4 March 2004 Edition

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Huge turnout for 16th Anniversary Vols Burn/Moley Commemoration

A huge turnout of more than 1,200 republicans gathered at Creggan on Sunday last to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the death of IRA Volunteers Brendan Moley (30) from Newry Road, Crossmaglen, and Brendan Burns (30) from Dorsey.

Bairbre de Brún, Six-County European Parliamentary candidate for Sinn Féin, addressed the large crowd at the spot where the two young men were so tragically lost. Coming from the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Dublin, Bairbre talked about the resonance of the struggle they were involved in and how that struggle has been transformed.

"There are many similarities in the two lives of the two Brendans, growing up in what in their early years would have been a quiet rural area," she said. "While in some ways this area would retain its quiet rural character, political events unfolding once again would ensure that the freedom the justice and the peace that local people longed for would remain elusive for many years to come.

"This past year we have heard recounted in the Saville Tribunal the events of internment, the anti-internment protests and the killings in Derry on Bloody Sunday. These events would have provided the political backdrop to the two Brendans' formative years.

"South Armagh became known internationally not for the undoubted beauty of its countryside but for the fact that this was one of the areas in which the conflict was at it sharpest. As two of the leading combatants in this area, the two Brendans would become well known by both friend and foe alike.

"The two Brendans were killed in an explosion 16 years to this day on 29 February 1988, close to where this monument stands.

"British soldiers launched a full-scale attack on the funerals, and several mourners were injured, some seriously. The British Government at that time chose a policy of attacks on republican funerals as a way of defeating resistance to British rule in Ireland. This was very evident in South Armagh that day, and was to be repeated with tragic consequences within weeks in Belfast, with the attacks on the funeral of those killed in Gibraltar, and on the funeral of Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh, who was killed in Milltown Cemetery at the funerals of the Gibraltar Three.

"Brendan Moley and Brendan Burns were a great loss. Their fame spread far and wide. Mairéad Farrell was deeply upset on hearing the news of their death. She, of course, was executed in Gibraltar by the SAS on 8 March, only a few days later. It was thought at the time that loss of the two Brendans would have dealt a severe body blow to the Republican Movement in South Armagh. British soldiers based locally were heard boasting about the deaths.

"But the courage and reputation of the two Brendans reached out after the untimely loss. Young men and women came forward in their droves to replace these two brave men. Their resourcefulness, determination and courage is still an inspiration to republicans today in our struggle for national independence.

"We take courage from their sacrifice and we rededicate ourselves to the continuation of the struggle until we achieve our objective of a free united Ireland, an Ireland we can all be proud of, an Ireland worthy of the sacrifice of so many of our people, an Ireland of equals."


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland