A new track from New York State Celtic-Punk band Alternative Ulster to raise awareness of the campaign to free the innocent Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton. Now in their twelfth year of imprisonment and otherwise known as The Craigavon 2.
Justice for Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton, who were unjustly convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. We believe the case to be corrupt and the ‘evidence’ inconclusive, contradictory and discredited. Both men are victims of a system that sought to find suitable scapegoats in the wake of the political and media backlash following the killing. All money raised from the sale of the track go directly to #JFTC2.
The campaign, which is run by the families of the two men, was supported by the late Gerry Conlon, himself falsely imprisoned for 15 years as a member of the Guildford Four, who argued that the case was “inconclusive, contradictory and in places discredited”.
“We can’t have innocent people going to jail and 15 years down the line them being released, their lives ruined … I believe a miscarriage of justice took place here on the basis of all the evidence I have read.”
You can contact the #JFTC2 campaign via The C 2 Justice for the Craigavon Two Facebook page. *
(CHORUS)
Here’s what I’ve got to say to you,
Justice for the Craigavon Two
Next time it could be me or you,
Let’s have justice for the Craigavon two. *
Craigavon 9th March the news man read,
constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead
A police investigation soon began
and they would stop at nothing to get their man CHORUS
Mc Conville and Wooton got the blame
Since that day their lives have never been the same
The spooks have framed before and they’ll do it again
Unless we come together and break their chains CHORUS
The trial of these two innocents was a sham
Justice without a jury was the scam
They produced a single witness with bad eyesight
And claimed that he saw everything on that dark and rainy night CHORUS
Witness ‘Z’ was the father of witness ‘M’
‘My son’s a Walter Mitty’ was his claim
An eye specialist cross examined said the same
That he could not have see clearly in the dark and through the rain CHORUS
Gerry Conlon, thank you and farewell
You rotted 14 years in a prison cell
For something that you had never done
You drove this campaign hard so it wouldn’t happen to another one CHORUS
While the British injustice system does prevail
Any one of us can be framed and sent to gaol
The Birmingham 6 and the Guildford 4
Are among the many of whom the Brits have done this kind of thing before CHORUS
Let’s have justice for the Craigavon two (last line repeats)
*
Written and originally recorded by Pol Mac Adaim @Polmacadaim
Justice For The Craigavon 2 is performed by Alternative Ulster. A kick ass North American Irish Celtic-Punk band from NY State’s Catskill’s region. Members are John McGovern on bagpipes and banjo, Todd Henry on vocals and drums and Jay Anderson on guitar and bass as well as all recording and mixing. This song is taken from their album Craic Agus Ceol and the CD and download is available from
The song is available for just a single pound and can be downloaded through the Bandcamp player below. Please share through your social media and sign the petition to demand the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) to thoroughly examine all evidence disclosed and undisclosed in the case.
Energetic Irish-American Celtic-Punk experience fuelled by Irish whiskey, Irish History and Great Highland Bagpipes!
The roots of Alternative Ulster began in March 2015 in NY State’s Catskill’s region. Since then album’s have have been released at regular intervals starting with their debut album, Rebellion. Raw punk rock with Highland bagpipes or as piper John McGovern says ‘1916 meets 1977′. A reference to both the Irish Uprising and the year Punk Rock exploded onto the streets of London. An amazing three albums last year with Pog Mo Thoin, then Boobies, Bagpipes, Banjos & Beer’ and finally the Christmas themed Merry Feckin’ Christmas kept their name in the air and so it is again with the release of Craic Agus Ceol last month which translates quite simply into Fun And Music.
The album starts off where all the other albums have left off. The guitars may not be fast but they are hard, heavy and loud and the same can be said about the pipes too! Though we are in for a shock as the singing starts and Wendy takes over the vocal duties. A strong voice that fits the music well and we not one of those sites that’s going to go mad just because its a women it is still a refreshing change. It was while recording their Christmas album the Bhoys thought it would be cool to get a female voice in for some vocals and so blown away were they that now Wendy has become a full member of the band.
(hear Merry Feckin’ Christmas below on the Bandcamp player)
On ‘It Took A Lot Of Love (To Hate You The Way I Do)’ the band have a perfect vehicle for their sound in-between the rocking of AC/DC and the Celtic of the Dropkicks when they thrash it out. Next up is a song very close to our hearts. In fact we were the ones that suggested Alternative Ulster might cover it and cover it they have done. They took the simple acoustic folk of Pól MacAdaim’s ‘Justice For The Craigavon 2’ and have turned it into a proper punk rock anthem. Telling the story of Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton two innocent guys who were convicted of the Murder of PSNI constable Stephen Carroll and sentenced to life imprisonment.London Celtic Punks firmly believe that the case was corrupt and the ‘evidence’ used inconclusive, contradictory and discredited. Both men found themselves victims of a system that sought to find scapegoats in the wake of the political and media backlash following the killing. We are doing our wee bit for the lads over on our Bandcamp page where every single penny raised goes direct to the #JFTC2 campaign.
(you can hear the original version of ‘Justice For The Craigavon 2’ by Pól MacAdaim below for free and download it for a pound)
A rousing and righteous track where this time it’s Todd that spits out the angry words while on ‘Port Of New York’ Wendy returns to vocal duties and again its that heavy rock/punk sound dominates while Johnny’s pipes wail along in the background on a song that tells of the ‘welcome’ the Irish received on arriving in the States.
“We were not welcome
But you feckin got us now!”
is but one of the excellent lines in this song. A fantastic song that really gets the blood pumping and easily as good as any modern day rebel song I have heard. That love of Irish history again rears its head during ‘Battle Lines’ a slower heavy number about Irish people forced to take part in the American Civil War. To fight or starve many were signed into the army as they disembarked ships not knowing what they agreeing to.
Alternative Ulster left to right: Todd Henry- Drums, Vocals) * John McGovern- Bagpipes, Banjo * Wendy Henry- Vocals * Jay Andersen- Guitars, Recording/Mixing/Mastering * Steve Hoelter- Bass *
One of the things I loved on previous albums was Alternative Ulsters choice of unusual covers and they don’t disappoint here either with the Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ with Wendy taking on the role of ‘Scots’ unionist Annie Lennox.
‘Drunken English Punk’ has Todd loudly reciting the angry words over a Celtic-PUNK tune while and ‘Swine Before Pearls’ also takes an different path to the rest of the album. While the rock element of the album has been self evident they take it to another level here with a slow(ish) rock ballad with Wendy’s powerful voice again dominating proceedings. Next up is ‘Punch A Nazi’ and a sentiment we can all agree with especially the band as they all had family members who fought actual Nazi’s in the 2nd World War.
“When I was a lad on grandpa’s knee
This is what he said to me
Because we live in the land of the free
It’s our duty to punch a nazi”
The only thing I would add is not to get carried away and start believing everyone you don’t like is a Nazi. Sadly a trait all too common in America and now stupid ‘identity politics’ are infesting politics over here as well. Short and sweet and to the point Alternative Ulster don’t go in for subtleties! Next up is probably the song that most divides the Irish communities around the world with it being the most popular song in North America but thought of as being among the corniest of Irish songs! Still, here ‘Danny Boy’ is given a face lift that would melt the hardest of faces with Todd and Wendy combining on vocals (something the band should experiment with a lot more as it sounds absolutely brilliant!) while Jay’s chugging guitar, Johnny’s wailing pipes making it one of the highlights of the album. Not something I ever thought i’d say about ‘Danny Boy’ ever. Alternative Ulster play music from both the heart and the head and occasionally the sleeve too as on ‘If It Ain’t Scottish It’s Crap’ which a good Catholic boy like myself cannot tell you what the song is about suffice to say its great craic and the piping here is amazing. We are nearing the end and the last of the self penned tracks ‘Drinking Tonight’ which again takes the rock road but is catchy and a with a great driving tune. All the Alternative Ulster lyrics were written by either piper Johnny or guitarist Jay and the tune put together by the band which leads us up to possibly the best known Celtic-Punk song of all time and well I couldn’t actual believe it when I saw it was a cover of a cover! I must have played and heard ‘Shipping Up To Boston’ 1000’s of times but never did i know it was written by Woody Guthrie!
“I’m sailor peg
And I’ve lost my leg
A climbing up the topsails
I’ve lost my leg”
Sadly I couldn’t find a video of Woody recording it so if you know of one please leave it in the comments. Alternative Ulster give it plenty of oompf and to be honest its as perfect a song as any written and would be impossible to play it any other way than utterly brilliantly!
They surely can’t keep up the pace of three albums a year but even one we’d be happy with! Plans are afoot to bring their raw rock’n’roll bagpipe Celtic-Punk rock over to these shores in the summer and London Celtic Punks will of course be heavily involved in helping out so keep your ear to the ground for more details of that as they come in.
(you can hear Craic Agus Ceol for *FREE* before you buy on the Bandcamp player below)
To find out more on the Craigavon 2 case please visit either jftc2.com or on Facebook here. Offers of help or donations via PayPal are welcomed at justice4thetwo@gmail.com and check out the London Celtic Punks Bandcamp page here for a list of albums available for download for free or donation to the campaign.
“The case of the Craigavon 2 will not fade away as is hoped by the establishment but it will continue until justice is done and seen to be done. Those politicians who claim to represent and speak for nationalist, republicans and the working class should be outraged by this judgement, they now have an opportunity to voice their concern and outrage at this blatant injustice” -Gerry Conlon
Pol MacAdaim a singer song writer living in County Louth in Ireland has written a protest song called ‘Justice for the Craigavon Two’, a truly remarkable and inspirational song which highlights the miscarriage of justice of John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville.
The song also pays homage to the great and legendary Gerry Conlon who campaigned tirelessly for the Craigavon Two before his untimely death last year. With the Craigavon Two case due before the UK Supreme Court (date not yet set) the Craigavon Two committee has chosen Saint Patricks week to launch the song on digital formats, in an effort to have it chart in the UK top 40.
‘JFTC2′ were inspired by the success of the Celtic supporters end criminalisation of supporters campaign when ‘Roll Of Honour’ successfully entered the UK charts last year . You can read our articles about that here and here.
The single is released today- Sunday 15th March 2015- in an attempt to get the song into the British charts so we have one week to do it. Please go to one of the links and download the song and share this page or one of the Facebook pages with as many people as possible to highlight the injustice done to John-Paul and Brendan. The Irish here in England know everything there is to know about miscarraiges of justice so don’t stand by and watch more innocent men rot in jail for a crime they did not commit.
We call on everyone to join the #DownloadJustice campaign. Justice must be done and be seen to be done#JFTC2
Picture by cartoonist Carlos Latuff for the Craigavon Two campaign
JUSTICE FOR THE CRAIGAVON 2
Craigavon 9th March the news man read,
constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead
A police investigation soon began
and they would stop at nothing to get their man
(Chorus)
Here’s what I’ve got to say to you,
Justice for the Craigavon Two
Next time it could be me or you,
Let’s have justice for the Craigavon two.
Mc Conville and Wooton got the blame
Since that day their lives have never been the same
The spooks have framed before and they’ll do it again
Unless we come together and break their chains
The trial of these two inoocents was a sham
Justice without a jury was the scam
They produced a single witness with bad eyesight
And claimed that he saw everything on that dark and rainy night
Witness ‘Z’ was the father of witness ‘M’
‘My son’s a Walter Mitty’ was his claim
An eye specialist cross examined said the same
That he could not have see clearly in the dark and through the rain
Gerry Conlon, thank you and farewell
You rotted 14 years in a prison cell
For something that you had never done
You drove this campaign hard so it wouldn’t happen to another one
While the British injustice system does prevail
Any one of us can be framed and sent to gaol
The Birmingham 6 and the Guildford 4
Are among the many of whom the Brits have done this kind of thing before
Justice for the Craigavon Two. Words and Music Pol Mac Adaim. 2015
WE ARE INNOCENT
On the 30th of March 2012 we, Brendan Mc Conville and John Paul Wootton, were convicted, and sentenced to spend the rest of our lives in prison, for the fatal shooting of Constable Steven Carroll in Craigavon on the 9th of March 2010.
While We fully understanding and empathise with the grief of the Carroll family and with no desire to exacerbate that grief, we wish to take this opportunity to state publicly that we have been convicted of something that we had nothing to do with, we are innocent and we do not believe that we received a fair hearing at our trial under a diplock court.
Further to this we also believe that Justice Girvan erred in his judgement of the information presented and convicted us more on the emotional and political furore created by the case than on the evidence presented. For this reason we have instructed our legal teams to appeal our convictions.
This appeal will centre on the following pieces of evidential information that were never fully dealt with by Justice Girvan, they are;
The prosecutions’ key witness, witness M, despite having a prescribed impairment of his sight, claimed that he seen Brendan Mc Conville at a distance that would be medical impossible,
It took witness M almost a year to come forward with this information and since that date he has been given anonymity and provided for in protective custody.
Witness M’s eye-witness account described Brendan as wearing a coat of a different style and colour from that presented by the prosecution,
This coat, recovered within hours of the shooting, was dry yet the weather conditions at the time were rainy,
The forensic examination of this coat and the fire-arm recovered after the shooting did not match,
Although multiple sources of DNA were found on the coat only Brendans’ were followed up on,
A tracking device that had allegedly been planted on John Paul’s car by MI5 and was used as evidence to place us at the scene of the shooting, went ‘missing’ for a period of time, only to be returned in an altered state and “with data missing”,
Although the assault rifle and several rounds of ammunition used in the shooting were recovered no forensic link was made with either of us.
In short a case that placed us at the scene and attributed any role to us was never made, let alone proven. Rather, because the PSNI/MI5 were under so much pressure to obtain a conviction, evidence was constructed and altered to ‘fit the case’ and not examined as pieces of information that could prove or disprove our innocence.
Hopefully this miscarriage of justice can be over turned at our appeal and this nightmare of suffering for us and our families ended. However, after the experience we have already had we do not have a great deal of confidence in the criminal justice system, hence, we are asking you, the public, to follow the course of our appeal and to see for yourself the manner in which information is dealt with and how ‘justice’ is being administered in your name. Let’s not wait 15 – 20 years to deal with a miscarriage of justice, let us do so now.
Yours
Brendan Mc Conville and John Paul Wootton.
Maghaberry Jail Co. Antrim
For More On The Campaign To Free Brendan and John-Paul
*Pol MacAdaim deserves a special mention here also. Pol has worked tirelessly over the years gigging relentlessly his music addresses various political issues and his lyrics carry a radical punch to the eardrum. He is blessed with a superb folk voice and sings with a real heartfelt passion that often belies the subjects he sings about. Comparison’s with Kelly, Drew, yer Behan’s and more recent Moore and MacGowan stand out a mile. A traditional story telling style of writing songs its the words that come first with Pol with what he has to say the important thing. Born in Belfast he first became involved in playing music at the age of 9. Through the years he has learnt to play in a wide range of styles including folk, Appalachian, Cajun, rock, soul and contemporary. He is also skilled in a variety of instruments ranging from tin whistles, traditional Irish flute, low whistles, uilleann pipes, harmonicas, guitar, mandolin, and the tenor banjo to bodhran. Pol is a real champion of the people having suffered under the occupation of Ireland he has grown up suffering oppression and worse, including personal tragedy, but his music speaks of not just a past to be mourned but of a bright future ahead of us too. Of a land where equality and fraternity rules and peace and justice is for all.
Folk music as it should be played by all folk singers…
“The case of the Craigavon 2 will not fade away as is hoped by the establishment but it will continue until justice is done and seen to be done. Those politicians who claim to represent and speak for nationalist, republicans and the working class should be outraged by this judgement, they now have an opportunity to voice their concern and outrage at this blatant injustice” -Gerry Conlon
Pol MacAdaim a singer song writer living in County Louth in Ireland has written a protest song called ‘Justice for the Craigavon Two’, a truly remarkable and inspirational song which highlights the miscarriage of justice of John Paul Wootton and Brendan McConville.
The song also pays homage to Gerry Conlon who campaigned tirelessly for the Craigavon Two before his untimely death last year. With the Craigavon Two case due before the UK Supreme Court (date not yet set) the Craigavon Two committee has chosen Saint Patricks week to launch the song on digital formats, in an effort to have it chart in the UK top 40.
‘JFTC2’ were inspired by the success of the Celtic supporters end criminalisation of supporters campaign when ‘Roll Of Honour’ successfully entered the UK charts last year . You can read our articles about that here and here.
The Launch of the Craigavon Two single will take place on the 15th of March following the BBC Radio 1 official chart show and the group will campaign for the public to download the song over the following week.
We call on everyone to join the #DownloadJustice campaign. Justice must be done and be seen to be done #JFTC2
We will post the links for iTunes, Google Play and Amazon here on Sunday 15th March so please come back then and buy the single and do your bit to aid the release of these two innocent men. The Irish here in England know everything there is to know about miscarraiges of justice so don’t stand by and watch more innocent men rot in jail for a crime they did not commit.
JUSTICE FOR THE CRAIGAVON 2
Craigavon 9th March the news man read,
constable Stephen Carroll was shot dead
A police investigation soon began
and they would stop at nothing to get their man
(Chorus)
Here’s what I’ve got to say to you,
Justice for the Craigavon Two
Next time it could be me or you,
Let’s have justice for the Craigavon two.
Mc Conville and Wooton got the blame
Since that day their lives have never been the same
The spooks have framed before and they’ll do it again
Unless we come together and break their chains
The trial of these two inoocents was a sham
Justice without a jury was the scam
They produced a single witness with bad eyesight
And claimed that he saw everything on that dark and rainy night
Witness ‘Z’ was the father of witness ‘M’
‘My son’s a Walter Mitty’ was his claim
An eye specialist cross examined said the same
That he could not have see clearly in the dark and through the rain
Gerry Conlon, thank you and farewell
You rotted 14 years in a prison cell
For something that you had never done
You drove this campaign hard so it wouldn’t happen to another one
While the British injustice system does prevail
Any one of us can be framed and sent to gaol
The Birmingham 6 and the Guildford 4
Are among the many of whom the Brits have done this kind of thing before
Justice for the Craigavon Two. Words and Music Pol Mac Adaim. 2015
WE ARE INNOCENT
On the 30th of March 2012 we, Brendan Mc Conville and John Paul Wootton, were convicted, and sentenced to spend the rest of our lives in prison, for the fatal shooting of Constable Steven Carroll in Craigavon on the 9th of March 2010.
While We fully understanding and empathise with the grief of the Carroll family and with no desire to exacerbate that grief, we wish to take this opportunity to state publicly that we have been convicted of something that we had nothing to do with, we are innocent and we do not believe that we received a fair hearing at our trial under a diplock court.
Further to this we also believe that Justice Girvan erred in his judgement of the information presented and convicted us more on the emotional and political furore created by the case than on the evidence presented. For this reason we have instructed our legal teams to appeal our convictions.
This appeal will centre on the following pieces of evidential information that were never fully dealt with by Justice Girvan, they are;
The prosecutions’ key witness, witness M, despite having a prescribed impairment of his sight, claimed that he seen Brendan Mc Conville at a distance that would be medical impossible,
It took witness M almost a year to come forward with this information and since that date he has been given anonymity and provided for in protective custody.
Witness M’s eye-witness account described Brendan as wearing a coat of a different style and colour from that presented by the prosecution,
This coat, recovered within hours of the shooting, was dry yet the weather conditions at the time were rainy,
The forensic examination of this coat and the fire-arm recovered after the shooting did not match,
Although multiple sources of DNA were found on the coat only Brendans’ were followed up on,
A tracking device that had allegedly been planted on John Paul’s car by MI5 and was used as evidence to place us at the scene of the shooting, went ‘missing’ for a period of time, only to be returned in an altered state and “with data missing”,
Although the assault rifle and several rounds of ammunition used in the shooting were recovered no forensic link was made with either of us.
In short a case that placed us at the scene and attributed any role to us was never made, let alone proven. Rather, because the PSNI/MI5 were under so much pressure to obtain a conviction, evidence was constructed and altered to ‘fit the case’ and not examined as pieces of information that could prove or disprove our innocence.
Hopefully this miscarriage of justice can be over turned at our appeal and this nightmare of suffering for us and our families ended. However, after the experience we have already had we do not have a great deal of confidence in the criminal justice system, hence, we are asking you, the public, to follow the course of our appeal and to see for yourself the manner in which information is dealt with and how ‘justice’ is being administered in your name. Let’s not wait 15 – 20 years to deal with a miscarriage of justice, let us do so now.
Yours
Brendan Mc Conville and John Paul Wootton.
Maghaberry Jail Co. Antrim
For More On The Campaign To Free Brendan and John-Paul
*Pol MacAdaim deserves a special mention here also. Pol has worked tirelessly over the years gigging relentlessly his music addresses various political issues and his lyrics carry a radical punch to the eardrum. He is blessed with a superb folk voice and sings with a real heartfelt passion that often belies the subjects he sings about. Comparison’s with Kelly, Drew, yer Behan’s and more recent Moore and MacGowan stand out a mile. A traditional story telling style of writing songs its the words that come first with Pol with what he has to say the important thing. Born in Belfast he first became involved in playing music at the age of 9. Through the years he has learnt to play in a wide range of styles including folk, Appalachian, Cajun, rock, soul and contemporary. He is also skilled in a variety of instruments ranging from tin whistles, traditional Irish flute, low whistles, uilleann pipes, harmonicas, guitar, mandolin, and the tenor banjo to bodhran. Pol is a real champion of the people having suffered under the occupation of Ireland he has grown up suffering oppression and worse, including personal tragedy, but his music speaks of not just a past to be mourned but of a bright future ahead of us too. Of a land where equality and fraternity rules and peace and justice is for all.
Folk music as it should be played by all folk singers…
and cover it they have done. They took the simple acoustic folk of Pól MacAdaim’s ‘Justice For The Craigavon 2’ and have turned it into a proper punk rock anthem. Telling the story of Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton two innocent guys who were convicted of the Murder of 
Andy the Celtic Punk Author
celticpunkcast
classicalbumreviewer
essexmarv
gtmellon
kevingrooney
The Don
shaneoneill1888
Stephen Francis Bourke
theold69th
londoncelticpunks.wordpress.com 
Recent Comments