Prisoner Protest Jonesborough 6/12/09

Prison Protest Set To Escalate

Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association
24/04/2009

E3 Prison Protest to escalate.

The current protest by republican POW’s on E3 landing in Portlaoise gaol is set to escalate following a ruling that yet another prisoner has been denied temporary release by the Free State department of justice. Last week two republicans prisoners went on a no wash/dirty protest over the politically motivated denial of temporary release, more prisoners were set to follow but an agreement was made between the Irish Prison Service and the Officer Commanding republican POW’s to call a temporary halt to the escalation of the protest in order to see what moves could be undertaken to end the action by the prisoners.
Earlier today the OC of the prisoners informed the IRPWA that the Irish Prison Service had come back empty handed and another prisoner was denied temporary release. It seems that the Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service are committed to the policy of confronting republican prisoners.
We have been informed that all republican prisoners on E3 will join the protest on Monday. The POW’s had earlier stated that they would stagger men in pairs until the whole landing was on protest, the OC has informed the IRPWA that this is no longer the case as the prisoners now see no merit in this course of action.
The IRPWA call on the entire republican family to support the men in their protest and to support the IRPWA in a series of protests they are now planning, we thank those republican comrades who have already come out in support of the POW’s.
The Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service are making a grave mistake if they think they can call these man’s bluff and they are guilty of a gross underestimation of the Óglaigh na hÉireann POW’s resolve.

POW Protest Portlaoise Prison

IRISH REPUBLICAN PRISONERS WELFARE ASSOCIATION 18/04/2009 Protest on E3 Portlaoise Gaol.
It is with great regret that the IRPWA call upon the republican family to once again support POW’s in their protest against the blatant injustice of the Prison system in Ireland.
The IRPWA have been tasked by the republican POW’s to state how and why this protest has occurred and to clarify the facts of this protest.
A protest is currently underway on E3 Portlaoise due to the suspension of the temporary release (TR) and compassionate release (CR) programmes. It is the belief of the POW’s that this has happened due to IRA actions in the occupied six counties, indeed the Irish Prison Service have indicated this much and one of their spokespersons has even asked the OC of E3 if he ‘Believed in the border’!
The situation at present is as follows: Two republicans prisoners (Vinny Kelly and Justin McCarthy) are currently involved in a no wash/dirty protest, NOT on the blanket as some have suggested. At intervals republican POW’s will join this protest until the whole landing is on protest , at this stage the protest will escalate.
The Irish Prison Service representative and the Governor have asked the Officer Commanding to reconsider the POW’s stance pending talks with the Free State government, the only concession the POW’s have been willing to make at this stage is to delay further men joining the protest for a short period to give them a chance to resolve the issue. It is the understanding of the IRPWA that this window of opportunity is fast closing and we would urge all those involved in the Free State government and the Irish Prison Service to make strenuous efforts to resolve this intolerable situation as soon as possible.

32CSM Easter Oration

32CSM Easter Oration

2009

A chairde, there are those who would say we are traitors gathered here to commemorate the actions of traitors. Pearse and Connolly were deemed to be traitors because the British trenches in the Somme were filled with Irishmen deceived into thinking that fighting in the imperial slaughter of the First World War would lead to Home Rule. Pearse and Connolly said it wouldn’t, and they were right, but still they were vilified and executed. Ninety three years later republicans once again state that the Home Rule strategy will not deliver Irish freedom. Calling us traitors for saying so from the steps of Stormont, flanked by Britain’s head policeman in Ireland, proves we are also right. We are immensely proud to share the views of Pearse and Connolly.

Once again British soldiers are being killed on Irish soil. Once again British soldiers are using Irish soil to train to kill in foreign wars. Once again establishment nationalists have moved to support the British regime in Ireland. Nothing has changed. Claiming that unity will be achieved by 2016 is similar to the deception employed to lure men to their deaths in the fields of Flanders in the lost hope of securing Home Rule. Nothing has changed here either. The men and women of 1916 fought for fundamental change. They were not reformists, but Irish separatists who articulated the basic republican message that our sovereignty is inalienable and indefeasable.

This year also marks the 90^th anniversary of the establishment of the First Dail Eireann. The First Dail was the Proclamation in action. It was an Irish parliament of, by and for the Irish people. It declared our independence to the world and set about a radical social programme to cherish all of the children equally. It remains our blueprint for the future of our country and our people.

Our history is one of conflict because too often our history has been repeated. Political arrangements which usurp Irish sovereignty cannot lead to peace or freedom. Inherent in these arrangements is the attempted suppression of those who seek to defend our sovereignty. They murder us. They hang us. They intern us. They intimidate us. They malign us. It represents that familiar colonial chorus, ever desperate to maintain itself. Trading civil rights in return for recognition of foreign rule condemns our children to fight for that most basic of rights, their own freedom. The men and women of 1916 were not fooled or bought by the trappings of Home Rule nor intimidated by the forces of Westminster and her Irish lackeys. For them democracy meant more than an opinion poll rating or a gerrymandered election. The voice of the people can only be heard if it is freely expressed.

And this is the message which republicans need to articulate today. As republicans we need to put before the people our framework from within which Irish democracy can function without external impediment. We need to set our case against British occupation in a way which is relevant to our people’s needs today. Our aims cannot be solely the product of the past nor can they be a slave to that past. British reasons for remaining in Ireland will change according to modern British interests and republican strategies opposing these interests must adapt accordingly. But in doing so we cannot repeat the failures of history by compromising the legitimacy of our position for the appearance of short term gain. The British have no right to be here and our right to resist them is a matter for us to determine and not them.

We are constantly asked; what is your alternative? The answer depends on who is asking the question. To those who call us traitors we say; any alternative but yours. To those who call us anti democratic we say; let us negotiate without pre conditions. To those republicans who genuinely seek an alternative we say; let us construct one together. We must be clear that the Good Friday Agreement represents a significant defeat for republicanism. And in the face of this we need to be pragmatic and not reactionary. Recrimination is not an alternative. Working constructively together is. Along with other republican comrades the 32 County Sovereignty Movement has engaged in an initiative to forge a way forward from a unified republican position. The ideology behind it is the ideology of necessity. All republican banners are welcome because all republican banners are needed.

How we engage with the Irish people is as important as what we engage them on. From the outset the truth of what we say will be judged by the strength by which we say it. Eloquence and emotion are no substitutes to a unified voice. The politics of conflict resolution requires clarity to ensure that any resolution is just and democratic. Armed conflict is in existence because such a resolution has not been entered into. Neither republicans nor the British government can invoke the existence of armed conflict as an excuse not to engage in a process to find a final democratic resolution to the Anglo Irish conflict. We have to deal with reality as it is and not how we wish it to be.

Standing here in commemoration of 1916 let us invoke the clarity of the Proclamation as we now address the British government today. You must leave Ireland. If, as you say, you have no selfish, strategic or economic reasons for remaining in Ireland then there is no excuse for you not to leave. There is no problem in Ireland which demands your presence that the Irish people themselves cannot resolve. If you require a framework to allow you to disengage from our country we will construct one for you. But for this to happen you must go before the international community and renounce your claim to sovereignty over the Six Counties. A claim of sovereignty represents the bedrock of any strategic interest so let this be the basic test of your intentions.

We call on all republicans to realign ourselves around the securing of achievable aims. We have set forth a programme to rebuild the republican movement through political advancement. We have proposed that commemorating 1916 should be the annual barometer by which we measure our success especially in the run up to its centenary in 2016. Irish republicanism must be in a position on the occasion of this centenary to tell the Irish people that concrete political gains have been made toward making national reunification an unstoppable reality. The Proclamation is too important a document to condemn it to perpetual aspiration.

The Unity Initiative is the only realistic way forward. Armed struggle is a reality in our midst. We must address it for what it is, a symptom of the unwillingness of the British government to engage on the core cause of conflict, namely, its illegal claim to sovereignty over part of our country. For those who want armed struggle to cease they must come forward with proposals to address its cause. The politics of condemnation is a failed irrelevancy just as British micro Ministers are sitting in Stormont. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement have endeavoured since its formation to put such proposals into the public domain.

We sought a peaceful alternative through the auspices of the United Nations only to have that route disbarred to us when the US authorities, acting on influence from London and Dublin, banned our organisation from travelling there. But we are not deterred by this and efforts are underway to petition the Obama administration to reverse this policy. Because contrary to previous declarations made there, Ireland is not at peace.

We have sought dialogue with both governments, unionist and nationalist parties in an attempt to seek a peaceful way forward but these offers have been largely ignored. We thank all those who worked toward achieving this. And we say it again now; if you truly believe our position is so flawed come and tell us how, rather than grandstanding on media soap boxes. Our door remains open and we will not stop knocking on yours.

Comrades, the template of 1916 remains supremely relevant for us today. It was republican unity which drafted the Proclamation and allowed for the accommodation of its diverse views so magnificently. It was republican disunity which led to that fateful confusion on that day. They have given us the benefit of their foresight and the lessons of their errors. Let us leave here today all the wiser for both.

Beir Bua.

End The Conflict. End The Occupation

32 County Sovereignty Movement

12/03/2009

End The Conflict, End British Rule In Ireland

If the conflict in Ireland is to end once and for all, so too must the illegal British claim to sovereignty over the Six Counties. That has been made clear in light of the violent events of recent days. That the so called peace process failed to openly address this central core issue of conflict is the reason for its failure now. Attempts to cocoon the problem in a puppet British Assembly arguing along sectarian lines are doomed to failure. From the outset of this process the British government have moved to defend their illegal sovereign claim to Irelands territory. This was evident when they made it an absolute pre-condition that the entry fee into negotiations was the acceptance of a partitionist outcome. Once republican leaders acquiesced to this British demand the republican project within that process was doomed. As it limped from crisis to crisis its British and unionist credentials began to assert themselves. What also emerged was the clear fact that rather than accept their abject defeat in negotiations with the British, republican leaders dug deeper into the morass whilst making outlandish and unsustainable claims about achieving Irish unity by certain dates to keep supporters on board. It was a classic British trap. This British strategy has now reached its pinnacle with a Provisional Sinn Fein leader standing at Stormont, under the British flag, as a minister of the British crown, calling IRA Volunteers ‘traitors’ for continuing to resist British occupation.

We note the ritual chorus of condemnation emanating from Leinster House. Far from reflecting a unity of purpose it represents a bankruptcy of will from that institution to pursue the objective of a Sovereign Irish Republic. From its inception Leinster House abandoned the Irish people in the Six Counties. It abandoned them further under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. It evolved a politics which made it a slave to vested interests. It is economically on its knees because of financial and political corruption at the highest level. It has selectively spurned its own referenda results because it lacked the courage to represent those results to the political elite in Europe. It is no position to lecture to anyone on any matter of substance.

From its inception the 32 County Sovereignty Movement has endeavored to place the issue of Irish National Sovereignty at the heart of the political process via peaceful methods. We sought to raise our concerns by pursuing our case at the United Nations only to have that peaceful route disbarred to us when London and Dublin petitioned Washington to have our organization declared illegal in the US. We petitioned all the main parties with detailed submissions but were met with silence. We sought peace. We seek peace, but we recognise clearly that this can only be achieved if true parity is brought to a negotiations process. Britain’s claim to have ‘no selfish, strategic or economic reasons’ to remain in Ireland is laid bare when one sees its use of Irish soil to train and dispatch British soldiers to kill in foreign wars. The British are not neutral in Ireland, no more than they are in Afghanistan or Iraq. To allow them to claim this, which the Good Friday Agreement does, represents a massive abdication of duty and responsibility by all those supposed nationalists who support it. The recent loss of life as a result of military action is yet another tragedy in the continuing conflict in Ireland. What is required to resolve it is an end to British Parliamentary activity in Ireland so that the people of the island can come to their own democratic arrangements as to how we govern ourselves.

Whispering Campaign Exposed

32 County Sovereignty Movement
19/01/2009

Whispering campaign has no basis in fact.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has been made aware of a rumour circulating in the South Armagh area naming a local member of the 32CSM as being responsible for an attack at the home of a member of the policing partnership near Meigh last month. News reports have indicated that the attack on the new property took place on the night of the 18th/19th of December whereas the 32CSM member that some elements are seeking to blame has been out of the country since 26th November and is not due home until the end of January. Those who have been spreading such obviously false rumours should cease immediately as it is our experience that such rumour mongering is usually a prelude to some form of attack. For the record, no one connected with the 32 County Sovereignty Movement was involved in an attack on property belonging to this DPP member. There is a small element in the Jonesboro/Dromintee area who would take great delight in righting any misconceived wrongs and is incumbent on all republicans to ensure that these false and dangerous accusations do not get out of hand.

32CSM New Year Statement

32CSM
New Year Statement
2009
On behalf of the National Executive I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all our activists who campaigned so effectively for our goals during 2008. I choose the word effectively deliberately as I believe certain milestones in Irish republicanism were achieved during the past year. At the outset let me address the realities of our struggle by welcoming home the Derry 4 but in equal breath call for the immediate release of Terry McCafferty, Michael Campbell and all incarcerated Irish republicans. If ever a set of circumstances so described the nature of justice under partition it is these which do so with the greatest clarity. Partition is maintained by the establishments on either side of it which makes our struggle a thirty two county affair. A protest in Kerry is no less important than a protest in Belfast and in our efforts to build our organisation this is the message we must bring with us.

Our organisation has grown in 2008. We have reached into new areas and attracted new people who share our strategic vision. 2009 must see the Sovereignty Movement consolidate this growth and give it firm political leadership. The effective activism I speak of was visible in a number of areas;

A mature campaign for a No Vote against Lisbon.
The sustained protests on Prisoner issues.
The establishment of the Irish Republican Forum For Unity.

Our efforts at securing a No Vote in the Lisbon referendum were based on ensuring that the issue of Sovereignty and Partition were at the heart of our strategy. In doing so we made it clear that all issues of national relevance, be they concerned with natural resources or national heritage, can only be addressed in the context of National Sovereignty and that a resolution of one must contain a resolution of all. Sovereignty cannot be sub-divided.
Our comrades in the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association facilitated our activists in holding protests and demonstrations concerning imprisoned Irish Republicans. We point to the successful intervention in the Aidan Hulme case and the release of the Derry 4. But the cases of Terry McCafferty and Michael Campbell loom large and require similar attention to secure similar outcomes. We send solidarity greetings to all imprisoned republicans but we will do so through continued activism on their behalf.

After long and searching debate the Unity Initiative bore fruit with the formal establishment of The Irish Republican Forum For Unity. At its inaugural meeting in Derry City the republican base could finally see the unity idea transformed into political action on an inclusive basis. A series of public meetings have been planned throughout 2009 to bring the Unity Forum to different areas so that the broad republican base can be instrumental in forging its political activity. The 32CSM will remain fully engaged with the Unity Forum and have proposals prepared to put to it for the coming year.
2009 will see us once again confronted with the Lisbon issue. Those who make the repeated charge that republicans should respect the ‘democratic’ wish expressed in the dual referendums on the Good Friday Agreement should have their hypocrisy thrown back at them. A second referendum will have the added issue of its democratic nature and once again the 32CSM will campaign to ensure that this undemocratic premise and that of Partition itself will be seen as one. Our analysis of the re-run Nice Treaty convinced us that only a Yes vote will satisfy the Dublin Government and having anticipated the inevitability of a second poll we had begun our preparations for our campaign soon after the No victory. I take this opportunity to formally launch ‘Countdown To Lisbon II’ as our effort in the forthcoming campaign. It will be a campaign which will focus on our original objections to Lisbon and also on the status of a second referendum as it relates to our National Sovereignty. We will also campaign for a No Vote by highlighting the extraordinary corruption and social bankruptcy of the Twenty Six Counties political and financial classes as it tries to convince the people that a treaty hewn from the same bankruptcy is in our best interests.

2009 will not see the ending of Partition. Neither will 2016. These are the realities which face us and they need to be recognised by all republicans. However, this does not mean that 2009 and 2016 cannot witness political achievements that will help us secure this objective. Acting within our limitations and acting together to reduce those limitations can greatly enhance our prospects to once again place the republican position back onto the national agenda. Wallowing in the past or afraid to grasp nettles is the stuff of cul-de-sac politics. There is no need to reinvent the republican wheel but we do need to reinvent ways and means by which our core message is given the weight of political activity behind it. We view the Unity Forum as one such means and we strongly urge that all republican groups engage with it so that 2009 can become a watershed in our history.
Beir Bua.
Francie Mackey.