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Throughout
the month of May, a group of republicans met in Belfast.
The purpose of the meetings was to facilitate all
republican ideas, defend the right of people to pursue
them free from fear and ensure that the freedom to
think is safeguarded. The republicans surveyed the
options available to those intent on promoting republicanism.
As a result the following points were agreed.
Within
the Republican family there should be room for the
open airing of our disagreements; we cannot move forward
until we are able to do so. We believe the criminalisation
of Republicanism in the vacuum of the current process
is shameful and contrary to the principles of Republicanism.
It is our duty to stand up against it and speak out.
It
is time for Republicans to reclaim the honour and
integrity of the cause which sustained our beliefs;
to stand together against the tyranny of abuse and
intimidation employed against anyone who has the courage
and fortitude to speak out against the wrongs and
injustices they see, or suffer themselves.
Republicans
should stand with each other in repossessing the ownership
of their struggle. It does not belong to a clique,
it is owned by all the people who believe and participate
in it.
Republicanism
is not about corruption, intimidation, or isolation
from one another. It is not self serving. It is about
the Republic, and that Republic is about people. The
true spirit of Republicanism is not a cult of personality.
It is those who have always been the hidden backbone
– once upon a time the volunteer, now the taxi
driver, the door man, the day labourer; the support
staff in hospitals, waitresses, school workers; the
unemployed, marginalised, forgotten.
We
have all stood together in times of hardship and crisis.
Increasingly we find ourselves standing apart from
one another, and our destinies loosened from our grip
and out of our control. We once believed we would
deliver the Republic to each other where we are equal
– Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter.
Today
the ideals we fought for are never spoken of, and
those who do remember them silenced. Our beliefs were
traded for the realities of the current process, a
process that suits the interests of political parties
and not the common people. These realities include
a criminalisation of the people’s armies; corruption
that fills the coffers of the elite and expands their
empires, rather than advances the Republic; children
beaten, shot, tortured; comrades isolated, spat upon,
silenced, imprisoned, disappeared.
No
more.
We
stand against the tyranny in our midst. It is time
to come together, to convene a congress of Republicans,
to determine where we are going, to support each other
no matter our differences, to reclaim our heritage,
integrity and honour, to speak out against injustice,
corruption and criminality, and to stand up for the
Republic.
Stand
with us. Make your voice heard.
Martin
Cunningham, South Down
Mickey Donnelly, Derry
Paddy Fox, Tyrone
Tommy Gorman, Belfast
Brendan Hughes, Belfast
John Kelly, South Derry
Anthony McIntyre, Belfast
Tommy
McKearney, Monaghan
Tony McPhilips, Fermanagh
Clare Murphy, Belfast
Kevin McQuillan, Belfast
Francie and Geraldine Perry, Downpatrick
Mary Ellen O'Doherty, Derry
Fionbarra O'Doctartaigh, Derry
Noel
O'Reilly, Belfast
Liam O Ruairc, Belfast
Dolours Price, Dublin
Marian Price, Belfast
Brendan Shannon, Belfast
Róisín Ní Sheanain, Belfast
Carrie Twomey, Belfast
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