“They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but, the fools, the fools, the fools! — They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.” Padraig Pearse , August 1915

Posted by Jim on September 19, 2015

Kenny delivers oration for 1916 rebel amid commemorations row

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A state funeral for 1916 martyr Thomas Kent took place yesterday in a
re-interment openly stage-managed by the Dublin government to boost its
nationalist credentials.

Thousands attended the ceremony on Friday at his home in Castlelyons,
County Cork to pay their respects to one of the 16 patriots executed in
the aftermath of the 1916 Rising.

Applause broke through the crowd when the funeral cortege arrived at the
church near where Kent was born and brought up. Kent’s extended family,
including two of his three elderly nieces, were among those who attended
the service.

Sometimes known as “The Forgotten Volunteer”, Thomas Kent was one of
only two executed outside Dublin. He was shot by firing squad at the
Military Detention Barracks in Cork, his body buried in a shallow grave
within its walls and recently recovered from that spot.

But in a political stroke, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny chose to deliver
the oration over his new grave, and claimed the 26 County Army as
‘Oglaigh na hEireann’, the inheritors of the mantle of the 1916 rebels.

There was no reference to the corruption scandals besetting his party
when he told mourners that Ireland needed people who believed in their
community, their country and in putting others before themselves.

He said: “Today in our time, we are not called upon to die for our
country but even now, even with our freedom, in our own and very
different time, we need men and women who believe. We need men and women
who believe in community, country, in putting others before themselves.

“This includes the members of our Defence Forces – Oglaigh na hEireann –
who continue their time-honoured tradition of service of their country,
both at home and abroad, and it is fitting that they have brought Thomas
here on his final journey.”

The events of May 2nd, 1916, which led to Kent becoming only one of two
men (along with Roger Casement in London) to be executed outside Dublin
after the Easter Rising were recalled.

Kent and his brothers fought a party of RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary)
who called to their family home as part of a round-up of nationalists in
the wake of the Rising, and only surrendered when they ran out of
ammunition.

A historian for the 26 County military delivered a eulogy for Kent in
which he described him as “someone who is very much in the present”.

“Today, members of Oglaigh na hEireann, the Irish Defence Forces, will
render the military honours that were denied him 99 years ago,” he said.

HISTORY HIJACKERS

The ceremony took place less than 24 hours after a row erupted between
Sinn Fein and the leader of Kenny’s coalition partners, Tanaiste Joan
Burton of the Labour Party, who lashed out at republicans for trying to
“hijack” the history of the country.

The tense ‘commemoration war’ over the 1916 centenary celebrations was
again exposed at the launch of Labour’s Munster 1916 exhibition when
Burton accused Sinn Fein of attempting to claim ownership of the ideals
of Republicanism and the 1916 revolutionary period.

She claimed that many in Sinn Fein cannot even bring themselves to use
the name of the state, which she said was ‘the Republic of Ireland’,
although the Irish constitution refers to the state as simply ‘Ireland’
or ‘Eire’.

Burton also made clear that the 1916 commemorations would be an election
issue. “Labour will realise our country’s potential – an Ireland better
for all,” she said. “That would be a truly fitting way to build on the
Commemorations and the 1916 legacy.”

Gerry Adams, who also attended the re-interment of Thomas Kent on
Friday, said her remarks were “schizophrenic”.

“The Tanaiste’s attitude is marked by a shallow and wholly self-serving
approach to Irish history,” he said.

“The men and women of 1916, including Thomas Kent who we will re-inter
here in Cork tomorrow, engaged directly in revolutionary armed activity
against British rule in Ireland.

“Unlike Joan Burton, Sinn Fein makes no apology for this. We salute
their stand and will not attempt to re-write history to fit narrow party
political objectives or to misrepresent the facts.

“Joan Burton and the Labour Party leadership have nothing in common with
the men and women of 1916 nor any intention of promoting the ideals of
freedom and equality for which many gave their lives in 1916 and after.

“Joan Burton knows that commemorating 1916 raises a myriad of
contradictions for her own party and it’s actions in government, not
least their partitionist attitude and failure live up to the egalitarian
ideals of the Proclamation.”

CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING PAPER

Posted by Jim on September 16, 2015

“The fundamental problem is Unionist opposition to sharing power with nationalists. After all, if you refuse to consider people equals why must you have to share power with them? You’ll see from this attitude of mind the real problem at Stormont is not allegations of IRA activity or any other smokescreen, its political Unionism. They deny the mandate of nationalist and republicans is equal to their own.”

Unionists don’t want power-sharing to work

Brian Feeney. Irish News (Belfast).Wednesday, September 16, 2015

You read here last week about the attitude of mind of political Unionists who cant imagine nationalists and republicans as equals and therefore seek to manage them, control them, police them.

No sooner had you read it than out came Arlene rogues and renegades. Foster to exemplify the attitude. Republican and nationalist ministers had to be prevented from spending money on schemes she decides are to the detriment of Unionists. As she added so appropriately, anyone who knows me will know I won’t let them.

Later she rowed back from the most extreme position she had blurted out but she didn’t apologise for the language she used to describe her supposed partners in The North’s toy town administration. Instead, ignoring her insult to the people northern nationalists vote for, she pointed to Martin McGuinness abolishing selection at 11 in his last days as education minister as an example of the sort of move she’d stop even though she must know St Andrews changed the rules and its not possible now.

Actually it’s a perfect example which shows how wrong she is. McGuinness’s action was not to the detriment of Unionists. In fact the majority of teachers who vote Unionist support ending selection.

All the teacher unions support it. On the contrary, Unionists insisting on retaining selection have acted to the detriment of all children by forcing them to sit up to five tests. Have a look at the results of selection among the poorest Protestant communities in The North: the worst in the UK. It’s a serious problem ignored by the likes of rogues and renegades herself. Only the PUP among Unionists have raised the matter and have been ignored in their turn. In short she was babbling rubbish to excuse her inexcusable remarks.

However the attitude of mind among Unionists presents a more general conundrum than simply blocking proposals by republicans and nationalists. The fundamental problem is Unionist opposition to sharing power with nationalists. After all, if you refuse to consider people equals why must you have to share power with them?

No one can remember a unionist politician making a speech advocating power-sharing. After unionists jointly with loyalist terrorists destroyed power-sharing in 1974 between 1975 and 1998 unionists could have made a deal with the SDLP as both governments required for any settlement here. Out of naked bigotry they wouldn’t until they ended up being compelled to do a deal with Sinn Fein. And wasn’t it so revealing that rogues and renegades. Foster placed both Sinn Fein and the SDLP in the same untrustworthy category?

As Martin McGuinness has said repeatedly, republicans share power because they want to, unionists because they have to. That’s why they keep pulling down the institutions. They don’t want them to work. In the current manufactured crisis unionists know perfectly well Sinn Fein had nothing to do with the killing of Kevin McGuigan but there’s not one of them can rise above the turmoil and say, as very importantly the chief constable has said, I recognise the bona fides of the Sinn Fein ministers.

You’re probably sick hearing interviewers asking Sinn Fein why they won’t admit the IRA still exists. You’ll never hear any of them asking unionists why they can’t repeat the words of the chief constable or indeed for that matter our proconsul[ Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State].

Trying to avoid sharing power means unionists will keep making impossible demands of Sinn Fein. Suppose Martin McGuinness to placate them said the IRA still exists despite republicans having fulfilled every requirement of the peace process, you know unionists would then ask, How do you know? What are you going to do to disband them? We demand to police their disbandment. And so on and so on.

You’ll see from this attitude of mind the real problem at Stormont is not allegations of IRA activity or any other smokescreen, it’s political Unionism. They deny the mandate of nationalist and republicans is equal to their own. They won’t in many cases even speak to their partners in Stormont. They don’t even accept the political construct they’re administering and keep hankering after normal government, that is unionist majority rule.

Unionism needs a change of attitude but first they have to admit they’re the problem.

Contrived Crisis threatens to collapse institutions

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THE north of Ireland faces a political crisis and the very real possibility of the collapse of the political institutions, including the power-sharing Assembly in Belfast, which emerged from the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and has been functioning since 2007.

The catalyst for the current crisis, on the surface, lies in the murder of two men in Belfast, both former Irish republican prisoners. A media storm erupted after a police press conference on August 22 dealing with the second murder, that of Kevin McGuigan, heard claims from PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton that individual members of the IRA had been involved in the murder.

However, this development is in fact the culmination of political instability within the political process since 2010, and made worse by the austerity agenda imposed by the British Conservative government.

Speaking, most recently, on September 11, Mr Adams said: “It is important that we remember that the initial catalyst for this crisis was the murder of two men. But recent developments are entirely down to the manoeuvrings of the UUP and the ease with which the DUP has been spooked by them.

“Sinn Féin have been consistently clear that the IRA left the stage following a public announcement that its armed struggle was over in 2005. The war is over, the IRA has gone and is not coming back. Sinn Féin has called for

assistance to be given to the police investigation so those responsible can be brought to justice. Both murders were carried out by criminals. Those responsible are not republicans, they are criminals and enemies of the peace process.

“This is a contrived crisis. It is about the electoral rivalry between the two unionist parties. The leaders of political unionism are now playing fast and loose with the future of the political institutions at Stormont.

“The arrest of our colleague Bobby Storey last week was the pretext for an effort by the DUP to force the adjournment of the political institutions. When that failed Peter Robinson stepped aside and his Ministerial colleagues – with the exception of Arlene Foster – resigned.”

“There is widespread anger among the republican and nationalist communities at the partisan and hostile attitude of representatives from both the British and Irish governments towards the building crisis, while posturing as neutral referees,” Mr Adams continued.

“What we need now are talks amongst the parties and governments to discuss all the current issues, principally the implementation of what was agreed at Stormont House in December 2014. We need to see genuine leadership from all parties and both governments to build a prosperous and reconciled society for all citizens.”

Republican prisoner at Maghaberry ‘on hunger strike’

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