Wolfe Tone Commemoration
Bodenstwon, 2.30pm
Sunday, June 16
Sallins, Co Kildare
Bus: from Ashton Quay, Dublin, 12.45pm; Táille: € 10
Neil 'Plunkett' O'Boyle 90th Anniversary Commemoration
Neil 'Plunkett' O'Boyle 90th Anniversary Commemoration
Knocknadruce, Co Wicklow
Sunday, May 12, 3pm
Assemble: Hollywood, 2.30pm
Thatcher dies: memory of Hunger Strikers lives on
The announcement of
the death of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on April 8
immediately brought to mind all of those who were victims of her policies and
unrelenting right-wing ideology.
It affects us
here in Ireland as well but around the world both directly and indirectly by
her unstinting support for fascist regimes such as that of Augusto Pinochet in
Chile.
In Ireland we of
course think at once of the 1981 hunger strikes and the stonehearted response
of Thatcher’s government to any appeal to a common humanity. The Patron of
Republican Sinn Féin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh says that one of his abiding memories of
the 1981 election campaign in support of the prisoner candidates is that at the
very mention of the name Bobby Sands people would raise their heads whereas
when Margaret Thatcher’s name was uttered people’s heads would drop.
Speaking on RTÉ
radio’s News At One programme on April 8 the former deputy-leader of the SDLP
Séamus Mallon stated that Thatcher viewed the 26-County State as merely a
colony of Britain.
Under Thatcher a
vicious war of terror was waged on the nationalist people of the Six Counties,
which included a stepping up of the collusion between British State forces and
loyalist death squads.
Human rights lawyers
such as Pat Finucane, assassinated by a British-backed loyalist death squad in
1988, became prime targets of a British State determined to crush all
opposition to its hold on Ireland.
To understand
Thatcher you must grasp that she was an unreconstructed colonialist who could
not imagine the sun ever setting on a fast-diminishing British world dominance.
Her imperialist
adventure to wrest Las Malvinas back from Argentina in 1982 seemed more like
something from 1882 but was very much part of the image she wished to
cultivate.
Cloaking herself in
jingoism and intolerance she was prepared to murder over 323 young Argentinean
sailors on the Belgrano in order to bolster her grip on power in Britain.
Within her own State
she had no scruples about waging war on entire communities and almost the
entire trade union movement, openly declaring that the miners were “the enemy
within”.
The scars of the
social upheaval caused by Thatcherism are all too evident in the Britain of
2013. As one commentator noted she was prepared to sacrifice two-thirds of her
people in order to satisfy one-third. Her legacy was one of polarisation and
increased inequality.
From an Irish
perspective she epitomised a British political establishment that had failed to
learn from its experience by continuing to implement the same polices of
coercion and oppression in response to the Irish people’s demand for national
freedom. Sadly her successors seem as blinkered in their approach to Ireland.
The continued
repression directed against Irish Republicans simply prolongs the conflict
while internationally Thatcher’s faith in an unregulated market helped sow the
seeds of the present world economic collapse with its dire consequences for
working people throughout Europe and around the world.
So on this day we do
not mourn her passing but here in Ireland we proudly remember those who died in
defiance of her attacks on freedom and democracy.
We must never lose sight of the high idealism of 1916
Speaking in Derry and Drumboe, Co Donegal on Easter Sunday, March 31
the President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton said:
Every year Irish
Republican gather at monuments and graves throughout Ireland and around the
world both to commemorate the heroic deeds of the past but also to rededicate
themselves to the essential work of the present which is to bring to victory
the cause for which that generation like those before and since: “weighed so
little what they gave” in the words of Yeats. The 1916 Rising gave us our
charter of freedom and it serves the cornerstone of everything that we do as
Irish Republicans. To regard 1916 as merely an historical event would be to do
a disservice to all that sacrifice. We can only properly honour the memory of
those who have gone before by recognising that their cause and ideals remain
for us to realise.
In commemorating
1916 we also remember the men and women who made the supreme sacrifice
throughout the preceding and succeeding generations. Ninety years ago at
Drumboe four more names were inscribed on Ireland’s Roll of Honour.
Charlie Daly, Tim O’Sullivan and Dan Enright came to join the fight with their
comrades in Ulster and along
with Sean Larkin of Derry died in defence of the full freedom of Ireland. Daly,
Larkin, O’Sullivan and Enright were in the words of Peadar O’Donnell among that
brave band of men and women who: “milled the stampede of 1922.” These men and
women fought to preserve the All-Ireland Republic from the forces of reaction,
forces who sought to undo the work of the ‘Four Glorious Years’ when the
All-Ireland Republic became a functioning reality. The Counter-Revolution of
1922-23 was a war between the forces of All-Ireland democracy and those who
were willing tools of British imperialism; the present failed partitionist
system is its legacy.
Drumboe,
Ballyseedy, Countess Bridge and other sites throughout Ireland are
names, which ring with infamy. The dark deeds carried out in these places
should serve as a salutary lesson to those who think it possible to temporise
or compromise on the principle of Irish freedom and the depths to which those
who collaborate with British rule can sink. Brian Ó hUiginn writes: “The lesson
of 1922, of all the years before it and all the years since is that when you
seek help from an enemy invader against your own, you become his contemptible
slave. He will degrade you and drive you to do deeds that your people will
remember with shame for all the years to be.” It is a lesson that should be
noted by those who today sit comfortably in Stormont and Leinster House.
As we approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising a battle has commenced
for the hearts and minds of the Irish people. The legacy as well as the
essential message of 1916 is at stake for this and future generations. The
resources of both partitionist states are being employed in order to sanitise
our history to the point that it has been robbed of any meaning. Equivalence is
being made between the forces of occupation and the independence movement that
no self-respecting nation would contemplate. Does France
commemorate the Vichy policemen or Norway its
Quislings who collaborated with German occupation forces? The 1916 Rising for
Irish Republicans is not only an important moment in our history but a beacon
to light our way forward. It is an event that not only continues to occupy a
central place in our history but also remains relevant due to the simple fact
that it remains unfinished business. The 1916 Proclamation sets out clearly the
principles upon which the All-Ireland
Republic should rest. It
takes no great examination to see that both the Six and 26-County states fall
far short of the definition of freedom and democracy set by the men and women
of 1916. We would do well to remember the words of Pearse: “We know only one
definition of freedom: it is Tone’s definition, it is Mitchel’s definition, it
is Rossa’s definition. Let no man blaspheme the cause that the dead generations
of Ireland
served by giving it any other name and definition than their name and their
definition.” If 1916 and all that it represents was of no relevance to the Ireland of
today the 26-County Administration, the British Government and its surrogates in
Stormont could quite happily ignore it. Instead they are attempting to erase
from the public mind any notion of Ireland as a nation by hijacking our
history, robbing this and future generations of their identity, even the name
Ireland has now been replaced in the official lexicon by the meaningless term
“the island” in a blatant attempt to deny the essential unity of the Irish
Nation. Instead loyalty to the state is expected to replace the natural sense
of allegiance and identification people feel towards their nation. The philosopher Dr Mathew O’Donnell writes
that nations rather than states, which are simply units of political
organisation, bring people together: “For people are not brought together by
a state; the state is the subsequent organisation of people who already posses
some kind of unity…It is with the nation that one’s loyalty lies. There is no
disowning it, no alternative to it. There should be a feeling for the nation,
for it is one’s own people. This is the origin for the effective element in
patriotism.” Dr O’Donnell warns of the dangers of substituting state for
nation: “ An unduly emotional attachment to the state – the organising
coercing element – will surely lead to totalitarianism, expansionism,
militarism. And an unduly detached critical attitude to the nation could lead
to an exaggerated cosmopolitanism, rootlessness, and in the long run, a general
impoverishment of the spirit through the loss of the sense of belonging. If
humanity is reduced to pure individuality it is a poor and stunted thing.”
Like Thomas
Davis we believe: “This country of ours is no sand bank, thrown up by some
recent caprice of earth. It is an ancient land, honoured in the archives of
civilisation.” We must never lose sight of the high idealism of 1916 because
it will always speak to us of a New and better Ireland and with it the
possibility of revolutionary social, political and economic change.
Today we see all
too clearly the evidence of the failure of both paritionist states. In the 26
Counties once more our young people are being exported while the political and
economic elites wage a war of attrition and economic terrorism on the people of
the country. The language used by 26-County County ministers resonates of a
Victorian morality speaking almost in terms of a “deserving and undeserving
poor.’ They are collaborating with the new imperialists of the EU/ECB and IMF
Troika in the their attempt to economically enslave the people of the 26
Counties. In the Six Counties the evidence of the old imperialism of British
Rule is all too evident for those who wish to see. Despite the protestations of
the Stormont regime and its apologists in the media the internment without
trial of Martin Corey and the continued imprisonment of Marian Price expose the
Six-County State as an undemocratic and abnormal political entity. In July last
year the then British Secretary of State Owen Paterson was willing to subvert
his state’s own judicial process in order to keep Martin Corey in jail. Forty-one years after the introduction of
internment in the Six Counties it is once more being employed as a means of
silencing Irish Republicans. What has happened to Martin Corey constitutes not only an attack on
Martin’s human and civil rights but are an attack on the human and civil rights
of all people within the Six Counties. The ongoing struggle by Republican POWs
in Maghaberry prison are yet another indicator of the abnormality of the
Six-County State. We extend them our greetings and pledge them our continued
solidarity. On top of this while the Provos mouth emply words of protest about
the effects of austerity in the 26 Counties they along with the DUP willingly
implement cuts in health, education and other esetnial services across the Six
Counties.
The past number of months has underlined the abnormality of the
Six-County state and its inherent sectarianism. On December 3 Belfast City
Council voted to end the daily flying of the ‘Union Jack’ flag over Belfast
City Hall. Instead a coalition comprising of the Provisionals, the SDLP and the
Alliance voted to fly the ‘Union Jack’ on 17 designated days. This unleashed an
orgy of loyalist rioting and protests across the Six Counties but particularly
focussed on East Belfast. In contrast to the heavy handed treatment meted out
by the RUC/PSNI to Republicans and nationalists who have engaged in peaceful
protests the loyalists riots were met with only token opposition from the
RUC/PSNI. Indeed Republicans attending the annual Bloody Sunday commemorative
march in Derry on January 27 witnessed the RUC/PSNI helping loyalists to erect
loyalists flags in the city. Compare this with the Republicans who have been
jailed for simply participating in a peaceful protest march highlighting the
ongoing internment of Martin Corey. On the top of this comes the call from the
Provisionals for a ‘Border Poll’ on Irish unity. It is important that all of
this is viewed in context in order to understand what is going on here. With
the securing of British rule the big constitutional questions have been removed
from the political agenda and in their place instead we find the tribal and
sectarian games of one-upmanship of the two sectarian power blocs at Stormont
led by the Provos and the DUP. In his Irish News column on December 15
Patrick Murphy described Stormont as: “…a sectarian carve-up of limited
autonomy…It is designed to cater for, rather than counter, sectarian
differences.” The Provisionals are quite happy to tout the vote in Belfast
City Council as a victory, but over whom? British Rule is firmly entrenched administered
and policed by the Provos and their camp followers, internment with-out trial
and the attempted criminalisation of Republican prisoners goes on, political
policing and repression is the daily experience of nationalist communities
across the Six Counties, little wonder then the Provos would attempt to reduce
the issue of Irish freedom to a question of flags and symbols. By doing so they
hope to distract from their abandonment of even a basic nationalist, let alone,
a Republican position. In 2009 Vincent
Browne in his nightly TV3 programme put it clearly. He said in effect that the
nationalist view had been rejected and the unionist position had been accepted.
The nationalist standpoint was that the people of Ireland as a whole should
determine the future of Ireland. He continued: “The Unionist position was
that the majority in the Six Counties should decide the future. We have all
become unionists.” Having abandoned Republicanism the Provos have embraced
sectarianism as the means to consolidate their power base. As Patrick Murphy
points out: “With few modern writers, philosophers or even poets saying much
about the Irish nation, nationalism in the north has degenerated into what we
might call quantitative sectarianism. It uses a sectarian inch tape to quantify
the frequency of flag flying, the number of Catholics in the census results and
the volume of music from Orange bands. Unionism is delighted to hold the other
end of the British-made tape.” It is working class Protestants now who are
the enemy not the British Government as establishment Provo leaders queue up to
shake hands with the Queen of England while at the same time stoking the flames
of sectarian conflict. The nationalist community within the Six Counties have
rightly not allowed themselves to be sucked into the naked sectarian violence
despite blatant attempts to provoke a response with attacks on nationalist
areas. Republican Sinn Féin correctly refused to rise to the bate of Unionist
stooge Willie Frazer when a loyalist protest at Leinster House was mooted.
Instead leadership is required in keeping the focus on the core issue, which is
partition and British rule in Ireland. The Provo’s sectarian alter ego in the
DUP likewise is playing the sectarian card in order to bolster and increase their
power.
In
January the Provos called for a ‘Border Poll’, again more of the smoke and
mirrors designed to give their supporters the illusion of actually doing
something to end partition while masking the reality that they have been
absorbed wholesale into the machinery of British rule. By rejecting the very
notion of an historic Irish nation and swallowing the idea that British
generated sectarianism is a conflict between two nationalities the Provos have
undermined any effective argument for Irish unity, reducing their case to one
of pure economics. In the late 1940s having lost power after 16 years Fianna
Fáil latched onto the issue of partition using the Anti-Partition League as a
vehicle to consolidate their base and rebuild support. The waving of the green
flag and the platitudes about the ‘fourth green field’ were their electoral
stock-in-trade. Now the Provos are playing a similar game. As Patrick Murphy
puts it: “…the proposed border poll is cleaver electioneering for more
important polls north and south.” For true Republicans the attempts by the
Provos to besmirch Republicanism with sectarianism is as reprehensible as those
who would try to link it with criminality.
Another and
serious threat to Republicanism is that posed by the gangs operating under the
banner of Republicanism who are engaging in activities which sully the proud
and honoured name of Irish Republicanism. Elements within the media are more
than happy to promote these groupings as representative of the Republican
tradition hoping that in the process they will discredit and delegitimise
Republicanism in the eyes of the Irish people. the pseudo-Republican groupings that take money
from the drug dealers are no less parasitical than the drug dealers themselves.
In many ways they are worse in that they leech from the communities they
purport to defend – in effect they are drug dealers by proxy with the added
insult of sullying the noble name of Republicanism in doing so. These pseudo-
gangs masquerading as Republicans have nothing to contribute to the struggle
for a free Ireland and should disband now.
The duty to halt this slide lies with those who claim the title deeds of
Republicanism. We have a bounden duty to
hold out against this hijacking of the Republican ideal; we must lead by example in ensuring that authentic Irish
Republicanism continues to live in the hearts of the Irish people.
Republican Sinn Féin must maintain its organisational integrity and thereby
ensure that we provide a focal point for those seeking a true and credible
Republican alternative.
On June 14 and 15 Republican Sinn Féin will be holding an
Anti-Imperialist Forum in Belfast as an Irish Republican Alternative to the G8
summit taking place in Co Fermanagh. The forum will be a platform for
discussion and debate for anti-imperialist activists from Ireland and abroad to
discuss alternatives to the imperialist world order as represented by the G8
group of states. Delegates from abroad will provide an international
perspective and allow Ireland’s struggle against the twin imperialisms to be
viewed in its international context. We are calling on those interested in
contributing to the debate on a New Ireland to join us in Belfast and begin the
process of building a network of solidarity among all peoples around the world
striving a new and better world. Culminating with the annual Wolfe Tone
commemoration in Bodenstown on June 16 it will be truly a weekend suffused with
the spirit of anti-imperialism.
One has only to look back at the course of Irish history to learn that
as long as Britain continues to deny Ireland and her people their right
unfettered nationhood that denial will be met with resistance. This response to
British Rule has proven to be an iron law of Irish history, denying its reality
will not make it go away. We believe that only by fully engaging with the root
cause of conflict, which is partition and continued British occupation, can
there be any prospect of a just and lasting settlement. A public declaration of
intent by the British Government to withdraw militarily and politically from
Ireland will create the space necessary to build a New Ireland for all sections
of the Irish people, Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter. We believe that Éire
Nua coupled with our social and economic programme Saol Nua contains
the basis for a truly pluralist 32-County Federal Democratic Socialist
Republic. We resolutely and unapologetically take our stand on the Proclamation
of 1916: “We
declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to
the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.
The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not
extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the
destruction of the Irish people.” Our proposals contained in Towards A Peaceful Ireland provides for
the election of a 32-County Constituent Assembly to draft an All-Ireland
Constitution, providing the mechanism by which the process of creating a New
Ireland can begin.
We turn from here determined to continue on the long straight path to a
Free Ireland. History teaches us that there are no short cuts on that road and
only by achieving the goal of the All-Ireland Republic of Easter Week can we
fully realise our full potential as a free people, taking our place rightfully
among the nations of the earth.
We must ensure as a political movment that we are worthy of the task
entrusted to us and should note well the words of Brian Ó hUiginn: “Keep close to them on the road they walked
without flinching, the road whose signposts, as Liam Mellows said, are
unmistakable, the road of truth and honour and earnestness and courage, the
road of no wavering, of no compromise with wrong, of no surrender – the only
road that leads to the freedom and happiness of the indivisible Republic of
Ireland.”
Easter 1916-2013: POW Statement
A chairde is a comradaithe
It is a great honor that we - the Republican POWs in Maghaberry - have this opportunity once again to address you, the people of Ireland and abroad, on this the 97th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. We extend Easter greetings to our comrades, friends and supporters not just in Ireland but throughout the world. We would also like to thank Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR for all the work done on our behalf. We extend special greetings to our families whose support is invaluable.
To our comrades on the outside, we extend hearty congratulations and admiration on your continued defiance of British rule, your efforts to build the Republican Movement in the face of adversity is a testimony to your courage and principles. It is clear to see that the legacy of the 1916 Rising lives on. Only by standing firm to the principles of genuine Republicanism will we see our country realise its destiny as a free nation.
The legacy of the insurrection in 1916 and the sacrifices made by so many Irish Patriots has inspired us to withstand the dreadful conditions of our imprisonment. We are aware that we are only the latest generation of Irish Republicans who have been imprisoned for struggling to free our country and we take encouragement from those who have gone before us.
As Prisoners of War we find ourselves incarcerated due to British Rule in Ireland, your efforts and actions give us great hope. We affirm that Irish Republicanism is alive and vibrant, kept alive by people like you. As Republican Prisoners of War we will not shy away from our duty and we salute all those in Ireland and abroad who work towards the Independence of Ireland by any means necessary.
With three years to go until the Centenary of the Historic Easter Rising, we are confident that our comrades will remain resolute in their attempts to drive the British occupation forces from our country. We pledge our allegiance to the leadership of the Republican Movement and urge all our people to stand with us in our fight against British imperialism.
An Phoblacht Abú
Signed O/C Maghaberry Gaol, March 2013.
It is a great honor that we - the Republican POWs in Maghaberry - have this opportunity once again to address you, the people of Ireland and abroad, on this the 97th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. We extend Easter greetings to our comrades, friends and supporters not just in Ireland but throughout the world. We would also like to thank Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR for all the work done on our behalf. We extend special greetings to our families whose support is invaluable.
To our comrades on the outside, we extend hearty congratulations and admiration on your continued defiance of British rule, your efforts to build the Republican Movement in the face of adversity is a testimony to your courage and principles. It is clear to see that the legacy of the 1916 Rising lives on. Only by standing firm to the principles of genuine Republicanism will we see our country realise its destiny as a free nation.
The legacy of the insurrection in 1916 and the sacrifices made by so many Irish Patriots has inspired us to withstand the dreadful conditions of our imprisonment. We are aware that we are only the latest generation of Irish Republicans who have been imprisoned for struggling to free our country and we take encouragement from those who have gone before us.
As Prisoners of War we find ourselves incarcerated due to British Rule in Ireland, your efforts and actions give us great hope. We affirm that Irish Republicanism is alive and vibrant, kept alive by people like you. As Republican Prisoners of War we will not shy away from our duty and we salute all those in Ireland and abroad who work towards the Independence of Ireland by any means necessary.
With three years to go until the Centenary of the Historic Easter Rising, we are confident that our comrades will remain resolute in their attempts to drive the British occupation forces from our country. We pledge our allegiance to the leadership of the Republican Movement and urge all our people to stand with us in our fight against British imperialism.
An Phoblacht Abú
Signed O/C Maghaberry Gaol, March 2013.
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