Tyrone's fallen heroes remembered

Martin Hurson RIP - IRA hunger striker

Martin Hurson (left) was the sixth prisoner to die in Long Kesh during the Hunger Strike of 1981. On the 24th anniversary of his death a crowd of more than 500 descended on Galbally to remember the Tyrone man's anniversary, as part of Tyrone Volunteers' Day on Wednesday 13 July.

Tyrone Volunteers' Day also remembers those men and women listed on the Tyrone Roll of Honour, and who paid the ultimate sacrifice for Irish freedom. Preparations for the day had begun some weeks before, with the annual Martin Hurson Football Tournament. Teams from all around Tyrone, with both a men and ladies competition, played each other in the weeks leading up to Tyrone Volunteers' Day, until there were finalists in both competitions. In the Ladies Final Beragh faced the tough opposition of Aoh Ruadh, with Aoh Ruadh finally getting the upper hand. In the men's final Altmore Martyrs played against Moortown. Once again it was a close affair with Altmore eventually coming out on top. The Martin Hurson Cup changed hands from last year's holders, the Hursons, to the Altmore Martyrs.

Shortly after the football and the presentation of the cups a larger crowd gathered for the annual Tyrone Volunteers' Day parade which set off from Galbally Community Centre, making its way to the republican monument in the centre of Cappagh Village. The parade was led by a republican colour party, the Martin Hurson Republican Flute Band and the Kevin Lynch Memorial Flute Band, who travelled from Dungiven, County Derry. Included in the procession was a group of ten young people, each carrying a picture of the 1981 H-Block Martyrs.

Just before reaching Cappagh village the parade halted for a few minutes at the spot where three IRA Volunteers and a civilian were murdered as direct result of collusion between unionist death squads and British forces in 1991.

The proceedings at the monument got underway with the laying of the wreaths on behalf of Tyrone Brigade Óglaigh na hÉireann, the local Galbally Sinn Féin Cumann, the Tyrone National Graves Association, South Tyrone Cumann Cabhrach, the Hurson family and Sinn Féin comrades from Longford who travelled to Tyrone for the event. A local woman read the Tyrone Roll Of Honour.

North Antrim Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan delivered the main oration in which he paid tribute to the sacrifices that County Tyrone has endured during the current phase of the national liberation struggle, commenting on the 50-plus names that make up the Tyrone Roll of Honour. McGuigan also told those present that they should be proud of the contribution Tyrone had played in the struggle, noting that the British could not break their spirits during 30 years of war.

The Martin Hurson band brought the 24th Tyrone Volunteers' Day to a close with the playing of Amhrán Na bhFiann.