Wolfe Tone honoured at Bodenstown
ON Sunday, June 14 several hundred Republicans marched from Sallins Village, Co Kildare to the grave of Wolfe Tone at Bodenstown.
The parade, which was held under the auspices of Republican Sinn Féin, was led by a colour party, contingents of Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann and the Thomas Davis Pipe Band from Mallow, Co Cork. The Chief Marshall was Seosamh Ó Maoileoin, Westmeath.
At the grave of Wolfe Tone proceedings were chaired by Dan Hoban, Mayo who introduced Veteran Republican Paddy King, Dublin, who laid the wreath on behalf of the Republican Movement. Peig Galligan from the National Graves Association made a contribution and the oration was delivered by John Joe McCusker, Fermanagh.
Oration by Jon Joe McCusker
In the course of his oration John Joe gave a comprehensive rundown on Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen. He went on to say:
“The 50 years of misrule by the unionist regime in Stormont points up the tragedy that the partition of our country really was. When the struggle to throw off the shackles of England’s continued rule was sidelined in 1986 and treacherously abandoned in 1994 and when the cause of Irish unity was betrayed for the semblance of power at Stormont it truly was unbelievable.
“On Monday, June 8, 2009, in the aftermath of the European and local elections in the 26 Counties, Mary Lou MacDonald, of the Provisionals’ political wing, called on the RTÉ programme Questions and Answers for a left of centre alignment in the 26 Counties to drive the socialist agenda.
“Why, we may ask, in the wake of the Stormont Agreement, indeed why not in the prelude to the negotiation of this agreement, were the Provo negotiators not insisting on an alignment of Irish nationalism to drive this so-called constitutional vehicle on the road to the All-Ireland Republic?
“If this is the proper vehicle to a peaceful democratically-obtained united Ireland, then tell us who is driving the vehicle. Can the Labour Party, Fine Gael, the Alliance Party or Republican Sinn Féin subscribe to and lend weight to your ongoing efforts to achieve what was promised by the nationalist signatories to this agreement.
“Has there been convened an All-Ireland nationalist and Republican convention these past ten years to monitor progress on the road to the All-Ireland Republic. Has there been one meeting of these constitutional Irish nationalist parties to take stock and spell out to the people of Ireland where exactly we are on the road-map to the All-Ireland Republic. Or has only time and Britain’s continued occupation progressed since the agreement.
“What Irish constitutional leadership is presently involved in countering the very active measures of HM Government in promoting our six counties as a separate country?
“What Irish constitutional leadership is countering the efforts of RTÉ, acting in train with Free State administrators in promoting an agenda which is beyond partition? It is beyond partition to help develop a concept in Ireland and across the world that we are now two countries. For some time in RTÉ it is nothing more than pandering to those in authority and those with their hands on the purse strings. For others it is trailed across the boards as affected intellectual snobbery. Yet there are those in RTÉ with interests in the wider political sphere promoting a type of Free State separatism. This is where they hope to humiliate the nation, expel and exclude the people of the Six Counties and make us feel an inferior class of Irish. This is a new phenomenon in Irish nationalist politics and those who wilfully promote is should be viewed with contempt.
“Today, Adams and McGuinness, stark naked, slowly lower themselves into these cold waters that harbour this carefully-fostered parlance, when they speak of two countries and invite the children of Ireland to join them as they hail the ‘island of Ireland’. This term is used to facilitate a transition in Irish mindsets and assist the British government as they pursue a new order in Ireland.
“Who is watching as the Stormont Education minister Caitriona Ruane presides over a school curriculum which requires nationalist school teachers to drill it into nationalist school children to embrace the term ‘Northern Ireland’ and promotes the Six Counties as a country separate to the other country which is Ireland?
“It was opposing such a pass that the nationalists of the 1920s endured the pogroms, Endured for 50 years discrimination, no vote, no housing, living out their lives as second-class inhabitants in English-occupied Ireland but importantly they lived their lives as first-class Irish citizens.
“Having pondered how the Stormont Agreement, now the St Andrew’s Agreement, could have been accepted, following the considered and honest deliberations of any Irish nationalist or Republican organisation, the conclusions are that the core values embedded in the ilk of Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams, Mark Durkan, Martin McGuinness and the Provo backroom team headed up by Denis Donaldson, were essentially selfish, corrupt, treacherous and devoid of any genuine nationalist or Republican intent. They strolled around Stormont Castle for a week and on the preordained day ‘Good Friday’ they walked in and signed the agreement, then the so-called nationalist leaders went home their disparate ways. To forget the issue of Irish unity for the rest of their lives. You probably find that unbelievable. Well, consider this, two weeks before the negotiations began Denis Donaldson was supervising the removal of computers from the Provo offices in Belfast to the offices up at Stormont. So much for the tough negotiations portrayed across the world’s media.
“The agreement was an English necessity and an Anglo/European constitutional objective and therefore the unionist block in the Six Counties were only going to be used to obstruct and entrench as the English required. The Free State were following whatever lead was given by Europe and are still engaged in this. From a European viewpoint the agreement was a helpful expedient to lay the backcloth for the United Europe and to demonstrate that all was well in this new United Europe.
“In this regard the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by the people of the 26 Counties has been damaging to what is now developing as European colonisation. Effectively the former colonial states of Europe are gobbling up the independence of economically weaker nations. If the weaker nations of Europe do not stand hard and fast and reject the Lisbon Treaty then they will become the outfarms of Europe.
“The Six Occupied Counties have the largest public sector employment ratio of any similar region in the world. Does anyone really believe that with a commitment like this to the purchase of ‘one in three’ of the working population, that the British government is going to work with Irish nationalism to dismember the Union of Britain and our Six Counties. On top of this there is now a raft of organisations initiated by the British with all sorts of weird remits. You name it and they’ll fund it. All coming under the scope of Peace I money, Peace II money and Peace III money.
“So the conclusion here is that the Brits haven’t gone away and have designs on staying.
“Now, the thing is that Irish Republicans live in the Six Counties and we don’t want you as administrators of our country. You have enough to do governing England, Scotland and Wales.
“In the absence of political progress Republican Sinn Féin will continue to resist English rule in Ireland. It appears that the Republican Movement represented here today are the only guarantors of progress towards a United Ireland. The others have all gone home.”
At the grave of Wolfe Tone proceedings were chaired by Dan Hoban, Mayo who introduced Veteran Republican Paddy King, Dublin, who laid the wreath on behalf of the Republican Movement. Peig Galligan from the National Graves Association made a contribution and the oration was delivered by John Joe McCusker, Fermanagh.
Oration by Jon Joe McCusker
In the course of his oration John Joe gave a comprehensive rundown on Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen. He went on to say:
“The 50 years of misrule by the unionist regime in Stormont points up the tragedy that the partition of our country really was. When the struggle to throw off the shackles of England’s continued rule was sidelined in 1986 and treacherously abandoned in 1994 and when the cause of Irish unity was betrayed for the semblance of power at Stormont it truly was unbelievable.
“On Monday, June 8, 2009, in the aftermath of the European and local elections in the 26 Counties, Mary Lou MacDonald, of the Provisionals’ political wing, called on the RTÉ programme Questions and Answers for a left of centre alignment in the 26 Counties to drive the socialist agenda.
“Why, we may ask, in the wake of the Stormont Agreement, indeed why not in the prelude to the negotiation of this agreement, were the Provo negotiators not insisting on an alignment of Irish nationalism to drive this so-called constitutional vehicle on the road to the All-Ireland Republic?
“If this is the proper vehicle to a peaceful democratically-obtained united Ireland, then tell us who is driving the vehicle. Can the Labour Party, Fine Gael, the Alliance Party or Republican Sinn Féin subscribe to and lend weight to your ongoing efforts to achieve what was promised by the nationalist signatories to this agreement.
“Has there been convened an All-Ireland nationalist and Republican convention these past ten years to monitor progress on the road to the All-Ireland Republic. Has there been one meeting of these constitutional Irish nationalist parties to take stock and spell out to the people of Ireland where exactly we are on the road-map to the All-Ireland Republic. Or has only time and Britain’s continued occupation progressed since the agreement.
“What Irish constitutional leadership is presently involved in countering the very active measures of HM Government in promoting our six counties as a separate country?
“What Irish constitutional leadership is countering the efforts of RTÉ, acting in train with Free State administrators in promoting an agenda which is beyond partition? It is beyond partition to help develop a concept in Ireland and across the world that we are now two countries. For some time in RTÉ it is nothing more than pandering to those in authority and those with their hands on the purse strings. For others it is trailed across the boards as affected intellectual snobbery. Yet there are those in RTÉ with interests in the wider political sphere promoting a type of Free State separatism. This is where they hope to humiliate the nation, expel and exclude the people of the Six Counties and make us feel an inferior class of Irish. This is a new phenomenon in Irish nationalist politics and those who wilfully promote is should be viewed with contempt.
“Today, Adams and McGuinness, stark naked, slowly lower themselves into these cold waters that harbour this carefully-fostered parlance, when they speak of two countries and invite the children of Ireland to join them as they hail the ‘island of Ireland’. This term is used to facilitate a transition in Irish mindsets and assist the British government as they pursue a new order in Ireland.
“Who is watching as the Stormont Education minister Caitriona Ruane presides over a school curriculum which requires nationalist school teachers to drill it into nationalist school children to embrace the term ‘Northern Ireland’ and promotes the Six Counties as a country separate to the other country which is Ireland?
“It was opposing such a pass that the nationalists of the 1920s endured the pogroms, Endured for 50 years discrimination, no vote, no housing, living out their lives as second-class inhabitants in English-occupied Ireland but importantly they lived their lives as first-class Irish citizens.
“Having pondered how the Stormont Agreement, now the St Andrew’s Agreement, could have been accepted, following the considered and honest deliberations of any Irish nationalist or Republican organisation, the conclusions are that the core values embedded in the ilk of Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams, Mark Durkan, Martin McGuinness and the Provo backroom team headed up by Denis Donaldson, were essentially selfish, corrupt, treacherous and devoid of any genuine nationalist or Republican intent. They strolled around Stormont Castle for a week and on the preordained day ‘Good Friday’ they walked in and signed the agreement, then the so-called nationalist leaders went home their disparate ways. To forget the issue of Irish unity for the rest of their lives. You probably find that unbelievable. Well, consider this, two weeks before the negotiations began Denis Donaldson was supervising the removal of computers from the Provo offices in Belfast to the offices up at Stormont. So much for the tough negotiations portrayed across the world’s media.
“The agreement was an English necessity and an Anglo/European constitutional objective and therefore the unionist block in the Six Counties were only going to be used to obstruct and entrench as the English required. The Free State were following whatever lead was given by Europe and are still engaged in this. From a European viewpoint the agreement was a helpful expedient to lay the backcloth for the United Europe and to demonstrate that all was well in this new United Europe.
“In this regard the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by the people of the 26 Counties has been damaging to what is now developing as European colonisation. Effectively the former colonial states of Europe are gobbling up the independence of economically weaker nations. If the weaker nations of Europe do not stand hard and fast and reject the Lisbon Treaty then they will become the outfarms of Europe.
“The Six Occupied Counties have the largest public sector employment ratio of any similar region in the world. Does anyone really believe that with a commitment like this to the purchase of ‘one in three’ of the working population, that the British government is going to work with Irish nationalism to dismember the Union of Britain and our Six Counties. On top of this there is now a raft of organisations initiated by the British with all sorts of weird remits. You name it and they’ll fund it. All coming under the scope of Peace I money, Peace II money and Peace III money.
“So the conclusion here is that the Brits haven’t gone away and have designs on staying.
“Now, the thing is that Irish Republicans live in the Six Counties and we don’t want you as administrators of our country. You have enough to do governing England, Scotland and Wales.
“In the absence of political progress Republican Sinn Féin will continue to resist English rule in Ireland. It appears that the Republican Movement represented here today are the only guarantors of progress towards a United Ireland. The others have all gone home.”
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