Issue 182, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (June, 2002)

              uimh182 meitheamh — june 2002 http://saoirse.rr.nu 1 70p stg usa 30 p.a british troops and ruc/psni stand by as . loyalists attack in • short strand resident peter montgomery's arm was broken in two places when he was hit by a plastic bullet on may 14 as the british crown forces raided homes in the nationalist area of east belfast over the four nights from june 1 to june 4 the queen of england's jubilee was celebrated in east belfast by attacks on the vulnerable nation alist enclave of short strand the irish times june 5 reported queen elizabeth ii ¦ cheered by about million of her subjects but for the 3,000 nationalists in the short strand it was a ver fereni experience on monday june 3 four people and one ruc/psni were wounded bj gonfir cast belfast two lev alleged wounded by nati ist gunfire one loyalist was wounded by ruc/psni fire and i bus drtvi hired when loyalists opened fire phe ruc psn1 chid ( unstable mcquillan warned of the implication tor the whole process while gerry adams met david i n ine and british supreme john reid ami asked to meet ahem and blair on wednesday june 5 the situation worsened with masked men on the streets gunfire in daylight hours and a loyalist attack with stones and bottles on st matthew's church during a funeral david i rimble aban doned a meeting with e president bill clinton in i iiniskilk-n and instead went to london for a crisis meeting with i'm blair when he emerged from the meetin blamed the provisiooals foi all the trouble in east bti rhe attack on st matthew's recalls 32 years ago in june 1970 henry mcelhone was killed and bill mckee wound ed defending the short strand nunity from similar attack fwo loyalists were also killed this area including st matthew's church has been tar geted as far back as i i he response of the british force was muted one loyalist an was wounded by i'sni and one british policeman was in turn hit bj loyalist gunfire on june 4 l plastic bullets were tired the attacks spread to south belfast on j in .-. in a statement in la 1999 republican sinn warned that the framework of the stormont agreement vided for all of ibis conflict - a continuation of llanwille holy cross short strand ardoyne garvaghy road ft loyalists feel threatened by the implications of the agreement id conflict would be ongoing and as nationalists need politically and nomicall this would be resist ed lie past year and more in north belfast shows that four after the slnmiont viiseim we are back to s matthew's church 1970 republican sin hem would it not be better to up to the fundamental situ ation now and settle it rat than ha in mother 20 sion now of conflict to east and augur well for the marching season i he solution has to be in the context of the structure of a federation of the tour pro ¦¦¦ with a decentralization of power to ensure that there is no domination of an one section of the communit b another union lies iii 1 1ki \ lublin bus leaves virgin megastore 11.30 am sharp assemble salllns milage 12.30 she bodenstown crisis maximum attendance required this is a clarion call to all republicans and especial ly to all members and supporters of republican sinn fein it is above all else a rallying cry to attend and participate in the annual wolfe tone commemoration at bodenstown on sunday june 16 sponsored by the national commemoration committee the ceremony is in dan ger of being swamped this j ear — not by the free state who have banned it many limes - but b the provisional leadership who for the first time have announced their own euinmemoration lor the same day and date as ours we have no wish for a confrontation whether verbal or physical but we u ill not be trampled on by those who would concede no rights at all to us therefore we adhering to our acce since 1986 in this case june k as announced in the la ofsaoir&e however we will a ble two hours earlier than usual at 12.30pm and march off at i pm sharp a six count band has been engaged chief marshal will be sean 6 se with seosamh o maoileoin as assistant joe o'neill will preside at the side and the oration will he given by ruairi og (> bradaigh with strict stewarding all will ling to plan and we will not be pushed about where we bat ight to be iinmediateh on return to sal i i us all republicans will quit the area to avoid dis we are standing our nd while at the same time taking all reasonable precau tions the rest is up to you fel republicans we want an lance there be there in d time till the slice let us carrj out our duties in a manner remember the plact been hallowed by th tions of republicans who have atte&ded there to renew their national faith over the decades and indeed for up to two centuries great leaders have spoken there padraig pearse himself liam mellows brian o'miggins and mar macswine to name but a lew i el us in our time measure up to their high standards be there in time1 and show that those who remain true to the republican cause will not yield to those who emdonad it bi aim agus beidh linn — ruairi 6 bradaigh president republican sinn fein