Gretta Reel remembered
The long and eventful life of an outstanding republican woman was
celebrated in her native Killeevan, County Monaghan as friends
from Belfast and Monaghan gathered at her graveside on 25
October.
Greta Reel was 91 when she died last June and had acquired
legendary staus in republican Belfast where she laboured
unselfishly for the cause of freedom for decades.
Among those present were Gretta's sister Molly Finnegan (90),
Molly's son Jimmy Finnegan and his wife Marie.
Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín O Caoláin chaired the ceremony and
recalled the early life of Gretta, born Margaret McCabe in
February 1906. Her family had moved to Glasgow where she was born
and after her father's death her mother returned to Monaghan to
raise the family single-handedly. Gretta remembered making
ribbons for the funeral of Volunteer Matt Fitzpatrick who was
killed by B-Specials in early 1922. She moved to Belfast where
she worked for the rest of her life.
O Caoláin recalled being brought to visit Gretta by Gerry Adams
after the election of Kieran Doherty in Cavan-Monaghan in June
1981. She was intensely proud that ``her own people'' had elected
Kieran. O Caoláin drew the parallel with the life of James
Connolly - her connections with Monaghan, Scotland and Belfast
and her lifelong dedication to the cause of freedom. He then read
the following moving tribute from Belfast republican and friend
of Greta, Chrissie McAuley:
``I was raw out of Mountjoy Jail in 1978 when I met Gretta Reel at
a Sinn Féin meeting held in a dingy office in West Belfast. It
was a meeting about organising protest demonstrations against the
British government's criminalisation policy of republican
prisoners in Armagh women's prison and in the H-Blocks. She was
wearing one of her many woollen hats that night which added to
the stereotype impression that this was one of the many women of
her age group who would come along to such meetings to help out
with the less demanding tasks while we `young ones' would take on
the world! I couldn't have been more wrong.
``Not only did I get an education that night about my own
perceptions of people but I realised from the conversation that
this woman had sat throughout the meeting plotting her own course
of action regardless of what most of the men present had
suggested!
``Coming from Monaghan she was intrigued about the conditions in
Mountjoy prison and she talked about the disgraceful litany of
oppression and collaboration of ``the staters'' against
republicans. I was given a lesson in our history which no book
could have imparted.
``When Gretta spoke it was always for a purpose: to encourage you,
to share something with you, to sympathise with you or to chide
you if she felt you rightly deserved it. That's what I loved and
respected about her.
``That night Gretta said that Sinn Féin needed more women in its
ranks, women who would organise themselves around issues which
affected them as part of their community but as Sinn Féin women
too. If we didn't we would, in the long-term, be failing to
acknowledge the central tenent of republicanism: the right
deigned to us in the Proclamation of 1916, that every Irish man,
woman and child of the nation be cherished equally.
``That was it. I joined Sinn Féin. A few months later we were
organising ourselves nationally into a Sinn Féin Women's
Co-ordinating Committee to debate not just the hard political
issues facing women living under British military occupation but
to discuss and formulate policy on sexism, stereotyping, sex
education in schools, rape, contraception, childcare provision,
equal pay for equal work and even more taboo issues then like
incest and abortion.
``I remember looking at Gretta as we were painting the staircase
of a condemned building we had acquired on the Falls Road to
deliver an Advice Service for women - which was unique then - and
thinking that if a woman like Gretta, at her time in life, could
contribute so much to the struggle, that we were indeed the
generation which would succeed in reaching an agreement on this
island.
``Gretta was in no small way responsible for nurturing the
confidence and politicisation of many women in Sinn Féin who are
today involved in moulding the peace process and who will be
involved in negotiating a final, lasting settlement on his
island.
``Her wee house in Oakman Street was often abuzz with
feminist/republican debate as well as being a safe house for the
editorial team of Republican News which the British army hounded
and tried to suppress. Thanks to Gretta we were able to
outmanoeuvre that attempt for many months and get the republican
message out across the Six Counties at a crucial time in our
movement's development.
``I will never forget her for taking care of us then and literally
risking a hefty term in jail. But I will also never forger her as
a confidante, a comrade, and a woman who in the darker moments,
understood as often only a woman understands, the painful
territory occupied by the isolated and the excluded when all you
want to be, and do, is your best. Gretta fought second-class
citizenship in all its manifestations, whether it was practiced
by individuals, by our own party, by the British or the
Unionists.
``Lastly, in 1989 I interviewed Gretta for a book I was doing on
the political and military participation of women in the struggle
for women's self-determination within the context of Irish
national self-determination. Gretta was one of those
extraordinary, ordinary women who worked day in and day out to
move the Republican agenda forward. She sought absolutely nothing
in return except that which is the right of every human being to
enjoy: justice, equality and freedom.
``Her words then are equally pertinent today. They encompass the
multi-faceted involvement of women in the struggle but they also
paint up the reality of the ongoing challenge which faces society
and political parties today. That is to truly reflect that women
are valued and equal citizens. Gretta said `This war could never
have continued without the involvement of women. I think the
young women of today are marvellous. When I joined Sinn Féin,
there was only the odd woman member. There are more now. I was
involved in helping to set up the Women's Co-ordinating Committee
in 1979 and then the Sinn Féin Women's Department in 1980. There
were about five of us in Belfast. We did all sorts of things to
raise money to get ourselves started. We didn't get much help
either. Even during the hunger-strike we kept going; we felt it
was important to continue to organise as women, as well as all
the other commitments that most of us had at that time.'
``The best tribute we can pay Gretta Reel and women like her whose
contribution as yet remains unsung is to ensure that we strive to
shape the society which emerges from this peace process and which
enables, cherishes and nurtures every citizen the way Gretta Reel
did until the day she died.''
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