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| NEWS FROM
SAOIRSE (freedom). The Voice of the Irish Republican Movement. http://rsf.ie 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1 229 Falls Road, Belfast |
BELFAST Republican Sinn Féin and former Republican prisoners in the city organised a series of events on March 1 to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of the 1981 hunger strike by Bobby Sands.
• At 9am a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the Republican Plot in Milltown Cemetery where hunger strikers Bobby Sands, Joe McDonnell and Kieran Doherty are buried.
A piper played a lament. Six former Republican prisoners commenced their sponsored run from the cemetery to Maghaberry jail in aid of the political status campaign for Tommy Crossan and his comrades.
• At 11am a protest picket for political status was held at the gate of Maghaberry jail outside Belfast where Republican prisoners are today being denied political status. A statement from incarcerated Republican Tommy Crossan was read out. A rousing reception was given to the runners on completion of their course. Eddie Duffy, on behalf of the ex-prisoners, handed in a letter to the prison authorities.
• Next, at 12.30pm a wreath-laying ceremony was held at Long Kesh in memory of the Republican prisoners who suffered and died.
• A public meeting entitled ‘Republican Prisoners and Political Status 1981-2001’ was held at 7pm in the Conway Mill Complex. Josephine Hayden, the last female political prisoner freed in Ireland, and former hunger striker John Nixon were among the speakers at the debate which was chaired by Leo Martin.
* Following the public meeting Josephine Hayden unveiled a new Republican mural in Divis Street commemorating the hunger strikers.
* There will be full coverage of these events in the April issue.
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The POW Department of Republican Sinn Féin, Belfast in a statement on February 3 called on the media to resist censorship of the campaign for political status for political prisoners.
"England’s campaign to criminalise Irish Republican POWs takes many forms, tactics used to break Republican POWs are not new by any means: brutality, dehumanising searches and confinement with POWs being locked up, sometimes for 24 hours.
"Strip-searches are forcefully carried out by a number of screws, if a prisoner attempts to resist these dehumanising searches he is brutalised and put into confinement with loss of remission.
"England’s criminalisation machine is powerful, against it stands Republican POWs whose commitment not to be criminalised is solid.
"Once again Republican POWs find themselves in a battle of wits with those who have occupied, oppressed and who have murdered Irish men, women and children for over 800 years.
"The only voice they have is that of Republican Sinn Féin who have tried to highlight their plight; we have found England’s censorship policy to be total with papers and news reports very willing to play their part.
"Republican Sinn Féin POW Department has no hesitation in pointing the finger at those papers born out of Republican/nationalist struggle who have unwittingly or quite willingly played a part in the censorship of the political status/POW issues. We would now call on those papers that once stood against censorship to do the same now; defend free speech.
"To criminalise our POWs is to criminalise our struggle; don’t let it happen," the statement concluded.
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Armagh city, Easter Sunday, Sandyhill Cemetery, 3pm.
Lurgan, Easter Sunday, Wreath-laying ceremony at Republican Plot, St Colman’s Cemetery.
Wreath-laying ceremonies at the following on Easter Sunday morning: The Loup Cemetery, 9am at the grave of Brigadier Seán Larkin; Dungiven, 10.15am at the graves of Vols Kealy, O’Carolan and Kilmartin and hunger striker Kevin Lynch.
Wreath-laying ceremony at Glasnevin Cemetery, Easter Sunday 1pm.
Easter Monday, commemoration at Deansgrange Cemetery, 1pm.
Republican Plot, Donaghpatrick, Headford, Easter Sunday, assemble Queally’s Cross, Cahirlistrane, 3pm.
Wreath-laying ceremonies at Uachtarard, grave of Vol Séamus Ó Máille, 7pm, Saturday, April 22.
Easter Sunday 12 noon, wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Fr Michael Griffin, Cathedral, Loughrea.
Tuam, Easter Sunday, 2pm wreath-laying ceremony, Workhouse Memorial.
Listowel,wreath-laying ceremony.
Tralee, Easter Sunday, assemble at Denny Street at 2pm parade to Republican Plot, Rath Cemetery. Killarney, wreath-laying ceremony at Republican Monument.
A FORMER Republican prisoner and Republican Sinn Féin candidate in two Westminster elections has published his view that the political stance of the Provisionals is not Republican but "a unionist position".
In a recent letter to the Derry Journal newspaper Manus Canning from Derry described the Provisionals’ stance as "completely opposed to the policy and aims of Republicans since the United Irishmen set out to ‘break the connection with England’."
He also describes the "equality agenda" of the Provisionals as a "merely catholic agenda instead of a real nationalist or Republican agenda".
He was replying to a letter from Donncha MacNiallais, Provisional apologist and leading member of the Bogside residents group.
Manus Canning received 19,640 votes in the 1955 Westminster election. He was imprisoned in England from 1953 to 1959 for his part in the Felstead Arms raid, carried out by the IRA. He emigrated to the United States in the early 1960s and in later years he has returned to live in his native Derry city.
We publish his letter to the Derry Journal in full here:
"A chara
May I make belated response to the letter of Donncha MacNiallais in the Journal of Tuesday, November 14, 2000.
Donncha says he has "concerns about the outworking of current republican strategy". Many of us do. Unlike Donncha I am not reassured. In fact, like many others, I am unable to believe that there is in [Provisional] Sinn Féin/IRA a Republican strategy of any kind. Those who have accepted Stormont, with the Union Jack flying above it, Partition, the unionist veto, the Queen and the Crown, the supremacy of the parliament of the United Kingdom and therefore the legitimacy of the British claim to govern six counties can hardly claim to be Republican. This is manifestly a unionist position.
In accepting the legitimacy of the parliament of the United Kingdom, they have also accepted the British army as the legitimate defenders of the integrity of the United Kingdom and the RUC as the legitimate peace-keeping force and law enforcement body within the Six Counties.
Anyone who can remember, anyone who can read, knows that this is in complete contradiction to the policy espoused by Sinn Féin/IRA during more than 20 years of the "the troubles". It might be a more rational policy, but it is clearly not the same policy. It is also completely opposed to the policy and aims of Republicans since the United Irishmen set out to "break the connection with England". Dan O’Connell, John Redmond, Joe Devlin and John Hume were denounced by Republicans and the current leadership of [Provisional] Sinn Féin as Castle Catholics who begged for improvement in the treatment of Catholics by the State, rather than claiming for Ireland the right to self determination.
The Patten Report is at present the subject of a heated debate. If implemented in full the Northern Ireland Police Force/RUC would eventually, subject to good behaviour by the Irish, and the whim of Peter Mandelson, be recruited on the basis of a sectarian head-count to endure that Catholics comprised 50% of the force.
Isn’t, therefore, the "equality agenda" now promoted by [Provisional] Sinn Féin a merely Catholic agenda instead of a real nationalist or Republican agenda? There are today Catholics in the RUC. Are they nationalists? The vast majority of the RIC were Catholics, but they did their duty to the Crown as they were sworn to do. The duty of a Catholic policeman in Partitioned Ulster will be to enforce laws set by the British government and parliament and to keep the Queen’s peace.
Were the British army units in Derry on Bloody Sunday recruited solely from Bible reading Protestants? Were the "Paras" recruited only from Cameron Highlanders? There are many Catholics in the British army and they have no problem with Paddy-bashing. Catholics in a Six-County police force will do what they are paid to do which might easily include Paddy-bashing.
I have dealt with a few of the concerns that I have about the "outworking of current republican strategy". Space limitations in the Journal would not permit me to deal with all of them. Like Donncha, I have spoken to [Provisional] Sinn Féin members about the Good Friday Agreement. They have told me that they too have reservations about the Agreement. Those who accept current policy, however, have not shared with me the nature of these reservations. I have stated some of mine to the best of my ability. Will Donncha share with us the concerns he has and the concerns he has heard expressed? Do any of them march my concerns?
MANUS CANNING, Derry"
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