Latest news with #SayNothing
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Say Nothing drama on Jean McConville murder wins Peabody Award
The Troubles-era drama Say Nothing on the disappearance and murder of Jean McConville has won a prestigious Peabody Award for public interest storytelling. Based on the 2018 non-fiction book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe , the nine-part limited series follows the story of McConville and the experiences of Provisional IRA members Dolours and Marian Price during the Troubles. Following the airing of the show on Disney +, Marian Price initiated legal action against the streaming giant. Lawyers for Ms Price said allegations of her involvement in the murder were 'not based on a single iota of evidence' and caused 'immeasurable harm in exchange for greater streaming success'. The series depicts Gerry Adams as a senior IRA commander, while including an endnote in each episode stating that 'Gerry Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or participating in any IRA-related violence.' READ MORE Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price in Say Nothing. Photograph: Rob Youngson/FX Created in 1940, the Peabody Award was originally established to honour excellence in radio broadcasting. It was later expanded to include television, podcasts, streaming media and social media videos. Naming Say Nothing as a winner in the entertainment category, the Peabody Award board said it won for 'exploring the social power of radical political belief, the code of silence that bound believers to secrecy, and the haunting emotional and psychological consequences of extreme violence on the lives and families of those who were lost and those who survived'. [ Say Nothing: Bingeable yet sober-minded eulogy for the tragedy of the Troubles Opens in new window ] Creator and executive producer of the series Joshua Zetumer said the themes of the period drama are still relevant today. 'When bad things happen – and believe me, they're happening right now – the most dangerous thing we can do is stay silent,' he said. Speaking to ABC on the red carpet before the ceremony, Lola Petticrew, who plays a young Dolours Price, said that 'everything the Peabody Awards stand for is something that really resonates with me'. The backstory to Disney's IRA thriller Say Nothing Listen | 23:09
The Journal
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Say Nothing wins prestigious Peabody Award
SAY NOTHING HAS won a prestigious Peabody Award in the Entertainment category. The nine-part series, based on the best-selling book of the same title by author Patrick Radden Keefe, focuses on the disappearance of Jean McConville. Nobody has ever been charged with McConville's killing, who was taken from her home in west Belfast in December 1972 and murdered by the Provisional IRA. Her remains were found by a walker in August 2003 on a beach in Co Louth. The Peabody Awards celebrate storytelling that reflects the social issues and the emerging voices of our day. Established in 1940, the Peabody Award was originally created to honour excellence in radio broadcasting and was the radio industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes. However, it was later expanded to include television and now includes podcasts, social media videos and streaming media. Advertisement The Board of the Peabody Award said it seeks 'excellence on its own terms' and 'stories that matter' and that it awards storytelling rather than popularity or commercial success. (L-R) Brad Simpson, Michael Lennox, Monica Levinson, Joshua Zetumer, Anthony Boyle, Lola Petticrew, Hazel Doupe, Nina Jacobson and Maxine Peake, winners of the Peabody Award for Say Nothing Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Say Nothing was among the scripted series winners in the Entertainment category, alongside Netflix's Baby Reindeer. The Board remarked that Say Nothing was successful because it explores 'the social power of radical political belief, the code of silence that bound believers to secrecy, and the haunting emotional and psychological consequences of extreme violence on the lives and families of those who were lost and those who survived'. At the awards ceremony, Joshua Zetumer, creator and executive producer of Say Nothing, said: 'When bad things happen – and believe me they're happening right now – the most dangerous thing we can do is stay silent.' Speaking to ABC on the read carpet before the 85 th annual Peabody Awards, Lola Petticrew said it was 'amazing' to be at the ceremony. Petticrew plays a young Dolours Price in Say Nothing. She said that 'everything the Peabody Awards stand for is something that really resonates with me'. 'The reason why I want to tell stories and to be an artist is to tell the stories that are meaningful.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
It was abundantly clear the BBC was in trouble... the jurors seemed to take to Gerry Adams
By refusing to settle with former SF president, corporation authored its own defeat Gerry Adams' victory over the BBC is a major milestone in the former Sinn Fein president's public story. It couldn't have come at a better time for him. Just months ago, he was literally a Disney villain. Nobody bar British Army general Sir Frank Kitson came across as more loathsome in the Say Nothing mini-series.
Sunday World
18-05-2025
- Sunday World
Hopes are high that remains of ‘Disappeared' IRA man Joe Lynskey have finally been found
A republican source in rural Monaghan told us: 'I know we've been down this road before, but I honestly believe this time we have Joe Lynskey' Joe Lynskey with the Price sisters in Say Nothing This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where Fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey. This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey Hopes were high last night that the remains of 'Disappeared' IRA man Joe Lynskey have finally been found, the Sunday World has learned. On Tuesday, we were made aware that a convoy of Garda vehicles and a number of black Mercedes cars had assembled near the grave of the Comiskey family in a small Catholic cemetery at Annyalla, Co Monaghan. It came five months after six bodies were exhumed from the family grave of Bishop Brendan Comiskey. However, in March the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) revealed that DNA tests confirmed that Lynskey was not one of them. The 40-year-old former Cistersian monk from Belfast was killed and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972. The Sunday World can reveal that human remains which were removed from the cemetery this week were 30 yards from the Comiskey plot, where Bishop Comiskey was buried earlier this month. This is the spot at Annyall Cemetery where fragments of human remains were discovered by Independent Commission for the Location of Victims this week as the search continues for Joe Lynskey It's a remote and silent spot, shaded yesterday by a lone hawthorn in full bloom of mayflower. Just a short distance away, boys and girls were inside the adjoining St Michael's church making their First Communion. And last night, a republican source in rural Monaghan told us: 'I know we've been down this road before, but I honestly believe this time we have Joe Lynskey.' He added: 'It's in all our interests that we do all we can to facilitate the finding of the bodies of the Disappeared.' Late on Friday afternoon And following an inquiry from the Sunday World, the ICLVR issued a statement to the press that partial human remains had been discovered. Eamon Henry, lead investigator of the ICLVR, said: 'Following the recent exhumation at Annyalla Cemetery in relation to the search for Joe Lynskey, information came to the ICLVR indicating another small area of interest within the confines of the cemetery. 'This was not another family grave site. The search continues for Joe Lynskey 'I want to emphasise that this information did not relate directly to the disappearance of Joe Lynskey and until we have positive identification or the elimination of the remains of Joe Lynskey, or any of the other Disappeared, we have to keep an open mind.' Joe Lynskey News in 90 Seconds - May 18th Mr Henry also said he was aware the hopes of the Lynskey family had been raised once before, only to be disappointed. And he cautiously added: 'The process of identification could take some time and we will continue to offer the family what support we can.' Garda officers remained at the graveyard on Tuesday and Wednesday, while specially trained experts brought in a small digger machine to begin a new search operation. Last December, Bishop Comiskey had personally given the go-ahead for the search to take place at his family's grave, bearing the bodies of his mother and father and other members of his family. And when Bishop Comiskey was buried there, the family plot was closed for good. It had previously been wrongly believed that the IRA had taken advantage of a tragedy at the Comiskey family farm to cover up the fate of Joe Lynskey. Lynskey had gone missing from his west Belfast home around the same time that Bishop Brendan Comiskey's mother Clare died in fire at the family farm at Tasson, near Annyalla. Former bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey pictured during a confirmation cermony in 1997 . Photo When her elderly husband Patrick went off to summons help, Mrs Comiskey re-entered the blazing farmhouse in an effort to retrieve valuables. Lynskey went missing from his home in the Beechmount area of west Belfast in 1972. He was driven to Monaghan town by IRA volunteer Dolours Price. And on the journey, he shared with her the trail of debris he had left in his wake, which almost sparked a full-scale feud within rival factions of the republican movement. Lynskey had previously been in the IRA during the failed 'Border Campaign'. And when violence erupted on the streets of Belfast in the early 1970s, he joined the Provisional IRA. As he was older and had some weapons experience, he was appointed to senior post with a number of younger men under his command. Soon afterwards, he became infatuated with the wife of a young IRA member. And in an effort to get rid of his love rival, he ordered another IRA volunteer to shoot the woman's husband dead. The order was carried out, but it was botched and the targeted man survived. He approached a number of leading Provos and he told them Lynskey had ordered him to be shot because he was having and affair with his wife. But Lynskey had already told his IRA bosses that the shooting was the work of the Official IRA, which at the time was as powerful as the Provos. The Provo leadership had already ordered a number of retaliatory attacks on the Officials. Joe Lynskey with the Price sisters in Say Nothing But when the full truth emerged, Lynskey was court marshalled and ordered to travel to Monaghan until the IRA decided his fate. On the journey across the border, Dolours Price later revealed how she felt sorry for her passenger, even offering to leave him off at a cross-channel ferry terminal, but Lynskey insisted he had to take his medicine. The journey scene was re-enacted in the recent Disney+ series Say Nothing. In Monaghan, Lynskey was dropped off at the Park Street home of a well-known republican family related to legendary IRA figure Fergal O'Hanlon, who was shot dead in 1957 attacking Brookeborough RUC barracks in Co Fermanagh. We recently learned that although Lynskey was under IRA orders, he wasn't a prisoner and he was free to come and go as he pleased. In the evenings, Lynskey prayed a lot and he enjoyed discussions about Irish history with Einaghan O'Hanlon – Fergal's brother – as they ate home-made bread and drank tea. We learned from republican members who knew Lynskey that he was resigned to his fate and he was fully aware that one day he would pay the ultimate price for trying to deceive the IRA leadership. Eventually, an order came from Belfast saying he was to be shot dead. But local volunteers who had come to know him and liked him refused to carry it out. In the end a number of IRA gunmen from Belfast were despatched to Monaghan to carry out dirty deed. According to our sources, Lynskey asked to be buried in consecrated ground. And his killers took him to the cemetery at Annyalla where they shot him dead. As DNA testing on the remains found there this week begin, many of Lynskey's old republican friends are praying and hoping the tests prove positive. As well as Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other victims – County Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British army Captain Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and last seen in a bar in Aghagallan, Co Antrim. Anyone with information on the four outstanding Disappeared cases, can contact the Commission on 00 353 1 602 8655 or by email to secretary@ or by post to ICLVR, PO box 10827, Dublin, Ireland.
Daily Mirror
17-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
'I spent my son's childhood in prison for a murder someone else committed'
Families of people in prison for 'joint enterprise' have come together to tell their story on stage, as part of Bradford City of Culture 2025 In 2007, trainee midwife Laura Mitchell was on a night out at a pub in Bradford, when a fight broke out over a taxi. In the aftermath, she went to look for her shoes in the carpark of the Kings Head, which had slipped off in the chaos. Next morning, she says she woke up at home to find out Andrew Ayres, a 50-year-old man who had tried to break up the fight, was dead. The young mum, aged 22, went to the police station to give a statement and was arrested for murder under a controversial law known as 'joint enterprise'. According to this law, being involved in the taxi row and her presence in the car park meant she was as guilty as the man who stamped on Andrew Ayres and killed him. "I don't remember everything that happened in court," she says. "I passed out, all I could think about was my son. He had turned six the day before. I couldn't cope with the loss of my son – I was in the corner crying. For the first two weeks, I couldn't even look at a picture of him, I just wanted to scream. I couldn't speak to him on the phone, it was too painful." Laura was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 13.5 years, meaning her son would be a man by the time she was able to be his mother again. "I'd never heard of Joint Enterprise until it happened to me," she says. "At the start I thought it would be ok. I'd never been in any trouble. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. "The police didn't come and arrest me, I went to the police station. I had faith in the system. But the longer things went on the less I believed in it. I had to be put on medication, I couldn't cope. I realised, 'the truth doesn't matter, or why am I here?' 18 years later, Laura is out of prison on life-time license. She has a job, but has never been able to become a midwife. Her son is almost 24, and she is haunted by the years she spent in prison. Next week, her story – woven together with other joint enterprise stories campaigners believe are miscarriages of justice – will be told on stage in Laura's home city, as part of the Bradford City of Culture festival. The grassroots campaign, JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association), has partnered with political theatre pioneers Common/Wealth, to produce an immersive show, Public Interest, on which Laura is assistant director. Billed as part music video, part-theatre, the show premieres at new pop-up venue Loading Bay in the basement of a disused city-centre warehouse. The story is told using rappers and DJs, drill, grime and bassline – the very music so often weaponised against young people. JENGbA's work has also inspired a new podcast, 'In It Together', hosted by actor and director Maxine Peake. "We want and expect the British justice system to work for us but there are some areas where the law isn't working," Maxine, who starred in Say Nothing, Peterloo, and Silk, says. 'When I was approached to take part, I agreed immediately as I had personally met families affected by this controversial law. I was honoured to share their stories, hear about the personal impact from ex-prisoners and learn from the lawyers and academics who took part." Another adviser on the show is Bradfordian Ishy Hussain Ashiq, 58, whose younger brother Abid is serving 30 years for aiding and abetting a murder under joint enterprise, despite working in another city on the night of the crime. Shazad Talib Hussain was tragically shot in a Bradford backstreet in 2004. Abid – who bought and sold cars – had sold a vehicle a few days before the shooting, that was used as the getaway car. The then 26-year-old was sentenced to 30 years with no parole. "When he got convicted, it felt like the world was crashing down," Ishy says. "We lost one of our brothers recently and he couldn't go to the funeral. My mum has had a couple of heart attacks in those years. She won't leave the house if she knows he's going to call that day – she puts her life on hold." The issue of joint enterprise extends far beyond Bradford. The law dates back to a cart race in 1846, where one driver was said to have encouraged the other driver, who fatally struck a pedestrian. 177 years later, 10,000 prisoners are serving life sentences convicted as secondary parties – most of them young black men. JENGbA was set up by two extraordinary mums, Jan Cunliffe and Gloria Morrison. Jan's teenage son Jordan – who is blind, and was waiting for transplant surgery in both eyes – was convicted of the joint enterprise murder of Garry Newlove in 2008. Gloria's son's best friend was convicted of murder under joint enterprise, and also given a life sentence. While they never forget the victims of the crimes, the two women say that JENGbA was born on kitchen tables across the UK, as families – and especially mums – came together in grief and disbelief after finding their children sent down for decades. Their campaigning, and Jordan's story, inspired the Jimmy McGovern drama, Common, which told the story of a boy called Johnjo O'Shea whose trip out for pizza ends in a life sentence. McGovern's script lays the blame on class politics. One of his characters says: "it's not about innocent or guilty, it's about getting working class scum off the streets, that's how they see our kids, scum, scallies…" Thanks to JENGbA's campaigning, in 2016 the Supreme Court reconsidered the joint enterprise doctrine, and found the justice system had 'taken a wrong turn'. But after campaigners' hopes of overturning dozens of wrongful convictions failed to materialise, JENGbA and Liberty are now calling for Joint Enterprise to be scrapped altogether. As pressure on prison overcrowding mounts, ending joint enterprise could be an idea that's time has finally come. For Laura, Abid and their families, the immersive production at Bradford 2025 is more than theatre. "I want people to know that this is real, this is still happening, that what they're seeing isn't fiction,' Laura says. "This can happen to anyone. I'm on life-time license. That's always there. I can't go on holiday. I'm not allowed to be a midwife. Prison has stolen the possibility of me having more children. I've missed out on so much."
