Issue 022, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (February, 1989)

              issn 0791 0002 bulk rate us postage paid hummel dist corp return address saoirse box 1053 south orange n.j 07079 uimh 22 feabhra-february 1989 25p usa 1.50 per issue 18 per year 70th anniversary first dail eireanm see centre pag/es swallowing a british oath by a unanimous vote free state sinn fe"in at their ard-fheis of january 27-29 decided to aban don all pretence of republicanism and accept any oath or declaration demanded by the british govern ment of candidates in the local council elections in the six coun ties next may the actual text of the oath or declar ation which is carried on this page requires those taking it : 1 to disown publicly all organisations banned by the british occupying power including the irish republican army cumann na mban and fianna eireann and 2 to repudiate publicly the right of the irish people to use force of arms to dislodge the british occupation forces from ireland and establish irish freedom there was not even one dissenting voice to expose this further sell-out of the republican position in ireland and not even one person to vote against it so much for those who said in 1986 that they would fight the slide down the constitutional and reformist road from the inside where are they now unmistakeable steps to date the unmistakable steps away from the all-ireland republic of 1916 • i declare that if elected i will not by word or deed express support for or approval of — a any organisation that is for the time being a proscribed organisation specified in schedule 2 to the northern ireland emergency provisions act 1978 or b acts of terrorism that is to say violence for political ends connected with the affairs of northern ireland 9 • the text of the oath from the published british elected authorities northern ireland act ". tlications for speakers easter commemoratk should be made to an rtfnaf iste cuimhneachafn naisiunta 21 shaw street dublin 2 imemoratton committees are eminded to book bands early easter lilies are no available r1ce £ 15 per 1 000 fro ilg king 29 all saints pa raheny dublin 5 honour ireland s l iar an easte1 and 1919 have been as follows 1 acceptance of the 26-county state and its institutions at the ard-fheis of 1986 2 registering at leinster house as a free state political party in 1987 3 applying to the 26-county police for permits to sell easter lilies in 1988 which met with refusal 4 asking the british crown forces for permission to march to the graves of irish men and irish women whom the same crown forces have killed 5 making submissions defined as referring deferentially to arbitration to the british government and the dublin administration in their review of the workings of the hillsborough deal 6 instructing irish political prisoners in english jails to cease demanding repatriation to the six counties i.e return to their own country and ask instead for re-allocation within the so-called united kingdom 7 voting unanimously to swallow any british oath or declaration thereby making a mockery of political morality and dishonouring the memory of those who died rather than accept such oaths to a foreign power of course it did not go unnoticed that the latter decision was taken on the actual anniversary of one of the most traumatic events in recent irish history — the massacre of 14 unarmed irish citizens by british paratroopers in derry on bloody sunday 1972 the exercise in political hypocrisy at dublin's mansion house took place one short week after the same people presum ed to commemorate the first dail at which cathal brugha as ceann comhairle and all the elected deputies stood and declared solemnly we accept the dec laration of independence and pledge our selves to make it effective by every means in our power meanwhile the media concentrated with glee on the explicit criticism of the mil itary wing of free state sinn fein — the first time ever at an ard-fheis will these spokespersons never learn that no amount of public self-abasement or self-flagell ation will satisfy the pro-british elements in radio television and the press full acceptance of the status quo - including british rule in ireland - and nothing else will abate the hostility of the media those who abandoned the repub lic in 1986 will have to go all the way down the workers party road to achieve this signs are not lacking that this is their intention - and as such it is being reveal ed bit by bit long years republicans know and are very con scious of the fact that political prisoners have spent long years in jails and intern ment camps rather than give undertakings of the kind referred to here on the world stage nelson mandela has been in prison for 26 years now in his 7 1 st year he could have secured release at any time since 1975 if he had made a dis honourable declaration such as that accepted unanimously by free state sinn • nelson mandela he could have secur ed release at any time since 1975 by taking such an oath fe'in on january 29 around the world he is honoured and at home in south africa he is recognised as the father of his people similarly republicans have lost their jobs down the years and continue to be excluded from employment because they will not swallow such oaths or pledges this applies to all people in state or semi state employment for sinn fein poblachtach the declar ation of the first dail already quoted and the oath of allegiance taken by all deputies and ira volunteers in 1919 still stand "... to support and defend the irish republic and the government of the irish republic which is dail eir eann 32 counties against all enemies foreign and domestic . . . ". in a national liberation struggle any other course begins in compromise with the enemy - and these have been listed - and ends in the situation of the workers party complete capitulation on the national issue watch how it unfolds - step by step