A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
This has been a long and difficult week as we said goodbye to Brendan “Bik” McFarlane. Last week a group of us and some of his American friends were planning to meet him for dinner. It was never to be. He had taken ill and was in hospital. I was in the Sinn Féin Head Office in Dublin when the news broke that he had died.
I knew of Bik before I met him. I was a young teenager during the 1981 Hunger Strikes. It is said that the music that stays with you is what you listen to at that age. In my case, the soundtrack was Belfast and the Hunger Strikes.
I only fully understood the full horror of the Hunger Strikers when I read, “Ten Men Dead” by David Beresford. The book draws heavily on smuggled letters between the prisoners. Bik was only thirty but had already spent over six years in jail when he was appointed their Officer Commanding by Bobby Sands when he began his hunger Strike.
Bik would hold that position as ten prisoners, his friends, died. An unimaginable weight and responsibility for anyone to carry.
The British Government of Margaret Thatcher believed that the hunger strike would break the prisoners and Irish Republicanism.
The prisoners would go on to win all of their demands, Sinn Féin would become a major political force, and two years later, Bik would be one of the leaders of the largest-ever prison break in British penal history.
He would remain at large until he was captured in 1986 in Holland.
I first met Bik in 1997 when he was being released from prison. As a life sentence prisoner, his release was staggered. For several weeks, he was released during the day to attend a job and returned to jail in the evenings. I was a community organizer in West Belfast and he came to work with me.
The man I met was not how I imagined. He was full of life and humor. Constantly questioning how things worked and fascinated by technology.
We hit it off over music, politics, and countless cups of tea. We remained friends and activists ever since. I never asked him about his time in jail. It seemed too intrusive, but he would offer insights now and again that he thought would be helpful.
Bik never set out to teach me anything except how to play, “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd on guitar. A failure for both of us.
But I learned much from him over the years: the need for strategic thinking, a rejection of dogma, and the importance of people. He took the time to engage and listen, to encourage young people, and with a smile, challenge older activists. He loved life and took the most from every minute.
Committed to the peace process, Bik was bigger than his history. He showed us what was possible with determination, commitment, hard work, and at times a smile and a song.
His loss to his partner Lena and his children Thomas, Emma and Tina will be immense.
Bik would begin each day at the time of the Hunger Strikes with a prayer from the Psalms:
“Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness; and though you have crushed me and broken me, I will be happy once again”
Slán mo chara,
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America. Each week he writes a letter from Ireland with news and analysis. It is featured in the weekly Friends of Sinn Féin USA Newsletter. Be sure you are subscribed to stay up to date.
