‘Welcome to Dublin, the city that fought the Empire’ – Mary Lou McDonald tells Sinn Féin Ard Fheis

MARY LOU McDONALD TD welcomed the 2016 Ard Fheis to her Dublin Central constituency on Friday evening and declared that there is a big challenge for “the Establishment, as they rightly celebrate 1916, to set out how they plan to make the Republic a reality – it needs to be more than lip service”.

To cheers, Mary Lou opened by greeting everyone:

“Welcome to Dublin – the city that fought the Empire.”

Speaking at the Convention Centre facing out on to the River Liffey from the north inner city, she recalled that Dublin was at the epicentre of the fight against British rule in Ireland one hundred years ago.

She told delegates and visitors from across the 32 counties of Ireland, the Diaspora and international organisations:

“It was in neighbourhoods not far from here that the pauperised working class, living in run-down tenements, took a stand.

“In 1913, workers stood up for themselves, their dignity, their rights and they were locked out by the bosses.

“It was on the streets around here that James Connolly raised his Citizen Army. The story of the Rising is etched into the fabric of this city – from the founding of the Irish Volunteers in Parnell Square, to the smuggling of guns at Howth, to the capture of strongholds around the city from the GPO, to Boland’s Mill, to the rebels’ last stand at Moore street and the execution of the leaders in Kilmainham Gaol.”

The rebels, against all odds, she said, struck for our freedom against what was deemed ‘the greatest empire’ the world had ever seen but in full confidence of victory.

“Today we acknowledge their courage, their spirit and their absolute determination.

“It is now our turn, in our time, to rally to the cause of the Republic – to stand for the Republic again. The Proclamation of the Republic sets out the vision and promise of a free, and equal Ireland, a truly democratic Ireland, the Sinn Féin deputy leader said. It is a Republic based on religious and civil liberty, equal citizenship, placing the democratic and unfettered control of Irish destinies in the hands of the people, she noted.

“The Proclamation is the foundation document of the Republic and remains the mission statement of Irish republicans to this day.

“So where stands the Republic in 2016?

“What happened to the dream of a free and equal Ireland?” One hundred years on, we live in an Ireland that enjoys only partial freedom, she said.

“We live in an Ireland that is deeply divided between the haves and the have-nots.

“We live in an Ireland that was partitioned and designed by those in control to favour those in control – an Ireland in which almost 2,000 children call a B&B or hotel room home; where, every day, families face the courts and banks and vulture funds who threaten to take the roof over their heads; where countless families will today, tomorrow and the next day worry and struggle to meet their household bills and get by.”

And, she continued:

“We live in an Ireland that remains partitioned.

“The Border scars the landscape of Ireland and disrupts and distorts our economic and social development.

“It is a legacy issue from the 1920s – imposed not by consent but by threat of immediate war and maintained on the watch of successive indifferent governments.”

The Border will be removed not by threat or coercion but by agreement, by persuasion, and by positive republican activism, the Sinn Féin deputy leader said.

“By reigniting and reawakening the spirit of the United Irishmen and women, the spirit of the Easter rebels, the spirit of Bobby Sands.”

The mark of our success as republicans, the measure of a Republic worthy of the name, will be one “built on our glorious diversity”, Mary Lou said – an equal society for every citizen, women and men, citizens of all abilities and disabilities, settled and Traveller, LGBT and straight, young and old, black and white, Orange and Green. 

The sectarian Orange state in the North is gone, she said. “Every citizen in the North – Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter – is the better for that.” The “overbearing conservatism” in the South is finally giving way to a pluralist society, the Dublin TD continued. People have a historic opportunity, to build a united Irish Republic by peaceful and democratic means and this is in no small part due to the leadership of republican leaders in our time, she said, highlighting the roles played by Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

Turning to the ongoing negotiations to try and form a new Government in the 26 Counties, the Dáil deputy concluded:

“We want to be and we will be part of a government that champions the people.

“We will face the challenge of government when it is afforded to us by the people with energy and integrity.

“We are ambitious for Ireland, optimistic for our country. We understand the challenges that face workers, families and communities across the land.

“We seek to build our mandate and support from every person who believes that Ireland can be a better place, that we can achieve the Republic.

“In the spirit of the rebels of a century ago, we meet here in full confidence of victory.”