I was prepared to wage war on the State by going on hunger strike and die while I was in prison, says TD Bernard Durkan
THE longest-serving TD in the Dail has opened up about serving a two-month prison stretch - and insists he was ready to wage war on the State by going on hunger strike.
Bernard Durkan was jailed in 1967 for his part in a nationwide farmers’ protest, spending almost eight weeks in Mountjoy and Portlaoise after refusing to pay a small fine.
He says around 80 of his colleagues were among 700 farmers caged over a period of months that year, convicted of the crime of “dangerous parking” following a blockade in Lucan, Co Dublin.
The Fine Gael TD was in prison at the same time as medical student Shan Mohangi, an infamous killer who dismembered Hazel Mullen in a Dublin flat before later going on to politics in South Africa.
Durkan told the Irish Sun: “It was reported at one stage we were going to be forced to wear prison garb and there was a rumour going around we might have to go on hunger strike.
“I regarded myself as the expert as I’d read about every hunger strike there ever was from all the Irish and abroad.
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"I was happy about going on hunger strike but I let it be known to everybody there would be no cessation, no backing down or any acquiescence.
“A hunger strike was a hunger strike, end of story.
"You can only escape from hunger strike if the authorities climb down, you complete your sentence or you die.”
The Kildare politician who has served in the Dail since 1981 barring nine months in ’82 when he lost his seat, was freed on appeal while nearing the end of his sentence, sparing him a criminal record.
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He recalls spending his first day of freedom driving his clapped-out Ford Consul all over the countryside – parking safely while he was at it.
In 1966 and 1967 the farmers union NFA was at war with the State, many farmers refusing to pay rates until the government delivered on bargaining rights.
Around 30,000 marched on Dublin in October 1966, the then Agriculture Minister Charlie Haughey refusing to meet with nine farmers who staged a 21-day sit in at the steps of Government Buildings.
JAILED
The rights campaign went on for another six months, with hundreds jailed, including Durkan, but it was eventually a success.
He said: “I was 21, I was providing services to the farming community, they had a dispute with Charlie Haughey who refused to meet them to discuss their concerns about income and all that.
“They decided to block the roads and I was among the people who blocked the roads. There were about 12 or 14 involved from Maynooth.
“We got a fine of £7.50 or three months in lieu thereof.
We refused to pay the fine in protest and were sent to prison, where I stayed from late April all through May into June 12th.'
Bernard Durkan
"So we refused to pay the fine in protest and were sent to prison, where I stayed from late April all through May into June 12th.”
Haughey and Durkan, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, would laugh about it later.
Bernard added: “There were about 700 people involved, sent to prison at different times over a period of five months.
“We were the last bunch, I think it was about 108 of us.
"Through one means or another, people getting ill, it got down to a hard-core of 80 in the end who all served two months.”
HARSH SURROUNDINGS
The prisoners were processed in Mountjoy before spending the bulk of their time in the harsh surroundings of Portlaoise.
The names of Provo prisoners were carved into the doors of the cells, where the young Durkan spent 12 hours a night.
During the day they encountered “celebrity” inmates, including Mohangi who was working as a part-time chef on Dublin’s Harcourt Street when he killed Hazel in a jealous rage in 1963.
The South African had butchered the 17-year-old in his basement flat.
Gardai later found 17 body parts along with kitchen utensils from the Green Tureen restaurant where he worked.
Mohangi, whose murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter on appeal, left Ireland after serving less than four years.
CAGED WITH MURDERERS
Durkan said: “There were a few murderers. Mohangi was the most notable inmate, and was serving in the kitchen.”
The Kildare TD went on: “It was a strict regime, you slopped out your cells and you were locked up from 7 o’clock in the evening until 7 o’clock the next day.
“It was restrictive, it was educational, no doubt about it. You read an awful lot when you’re in prison!
“We were slightly separated from the general population but we bumped into them during the daily routine, breakfast, lunch and recreation.
“The regime in Portlaoise was more severe.
"You could have your knife and fork and plate in cell in the Joy, but not in Portlaoise, nothing in the cell.
"The Provos were gone at the time, their names were carved on the doors, I remember looking at them.
"It was a strict regime, the peephole in the door was pushed over every two hours in the night, just to make sure you didn’t get away.
“That’s why when people escape from prison you know it had to be an inside job. Anyway, we weren’t on for escape!”
FARMERS' PLIGHT
Durkan reckons it was all worth it, to bring attention to the plight of farmers.
He said: “The main issue was the principle of the right to negotiate. If nobody will negotiate with you you’re weak. It worked, and has been established and has been working ever since.”
On prison life, he said: “It was a tough regime, it wasn’t the Ritz.
"You can’t go anywhere. You were in a cell which was very sparse, to say the least, with the window seven feet off the floor.
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“Essentially it was a learning curve, to be able to withstand the restriction without having your life affected by it and to be able to come out the other end without having it affect you.
“I came out stronger. Some didn’t.”