Monday, May 19, 2003

Dublin and Monaghan bombings: 'Full Disclosure Needed' Des Dalton, Assistant PRO, Republican Sinn Féin May 16, 2003 Republican Sinn Féin joins in the calls by the 'Justice for the Forgotten Group' for full disclosure about the events surrounding the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974,which resulted in the single biggest loss of life in the present conflict. In this regard we would seriously question why the hearings of the Dublin Government established 'Barron Commission' were held in private. The revelations of the partially released 'Stevens' Report' serve only to highlight the fact that the British Government have used 'Loyalist Death Squads' as another arm of its military machine in Ireland, something which Republicans have been pointing out since the early 1970s. The Dublin and Monaghan bombings were very mush part of the 'dirty war' which Britain waged against the Irish people. 7:52:40 AM

Monday, May 5, 2003

Easter Statement from the Leadership of the Republican Movement April 20, 2003 On the 87th anniversary of the historic Easter Rising of 1916, the Leadership of the Republican Movement extends greetings to all, at home and in exile, who are gathered in commemoration at the graves of our martyred dead or at memorials to their sacrifice and their memory. This year 2003 also marks the bicentenary of Robert Emmet's Rising in Dublin which will be commemorated fittingly later in this year. The Leadership also sends greetings and good wishes to our Republican prisoners in Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim and Magilligan, Co Derry as well as to those in Portlaoise jail. In spite of the sacrifice and victory of our ten hunger strikers in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh Camp 22 years ago, political status is once more denied by the British government to these political prisoners. In Portlaoise jail, ill-treatment is being inflicted on Republicans there by the 26-County Administration. In all cases the prisoners are standing up to oppression with dignity and courage, secure in the knowledge that great Irish men and women have trodden this well-worn path before them and have ultimately won what is rightfully theirs. It is with dismay, then, we learn that in Belfast itself functions in aid of the welfare of the prisoners and their families are being disrupted by those who were once their comrades but have now joined forces with the enemies of Irish freedom. Owners of premises who have agreed to host such functions have been intimidated and forced to cancel these social occasions, in some cases by those who once suffered at the hands of the English enemy in the same prisons. Nevertheless, we wish to express our appreciation of the work of faithful Republicans in their loyal and continued support of the prisoners and their dependants. The harassment of the nationalist population by the British occupation forces, including the RUC/PSNI, has continued unabated and has manifested itself in charges of conspiracy which has ever been the last resort of British rule in Ireland, when all else failed. The Dublin government, to its shame, has persisted in its collaboration with English rule and now, openly and brazenly, boasts of how closely it works with the enemy. The three-months long trial in the Special Non-jury Court in Green Street, Dublin of the Limerick Seven on unfounded charges is but one example of this. History will judge such actions yet, as it has judged the quislings and collaborators in other countries. Contrary to the wishes of the United Nations and in breach of its Charter, an imperialist war has been launched against a weak Third World country which is rich in its resources. It is indeed the first of the notorious "resource wars of the 21st century" which were forecast a decade ago. In complete disregard of public opinion in Ireland, the 26-County administration has blatantly violated neutrality in providing support for the logistics of the aggressors at Shannon Airport. Legitimate national liberation wars, such as our own centuries-old struggle, and anti-colonial and anti-imperialist wars are a different matter altogether; and we reject the pernicious doctrine of the pre-emptive war. The Stormont Agreement of more than five years ago is continuing to be unworkable and Stormont itself has again been suspended for the past six months. In no way is this agreement a settlement and it has brought no benefit to either nationalists or unionists. It copper-fastens the presence of the British government here and denies the right of all the Irish people acting as a unit to self-determination. Also it leaves the unionists in a state of uncertainty and fear for their future. A new democracy in a New Ireland of the four provinces is the realistic alternative to this in secure agreement which aims to perpetuate English rule in Ireland. Republican Sinn Féin continues in its task of providing the workable alternative to a restructured British rule. It reaches out to both unionists and nationalists with a place for all is the New Ireland. We note that the Continuity IRA still asserts the right of the Irish people "to the ownership of Ireland". Because of its resistance to foreign rule that body has been subjected to a sustained campaign of denigration. Spurious charges of the most outrageous kind have been levelled against it by sections of the media which are pliant in the hands of the Establishment, but it adheres to its principles with the honour it has inherited from the men and women of 1916. In the words of Liam Mellows before he faced the firing squad, by truth and honour, by principle and sacrifice alone will Ireland be free. This then is the task to which we re-dedicate ourselves this Easter day, with the assistance of a completely new generation untrammeled by the sell-outs and betrayals of the past. Inspired by the patriot dead, we move forward again towards the ultimate victory. -- Issued by the Leadership of the Republican Movement Easter 2003. 7:29:08 AM

Friday, May 2, 2003

Tralee -- The Stormont Agreement of five years ago has only strengthened British rule April 20, 2003 Oration by Fergal Moore: A Chairde is a Poblachtani go leir, We have assembled here today on the 87th anniversary of the Easter Rising to remember and honour those who died for the ideals of the proclamation of Easter week 1916 and of the All Ireland Republic established in 1919. The Men who lie buried here are some of the many that are buried across Ireland who died fighting for and in defence of the Republic from 1916 through the Tan war and the civil war and into the present day. The Ireland of the present day is not the Ireland envisioned by those men who lie here. It is not the All Ireland Republic that they gave their lives for and that we are dedicated to. The Ireland of today is one of corruption and greed. Where the unit of currency is the brown envelope and everything is for sale including our neutrality. The Ireland of today is the result of a counter-revolution sponsored and supported by the British Empire that overthrew the democratic wishes of the nation of Ireland. Imperialism does not recognise the wishes of the oppressed nation. It recognises only its own greed and the hunger for power. We can see this today were twenty-first century imperialism is in full swing. Not just in Iraq and the Middle East but here in Ireland. Modern Imperialism does not need armies of soldiers to conquer a nation. Nowadays armies of capitalists are used to plunder a nation's assets and to steal away the profits of another people's labour. Right thinking Republicans should oppose Imperialism in all its forms. We should never be a part of this "coalition of the willing" the true axis of evil in the world. This runs counter to the proclamation of 1916 and of the ideals of the All Ireland Republic. The use of Shannon by the Imperialist powers in their illegal war for oil and can only happen because the twenty counties is still the Free State in all but name. The people of Kerry paid a terrible price for their support of the Republic during the civil war. The Free Staters eager to do the bidding of their English masters carried on the work of the Black and Tans by murdering faithful Republicans. Men like Sean Moriarty were taken prisoner and shot in fields. Nine men were tied to a bomb at Ballyseedy Cross after a long night of torture. The bomb was detonated by the Free Staters killing eight brave Kerry Republicans. But for some miracle this incident might have gone unknown. Stephen Fuller survived by being thrown into a ditch. From where he lay he could hear the murderers finishing off his dying comrades. These incidents galvanised the people of Kerry. The murders are remembered now more than eighty years later with bitterness. Our assembly here sends an important message to the Free Staters of today. Kerry Republicans are proud of their past. They know that the All Ireland Republic for which they have struggled is a fine and noble thing. They know that Charlie Kerins, Austin Stack, Sean Moriarty and the many others who fought and died for the All Ireland Republic were right. They were right in 1919, they were right in 1922 and 23 and they are right today. There are many in Kerry today that claim to be Republican. They will even come here to this graveside. They will say that they follow in the footsteps of the men who gave their lives for the Republic. Then they will turn around and go to Leinster House. Men like Martin Ferris and his pro-British friends in the Provisionals have no connection politically, morally or spiritually with Kerry's Republican dead. He does not follow in their footsteps rather he follows in the footsteps of their killers. By his participation in the Free State assembly in Leinster House he is a part of the body that murdered them. By his support of the administration of the twenty-six counties, their army and their police force he proves himself to be a false republican and a turncoat. The Stormont Agreement of five years ago has only strengthened British rule in Ireland and yet we see these traitors who profess to be Republicans breaking their necks to make sure it works. They have given concession after concession, surrender after surrender just to appease the Brits. They have called off their war, they have harassed and even murdered those Republicans who oppose them, they have surrendered weapons to the enemy and now it looks like they will stand down their army for good. All this just to please the Brits. And what have they got in return? Nothing. The Stormont Agreement is just a reworking and modernisation of British rule in Ireland. A United Ireland is further away now than it has been for decades. They have set back the cause of Irish freedom by many years. Truly it can be said that they are the worthy successors of the Free Staters of 1922. Faithful Republicans will never assist those who seek a limited power in Leinster House. Neither will we support English rule in the six counties or collaborate with it through the Establishment south of the border. Those who do so are not Republicans, they are traitors and we should treat them as such. True Republicans adhere to the Proclamation of 1916 which declares the right of the Irish people to the ownership of Ireland to be sovereign and indefeasible This right we believe as did the men and women of 1916 cannot be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. This has not happened yet and while there is one faithful Republican left it will never happen. The struggle for Irish freedom goes on today. The Irish Republican Army under the leadership of the Continuity Army Council still resists British rule in Ireland and endeavours to re-establish the All Ireland Republic for which those men who lie here gave their lives. Although they have already suffered more than their share and have given much over the years, I ask that the people of Kerry be prepared to give again. I urge the young men and women of Kerry to join in the struggle against British rule. I implore them to help in the re-establishment of the All Ireland Republic. It will be a long and painful road to freedom but the more feet that walk upon it the shorter it will become. I finish now with the words of Liam Lynch former chief of staff of the IRA. We have declared for an Irish Republic and will not live under any other law. An Phoblacht Abu! 7:03:53 AM     Donegal -- 'Fudge must yield to clarity' - " Br·daigh in Donegal April 20, 2003 There is an end to fudge in the current process in the Six Counties, we have been told; now there must be clarity and the Provos have been cornered, said Ruairi Ó Brádaigh, President of Republican Sinn Féin. He was speaking at the annual Easter 1916 commemoration at the place of execution of the Drumboe Martyrs in Stranorlar, Co Donegal on Easter Sunday. For more than five years that process had lived on equivocation. The Stormont Agreement of 1998 had faltered and floundered because of the contradiction at its core. It was sold to nationalists on the basis that it would lead to a free and united Ireland while unionists were persuaded it would strengthen English rule here. The last two decades had seen a classic counter-revolution, as in the days of Charlie Daly, Seán Larkin, Tim O'Sullivan and Dan Enright. The revolutionary movement had been stopped in its tracks on both occasions, a section of the leadership had been suborned from its allegiance and had brought its followers over to the side of the enemy. The Drumboe Martyrs had fought to the death against the partitioning of Ireland and the creation of Leinster House and Stormont which had set aside the All-Ireland Republic of 1916 and the First Dáil Éireann. Yet those who accepted in recent times what the Drumboe Martyrs had fought against on both sides of the Border now had the temerity to invoke their names to support treachery, thereby dishonouring them and all that they died for. Meanwhile, a new Northern Free State under British control was being created at Stormont. It was proposed to place it on firmer foundations by basing it not only on the unionist population but also on as many nationalists as possible. This involved people from nationalist families joining the British police in the Six Counties and enforcing the new arrangements at the point of a gun, if necessary. The end result will be to strengthen English rule, not weaken it, by the formation of a new Broy Harrier element within the British Forces of Occupation. The report of the Stevens Inquiry confirmed the charges of collusion made by Republicans from the early 1970s. In that such collaboration was "widespread", it shows that the loyalist paramilitaries acted as the underground arm or hidden extension of the British Army of Occupation. In this way the English government added proxy forces to their war in Ireland and blamed unionists for these dirty deeds while posing before the world as peacekeepers. Nationalists suffered while unionists carried the blame, all the while the English government was largely responsible. Such shameful policies and actions should be exposed by every possible means and independent public and international judicial inquiries instituted. These should not be confined to the Finucane case alone, nor should they be held in private as in the case of the greatest single loss of life in the conflict, ie the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974. The 26-County Special Branch had aided in the subsequent cover-up. The renamed RUC and UDR are not "new" forces. They consist of the very same personnel which carried out an ignominious campaign of murder against uninvolved nationalists as a matter of British government policy. Such deeds cannot be swept under the carpet. They are war-crimes and the forces which carried them out must be held to account. The very same methods were employed in the early 1920s when the British government imposed partition and the Northern Ireland statelet on the Irish people. Charlie Daly and his comrades in the Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan and Fianna Èireann resisted the counter-revolution of 1922-3, just as the true Republican Movement today opposes England's alternative to Irish national independence. Republicans would face up to the renewed onslaught of Westminster, Stormont and Leinster House; they would ensure that unionists would not suffer the humiliation so long endured by nationalists by providing a secure, comfortable and honourable place for them in the New Ireland. For this task the most idealistic and high-minded of a new generation of Irish people would be needed, prepared to give service up to the noble standards of Charlie Daly, Seán Larkin, Tim O'Sullivan and Dan Enright. In every decade since their time, Irish men and women, boys and girls had served the same ideals and in some cases had made the supreme sacrifice for national freedom. I am confident the coming generation will be just as generous and idealistic, he concluded. 6:58:05 AM

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

Cork -- British presence root cause of northern conflict April 20, 2003 Speaking at the Easter 1916 commemoration at the Republican Plot in St Finbarr's Cemetery, Cork, Líta Ní Chathmhaoil, Ard-Rúnaí (General Secretary) of Republican Sinn Féin and a native of Cork city said that it was an honour to speak at such a hallowed venue in the history of the Irish struggle against English occupation. She went on: As a native of Cork I have always been proud of the designation 'Rebel County', a name justly earned by the patriot men and women who sacrificed so much down through the years for the cause of Irish freedom. The names of the martyred Lord Mayors, Tomás Mac Curtàin and Terence MacSwiney resonated around the world. They led the way in the struggle for freedom, inspiring freedom movements throughout the globe, and gave their lives without flinching or hesitating. They were not alone and to this day faithful Republicans in Cork follow in their footsteps. The Irish people are proud of the struggle for freedom which we commemorate here today. Many of us had relatives involved in the struggle. In the recent past there has been much rewriting of Irish history to suit a political Establishment which has no interest in the reunification of our country. Revisionism, along with 20 years of Section 31 censorship has altered many people's view of the Irish national struggle and as a result it is no longer fashionable to honour our dead of every generation or to point out that the cause for which they gave their lives is left unfinished. The root cause of the conflict in Ireland remains the presence of the British government and its forces here. Permanent peace will only come with final British disengagement from Ireland. Those who voted 'Yes' to the Stormont Agreement five years ago see now that the British still hold the real power in Ireland, the results of the 1998 referendums mean nothing to them as they continue to uphold the Unionist Veto. The sacrifices of the past generation, for nothing less than the 32-County Irish Republic, count for nothing with many of those who were part of the struggle in those years as they sell their birthright for a mess of pottage, or more correctly for comfortable, well-paid seats in the Stormont Partition assembly, which was suspended for the fifth time in the past year. The current attempts to reinstate it in the lead-up to new Stormont assembly elections is foundering on the rock of the British insistence that they call the shots and not the Provos, who must now bite the bullet and not only fully accept British rule and a British police force but must stand down their military wing and 'decommission' their entire arsenal. What an ignominious situation they find themselves in but the tragedy is that the cause of Irish freedom is weakened by their actions. The Republican Sinn Féin analysis has been proved to be correct. The sectarian Statelet in the Six Counties has not changed and hundreds of nationalist homes have been targeted by loyalist death squads in pipe and petrol bomb attacks all over the Six Counties, as the loyalists pursue a policy of ethnically cleansing parts of Antrim, Armagh and Down. The Provisionals were part of the so-called government of the Six Counties and were not able to protect the people against these attacks. But of course the Six Counties is governed from London and the Stormont assembly remains what it always was - a puppet state in the interests of Britain. In recent days the release of a summary of the Stevens Report on collusion - the full report was too damaging for the British government to release to all and sundry - proves to the world what Republicans have said all along - the loyalist death squads were another tool of the British State against the nationalist people of the Six Occupied Counties. Perfidious Albion has not changed throughout its long history in Ireland, the only solution if for them to leave Ireland forever, lock, stock and barrel. On the international scene George W Bush and his war-mongering colleagues in the USA, along with their British puppets, launched an attack on Iraq in March. While no one will mourn the end of Saddam Hussein, it is not for George Bush or Tony Blair to act as world policemen. The real agenda for this war is not about weapons of mass destruction or even about 'regime change', it is about oil - the first resource war of the 21st century. To their shame, the Dublin Administration have allowed themselves to be part of this unholy 'Coalition of the Willing' by allowing them to use the facilities at Shannon Airport for refuelling etc against the wishes of the Irish people. Neutrality has gone out the window and Republicans must continue to be to the fore in opposing this unjust invasion of a sovereign state, which has primarily caused death and suffering to innocent civilians. The break down of civil order there, even to the looting of museums containing some of the most important artefacts of the history of humankind, shows how little interest the invaders had in anything but oil. They had no problem guarding their own loot, the black gold for which they are prepared to risk the lives of even their own citizens. The US and British troops should get out of Iraq now and allow the Iraqis to run their own affairs. The struggle to regain the All-Ireland Republic continues. The 1916 Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence of the First (All-Ireland) Dáil 84 years ago provide the bedrock for the future of the Irish people acting as a unit. We in the Republican Movement present the unbroken line of Republicans since then, throughout the 20th and now into the 21st century. It is incumbent on all branches of that Movement to work together so that we can continue to provide the leadership required to achieve that which is inevitable - the breaking of the link with England and the establishment of an Ireland where all the people can live together in peace and unity, she concluded. 7:53:19 AM

Monday, April 28, 2003

Kerry -- Call on Ferris to stay away April 20, 2003 The sight of Kerry's Provo TD Martin Ferris attending at Easter Rising ceremonies was a sickening exercise in political hypocrisy, the local branch of Republican Sinn Féin said today. Not only have the Provos abandoned any Republican ideal, they have done so in a manner calculated to give the greatest insult to those who hold our traditions dear, said RSF North Kerry spokesman John O'Shea from Ballylongford. The Provisionals must now give up not only their Republican ideals, but their guns and bombs, their principles, and they must give up their comrades," said Mr. O'Shea. They must purge themselves of the past, all at the behest of the British because the simple truth is that they are in the pay of the British Crown! They have abandoned and betrayed Republicans; they have obtained their positions of political power by crawling over the backs of dead volunteers of the Irish Republican Army. It gives me no pleasure to say it but we must face the reality that the threat to the Republic is grave. Former comrades have recognised Leinster House - they have entered Stormont - they have become Crown Ministers - they have decommissioned and called off the war - they have lied and cheated - they have twisted and betrayed - they have no right to regard themselves as Republicans! Therefore let Deputy Ferris and his crowd stay away from the graves of the Republican dead in future -their presence is an insult to all those who have died in the cause of Irish freedom. 7:56:36 AM     Dublin -- The Irish nation still exists April 20, 2003 Video footage of Dublin Easter Commemoration The British presence in Ireland will continue to be opposed by Republicans, the vice-president of Republican Sinn Féin told an Easter Sunday ceremony at the GPO in Dublin. Limerick-based Des Long, vice president of RSF said that Republicans will never abandon the right of the Irish nation to a new and united Ireland. Our present message based on the foundation of the 1916 Rising is that the Irish nation still exists - that there is a continuity of struggle to the generations that have gone before us, he said. The Irish nation is still struggling for national liberation and there are people here who have never surrendered to British imperialism and colonialism - and who never will! The trial of Robert Emmet at the Green Street courthouse 200 years has also given Irish history one of its greatest aspirations - Today his epitaph has not been written and cannot be written because the island of Ireland has yet to take its place among the nations of the earth. The ideal of a united and free Ireland is under grave threat....and those who adhere to the political philosophy of national self-determination are under constant harassment and intimidation from the political police of the 26 and 6 County statelets. All repression and suspension of human rights is now justified in the name of tackling terror - but as Republicans we see a clear distinction between what Bush and Blair consider terror and a genuine war of national liberation! We have to stand up and be counted when it comes to the desire for national self- determination - the national desire for freedom from foreign rule can never be regarded as terror - and the imposition of the initial injustice - be it invasion or conquest or the sheer brutalisation of a people - will always lead to resistance on the part of those oppressed. Even the Police Commissioner of the 26 County Administration is on record (Irish News,15th March 20000) as saying that as long as there is a British military presence in Ireland, there will be an Irish Republican Army to oppose it. 7:48:23 AM

Saturday, April 26, 2003

Roscommon -- Ireland should not be ashamed of patriotism April 20, 2003 A call on the people of Ireland not to be ashamed of patriotism nor be blinded by false promises was made by a leading member of Republican Sinn Féin at an Easter Sunday commemoration in Roscommon. Geraldine McNamara from Tipperary, a member of the Ard Comhairle of RSF said people should not surrender to the false leadership of the Provisionals. "They no longer represent Republicans...they have betrayed the ordinary people," she said. "We in Republican Sinn Féin will continue to remain steadfast against the oppressors of Irish nationhood because we know we are right. Peace can never be achieved with justice and that will only come about when the British are prepared to try a new process and get out of Ireland for good. We stand as the only political party who will not recognize or legitimize partition. We make no apologies for continuing to preach the gospel of Irish Republicanism. The Ireland of two states which we live in today did not come from the Easter Rising of 1916 - it arose from the defeat of the independence movement when the British divided our country. Republican Sinn Féin today embodies the teachings and hopes of all the patriots of the past. They have passed the torch to us. Let us work hard and work together in the hope that their dreams and ours of a united free Ireland will soon become a reality. 12:46:23 PM     Portlaoise prison -- Easter Rising remembered by jailed Republicans who remain true to Irish freedom April 20, 2003 A gathering of Republican POW's who remain faithful to the ideals and principles of Republicanism are holding an Easter Sunday ceremony in Portlaoise Jail to remember all those who died in the cause of Irish freedom. The event was planned to take place on Easter Sunday at 10.00 am to mark the 1916 Rising when the Irish Republic was declared from the steps of the GPO in Dublin. A spokesman said that the prison ceremony would involve all the Republicans who oppose the Stormont Agreement. We oppose it because the Agreement will not bring a real or lasting peace, he said. It fails to address the real cause of the conflict, the British presence in Ireland. It is with sadness that we see former comrades in the Provisionals now administering British rule in Ireland but the basic cause of conflict remains and the Agreement cannot resolve it - the Agreement promises integration to the Unionists and a united Ireland to Nationalists - it cannot satisfy both aspirations, he added. While the Easter Rising was short-lived, it re-awakened the spirit of freedom, fanned the flame of Irish nationalism against foreign rule and restored the national aspiration to a free and independent country. The Rising was also significant in that it represented the culmination of various revolutionary activities and uprisings in the preceding generations - in a continuity of direct confrontation with the British forces of occupation. We are now appealing to all true Republicans who desire national self-determination and who oppose British rule to come together in a spirit of revolutionary comradeship and take the war of liberation to the forces of the British crown in Ireland. 12:42:39 PM

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

Kildare -- Realise the dreams of the men and women of 1916 April 20, 2003 Speaking at Kildare Republican Sinn Fein's annual 1916 Commemoration at the grave of veteran Republican Frank Driver in Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare, on Easter Sunday, April 20, RSF Ard Chomhairle member, Matt Conway, Kilcullen said: As we gather here at the grave of life - long Republican Frank Driver on the 87th Anniversary of the 1916 rising, the cause and ideals which inspired the leaders of Easter week and which led a young Frank Driver into the ranks of the Republican Movement, have never been more under threat, on every side stand those who wish to remove every vestige of Nationhood and Nationality. As the ailing 'Stormont Agreement' lurches from one crisis to another, and as former comrades look set to take the next step from administering British Rule to actually enforcing it on the ground once they sign up to the policing boards, both the British and 26 County Governments have made it clear that they are determined to either absorb or crush all who refuse to accept British Rule in Ireland. In the non - jury 'Special Criminal Court' in Dublin's Green Street, the three month political show trial of the 'Limerick Seven' is approaching a conclusion, based solely on the uncorroborated evidence of a Garda Chief Superintendent, the case was brought against this group of men, of which I was one, simply because of our political beliefs. On the ground the harassment of Republicans is ongoing. As we forecast five years the 'Stormont Agreement' is doomed to failure because of its inherent contradictions, promising Nationalists on the one hand that it would lead to a free and independent Ireland and Unionists on the other that it would strengthen the 'union'. The result has been an increase in sectarian conflict, for nationalists their nightmare continues with pipe bombings on their homes and shootings, for Unionists it has led to fear and uncertainty about their future. In our 'Address To The Irish People' which was launched in Belfast on February 11 by our President, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, we point out that there is a sane and credible alternative to all of this. We believe that neither London nor Dublin can guarantee the future welfare of the people of Ulster. Only the people of Ulster themselves can do that, and they can best achieve it by taking their place in the historic Irish nation, where their rights would be guaranteed by a new constitution and they would have access to real power. As trust founders on all sides we ask every body to consider again our ÉIRE NUA programme for a four - province federal Ireland, with maximum devolution of powers down to community level. Even now, Unionists could still have a working majority in a nine - county Ulster, subject to the checks and balances of the new structures. Let us set about building a New Ireland for all the Irish people, and realise the dreams of the men and women of 1916. 3:35:22 PM     Glasgow -- Links between Scotland and Ireland stretch back many centuries April 20, 2003 Speaking at Republican Sinn Fein Féin's annual 1916 Commemoration in Glasgow on Easter Sunday, April 20, RSF Ard Chomhairle member, Des Dalton said: Eighty Seven years ago, a small but gallant band of men and women, including a contingent from Scotland, unfurled in Ireland the banner of national independence, freedom and democracy, in defiance of what was then the most powerful empire on the globe. From their Head Quarters in Dublin's GPO, the 'Provisional Government of the Irish Republic' led by P.H.Pearse, Tom Clarke, and James Connolly, issued a document which has come to serve as the cornerstone of Irish Republicanism, a document which inspired not only the Irish people, but freedom loving peoples throughout the world, to throw off the shackles of empire and take up the struggle of national liberation. 'The Proclamation of the Irish Republic' is a document which in the words of Tomas MacDonagh, springs from "Ireland's vivid intellect", it lays out for us the democratic principles on which we base our struggle, "The right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indeafisible." Like Connolly our aim is the "Reconquest of Ireland" as Connolly pointed out "The conquest of Ireland had meant the social and political servitude of the Irish masses, and therefore the re - conquest of Ireland must mean the social as well as the political independence from servitude of every man, woman, and child in Ireland." The links between Scotland and Ireland stretch back many centuries of our shared Celtic heritage and history, but also we have a shared experience of brutal colonial coercion, occupation, famine and enforced emigration, but like Ireland, Scotland has long and proud history of resistance to English Rule, its democratic and radical tradition stretches back, like Ireland, to the 1790s, with organisations such as the 'Friends of the People' and the 'Society of United Scotsmen' producing leaders such as Thomas Muir, who was also an honoury member of the 'Society of United Irishmen', the 19th Century saw the Scottish Radicals who led the abortive insurrection of 1820. The 20th Century produced one of Scotland's foremost political thinkers and leaders, John MacLean, friend and comrade of James Connolly, who not only championed the cause of Scotland and her working class but also the cause of Irish Freedom. Indeed the Irish in Scotland have contributed much in Ireland's long struggle, they not only actively participated in the 1916 rising but played their part in the re - organisation of the Republican Movement in the years following the rising, the Scottish Brigade of the IRA was one of the most active in the Tan war, with actions such as the legendary "smashing of the van", the Irish community in Scotland also lost a number of its sons in the cause of a free and independent Ireland. During the brutal Counter - Revolution of 192223 the Irish in Scotland were again to the forefront in defence of the All - Ireland Republic. Today the cause of a free Ireland has never been more under threat, on every side stand those who are determined to obliterate every vestige of nationhood or nationality. Both the British and 26 County Governments have made it clear that they are determined to crush all those who they cannot absorb into the apparatus of British Rule in Ireland. In the 26 Counties the political show - trial of the 'Limerick Seven' continues at the non - jury 'Special Criminal Court' in Dublin's Green St, where 200 years ago Robert Emmet stood trial, how little has changed, whilst on the ground the harassment of Republicans is ongoing. In the Six Counties the arrest and harassment of Republicans is also the order of the day, with in a number of cases spurious 'conspiracy' charges being used to intern Republicans. In Belfast recently, Republicans were even denied a premises in which to hold a function in support of Republican prisoners and their families. Hand - in - hand with all of this is the denial of political status to republican prisoners, particularly in the Six Counties, in an attempt to criminalize Ireland's struggle. And I would like to take this opportunity to extend greetings to Republican prisoners in Magilligan, Maghaberry and Portlaoise. Meanwhile attempts to once more patch up the ailing sectarian 'Stormont Agreement' are ongoing, Following its signing five years ago RSF warned that due to its inherent contradictions, promising Nationalists on the one hand that it would lead to a free and united Ireland whilst on the other promising Unionists that it would strengthen the 'union' with Britain, it was doomed to failure. As we point out in our 'Address to the People of Ireland' which was launched in Belfast on February 11 by RSF President, Ruairi O Bradaigh, the 'Stormont Agreement' has served to institutionalise sectarianism, leading to an increase in sectarian conflict, based as it is on a crude sectarian 'head - count', further entrenching "the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government'. The 'Stormont Agreement' has failed the people of Ireland, for Nationalists their nightmare continues, with an increase in pipe bomb attacks and shootings, Unionists have been left in a vacuum of fear and uncertainty. The 'Steven's Report' published last Thursday (April 17) only confirms what Irish Republicans have been pointing out since the early 1970s, that the British Government have used Loyalist Death Squads as the underground arm of the British Occupation forces in Ireland. In calling for the establishment of a public international inquiry we would also point out that they should not be confined to the Finucane case, nor held in private as in the case of the single biggest loss of life in the conflict, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974. What is also clear is that simply changing the name uniform and cap badge of the RUC and UDR does not change the fundamental nature of these forces. They consist of the same personnel which carried out a brutal campaign of murder against uninvolved nationalists as a matter of British Government policy. Against this background the Provisionals look set either now or in the near future to take the next step from administering British Rule in Ireland to actively enforcing and policing it, let us not fool ourselves the Provos have bought into British Rule in Ireland, and have no option but to dismantle their military wing allowing for its absorabtion into the machinery of British Rule, to be used against former comrades who have refused to be bought or accept British Rule, as latter day 'Broy Harriers'. The purpose of the 'Stormont Agreement' is the normalisation of British Rule in Ireland, as Irish Republicans we will never accept this, like Connolly we hold that 'England has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland and never can have any right in Ireland'. We pledge our determination to continue the struggle for Irish Freedom, the removal of the British presence and the re - establishment of the All- Ireland Republic of Easter week, we are here for the long haul. In EIRE NUA Republican Sinn Fein possess the only sane and credible alternative to what is a clearly failed process, as we point out in our 'Address to the Irish People' : We believe that neither London nor Dublin can guarantee the future welfare of the people of Ulster. Only the people of Ulster themselves can do that - and they can best achieve it by taking their rightful place, as equals in the historic Irish Nation, where their rights would be guaranteed by a new constitution and they would have access to real power. Internationally imperialism is once more on the march, the USBritish led war on the people of Iraq, which has led to deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children, was a gross violation of international law, in effect tearing up the UN charter. America's doctrine of 'pre - emptive war' is an imperialist charter of the strong to be used against the weak, already the US hawks are rattling their sabres in the direction of Syria, who is next on the list? The war in Iraq was but the first of the 'resource wars' of the 21st Century. Since the 'Boer War' Irish Republicans have consistently opposed wars of conquest which is why we were to the forefront in protesting at the us of Shannon and Irish airspace by US warplanes in breach of Irish neutrality, the position adopted by the 26 County Administration in aligning themselves with an unholy 'coalition of the willing' in defiance of the clearly expressed wishes of the Irish people can only be described as disgraceful. Likewise the visit to Hillsborough by US President George Bush was both hypocritical and shameful, equally shameful was the welcome given to him by Bertie Ahern, the Provos and the SDLP, at a time when he was unleashing weapons of mass destruction on the defenceless people of Iraq, whilst using Ireland as base to set out his stall for the colonialisation of Iraq. We are inheritors of a proud and noble tradition with roots deep in Irish history, from Tone to Emmet, whose Bi - Centenary we commemorate this year, to Davis, Lalor to Pearse and Connolly, we are not for sale nor will we be co - opted into any British imposed settlement, we are implacable enemies of British Rule in Ireland, and will continue to preach the undiluted gospel of Irish Republicanism, whilst continuing to put forward the three historic demands of the Irish people: A public British declaration of intent to withdraw from Ireland within a stated period. The release of all political prisoners A New Ireland negotiated by the Irish people themselves. Conscious of the historic links between Ireland and Scotland we yearn for the day when a free Scotland can take her place alongside a free and united Ireland in a 'League of free Celtic Nations.' In this the Bi -Centenary year of Robert Emmet's rising and execution let us by our words and more importantly our deeds hasten the day when his epitaph can finally be written, when Ireland has truly taken her place amongst the nations of the earth. 8:03:09 AM

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