50th anniversary commemoration held for Derry IRA man Jim Moyne

The 50th anniversary commemoration for Derry Volunteer Jim Moyne has taken place in the city.

Jim Moyne was 29 years old when he died of an asthmatic attack while interned in the cages of Long Kesh.

The commemoration, which was chaired by Jim’s brother, Pat, took place at the Republican monument on Lecky Road on Monday night.

The ceremony began with Bronagh Moyne reading the Proclamation. Kate Carlin read the Roll of Honour; and Caoimhe Moyne read the CR Gas Roll of Honour, after which Ciaran Carlin played.

The flag on the monument was lowered by Joe Meenan, brother of Volunteer Michael Meenan; wreaths were then laid by Rossa Moyne, on behalf of Jim’s family, and Gerry McGillian, brother of Volunteer Eugene McGillian, on behalf of Jim’s comrades.

IN PICTURES: Óglaigh Jim Moyne remembered on 50th anniversary

A large crowd gathered at the Republican monument on Derry's Lecky Road to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Óglaigh Jim Moyne

Family planning book to mark 50th anniversary of Derry’s Jim Moyne

Derry man and IRA volunteer, Jim Moyne, was 29 years-old when he died whilst being interned in the early hours of January 13, 1975

Eamonn Lynch then read his poem titled ‘Jim Moyne, patriot':

“Marching for rights and equality was the beginning of a rising people in those days,

“Civil rights suppressed and denied, led many to see that Irish unity was really the only way.

“Jim Moyne was no different as he left a dental career to get his teeth stuck into the revolution,

“Not a stereotypical soldier, a hero, a chieftain and never a terrorist, just a young patriot seeking a solution.

“Like so many, Jim’s selfless sacrifice led him into the coal face of a struggle that quickly got the state’s attention.

“As Derry stood up to a so-called peacekeeping army, whose guns were pointed and batons swung in only one direction.

“So what was it really like back then, was it as the media painted - terrorists and psychopaths in our midst?

“That was only partly true, because they omitted to say that they were in uniform trying to beat us down with an imperialist iron fist.

“Jim had a smile that would suck you in, and an impish glint in his eye that oozed humour and a sense of fun,

“But he also had a heart that craved freedom and an intellect that knew it couldn’t be achieved, without resorting to the gun.

“A rebel with a cause, a young man seeking change, but seen as a threat by a state whose only answer was more oppression,

“A state that saw giving equality, fairness and human rights to the Catholic population, an unnecessary concession.

“So, they decided to dump the men and women who rebelled into gaols to put down the revolution

“Innocence or guilt didn’t matter, especially as they could indefinitely intern them without trial, another unjust solution.

“Jim ended up in Long Kesh unwell but unbroken, at the pleasure of the Secretary of State.

“Little did he know back then, that the relative ‘safety’ of imprisonment would dictate his final fate

“His health deteriorated in that hell hole, yet a medical release was beyond their humane comprehension,

“In their world of hate and retribution, they justified the unjustifiable and doubled down on Jim’s detention.

“Even after a hospitalisation he was returned to his cage, exposed to the fire, the riot and the aftermath of October 1974

“Only to have a serious asthma attack soon after, and die because of neglect when the screws wouldn’t open the door.

“And so, a young man died needlessly on 13th January 1975 and the lies, denials and cover-ups began.

“Why have they repressed the truth for over 50 years - did they allow or even conspire in the death of this young man?

“A family left to grieve a son and a brother, a city left with another dubious statistic of the demise of one of its own

“But those who knew and loved Jim Moyne remember a brave man, a generous and funny man and a patriot right through to the bone.”

Following this Jim Moyne’s nephew, Rónán read the oration; he began by thanking everyone for “coming together to remember and honour Jim”. 

“We remember Jim tonight in the heart of the community where he lived and grew up. It is not far from our family home in Cable Street and close to where he went to school and worked,” said Rónán Moyne.

“In Derry and particularly the Bogside/Bishop Street area is where Jim was happiest and where he wanted to be. It has even been said, by some of his comrades, that he was homesick ‘on the run’ in Donegal and couldn’t settle, itching for a return to Derry.

“He was proud of this place. There is a great picture of Jim in happier times sitting in a car next to his friend Thomas McFadden at a checkpoint at the bottom of the Folly, and so it is fitting that it is here where we gather tonight, not far from that spot, on the 50th anniversary of his death.

“Jim has often been defined by how he died, yet he was much more than that. He was a fun loving, caring and decent person. Jim loved life and sought enjoyment and the positives in all that he experienced. He wasn’t one for complaining. He loved the people of Derry, the dance halls, the humour and the craic. He loved music, art and craft work and was often slagged in the Moyne household for having too keen an interest in his appearance and clothing. He made friends easily, but it has been said that his divilment and sense of adventure got him and his friends into a few scrapes over the years.

“Jim was born into a Country under colonial occupation, with Unionist rule delegated by Britain, resulting in rampant discrimination against the nationalist population. His father's family were republicans who had fought in defence of the Irish Republic. Our extended family lived on each side of Britain’s border here and Jim regularly traversed this border to visit family, the injustice of the border was keenly felt by Jim.

“Jim also knew poverty and disadvantage from a young age, it was all around him. We came from humble beginnings. Our family lived with our aunt Maggie for a time in Brooke Street Avenue off Bishop Street, as we had no home of our own, due to the lack of housing in Derry. But there was a burning pride in Derry and our family along with our neighbours got on with it, building a sense of community that fostered happy memories and lasting friendships.

“As Jim grew older it was clear that he was never going to be content with the status quo. It wasn’t in his makeup. He saw injustice all around him and was determined to end it. He witnessed his community being attacked and murdered by the state, a state which treated Irish lives as nothing. The murder of Sammy Devenny resonated with Jim, given his family’s story of his own uncle Columba who had been beaten to death by the B Specials after partition.

“Jim realised that not only was resistance needed but so was revolution if the Irish people were ever to live in justice and peace. He soon volunteered to become involved in an effort to restore the Republic.

“Jim bravely pursued that goal until he was abducted and taken hostage by the British army in the Bogside after leaving a relative’s home on Good Friday 1973.

“From this point onwards and to this day, Jim and our family were to receive a very British form of justice.

“He was taken to Ballykelly for torture and was then interned in Long Kesh. His Internment Order was signed by a local cop and not by the Secretary of State at the time, making his internment even by Britain’s standards, unlawful.

“He was denied essential medical treatment throughout his time in Long Kesh and along with his comrades was kept in conditions that the EEC at the time labelled as “not fit for pigs”. He was not considered for release, despite his deteriorating health and by the time of his death had been interned for almost 2 years. During the burning of Long Kesh, he along with his comrades were used as guinea pigs and were attacked with CR Gas, a new untested chemical weapon. On the night of his death, the screws failed to respond to an alarm bell as Jim gasped for breath. His comrades tried in vain to help him, they broke down the door of the hut and carried him on a mattress to the gate, such was their concern and urgency to get him attention. However, that same concern was not shown to Jim once he was handed over to those on the other side of the wire. He died in that concentration camp.

“One of his comrades described the following, after his death – “They call a hut a hospital, they call tablets treatment, they call a caravan a surgery, they call a screw in a white overall a medical officer, they call this bloody concentration camp a prison and they call themselves human. What happened to Jim Moyne shows the criminal nature of British violence here.”

“As is the pattern of British crimes in Ireland, the conspiracy continues after death. It began with misinformation about where Jim had died and where his body was located. The Inquest was then a means to rubber stamp the conspiracy. The contempt for Jim’s life was evidenced by the fact that Robert Truesdale, the governor of Long Kesh, didn’t turn up to the Inquest.

“It is telling that many of the British establishment who played a role in Jim’s internment and killing were subsequently decorated by the Crown.

Rossa Moyne laying a reath on behalf of the family of Óglaigh Jim Moyne.

“50 years on and we still have internment. Internment is as wrong today as it was when Jim was interned in 1973 and as wrong as it was when his uncle Pat was interned in 1923.

“50 years on and there is no British Justice. Indeed, the state attempts to close off all routes to justice. Impunity is the name of the game.

“Hilary Benn stands in the British House of Commons portraying himself as some sort of mediator between two warring factions of a religious conflict. He preaches to the gantry about his desire to deliver reconciliation here. Nothing could be further from the truth. Britain is not neutral, nor has it ever been. It is a malignant imperialist actor which holds Ireland by force and has fostered any religious or social divisions that exist here. Such arrogance is staggering but not surprising. It is a colonial mindset that they cannot seem to shake.

“But let’s set the record straight. It was Britain who murdered Jim; it is Britain who refuses to acknowledge its role in his death; it is Britain who denies families like ours full truth about our loved ones' deaths; it is they who hide behind national security despite victims being dead for decades often 30, 40 and 50 years; it is they who continue to occupy & partition our country imposing their writ & law upon us. It is they who export their techniques of terror all over the globe including to Palestine. How do you reconcile with that?

“We have not had acknowledgement, never mind truth, justice or accountability. The State has sought to erase Jim’s killing from history. And the sad thing is, its catching. In our own community Jim has been left out of exhibitions for the victims of state violence. We are awash with museums, yet we must always be alert to and question who is writing or rewriting our history. To paraphrase George Orwell in his book 1984 “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

“In that vein, we as a family have decided to write a book about Jim to mark his 50th anniversary. It will tell the story of a life cut short by state violence. We will document our family’s lived history and the backdrop to what happened, preserving stories and first-hand accounts of Jim to challenge and resist the state’s narrative and attempts to erase or sanitise its role in his killing.

“Following Jim’s death, a war raged on, our family were forced to get on with the day-to-day challenges of living without him. Yet his death had and continues to have a profound effect on us in many untold ways. It is now time to tell that story.

“For us tonight we remember Jim as a Republican.

“He was dedicated to a vision which saw independence not as an end in itself, but as a means to create a better society. To view it any other way, for Jim, would have been to sell the republican cause short.

“What that Republic offers is equality and justice for all. An Ireland where its people, and its resources are sovereign. Where private property is subordinate to public rights and welfare. Where our resources are used for the benefit of the people. Where everyone receives an adequate share of the country's produce, with sufficient social welfare. And where no child suffers from hunger or cold due to a lack of food, clothing, or shelter, and they are provided with the means and facilities for proper education and training. These were the principles of the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil and Jim was fully committed to them.

“These principles are timeless. They have endured generations, and they continue to endure today. The Republican message is as relevant today as it ever was. Why wouldn’t it be!

“Today nearly one million people across Ireland live in poverty. More than 1 in 4 children live in poverty in the 6 counties alone. Over a million people across the island are trapped on hospital waiting lists and god forbid you have to attend A&E. More than 300,000 people are on housing waiting lists north and south with approximately 200,000 empty properties across the island. Landlords get richer as parents and children crowd in hotel rooms to do homework’s. Our elderly are treated as commodities for profit in nursing homes and they would privatise our water if they thought they could get away with it.

“North and south our people live in two failed states where inequality grows. Our politicians north and south preside over systems that make poor people poorer. Republicanism is now sold as nationalism with our ambitions of a better future corralled and contained to suit the interests of the establishment or those seeking to be the establishment.

“The revolutionary change that Jim sought was not nationalism, it was a republican outcome, and this has yet to be achieved.

“We must ensure that we educate, defend, organise and convince people of the merits of what the Irish Republic offers. Where the connection with Britain is broken and where the people who live here, can live in a just society free from poverty, inequality and discrimination. A place where people can live securely with dignity.

“The people who live here and the generations of republicans who, like Jim, have sacrificed all for the Republic deserve nothing less.

“In the words of Connolly, “The Republic must be made a word to conjure with.” Phoblacht Abú!”

The commemoration concluded with Ciaran Carlin playing the National Anthem.