Letter from Noel's uncle Willie Moloney

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Catholic Church-a crucial pron to the Trish houroonis ranimo Having read your numerous excellent articles on Northern Ireland | want to draw your attention to the case of Noel and Marie Murray who are both serving life sentences in the so-called Republic of Ireland.

They were a decent, well educated, hard working young couple.

He worked as an engineer in Dublin, she went from Dublin University to work for the government in the most backward and underprivileged part of western Ireland.

Batoned

They were both very hopeful and active in the Civil Rights movement only to see the Civil Rights marchers stoned by Paisley and his mob, and brutally batoned by the RUC and the B Specials.

They saw the "Bogside"the Catholic area of Londonderry-four hundred houses burned and several people killed in a night of drunken fury.

They and all of us saw on television the slaughter of Bloody Sunday, when thirteen men, women and children in a Civil Rights march were shot down.

We all read of the inquest in the press, and the verdict Murder by the British' Army.

We have all read in the press of Britain paying out half a million pounds in compensaIrish Justice Minister Cooney tion to victims of torture by the "Security" forces, yet nobody has ever appeared in any court to answer any charge of murder or torture.

The 'security' forces always have the same answer; that the victims had drawn, guns on them.

Confession.

There is only one case where that old tale wasn't used; that was when a little girl of eight was shot on her way to church for confession.

But of course the back room boys can explain away anything, and anyway, what's one more murder among so many?

There never was an escalation of violence, but there was and still is a massive escalation of repression on both sides of the border, by the British and Irish governments.

People often wonder what the Dublin government were doing about the minority in Ulster-the answer is nothing.

Indeed they brought in their own anti-terrorist laws, they filled their gaols with anybody who would dare to give help or aid to the freedom fighters or their dependants.

Slump

The Dublin government had major problem on their hands.

The 1969 boom had turned into a massive slump. Inflation was running wild and unemploy.

ment soaring, with no prospects for school leavers:

The country was sliding towards economic collapse and as the government had collapsed politically a long time ago they decided that it was time to declare a state of emergency.

One of the main reasons given for the declaration of a state of emergency was for protection from murderers and bank robbers.

How convenient for the government that they had a couple of "murderers" and "bank robbers" in their death cells-Noel and Marie Murray.

Appeal

I arrived in Dublin from Coventry on Friday October 29 1976 for the appeal against the death sentence which was to start on November 1.

I wanted to be beside my sister, Noel's mother, to give her some support in case their appeal should fail.

I myself feared the worst as the Republic, for the past decade, has been like America in the McCarthy era.

I was afraid that the Murrays were going of Ireland.

I feel sure that without the worldwide publicity and support given to the Murrays the sentence would have been carried out, and I would like to thank all those people on behalf of Noel and Marie, and Noel's father and mother for their great humanitarian work.

When I met my sister arrival in Dublin they took to Mountjoy Prison to Marie, as she had applied permission to visit her.

After being kept waiting for a couple of hours 1 was refused permission to see her, yet next day I was allowed in to see Noel at the Curragh.

Justice Ministry.

On Tuesday November 2 l went to the Ministry of Justice.

At the inquiry desk I said I wanted to make enquiries about getting permission to see Marie Murray in Mountjoy.

After about ten minutes | was called to the phone and spoke to some man. I told him how I'd been turned away from Mountjoy but had been allowed to see Noel.

He told me to hang on and after a few minutes he was back on the phone and said that I wouldn't see her. I explained to him that I was an old man of 71 and would never be able to come to Ireland again.

Since Marie was in cell, they couldn't refuse my request.

Never be allowed

He told me to hang on again, and after a few minutes he was back on the phone and told me that I would never be allowed to see her.

I replied if that was his final reply all I could say was "Fuck Irish Justice, up the Murrays and the Provos'"

The Catholic Bishops and clergy of the Republic are well aware of the type of trial the Murrays had, but never a word of protest from them.

They know that the Murrays are being denied one of the most basic human rights and that is that they should be allowed some privacy.

Noel is brought from the Curragh Detention Centre every couple of months to see Marie in Limerick Prison where there is a big table placed between them with warders standing by.

The Bishops know that someday the Murrays will be free but by that time Marie may be too old to have what she to be the Rosenbergs on me see for the death possibly would dearly love-a baby.

l've heard the Bishops preach of the sins of the fathers being visited on the children but this is the first time its being visited on the unborn children.

At present, in contrast to the period before the Supreme Court decision, the Murrays have no complaints about their personal treatment.

Franco lives on Marie has recently sat for some important exams for which she received every assistance from the authorities.

Noel is fine in the Curragh but he misses a lot of the friends he made there as they were mostly short-term political prisoners.

There are only about four like Noel left but to keep it open knowing they will fill it again in the future they are in the meantime filling it with child molesters, drug addicts and inmates of a local asylum.

I wonder what the Bishops think. They must be aware of it as some groups in Ireland are publicly condemning it.

I think that all the government buildings and churches should have flags flying with the words "Franco lives on in Willie Moloney It is almost three years to the day since anarchists Noel and Marie Murray were arrested for the murder of Garda Reynolds following a bank robbery in Dublin.

Throughout that time the Murray Defence Committee has fought hard first of all for a jury trial and then later, following the acquittal and release of codefendant Ronan Stenson, for the release of the Murrays.

: Until 1973 both Noel and Marie were members of the Official Republican movement.

They left because they felt that insufficient was being done to aid the struggle for national freedom and against repression both sides of the border.

In October 1975 they were living in Dublin under assumed names due to Noel's failure to answer bail for charges of possession of arms.

Returning home from walking their dog on the morning of October 8 they were arrestedbut instead of being taken to Bridewell to answer the charge of jumping bail, Noel was taken to Harcourt Terrace police station where he was subjected to intense physical harassment and torture.

The purpose of this was to force out of him a statement that he was guilty of the bank robbery and murder of Garda Reynolds.

Tortured

Marie was initially taken to Coorlock police station and. from there to Harcourt Terrace where she was placed in a room next to Noel and forced to listen as he was being tortured.

Threatened with his murder unless she signed a statement admitting involvement in the robbery and murder of Garda Reynolds, Marie agreed to sign.

The Murrays' "trial" opened

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ies Southern Lynch-law DEL AND MARIE in April 1976. The case was heard at the Special Criminal Court. There was no jury, only three judges lin this case led by 76-year old Judge Pringle) who have responsibility for trying the case, convicting or otherwise and then sentencing the defendant.

The Special Criminal Court was established in 1939 and reactivated in 1972. As the Murray Defence Committee points out:

"Since its formation its main purpose has been to repress Republicans and since 1972 nearly 1,000 Republicans and socialists havo been sentenced on the unchallenged evidence of police witnesses' (leaflet issued mid-1976)

The trial was a farce from start to finish. The Murrays wanted three junior counsel assigned to their defence but this was refused (Irish Times 10 April 1976). The public did not know what transpired on the 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th days of the trial, (Irish Times During the 'trial' Justice Pringle intervened to help the prosecution.

One example was on the crucial question of whether someone who did not know Garda Reynolds was a policeman could be tried for his capital murder (this later proved to be the central point in the Supreme Court decision to lift the death sentence).

Intervened

The Judge intervened while the prosecution counsel was summing up on this point to say "Does it make a difference that the person should know he was a guard?"

But by this stage the Murrays were not even in court.

The sole evidence before the Court was the statement from Marie Murray which she has always maintained was procured under duress.

A statement by Noel, also made under duress, admitted nothing but instead accused the authorities of torture.

Although this statement was mer 5i Noel's solicitor at Car: Terrace Police Station Noel Murray it had "disappeared" by the time of the trial.

Ronan Stenson, accused with the Murrays was so badly beaten at Harcourt. Terrace that when he was transferred to the Curragh Military Detention Centre both a military and a civilian doctor agreed that his injuries were consistent with allegations of torture.

Collapsed

Several months later Stenson was still suffering so badly from his injuries that he collapsed in the dock several times and his trial was postponed.

Stenson's evidence was vital for the defence case and because he was now unfit to stand trial or give evidence for the Murrays an application for adjournment was made.

When ths was rejected by the bench Noel and Marie dismissed their counsel and refused to have anything more to do with the proceedings.

They were found guilty in their absence and sentenced to death on June 9, 1976.

After the sentence was passed an Irish Times reporter wrote an article for his paper criticising the trial and verdict.

Contempt Both the reporter and the newspaper's editor were prosecuted and fined for contempt of court. This treatment was also meted out to the editor of Hibernia Review for having printed an article and publishing correspondence condemning the trial and sentence. Hibernia Review was also threatened with sequestration.

This put a stop to any other Irish papers saying anything about the case.

While in their condemned cells the Murrays were treated in the most inhuman and what is more, illegal way.

According to the "Rules for the government of Prisons 1947"' (Section 81 (1)):

"A prisoner under. sentence of death may be visited by such of his relations, friends and legal advisors as he desires to see and are authorised to visit him by an order in writing from the Minister or a member of the visiting committee."

The emphasised part of these rules was used systematically by the authorities to prevent the Murrays from having contact with such friends and relations they desired to see.

Death cell

For example when Noel's uncle Willy Moloney visited Ireland to see the Murrays he was prevented from seeing Marie despite the fact that she was in the death cell.

Willy Moloney's visit to Dublin coincided with the Supreme Court hearing of the Murrays' appeal.

This was held on November 1, 1976, their appeal at the Court of Criminal Appeal having been turned down on 26 July 1976.

The Supreme Court hearing -which was held without the Murrays in attendance-found them not guilty of capital murder, and changed their sentence to one of life imprisonIrish Premier Lynch ment.

The reason given for the decision was that the Special Court was wrong to have convicted the Murrays of capital murder when it had clearly not been proven or even argued during the trial that the offence was a capital one.

(Garda Reynolds was off duty and out of uniform when he was shot by the bank robbers).

Supreme Court Even more incredible than the fact that the Special Court evidently didn't care about the lack of any argument to prove the offence was a capital one, was the fact that, as the Supreme Court ruled, Noel could never have been found guilty of a capital crime at all! (Marie is the person alleged to have shot Garda Reynolds).

The fact that the Supreme Court took five weeks to come to its decision is testimony to the efforts of the Murray Defence Committee in bringing the case to light in the face of systematic repression by the Irish authorities.

Part of the campaign involved the bringing of international legal observers to the Court hearing.

Niceties Clearly without this work it is unlikely that such care for the legal niceties would have been shown by the Court.

Almost two years have gone by since the Supreme Court decision and Marie Murray's appeal against . her conviction Marie Murray Mr Justice' Pringle has yet to be heard.

Two months ago the Court of Criminal Appeal was toid that the appeal could not be heard at that time because part of the transcript of her trial had been "mislaid" by the prosecution.

Loss of the transcript is, to say the least, convenient. For over the period since the Supreme Court decision there is mounting evidence that the Murrays were not guilty.

Ronan Stenson, the Murrays' co-defendant was acquitted in a separate trial.

Under duress

As outlined above, his charges of torture at Harcourt Terrace Garda Station were substantiated.

Again, the only substantial evidence against Stenson was a statement signed while he claims he was under duress.

At his retrial ,: Stenson's lawyers claimed that he had been held iltegally-a claim that had been rejected by Judge Pringle.

This time the claim was upheld!

Even the prosecution lawyers felt that the police should have obtained a legal warrant, and asked the bench for direction.

It seems obvious that the use of this legal technicality was seen by the state as preferable a trial in which Stenson's well corroborated claims of torture would have become the centre of the case.

Since his acquittal he has joined the Murray Defence Committee and is campaigning for their release.

A further interesting feature of the case is the missing "fourth man" allegedly involved with the Murrays and Stenson in the bank robbery.

Conjecture

It has been conjectured that the man the police suspected of being the "fourth man" had been in police custody.

To keep within the law on the authorised period for which they can detain a suspect without charges being laid, the police planned to rearrest him outside the police station immediately after his initial "release" , and placed two garda at the foot of the steps to carry this out.

Sitting in a car close by was the man's mother, family doctor and a famous Irish counsel.

When he was thrown down the steps, and before the garda could rearrest him, he was seized by his mother, doctor and counsel.

The doctor certified he was badly injured and in need of medical treatment.

When taken to a prominent Dublin hospital he was found to be suffering from five broken ribs and various other injuries.

His case against the government for these injuries has been pending for a long timeas are several other similar cases, What are the Irish authorities scared of? Can we seriously be expected to believe that the Murrays' trial papers have been lost?

When will Marie Murray come to trial again so that all the allegations made by the Murrays can be put forward for the world to judge?

Will Stenson be allowed to give evidence at the appeal? Why are they scared of a jury trial?

As reported above, newspapers such as the Irish Times (hardiy a well-known anarchist paper) were harassed when they printed criticism of the 'trial' And throughout the campaign to release the Murrays the Defence Committee has been subjected to harassment from the state forces.

Meeting rooms were denied to them, demonstrations were broken up, leaflets were taken from them.

The harassment was so great the Defence Committee reports, that at some points people were frightened to even accept leaflets from them so closely were they watched by the Garda.

As can be seen from the Murray case, and many others, repression is meted out in the Irish state against those who dare to resist imperialism north and south.

Lynch has shown that he is the equal of Callaghan in his usé of special courts, torture and rigged trials.

These developments reflect the increasingly difficult position of Irish capitalismcaught in a mounting crisis for which Lynch has no answers.

Lynch and his gang have ministers travelling the world telling capitalists what cheap labour is available in Ireland and offering to build and equip factories for foreign capital to move into.

For example the rish government built and equipped the Ferenka factory in Annacoty. Ferenka were given a grant of £6 million. They pulled out when the f6 million was exhausted in completely paying the wages of the workers.

In Waterford, where several such concerns of a smaller nature were established, they have acted in the same way.

Waterford has a population of only 30,000 people but two weeks ago a march of 20,000 people was held to protest at the treatment and neglect they have received from the government.

Borrowed The military were moved in to prevent the march crossing the bridge which stands in the town centre.

Lynch is living on money borrowed from the IMF.

His only assets are the prospect of pools of cheap, unemployed labour to woo foreign capital to Ireland and the encouragement of emmigration 110,000 came to Britain last year).

In this situation and with the continuing struggle in the North Lynch needs to step up repression.

As we outlined in our recently published perspectives for Ireland an important part of the programme for the Irish • revolution is opposition to the attacks on democratic rights being carried out in the Republic.

Those like the Murrays who stand in to such renreccion and fight-in however confused a way-to replace a brutal capitalism with a socialist system deserve our support against Irish state terror.

While we have major political differences with the anarchists it is our revolutionary duty to fight alongside them and defend them against the Class enemy.

Those who have taken. up the defence of the Murrays in England should consider ways they can bring further publicity to the campaign.

Socialist Press is proud to have helped in a small way to focus some attention on the case.

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We are printing here a reply by the Workers Socialist League to a letter circulated by the youth organiser of the International Marxist Group to various left wing groups (including the WSL), The letter, which is also reprinted here, youth groups and youth papers. invites Rectits lo be us in new vecret ur INSIDE: ASWAD- ANGERON TI INSIDE No, 1,000 more men for Army