On This Day / January 2, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19710102
Reference Date
19710102
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 2nd January 1971, an MP demanded an inquiry into degrading conditions at Crumlin Road Gaol, while Spain’s dictator Franco reprieved six Basque militants after intense international pressure. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
MP Attacks Jail Conditions | On This Day – 2nd January 1971
DEMANDS for a full-scale independent investigation into conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast have been coupled with the request that the city health authorities should intervene immediately.
Mr Tom Gormley, Independent MP for Mid-Tyrone, is to phone Dr J Taggart, the Medical Officer of Health at the City Hall this morning to ask if he is aware of the insanitary state of the Gaol cells.
The MP added: ‘Cell conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol would not be tolerated by the health authorities in any dwelling outside. In fact, similar places outside the Gaol would be filled in with quicklime and boarded up.’
Leaders of the People’s Democracy, the Civil Rights Association and other organisations have joined forces in putting pressure on the Stormont government to agree to an independent public investigation.
Mr Gormley, who farms at Cross, County Derry and recently visited Belfast Gaol to interview a constituent sentenced on a political charge, said: ‘The animals on most farms in NI are now living in much better conditions than the prisoners in Crumlin Road Gaol.’
Franco Spares Basques
GENERAL Franco [the Spanish Dictator] last night reprieved the six Basque Nationalist guerrillas sentenced to die by military firing squad, and brought to an end one of the most tense chapters of the political history which Spain has lived through in recent years.
Up to the last minute, it was not certain that the six men would escape the firing squad. The decision followed a wave of international protest and appeals for clemency.
The severity of the military court’s verdicts, announced in Burgos on Monday night, had led to fears that only some of the death penalties might be commuted.
Three of the men received two death sentences each – an indication that they, at least, might not escape.
But 78 year old General Franco used his prerogative as Head of State and commuted all nine death penalties for thirty-year prison sentences.
The six men were all declared Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries fighting for an independent Basque Socialist state in Northern Spain and members of the small revolutionary movement, ETA.
They were sentenced to death for their alleged part in the murder of Inspector Mazanas, Chief of the political police at San Sebastian in 1968.
The six men and ten other Basque defendants forced the trial to come to a quick end behind closed doors when they created an uproar in the courtroom with anti-government chants in the Basque language.
Then a public backlash developed. As international protests waxed over the trial, there were patriotic rallies throughout Spain. There may still be political repercussions.
On This Day – 2nd January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710102
Reference Date
19710102
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 2nd January 1971, an MP demanded an inquiry into degrading conditions at Crumlin Road Gaol, while Spain’s dictator Franco reprieved six Basque militants after intense international pressure. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
MP Attacks Jail Conditions | On This Day – 2nd January 1971
DEMANDS for a full-scale independent investigation into conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast have been coupled with the request that the city health authorities should intervene immediately.
Mr Tom Gormley, Independent MP for Mid-Tyrone, is to phone Dr J Taggart, the Medical Officer of Health at the City Hall this morning to ask if he is aware of the insanitary state of the Gaol cells.
The MP added: ‘Cell conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol would not be tolerated by the health authorities in any dwelling outside. In fact, similar places outside the Gaol would be filled in with quicklime and boarded up.’
Leaders of the People’s Democracy, the Civil Rights Association and other organisations have joined forces in putting pressure on the Stormont government to agree to an independent public investigation.
Mr Gormley, who farms at Cross, County Derry and recently visited Belfast Gaol to interview a constituent sentenced on a political charge, said: ‘The animals on most farms in NI are now living in much better conditions than the prisoners in Crumlin Road Gaol.’
Franco Spares Basques
GENERAL Franco [the Spanish Dictator] last night reprieved the six Basque Nationalist guerrillas sentenced to die by military firing squad, and brought to an end one of the most tense chapters of the political history which Spain has lived through in recent years.
Up to the last minute, it was not certain that the six men would escape the firing squad. The decision followed a wave of international protest and appeals for clemency.
The severity of the military court’s verdicts, announced in Burgos on Monday night, had led to fears that only some of the death penalties might be commuted.
Three of the men received two death sentences each – an indication that they, at least, might not escape.
But 78 year old General Franco used his prerogative as Head of State and commuted all nine death penalties for thirty-year prison sentences.
The six men were all declared Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries fighting for an independent Basque Socialist state in Northern Spain and members of the small revolutionary movement, ETA.
They were sentenced to death for their alleged part in the murder of Inspector Mazanas, Chief of the political police at San Sebastian in 1968.
The six men and ten other Basque defendants forced the trial to come to a quick end behind closed doors when they created an uproar in the courtroom with anti-government chants in the Basque language.
Then a public backlash developed. As international protests waxed over the trial, there were patriotic rallies throughout Spain. There may still be political repercussions.
On This Day – 2nd January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19710102
Reference Date
January 2, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 2nd January 1971, an MP demanded an inquiry into degrading conditions at Crumlin Road Gaol, while Spain’s dictator Franco reprieved six Basque militants after intense international pressure. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
MP Attacks Jail Conditions | On This Day – 2nd January 1971
DEMANDS for a full-scale independent investigation into conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast have been coupled with the request that the city health authorities should intervene immediately.
Mr Tom Gormley, Independent MP for Mid-Tyrone, is to phone Dr J Taggart, the Medical Officer of Health at the City Hall this morning to ask if he is aware of the insanitary state of the Gaol cells.
The MP added: ‘Cell conditions in Crumlin Road Gaol would not be tolerated by the health authorities in any dwelling outside. In fact, similar places outside the Gaol would be filled in with quicklime and boarded up.’
Leaders of the People’s Democracy, the Civil Rights Association and other organisations have joined forces in putting pressure on the Stormont government to agree to an independent public investigation.
Mr Gormley, who farms at Cross, County Derry and recently visited Belfast Gaol to interview a constituent sentenced on a political charge, said: ‘The animals on most farms in NI are now living in much better conditions than the prisoners in Crumlin Road Gaol.’
Franco Spares Basques
GENERAL Franco [the Spanish Dictator] last night reprieved the six Basque Nationalist guerrillas sentenced to die by military firing squad, and brought to an end one of the most tense chapters of the political history which Spain has lived through in recent years.
Up to the last minute, it was not certain that the six men would escape the firing squad. The decision followed a wave of international protest and appeals for clemency.
The severity of the military court’s verdicts, announced in Burgos on Monday night, had led to fears that only some of the death penalties might be commuted.
Three of the men received two death sentences each – an indication that they, at least, might not escape.
But 78 year old General Franco used his prerogative as Head of State and commuted all nine death penalties for thirty-year prison sentences.
The six men were all declared Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries fighting for an independent Basque Socialist state in Northern Spain and members of the small revolutionary movement, ETA.
They were sentenced to death for their alleged part in the murder of Inspector Mazanas, Chief of the political police at San Sebastian in 1968.
The six men and ten other Basque defendants forced the trial to come to a quick end behind closed doors when they created an uproar in the courtroom with anti-government chants in the Basque language.
Then a public backlash developed. As international protests waxed over the trial, there were patriotic rallies throughout Spain. There may still be political repercussions.
On This Day – 2nd January 1971
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.