Sir, – We wish to draw your attention to the continued detention of Marian Price, which we feel constitutes an alarming breach of human and civil rights.
Ms Price had previously served a long jail sentence in England and in the North and was released and pardoned in 1980 due to ill-health resulting from force-feeding over many months in 1973 and 1974.
Ms Price was arrested in May 2011 on the basis of charges, which have since been dismissed. At the time she was granted bail for those charges and has also been granted bail on subsequent charges brought against her, yet she remains imprisoned by order of Owen Paterson, British Secretary of State, who claimed to revoke her licence.
Ms Price’s health and welfare are at the forefront of this campaign and she has been declared too ill to attend court after spending more than a year in isolation. Ms Price is the victim of psychological torture and internment without trial, and as a result of this her mental health and physical health has deteriorated rapidly. Given concerns about her very poor health, we are calling for her immediate release based on humanitarian grounds. – Yours, etc,
Msgr RAYMOND MURRAY, Human Rights Activist; Fr PETER MCVERRY SJ, Centre for Faith and Justice; Fr SEÁN MCMANUS, President of the Irish National Caucus, US; MARGARETTA D’ARCY, Aosdána/Women In Media Entertainment; ÉAMON Ó CUÍV TD; MAUREEN O’SULLIVAN TD; THOMAS PRINGLE TD; JOAN COLLINS TD; RICHARD BOYD BARRETT TD; JOHN BROWNE TD; GERRY ADAMS TD; MARTIN FERRIS TD; DESSIE ELLIS TD; SÉAN CROWE TD; MICHAEL COLREAVY TD; JONATHAN O’BRIEN TD; MARY LOU MCDONALD TD; PEARSE DOHERTY TD; SANDRA McLELLAN TD; BRIAN STANLEY TD; PADRAIG MACLOCHLAINN TD; AENGUS O’SNODAIGH TD; CAOIMHGHÍN Ó CAOLÁIN TD; PEADAR TOIBÍN TD; JOE HIGGINS TD; CLARE DALY TD; Councillors: LOUISE MINIHAN; MANNIX FLYNN; Cllr CHRISTY BURKE; CIERAN PERRY; MELISA HALPIN; BRID SMITH; HUGH LEWIS; NIALL RING; ANNA QUIGLEY; PAT DUNNE; VINCENT JACKSON; DAMIEN O’FARRELL; Senators: LABHRÁS Ó MURCHÚ; JIM WALSH; KATHRYN REILLY; DAVID CULLINANE; TREVOR O’CLOCHARTAIGH; DARRAGH O’BRIEN; BRIAN Ó DOMHNAILL; and Dr FÉILIM Ó hADHMAILL, School of Applied Social Studies, UCC; Dr CIARÁN DAWSON, Centre for Oral Irish, UCC; Dr ÓRLA O’DONOVAN, School of Applied Social Studies, UCC Dr KIERAN ALLEN, School of Sociology, UCD,
C/o Sráid an Dáma,
Baile Átha Cliath 2.