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Fáilte
romhaibh agus Beannachtaí na Cásca daoibh
go léir.
Fellow
republicans and friends, we are gathered here today
on this proud, historic and symbolically potent date
in the calendar of the Irish Republican struggle to
pay homage to, and salute, the heroism, suffering
and sacrifices endured by generations of Irish men
and women in pursuit of Liberation and the establishment
of a Sovereign, Independent Irish Republic.
It
is at Easter time that Irish Republicans take the
opportunity to reflect with pride upon those momentous
events which occurred in our country in that famous
week in 1916.
The
political fallout from the sacrifice made by our patriot
dead of that generation had a shattering impact, not
just in Ireland, but on a global scale. The British
Empire at that time was one of the most powerful and
ruthless political and military systems the world
had ever seen and a blow struck here was an inspiration
to so many other small nations to throw off the yoke
of tyranny.
As
Republicans we gather, not merely to foster and cherish
the memory of our fallen predecessors and comrades
(important and necessary though that function must
always be) but also to draw strength and inspiration
from their lives and deaths and once again to swear
allegiance to the legacy which they bequeathed to
us. From their sacrifice we receive lessons of history
to learn, ideals to espouse and principles of patriotism
to uphold.
To
be a revolutionary one must first accept that “to
gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary
to lose everything” (Bernadette McAliskey) and
certainly the men and women who lie beneath us in
the earth’s cold embrace were all too familiar
with the hardship and risk of building a resistance
movement in the face of what sometimes appears to
be insurmountable odds.
I
say this because, as with all true republicans, we
have similarly faced our difficulties. In the past
year once again we have been forced to face the open
aggression of the British and Free State Governments
in their attempts to crush any opposition to their
policies by every means at their disposal. This has
included a campaign of harassment against our members,
led by the RUC/PSNI and Special Branch, as well as
the use of the media in order to vilify our cause
through a process of black propaganda and misinformation.
These
attempts took a particularly sinister twist when it
was discovered earlier this year that attempts were
made by the RUC and the DPP to influence the Forensic
Science Laboratory in the cases of men falsely accused
and remanded in custody on the basis of manufactured
forensic evidence. Scientists were asked to “modify”
and “omit” aspects of their reports and
to overlook acts of contamination and blatant malpractice
in order to ensure convictions. This is nothing but
flagrant corruption, an act carried out by corrupt
police officers on behalf of a despotic and corrupt
state which, when faced with opposition, is willing
to bend, break and abuse its own laws in order to
achieve convictions.
Nevertheless
we are told to believe that in the realms of what
is ironically termed the justice system here in the
north there is a ‘New Beginning to Policing’.
In the daily news-sheets the Nationalist people have
been advised by self-appointed and altogether rather
dubious community figures to become part of the much
heralded ‘Policing Partnership’. We state
this clearly and without ambiguity or diplomatic double-meaning;
there will never be an acceptance by true Republicans
of ANY British backed police force anywhere in Ireland
and our sole relationship to any such force will be
strictly in terms of absolute, unremitting and ceaseless
resistance.
The
so-called new age or “new dawn” that is
said to exist ever since the signing of the Stormont
agreement has nothing to do with the kind of revolutionary
Republic that we, or the men and women of 1916 envisaged.:
“We
see the Six County State as irreformable and believe
that full civil rights, an end to discrimination,
unemployment, social deprivation and sectarianism
can only be achieved when we achieve our national
rights – i.e. independence and unity. We are
opposed to the Assembly, and believe it has dangerous
potential as a vehicle for a return to Stormont
rule”.
Not
my words, but those of a 1982 Sinn Fein election manifesto.
Contrast
this with the situation that the Provisional Movement
now finds itself in, hypnotised by the pomp and ceremony
of ministerial finery – deluding themselves that
a Westminster paycheque and ‘cross-border bodies
for arts and culture’ will someday deliver the
Workers’ Republic that men and women gave their
blood for.
They should remember the prophetic words of Pearse,
“I
make the contention that the national demand of
Ireland is fixed and determined; that that demand
has been made by every generation; that we of this
generation receive it as a trust from our fathers;
that we are bound by it; that we have not the right
to alter it or to abate it by one jot; and that
any undertaking made in the name of Ireland to accept
in full satisfaction of Ireland’s claim anything
less than the generations of Ireland have stood
for is null and void, binding on Ireland neither
by the law of God nor the law of Nations. Ireland’s
historic claim is for separation. Ireland has authorised
no man to abate that claim. The man who accepts
as a final settlement anything less by one fraction
of an iota than separation from England will be
repudiated by the new generations”.
It
is perhaps worth taking a moment to ponder how the
countless Irish martyrs of every generation would
have regarded our present day society, north and south
of the British imposed border? What would Pearse and
Connolly think of Ireland at Easter 2004? The overriding
legacy which the 1916 leaders bequeathed was their
strength of character, their courage, commitment,
integrity, humanity and principle. They were poet
warriors in the classical sense; men whose very souls
were intertwined with the culture and physicality
of a living and breathing nation.
But
does the Ireland of today reflect the realisation
of their beliefs and aspirations?
In
both the south and north poverty is at chronic levels.
There are shortages in housing, and the gap between
rich and poor is ever widening. Our cherished folk
and native culture is swamped by a media bombardment
of capitalist orientated Anglo-American popular values.
In the south the sovereignty of our nation is continuously
eroded by the growing power of the European Union.
The Dublin Government offers a capitalist playground
where ministers currently display a feverish greed
for the Washington Dollar – prostituting what
was once neutral Irish soil so that American bombers
and troops can go and annihilate thousands of relatively
defenceless but fearlessly defiant people in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
I
have a feeling that those who gave their lives through
the fire and sacrifice of Easter 1916, as well as
many whom have shed their blood since, would have
plenty to say about the state of our beleaguered nation.
The
martyrs of 1916 “followed the call of freedom
through fire and blood, through poverty, strife and
slander; followed it through the gates of death, gladly
proudly, uncomplainingly. Their call to us is a call
of hope and courage. They bid us remember that so
long as there are even a few, be they weak or strong,
who will not yield in their hearts to the English
enemy, who will have no traffic with English trickery,
who will keep the light of faith and love and service
on the straight road they walked, so that others may
see it and follow where they led, there is hope for
Ireland still, and all the force and intrigue and
treachery in the world cannot crush her down in defeat.
They bid us be strong in our faith, unyielding in
our course, courageous and clean in our actions, loyal
to the very last as they were and content to do our
share of the uncompleted task, not caring to whom
will go the honour and the glory.”
We might sometimes wonder why the world does not shake
at the sheer injustice of it all. But we must take
heart for it is their ideals and their faith in the
future generations that calls us to hope and courage.
My
last words today will be quoted from the last letter
written by Liam Mellows to his devoted friends, in
the course of which he stated profoundly:
“The
Republic stands for truth and honour, for all that
is best and noblest in our race. By truth and honour,
by principle and sacrifice will Ireland be free….She
may shrink but her faltering feet will find the
road again. For that road is plain and broad and
straight; its signposts are unmistakable”.
Go
raibh míle maith agaibh go léir
Beidh
an Bua againn.
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