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16 June 2011

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BODENSTOWN 2011 | PAYING TRIBUTE TO ‘THE FATHER OF IRISH REPUBLICANISM’

Kildare republicans step up for Bodenstown

THE annual Wolfe Tone Commemoration takes place on June 19th when republicans from across Ireland and overseas will gather in Bodenstown Churchyard, near Sallins, County Kildare, to remember Theobald Wolfe Tone, “the father of Irish Republicanism”.
An Phoblacht’s MARK MOLONEY speaks to south Kildare Sinn Féin organiser and republican former POW MICK O’BRIEN about the upcoming event and the growth of the party in the “Lilywhite county”.

“THE APPLICATIONS just keep coming,” says Mick O’Brien. “We’ve had more applications about membership in Kildare than anywhere else in south Leinster.”
Mick took on the role of Sinn Féin organiser for Kildare in 2009. Since then, the party has gone from strength to strength in the county with new cumainn and working groups popping up in areas which previously had none.
“It’s a new type of membership we’re getting here too,” Mick explains. “You used to find that a lot of people who join Sinn Féin come from traditional republican backgrounds but lately we’ve also seen an influx of people who are not from these families but are simply fed up with the political establishment in this state and looking to change things.
“I was speaking to one new activist who had helped us out with the election campaign in Kildare South. I asked him what made him finally decide to join the party. He replied: ‘The day the IMF came in – that did it for me.’”
At the same time, the party in Kildare has also begun to re-establish links with older republican families from the area such as the family of honorary Sinn Féin Vice-President Frank Driver who died in 1981.
The recent elections have shown just how far the Movement has come in the 26 Counties and Kildare was no exception. In Kildare North, the party more than doubled its vote. This year was also the first time that Sinn Féin contested Kildare South, where the party polled more than 2,300 first-preference votes.
While some of this growth in recent years can be attributed to the party’s national performance, the majority is simply down to the hard work of activists on the ground, coupled with impressive local representatives such as Martin Kelly, Jason Turner, Michael Dunne and, of course, the late Paddy Wright who passed away earlier this year.
The local cumainn and working groups have been involved in various campaigns and issues including supporting the sacked Green Isle workers and the campaign against the Universal Social Charge. They’ve also been dealing with other important local issues such as the recent floods in Sallins and calling for immediate action on traffic management problems that have plagued the area.
Kildare is also the area with the fastest-growing number of Irish-speakers in the country, so it is no surprise to find out that the membership has taken a keen interest in the language and has been actively involved in its promotion.
And this year is the first time that the local cumainn will take a leading role, alongside the National Commemoration Committee, in helping to organise and plan the big event.
“We want to make it a much more family-friendly event, with a kind of festival feeling,” says Michael. “In past years, republicans from all over the country would arrive and take part in the event and then just go home; there was very little interaction with the local community.
“In 1981, locals were effectively barricaded into their own homes by hundreds of riot police who shut down the town. That’s all changed now though. For the first time we are seeing the community getting actively involved in the event and with Sinn Féin. The official launch of the Wolfe Tone Sinn Féin Cumann in Sallins itself last January is evidence of this.”
Kildare Sinn Féin activists have been busy erecting flags and posters, organising bands and working with local businesses to ensure that this year’s event is a huge success.
The theme is “Leadership Across Ireland”, citing the exceptional electoral rise of Sinn Féin across Ireland, North and South.
In keeping with this theme the main speakers will be two newly-elected Sinn Féin figures representing the party’s all-Ireland profile.
Pat Sheehan, MLA for West Belfast will give the main address. Thirty years ago, Pat took part in the 1981 Hunger Strike in Long Kesh and went 55 days without food before the protest ended.
Joining Pat on the platform will be Seanadóir Kathryn Reilly, who at the age of only 22, is the youngest person ever to be elected to the Seanad since its establishment in 1922.
Bodenstown Sunday is a time for republicans to reflect on and rededicate ourselves to the republican struggle which Tone began more than 200 years ago. It is a struggle that aims to build a united, independent country based on the principles espoused by Tone of justice, equality and non-sectarianism. We hope to see you all there.

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