Sinn Féin vigil in support of Castlerea prisoners

Over 70 Sinn Féin members held a candlelit vigil along the length of the Strabane/Lifford Bridge last Friday to show their support for the four republican prisoners still held in Castlerea.

Speaking after the vigil, Sinn Féin Councillor Brian McMahon said that the singling out of the Castlerea prisoners for special attention, and the exploitation of the genuine hurt and sorrow of the McCabe family by the media and opportunist politicians, had aroused anger in Sinn Féin members.

"We felt it important to hold this year's vigil on the Tyrone/Donegal border to highlight the breathtaking hypocrisy on this issue," McMahon said.

"The fact is that the Good Friday Agreement legislated for the release of all political prisoners both north and south, affiliated to groups on cessation who had been charged before the signing of the Agreement.

McMahon said that for political reasons, the Dublin Government had chosen to blatantly contravene the terms of the Agreement by continuing to deny the Castlerea Four their freedom.

"Now it is telling us that if the circumstances are right they will consider freeing the men," he added. "They should have been freed long ago."