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SAOIRSE -- Irish Freedom Issue number 278 | June 2010 INSIDE THIS ISSUE PDF Format |
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In a statement the Continuity IRA prisoners in Maghaberry jail, Co Antrim on May 29 declared their support for the leadership of the Republican Movement and their continued resistance to British rule.
"We the Republican Prisoners of War in Maghaberry are engaged in a struggle against the British state and its agents. We restate our determination to resist all attempts to criminalise the fight against British rule in Ireland.
"We congratulate the Republican people of Ireland who have taken to the streets in support of our struggle for political status. Without your continued support we cannot succeed.
"It is with this in mind that we the Republican Prisoners of War incarcerated in Maghaberry herby reiterate our support for Republican Sinn Féin, the leadership of Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR. We salute their unswerving commitment to the principles of the 1916 Proclamation.
"It is with deep regret that we have become aware of a campaign to undermine the Republican Movement and by doing so to undermine the POWs. We wish to state Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR have our full support and confidence and that no other bodies outside of the Republican Movement represent our views or have the right to speak on our behalf.
o/c CIRA POWs Maghaberry Jail, Co Antrim.
The POWs in Portlaoise prison, Co Laois also stated their support for the Leadership of the Republican Movement and their continued support for their comrades in Maghaberry jail in their fight for political status.
"We extend solidarity greetings to our comrades engaged in the struggle to uphold their right to political status. We oppose British rule in our country and those who collaborate with it.
"We affirm our support for Republican Sinn Féin and CABHAIR and pledge our allegiance to the Leadership of the Republican Movement.
o/c CIRA POWs Portlaoise prison, Co Laois
The Irish News on May 27 reported that a number of people had issued a threat to hijack the offices and newspaper of Republican Sinn Féin.
Having failed to disrupt the Republican Movement from the inside, the advocates of a so-called "Broad Front" now attempt to do so from the outside.
In keeping with our mandate from successive Ard-Fheisanna -- at which these people were overwhelmingly defeated -- we shall not yield to threats nor shall we give up our offices and our newspaper to an unrepresentative group. Our offices and newspaper SAOIRSE are the public face of undiluted revolutionary Irish Republicanism and will be safeguarded from all those who would attempt to undermine the struggle against British rule in Ireland.
We know who these people are and have been aware of their activities for some time. Some of them have held senior positions in the past and therefore share responsibility for the situation they now complain of.
They call for unity yet they themselves launch yet another splinter group, at a time when the protesting Republican prisoners in Magahberry prison need our fullest attention. They should be rejected by true Republicans.
Sinn Féin will not be deterred by threats from our enemies but will continue to provide unflinching leadership to Republican Ireland.
Signed on behalf of the Organisation
Des Dalton, President
Fergal Moore, Geraldine Taylor, Vice-Presidents
Joe O'Neill, Life Vice-President
Josephine Hayden, Líta Ní Chathmhaoil, General Secretaries
John O'Connor, Peig King, National Treasurers
Richard Walsh, Publicity Officer
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Patron
Speaking in UCD on May 20 the head of the 26-County administration Brian Cowen accused Irish Republicans of seeking to "hijack" the centenary of the 1916 Rising. It is an accusation that does not stand up; Republicans cannot hijack something they have never abandoned. Irish Republicans will commemorate the centenary of 1916 as well as the anniversaries of the other landmark events in Irish Revolutionary history, just as we have in the past.
Each year Irish Republicans both in Ireland and abroad have commemorated 1916 without fail. The 26-County state on the other hand has alternated between ignoring the anniversary and banning commemoration of it. 1916 commemorations throughout the 26 Counties were banned by the Dublin administration in 1937. In 1976 Republicans were prosecuted – including Fiona Plunkett sister of Joseph Mary Plunkett - and some jailed for their participation in a banned commemoration at the GPO. Each year Republicans face the prospect of prosecution for selling Easter Lilys.
For forty years the 26-County administration ignored the anniversary of 1916 but since 2006 it has opportunistically seized on it in order to sell the big lie that history has come to an end and British rule in Ireland is now accepted.
1916 remains unfinished business while Britain holds any part of Ireland.
The message of 1916 could not be clearer; "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace".
On May 15, 2010, Comhairle Chúige Laighean (Leinster Executive) Sinn Féin Poblachtach confirmed their support and loyalty to the Leadership of Republican Sinn Féin:
"Republican Sinn Féin in Leinster confirms its support for the current Leadership democratically elected at the 2009 Ard-Fheis.
"Our President Des Dalton has continued the Republican principles of his predecessor, our Patron Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. We pledge ourselves to the true Republican Movement and urge all Republicans to be wary of 'factions' and 'broad fronts' which serve only to dilute the Movement and play into the hands of our enemies.
"Those who seek to weaken our struggle have not and will not succeed.
"It is significant that the recent pickets in support of our POWs at Maghaberry and Portlaoise, these so-called republicans were conspicuous by their absence.
"Republican Sinn Féin will continue to highlight the conditions our prisoners are being subjected to. We will hold pickets and protests throughout the 32 Counties.
"Republicans in Leinster are united in our resolve to continue the fight for a 32-County Irish Republic free from outside influence with an end to British occupation.
"Continuity not Compromise!"
An Emergency General Meeting of Comhairle na Mumhan (Munster Executive), Sinn Féin Poblachtach was held on May 16, 2010.
The EGM was brought about by the defections of some members in Limerick and Mallow, Co Cork and Comhairle na Mumhan was reorganised to take account of these changes.
All delegates at the meeting reasserted their loyalty to Sinn Féin Poblachtach and their support for the President Des Dalton and the Leadership, democratically elected at the Ard-Fheis of 2009.
Comhairle na Mumhan will continue its work throughout Munster and has begun its reorganisation of Limerick.
Pádraig Garvey, secretary of Comhairle na Mumhan, said after the meeting: "A campaign of lies and misinformation with the aim of undermining Sinn Féin Poblachtach has been underway for some time. We recognise that some members and supporters may have been misled by this.
"We call on those people to look again at what they have been told and see the lies and contradictions they are being fed.
"The Republican Movement has seen many 'splits' and defections over the years, but these have led nowhere, only to Stormont and Leinster House.
"It is through Sinn Féin Poblachtach and Republican principles that full Irish freedom will be won.
"Principles not personality."
The Republican Sinn Féin website in Limerick city was taken down on April 30 and replaced by a statement entitled "Limerick republicans form new group".
This is not a new development. Following the Ard-Fheis of 2004 a number in Limerick city resigned early in 2005 allegedly because of a letter carried in the December 2004 issue of SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom.
After a year-and-a-half outside Republican Sinn Féin they all applied for re-admittance and were taken back in July 2006. Successive Ard-Fheiseanna in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 rejected the idea of a Broad Front overwhelmingly.
This decision, democratically arrived at, is not apparently acceptable to a number of members in Limerick city and they have decided to go their own way.
A small number of members from a newly-formed cumann in Mallow, Co Cork have joined with them in this attitude.
Republican Sinn Féin regrets these defections but restates its determination to pursue the objective of Irish national independence and to implement the decisions of the annual Ard-Fheis. We further point out that no group has the right to "dissolve" the Sinn Féin organisation in any part of Ireland and we resolve to reorganise within Limerick city.
Republican Sinn Féin reaffirms its commitment to advancing the cause of Irish freedom based on the principles of the 1916 Proclamation. We will not be deflected by the emergence of people or groups intent on creating division and confusion. History teaches us that such groups serve only to distract from the essential task of ending British rule in Ireland.
We call now on Irish Republicans to remain steadfast in their allegiance to the All-Ireland Republic of Easter Week.
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