Issue 176, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (December, 2001)

              uimh 176 nollaig — december 2001 http://saoirse.rr.nu 60p usa 1 seansabhat commemoration 45th anniversary sunday january 6 2002 mountst lawrence cemetery limerick prominent speaker assemble bedford ro 12.45pm 3 , treachery punishable by death on sunday november 25 members of republican sinn fein assembled at mountjoy prison in honour of kevin barry and his nine comrades who were hanged by the british in the jail and marched to glasnevin cemetery to the republican plot where a celtic cross was erected some years ago in honour of the martyrs a message from george i larrison new york patron of republican sinn fein was read i join all of you here today as you pay tribute to kevin barry on the 81st anniversary of his martyrdom none of us know how he and his comrades would react in terms of today's manoeuvres however we do know that they died for ireland's lull freedom without limitation the oration was delivered by ruairi 6 bradaigh president republican sinn fein who said the stormont agreement of 1998 which demands surrender after surrender cannot deliver the goal these executed republicans died for the ignominious and dis-honourable destruction by the provisional of arms given for irish national independence since the re-burial of these volunteers was nothing short of treachery indeed the ira's general order no 1 1 rates it as such and states that it is punishable by death the long war by brendan o'brien p296 follow ing the execution of kevin barry and of james daly the connacht ranger in india the next day came bloody sunday in dublin and the kilmichael ambush in cork these events and public reaction to them forced british prime minister lloyd george to seek a truce with the ira i le stipulated in december 1920 that there must be a surrender of arms which the irish leaders promptly and unanimously reje ted nothing more was ever heard of such a demand from the british until march 1 5 1995 when patrick mayhew resurrected it in the usa and it became known as washington ed the arms had been used by the provos as a bargaining chip to preserve their positions of power under british rule in stormont and they had now broken every republican principle while basically indistinguishable from the sdlp and the old irish party at westminster they continued to misappropriate the historic names of sinn fein and the ira they should have the honesty and decency to renounce them forthwith as had cumann na ncraedhael/fine gael fianna fail clann na poblachta and the workers party william shakespeare once asked when is treason not treason the answer of course is when it is successful because then none dare call it treason well here surrounded by so many fenian and republican graves we dare to call it as it is we stigmatise it as treachery in honouring the volunteers of the dublin and east limerick brigades who although prisoners of war were executed by the british for allegedly levying war against the crown it is appropriate to quote abraham lincoln's words at gettysburg on another november day it is for us the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought have thus far so nobly advanced . . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth " he concluded meanwhile gerry adams said that provisional followers would take some months to get over the shock of decommissioning at the ulster unionist council meeting on december 1 david trimble daithi o conaill commemoration 11th anniversary new year's day january 1 2002 glasnevin cemetery assemble at gates 12.45pm from january the price of saoirse will increase to 1 70pstg the cost of producing the paper rose substantially in 2001 and we regret that we must now pass this increase on to our readers we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our readers and look forward to your continued support in the future 6 bradaigh quotes general order no 11 • ira's general order no 11 as published in the long war by brendan o'brien got the support of 56 of the delegates he previously said that 55 oi unionists had voted yes for the stormont agreement but that had fallen since however stormont uup member sylvia hermon had admitted to a recent fianna fail meeting that uup pro-agreement people were an endangered species it is generally agreed that there is no longer a majority of unionists for the agreement feilire poblachtach republican resistance calendar 2002 resistance there can never be peace in ireland until the foreign oppressive british presence is removed leavmg alt the irish people as a unit to control their own affairs and determine their own destinies as a sovereign people free in mind and body separate and distinct physicclty culturally and economically « bobby sands 1 9*4 1 98 1 pnhl/icm/iri 4 3stg each 5/£4 stg including p&p order now from 223 parnell street dublin 1 telephone 872 9747 e-mail saoirse@iol.ie nollaigfe shean is femhaisedar leitfyeoirigoleir