Sociopolitical Context
Northern Irish Justice System
Despite its controversial status as a part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland’s justice system and socioeconomic class structure should emulate those of countries like England and Scotland. However, because of the highly volatile nature of Northern Ireland’s political system in the 1960s, there was a major component that existed in the Northern Irish criminal justice system. It is important to note that this system was not present in the other countries of the United Kingdom. Tim Chapman states in his article "The Problem of Community in a Justice System in Transition: The Case of Community Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland" that “the criminal justice system [in Northern Ireland], designed to apprehend, prosecute and punish criminal offenders, was adapted to manage people who were organized to break the law
Written by:
Sally Pigeon
for political purposes” (574). The justice system in Northern Ireland was specifically tailored to persecute protesters and similar groups according to Chapman. There are two separate forces for dealing with protesters in Northern Ireland: the police and paramilitary forces. Paramilitary forces are not legally sanctioned; they function similarly to a professional military but are not formally sponsored by the state (574). In addition to the proper legal recourse taken by the police and the justice system, many of the consequences that were dealt out to protesters, especially young ones, by the paramilitary forces were particularly cruel: “These included threats, beatings, shooting young people in various limbs (‘kneecapping’), exiling young people from their communities and in some cases execution” (574). By Chapman’s logic the judge in Freedom of the City would face few to no repercussions regardless of his verdict. Even if Michael, Lily, and Skinner had survived, they still would have suffered at the hands of a legal system which punishes protesters harshly regardless of their motivations.Emergency Law in the Play
In his article "Relative Facts: Emergency Law, Northern Ireland, and Brian Friel's Freedom of the City, Peter Leman discusses the use of emergency law in the play. He defines emergency law as:
… the means by which a state protects itself in the face of an internal or external threat of some kind, like ‘terrorism.’ The state of emergency temporarily suspends the normal rule of law and constitutional order as it grants ‘special powers’ to the sovereign or government for the sake of restoring law and order; such powers may include the ability to ‘impose curfew, close premises, roads and transportation routes, detain, and intern, proscribe organizations, engage in censorship, ban meetings, processions and gatherings, alter the court system, ban uniforms, weapons, and the use of cars.'" (48)
Because many of the Northern Irish protests were considered acts of terrorism, the British government could essentially make any rules they wanted to and claim “emergency law” as acceptable reasoning. Had Lily, Michael, and Skinner survived they would have been punished severely under the emergency law. Friel uses the judge to demonstrate the feelings of many upperclass Northern Irish people at the time. Because the protesters are poor, it is assumed that they are criminals in the eyes of the law (Leman 54). While Friel avoids the physical corruption of the court system, he clearly displays the bias of the justice system in the judge. The judge is cold and unattached, both an asset and a detriment to his position. His bias against the protesters clouds his judgement, and he determines that under the law the three Derry protesters are guilty. He only considers the misleading facts with which he is presented, and he does not take into account the protesters were people with lives and peaceful intentions.
Protesters and Identity
Most of the protesters in Northern Ireland have nothing to lose, and more often than not they are young and poor. Matthew O’Gara argues in his article "Inequality and Political Violence in a Divided Society: Charismatic Movements in Northern Ireland" that political protests were dependent on lower economic classes to continue.
"Entering Free Derry" Photo Credit: Dawn Duncan
"Overview of Bogside Beneath the Derry Walls"
Photo Credit: Dawn Duncan
Because most of the protesters were poor, it was highly likely that they were also Catholic. The majority of the lower class in Northern Ireland was and still is Catholic, which presents a conflict of interest with the primarily Protestant military and police forces (88). Martin Melaugh, a contributor to Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Second Report, states in his chapter titled "Housing" that Catholics in Northern Ireland lived primarily in neighborhoods on the outskirts of towns and in poorly constructed homes (Melaugh 1). Protestants are far more likely to own homes as opposed to renting them as well (1). According to a survey Melaugh found, most of the issues in housing stem from lower class neighborhoods, with residents mostly complaining of "'rubbish or litter lying around', 'teenagers hanging around on the streets' and 'graffiti on walls or buildings'. All the problems are more commonly perceived in the public rental sector, by the lower social classes, in urban areas and by respondents who express dissatisfaction with their housing" (2). The lower class neighborhoods were mostly populated by people who were searching for employment as well. Matthew O'Gara states that because “almost all of those charged with politically motivated offences are either unemployed or engaged in semi-skilled or unskilled manual labor, socioeconomic factors only reinforce feelings of alienation" (88).
In Freedom of the City, Michael is a young man who has had great difficulty finding stable employment. He worked first as “a clerk with a building contractor but he went bust six months ago. And before that [he] was an assistant storeman in the distillery but then they were taken over. Now [his] father’s trying to get [him] into the gas-works” (Friel 25). Michael’s experiences with lower class employment and unemployment play a role in his motivation to protest: they drive him to make a change. Michael is an idealist, dedicated to peaceful protests and carrying out carefully thought out plans as opposed to impulsive actions, but his experiences with economic struggle are what motivate him to fight for change.
The socioeconomic structure of Northern Ireland has a dramatic effect on the characters in the play and their actions—their low status in the class system drives them to protest. It is highly likely that someone involved in the Irish Republican Army or any other protest group will be imprisoned, so it makes sense that those with few commitments to a job, a family, or a large group of friends would be those to volunteer (O’Gara 90). In Freedom of the City the character who best represents this concept is Skinner, a young vagabond who has found his way into protesting against the British rule because of his economic struggles. Skinner sees the poor of Ireland as the basis for the revolution and if any other factors are involved, then the fight is not based on the right reasons (Friel 60). Additionally, he speculates that Lily, a middle-aged mother of 11 children who lives with her ill husband in desolate housing, is similarly motivated to protest by a common economic struggle (Friel 60). Skinner’s socioeconomic status is the key reason why he chooses to protest, and Lily’s is similar. Skinner is working for a better future for himself and Lily is marching for the futures of her children.
Works Cited:
Melaugh, Martin. "Housing." Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Second Report. Belfast: Blackstaff, 1992. N. pag. CAIN. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Chapman, Tim. "The Problem of Community in a Justice System in Transition: The Case of Community Restorative Justice In Northern Ireland." International Criminal Law Review 12.3 (2012): 573-588. Academic Search Premier. Web.
Friel, Brian. The Freedom of the City: A Play in Two Acts. London: Samuel French, 1974. Print.
O'Gara, Matthew. "Inequality and Political Violence in a Divided Society: Charismatic Movements in Northern Ireland." Civil Wars 4.2 (2001): 79. Historical Abstracts. Web.