I have always admired Bernadette Devlin, who saw class oppression for what it is and called out the people in power. The older I get, the more I understand exactly what it took to do what she did. (For one thing, Ulster militiamen broke into her house and attempted to assassinate her and her husband in front of their children — while British paramilitary members stood by.) Her daughter Roisin has been pursued by the German government on disputed and apparently groundless charges she was involved in an IRA mortar attack. (The Irish government did not grant Germany’s request for extradition.)
Devlin made her powerful maiden speech an hour after she took her seat, flouting Parliament tradition and drawing a distinct class line. A woman after my own heart!
