Siobhan O’Hanlon dies
Our sympathies to the family and friends of Siobhan O’Hanlon who lost her battle with cancer last night. She was key backroom player with Sinn Fein negotiating team in the run up to the signing of the Belfast Agreement.
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I don’t know how many people did in Ireland last night but I do know none of them were mentioned on Slugger…
She was not a T.D
She was not an M.P
She was not an M.L.A
She was not a City councillor
She was not a County councillor
She was not a party spokesperson
She was not a party press officer
She was not a commentor on Slugger
So why was there a posting for her on Slugger
If you ever learn to read check the link. I think you’ll find she played an important role in our recent history.
Many thanks for the hard work and dedication – rest in peace Siobhan.
Devil, you don’t write the blog. Politicians in all parties rely on people like O’Hanlon. And they rarely get the acknowledgement they deserve.
This would be Siobhan, sister of Sunday Independent columnist Eilis, I presume?
I have always admired Eilis O’hanlon’s writings in the Sunday Independent.
Circles,
My post stands… perhaps you’re the one that need to learn how to read.
Mick,
You put the post up for people to comment on, to either give an account of past personel dealings with her, or to question her politics in the first place. You’re right I don’t write the blog but as someone who reads it I have an absolute right to comment on it.
I did not mock her or make little of her illness but I do dwell in the land of reality and she was not an elected representative or a regular face on Television, I very much doubt if many of Sluggers regular contributors who are very much into their politics could have picked her out on an identity parade.
Perhaps if you want to know how to open a book of condolence Mick you could contact the Cityhall.
Siobhan O’Hanlon was part of Gerry Adam’s inner circle, like them or loath them, the influence this group of individuals have on the norths political life, thus every day life has been considerable. When one of them dies in their prime Mick is correct to post it up on Slugger, as it is a blog of public record. Surly expressing condolences on the death of someone is the mark of civilized behavior.
I’m sure she did work hard for the party. I imagine people like her, particularly women, are the backbone of any party or organisation.
She also, however, served a prison sentence for bombing offences in the eighties. Serving four years out of a seven year sentence. So she was much more than a faithful party worker.
I don’t think Siobhan and Eilis were on speaking terms, due to political differences. I hope they managed to patch things up enough to say good bye before it was too late.
Joe Cahill was her uncle,I was sorry to hear she has died.
Holy flute, Devil and Keith M – do you get a kick out of trying to be funny about someone’s recent death. I don’t care who they are, is it too much to ask for a bit of respect?
I expect that Mick posted this because a lot of backroom political people read this site and she was one of their number. Pretty shoddy stuff from both of you.
Spot on urquhart!! I feel like taking it off under the terms of public decency!
Why is everyone so cracked about Mick’s post? She died, he posted it, move on… Who she is or what she did may be fair game but step off the post…
In one mind I think it would nearly be best to close this thread but in another I think it would be good to have keep on record what some people have said here – there’s just no need for this. Siobhan O’Hanlon did a lot for our society and even if your own bigotry blinds you from seeing that it doesnt give you the right to slag off her memory. And if someone’s death being mentioned here is such a problem why bother posting?
Friday’s Belfast Telegraph (internet version) starts off it’s small article of Ms. O’Hanlon’s funeral with : “Several hundred mourners attended the funeral of convicted IRA terrorist Siobhan O’Hanlon in West Belfast today.”
This descendent of Presbyterians for one is insulted and ashamed at the coldness of reporter Debra Douglas. I need to find a better sourse for my N.I news………
Siobhan was certainly an influential figure within the Republican movement and in some ways we grew up together.
RIP.
Martin Ingram
At the end of the article they describe her as “…a Sinn Fein official heavily involved in the parties negotiating team in the run up to the Good Friday agreement”… that bit probably could have gone first and the “convicted terrorist” part last.
I am very surprised at some of the bitter comments posted by people on this website concerning the recent death of Siobhan O’Hanlon.
I knew Siobhan from the Sinn Fein speaking tours and political meetings of the 1990′s.
Myself and others sat with her the night before the historic Downing Street meeting in London. We addressed the issues of the day and the forthcoming meeting with the British. She was a Republican activist and I for one was proud to have known her.
That was very touching Steve, thank you for sharing it with us.
My only sympathies are to her sister Eilis.
(Again, Slugger — either print unredacted –remember you’re not Archbishop McQuaid — or do not print at all. Slainte)
R Seiger. Either read the comments policy and accept the rules of engagement, or don’t post at all!
Wouldn’t it be nice to contribute to a website where every contributor could spell properly. Mind you,that’s a lot to ask of critics of the Republican Movement.
Rest in peace Siobhan,
o Do cara Burnsy
Siobhan O’Hanlon was, yes it’s true, just another woman stricken by a horrendous disease and left a partner and a child without a mother. She would have probably seen herself as that because she had humility. To those of us who knew her, she was something else too. A very special woman with integrity who lived by her ideas whether one agrees with them or not. Was open, was generous and was willing to understand that not everyone shared her vision of the world, Ireland, or feminism. To quibble over her right to be remembered on this website is a sign of such small mindedness… everyone who makes a contribution to enrich other people’s lives has a right to be remembered. In fact, we all do, and to remember is absolutely the space of a political website. Surely that is what being progressive is about honoring everyone. Even if one abhors her politics, there is a space to honor a woman who fought a crippling disease with courage, who helped all women – not just those who thought as she did – to combat the disease, and despite being deeply private allowed herself to stand up and be counted. On this basis alone, whether she made tea for politicians or not (and her contribution was far greater), her fight is of value to every woman who feels her breasts and checks for that dreaded sign. Shame on you all who think otherwise.
I’ve seen people die long slow deaths from cancer, it’s not a pretty sight, but then neither is being ripped limb from limb by a bomb.
I understand why people feel the need to express their sadness over this indiviuals passing,and indeed that she has left behind family and friends that are in deep mourning, and believe me when I say that I take no pleasure in that fact.
I just hope that others will understand that there are still people alive who are mourning and grieving for their own loved ones, taken away by bombs, bombs made by people like Siobhan.
I honestly feel it would be remiss not to gie those peope a mention at this time.
Rest in Peace Siobhan, you shall be sadly missed.
A great woman and Republican who spoke her mind and didn’t take shit off anyone, no matter who they thought they were.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam
Can I ask that if my posts are going to be selectively edited then I’d prefer if they were just deleted completely.
That last post of mine is but part of what I said and I take exception at my posts being subtly altered in this fashion.
Censorship is one thing, but altering a post is another thing entirely.
Bad show.
Tafkabo:
Check out section 2 in the commenting policy.
Yes. Every post that tries to point out that this was a woman of many sides is removed or edited. Those that hail her as a Mother Theresa figure are left in their entirety.
It’s worse than censorship its manipulation to try and create a completely false impression.
Welcome to the world of Sinn Fein.
Siobhan O’Hanlon is no more worthy of diefying than Jim Gray.
The following post was deleted completely and cannot be justified in anyway. As you can see it was numbered 15 and was in reference to post 11 by urquhart
15.urquhart,
Are you completely deranged where did either Kieth M ot I make fun of the death person refered to (see post No6 sub-section Mick for proof)
If you refer to post No1 on this thread, it stands on its own argument, it is up to you and others to try and refute it.
Posted by The Devil on Apr 12, 2006 @ 07:53 PM
The original question has never been answered by Mick.
Why was this womans death singled out for mention? The only thing that elevated her above any other run-of-the-mill political party apparatchik was her history. And that’s hardly something worth celebrating.
And, I might add, who is the “we” he refers to in the condolence message meant to refer to?
Everybody who posts on Slugger?
Whilst I understand that admin reserve the right to edit or alter any post for whatever reason they see fit, I have to say that the implementation of such a policy in the manner it has been used on this thread gives me great cause for concern.
I guess I have no option but to vote with my feet.
Slàn.
joinedupthinking,
you are of course 100% correct
My genuine apologies if people feel I’ve snipped too much of their posts. It was not my intention to clamp down on dissent, but rather to allow people to make their points with civility.
As for the Devil’s question. This from Urquhart:
“I expect that Mick posted this because a lot of backroom political people read this site and she was one of their number.”
It was a courtesy, nothing more. It seems I was a little naive in expecting others to show a similar courtesy.
One of the things that have become obvious to me in the time I’ve been running Slugger is the hard work and long hours that politicians and their party workers put in, in exchange for a lot emotional ups and downs.
I did not know O’Hanlon, nor have I any personal estimation of her life or worth. But it seemed to me a simple civility to allow those who did to mark it publicly.
I have no problem with the idea that people may have some critical things to say as well. But given the circumstances, I would only ask that people do so with a modicum of sensitivity.
On a point of information, ‘we’ simply refers to Slugger in the abstract. I did not mean to speak on behalf of all our bloggers or commenters.
Lastly. Civility is an important value that I have fought for over the four years I’ve been running Slugger. It is very easy to underestimate its value in upping the quality of discussion between people who hold opposing views.
It’s particularly difficult when on the ground dirty tricks, misinformation, and political murder continue even 12 years into our peace process and seven years after the ‘historic’ Belfast Agreement.
When I started out on the research for our study into the future of Unionism a few years back, I remember remarking to one of the early respondents in the DUP that political discourse in Northern Ireland needs a great deal more civility and bluntness.
One without the other is meaningless. Too much civility and no bluntness leads to anodyne platitudes: not to mention a false concensus. Bluntness without civility is just war by other means.
So by all means, be blunt. But be civil also!
As someone who works long and hard to keep this show on the road however, I reserve my own rights jealously.
Mick, why is O’Hanlon’s death being treated any different than Donaldson’s? Surely the speculation over his demise in the hours before he was even cold had less civility than some of the altered comments here. Yet it was not so long ago that he was held in the same esteem as his colleague in Sinn Fein Siobhan. However, he is murdered after exposing himself as informer, and his death becomes fair game. Siobhan led no less a colourful life, but because she died ‘on sides’ so to speak, hers is off limits?
Again Mick your snipping….
urquharts post was as follows in full and not edited by you
Holy flute, Devil and Keith M – do you get a kick out of trying to be funny about someone’s recent death. I don’t care who they are, is it too much to ask for a bit of respect?
I expect that Mick posted this because a lot of backroom political people read this site and she was one of their number. Pretty shoddy stuff from both of you.
Posted by urquhart on Apr 12, 2006 @ 07:39 PM
as you can clearly see we were accused of making fun of one persons death… which I clearly refuted in the original post 15 which you cut… making it look like I accepted such criticism
WHICH I DID NOT, AND I AM STILL WAITING FOR urquharts APOLOGY
DS,
Less double standards and more constraints of time and resources. If I had the resources, I’d run this site on a more tightly moderated system. But I don’t. That would require sponsorship and substantial investment.
I was asked a similar question re the McCartney killing. Why so much attention? Or why so much attention on the Ballymurphy pogroms? Answer, they all have political significance beyond the human tragedy of the deaths themselves.
I’m accutely aware of the pain and fear that people connected with those ‘incidents’ went through. But not to have probed them would have ignored the political significances their deaths represented.
I have asked for civility across the board. I realise that it is sometimes difficult, possibly nearly impossible. But it’s always worth re-stating the appeal, and hope that people play up rather than play down to the appeal.
Devil,
You are looking for an apology for that? Considering the free shots you’ve taken on Slugger, you’ve really got to be joking. Aren’t you?
Mick, so what is the difference that makes O’Hanlon’s life and death off limits? You, in posting the blog, deemed it worthy of comment, and you seek to restrict reflection in this instance yet leave it wide open in others.
Is her life and political contributions not worthy of being probed, or are you waiting for a more “sensitive time” to host that debate?
Perhaps because she was not blown open with a shotgun her death is not as “newsworthy” but is that really the measurement of civility?
Or is it something else entirely we are measuring here?
Yes Mick I have taken free shots…
What do you want a contibution, so like others if I make a lot of them they become cheap shots
How much sympathy did any terrorist feel for any of their victims, none whatsover,therefore i feel no sympathy for her or her counterparts in loyalism.
HoweverI feel for her family and close friends who have lost a loved one,and who have to carry on without her
some of you guys are unbelievable. This post was started as a way of expressing sympathy for Siobhan, her family, friends and colleagues. If you had to make a comparison it would be something like a Book of Condolences I guess – that said when a book of condolences is opened you wouldn’t head down to City hall and write something negative in the book – you just let it slide. Why can’t you do the same here?
I’ve only dropped in and out of this thread, so what has been deleted and when, I don’t know. But, for example, there was a perfectly reasonable seeming (to me) post from Joinedupthinking (orginaly nos. 24 I think) that’s gone. The drift of it was – this woman was complicit in others dying rather more violent deaths than herself. Obviously I’m all for this website’s owner (and volunteer helpers) deleting what they will, when they will. That’s the glory of private property for you. All I’d say, is that I’ve never, ever encountered anyone as willing to keen for their own dead as Irish Republicans, whilst simultaneously not giving a damn about the evil they’ve done to others. Still, no doubt the last 30 years have been worth. Imagine not being able to draw your British government salaries in public until 1998.
Qubol,
That is the whole trust of this discussion, read the very 1st post questioning the decision to open up the thread for someone so far down the party chain of command, the same respect has not been afforded to others who have passed away in the years past.
Since then the post moved on to the more important issue of censorship by Admin of perfectly reasonable posts taking a opposite view to that of certain members of Admin staff, posts have also been tinkered with to change the thrust of their points, and others have been cut completely with no reason given.
Mr Devil,
yeah i did read the first post – and like I said, you wouldn’t go to sign a book of condolence to question if they should have a book condolence. Siobhans position in the party is irrelevant – this post was simply to express sympathy. I believe Mick also said they dont have the resources to do this type of post for everyone that dies – maybe it was a slow day on the news and they had some time, whatever its their decision.
On the second post about censorship – I think TAFKABO does have a point about havin his posts changed without the modified post noting the change. Its not something I’d personally be happy about but thems the rules and before I post I accept that the same thing may happen to my posts.
Christalmighty, I’ve stumbled into a wormhole and landed in into a 70′s EST training session!!!!
Someone dies a slow death, wasting away in front of her family but it’s really about ME!
ME!
ME!!!!
ME!!!!!!!!!
No wonder Erhard made you tossers piss in your pants.
I presume that TAFKABO remembers (and abhors the memory of) RAF Group Captain Leonard Cheshire V.C. for his active complicity in dropping a single bomb over Japan that ripped apart more people than any number of other bombs ever could have.
He will no doubt see Cheshire’s post war work with the Cheshire Homes as negligible atonement for this single barbarous act aimed as it was intended at a civilian target.
Rory
When was condolences to Cheshire’s family posted on Slugger?
I must have missed that one.
Smilin’ Jim’s Barbary Coast Travel Agency
Spot on
I have to say that this is my first encounter with censorship here and I am not well pleased. Considering the level of personal abuse I have to take here without (in most cases) either apology or censorship. Therefore I am more than slightly disturbed to see my reference to O Hanlon as a tea lady being removed.
The answer to the question asked in the first comment, reamins to be fully answered. is every person who worked i the background in the Stormont talk to be remembered when they die? Why was O’Hanlon signalled out?
The only thing that makes O’Hanlon’s death notable is her terrorist past. If that is not now the subject of fair comment then when exactly will it be? Why were the (far more offensive) posts after the passing of Ted Heath not treated in a similar way.
Perhaps a compromise can be reached in the interests of civility. A blog should note the person’s passing, but comments should not be allowed until the person is laid to rest, which might proviode a “cooling off period”.
“Censorship” strikes me as being de trop. As I’ve droned on before, in a free society, bully for the owners of websites redacting what they will, as far as their own private property is concerned.
What interests me more is who, in the instance of this specific thread, was doing most of the redacting? It’s a guess, but I wonder if I’m right in suspecting that some of Mick’s volunteer helpers – the ones with access to the backstage passwords for slugger – have just been a teensy, weensy bit too quick to meddle with this thread? And I worry about that because the one thing that can will kill slugger stone dead is if the Provo blog police, instead of merely being boring and multi-posting on threads, actually get the chance to edit those threads . . .