In Any Conflict Truth Is the First Casualty

DURING the height of ‘the troubles’ in the 1970s, the British government made a desperate choice: to give the public a sense of security regardless of how disillusioned it was, or the magnitude of the collateral damage. The film In the name of the father, directed by Jim Sheridan, documents the tragic consequences of this decision beginning with the false imprisonment of the Gilford four, but more precisely Gerard and Giuseppe Conlon and the damage done to their lives. As in most bloody conflicts, truths quickly became manipulated; relationships damaged and, in especially serious cases such as the Gilford bombings, lives displaced as a result of the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) attack and the British Government’s failure to correctly administer justice where it was due.
Among the casualties of conflict, truth can be the most condemning. The sacrifice of truth can potentially lead to the loss of all credibility, reality, fact and justice. In the film In the name of the father, director Jim Sheridan successfully portrays how easily truth can be manipulated, whilst also manipulating facts in favour of Hollywood glamour. The Gilford Four were sentenced on the basis of false evidence manipulated by the prosecution. Despite the court’s knowledge that nitro-glycerine (a compound used in the manufacturing of explosives) was a common component of dishwashing liquid, the nitro-glycerine found on a pair of dishwashing gloves from the residence of the Gilford four was presented to the court in such an indisputable light that left the public with no uncertainty of where the blame should lay – on the heads of the innocent.
In the Gilford bombing ordeal, truth was not the only loss, but so too was the loss of a chance at a typical father-son relationship for Giuseppe and Gerard. The manipulation of truth and miscarriage of justice can be extremely damaging to innocent victims, but the effects on the relationships between those involved are even more profound. The film