A prison chaplain who has spent more than 40 years at HMP Magilligan in the north west of Northern Ireland has said he feels incredibly touched to be recognised in the Kings’ Birthday Honours.
Free Presbyterian Minister Rev Wesley McDowell, 77, survived a siege at the prison when the inmates took over a wing seeking political status, and said while the experience was a little akin to the “lion’s den”, he enjoyed his 42 years there, and felt he had made a difference to many.
He is now to be awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM), and said it was lovely to be recognised, although it had come as a surprise to him.
Rev McDowell started at Magilligan around 1982 after a member of his then church in Limavady recommended he apply.
“I thought, well if I was to spread the gospel, which is my motivation, well why not?” he said.
Rev McDowell said he found ways to get attention, including putting the words of the 23rd psalm to the tune of the Loyalist marching song The Sash.
“I thought, some of these boys were never in a church, but they will know that tune,” he said.
“I was brought up in similar circumstances to, I came from a similar background to a lot of the paramilitary boys. I knew where they were coming from, I showed an interest in them. I was just a wee fella from the Shankill Road, the same as many of them.
“I didn’t always find out what they were in for, I could have done, looked up the system, but I never did. For if I meet someone in the street and talked to them about the Lord, I don’t know who they are and their background.
“I think the men detected that there was a genuine interest in them.
“So it’s good to see, and I don’t know who the proposer is, that someone recognised it. I have to say I had a lot of help and encouragement from prison staff as well.”
While many may view looking after a church congregation as the preferrable option, Rev McDowell pointed out the strong turn-outs to his Sunday services, adding, “where else would you get that outside … how would you reach that many people”.
However, one of those services in the late 1980s saw him trapped inside during a prisoner protest for political status and to be segregated.
“It was just after my Sunday morning service, I went to see if I could help. I realised when I was down the wing, I thought it was a short protest but it lasted from the Sunday morning to Wednesday evening,” he said.
“It was with 30 loyalist prisoners, along with a prison officer and a republican prisoner. I had my collar on for you didn’t know what was going to happen, it was a tense stand-off.
“It was nice to get out again, but the men presented no threat to me, nor the prison officer or the other prisoner.
“I often wonder where a lot of them are now.”
While Rev McDowell recently retired from his post at Magilligan he said he noticed a lot of changes, with many prisoners more likely to be in for drugs offences, and more for whom English is not their first language.
“Of course we can get material in their language, so there is always a way to reach people,” he said.
He added: “I dealt with situations like prisoners protesting, I knew there were boys that maybe didn’t like me, it was like Daniel in the lion’s den, you just trust the Lord to keep you.
“I’m pleased that someone has acknowledged the ministry because that sort of work goes unrecognised, it’s not in the headlines but the work continues on.”
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