2005/07 and 2005/08, The Sovereign Nation (July/August, 2005)

              the sovereig 32 county sovereignty movement the republican voice july-august 2005 community rage - ardoyne erupts - over 8q ruc/psni iiijtfred - 32csm hails j£esident spirited resistance the community of ardoyne expressed itself in justifiable rage and resistance in the face of extreme provocation according to 32 county sovereignty movement spokesperson matt brown in comments to the sovereign nation mr burns went on to say that it was without a doubt that many amongst the nationalist resi dents of north belfast had come to the collec tive opinion that the parades commission allows orange parades through nationalist areas based upon pure irrationality the run up to this particular parade had all the hall marks of an event that should have been rerouted away from the ardoyne community it was well logged and documented both by the media and the british irish rights watch that in days preceeding it people living in the area had been the victims of a campaign of intimidation by groups of loyalists who had attacked homes and physically assaulted people added to this was the case that on the very morning of the cityward journey of the parade peaceful nationalist protesters on the crumlin road were assaulted by an over whelming force of ruc chief constable hugh orde himself had openly bragged to the assembled press prior to this of how he had more than enough resources at his disposal to deal with them eyewitnesses at the scene comment ed about the sheer frustration that eventually boiled over on the return leg of the parade near the ardoyne shops one person said the cops were taking a hammering people were throwing golf balls paint stones anything they could get their hands on and then came the blast bombs i heard the loud bang and saw one cop hit the ground i'm not sure how badly injured he was reports differ as to how many ruc/psni were actually injured in total but many have settled for the the figure of approximately 80 in all mr brown emphasized that the high number of police casualties attested to the spirited resistance of the residents them selves and showed that young people in particular were still enthusiastic in their oppo sition to british rule and identifying the com mon enemy many tv and newspaper com mentators had attempted to portray these young people as psychopaths and crazies this is not so and is an insult aimed at divert ing observers away from the political back ground that these confrontations arise from on the latter note the 32csm spokesperson was also keen to point out that whereas it was necessary to be aware of sec tarianism and the hatred it stirs especially around the notion of sectarian marches it was also important to remember that these things are a by-product or symptom of the continu ing reluctance of the british state to address the issue of irish sovereignty he said the orange card has been played again and again by the british state in a successful effort to distract people from the underlying problem of colonial occupation and to justify it's own presence in ireland it is too easy for the british and their unionist allies to let this illu sion of sectarian or religious differences to dominate and even convince the very minds of our own people resisting these unwanted incursions into the nationalist community with the kind of spirit we've seen in ardoyne and other areas such as derry is not only a right but an obligation however we mustn't be fooled into allowing ourselves to think it is simply about defending our own street instead we must remembet that the irish republican struggle has at its very basis the assertion that it's people are fighting to defend the freedom independence and sovereignty of the nation see belfast 32csm statement p 3 glor na poblachta i