15 April 2004 Edition

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Toome republicans reclaim Rodaí Mac Corlaí Bridge

BY ÁINE Ní BHRIAIN

Sinn Féin's Martin Meehan

Sinn Féin's Martin Meehan

Republicans in South East Antrim and South Derry used this Easter's Roddy McCorley commemoration as their platform to campaign to have the new bridge over the River Bann renamed the Rodaí Mac Corlaí Bridge.

At the recent opening of the Toome by-pass, of which the bridge is a part, former British NIO Minister John Spellar, officially, if hardly imaginatively, named the structure the 'Toome Bridge'.

The Easter march took place under a cloud of controversy, after SDLP politician Donovan McClelland accused Sinn Féin Councillor Martin Meehan of issuing a death threat against him during an interview for an early-morning radio show.

Dismissing McClelland's claims, Meehan described the allegation as "absolute bunkum".

"There is no way, even though I dislike the man, that I would say that," said Meehan angrily. "It would be political suicide. He (McClelland) is trying to gain political credibility on my back."

The two councillors had been asked to comment on the Easter Tuesday commemoration to take place in Toomebridge later that evening, and explain the reasons why they disagreed on the naming of the controversial bridge.

Meehan had argued that the residents of the area wanted the bridge named in honour of United Irishman Roddy McCorley, who had been hung on the original bridge at the same location in 1799. McClelland insisted it should be named after former SDLP leader John Hume.

The interview was suddenly cut short after McClelland issued the outrageous allegation against Meehan.

However, McClelland's desperate antics did nothing to dampen the spirits of the large defiant crowd who turned out to witness the republican naming ceremony of the bridge at Toome as the 'Rodaí Mac Corlaí Bridge'.

Led by a colour party comprised of members of the Belfast-based Rodaí Mac Corlaí Society, more than 1,000 people followed four smartly attired bands from Toomebridge, Rasharkin, Kilrea and Antrim Town, to the memorial erected to honor the young republican.

After the ceremony, Martin Meehan said local republicans have vowed that signs proclaiming the bridge the Rodaí Mac Corlaí bridge will be replaced as is necessary.

"The signs on the bridge will be replaced, and if they are taken down they will be replaced again and again," said Meehan. Signs erected by republicans earlier in the week had been removed by the local PSNI before the commemoration.


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