Colm Bryce: An Appreciation

Derry man Colm Bryce will be remembered as a “passionate and gifted communicator of socialist ideas”.

Colm, who  lived in Glasgow in recent years, died on Wednesday, April 9, at St Bart’s Hospital in London. His passing was deeply regretted by his wife Julie, his children Nina and Colm Luka and their mother Jenny Witt, his parents Colm and Rosaleen and his brothers and sisters Particia, Margaret, Donal and Sean.

Following a private wake, Colm’s  funeral will leave Derry tomorrow (Thursday) for committal in Magheragallon cemetery near the Donegal villages of Bunbeg and Derrybeg in Gaoth Dobhair, at 4.00pm.  

Colm’s family has requested donations instead of flowers, if wished, to Stand Up To Racism, C/o WJ O’Brien and Son Funeral Directors, 110, Clooney Road, Eglinton, BT47 3PU. 

His death notice finished with the Irish toast: Sláinte chuig na fir agus go maire na mná go deo! (Health to the men and may the women live forever!)

Colum's Leaving Ceremony will take place at 1.00pm at St Columb's Hall in Derry on Friday, followed by drinks in Sandino's at 4.00pm.

Paying tribute to Colm, People Before Profit Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin said: “We are absolutely devastated at the passing of our comrade and friend Colm Bryce.

“Colm dedicated decades to building the socialist and working class movements in Ireland, England, Scotland and Australia. He was a passionate and gifted communicator of socialist ideas and always made time to patiently talk through any issue, be it a debate, strategy, history, or theory,” he added. 

“Colm led from the front in building opposition to war and fighting for working class unity. He was a skilled speaker, writer, and organiser. He had a wealth of experience and knowledge that he was always happy to share. He was also a very talented musician and songwriter. He was often the heart and soul of a party. 

“In recent years, Colm edited some very important books and published a fascinating account of the connections, including of his own family, between Glasgow and Donegal - ‘Little Donegal: The Irish in the Gorbals and Govanhill’.

He will be sorely missed by his comrades and friends across the world.

"At this moment, we are thinking about Colm’s family, his partner Julie, his beautiful children, Nina and Colm, their mother Jenny, his parents, his siblings and his many extended relations,” said Shaun Harkin. 

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Colm was also one of the ‘Raytheon 9’, a group of anti-war activists from Derry Anti-War Coalition who occupied the Raytheon factory in the city on August 9, 2006 - acting on information that Raytheon missiles were being used in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. 

One of the many things Colm leaves as his legacy is ‘Song for Carlo’ which he wrote as a tribute to a young Italian, Carlo Giuliani, killed by police during mass protests at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, in which Colm participated: 

There’s a picture of you, lying still,

In the middle of the hurricane

And people gathered round, laying flowers on the ground

Swearing they’ll never be the same

And the pressure dropped, another degree

And the sky went dark, in the evening heat

And the hard wind that’s coming will carry your name

You saw the mask before it slipped

You saw inside their marble halls

Where they make you sing fascist songs

And kiss the pictures on their walls

So you ran at the corps, and the canister dropped

And your heart stopped in the echo of the shots

And the hard wind that’s coming will carry your name

They had to make sure that you were dead

So they ground their wheels on your pretty head

So that you couldn’t help but look away

So you couldn’t help but be afraid

Sometimes the police go wild

That’s when you see what they’re trying to hide

But the hard wind that’s coming will carry your name

Last night your mother was speaking,

In a voice you never heard

Saying to do nothing now is to take a side

And that’s what her baby boy had learned

Carlo, can you hear the voices in the streets

Singing you a lullaby

Noi siamo tutti clandestini

We are all illegal now

And the mystery’s gone, the battle lines drawn

Everything goes still just before the storm

And the hard wind that’s coming will carry your name.