1. A BBC Radio Ulster (Northern Ireland) programme entitled 'A Journey to Remember' (stating this is the untold story of 32 Irish born seamen who were removed from their internee camp and placed in a Gestapo slave labour camp for over two years. This is their story in their own words) was broadcast on Sunday 12th November 2006 and re broadcast on BBC Radio Foyle on the 26th December 2006. The maker of the documentary makes reference to her research, in particular she refers inter alia to a Gestapo letter dated 31st March 1943 see Page 1 Page 2. In April 2005 the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) during our trip back to the Germany requested the German Documentation Centre in Sandbostel to do a complete search of their archive for any reference to Irish seamen who were prisoners in Bremen Farge, Milag Nord and Sandbostel Concentration Camp/Stalag XB. Over 250 separate Gestapo documents were presented to us in December 2005 in Dublin and which were later photocopied by us and and sent on to a Journalist in BBC Radio Foyle for her programme. We pointed out that these German documents were of significant importance to the whole story as they contained information on the Irish Seamen in Farge, Sandbostel and Milag Nord during WW2. We have no doubt that the programme maker did research on her return to Ireland but she has failed to acknowledge the significant efforts of others in this regard and in particular the contribution of our German friends who at the request of the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) had gone to great effort to procure this documentation. The reference to her research as my research, in isolation to the contribution of others, is in our opinion....questionable. Our website and other media have carried research on what happened to the Irish in Farge, Sandbostel and Milag for some years prior to this programme. This BBC Journalist had full access to our contemporary documentary material, contacts etc without equivocation.
2. Re the Daily Mail article dated Saturday November 18th 2006 entitled We Robbed Food From the Dead by Patrice Harrington. A story about the Irish seamen extracted from this documentary: This article refers to the documentary Journey to Remember but also refers to the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association and the BBC Northern Ireland in a context which gives the misleading impression that the BBC in Northern Ireland was somehow involved in the organisation of our Heroes Return Irish Journey of Remembrance and consequently was responsible for reuniting our ex Irish slave labourers. We wish to state that this Journalist from BBC Radio Foyle was emphatically not involved in reuniting anyone and furthermore she was there at our express invitation, as our guest and that the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) was the instigator, the organizer and the main funder inter alia of this Heroes Return Irish Journey of Remembrance, to suggest otherwise is untrue. This Journalist and BBC Radio Foyle had no involvement whatsoever, except at our invitation to compile a radio programme on the Irish experience and which we had expected to be transmitted in 2005 ?.
3. With reference to the German documentation referred to in this programme: The article in the Daily Mail apparently using a quotation from this BBC Journalist refers When I came back I started to do research and I found Gestapo records in the Foreign Office. The majority of these Gestapo records emanated from Doctor Klaus Volland in Sandbostel in December 2005 at our request, and were presented in Dublin in December 2005 to the Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) by Doctor Katharina Hoffman from the University of Oldenburg. Photocopies of which were given by us on the 10th January 2006 to this Journalist in BBC Radio Foyle for her programme.
4. Regarding the compensation for forced labour fund: The Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) wish to indicate our great concern at the conduct of this journalist from the BBC in Northern Ireland, who was well aware that another Irish slave labourer was alive and living in the UK and rather than telling him that there was compensation and advising him to contact us immediately, got her interview first and never revealed to him that there was a compensation fund available. Indeed we were not advised until very late in 2006 of his existence. Although there were others in Northern Ireland who knew the whereabouts of our surviving Irish slave labourer, we are appalled at the silence from this journalist. As a result, our efforts to contact any of the remaining Irish Survivors from Farge to enable them to process their applications for compensation from the German fund was frustrated, to the detriment of the other potential Irish claimant.
Over a period of time many journalists have been in contact with us regarding issues raised on our websites. We wish to state that as a consequence of the conduct of this BBC Journalist we will under no circumstances cooperate with any BBC journalist regarding information that appears on our websites at The Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46) and the Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl. Up till now journalists within the media have had free access to the information on our websites and we have also supported their efforts on various projects without equivocation to write up their various stories. In the light of what has occurred with the BBC in Northern Ireland that cooperation with the BBC is now at an end. Peter Mulvany B.C.L (Hon)., HDip Arts Admin, Chairperson Irish Seamen's Relatives Association (1939-46), Co-ordinator Shot at Dawn Campaign Irl 18th November 2006.
