Hugh Hamilton (HH) of WBAI Pacifica Radio interviews Bernadette

Posted by Jim on June 30, 2012

  HH: Marian Price is a former Irish Republican militant who first gained

 international notoriety nearly forty years ago following her conviction

 in the 1973 bombing of London’s Old Bailey.

 

 She was subsequently freed in 1980 when she was thought to be on the

 brink of death from severe anorexia nervosa and suffering multiple

 complications from hundreds of forced feedings while on hunger strike

 in prison.

 

 But now, her supports say that Ms Price, who is also known by her

 married name, Marian McGlinchey, has been illegally imprisoned in

 northern Ireland for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence

 that neither she nor her lawyers have been allowed to see. They say she

 is a political prisoner effectively detained without trial, sentence or

 release date.

 

 And unless the courts intervene she could spend the rest of her life in

 prison.

 

 In fact just this past weekend the authorities issued a statement

 saying that she’s been transferred to hospital on the advice of

 psychiatrists but remains in custody.

 

 Among those demanding justice for Marian Price and calling for her

 immediate release is the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader and

 former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.

 

 Ms McAliskey was herself imprisoned for her part in defending a

 Nationalist ghetto which was under attach northern Ireland police and

 she’s currently a leader in the campaign to free Marian Price. She

 joins us now. Good Afternoon, Ms McAliskey.

 

 

 BDM: Hi. How are you?

 

 HH: Very well, thank you and thank you very much for joining us. You’ve

 said of Marian Price that while she’s not the only political prisoner

 who’s being detained in this manner, her case is urgent and becoming

 critical. How so?

 

 

 BDM: Marian is not the only person in prison at the minute in violation

 of due process.

 

 And while that’s important, it’s important to set the context:

 following the peace process and the restoration of a democratic

 assembly in northern Ireland and the restoration of justice and

 policing to northern Ireland, all of these matters should be matters

 for due process of law and for the democratic process.

 

 However, running along side that, we have still got essentially secret

 policing, secret intelligence run directly by the military

 intelligence, MI5 in London, through the UK Secretary of State, who is

 a British appointment, and seems to over-ride the democratic authority

 of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

 

 And in Marian’s case the urgency relates directly to the impact of this

 unwarranted imprisonment on her physical and emotional health.

 

 There are charges pending against her in that she is alleged to have

 supported a terrorist organisation by holding up a piece of paper at a

 rally in a rainstorm from which somebody else read.

 

 And she was granted bail on that charge.

 

 But the Secretary of State over-rode the court’s decision to grant bail

 and ordered her detention in prison.

 

 And she’s now been in there for over a year.

 

 

 HH: And what is her state of health right now? I’ve read that over the

 weekend – I think on Friday – she was moved to a hospital?

 

 BDM: The present position is that as the result of her deteriorating

 health and the refusal of the the Parole Commissioner, the Secretary of

 State or Minister of Justice to exercise their authority and restore

 her bail, an urgent alert was made to the United Nations Rapporteur on

 Health.

 

 It’s important to remember that when Marian was on hunger strike,

 unlike the later hunger strikes when people literally starved, Marian

 Price as a young woman was forced fed three times a day by having a

 tube pushed down a throat, she was forcibly restrained and liquid

 nutrition was poured down her throat three times a day.

 

 If she brought that up the process was repeated.

 

 And that experience is what led to her anorexia nervosa and eating

 disorders. And (it) also exacerbated a condition that had existed from

 childhood relating to tuberculosis and it’s impact on her emotional and

 mental health because of the trauma of the re-incarceration in that

 environment.

 

 So the was a UN alert and the UN Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover,

 who’s an Indian lawyer, an excellent, excellent defender of health, he

 sent a UN Inspector to the prison.

 

 And the UN Inspector was denied access to the prison.

 

 But had finally secured an inspection meeting for today.

 

 On Friday, the Chief Medical Officer of the prison issued a press

 statement that Marian had been transferred to hospital.

 

 But when the press statement was issued Marian was still in the prison.

 

 And she was fundamentally being coerced to agree to go to a psychiatric

 unit outside of the prison despite a medical report that she was not

 suffering from any form of psychosis – she was suffering from mental

 and emotional trauma directly as a result of her environment.

 

 And that medical report recommended that she be released to the care of

 her family to recover her health so that she could answer the charges.

 

 So it looked on Friday that the authorities were attempting to remove

 her from the prison environment to head-off the UN inspection.

 

 Or alternatively, attempting either to discredit Marian by putting her

 in a position where she would be refusing medical help.

 

 The other alternative to the prison authorities was of course to use

 use The Mental Health Act which would allow them to place her in

 psychiatric care against her will.

 

 But from their point of view, to have done that, to have used the

 Mental Health Act and forcibly placed her in a psychiatric unit, would

 then have undermined their capacity to charge her with any offence

 because she couldn’t be both mentally incapable and mentally capable of

 being charged.

 

 So at present, Marian is in hospital we believe…but we are unsure, at

 this precise point, as to whether that’s a temporary assessment within

 the prison regime.

 

 We’re waiting today to hear the outcome of the United Nations medical

 visit.

 

 And we have at this point no idea whether that will lead to a

 recommendation again that she be released that will be acted upon or

 whether she will be returned to the prison environment.

 

 It’s very important that people do campaign and do contact,

 particularly those Irish-American and other politicians in America, who

 played such a role in setting up the peace process, to recognise that

 these violations are still going on.

 

 So, on the one hand we have Her Majesty the Queen feeling it’s safe

 enough for her to stand on Irish soil and be greeted by the leader of

 Sinn Fein in the new assembly but it’s not safe for Marian Price to

 stand on the same ground because she has no access to due process of

 law.

 

 

 HH: We’re talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights leader

 and former Member of Parliament, Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.

 

 We’re discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has

 been illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland as a political prisoner

 for more than a year on the basis of secret evidence that neither she

 nor her lawyers have been allowed to see.

 

 There is growing international campaign, including here in the United

 States. In fact, on Wednesday there’s going to be an evening in

 solidarity with Marian Price here in New York at O’Lunney’s – I’ll give

 you more information about that a little later on in the programme.

 

 But if you have questions about Marian Price or if you’ve got questions

 for Bernadette McAliskey will take them at 212-209-2900. (repeats

 number)

 

 Ms McAliskey, the question arises, particularly for those people who

 might not be very familiar with the situation in Ireland and in

 northern Ireland. The question arises…Why is this issue important?

 

 I’ve seen you as quoted as saying that: “Ms Price’s case reflects the

 increasing powerlessness of global organisations, including the United

 Nations, to defend human rights.”

 

 I’d like you to expand on that and explain why that is relevant to this

 case.

 

 BDM: Hugh, I’m losing your voice intermittently.

 

 

 HH: I was just asking, you’re quoted as saying that – The Marian Price

 case: “It reflects the increasing powerlessness of global

 organisations, including the UN” and I’d like you to explain what you

 mean by that.

 

 BDM: Yes. I think what is very important for people to recognise that

 what is happening to Marian is not an isolated case.

 

 While it’s happening here in northern Ireland and we have had to call

 upon the UN Rapporteur for Health to exercise his authority to examine

 it, the fundamental disrespect that the prison authorities here treat

 that, as if to say:” “what business is it of his?” and try to avoid

 their responsibilities is, although in a very small and certainly less

 traumatic than for example what is happening in Syria what is happening

 in Palestine, what happened in Egypt, what happened in Iraq, what goes

 on throughout the world is not only in unstable, if you’d like,

 political societies or clear dictatorships, but the confidence and the

 arrogance with which many of the western powers, who created the UN in

 the middle of the twentieth century, and actually undermine that

 organisation in both its protection of the UN Charter on Human Rights,

 on it’s collective role for peace keeping, for democracy, for

 compliance with UN resolutions…

 

 I think Marian’s case is symptomatic of those things we see every day:

 the impunity with which Israel flouts UN resolutions in regard to

 Palestine, the manner in which Syrians are now just massacring their

 own people, and the fact that Guantanamo Bay, despite the promises of

 Obama, is still there. That we still haven’t had the truth on

 renditions…

 

 That people can still be imprisoned without due process and that many

 countries, particularly in the very powerful western alliances, feel

 that UN resolutions and UN protections are for protecting them from

 their enemies but not people from powerful states.

 

 And that’s what I was saying. That Marian’s case is not just something

 peculiar to the northern Ireland situation.

 

 The increasing confidence with which fundamental human rights and due

 process and protections are being ignored – I think is frightening.

 

 

 HH: We’re talking with the noted northern Ireland civil right leader

 and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey. We’re

 discussing the case of Marian Price who her supporters say has been

 illegally imprisoned in northern Ireland for more than a year on the

 basis secret evidence that neither she nor her lawyers have been

 allowed to see.

 

 They say that she is a political prisoner effectively being detained

 without trial, sentence or release date and without the intervention of

 the courts could end up spending the rest of her life in prison.

 

 There’s been some discussion and debate on this question of whether Ms

 Price was out on parole as we say in the United States or licence as

 you say in northern Ireland.

 

 There was an argument that said she wasn’t out on parole at all but had

 in fact been granted a full pardon, The Royal Prerogative of Mercy,

 when she was released from prison in 1980.

 

 Are you in a position to clarify exactly which of those two

 situations…

 

 BDM: Yes. There are two clear positions on that and there’s a very

 clear legal position on it.

 

 Marian Price was released on a royal pardon.

 

 Now what the Secretary of State claimed when he imprisoned her was that

 she had been imprisoned on two separate charges and that she got royal

 pardon on one but was released on parole on the other.

 

 Now the likelihood of that is very small. That you would actually get

 out on a pardon… you know, half of you would be on pardon and the

 other half would be on parole… since it’s only one person.

 

 But the law is perfectly clear and there’s a lot of British case law to

 substantiate that. The law is perfectly clear:

 

 that if the information and advice provided to Marian Price at the time

 of her release was such as to give her a reasonable belief, that is to

 say the belief that any reasonable person would hold, that she had been

 released on royal pardon then the law must accept she was released on

 royal pardon.

 

 And that’s where the legal battle is.

 

 So that there is a precedent in UK and European law.

 

 If she believed at the time of her release and ever since that it was a

 pardon, then she had a legitimate expectation that that’s what it was.

 

 Now the matter could be readily resolved if the document of release and

 pardon or parole was produced.

 

 But when the northern Ireland Secretary of State was asked to produced

 it he said it had been mislaid. It had been lost.

 

 He claims it was lost in the period after which she was sent to prison.

 

 And it also appears that in the history of the British state, Marian

 Price’s pardon, that is to say the physical document signed by Her

 Majesty, is the only one such document to ever have disappeared.

 

 And you have to really ask yourself questions about that.

 

 

 HH: The question arises: Why is this happening to Marian Price now?

 

 BDM: I think it’s happening for a number of reasons.

 

 There are parts of it have very, for me, have resonance for the arrest

 of my own daughter and the context in which that happened at the

 beginning of the peace process. I think the normalisation and the peace

 process here has reached a position where the voices of Republican

 dissidents have, according to the state, to be silenced.

 

 There are many, many, particularly, in the present economic climate,

 there are many poorer people, particularly the youth who have not had

 any social, political or economic benefits from the peace.

 

 There are people of course who have had significant benefits.

 

 And overall there is an absence of war. There is political stability.

 There has been economic development.

 

 But large sections of the most impoverished people have not seen any

 economic or social benefits from the peace.

 

 And it’s amongst those young people, many of whom suffer from

 trans-generational trauma of war, and many who fundamentally disagree

 with the politics of their former political leaders.

 

 That dissidence has steadily grown – fueled by the lack of economic and

 social opportunity, fueled by the lack of any understanding of that

 group of disaffected people or lack of any opportunity for them to

 articulate what their grievances are.

 

 So as the dissidence has grown, the repression has grown and the

 numbers of people in prisons have grown.

 

 And then with that we begin to see again the development of a prisoner

 support constituency.

 

 And I think the government has decided, which is fairly traditional

 here as well as elsewhere, to use repression as a means of stifling

 discontent and dissent.

 

 And Marian Price is therefore identifiable as a kind of flexing of the

 government’s muscle – that they’re not afraid to take on a woman –

 they’re not afraid to take on a Republican of long standing.

 

 And the irony of course is: that the young man who went to London on

 the same bombing expedition with Marian Price is now a senior member in

 the government.

 

 

 HH: When this case was brought to my attention by my colleague, Sandy

 Boyer, and I asked him for some additional information, I was rather

 surprised by the volume of information that is out there and which had

 not yet come to my attention.

 

 And I’m wondering whether, in your estimation, the case of Marian Price

 is resonating as extensively as it should within the Irish-American

 community. The…

 

 BDM: No! I think there are two things happening there, Hugh.

 

 The first is: the degree of co-option, which to me is sad.

 

 The degree of co-option and, in my understanding of the word,

 corruption of people’s principles that have come with their

 participation now in the administration of government.

 

 It is always harder to say that things are not going well -always

 harder to say things are wrong when you have a stake in the government

 as opposed to when you have no stake in that class.

 

 And Irish-Americans were very influential in helping to develop

 peaceful structures here, in helping to bring about political

 stability, but they have a stake in that stability so they now have a

 stake in the suppression of information.

 

 They now have a stake in that stability so they now have a stake in

 denying the imperfections.

 

 And I think that makes life very, very difficult then for principled

 opposition for highlighting these issues and it makes it all the more

 important for people whose principles are justice – regardless of its

 nationality. Whose demand is for peace – regardless of its geographic

 location – to stand up for the principles of due process and of human

 rights.

 

 

 HH: So what’s next in the international campaign for Marian Price?

 

 BDM: There are a number of groups supporting Marian locally.

 

 There’s a Free Marian website which people can get to if you just go

 on… Marian Price… if you google Marian Price …Free Marian…

 you’ll get that website. I think it’s freemarian.nr

 

 The prison crises group of which I am a member is drawing the

 international parallels and seeking solidarity with other human rights

 organisations fighting against unjust imprisonment in other places. So

 we’re building that. We have produced a pamphlet. There are a number of

 local rallies.

 

 We are building in the United Kingdom; I’ve just spoken in Glasgow.

 

 Sandy Boyer, as he has done for as long as I have known him – forty

 years – championed human rights in Ireland, continues to build in the

 United States and we are building across Europe as well.

 

 It is a long, slow process that sounds like we’re doing great things.

 

 It’s a slow process because many of those we would have relied on in

 the past are now in denial because of their stake in the current

 administration.

 

 But we continue to highlight it. We continue to build. We continue to

 draw the levels of solidarity.

 

 And her very good legal team continues to challenge in the court.

 

 So we will await the outcome of the UN visit. We hope to have a

 judicial review of the Parole Commission’s latest decision.

 

 And we just keep battling on until we have her released.

 

 The sadness is, that all that Marian Price is asking for, all she is

 asking for, is that she be granted the bail that she has repeatedly

 been given in the court.

 

 The original charge against her has in fact been dismissed by the court

 because of the violation of not bringing the case to trial for over a

 year.

 

 A new charge has been instigated for which no evidence has been

 produced – that’s the one about the secret MI5 evidence. But she was

 granted bail on that charge as well.

 

 And she is demanding only so that she be released from prison and

 allowed to recover her health at home so that she defend herself

 against these charges.

 

 She is not asking to be released from prison and not charged with

 anything simply on the grounds that she’s is ill.

 

 The position is that she has been charged without evidence. She has

 been denied bail.

 

 The incarceration in prison, for the greater part in solitary

 confinement, has re-traumatised her from the early experience and she

 asks only for her right to be released as the court has ordered so that

 she can go home, regain her health and answer the charges against her.

 

 

 HH: We’ve been talking with the noted northern Ireland civil rights

 leader and former Member of Parliament Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey.

 

 Ms McAliskey, thank you very much for elucidating this issue for us on

 the case of Marian Price. We will of course keep our listeners

 informed. I’ll be announcing an event this weekend…

 

 BDM: Might I say thank you again to WBAI who for many years have helped

 tell the truth and defend democracy across the USA. I don’t know where

 we would be without you.

 

 

 HH: Thank you very much indeed, Ms McAliskey.

The prison issued a statement this morning that Marian had been transferred to hospital. She remains in the prison.

Posted by Jim on June 22, 2012

 

by Bernadette Devlin Mc Aliskey

 

 They had attempted to move her to a psychiatric unit as a prisoner but this requiires invoking powers under  the mental health act – the  prison medical officer has already given evidence  last week that this course of action would be counterproductive and inappropriate as she is not psychotic.  She is suffering from trauma created by her environment of incarceration.  The chief medical officer  has now sought to override this evidence  today before the UN visit on Monday

–  to  transfer her to the psychiatric hospital without her informed consent adds another dimnesion to the violation of her rights – family issuing a statement and I believe her lawyers will be trying to get into court today.  So maybe we are at make or break.  Urgent alert s and e-mails to  Ford would be good

 

Bernadette

Marian Price moved to Belfast hospital

Posted by Jim on

 Interned Irish political dissident Marian Price has been moved from  Hydebank Prison to a hospital in Belfast this [Friday] morning.

  It follows mounting concern over her physical and mental health.  For  two years, she has been held in isolation at prisons in the north of  Ireland on the order of the British government.

 Ms Price is a former hunger striker who, alongside her sister, was  force-fed by British prison warders for more than six months to prevent  her death.  Both of the Price sisters are understood to have suffered  from post-traumatic stress disorder.

  Earlier this year she was moved from the high-security Maghaberry Prison  to Hydebank, also on medical advice.

 Sinn Fein Assembly member Jennifer McCann welcomed the decision to move  Marian to a hospital.

  The West Belfast Assembly member, who is a member of the Justice  Committee at the Assembly, said Marian “should of course be  released as her continued imprisonment is an affront to natural justice.

  “We welcome this move which will see Marian Price get the care she needs  and Sinn Fein will continue to press for her immediate release.”

 The 32 County Sovereignty Movement said it welcomed the “belated”

 transfer of their former spokesperson to hospital.

 “This overdue move demonstrates the seriousness of her health and well  being and puts lie to the reasons peddled for holding her in jail,”

 said Francis Mackey.

 “We wish Marian a speedy recovery and we recognise the deterioration of  Marian Price’s health is a direct result of the conditions in which she  was held.

 “In welcoming her move to hospital we in the 32 CSM hope now that the  recognised care packages available will be fully utilised and the  contributing factors which led to her ill health will be eliminated.”

 The move comes as an international campaign has grown for her release  and the release of other political internees in the North of Ireland.

 

 SYMPOSIUM

 

 This week has seen events in London, New York, Dublin, Belfast and Derry  calling for the release of both Marian Price and Martin Corey.

 Delegates at a London Symposium on Policing this week signed an open  letter to British Direct Ruler Owen Paterson calling on him to order the  immediate release of Marian Price and Martin Corey whose ‘indefinite  detention without trial is contrary to fundamental human rights  principals.’

 Signatories include the family of Mark Duggan whose shooting death at  police hands in London last summer provoked riots in a number of English  cities.

 Paul O’Connor of the Pat Finucane Centre, who attended the symposium,  described the support of the London delegates as “another sign of the  growing disquiet and concern at the use of so-called ‘secret evidence’

 which is impossible to challenge or disprove”.  He said the ‘secret  evidence’ was used to indefinitely detain individuals on the basis of  undisclosed allegations from the Security Service MI5.

 “When delegates were asked to sign this open letter there was an  overwhelming response — people understood the issue and understood the  dangers posed by the use of ‘secret evidence’.

 “Marian Price and Martin Corey should be released immediately.”

 

 US EVENTS

 

 Scores of anti-internment campaigners gathered outside a Manhattan event  marking the British royal jubilee on Thursday evening last week.

 One of the organisers, Sandy Boyer, explained why the group decided to  protest the jubilee event.

  “Marian Price is in prison in northern Ireland at the queen’s  discretion,” he said.

  “It’s very critical that we raise awareness here. If we can get some  noise made, some progress made in the United States, it can have a big  effect over there.”

 The protest close to Times Square in Manhattan called for the immediate  release of the political dissident.

  A father-of-two from the South Bronx, Irish American Danny Shaw, took  part in the demonstration.  The CUNY professor said the protest was  about the struggle for human rights.

 “I was over in Belfast for the 40th anniversary of internment,”

 34-year-old Shaw said.

  “We may be a small group today, but we are symbolic.”

 Another event has been organised by the ‘Free Marian Price Campaign, US’

 group for next Wednesday evening at O’Lunney’s Time Square Pub 145 West

 45 Street, between 6th & 7th Avenue, with a range of speakers, including  noted author Malachy McCourt.

 Among those who will also attend the event are John Duddy, the  well-known boxer from Derry.

  The Derry-based Prisons Crisis Group welcomed the support of the former  middleweight contender.

  “Marian’s case is now attracting attention on an increasingly wide  basis, both in Ireland and internationally,” said spokeswoman Betty  Doherty.

 “The fact that a woman can be detained without trial for more than a  year and with no release date at the whim of a British politician  strikes most people outside Ireland as absolutely shocking and  incredible.

  “The original charge has now been withdrawn – but Marian is still held  in Hydebank Wood prison where, potentially, she could remain for the  rest of her life. This is an outrage against justice.

  “We must continue to build up the pressure and reach out to those not  yet involved in the campaign. We have the momentum to move forward and  force the British government to abandon internment once and for all.

 “We call on other people of influence and renown to add their voices to  John Duddy’s.”

 

 IRISH ‘PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE’

 

 Geraldine McNamara, Republican Sinn Fein Publicity Officer, pointed to  the contradictions in the Dublin government celebrating Aung San Suu  Kyi, the human rights defender and former prisoner of conscience who  spent some 15 years under house arrest in Burma, while remaining silent  on the plight of Ireland’s political dissidents.

 Ms Suu Kyi received the freedom of the city of Dublin at a glittering civic  event on Monday.

  Ms McNamara called for the immediate release of Martin Corey and Marian  Price and an end to the oppression of Irish Republicans.

  “Martin Corey and Marian Price are interned here in Ireland because they  will not accept a divided Ireland, and those who try and highlight this  situation are continually harassed and cannot picket or march on the  streets of the Occupied Six Counties without being charged with offences  against the British regime,” Ms McNamara said.

 “Aung San Suu Kyi has been an inspiration to oppressed people world wide  and hopefully she will not now be used by imperialist countries who  oppress those who like Aung San Suu Kyi continue to speak against  tyranny in their native countries.”

 

 RECEPTION FOR PRISONERS’ FAMILIES

 

 Meanwhile, an outgoing council chairman has hosted a reception for  families of republican prisoners on council property in one of his final  acts in office.

  Independent Moyle councillor Padraig McShane said the decision, which  has angered unionists, was a humanitarian gesture.

  It is believed to be the first such event to be held on council-owned  property anywhere in the north. Mr McShane, who resigned from Sinn Fein  in 2010, said he had been praised for the gesture.

 “To imprison individuals because of their political beliefs and to beat,  abuse or strip search them must never be an avenue of retribution  against those who hold fast to different beliefs from others in society.

 “These actions are contrary to the genuine peace many of us strive for.

 I have received only positive comments for the initiative.”

 

We are all part of a bigger picture

Posted by Jim on June 19, 2012

 

 The address by Cait Trainor, Ard Chomhairle member to the annual  RSF commemoration at Bodenstown, June 10, 2012.

 

 British Occupation is no more acceptable today than it was in 1798, time  does not normalise occupation nor can it erase the natural injustices  that go hand in hand with it. Once again we as proud Republicans stand  here today at the grave of Theobald Wolfe Tone, to honour and  commemorate him and all the Irish patriots and to show our continued  rejection and resistance to British rule.

 The normalisation of today stands in stark contrast to Tone’s vision of  what Ireland should be as a fully independent and sovereign nation.

 Tone’s tactics did not include negotiating with the enemy or compromise,  he had a clear message “break the connection with England”. His tactics  where to lead men to the hillsides with pike in hand, with a  determination that Ireland should stand as an equal independent nation  among the nations of the world. Tone’s vision is our vision, Tone’s  desire is our desire, and

 Tone’s determination is matched with our own. Tone had an aim to unite  Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter in the common goal of Irish  Independence. To this end his venture was successful for people from all  backgrounds did organise to end British tyranny. Britain, realising the  power of Irishmen uniting, inflamed sectarian division to further their  own imperial ends.

 The descendants of the Republican Irish Scots have been systematically  robbed of their noble Republican heritage by a vile combination of  British imperialism, unionism and Orange sectarianism, many of their  descendants fled to America to escape British oppression and played an  important part in the foundations of a Republican USA. It is sad indeed  to see descendants of such noble people subservient to monarchs and  imperialists, a notion so alien to their ancestors.

 Today we see the same age old tactics from the British invaders, who are  bribing and intimidating the nationalist people of Ireland into  accepting alien concepts, one such is the abominable UK City of culture  moniker that has been bestowed on Derry for 2013. Using native  collaborators to sell such an idea to the people, this shameful accolade  has been supported by many traditional Irish cultural and sporting  groups, the GAA and Comhaltas are two particular groups who have allowed  themselves to be reduced to snivelling servants, banging the tribal  drums for the foreign viceroy. The UK City of Culture’ title in an  Irish city is an insult to all Irish people. The British puppets who  claim to represent Republicans and nationalists, who fought so hard to  win this disgusting title, are no better than paid informers betraying  the nation.

 Ireland today is one unrecognisable to the past, things we have never  thought possible happen day by day, those in power seem determined to  sell of our Country, be it to the acceptance of British occupation or  the handing over sovereignty  to Europe. Just recently the fiscal treaty  that assures austerity for years to come and ensures the poor get poorer  was passed in the 26 Counties. Republican Sinn Fein was at the forefront  of opposing this treaty and indeed all the past European treaties that  make Ireland nothing more than a piece of land controlled by the  capitalist and banking elite.

 

 The treaty asked people to vote on economic measures not yet decided,  rendering the people powerless to make changes in future that could see  Ireland prosper. Ireland has lost control of its nationhood, Republican  Sinn Fein through EIRE NUA points the way to regaining our independence  including fiscal independence. EIRE NUA is the only positive  alternative, a framework for the future of an Independent Ireland. We  need to acknowledge that its concept is not widely known or understood.

 It is a working document that provides for how an independent Ireland  should be. 100 years on from the rising we need to speak to the people  in layman’s terms on our vision for independence, Lets forget fancy  words and political jargon and give the Irish Nation the confidence and  knowledge it needs to realise that our vision and EIRE NUA is the only  position that can create a peaceful and just Ireland for all.

 

 Recently a British minister in Stormont, Martin McGuinness, suggested he  wants to enter into talks with Republicans. Republicans have always made  it clear that we are not interested in engaging with puppets of the  British State. The only time we will be interested in meeting  representatives from the British government will be to discuss their  withdrawal from our country. Former Republicans should understand they  no longer hold influence among Republicans and we view them as  contemptible cogs of the British Establishment.

 

 In May 2011 the 26 Counties had a State visit from the British Queen.

 Republican Sinn Fein led the way in opposing the subservience and  fawning that was seen by national organisations. On June 26 the British  Queen will once again visit Ireland; again we will see subservience and  fawning. British Deputy First Minister in Ireland Martin McGuinness will  undoubtedly greet her in another shameful act of capitulation to British  imperialism. They have lost all claims to Republicanism even in the  anti-monarchist sense. Again Republican Sinn Fein will oppose the  British monarchy visiting any part of Ireland and I urge you all to join  in our protests.

 

 The last few months we have seen an upsurge in harassment from State  forces. House raids, arrests and communities under siege. This  harassment has been met with great resistance and courage from the  Republican people. These actions give truth to the lie that the people  have been bought. The RUC/PSNI is a force of occupation and no amount of  community outreach can change the basic reason they exist, their primary  purpose is to uphold British rule in Ireland. Young nationalists are  told times have changed, that you can join the RUC and still remain a  Republican. This is a dangerous lie that must be exposed; those who  promote it are putting the lives of young Irish people in jeopardy. As  history has shown the British police force has always been an enemy of  the Irish people and treated accordingly and they continue to be so.

 

 The ongoing arrests and trumped up charges amount to nothing more than  internment by stealth. Two such cases are Martin Corey and Marian Price.

 Martin Corey’s case is so blatant there is not even a known charge  against him; he is simply interned for holding Republican principles.

 Marian Price is currently very ill in Hydebank. The refusal of the  prison authorities to allow UN doctors into to see her is no surprise;  they don’t want the world to know the injustice of her detention. Scores  of men are currently on a no wash protest in Maghaberry Jail in response  to invasive strip searching and other barbaric conditions. Compassionate  parole is used as a punishment against Prisoners of War. We must  redouble our efforts to highlight their plight. The valued efforts by  prisoners who are under lock and key to fight for their rights and  thereby further the cause of Irish Republicanism, must be reciprocated  by us on the outside

 

 The media has stepped up its campaign of trying to normalise us to  British rule, protesters are vilified for using their voice, politicians  use words like pathetic and disgusting when citizens stand up for  themselves against harassment. Currently there is a British propaganda  advert making reference to all the wonderful things the Brits have done  for us. They state this is our place, our time! It’s a good slogan, this  is our place, its Ireland and this is our time, time for change, time  for freedom. There can only be one winner in this war and that will be  the Irish people, if our generation do not succeed there will be  generations to come who will.

 

 We must realise that each and every one of us must work hard to end  British rule. We are a Movement made up of individuals; your single  action can contribute to the success of the Movement. We are all part of  a bigger picture but that picture starts with you, our work or lack of,  can have a detrimental or monumental effect. I have heard it said when  people see injustice “why doesn’t somebody do something about that?” Who  is somebody? You are somebody, I am somebody and so we collectively are  the somebody who must do it. The power of the individual is as important  as the power of the Movement. We are all only as good as our last  action, sometimes we may feel that what we do has no bearing in the  larger scheme of things. I want to leave you with this thought. One  person can make a difference, 100 people can make real change but  together we can build a nation.

 

 

ROYAL RALLY HITS HANDSHAKE PLAN

Posted by Jim on June 15, 2012

  Sinn Fein has said it was caught off guard by the announcement last  Friday that the visit of British monarch Elizabeth Windsor to Stormont  later this month will involve a giant celebration by tens of thousands  of unionists.

  The event at the Stormont estate is due to happen as part of the two-day  visit to the north of Ireland during Windsor’s Jubilee “tour of the UK”.

  The British government’s Northern Ireland Office (NIO) revealed last  week that a ‘party’ would take place in the grounds of Stormont

 Parliament Buildings on 27 June to welcome the monarch.   It initially

 said there would be 10,000 attending, but that number has since  increased to 20,000-25,000.

 On Sunday, Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin said Sinn Fein had not been  consulted and that she would not be attending the rally. The next day,  Mr McGuinness, who had been expected to greet Windsor at Stormont,  described the British announcement as “unfortunate” and said he was  “surprised” by it.

 He added that there is currently no “doable proposition” for him to meet  the queen.

 A decision to welcome Windsor, the Commander-in-Chief of the British  armed forces, was seen as a gravely difficult move for the former IRA  commander, despite his current role as the North’s Deputy First  Minister.

  But the added presence of tens of thousands of Union Jack-waving  loyalists in the grounds around Stormont has increased the potential  humiliation for the Sinn Fein veteran.

  “This would be a huge ask for any Irish republican and, as we speak at  the moment, we do not have a doable proposition in relation to that  matter,” Mr McGuinness said.

  He said an earlier decision by the Six-County Executive to send a gift  to Windsor had been arrived at “in a very diplomatic and sensible  manner”, but that Friday’s surprise announcement was “unfortunate”.

 British Direct Ruler Owen Paterson said that all the parties in the  North had been made aware of the broad outlines of the planned visit by  the NIO.

  While negotiations are said to be still taking place behind the scenes  to resolve the matter, a direct meeting between McGuinness and Windsor  is now seen as unlikely.

  However, DUP First Minister Peter Robinson warmly welcomed the  announcement of the rally. “It is fitting that such a celebration should  take place in the Stormont Estate,” said Robinson. He said the British  royals are not “in the business of doing deals” but he hoped a meeting  with Martin McGuinness could still be arranged.

 On Sunday, Sinn Fein’s Minister of Culture Caral Ni Chuilin ruled out  attending the event, which she said she only heard about through the  media.  She accused the British government of “concocting” the  celebration with the DUP.

 Sinn Fein MP said Pat Doherty said  Paterson was being “deliberately  disingenuous” to say that Sinn Fein had been made aware of the Stormont  event.

 “It is typical of the ham-fisted way the NIO has operated under Mr  Paterson’s tenure.

 “Neither Owen Paterson nor the NIO told Sinn Fein of plans for between  10,000 and 25,000 people holding a Jubilee event in the Stormont estate.

  “This matter did not go to the Executive – in our view it should have  done.”

 

 ‘NOT WELCOME’

 

 Geraldine McNamara PRO of Republican Sinn Fein said there would be  protests against the visit.

 “The British queen is not welcome in the occupied six counties of  Ireland no more than she was welcome in the twenty six counties by  Republicans last year,” she said.

  There was an attempt to make the world believe that it is acceptable by  the Irish people to have two divided states, she added.

  “One hundred years ago when a previous British monarch visited Ireland  republicans stated that ‘we serve neither King nor Kaiser’. Today we  state that ‘we serve neither Queen nor Chancellor’.”

  “The media will no doubt attempt to portray this as a visit by a monarch  to greet her subjects.  In response we must take to the streets once  more in opposition, we must make the international community aware that  Ireland is still under foreign occupation and that we are subjects to  foreign Queen.