Spirit of Ballymurphy demonstrated in massive commemoration

Maureen McGuinness, wife of Tommy ‘Todler’ Tolan stands in front of the memorial plaque to her husband

The republican spirit of Ballymurphy was demonstrated in the massive turnout at the commemoration march for Volunteer Tommy ‘Todler’ Tolan on Sunday, 29 July.
Over 2,000 people, many from across Belfast, some from Dublin, but mostly Ballymurphy people paraded through the streets of the area in a show of republican strength and solidarity with the family and friends of an IRA Volunteer who came to epitomise the spirit of defiance that made the ‘Murph’ an area where the British army feared to tread.
The parade began at the magnificent Memorial Garden on the Upper Springfield Road and made its way through the narrow streets of an area that resonates with the sounds of many a battle fought between the British army and the sons and daughters of the area.
The huge parade passed the many murals dedicated to the fallen republicans from the Greater Ballymurphy area, on its way to Divismore Crescent where ‘Todler’ was shot dead by ‘Official IRA’ gunmen in July 1977. There, his wife of just 18 days Maureen McGuinness, unveiled a memorial plaque in his memory.
The main speaker of the day was Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams. A close friend of ‘Todler’ Adams, in paying tribute to his friend recounted his early life in Ballymurphy and said that were it not for the war, he would more than likely have raised a family and seen his grandchildren grow up.
“But Tommy couldn’t sit back and watch as his community came under attack from loyalists and the British army. He took the only option open to him and that was to resist”.
Tolan’s resistance to British rule lead him to prison and then to his death on 27 July 1977.
However, the Sinn Féin President’s speech was not just about looking back. Locating the commemoration event in the present Adams compared the bravery and the sacrifice of Volunteers like Tommy Tolan to the criminality of the two gangs whose activities in Ballymurphy had brought nothing but hardship to the area. He urged people to reject these gangs and to work with those in Ballymurphy, Sinn Féin activists community workers, who had the interests of the area at heart.
He called on those in the crowd to work for the good of their community and to join Sinn Féin to help achieve the goals that that Tommy Tolan fought and died for.