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A Legal Look: “Tiocfaidh ár gcuid ama” Their Time Will Come
- iIrish Admin
- December 26, 2024
- Edited 17 hours ago
Table of Contents
By Judge Michael Mentel
“Tiocfaidh ár gcuid ama” Their Time Will Come
In 1981, ten men died during a 217-day hunger strike in Long Kesh Prison. Their aim: to attain the political prisoner status stripped away from them five years previously and obtain the basic human rights being denied to them by the British government. Forty-four years have passed since that hunger strike.
Since 1981, memorials have been commemorated and tributes made across the globe in recognition of the ten men who died on that strike. These memorials and tributes have been exhibited in various ways.
Some are depicted in sculptures or monuments. Other depictions are embodied in art, song, text, or documentary form. Another depiction can be found in time itself.
James Smyth, known to his friends as “Jim” or “Jimmy,” was a political prisoner in the H-blocks of Long Kesh Prison in 1981. He was a cellmate of Raymond McCreesh, the third man to die on hunger strike on May 21, 1981, at the age of twenty-four.
Jim knew Ray and the other nine men who died on that strike. They were his friends. He has never forgotten them.
Jim was born and lived with his parents in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. In 1977, he was arrested and accused of the attempted murder of a prison guard.
He was subsequently tried and convicted by a judge in a Diplock Court of attempted murder. The conviction was based upon circumstantial evidence.
He denied the charges. Following his conviction, Jim was sentenced to twenty years in the H-blocks of Long Kesh Prison.
The Great Escape
The Diplock Courts did not operate like the regular criminal courts. Defendants were denied the right to a jury trial. Additionally, these Courts curtailed a political defendant’s due process rights compared to the legal rights provided to non-political defendants.
Jim’s story does not end there. On September 25, 1983, thirty-eight Republican prisoners carried out an escape from Long Kesh Prison. It garnered worldwide attention. Among Republicans, the escape is known as the “Great Escape.”
The escape took place from H-block 7 where Jim was confined. Jim and three other escapees made their way to the United States and would later be recognized as the “H-block 4.”
In 1984, Jim made his way to San Francisco. While living there, Jim worked as a painter and carpenter. He lived his life quietly until 1992, when a provisional warrant was issued by a federal district court to hold him for extradition to Britain. Jim fought the extradition, contending that Article 3(a) of the United States-United Kingdom Supplemental Extradition Treaty barred his extradition.
Article 3(a) of the Extradition Treaty provides that, “… extradition shall not occur if the person sought establishes … [that] if surrendered, [they would] be prejudiced at [their] trial or punished, detained or restricted in [their] personal liberty by reason of [their] race, religion, nationality or political opinions.”
Many elected officials at the time, including U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi, as well as Irish organizations wrote to the federal court asking that Jim’s extradition be barred under the Treaty.
The federal district court did rule that Jim was exempt from extradition to Britain. However, following the Government’s appeal of that ruling, U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the federal district court’s decision, holding that Jim failed to establish he would suffer punishment or harm at the hands of British authorities if he were returned to the north. He subsequently was returned to Long Kesh to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
Good Friday Agreement
In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed, bringing the Troubles to an end and peace to the north. As part of that agreement, paramilitary and political prisoners, Republican and loyalist, were released from Long Kesh Prison. Jim was released in accordance with terms of the Agreement.
Waiting outside of Long Kesh to welcome him home was his wife, whom he married in the chapel of Long Kesh, and his son. As he was being greeted by his family, Jim thanked those in the United States who helped him fight his extradition.
I had the opportunity to meet Jim and his wife in July of last year. Jim’s wife is a native of Columbus and still returns home from time to time. Jim, however, is barred from returning to the United States.
During our meeting, Jim discussed with me his life in the north, his confinement at Long Kesh, the Great Escape, and how he made his way from Long Kesh to San Francisco. It is a fascinating sequence of events that cannot be condensed to this article. Suffice it to say it is a riveting account of a life lived, and the injustices suffered, in the north.
When Jim and his wife arrived, they had a gift for me. It was completely unexpected, and it was nothing that I had ever seen before.
As they approached me, I could see that it was in the shape of an “H” and each column of the “H” was lined with photograph portraits. After we greeted each other, Jim said, “I have something here for you.”
Looking at it more closely, I could see that it was a hand-crafted piece and that the photographs on the “H” columns were the portraits of the ten hunger strikers. Installed in the crossbar of the “H” was a timepiece.
The entire piece stood a little over a foot tall. I was completely shocked at receiving the gift and thanked him multiple times for gifting it to me.
The most striking part of the piece is what is written on its base; “Tiocfaidh aŕ gcuid ama.” Translated from Irish it reads, “Their time will come.” I
t is, of course, a reference to the ten hunger strikers appearing on the piece. The craftsmanship, the timepiece installed in the crossbar of the “H,” and the title written on its base express an insightful level of thought and reflection on remembering the lives of the ten hunger strikers.
Before we left, Jim told me that he had made another piece, twice as high as the one he gifted to me. He asked if he could gift it to the Irish club that I was a member of back home. The Irish club he was referring to is the Shamrock Club of Columbus. The Club graciously accepted it.
This month, the Shamrock Club will formally accept and recognize Jim for the Tiocfaidh aŕ gcuid ama timepiece during its January membership meeting. The timepiece includes the phrase, “Tiochaidh aŕ gcuid ama” on its base.
The 1981 hunger strike will never be forgotten. It is remembered in many ways. From the perspective of James Smyth, it will forever be remembered in time.
Read more of Judge Mentel’s A Legel Look columns HERE
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Judge Michael C. Mentel
*Judge Michael C. Mentel is an appellate court judge on the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Tenth District. Notably, he participated in a round table discussion at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy concerning the British government’s proposed Legacy Bill and was interviewed in a question-and-answer session at the New York City Bar Association. His interview focused on the 1981 hunger strike and the Troubles in the north. Judge Mentel is an author and columnist with iIrish newsmagazine. He has also contributed to other publications on contemporary legal and political issues facing Ireland.
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