Denis Crotty

Bobby Sands once said of the republican struggle — Tá pairt ag gach duine is cuma cé chomh mór nó chomh beag (everyone has their part to play, no matter how big or how small).

Denis Crotty played every part, big or small, within the republican struggle. He devoted his life to the cause.

I first met Denis on a cold wet November day nearly eight years ago at a commemoration and as we remembered the past, talk drifted towards the future, Denis was always looking ahead. Little did I know that we had begun the reorganising of Sinn Féin in Waterford.

Denis was not an armchair general nor a mouthpiece republican; he just got out there and did his work. For years during difficult times, Denis and his late friend, John Michael Street, kept the republican flag flying in Dungarvan. It was John Michael Street who christened Denis "the Chief".

Denis was proud of being an ordinary working man, he was proud of his political beliefs. Denis always laughed off attempts to demonise Sinn Féin. He said these attacks highlighted the gulf that exists between the vision of ordinary working men and women and the political elite of this country.

Denis had a vision for the future that he shared with all of us. He rejected the status quo, he rejected the lazy self serving, self-promoting politics of the main political parties of this island. Denis fought all his life to change the politics of this country, which favour million-euro race horses over people on hospital beds.

We in Sinn Féin will continue as Denis taught us, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the working-class people. We will continue to fight for what he believed in, that people have a right to a home, to a job, to education, and to health care from the cradle to the grave. All of these issues were to the core of Denis's Sinn Féin activism.

I will cherish the memories I have of time spent with my "Chief", be it out cleaning monuments, selling lilies, doing "the papers", putting up the posters, or heading off to Bodenstown or the Ard Fheis with himself, Carmel, Sinéad, Gary and Alan.

What I will never forget and will miss extremely is the advice and help that was always just a phone call away. If you needed to go to Waterford, Belfast, Kerry or Derry, Denis was always ready.

While we stop to remember Denis, we must not grind to a halt, because "the Chief" wouldn't have wanted that; our struggle goes on, and if we are to unite our country, we must continue the fight.

For as Denis would say "there are plenty more battles to be fought before the war is won".

So will we continue and we will win these battles, but you will never be far from our thoughts, and I know you'll never be far from us.

Slán go fóill, Chief.

BY MANO