Issue 097, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (May, 1995)

              the voice of irish republicanism uimh 97 bealtaine — may 1995 50p usa 75c new address republican sinn fein ard-oifig has moved to new offices at republican sekk irfa podlachtach 223 parnell street dublin 1 telephone and fax numbers have not changed tel dublin 872 9747 / fax dublin 872 9757 see page 6 is | is i if liii ii in ii i • a british paratrooper stands over the body of a civil rights marcher on bloody sunday in derry city on january 30 1972 the proposed visit by the heir to the english throne prince charles to the 26-county state has sparked fury amongst the relatives of those killed on bloody sunday in derry in 1972 by the british paratroop regiment the visit announced on april 28 was also described as a gratuitous insult by republican sinn fein president ruairi 6 bradaigh col.-in-chief paras not welcome prince charles is colonel in-chief of the infamous regiment tony doherty a spokesperson for the bloody sunday justice campaign said this was the greatest single act of state-sponsored terrorism carried out by britain in the last 25 years of conflict by his silence alone after being confronted in derry last year prince charles implicitly supports the glorification of the shameful deeds of this highly trained death squad he is responsible for the ongoing tragedy of bloody sunday john kelly chairman of the committee whose brother michael was shot dead on bloody sunday described the visit as an awful slur on the memory of the 14 who died also derry journalist nell mccafferty has come out strongly against the visit writing in the sunday tribune on april 30 that charles comes to the 26 counties not j ust as a member of the british royal family but as colonel-in-chief of the paratroop regiment who has joined publicly in the campaign to have paratrooper private lee clegg released from prison where he is serving a sentence for the unlawful killing of karen reilly in belfast she goes on to say what i cannot concede is that it is all right for you the actively partisan colonel-in-chief to come over here symbolically forgiving us for what was done to your family while refusing to recognise what your soldiers did to us gratuitous insult in his statement republican sinn fein president ruairi 6 bradaigh said the proposed visit to the 26 counties of the heir of the to the crown of england which still claims sovereignty over part of ireland ion commemoration bodenstown june 11 1995 sallins co kildare 2.30pm speaker john joe mccusker fermanagh dublin bus leaves virgin megastore aston place 1.30pm 3 return • theobald wolfe tone father of irish republicanism is a gratuitous insult while the question of british rule here is still unresolved it is not charles first visit to ireland as he got his foot in the door by springing a surprise visit to derry last july the residents of that irish city did not fail to register a public protest against the presence of the colonel-in-chief of the notorious paratroop regiment which massacred derry's citizens in 1972 in this 150th anniversary year of the great starvation presided over by his lineal predecessor victoria will charles visit the famine-pits in mayo where 200,000 died due to british policy here will he go to skibbereen to visit the mass-graves filled by his antecedents it is appropriate to ask the gaa in its hesitancy about admitting british occupation troops and british paramilitary police in ireland to its ranks will it welcome this official british visitor we would remind fine gael that the man they claim as their founder arthur griffith — a dual monarchist — not even he countenanced such a visit here in 1901 he was actually party to organising a counter event it is fair in view of the fate of lord mountbatten here in 1979 to ask the provisionals will they guarantee the safety of the successor to the british throne while he is in any part of ireland likewise the 26-county state can be asked the same • british prince charles in paratrooper uniform — joined publicly in campaign to have para lee clegg released from prison question for the first time since it was imposed on the irish people in 1922 can it undertake with certainty the security of thisroyal personage who claims part of our country in view of its failure to do so in the mountbatten case it is now being suggested that the crowned head of england will undertake a state visit here next year — the 80th anniversary of the 1916 rising — while the work of that easter week is still not completed charles is merely acting as a stalking horse for such an occasion when the irish national demand will be formally and abjectly surrendered by the 26 county establishment but there are those who disagree he concluded