Danny Morrison (Irish republican)

Daniel Gerard Morrison (born 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland), known generally as Danny Morrison is an Irish republican activist and writer.

Background

Morrison came from a strong republican family. His father and uncles had been jailed for their part in the IRA's Northern Campaign in the 1940s; one of his uncles was Harry White, a prominent IRA man.

He joined Sinn Féin in 1966 and helped to organise 50th anniversary commemorations of the Easter Rising in Belfast. At this time, he later recalled, 'as far as we were concerned, there was absolutely no chance of the IRA appearing again. They were something in history books'.

Joins IRA

However, after the 1969 Northern Ireland Riots, in which nationalist areas of Belfast were attacked and burned, Morrison joined the newly formed Provisional IRA. He believed that, 'the IRA had been deliberately run down, so that when August 1969 came, there was little or no defence [of nationalist areas] '... [so] anew IRA was built to ensure that nationalists were never left defenceless again'.

After this time, Morrison was engaged in clandestine IRA activity, but as late as 1971, he was still attending Belfast College of Business Studies and editing a student magazine there. Danny Morrison was interned in Long Kesh in 1972.

Despite his family's republican convictions, Morrison's sister married a British soldier whom she met when British troops were deployed to keep order in Belfast in 1969.

inn Féin activist

Morrison's talents for writing and publicity were quickly recognised within the republican movement and after his release in 1975, Billy McKee, IRA O/C for Belfast, appointed him editor of "Republican News". In this journal, he criticised many long standing policies of the movement, especially the Eire Nua, programme, which advocated a federal united Ireland, with autonomy for Ulster. At this time, he became associated with a grouping of young, Belfast based republicans, led by Gerry Adams, who wanted to change the strategy, tactics and leadership of the IRA and Sinn Féin. In particular, Morrison believed the IRA's 1975 ceasefire was, 'a disaster'. He was especially critical of IRA killings of other republicans and Protestant civilians, which enabled the British government to portray the organisation as a criminal or sectarian group.

With the rise of Adams' faction to the leadership of the republican movement in the late 1970s, Morrison was made Director of Publicity for Sinn Féin. The new leadership wanted their political wing to fight elections in addition to their paramilitary wing's armed campaign. However, they believed that in order to be effective, it required a change in the constitution of Sinn Féin, which at that time forbade the party's members from taking seats in either British, Irish or Northern Ireland parliaments. During the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike, Morrison acted as spokesman for the IRA hunger strikers' leader Bobby Sands, who was elected to the British Parliament on an Anti H-Block platform.

At the 1981 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Morrison made a famous speech in which he called for the constitution to be changed. He said, 'Who here really believes we can win the war through the ballot box? But will anyone here object if, with a ballot paper in one hand and an Armalite in this hand, we take power in Ireland?'. From this speech the term 'Armalite and ballot box strategy', was coined to describe the two-pronged strategy of the Provisional IRA and Sinn Féin in advancing the cause of republicanism. [ [http://www.irelandculture.uklinux.net Danny Morrison- a brief biography] ] In reply, Sinn Féin President Ruairi O Bradaigh argued that the Ard-Fheis should not "swop a slogan for a policy", referring to Éire Nua.

In early 1982, loyalist paramilitaries attempted to kill Morrison and his wife, opening fire on their car with machine guns. However, he survived the assassination attempt.

Morrison was elected as a Sinn Féin Member for Mid Ulster of a short lived Northern Ireland Assembly from 1982-6. He also stood unsuccessfully for the European Parliament in 1984 in which he received 91,476 votes and again in 1989. He also stood for the Mid Ulster Westminster seat in 1983 and 1986.

Morrison along with Owen Carron was arrested on 21 January, 1982 whilst attempting to enter the United States illegally from Canada by car. He was deported and later both men were convicted on a charge of making false and fictitious statements to American immigration officials. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05EFD61439F93AA35752C1A965948260 The New York Times newspaper.] ]

1990 arrest

He was director of publicity for Sinn Féin from 1979 until 1990, [cite web | title = Too hot to handle | author = Dominic Cavendish | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/03/22/btwrong22.xml&sSheet=/arts/2005/03/22/ixartright.html | publisher = "The Daily Telegraph" | date = 22 March, 2005 | accessdate = 2007-03-11] when he was charged with false imprisonment and conspiracy to murder an IRA man who was working for the British, Sandy Lynch. [cite web | title = IRA officer tells of terror threat | author = Owen Bowcott | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,954530,00.html | publisher = "The Guardian" | date = 26 February, 1991 | accessdate = 2007-03-11] Morrison told the court the IRA was justified in killing informers.Fact|date=March 2007 He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and released in 1995.

Writing career

Since 1989, Morrison has published several novels and plays on themes relating to republicanism and Belfast. His latest play, "The Wrong Man", opened in London in 2005. [cite web | title = Too hot to handle | author = Karen Fricker | url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/arts/story/0,,1438782,00.html | publisher = "The Guardian" | date = 16 March, 2005 | accessdate = 2007-03-10] It is based on his 1997 book of the same name and deals with the career of an IRA man who is suspected by his colleagues of working for the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

He lives in West Belfast, with his Canadian born wife, Leslie. He has two sons from a previous relationship.

References

External links

* [http://www.dannymorrison.com/ Danny Morrison's website]
* [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/danny_morrison/profile.html Guardian Profile]

ee also

*List of Northern Irish writers