Issue 123, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (July, 1997)

              uimh123 iuil — july 1997 50p usa 1 hong kong and british occupied ireland in a statement on june 30 republican sinn fein congratulated and sent good wishes to the people of china on the day of final british disengagement from their country we look forward to the day when a similar planned phased and orderly withdrawal will be implemented by the british government from the six occupied counties in ireland with the withdrawal from hong kong the six counties remain the largest segment of a colonial empire which once extended to a quarter of the globe speed the day of its final dismemberment the statement concluded even with cross-border boards nternal settlement wi at this critical time in ireland with the british looking set to back down for the third year in a row in the face of orange threats tony blair in his house of commons speech of june 25 outlined the four main elements to the internal settlement • a new stormont • suitable cross border bodies • a new anglo-irish agreement to replace the 1985 hillsborough deal and • parallel decommiss ioning or surrender of arms with the renewed stormont talks and all of these measures to be completed by may 1998 british disengagement from ireland which is essential for a lasting peace is not on this agenda as republican sinn fein has pointed out for the last three years blair further stated that any settlement in ireland must be within the parameters of the downing street declaration and the framework document therefore the unionist veto has got to be swallowed by all who participate in them the british prime minister's ultimatum to the provisional to call a ceasefire within five weeks in order to qualify for entry to talks in september begs a fundamental question even if they do all that is required and call a ceasefire the talks process is still there to uphold the unionist veto were republicans wrong therefore to have rejected the predecessor of this process the sunningdale agreement of 1973 irish times columnist fintan otoole has spelt it out by saying that the provisionals have to accept that everything since sunning dale has been a waste an internal settlement will not work because britain will still rule in the six occupied counties and will attempt to get the nationalist population to collaborate in running the colonial state there will be no divergences either in the bipartisan policy on the north between dublin and london despite the role playing that was adopted by bertie ahern and mo mowlam in the run-up to the drumcree orange parade part of this bipartisan policy entails putting their internal solution to the people of ireland in two separate referenda on the same date in 1998 this procedure cannot legitimise british rule in ireland indeed nothing can legitimise british rule in ireland in the words of the 1916 proclamation 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 • the realities of british rule — garvaghy nationalists being forcibly dragged from the road in july 1996 release josephine hayden now josephine hayden 51 the only woman political prisoner in the 26 counties was again removed to hospital from the women's wing of limerick jail on july 2 after suffering a second heart attack the mother-of-two had complained of a pain in her chest and of feeling unwell and is being closely monitored by the staff of the intensive care unit of limerick regional hospital just three weeks ago she was sent back from the same hospital to the primitive conditions in limerick jail seven days after her first heart attack which occurred on may 30 on both occasions she was handcuffed on the way to hospital in a statement on july 2 peig king republican sinn fein pow department said republican sinn fein has been calling for josephine hayden's unconditional release on humanitarian grounds for the past month we warned that her premature release from hospital care one week after a moderate heart attack could be extremely dangerous for the past three weeks josephine has been back in her third floor cell having to negotiate three flights of stairs every day and enduring the worst conditions in any wing of any prison in the 26 counties it is clear that if josephine hayden was not a political prisoner she would have been released by now to be cared for by her family and their doctor how long will the dublin department of justice and the new leinster house administration continue to take their pound of flesh in this manner «" ~ let them act now before it is too late and release josephine hayden immediately from limerick prison • josephine hayden speaking to the irish language weekly newspaper foinse june 29 republican pow josephine hayden's daughter roisin has called on behalf of her family for the release of their mother roisin told foinse my mother is 51 years old she had a heart attack on may 30 it took the authorities an hour to take her to hospital after waiting more than 20 minutes for an armed escort to accompany her her health is not good she does not look well and she has lost weight since returning to the prison urgent action call all concerned individuals and groups outside of the 26 counties should protest to the embassies and consuls of the 26-county state and call for the immediate release on humanitarian grounds of josephine hayden within the 26 counties protests should be made to public representatives to call on the dublin administration to release josephine posters and leaflets are available from the republican sinn fein pow department 223 parnell street dublin 1 please contact her by writing to the following address josephine hayden republican prisoner limerick prison mulgrave street limerick ireland