Emotional letter
BILLY IRVING’S fiancée Yvonne MacHugh has written a heartfelt letter to The Oban Times urging people to keep up their support.
YVONNE MACHUGH, the partner of Connel man Billy Irving, who is doing five years’ hard labour in India, has written a heartfelt letter following the news that there might finally be some intervention from the British government.
Yvonne writes: ‘Last week we learned that Prime Minister Theresa May had raised our case with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit and we finally we heard from Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary.
‘Mr Johnson vowed to ‘leave no stone unturned’ in the case of the Chennai6 Billy and his fellow British soldiers serving time.
‘These are words we have been waiting to hear for far too long now.
It has ignited a light in our campaign that was slowly starting to dull with years of campaigning yet the men still languishing in prison.
‘We must say a massive thank you to all our MPs for their continued support and a big thank you to Chris Matheson MP, who raised the case in parliament last week along with former Foreign Office minister Sir Hugo Swire.
‘Sir Hugo knows more than many the struggles we have faced as fami- lies and the fears and torment the men face daily.
‘He has been involved from day one. He has even travelled to India to visit the men in prison to see for himself the horrific conditions they face and to lend his support.
‘He has being extremely forthcoming with all the families, travelling to meet us all and has used every opportunity possible to raise our case.
Our hope is that Boris will embrace some of the passion Sir Hugo and every MP involved has for this case and put those words into action to bring our men home.
‘This really hasn’t come out of the blue though. The support everyone has shown us in this campaign has been relentless and humbling.
We had huge support from Parachute Regiment veterans supporting their fellow veterans through donations and protests.
‘We had a number of individuals taking part in sporting events raising both funds and awareness.
‘I don’t know where we would be without all the generosity and kindness shown to us individually and our campaign as a whole.
Writing to your local MPs, not to mention all those thousands of post cards that landed on the desks of Theresa May, Boris Johnson and the Indian high commissioners.
‘All those actions together have resulted in our case finally being heard.
We must keep up the momentum and ensure we don’t lose the attention the men have gained. That can only be done with your help.
‘Please continue to use social media to spread the word. Get writing letters again and buy a couple more postcards - we can’t allow those words not to lead to action.
‘Thank you everyone, we would be lost without you.’