Bernadette Devlin
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A black-and-white photo of a young brunette woman sitting on a fence in a city, looking off to the side. She's wearing a sweater, short skirt, and tall boots, and is holding a poster that reads, "VOTE PEOPLES DEMOCRACY: Jobs for All / Houses for All / Votes for All / NOW".
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On this day in 1969, the socialist Irish Republican Bernadette Devlin gave her maiden speech in Parliament, at the time the youngest female MP ever to do so. Instantly a celebrity for her age and outspokenness, she appeared on Carson, met with the Black Panthers, and was given the key to New York by John Lindsey (which she turned over to the Panthers' Harlem chapter).
Devlin served six months in jail for incitement to riot after the "Battle of the Bogside" which kicked off the troubles, and was a personal witness to Bloody Sunday. (Perhaps most famously, she slapped Home Secretary Reginald Maudling on the floor of the House of Commons for his assertion that Bloody Sunday was an act of self-defense on the part of the Parachute Regiment. "Asked if she intended to apologise to Maudling, Devlin said: 'I'm just sorry I didn't get him by the throat.'")
In 1981, Devlin (by then having changed her name to Bernadette Devlin McAliskey) and her husband, Michael McAliskey, survived an assassination attempt by Loyalist paramilitary forces; Devlin McAliskey was shot nine times. Since 1997, Devlin McAliskey has run a community development and advocacy non-profit in Northern Ireland.
On this day in 1969, the socialist Irish Republican Bernadette Devlin gave her maiden speech in Parliament, at the time the youngest female MP ever to do so. Instantly a celebrity for her age and outspokenness, she appeared on Carson, met with the Black Panthers, and was given the key to New York by John Lindsey (which she turned over to the Panthers' Harlem chapter).
Devlin served six months in jail for incitement to riot after the "Battle of the Bogside" which kicked off the troubles, and was a personal witness to Bloody Sunday. (Perhaps most famously, she slapped Home Secretary Reginald Maudling on the floor of the House of Commons for his assertion that Bloody Sunday was an act of self-defense on the part of the Parachute Regiment. "Asked if she intended to apologise to Maudling, Devlin said: 'I'm just sorry I didn't get him by the throat.'")
In 1981, Devlin (by then having changed her name to Bernadette Devlin McAliskey) and her husband, Michael McAliskey, survived an assassination attempt by Loyalist paramilitary forces; Devlin McAliskey was shot nine times. Since 1997, Devlin McAliskey has run a community development and advocacy non-profit in Northern Ireland.
