Issue 117, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (January, 1997)

              the voice of the republican movement uimh117 eanair — january 1997 50p usa 1 the betrayal of deny • during the drumcree stand-off and the apprentice boys march in derry last summer a revolutionary situation developed as the british government illustrated to another generation that it was prepared to murder to stay in ireland seepage 9 inside on how the provisional the sdlp and the catholic hierarchy combined to defuse and attack those who actively opposed the british crown forces the damage caused by a british crown forces raid on a home in bally murphy belfast on december 6 last resistance peace in ireland until british pf*wk « m(wrj leaving oil ttie irish peopw < urn tp«om«jl hwtrown affairs « determine thair awn deit initi as a sovereign pe«pl it in mind and body bparat and bobby sands 1954-1981 calendar now available 2.50 plus p&p calendar marks 27 years of resistance to british occupation and the 16th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike special rates for bulk orders contact 223 parnell street dublin 1 res is ritish rule as we face into 1997 there are opportunities for true republicans to press the message home that british rule in ireland must end for a just and lasting peace to emerge the past twelve months has shown that nothing has changed in regard to british colonial interference in our country the same overwhelming apparatus of repression is being used by the british to crush the nationalist community in the six counties their intentions can be clearly identified in the announcement at the end of 1 996 that there would be an increase of 1 20 million in military spending in the six counties over the next three years it is their overriding priority as befits a colonial occupier just like the israelis in the occupied territories or the indonesians in east timor as the photograph here shows punitive raids on nationalist homes in belfast and elsewhere have increased over recent weeks with the british crown forces showing great zeal in destroying property and abusing residents no peace process there britain's supremo in the six counties patrick mayhew said on new year s eve that the active resistance of republicans in the past year and over 25 years had achieved nothing the reality is that were it not for the tremendous efforts and sacrifice over that period the british would still have their colonial governor in hillsborough castle and their puppet parliament in stormont overseeing a squalid sectarian statelet that achievement and the international attention which it has brought to bear on ireland's british problem owes nothing to the bankrupt political policies of the dublin administration they were exposed as never before during 1996 when orange mob rule prevailed during the drumcree stand-off in july and the citizens of the garvaghy road were terrorised and attacked by the armed forces patrick mayhew unleashed on them the drumcree stand-off also exposed the bankruptcy of the provisionals who held their military organisation in check while a revolutionary situation developed not only that but they actively policed the nationalist community and used all the pressure at their disposal to stop resistance to british rule in deny this amounted to acting as an auxiliary police force for the british during august's apprentice boys parade see page 9 inside those who argue that the provisionals will return to a demand for a british withdrawal and to active resistance to that presence if their current policy fails received their answer at drumcree they are totally committed to the constitutional reformist road and the futile process they are still pursuing with their constitutional allies is based on a lie it is not their new friends who are being deceived but their own supporters but drumcree placed the demand for a british withdrawal back on the agenda and showed that a solution in the six counties that delivers equality and justice for all is impossible the leinster house political parties once again showed in december that the only time they act with cohesion and vigour is when they want to vote themselves millions in extra and backdated expenses equally the evidence of corruption in the current 26 county administration has only intensified people's disgust with leinster house the imminent british general election and the minority position of the tory government dependent on the uup will entrench the british imperialist position over the coming months republican sinn fein provides the only alternative to a partitioned two-state ireland and its political social and economic ills as padraic pearse said of his own time there are but two parties in ireland those who support the british presence and those who oppose it those who continue to oppose it must increase their efforts to resist british rule in 1997