IT IS WITH sadness that we must announce the death of an anarchist, Adam Hughes, who died recently at just 18 years old. Adam gave a great deal to the anarchist movement in his two or so years of membership; in terms of activity, support, friendship, good humour and much more. He died accidentally while walking on the beach near his hometown of Newcastle, Co. Down.
Writing in the Belfast-based anarcho-syndicalist magazine, Organise!, his friend and comrade Declan McVeigh remembers "Adam was more that just a drinking buddy or schoolmate to me. I remember the long talks we would have about the future or about politics or about what we were going to do with our lives. I had a deep trust of Adam and I hope he thought the same about me.
All the while at school we despised the petty authority and regulations of that place. When we found that this rejection of authority had a name and a philosophy, we adopted it wholeheartedly... we became Anarchists. From there on it was a scramble to nick paper for the photocopier, to find a computer to print stuff out and to get money for post-meeting pints."
Death is always tragic, especially in someone so young and so full of life as Adam was. He will be sorely missed by all his comrades and friends in Organise! and by other Anarchists across the country who had the pleasure to know him.
