[Firstly, the Coroner, Dr. Douglas Chambers, publicly stated…]

Scan page 6

Inquest

Firstly, the Coroner, Dr. Douglas Chambers, publicly stated that his inquest was not a public inquiry and that the Home Secretary was wrongly and badly advised. He demonstrated this by pointing out that in the case of Kevin Gately, who was. killed by the National Front, both an inquest and a was rebuffed by Mr. Justice Woolfe on both counts. In his said, mentough. Justice West te therefore an inquiry which is to be held in public, it is not intended to be a public inquiry, using that phrase as referring to the type of inquiry which the Home Secretary has been asked to set up'.

Given those circumstances, the Home Secretary also has to 98 peopi demonst bear in r bers of two Col for an inquiry.

the I dither a time for setting Public whether le have been arrested on Re rations nind that over 100 memParliament have signed mmons Motions calling • independent public Iome Secretary can not iny longer. Now is the r him to announce the up of the Independent Inquiry, regardless of • it is held hefore or after the inquest.

RESC calls on all individuals and organisations who support our central demand to write to the Home Secretary again on this matter. Letters should be sent to William Whitelaw MP, Home Secretary, The Home Office, Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1.

'A final decision will be made by the newly elected Council and we will continue to get our full grant until then.' • Meanwhile, strong support for the continued funding of the Gay Centre has come from the biggest Town Hall Union, NALGO. In a letter to the Leader of the Council, Roger Jones, NALGO Branch Secretary, calls for the full refunding of the Centre.

While he is not suprised that the Government has acted in a discriminatory way, he does express surprise that the Council appears to be falling in with the Government's decision. A decision to cut the Centre's grant, he says, will only increase fears amongst employees of the Council who are gay that they could face the sack unless they krep quirt about their gayness. NICKY KELLY, a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party, went on hunger strike on May 1 in Portlaoise Jail, Southern Ireland. In a letter from prison he explains why. 'IN 1976 I was arrested under the Offences Against the State Act, and held incommunicado for a number of days. I was severely beaten and tortured by the police (and) forced to sign a confession, admitting to taking part in a robbery in which I was not in any way involved (the Sallins train robbery).

In 1978, before the non-jury special court in Dublin, I was found guilty with two other coaccused. The so-called confession was the only evidence against the three of us. This juryless court found that my statement was voluntary despite the fact that in the course of the trial expert medical opinion which included prison doctors confirmed that I was brutalised while in custody.

I was sentenced in my absence to twelve years' penal servitude. I jumped bail in the final days of the trial and fled to the USA.

In April 1980 the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the Sallins train robbery and stated that neither I nor my coaccused were involved.

The following month my two cu-accused were released by the appeal court. I immediately returned from the USA. I was of the opinion that justice would be done the second time around.

For the last three years I have remained incarcerated for something I did not do. During this time I have pursued every judicial process and exhausted all legal channels in an effort to secure my release.

Now I feel I have no alternative but to embark on a hunger strike" • Write to the Irish Embassy in London and the Justice Minister, Government Buildings, Upper Leeson St, Dublin 2, to demand the release of Nicky Kelly. Send messages of support and donations to: The Release Nicky Kelly Committee, 11 Grange Terrace, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.