New Year statements 2019
Posted by Jim on January 8, 2019
A round-up of statements issued at the turn of the year by the leaders
and leaderships of Sinn Fein and republican organisations.
Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Fein Vice-President)
As we approach the end of 2018, I want to thank and commend all those
working in our frontline services over the Christmas period.
While many people will be relaxing at home with their families over the
Christmas period, thousands of doctors, nurses, paramedics, fire
fighters and vital support staff will be at work, caring for patients,
supporting families and saving lives.
The chaos of Brexit has obviously dominated politics over the past year
and we can expect more of the same in 2019.
But, equally, Sinn Fein will continue to provide strong leadership and
decisive action, representing the best interests of all our citizens.
We are living in historic times. And despite the chaos and uncertainty
of Brexit, I am hopeful about the future.
Hopeful because more and more progressive voices are coming together to
assert their rights as citizens and reject the kind of narrow,
self-serving agendas that brought us Brexit, Tory cuts and the denial of
rights.
I believe progress is possible. I am hopeful we can end the denial of
rights in the north and restore our power-sharing institutions on the
basis of equality.
The prejudice felt by women, the LGBTQ community, Irish speakers and
victims is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Through
all the chaos, uncertainty and challenges that face us, that peace
agreement must be protected.
It’s time we finally give people the kind of government, society and
future that they deserve and can have confidence in.
A new Assembly and a new type of politics is possible. Let’s make 2019
the year of real and lasting change.
Nollaig shona do gach duine agus bliain ur faoi mhaise daoibh go leir.
Republican Sinn Fein
Beannachtai na hAthbhlianna o Shinn Fein Poblachtach do ar gcomradaithe,
chairde agus lucht tacaiochta anseo in Eireann agus thar lar. Seolamid
teachtaracht tacaiochta cuig ar cimi poblachtanaigh, go hairithe
Jonathan Hawthorn i Priosun Port Laoise.
[Republican Sinn Fein extends New Year’s greetings to friends, supporters
and members both in Ireland and internationally. We also salute
Republican prisoners especially Jonathan Hawthorn in Portlaoise jail.]
This year is the 100th anniversary of An Chead Dail Eireann and will be
a year of challenges and opportunities for all Republicans. One hundred
years ago was the last time the population of Ireland voted as a single
unit and they overwhelmingly voted for a 32-County Republic. Sinn Fein
had campaigned on a platform of independence, sovereignty and a total
separation from their Imperialist neighbour. This decision was to lead
to the War of Independence, and ultimately to the betrayal of the people
by Irish politicians who compromised on the ideals of the 1916
Proclamation. Rather than stand fast on principle, they agreed to
partition off part of Ireland in exchange for a subservient puppet
parliament in Leinster House for 26 Counties, and another at Stormont
for six north-eastern counties.
This decision had far-reaching consequences down through the following
century, with families split in the defence of the 32-County Republic, a
sectarian Administration in the Occupied Six Counties that treated
nationalists as less-than-human and it led to a continuation of the
struggle for a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
Despite the defection of many so-called republicans into
“constitutional” politics, the call for a United Ireland has never been
quelled. Republicans have rightly stayed relevant and refused to enter
Leinster House or Stormont not because of any oath to a foreign monarch,
but because neither of these institutions represent the people of
Ireland as they still remain subservient to foreign entities.
This past year has seen an ever-increasing assault on the people of
Ireland, on their standard of living and the rights of the people of
Ireland to the ownership of Ireland. The neo-liberal coalition of FF+FG
has tried their best to force water charges onto the people of Ireland.
This has been steadfastly resisted by a peoples’ movement. Evictions are
now an all too common sight, with the banks that were bailed out by the
taxpayers now selling on their mortgages to vulture funds who, working
with the State, then forcibly remove many from their homes. Last
December saw the people once again work together to rightly return a
farm to its rightful owners, after the KBC Bank used unlicensed thugs to
assault the family and a neighbour. This particular eviction was
facilitated at the highest level of policing when the thugs were
escorted through the back roads of Roscommon to the farm and worse still
were the lies told by the MI5 leader of the Irish police when he said
“his” police would not stand by as people were assaulted, the video clip
clearly shows the police watching people being attacked These actions by
the people of Ireland give hope to us all. Working independently of
establishment parties they faced oppression and injustices against
others. They stood firm and resolute in the belief that this State does
not represent them. Let this form of resistance continue, let no
political party take over such movements as they have no interest other
than to control activists.The disconnect between both States here and
the people has never been starker. Politicians in both administrations…
continue to be paid huge wages, expenses and other perks while many
people live hand-to-mouth. The irony of Stormont representatives being
paid while not actually working and the Leinster House representatives
getting 1,000 euro pay rises epitomises all that is wrong with politics in
Ireland.
The two States continue to use the old divide and conquer tactic.
Whether it is through religion, class or ethnicity they have managed to
isolate groups and individuals. In December last we heard 26-County
politicians lay the ground-work to blame nurses for any issues that
might arise in the future because they want their pay restored to proper
levels. Similarly, they blame the scandal of patients lying on trolleys
in A+E departments on doctors not working longer hours. Earlier in the
year it was the fault of teachers looking for pay parity causing cuts in
spending in other areas of education. Strange how there is ample money
for politicians pay-rises, their perks and expenses. Now is the time for
the people to stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder against the whole
political class that seeks to impoverish us.
The Republican Movement has long promoted Federalism as a way forward in
a unified Ireland. The Eire Nua policy of Republican Sinn Fein calls for
four provincial parliaments as well as regional parliaments. These would
give voice to people on how issues are dealt with locally. It would give
a strong voice to our unionist brothers and sisters in a nine-county
Ulster Dail. Today more and more people are talking about the Eire Nua
document and of Federalism in general. This is a good thing. Now is the
time to engage with people locally and nationally to promote this
concept. It is and has been a viable way to deal with the problems that
have beset Ireland since partition. Even those who called the Eire Nua
programme “a sop to Unionism” did secretly engage in discussions on its
merits with Unionists.
With the deadline for Brexit there will be challenges for Republicans
here in Ireland. The fact that it is Ireland and the British-imposed
border that is causing so much angst has thrust the unnatural situation
here into the limelight. Irish Republicans, who consistently refused to
accept any form of British border in Ireland are to thank for this
situation. If it were up to any of the constitutional politicians in
either jurisdiction, the issue would have been brushed over many years
ago. The old saying “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity” has
never rang truer. We need to keep this issue in the forefront of the
media. We need to highlight the very obvious answer to this difficulty
for Britain, ie, removing all vestiges of British rule from our country.
While the self-serving Establishment will not publicly admit it, the
time is fast approaching where the balance of power will shift in the
Occupied Six Counties.
We as Republicans do not engage in a sectarian head-count, but by the
divisive method set down over many years by both British and Irish
politicians the day is coming when internally in the Occupied Six
Counties a majority will want to reunite with the 26 Counties, though in
a new Ireland, not the flawed 26-County State.
Internationally, we send greetings to all struggling peoples around the
world, we again stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and
sisters who remain resolute in declaring their right to the homeland in
the face of increased aggression from Zionist forces. The rise of
fascism globally is alarming. We see in Europe a rising number of people
giving the fascist salute from Kiev to Madrid; in the USA minorities are
being increasingly oppressed with an increasing number of attacks on
Black, Hispanic and others. In many other countries fascists and
neo-liberal leaders are on the rise. Left-leaning political parties are
undermined through proxy “peoples’ risings”, sponsored, at times, by
Imperialist countries. The left must rise to these manipulations, we
must work together to bring the working-classes together, for a more
equal society.In the coming year let us resolve to advance the cause of
the All-Ireland Republic, proclaimed in Easter Week and established by
the will of the Irish people on January 21, 1919.
Peadar Toibin (All Ireland Political Movement)
Ireland excels at orthodoxy. The orthodoxy of 1950’s Ireland has in 2018
been replaced by its mirror image. We don’t do respectful diversity of
opinion well in Ireland. 1950’s Ireland was intolerant to dissent as was
2018.
As 2018 ends all of the political parties are in perfect conformity on a
whole range of issues. The rush by all parties from the extreme left to
the extreme right in the Oireachtas, to occupy exactly the same space
and time on a range of different issues is unparalleled internationally.
Other than a handful of exceptions, this uniformity is reflected in the
national print and broadcast media.
On whichever sides of these cultural wars you ideologically reside, it
has to be of concern that there is no political party to challenge the
status quo and represent 1/3 of the people of the state without a voice
in Leinster House. Group think has not served this country well. We all
owe about 40,000 euro due to an economic crash. One of the main ingredients
of that crash was group think. Very few were willing to say stop when
southern economy was being driven off the cliff.
Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Indeed it is a critical part of
functioning democracy. Indeed if you silence a large minority, you push
them to the margins. If you push them to the margins they will vote for
people on the margins too. This is what has happened in the US, Britain
and now in France.
One of the engines of this political uniformity is the party system that
punishes those who question the prevailing winds of the day and
interprets blind conformity as loyalty. Ministers promoted on the basis
of fidelity to the leader and geography rather than relevant technical
knowledge are easily captured by their departments.
Nowhere is this Ministerial inability more obvious that the national
emergencies in Housing and Health care. The inhumane burgeoning waiting
lists for healthcare and housing are causing extreme pain and suffering
to hundreds of thousands of people. Yet they are politically tolerable
to the Fine Gael front bench and their Fianna Fail back benchers.
The ballooning of costs of new hospitals and in broadband steal from
future generations already saddled with the astronomical debt of the
last economic crash. The Minister for Health has remained a media
darling through all of this by speaking only about abortion for the last
2 years. This has been facilitated by an opposition who openly admit to
being on political ceasefire.
Luckily Fine Gael has been propped up in terms of Brexit by a EU
establishment that seeks to make it as hard as possible for Britain to
leave. The one practical step that FG could take to ameliorate Brexit on
the island of Ireland would be to actively pursue the All Ireland
Economy promised since the inception of the Good Friday Agreement.
However as Liam Mellows predicted Irish Unity is a threat to the
establishments on both sides of the border. FG, the party of power,
would become a small regional party in a United Ireland.
The Good Friday Agreement was a landmark agreement. It became the basis
of what seemed like an impossible peace. However it was created when
there was a Unionist majority and before the spectre of Brexit. The
institutions created under it are not working. Families across the north
are living in food, housing and health poverty and yet one dysfunctional
party can put the administration in the north into cold storage for 2
years.
It is time to look beyond the Good Friday Agreement. The governments are
in dereliction of the duties by not implementing Joint Authority now.
It’s completely logical and way beyond time to plan, fund and deliver
services on an All-Ireland basis. It’s time to delete the barriers to
the All-Ireland economy now. The border is a wall with a thousand
blocks. Each block represents a practical barrier. We need to take down
the border block by block. This can be done by creating a cross border
ambulance service, a cross border education system, a cross border radio
licensing system, a cross border corporation tax and excise duty. The
list is endless. Each convergence removes a block and lowers the border.
It makes us stronger and makes the eventual transition to unity simpler.
It’s is also beyond time for the regional southern parties to stop
dithering and start to function on a national basis. Fianna Fail is
politically paralysed in this regard by a leader who is afraid to make a
decision. Since the days of Bertie Fianna Fail have talked the talk but
the still refuse to take the necessary step. All the while the SDLP is
disintegrating and rudderless.
Ireland is turning into a city state. Dublin is an outlier in European
terms with regards the size of the population and economic activity in
comparison to the rest of the country. Rudderless spatial development is
empting rural Ireland west of the Bann, in the border region and the
western sea board. Demand must be met by infrastructure on the east
coast for sure but new infrastructure must stimulate population growth
on the west coast. Brave decisions must be made to build a small number
of urban counterbalances on the west coast.
100,000 workers in the south of Ireland work full time and yet are in
poverty. An economy built upon a working poor is not a just society.
Workers are entitled to fair wages and terms and conditions that allow
families to thrive. Workers must be able to organise and collectively
bargain. Zero hour contracts hollow out the ability of young families to
provide for their children and increase the profit of massive
multinationals. Spiralling costs hollow out wages threatening workers
and employers.
Often the left seeks to pit the family on 20,000, 35,000 or 50,000 pounds
against each other. They also pit the worker against the small
enterprise owner. Everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room. The
biggest injustice is actually that fact that wealth is migrating at
speed to the richest 1%. 82% of the money generated last year when to
the richest 1%
In the south 83 High Worth Individuals (people with assets over 50m euro)
had taxable income of less than the average industrial wage, which is
just over 36,500 euro. 140 HWIs were found to have a taxable income of less
than 125,000 euro. This while 10,000 men, women and children are homeless
and the figures are getting worse.
There are 18,092 mortgages valued at 3.98 billion euro currently in the
hands of unregulated vulture funds. They buy debt cheap, grind out what
they can from families, farmers and business people, throw them on the
scrap heap and get out fast.
They are an asset stripping tool employed by Fine Gael to feed on those
in financial distress. Michael Noonan siad himself “Vultures, you know,
carry out a very good service In the ecology”. Leo Varadkar echod this
sentiment just in the last few days. Vulture funds are not an accident
of the market they are an invasive species introduced on purpose into
Irish society by Fine Gael. They are untouchable. They refuse to come
before the Finance Committee in the Oireachtas but have access all areas
with the Dept of Finance meeting them 125 times.
500,000 people are in housing distress. The collateral damage of the FF
crash is still winding its way through the court system in the form of
broken families in arrears. While at the same time families are being
crucified by astronomical rents and house prices that are higher than
the most dangerous peak of the last property bubble. Again this has not
happened by accident. Michael Noonan told me that house prices were too
cheap and that the only way to increase supply was to increase prices.
This stupidity has facilitated property speculators to sit on land
banks, refuse to build and wait for house prices to increase even
further.
Leo Varadkar stated today that the introduction of one of the most
extreme abortion regimes in Europe was a sign of social progress. It
shows how upside down our world has become when the state sponsored
ending of thousands of lives is considered progress. (ending of lives is
what the actual law states)
Simon Harris states that he is pro-choice but the cruel policies that he
implements make many women feel that they don’t have a choice. As a
result of FG’s policies 19 women gave birth, homeless last year. This is
an astonishing situation.
All of the necessary economic and social supports must be provided to
mothers and families to ensure that they know that they can raise their
children in confidence. We need to be prolife for the whole life.
It’s shocking that in the last month FF, FG, SF and Labour have refused
to accept amendments to their abortion bill that would have guaranteed
that pain relief would be made available to an unborn child after 20
weeks gestation, that would have guaranteed that medical care would have
been given to a child that had survived abortion, that would have made
it illegal to have abortions on the basis of gender and disability, that
would have simply offered information and an ultrasound to a mother is
considering abortion and that would have guaranteed doctors, nurses,
midwifes and pharmacist full conscientious objections.
The establishment is in lockstep in opposition to a range of simple
humanitarian amendments. FG TDs say that abortion survival is a ‘fairy
story’. FF TDs state that abortion regret is ‘Makey Uppy’. Fianna Fail
and Fine Gael members cannot tell the difference between their TDs and
Ruth Coppinger anymore.
Members and elected representatives of Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and the
SDLP are gathering votes for parties that are doing damage to their core
values. They are working for leaderships that are going in the opposite
direction to them. Many of these members realise that they are in the
wrong parties. Many feel that due to tradition and friendships that it
would be hard to leave. But the truth is by staying they are part of the
problem and are giving licence to their leaderships to destroy their
values.
Politics is not a social club. Political activism is a deeply important
responsibility. Being a passenger of a political vehicle going the wrong
way contributes to the problem. In the opening days of 2019 citizens
need to take stock as to where they are at and where their party is
going. Men and women need to seek out the political party that is most
closely aligned to their values and world view.
When this happens people must get active. Decisions are made by those
who turn up. Being broken hearted, depressed or angry with regards what
is happening is not nearly enough.
We need to build, organise and plan. Most of all we need to get active
now. Grass roots activism will be our defining mark.
For many people this process has already started. 1,400 people have
signed up to our new All Ireland Political Movement. 8 elected reps have
declared. This leaves us the same size as the Soc Dems who have been
about for 3 years while we are just at the starting gate. We are talking
to well over 20 elected reps around the country. Hundreds of people are
coming to our meetings. We will have well over 20 public meetings
between now and mid-February. We have 20 Cumann up and running and hope
to reach 100 Cumann by March. We will start the process of selecting
candidates by the end of January.
Change must happen! But it will not happen by itself. It will own happen
if you and hundreds of thousands of people like you have the drive to
make it happen. Join with us. Bigi linn.
Irish Republican Socialist Party
The leadership of the Irish Republican Socialist Party today sends New
Year greetings to its core membership, to supporters across Ireland and
the world, to the family and friends of Republican Socialist martyrs and
to imprisoned comrades everywhere.
The year 2018 proved momentous for the Republican Socialist Movement;
wherein, acting upon previous year’s commitments, the party of Seamus
Costello embarked upon a nationwide campaign to build for a radical
referendum on Irish unification.
Staying true to Costello’s principled doctrine of Guerrilla Politics; we
recognised a clear opportunity in demographic shifts within the occupied
six counties, and, (applying modes of organisation learned from comrade
organisations across the Celtic world and in Europe), we moved to build
a popular momentum capable of forcing the goal of Irish Unity to the top
of Irish national priorities and capable of pushing the progressive
radical vote which will follow, over the line and towards victory.
Our members travelled across Ireland and beyond to this end; knocking
upon the doors of working-class homes, organising public meetings in
towns, cities and villages and debating capably in defence of our goals.
In 2019 we will build further upon this momentum, bringing the only
left-wing analysis to the coming debate on national unity and
introducing a whole new generation to what is the only progressive and
principled Republican Socialist analysis on this issue.
We note that some commentators have dramatically called into question
the principle of our referendum program. In the face of such criticisms
we say this; successful campaigns were never fought by those who stood
still, but by those who could manoeuvre both inside and outside the
enemy’s walls.
The IRSP are not above others critically analysing our direction, we
welcome it, with the caveat that no one political tendency on this
island has the capacity to deliver a united democratic socialist
republic alone. Yet it is the responsibility of those who would oppose
our direction to formulate a strategy past sloganizing.
The IRSP will embrace this path while it works and will choose another
if it fails, our members are principled people and will remain on the
revolutionary road regardless, concern yourself with your own structures
and we will take care of ourselves.
Our grassroots working class engagement process has also been a crucial
component in the realisation that 2019, a year of great historical
significance, is the year for preparation, dialogue, debate and
mobilisation towards a referendum to deliver a United Ireland.
A socialist United Ireland is no longer an abstract aspiration of the
few. The fundamental contractions that exist within British occupied
Ireland, the push for Scottish Independence, Brexit, mixed with the
inherent exploitative nature of capitalism, all combined are making
progressive Irish Unity a distinct possibility.
Republican Socialists do not intend to sit on the side-lines waiting for
the Irish people to be allowed to peacefully and democratically express
their wish for a United Ireland through a referendum mechanism. We
categorically demand it; and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with all
others to make this demand in 2019. We will engage in debate and
dialogue with any individual or group that shares our strategic analysis
on this single issue.
The wider conversation on the building of an Irish unity referendum must
first and foremost be carried out in a respectful and comradely manner.
Existing differences in policy have to be acknowledged and set aside for
any meaningful dialogue to succeed. We must learn the lessons of our
recent history; have the capacity to identify state players and agents
of influence whose motives are to sow the seeds of division.
Republicans and socialists must get involved in the wider mainstream
debate on a united Ireland to prevent the right-wing establishment from
monopolising the social, cultural and economic narrative and to further
divide the people for their selfish elitist class interests.
We must make it clear to the working class that transitioning into a
32-county capitalist framework (post referendum) will not solve the deep
seeded problems which arise from a society built on exploitation. The
housing crisis, education crisis, healthcare crisis, poverty crisis,
unemployment, underemployment and the debt crisis can only be seriously
addressed with a radical transition process towards a socialist
republic; an Irish referendum is the catalyst for this change.
The IRSP will campaign for the creation of a commission, consisting of
all representatives of the organised working class to examine ways of
establishing an all-Ireland socialist economy post referendum.
2019 will also be a year of historic centenary celebrations as we
commemorate the establishment of the First Dial and the acceptance and
ratification of the Democratic Programme and the 1916 Proclamation of
the Republic as the fundamental bedrock on which a progressive Irish
Republic should be established. The IRSP welcome attempts by a broad
spectrum of Irish socialism to unite and discuss the potential for
implementation of the principal’s laid out in both these historic yet
relevant documents.
The IRSP enter this year having survived 44 years of British and
Free-State attempts at destroying our movement. At every stage of IRSP
development we have faced relentless and multi-layered attacks. Many of
these attacks were fronted by proxies of the state who; while portraying
themselves as Republicans or Republican socialists, were simultaneously
engaged in efforts at destroying the Republican Socialist movement on
behalf of the enemy. This is the lesson of our past and a tradition we
will continue to expose whenever it arises.
A visible confidence exists among the present membership and support
base of the RSM This is a product of solid work and genuine activism
while vibrancy is the harvest from possessing a clear and concise
Republican Socialist strategy. We endure an MI5 agenda to dismantle this
confidence and vibrancy through, for example, the PCTF. It would be
unthinkable that such an agenda could be conceived of bereft of the
traditional and dual employment of Proxies to aid state objectives. Our
party adheres to the principles contained within the Ta Power document
and in all our dealings with Republican comrades we persevere to pursue
comradely relationships which are based upon mutual respect.
As our influence grows, criticism will naturally follow. We embrace
criticism and dialogue as an opportunity for us to reflect and to
analyse our own positions. We must reject faux criticism entirely and
confront all those who, knowingly or not, have allowed themselves to
become proxies of the state (s), particularly on social media platforms.
The meaningless scandalization of Republicanism for the petty and
selfish aim of self-exposure must end. This can be terminated by
replacing negative language with a positive and effective revolutionary
dialogue. We must silence opportunistic reactionaries and delimit their
ability to undermine confidence or sap the morale of genuine activists.
This will be achieved by prioritising the politics which unites us above
the issues that set us apart. The IRSP of 2019 recall the words of
Seamus Costello with a membership that stands as testimony to them. “We
are in business as a serious revolutionary organisation and we are not
going to be put out of business by anybody. The IRSP is organised and it
is here to stay.”
The entire Irish Republican Socialist Movement has absorbed these
attacks and has only grown stronger; we view State oppression against us
merely as vindication of our adherence to our revolutionary programme
laid out in 1974, as we go into 2019, rest assured that we are as
committed today as then.
Saoradh
On behalf of the Saoradh National Executive we wish to thank the
membership and supporters of Saoradh for another year of hard work,
dedication and activism that has brought us to where we are today.
Often in Republicanism, we look forward to the next event, the next
political meeting, protest or action, seldom having the time to reflect
on what we have done, what we have built, or what we have achieved to
date.
As a Revolutionary Republican Party, we have shown leadership, direction
and impetus, ensuring such revolutionary activism was adopted throughout
the year.
As the year draws to a close we would like to take this rare moment to
reflect on a year where Saoradh, despite many hardships and challenges,
continued on an upwards trajectory of growth and vibrant activism all of
which wouldn’t have been capable without the hard work and determination
of members and support from our communities.
This year started with the Bloody Sunday March debacle, Republicans were
faced with a reformist march committee and refused to take part, but
Saoradh in Derry stepped forward and showed leadership by holding a
Republican alternative that paid respects to those who lost their lives
at the hands of the British Parachute Regiment whilst holding true to
the Anti-Internment origins of the original March.
In January, Eistigi, produced a mission statement and since our last Ard
Fheis has been formally adopted as our National Youth Department.
Eistigi continues to engage in the education of our youth by providing a
revolutionary format which defies the stereotyping of Republican youth
by the British state and has thrived in areas such as Derry where Crown
Forces have disenfranchised and oppressed the Irish working class youth.
February seen the opening of a third Saoradh and IRPWA office in
Dungannon. Kevin Barry House is a reflection of the hard work and
dedication of the activists of Saoradh and the IRPWA in Tyrone. A series
of public meetings regarding the awareness of drugs and empowerment of
our communities were also held in rural Kildress, a Republican community
that was in the grip of a serious drugs epidemic and this is something
Saoradh members continue to offer support on.
February also seen our activists in Belfast continue to challenge the
sectarian carve up of services by continually highlighting the lack of
leisure facilities in Republican areas of North Belfast. As that
continued we held a quarterly meeting in Dublin where a document on
socialism and Ireland was read and debated as the party evolved and
matured our political ideology.
March seen the party grab widespread coverage in the Twenty Six Counties
when members of People Before Profit were accidently subjected to Garda
harassment in the mistaken belief they were actually revolutionaries
attending a Saoradh meeting.
Meanwhile in Newry a Craobh was established from existing and new
members, who quickly set about engaging the local populace. Issues such
as dangerous traffic conditions raised by the local community where
highlighted and challenged, as was the capitalist exploitation of
workers at the local Norbrook plant where Saoradh offered solidarity and
assistance. Saoradh also emphatically smashed the craven policy of
banning the Irish tricolour in the Newry St. Patrick’s Day parade which
was for the first time awash in our national colours.
April started with Easter and in a strong and defiant statement this
years Unfinished Revolution March took place in West Belfast, the
supposed stronghold of Sinn Fein. Easter Monday in Derry seen the youth
defend an Irish Republican Army colour party as it marched to the
Republican Plot for an annual commemoration. Following this event our
National Headquarters at Junior McDaid House were attacked again by
British Crown Forces and several members seized, subject to fellon
setting and oppressive bail measures implemented, aimed at curtailing
the party in Derry City.
May began with May Day and a strong Socialist statement by former
National Chairman, Davy Jordan. Following that, the airing of a
primetime BBC documentary on the issue of Brexit and the British border
in Ireland, lifelong Republican and Saoradh founder Paul Duffy gave the
Saoradh perspective. Whilst the BBC and the leader of British Crown
Forces attempted to focus on possible IRA attacks on any future British
border infrastructure, Paul used the platform to highlight the root
cause of the conflict in Ireland; the continued partition of Ireland and
the British usurpation of Irish national sovereignty. Since that
documentary was aired and as the uncertainty of Brexit intensifies,
every major news outlet, many of them global names such as the
Washington Post, have asked us for the definitive Irish Republican
position on Brexit and its impact on Ireland.
June seen the coat trailing exercise and humiliation of the Southern
State fawning over British Royals on an official visit to their
Neo-Colonial Statelet, Saoradh activists in both Cork and Kerry took to
the streets in opposition, a fact which the so called press decided to
airbrush from the news coverage.
Meanwhile Saoradh in Newry documented and published the deployment of
British troops in the South Armagh area.
In the midst of this we had the establishment of the POW Department,
which has held protests at Maghaberry and Hydebank amongst other means
of highlighting prison issues and supporting prisoners. The department
continues to be active and will carry that dedication through to 2019.
July seen a very well attended Wolfe Tone Commemoration. The annual
Bodenstown event is witnessing a revival and the Saoradh Commemoration
at the grave of the founding father of Irish Republicanism is by far one
of the largest seen in recent times.
Derry again came under attack by the British State in July. Saoradh
members had been working on the ground to defuse exchanges between
Republican and Loyalist youths and in the process one of our members had
his car burnt out. British Crown Forces used the incidents to launch an
assault on the Republican people of the Bogside and in response the
Republican people of the area fought back. When Crown Forces engaged
youths with batton rounds the Irish Republican Army responded by
engaging the heavily armed Crown Forces with rifle and grenade fire. The
images and videos that appeared on social media speak for themselves. In
the aftermath of a week of resistance Saoradh members’ homes were
ransacked by British Crown Forces with the full support of Sinn Fein
representatives.
August seen Saoradh instrumental in organising and mobilising for a
number of Anti-Internment and prisoner marches and events. Again large
crowds mobilised in Belfast for the Anti-Internment parade, there was an
Anti-Internment event in Newry and prisoner issues and campaigns where
highlighted.
Our success at propagating a Republican message via social media was
also attacked mid August. After partial ban’s and infractions for
offering our analysis, our main Facebook page, which had over 14
thousand followers, and several of our regional pages where shut down.
September began an intense process of debate and discussion around a
proposed Brexit Document. Every Craobh engaged in the process.
Meanwhile Saoradh in Newry covered and lent support to unionised workers
who were in a labour dispute with Glen Electrics in the Town, the
workers were successful.
A broad range of Saoradh and Eistigi activists also engaged in housing
action and squats in Dublin which took place under the banner ‘Take Back
The City’.
October witnessed the launch of our document; Brexit in the context of
Ireland. After months of work and debate it has been shaped by the
consultation process of the membership. Saoradh is now one of the only
party’s with a detailed position on Brexit and how it impacts the Irish
people.
In Derry, Saoradh and Eistigi members responded to community concerns in
relation to nuisance fireworks. In response to this activists seized and
put beyond use a large quantity of fireworks that were plaguing
Republican communities.
November started off with our comrades in Derry again facing the brunt
of the British war machine in Ireland as Crown Force raids and
detentions increased, with the local Chair and Vice Chair among multiple
Saoradh members seized. The British Army were once again on the streets
of Derry as our National Headquarters at Junior McDaid House was raided
for the third time in 2018.
Despite continued harassment by both the British establishment in the
Occupied Six Counties and the Twenty Six County administration, Saoradh
held our third Ard Fheis in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Dundalk. A new look
National Executive was elected as was our National Chairman.
Bringing the year to a close, December witnessed Saoradh members from
across Ireland, including our National Chairman, take part in the
occupation of KBC bank headquarters in Dublin following their employment
of masked Garda and Loyalist linked mercenaries to evict a family from
their home in Roscommon. Saoradh activists have been highly active on
homelessness and neoliberal housing provision across Ireland with soup
kitchen, involvement with Apollo House and other protests and
initiatives.
In Belfast, a newly established office housing Saoradh, IRPWA and
Eistigi was opened. This garnered huge political and media reaction as
an image of an IRA revolutionary soldier engaging the enemy was painted
in Christmas attire on the window. These public outcries only helped
publicise the party, the fact that there are still Republican Prisoners
and the overarching fact that the Irish Republican Army still remain
active and dedicated.
This chronology is but a glimpse of a year in the life of this party. It
is far from being exhaustive. There will have been many nights spent
selling tickets, posting leaflets and newsletters, writing articles,
engaging in community work, organising functions, standing in picket
lines, attending commemorations and supporting Republican Prisoners,
however in all of this it is our membership and supporters who have
engaged in this revolutionary activism, helping Saoradh grow and move
forward. May the year ahead be as fruitful as the last.
As the Unfinished Business continues so will the Unfinished Revolution!
Continuity Sinn Fein
At this special time of the year we extend greetings to all the
republican prisoners and their families at home and abroad and to all
friends, comrades and supporters who continue to struggle for national
self-determination and adhere to the traditional principles of Irish
republicanism.
The past year has been a difficult one for the republican movement, as
forces both in the occupied six counties and the 26 county free state
continue to combine and collaborate to promote the normalization of the
British rule throughout Ireland.
The aim of this concerted political and police co-operation is the
attempted destruction the republican ideal of a new and United Ireland
however there are men and women active today and indeed those in prison
who refused to bow to the queen of England and they stand firm in the
goal of Irish Republicanism, whose objective, as outlined by Wolfe Tone
is to break the link with England: only then can Irish freedom come to
fruition.
In the Free State a sustained campaign of harassment and arrest of
Republicans who oppose the British presence continue and in recent weeks
the activity of the 26 county political police has been stepped up
against republican activists who refuse to accept British rule
throughout Ireland.
In fact the police North and South are so determined to tarnish Irish
Republicans that a new phrase falls from the tongues of the police is
indicative of their attitude to the age old aspiration of the Irish
people for an All Ireland Republic that was proclaimed during the Easter
Week Rising of 1916.
The unity of Ireland is a legitimate aspiration for the Irish people and
this political aim should not be tarnished by police describing it as
some sort of criminal enterprise.
The increasing and more widespread opposition to the British forces is
what Provisional Sinn Fein now fears recent operations by true
Republicans in Belfast, Armagh and Derry all point to a growing and
determined resistance to British rule in Six Occupied Counties.
The past twelve months has also seen increased repression used against
republican activists as the Irish people struggle under a massive
financial burden imposed on them by the criminal actions of bankers,
speculators and developers assisted by spineless politicians.
Yet the focus of the police is not directed against the criminals in pin
stripped suits, but focused on the dedicated men and women who simply
campaign for the age old aspiration of a United Ireland.
Over the past year we have seen a massive increase in homelessness
throughout Ireland to which our government has refused to address by
coming up with a permanent solution to this crisis. while they all sit
comfortable with six figure salary’s paid for by us the people of
Ireland. It is time for us to stand up and fight against this corruption
within our country and take to the streets in unity.
The past year also witnessed the forced departure of a few people who
used the cover of Republicanism for activists that can only be described
by any fair minded observer as anti-republican and not in accord with
the core principles of the Republican Movement.
These men were dismissed and their departure now enables our
organization to move forward and build on the core values and
traditional principles of the Republican Movement.
A process of recruitment, education and training is ongoing and the
results will become clear in the coming months. The C.I.R.A. wish to
restate that the armed struggle against British occupation continues
despite the sell-out and surrender by some former Republicans who now
administer British rule in Ireland.
There will be no C.I.R.A. ceasefire and military operations against the
forces of the British presence will be intensified. The C.I.R.A. give
warning that there is no safe haven for those who administer and support
the British presence in the occupied six Counties.
The core cause of conflict still exists as Ireland is divided and the
age old aspiration to unity must be acknowledged by British declaring
their intention to withdraw from Ireland. Only then shall the
foundations of a real and lasting peace in our country be established.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank every man,women and
child who took to the streets in support of all our political prisoners
north and south who are being held within the occupied six counties and
the free state gaols, would also like to thank our president and vice
president and all our members and supporters on their continued support
throughout the year, with out you the voice of the Republican movement
would not be heard, here’s to a better 2019 than 2018 as well push
forward in our goal to unite Ireland.