29 October 2009 Edition

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Hunger Strikers remembered in Drogheda

MORE than 200 republicans gathered in Drogheda on Saturday despite adverse weather conditions to honour the memory of 22 men who gave their lives on hunger strike in the cause of Irish freedom.
The parade was led by a republican colour party and the Cullyhanna Republican Band and marched to the memorial to the hunger strikers at Grove Hill.
Chairing the proceedings was Sinn Féin Louth County Councillor Imelda Munster.
The main speaker for the event was Seán Lynch.
Seán joined the struggle in the 1970s and spent many years on the run. On 26 May 1986, Seán and his comrade, IRA Volunteer Seamus McElwain, were wounded in an ambush by the SAS.
Seán retreated and took cover in a ditch. Seamus McElwain was being interrogated by his British captors who, after several minutes of questioning, executed him.
In December of the same year, Seán was sentenced to 25 years for possession of explosives and a rifle and transferred to Long Kesh. Seán went on to be Officer Commanding of republican POWs at Long Kesh and was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. He has involved himself in Sinn Féin activity in Fermanagh and is now a member of the Fermanagh District Policing Partnership.

NO DEAL IN H-BLOCKS
In the course of his speech, Seán Lynch said:
“Bobby Sands and his comrades in Long Kesh and the women Volunteers in Armagh shattered the British Government’s policy in the North of Ireland – their criminalisation strategy lay in tatters.”
The former O/C of republican POWs poured scorn on recent media reports that claim that not all the 1981 H-Blocks Hunger Strikers had to die because the British Government offered a compromise.
“Was there a deal on offer after the deaths of Bobby, Francie, Raymond and Patsy? Are people seriously arguing that Margaret Thatcher was the reasonable British prime minister seeking a resolution to the Hunger Strikers’ demands only to be subverted by a republican leadership who cared only for political power?”
The renowned former IRA fighter said it is understandable that some people question if the Assembly in the Six Counties is what the IRA fought for.
“In the H-Blocks, we had to fight for the smallest item of change. Today, the British and Irish governments are not going to hand us the type of Ireland we want.
“As we leave here today in memory of the Hunger Strikers, it is our duty to win this final phase of the struggle and achieve the final objective of a united Ireland, free from foreign influence and one that represents the people of Ireland.”

Hunger Strike memorial in Drogheda 

 


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