Dave Baker

The death of Dave Baker of Ballyfermot earlier this year deprived his family and his community of a guiding light. For republicans in Ballyfermot he will be remembered in particular as a man who proved himself a friend of democracy when one was needed.

We were honoured to make his acquaintence when the political enemies of Sinn Féin and Irish unity had ensured that in 1992 all the usual venues in which we held our Ard Fheis were closed to us. It looked at one stage as if the event might have to be held outdoors until the Ballyfermot Community Association (BCA) agreed to allow us to use their hall.

At the executive committee meeting of the BCA before which the Sinn Féin application came, it was Dave who proposed that it be accepted on the grounds that the venue was open to all other political parties. His proposal won unanimous support. Then the association was subjected to an intense campaign of threat and intimidation from some who called themselves peace-loving democrats.

Lesser mortals might have knuckled under to such a campaign but they breed them courageous in Ballyfermot. Dave and his wife Nancy, who was also a member of the executive committee, were the main targets of the attacks and so severe were the threats that the Baker family had to move out of their home for a time. They still refused to back down. Dave's sense of justice would not allow such a course to be considered and the bullies met their match. As Gerry Adams told a native of Ballyfermot who attended one of his meetings in the US, ``history was made there that day.''

People like Dave Baker are all too rare, and many people will pass their lifetime without meeting his like. Because of his stand and that of the committee, the peace process got past that first hurdle in 1992, the first step in a long journey. We are told that Dave suffered his final illness with the courage and dignity that were typical of him. He is now beyond pain or harm and we find consolation in that. We offer to the Baker family, and his many friends, our condolences, and will always remember Dave's courage and understanding. It is a worthy legacy.

By a Ballyfermot republican.