Danny Morrison is credited with coining the phrase "the ballot box and the Armalite". What he actually said was: "Who really believes that we can win the war through the ballot box? But will anyone here object if, with a ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in this hand, we take power in Ireland?"
He was speaking at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in 1981, in the aftermath of the HBlock hunger strikes. He claims to have made up the phrase on the spur of the moment. Whatever happened, it was inspired - the phrase was a Madison Avenue advertising executive's dream.
Of course, it was used by the enemies of the republican movement to show that Sinn Fein was not serious about politics. But with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that it helped push the movement away from armed struggle and onto the democratic road.
This collection of letters from prison is important for two reasons. It gives students of Northern politics an insight into the thinking behind the development of Sinn Fein which has led inexorably to the present political situation. But it is also remarkable as a human document, chronicling life in prison. Morrison's letters range in mood from elation to despair. They show how men facing long sentences and the breakdown of relationships managed to maintain their morale, and indeed their sanity, in the face of uncertainty and hardship. The flashes of humour and compassion bear comparison with those in Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy.
A must-read for anyone interested in the North. But why does Danny keep telling us about all the big books he has read?
Eugene McEldowney is a journalist and author. His latest novel, The Faloorie Man, is published by New Island Books