Jackie McMullan
Encyclopedia
Jackie "Teapot" McMullan (born c. 1955 in Belfast
, Northern Ireland
) is a former volunteer
in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
.
in Athlone in the Republic of Ireland
before returning to Belfast in 1971. Following the introduction of internment
in August 1971, McMullan's home was raided several times and, in September 1971, his older brother Michael was interned. Later that year McMullan joined the IRA's youth wing Fianna Éireann
:
In 1973, aged 17, McMullan joined the IRA's Belfast Brigade
. In 1975 he acquired the nickname "Teapot" after the top of his ear was shot off during an attack on a British Army
patrol. He was arrested in 1976 in possession of a revolver following a gun attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) base, and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail charged with attempting to murder RUC officers. At his trial in September 1976 he was convicted after forty minutes having refused to recognise the Diplock court; he received a life sentence and was sent to HM Prison Maze.
for paramilitary prisoners, and he joined the blanket protest
started by Kieran Nugent
and refused to wear prison uniform. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pot
s), the blanket protest escalated into the dirty protest
, during which prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement. As McMullan refused to wear a prison uniform he was not entitled to a monthly visit, and did not see his family until December 1979. McMullan described the visit in an interview:
At his next visit, in March 1980, McMullan was expecting to see his mother Bernadette, but was instead visited by a priest who informed him of her death. During McMullan's imprisonment Bernadette had supported the protests and was involved in the Relatives' Action Committee, the predecessor to the National H-Block/Armagh Committee. In support of the protesting prisoners Bernadette took part in demonstrations across the country and abroad, and was part of a group of women who chained themselves to railings outside 10 Downing Street
in London
.
McMullan became the longest-serving protesting prisoner when Nugent was released in 1980, and later in the year the protest in the Maze escalated further and seven prisoners took part in a fifty-three day hunger strike
. The strike was aimed at restoring political prisoner status by securing what were known as the "Five Demands":
The strike ended before any prisoners had died and without political status being secured, and a second hunger strike began on 1 March 1981 led by Bobby Sands
, the IRA's former Officer Commanding
(OC) in the prison. McMullan joined the strike on 17 August, after Sands and eight other prisoners had starved themselves to death. Following the death of Michael Devine and the intervention of the families of several prisoners the hunger strike was called off on 3 October, the 48th day of McMullan's hunger strike. He later described his feelings about the end of the protest:
and helped set up groups for former prisoners. In 2000, he helped organise the transfer of the IRA prisoners' library of books from the former HM Prison Maze to Belfast's Linen Hall Library
, with a view to setting up a lending library for former prisoners. McMullan has since worked as a political education officer for Coiste na n-Iarchimí, an umbrella organisation for Republican ex-prisoners groups, and, as of March 2007, he was working as a special advisor to Sinn Féin's Minister for Education Caitríona Ruane
.
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
) is a former volunteer
Volunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
in the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
.
Background and IRA activity
McMullan was born in Belfast in the mid-1950s, the third eldest of a family of seven children. He studied at a boarding schoolBoarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Athlone in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
before returning to Belfast in 1971. Following the introduction of internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in August 1971, McMullan's home was raided several times and, in September 1971, his older brother Michael was interned. Later that year McMullan joined the IRA's youth wing Fianna Éireann
Fianna Éireann
The name Fianna Éireann , also written Fianna na hÉireann and Na Fianna Éireann , has been used by various Irish republican youth movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries...
:
In 1973, aged 17, McMullan joined the IRA's Belfast Brigade
Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas, based in the city of Belfast. Founded in 1969, along with the formation of the Provisional IRA, it was historically organised into three battalions; the First Battalion based in the...
. In 1975 he acquired the nickname "Teapot" after the top of his ear was shot off during an attack on a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
patrol. He was arrested in 1976 in possession of a revolver following a gun attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) base, and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail charged with attempting to murder RUC officers. At his trial in September 1976 he was convicted after forty minutes having refused to recognise the Diplock court; he received a life sentence and was sent to HM Prison Maze.
Imprisonment
McMullan was the second person convicted after the withdrawal of Special Category StatusSpecial Category Status
In July 1972, William Whitelaw, the British government's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted of Troubles-related offences...
for paramilitary prisoners, and he joined the blanket protest
Blanket protest
The blanket protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. The republican prisoners' status as political prisoners, known as Special Category Status, had...
started by Kieran Nugent
Kieran Nugent
Kieran "Header" Nugent was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army and best known for being the first IRA 'blanket man' in the H-Blocks...
and refused to wear prison uniform. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pot
Chamber pot
A chamber pot is a bowl-shaped container with a handle, and often a lid, kept in the bedroom under a bed or in the cabinet of a nightstand and...
s), the blanket protest escalated into the dirty protest
Dirty protest
The dirty protest was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners held in the Maze prison and Armagh Women's Prison in Northern Ireland.-Background:Convicted paramilitary prisoners were treated as ordinary...
, during which prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement. As McMullan refused to wear a prison uniform he was not entitled to a monthly visit, and did not see his family until December 1979. McMullan described the visit in an interview:
At his next visit, in March 1980, McMullan was expecting to see his mother Bernadette, but was instead visited by a priest who informed him of her death. During McMullan's imprisonment Bernadette had supported the protests and was involved in the Relatives' Action Committee, the predecessor to the National H-Block/Armagh Committee. In support of the protesting prisoners Bernadette took part in demonstrations across the country and abroad, and was part of a group of women who chained themselves to railings outside 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
McMullan became the longest-serving protesting prisoner when Nugent was released in 1980, and later in the year the protest in the Maze escalated further and seven prisoners took part in a fifty-three day hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
. The strike was aimed at restoring political prisoner status by securing what were known as the "Five Demands":
- The right not to wear a prison uniform;
- The right not to do prison work;
- The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
- The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
- Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.
The strike ended before any prisoners had died and without political status being secured, and a second hunger strike began on 1 March 1981 led by Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
, the IRA's former Officer Commanding
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
(OC) in the prison. McMullan joined the strike on 17 August, after Sands and eight other prisoners had starved themselves to death. Following the death of Michael Devine and the intervention of the families of several prisoners the hunger strike was called off on 3 October, the 48th day of McMullan's hunger strike. He later described his feelings about the end of the protest:
Life after prison
McMullan was released in 1992, and initially struggled to re-adjust to life outside prison. Since that time he has worked for the IRA's political wing Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and helped set up groups for former prisoners. In 2000, he helped organise the transfer of the IRA prisoners' library of books from the former HM Prison Maze to Belfast's Linen Hall Library
Linen Hall Library
The Linen Hall Library is located at 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest library in Belfast and the last subscribing library in Northern Ireland. The Library is physically in the centre of Belfast, and more generally at the centre of the cultural and creative life...
, with a view to setting up a lending library for former prisoners. McMullan has since worked as a political education officer for Coiste na n-Iarchimí, an umbrella organisation for Republican ex-prisoners groups, and, as of March 2007, he was working as a special advisor to Sinn Féin's Minister for Education Caitríona Ruane
Caitríona Ruane
Caitríona Ruane MLA is a Sinn Féin politician and a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Down....
.