State Violence by Raymond Murray

Gough Barracks, Armagh. Our photographs were taken there. Then three of us were taken in a helicopter, Dermot Kelly, Kerr of Navan Street, and myself.

Ballykinlar British Army Barracks
    We landed in Ballykinlar Barracks and were put into a hut. Only a few of us at the start, about a dozen from all over. I was taken out and had a medical examination, very brief, just strip and on me again. He was a youngish doctor, pleasant enough. Then taken to a different hut. It was full. We were left alone for a long time. Then the army came in a few hours afterwards and started making us do the ‘exercises’, continued until that night, thumping you if you were not doing them right. All this time they were taking people out and questioning them; some would come back and some wouldn’t. But I never was questioned the whole time I was there. Then processing us and moving us to different huts. On the 9th of August we were allowed an hour’s sleep, but I couldn’t sleep. I was only wearing a tee-shirt and trousers. I was freezing. On the tenth day of August we had the exercises all day again but the number of men was getting less all the time until there were only four of us in this particular hut, Brian Turley, Gerry McKerr, Seán McKenna and myself.
    Gerry McKerr asked for a mattress for each of us and we were given this and a blanket. But they kept making us carry this mattress in turn and jump over the other three lying down. In between times you had to run outside between the two huts, ten times, getting faster all the time. At the end of this you were made go to the toilet which was a hole in the ground. You had to go through lines of soldiers and police standing round, watching this and laughing. They made swipes at you, odd thumps of the baton on the arm. Then when we came in again more ‘exercises’. All were told to go in and sleep, but each time we dozed over they would waken us up again and make us run round again. That went on all night. Before we went into bed each time we had to say together, ‘Good night, Sir’ and ‘Good night, Sergeant’. Once on the tenth I asked to go to the toilet but then I didn’t go because there was no paper provided and they stood there watching you all the time.

Ballykelly British Army Barracks
    On the following morning, 11 August, just about daylight, three or four soldiers and about three police to each man came bursting into our hut, and they had the hood and handcuffs. I was held by a soldier and I think it was the policeman who put on the hood. I knew I was in for some sort of treatment. All sorts of things were going through my mind. Then I was bundled into a vehicle, thrown into the back, kicked and trailed. Then into a helicopter, grabbing your hair under the hood when they walked you along. Not a word was spoken the whole time, but I would say, about an hour, or between half an hour and an hour in the helicopter. Then out of the helicopter again into another vehicle, all the time very roughly handled, odd kick, punched and trailed. Getting into the vehicle you were banged against it and then you scrambled in on your own. Brought in the vehicle for a short distance.

Against the wall
    Then we had a medical examination, stripped naked, still with the hood on, a short examination. No words spoken. Then into the boiler suit, about three sizes too big for me, open down the middle. Then taken out and stood against the wall, inside a building somewhere. At this time, in the beginning, I think we were lined together because you could feel people standing beside you. After a while I began to move and became restless. That was the first contact I had with anybody; my arms were falling down; they would raise them up and bang them against the wall. You were never allowed to keep your head down, just a few minutes and then it was pulled back. The noise was there at the start but at the start it didn’t annoy me much. I was expecting it to be turned