Mick Clifford: Torture of Hooded Men shows what happens when a state loses its moral compass

British government has not yet apologised to the men despite the emergence of documents years later that demonstrated that the use of torture in the North had been sanctioned at a political level

Seven of the 14 'Hooded Men', who were interned in Northern Ireland in 1971: From left. Jim Auld, Patrick McNally, Liam Shannon, Francie McGuigan, Davy Rodgers, Brian Turley and Joe Clarke.

Sean McKenna was taken into custody at 4am on August 9, 1971. That was the morning that internment was introduced to the North by the local administration. The British government supported the move in response to an upsurge in violence, including shootings and indiscriminate bombings, principally carried out by the IRA. 

In one of the major blunders that typified the armed forces actions in the North through the Troubles, the lists of suspects to be lifted was out-of-date, inaccurate and put together in a cack-handed manner.