Séamus Harvey remembered

Séamus Harvey

A massive crowd gathered at Flynn's Cross, Coolderry, in South Armagh, last Sunday 6 February, to remember IRA Volunteer Séamus Harvey, shot dead by the British Army on 16 January 1977. The commemoration ceremony was addressed by Newry and Armagh Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy.

Harvey was just 20 years of age when he and several other Volunteers were attacked by undercover British soldiers hiding in the fields surrounding Flynn's Cross.

Murphy said that the young man exemplified the qualities admired in the generations of republicans young and old, who committed their lives and in some cases paid the extreme sacrifice to achieve Irish independence.

He spoke of Séamus as a young man deeply involved with his community.

"Despite his young age, he had gained a wide respect because of his work within the community particularly in the field of drama and Gaelic sports," Murphy said. "He was dedicated to his family and the huge attendance today shows that that commitment as a member of the community and a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army in the struggle for Irish freedom is not forgotten."

Murphy who is the Sinn Féin candidate in the forthcoming Westminster election for the Newry and Armagh constituency, told those present that the people currently pursuing the age old strategy of criminalisation and demonisation of the republican struggle were motivated by selfish interests.

"Séamus Harvey and those many generations of Irish republicans would not be surprised by the most recent attempt to criminalise the Republican Movement," he said. "They would not be surprised at the vicious attack on the integrity of republicans by those who have spent years involved in and fostering sleaze, corruption, murder by collusion, discrimination, division and sectarianism."

He said that it was apparent that the daily rantings and allegations stemmed from a fear of the political rise of Sinn Féin.

"Do not get angry," Murphy concluded. "Your presence today, 28 years after the murder of Séamus Harvey, to honour and remember him, clearly shows that we as Irish republicans are not prepared to allow these scurrilous attacks on the integrity of our struggle to go unchallenged. "We all have a responsibility to challenge those who now feel they have a free rein to say what they like about republicans. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to Séamus Harvey and his comrades."

A massive crowd gathered at Flynn's Cross, Coolderry, in South Armagh, last Sunday 6 February, to remember IRA Volunteer Séamus Harvey, shot dead by the British Army on 16 January 1977. The commemoration ceremony was addressed by Newry and Armagh Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy.

Harvey was just 20 years of age when he and several other Volunteers were attacked by undercover British soldiers hiding in the fields surrounding Flynn's Cross.

Murphy said that the young man exemplified the qualities admired in the generations of republicans young and old, who committed their lives and in some cases paid the extreme sacrifice to achieve Irish independence.

He spoke of Séamus as a young man deeply involved with his community.

"Despite his young age, he had gained a wide respect because of his work within the community particularly in the field of drama and Gaelic sports," Murphy said. "He was dedicated to his family and the huge attendance today shows that that commitment as a member of the community and a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army in the struggle for Irish freedom is not forgotten."

Murphy who is the Sinn Féin candidate in the forthcoming Westminster election for the Newry and Armagh constituency, told those present that the people currently pursuing the age old strategy of criminalisation and demonisation of the republican struggle were motivated by selfish interests.

"Séamus Harvey and those many generations of Irish republicans would not be surprised by the most recent attempt to criminalise the Republican Movement," he said. "They would not be surprised at the vicious attack on the integrity of republicans by those who have spent years involved in and fostering sleaze, corruption, murder by collusion, discrimination, division and sectarianism."

He said that it was apparent that the daily rantings and allegations stemmed from a fear of the political rise of Sinn Féin.

"Do not get angry," Murphy concluded. "Your presence today, 28 years after the murder of Séamus Harvey, to honour and remember him, clearly shows that we as Irish republicans are not prepared to allow these scurrilous attacks on the integrity of our struggle to go unchallenged. "We all have a responsibility to challenge those who now feel they have a free rein to say what they like about republicans. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to Séamus Harvey and his comrades."