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LAST UPDATE | 13 Jun 2023
A GROUP OF internees known as the Hooded Men have received an apology from the PSNI over their treatment at the hands of police.
Hundreds of people were detained without trial in Northern Ireland during internment.
The 14 hooded men were subjected to a series of controversial interrogation techniques by the British Army and police when they were interned without trial in Northern Ireland in 1971.
The techniques included hooding and being put in stress positions, forced to listen to white noise and deprived of sleep, food and water.
They were also thrown from helicopters that were hovering close to the ground, having been told the aircraft were hundreds of feet in the air.
In December 2021, the UK Supreme Court found the decision by the PSNI in 2014 to discontinue their investigation into the allegations of torture against the ‘Hooded Men’ to be unlawful.
In the landmark judgement handed down on 15 December 2021, the Court commended that the treatment to which the Hooded Men were subjected to would be characterised today as torture.
The Supreme Court ultimately quashed the decision not to investigate.
In a statement today, the Darragh Mackin, who acts on behalf of the majority of the Hooded Men, confirmed that the PSNI today issued a formal apology to his clients “that recognises the torturous treatment” to which they sustained.
“The Hooded Men have fought a 10 year campaign for justice. Since their landmark victory before the Supreme Court in December 2021, we have engaged at the very highest level to try and find a resolution for our clients,” Mackin said.
“Today, almost 18 months on, the PSNI have today issued our clients with a formal apology that recognises the torturous treatment to which our clients sustained,” he said.
“The publication of this apology comes after weeks of intense negotiation in which drew to a close in the days before Mr Joe Clarke tragically passed away.
“In the last days of his life, Mr Clarke was finally delivered closure in the form of an apology, for which he had long since campaigned. This is a seismic development in a seismic case.
Mackin said it is time now for the UK Government and Ministry of Defence to “apologise for their part on these torture techniques”.
The apology issued by the PSNI reads: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland acknowledges the finding of the United Kingdom Supreme Court that it is likely that the treatment to which you and the other Hooded Men were subjected to at the hands of the security forces, including some police officers, would be characterised today as torture.
“We wish to acknowledge that the treatment you received was not acceptable at that time and is not acceptable by modern standards of policing.
We would like to convey an apology to you for the actions and omissions of police officers at that time.”
In a statement today, PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Saunders said the force wrote to a number of individuals, including the late Clarke, and the next of kin of deceased individuals of the ‘Hooded Men’.
“In this letter, we have acknowledged the findings of the United Kingdom Supreme Court that, by today’s standards, the treatment of these men at that time would likely be characterised as torture,” Saunders said.
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland has formally apologised for the actions and omissions of police officers involved in their treatment whilst in police custody in 1971,” he said.
“The Police Service recognise the significant step taken today in issuing this apology. It is our view that this was the right thing to do to help give the ‘Hooded Men’ and their families recognition about how they were treated.”
Former Hooded Men Liam Shannon and Jim Auld described the apology from police as “too little too late”.
In a statement, they called for an apology also from the British Prime Minister and UK Government.
“This apology in some ways is too little too late,” they said.
“It ought to have been delivered long before now and is only coming on the back of latest legal challenges against the police over their failure to investigate the criminality of the State,” they said.
“We see this as another step on the road to vindication.
“We now call upon the PSNI to remove their objection to our judicial review challenge listed in a few weeks’ time.
“We also now call upon the State to withdraw its insensitive attempt to stop our rightful claims for proper compensation for the horrendous treatment suffered by us.
“This apology must be seen in its proper context. It will only have any real effect if it will be replicated in all outstanding legal cases and leads to the Government apologising as well. Otherwise, it looks like the Government passing the buck and seen as hollow.”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood described the apology from the PSNI as “another step towards justice”.
Eastwood has called on the British Government and British Army to “follow suit and formally apologise to the men who were tortured”.
In a statement, the Foyle MP said: “I appreciate this apology coming before the death of Joe Clarke so that he could achieve some form of closure after years of campaigning for the apology that was so deserved after what he and his fellow victims went through.
“These men and their families have waited 52 years for this apology and others have unfortunately passed away without seeing it.
“An apology from the PSNI is an essential step towards recognising the ordeal that these men suffered.
“The attention must now turn to the British government and security forces who also owe an apology to these men.”
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Please support your local farmers over the large retailers
@A2 Poster: Thats a bit like saying please support your local corner shop. That did not work out well for well established reasons..
Larry Goodman and his likes have the government and big business in their pocket. It’s just going to take a lot more protests and the possibility of slurry pumped into Dáil Éireann although it’s full of slurry already.
@Bull McCabe: I’d have more support for your cause Bull if I could stroll down an auld river near yerself and catch a few trout without the likes of you telling me that this you’re land and dont let me see the likes of you here again. Just saying.
@Clint Sofie: Until something happens and the farmer ends up in court being sued.
And then you have the odd idiot leaving gates open, damaging fences, littering.
Add that to the rural crime wave of machinery and tools and you can’t fault the farmers for not being too happy with finding you on their land without their permission.
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
@Mill Lane: Dont think that asking Benjy for permission to stand at a hole of water for an hour or so is going to convert him to let the tax payer who pays his grants catch a few fish, with the greatest of respect ,MILL.
@Clint Sofie: And that’s the difference between thinking and doing….you won’t catch too many fish by thinking.
@Mill Lane: Give it up Mill, it is well known that farmers have killed over a half acre of land. THIS IS MINE AND NOBODY WILL CROSS THAT LITTLE PIECE OF GRASS, SO THERE.
@Clint Sofie: Well if you have such a low opinion of them… don’t go onto their land or buy a boat.
Simple really.
@Clint Sofie: And I’m sure you won’t mind if Bull and myself slip around into your back garden and enjoy an hour lying out in the sun. Just saying like….
@Molly1952: You would be very welcome and I would hope that you would also bring your family’s as well. My land is open to all.
@Clint Sofie: Oh and by the way, we will all end up with 6 foot of grass at the end of the day, no matter how much ya may crave for more of it wright now. The best of luck lads. We will all end up in the same place at the end of it all.
@Clint Sofie: Have to agree with you on that one…
@Molly1952: Good night Molly, or should I say good morning. Cheers.
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest mark up is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: the retailers are in the UK and other far flung places. 95% is exported. Irish retailers paying more would only be a drop in the bucket
Should banned import beef from South America & North America and need support Irish farmer
And for every €10 you spend on cow meat, you are directly supporting the slaughter of animals.
@Louise: thanks for that
@Louise: and for every €10 you spend on carrots you support the slaughter of innocent vegetables.
@Bull McCabe: and you are denying rabbits their staple diet.
@Louise: As a “normal” vegetarian I really do wish others would stop making stupid statements like this.
People have a fair idea the beef on their plate has been to the slaughter house, they don’t need to be told as they are not stupid.
Our meat free diets are probably no better for the environment, monoculture, pesticides, more diesel, more air miles ect. ect.
Choosing not to eat meat doesn’t give us the right to lecture people and those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
@Louise: The animals wouldnt exist if they weren’t there for meat. Who do you think is going to feed and house a herd of cattle or pigs for pets??
@Molly1952: Thats grand Molly and you are doing the animals a favour? are ya sure that the animals are not doing YOU, a favour.
@the journal. Please fix bugs for iPhone that makes your comment post twice because you have to repost to get it on comments
How the government can’t make the retailers show up and yet they are the ones with the biggest percentage in the price is beyond me
@Garreth Mc Mahon: free trade “”
@Garreth Mc Mahon: Coz they are busy taking care of business servicing customers, its a talk shop.
That top poster is wrong. The retailer gets €3.30 out of every €10 of meat.
They are now looking for a €1Billion Brexit fund. Have they all lost the plot. For those who don’t know what €1Billion looks like, here it is. €1,000,000,000.
@John Hanrahan: too many farmers in this country. If they can’t compete, let them go bust. All the subsidies we give them outweigh the cost of ‘buying Irish’
So where have they published the figures for the claims they are making?
@Darren Byrne: The poster with the prices? I’m sure if it was wrong, the big retailers would have no problem coming out and saying so. But they are cowering away from it because they know it’s true.
Btw, beefplan has suicide prevention phone numbers and coping with depression numbers up on their website. This is a really serious issue for rural people, please don’t doubt them for no reason. It’s their industry, they know it, they know the figures. They shouldn’t have to prove that they aren’t dishonest.
@A2 Poster: I have no doubt that some of them are finding things hard. I have seen other people operate businesses and fail where others then follow and succeed. But my issue is when someone makes claims that just aren’t backed up by figures. Secondly they don’t say how much it costs them to produce that beef that they’re only getting 2 for every 10 spent.
Whats the average turnover/profit of a beef farm anyone?
@Thomas Maher: I would say it relies on economies of scale. The guy who started this only has 100 head of cattle. I’d imagine costs would be much less pro rata if you had 1000 head of cattle.
@Thomas Maher: last year I think teagasc stated it was 6000 € profit Including single farm payment. At the price it is this year I’d image the factory is after taking all the single farm payment and probably some of the off farm income as well
The Irish state and the EU appear to be determined to wipe out rural Ireland!
have your say