|
When
Tommy Gorman first told me about a week ago that he
was to receive an award for pushing radical ideas
under the auspices of the West Belfast Festival, I
thought he was joking. So too did others. One man
I spoke to yesterday said, 'Gorman is mixing', when
I enquired of him would he be going to today's presentation
of the Tom Cox Memorial Award at Conway Mill. West
Belfast being the capital of censorship on the island,
it is understandable that few believe that there are
prizes given out here to those who promote freedom
of opinion. It is not that long ago since the stupid
white men (and women) swarmed like George Romero's
undead outside Tommy Gorman's home in a bid to muzzle
him and have him conform to their bizarre beliefs.
Yet it was true, he had indeed been selected for an
award.
Having
it confirmed did little to attenuate my sense of amazement.
While books are routinely launched during the festival
and their authors are competent, they are not normally
what would be viewed as the outflow from independent
minds. The individual perspective of their creators
rarely appears out of step with the orthodoxy. For
all their literary acumen they tend not to raise questions
of the established inequitable order that currently
prevails in West Belfast. Moreover, many are invited
from near and far to speak or sit on discussion panels
- including the unionists. But those real life denizens
who actually reside in West Belfast, are republican,
and who do not support the party of the local MP,
seem never to feature on the lists of those asked
to contribute. Conformity opens doors in West Belfast.
The rewards and sanctions system maintains the hierarchical
order of things. Those who think independently must
always swim against the tide and risk being marooned
by tidal waves of resentment. This makes this year's
Tom Cox Memorial Award all the more significant.
The
award that Tommy Gorman received has its origins in
the human rights advocacy of Tom and Vita Cox. At
today's presentation Des Wilson explained something
of the background to this US couple. It was their
belief that the struggle for human rights in Ireland
was a beginning not an end. They encouraged people
to think outside the narrow groove. In keeping faith
with their own commitment to the promotion of radicalism
they set aside some money to underwrite acknowledgement
of the work carried out by radicals. Springhill Community
House was nominated to 'talent spot' and arbitrate
in the event of a photo finish. On his death bed Tom
Cox told Des Wilson, 'tell the people to keep the
faith.' Catholicism wasn't the faith he was referring
to either. It was faith in the human intellect to
think autonomously, to kick aside the suffocating
boundaries of censorship.
Tom
Cox was a prolific writer, producing many plays and
books throughout his life. He crafted books on Erskine
Childers, Michael Collins and on Fenian prisoners
in British jails. He also gave of his considerable
energy to press for the truth behind the 1984 RUC
killing of Sean Downes. In the late 1990s Springhill
Community House began its work of presenting the Tom
Cox Memorial Award.
Before
announcing that this year’s choice was Tommy
Gorman, Des Wilson gave the audience a glimpse into
the life of the Lenadoon republican who has steadfastly
refused to be cowered either by the British or by
West Belfast orthodoxy which seeks to conceal the
paucity of its own position by suppressing those who
might by their commitment to openness expose it as
threadbare. I was honoured to sit in an audience gathered
to pay tribute to this republican activist. I have
known him for 26 years, first meeting him on the Blanket
protest in H4 in 1978. I had known of him for much
longer - his 'wanted' boyish face gazing out from
our television screens as the British state launched
a massive manhunt for him and six of his comrades
after they had swam to freedom from the Maidstone
in 1972.
Freedom
was always central to the being of Tommy Gorman. Not
merely freedom from prison walls and the panoptical
gaze of British security installations, but freedom
from those insidious and invasive techniques of mind
control. The standard line on anything was never something
to be swallowed by him. When others on protest were
saying 'political status is just the other side of
the hill' because some communication came around from
the camp leadership saying so, Tommy never failed
to show that the hill was a steep mountain. It could
be crossed okay, but not on faith alone.
Des
Wilson referred to Tommy's exploits including his
prison escape. He then switched track and spoke of
his work in promoting cross community relations at
a time when it was not in vogue. For this Tommy was
called 'half a Prod' and derided by others. But of
real significance were Des Wilson's comments in relation
to the unpopular stance taken by the Lenadoon republican
when it came to the politics of the peace process.
From the outset Tommy raised the questions that few
wanted to hear. On the day that the Provisional IRA
ceasefire was announced in August 1994, he rang Bernadette
McAliskey to endorse her comments that 'the good guys
lost.' An hour later he declined to go to the flag
waving farce through West Belfast. There was nothing
to celebrate. It was a mere exercise in fanning away
the whiff of defeat through the vigorous waving of
tricolours. That is more clear ten years after the
event than it was at the time as is evidenced from
recent comments by Gerry Adams that 'the British state
in the North is a unionist state. Its symbols and
emblems are unionist. So are its agencies. And its
management.' With that as backdrop it comes as no
great shock to learn that Tommy Gorman has challenged
the logic of a process that has bequeathed this to
us.
When
it was his own turn to take the podium he, in a voice
laden with emotion, expounded on his attitude to the
unfettered expression of ideas. Refuting any suggestion
that people should prostrate themselves at the altar
of Francis Fukuyama who proclaims the end of history
and the eternal hegemony of liberal economics, he
called for more sustained efforts to widen debate
and to respect a multiplicity of voices: 'If you see
something that is wrong, speak out and suffer the
consequences.' This is asking a lot from those more
inclined to believe the exact opposite of what they
believed twenty four hours earlier merely because
some leader hit the reverse switch in the back of
their necks.
Those
who chose to make this award to Tommy Gorman deserve
every praise. It takes courage to reach out to the
margins and engage with those there rather than seek
to draw them into the centre on the terms of the centre.
It would have been much easier for Des Wilson and
his colleagues to have opted for a safe writer, one
who never strays from the comfort zone of the peace
process and uses the pen to smudge rather than construct
accuracy.
In
the audience were members of Tommy's family who shared
his burden over the decades. They experienced his
prolonged absences while he sat in his second home
in Long Kesh. They watched his isolation and ostracism.
They heard the whispering campaigns. His wife Anne
faced the wrath of the undead gathering outside the
family home to protest their opposition to truth.
She knows only too well the averted eye contact, the
silences and the myriad expressions of disapproval
from those who pronounce 'there shall be no alternative
to us.' Today's award acknowledges their support and
loyalty throughout Tommy's challenging political life.
His fellow writer Jim McCann was also there today.
McCann would hardly agree with Gorman's take on political
events but he found it within himself to acknowledge
the validity of differing perspectives. By contrast,
outside the hall were people who had served time alongside
Tommy Gorman in the H-Blocks but who for one reason
or another decided not to stray off course by stepping
over the threshold into a room where diversity was
lauded.
On
the drive home I asked Tommy how he felt.
I
am overwhelmed. When does anybody ever give people
like ourselves prizes for showing that there are
opinions other than the official one? I am honoured
to have received it from Des. It is all the more
special for that.
Tommy
Gorman's retention of the rough edges that imbued
him with radicalism, spurned him into opposing censorship
and challenging despots are the very qualities that
any radical project should extol and value. Who benefits
but the powerful when such accoutrements are buffed
and polished into mediocre conformity by the peace
process? Tommy Gorman's contribution to critical discourse
has brought him into conflict with conservative forces
whether of the British state, unionism or the current
conservative nationalist status quo. Yet his endeavours
in pushing at the boundaries have been a powerful
intellectual analeptic which at all times functioned
as the antidote to the mind numbing sedatives so lavishly
applied to the thought processes in West Belfast.
In this sense it will never be said that his award
was a backhander for silences rendered.
Index: Current Articles + Latest News and Views + Book Reviews +
Letters + Archives
|
