mémoire d'un courageux jeune Irlandais,
Qui ne s'avouait pas vaincu,
Qui ne faisait pas retraite.
Je chante le vaillant Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.
Oui je chante feu le grand Bobby Sands.

Il a organisé la grève de la faim
Pour vaincre et changer, réformer,
Pour arrêter les tyrans maléfiques dans leur allant,
Pour regagner les cinq exigences
Il a pris sa jeune vie entre ses mains
FPour le bien des camarades d'Armagh
Et du Labyrinthe
Armagh et les Blocs-H du Labyrinthe.

Ils ont essayé de briser ton âme
Mais ils ne pouvaient aucunement y parvenir,
Ils ont tenté d'étouffer le phénix en ton coeur
Avec leurs coups et leurs injures,
Tout ça en vain, à leur grande frustration,
Car le plus ils essayaient, le plus tu te rebellais
Tu te rebellais,
Avec dignité tes principes grandissaient.

Mais la liberté que tu devais obtenir
Un mardi matin pluvieux
Du Paradis tombaient les larmes des patriotes
De joie de te savoir libre
De marcher avec Tone et Connolly,
A jamais le nom de Bobby Sands vivra
Nous chérirons
Ton nom, il sera toujours promesse de pleurs pour les ennemis.

Donc, pour vous tous
A qui j'ai chanté ma chanson
En mémoire d'un brave jeune homme de Belfast
Qui ne s'avouait pas vaincu,
Qui ne faisait pas retraite.
Je chante le vaillant Bobby Sands,
Bobby Sands.

Oui je chante feu le grand Bobby Sands.
NOTE (IN FRANCESE) RIPRESE DA CHANTS POUR UNE IRLANDE LIBRE

Bobby Sands : Commandant des prisonniers de Long Kesh (il succède à Brendan Hughes), il entame sa grève de la faim le premier Mars 1981. Le 10 Avril, il est élu député de Fermanagh-South Tyrone, et devrait donc siéger à Westminster. Cette élection fera vaciller la confiance que la classe politique britannique a dans la politique de répression menée par Margaret Thatcher. En effet, les Républicains, pour la première fois, n'apparaissent plus comme une nuisance, mais comme un mouvement politique qui a l'appui de la population! Bobby Sands ne siègera jamais... Il décèdera à Long Kesh le 5 Mai 1981.

H-Block : ainsi sont surnommés les batiments de la prison de Long Kesh, aussi connue sous le nom de "labyrinthe" (maze).

Les cinq demandes :
1/ Ne pas porter l'uniforme de prisonnier (qui les assimilait aux "droit communs", alors qu'ils revendiquaient le statut de prisonnier de guerre)
2/ Exemption du travail forcé (au bénéfice de la Couronne)
3/ Droit d'association
4/ Levée des sanctions disciplinaires (sanctions relatives aux mouvements lancés pour revendiquer un ou plusieurs de ces cinq demandes)
5/ Droit aux visites, aux colis et à l'accés des moyens de loisir et d'éducation.
A noter que tous ces points sont conformes à la section de la Convention de Genève relative aux droits des prisonniers de guerre...

Armagh : Prison pour femmes, homologue de Long Kesh.

Tone : Theobald Wolfe Tone, nationaliste irlandais, fondateur des United Irishmen en 1791.

Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2006/8/21 - 16:08


Come si evince da un paio di commenti su YouTube e dai crediti su Discogs, l'autore della canzone dovrebbe essere tal Kevin Molloy, che la scrisse dopo aver partecipato ai funerali del militante repubblicano.

Bernart Bartleby - 2015/7/21 - 14:19




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