Boy arrested for speaking Irish
At the very moment RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan was
telling a Donegal Summer School that the need for an
understanding of cultural diversity was built into all RUC
training courses, the RUC in Derry were arresting a 12 year old
Irish-speaking child for giving his name in Irish.
Gearóid O Dochartaigh from the Little Diamond area has been
brought up and educated through the medium of Irish. He has never
been called by any other name. Last Saturday afternoon he was
playing with two friends in the Westland Street area when an RUC
Land Rover stopped and asked all three boys their names and
addresses. They all gave their names. The RUC went back to the
Land Rover and returned to tell Gearóid that if he didn't give
his name in English, he would be arrested.
His mother, Betty Doherty, said, ``This really upset him.
Passers-by came over to see what was happening. Eventually his
cousin came by and a young mother told Gearóid to give his name
in the same way he always gave it. The RUC insisted on arresting
Gearóid, even though his cousin said he only lived 150 yards away
and she could go get me. They slung him in the Land Rover without
me.
``Ironically, one of the RUC men in the Land Rover was a fluent
Irish speaker, and spoke to him in Irish on the way to the
barracks.''
His mother is horrified at her son's experience. ``My son was
traumatised simply for speaking his native language. I have two
others in the house, both fluent Irish speakers. There's 300 at
the Irish school. The community is full of these children. Irish
is their first language. Do they all face arrest?
``Terrorising children like this is anti-Irish racism and abuse of
my son's human rights. Ronnie Flanagan boasted to that Summer
School in Donegal that `When police officers have an
understanding of the differences they will better be able to
respect the diverse cultures of the people they serve.'
``If this is how they respect cultures, I would hate to see how
they disrespect them.''
When Betty Doherty finally saw her son in the Strand Road RUC
Barracks the RUC Custody Officer told her, ``My officers have done
nothing wrong,'' and said that ``the whole incident has been blown
out of proportion.''
``I am very angry at the horrific experience my son endured. He
was told in the Barracks that because he was bilingual he should
answer in English, `because the law was written in English.' They
added that if a Frenchman gave his name in French, they would
arrest him, too!
``Are they expecting me to believe this? Or that every time they
stop (SF Councillor) Gearóid O hEára in the street and his gives
his name in Irish, they arrest him?''
Six County Chairperson Gearóid O hEára described the arrest as
`blatant racism' and noted that the RUC acted illegally in
stopping and questioning a juvenile in the absence of his
parents. ``To arrest a 12 year old boy - who as an Irish speaker
is entitled to use his native language - highlights the naked
racism which is part of the ethos of this sectarian force.''
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