2000/07 and 2000/08, The Sovereign Nation (July/August, 2000)

              publication of the 32 county sovereignty movement belfast success for republican prisoners the belfast committee of the irish republican prisoners welfare association held a packed fundraiser at brennan's bar west belfast on friday 18th august despite an orchestrated campaign to halt the event more than 200 people heard american activist martin galvin in a defiant speech pledge that republicans would never be broken in their support for republican prisoners in the function chaired h marion price irish news the event which was organised and publicly advertised in the republican heartland of west belfast proceeded despite efforts to force its cancellation english tabloids wrongly described the benefit for the families of republican prisoners as a fundraiser for the 32 county sovereignty movement the irish news printed a story that the event was cancelled and at least one of its reporters attempted to coerce the premises into with drawing its contract with the committee a few of the relatives of the omagh tragedy scheduled a picket and called for belfast people to support their protest charitable the belfast chairperson of the trpwa marion price reacted immediately the irish republican prisoners welfare association is a charitable organisation established to support republican prisoners and their families we will give assistance to any republican prisoner who meets the cri teria laid down by our constitution regardless of their political affiliations ^^^^ there is a long tradition in republicanism i >/ 1 organising support for the families ofp vw's many a ourm mbers chairperson of the irpwa marion price asks picketers to leave charitable cause we choose we cannot follow the logic which portrays support for the wives and children of l >\\ "\ tl t'lh'll ivf support for the families of those incarcerated as a direct result of britain s continued occupation of six counties of ireland republicans are fully aware of the potential for pro-british elements and agencies to exploit any situation but we will remain steadfast in our commitment to and support for republican pow's and their families we have held previous functions in belfast and throughout ireland in aid of republican prisoners welfare and will the chair oi the sovereignty movement reacting to demands for cancellation bj michael gallagher noted by entering into the political arena and infringing on the rights of groups and individuals mr gallagher has not once challenged the validity of our position or our analysis of the situation here we acknowledge his under standable grief given the fact that his family have had a double suffering as a result of the conflict in ireland.the loss of his son in the omagh tragedy and the loss of his brother who was a member of the udr when he was shot is a double tragedy however the people of this country have endured much tragedy and suffering and we must all work towards the solution of bringing an end to it all gallagher-barker in a joint statement gallagher and victor barker announced a protest in rhetoric reminiscent of the peace people they called on the london and dublin govern ments to suppress the sovereignty movement a small group of protesters did arrive in a minibus but were escorted onto the street behind the car park accompanied by the royal ulster constabulary the pro testers arrived at 7pm and left well before the guest speaker and niosl of ihe supporters arrived the tew pro testers shook hands « ith the ruc before ea ing victims after his introduction bj marion price long-time american activist martin galvin said that if the orches trated campaign to cancel the event had succeeded the real victims would the wives and children of the irish political prisoners which would not be allowed to hap pen " he noted that there were two more events sched uled for dublin and dundalk the following week speaking of maghaberry he said today in maghaberry the british are trying once again this failed policy of criminalisation hoping that as part of the stormont deal they can succeed in maghaberry republican political prisoners are locked up 23 hours per day republicans are deliberately divided and allo cated cells surrounded by loyalists they have been assaulted scalded with boiling water threatened and had family members threatened during visits all in an attempt to break their resistance to criminalisation their remission is taken in an effort to make them accept prison work it may be maghaberry instead of long kesh or as the british tried to re-name it the maze the arbitrary date is no longer march 1976 but april 1998 the same diplock courts and judges sentence them criminalisation which has been defeated before is being resisted now and will be defeated again " mr galvin lamented that sinn f6in was now party to a british stormont administration which is seeking to criminalise irish republican prisoners he said " sinn fiin is a party many of whose members fought for in some cases received or became politically prominent around the issue of political status how long will sinn fein remain party to a british stormont administration which tries to criminalise republican political prisoners how long will the republican grassroots who under stand and feel this issue so ih il \ allow them tod ¦ to rurninfi to the ruc he asked howbnx will sinn fiin remai unleas how l mr galvin concluded h saying british rule is irreformable those who join with a british administra tion whether it be the sdlp or sinn fein will ultimate ly be party to the sectarian system and injustices which have brought suffering and conflict to ireland they will ultimately be driven to make a choice between coming back to republican principles or else staying at stormont and losing all trust and credibility meanwhile growing numbers of republicans will see that the mantel of irish republicanism will not wear inside a british stormont administration and choose to help build a credible v to a british stormont administrat ill republic tin rassr --, ts all u th sovereignty movement challenge at geneva conference a five-member delegation led by national chair francie mackey attended a key international council on human rights conference in geneva entitled the right to self-determination and the united nations the sovereignty movement succeeded in challenging british mps and raising britain's denial of irish national self-determination the delegation including dave me sweeney simon pook rory dougan and joe dillon made a key intervention and attracted important international support british the presence of the well-prepared sovereignty movement delegation was apparently not anticipated by several mps representing britain in their sub mission the british actually intended to present the stormont deal as a model for its resolution of the issue of self determination in other lands the sovereignty movement delegates challenged the stormont deal as a strategy to deny national self-determi nation mr mackey called the deal a british inspired strategy which led to a treaty which totally ignored the sovereignty of the irish people u'l|r right ti whtflfflination uhe htft the sovereignty movement's position won support and sympathy from many of the countries represented delegate after delegate said they had been misin formed about the level of irish opposi tion to the deal delegates expressed support both on the issue of irish national self-determination and also on the issue of ending censorship by visa denial which blocked attendance at the united nations a motion was introduced for the next session in which the delegates will be able to support a call on the british gov ernment to accept the sovereignty of the irish people a well as an intervention to prevent visa denial petition the delegation also prepared a petition which was signed by a large number of delegates a key point came during the presentation by british delegate gerald kaufman who conceded that the dublin government had never sought united nations help in opposing british rule and claiming that sinn fe"m had accepted british rule when it agreed to the stormont deal rory dougan francie mackey and simon pook members of the 32 county sovereignty delegation ccrv surveii/ance republicans page2 sovereignty de/egatio cm \ garvaghy road page 3 annuai generai meeting report age 4 history is repeating itseif