As many as 2,000 people gathered in bright sunshine in West Belfast on Sunday 24 June for the unveiling of one of the finest monuments ever erected to the republican dead.

The monument, in the Garden of Remembrance on the lower Falls Road, was officially opened after a parade through the area. Hundreds of republicans, veterans of the war and of British prisons, took part. The parade was led by a colour party, followed by many `old hands' from D Company, or the `Dogs' as they were known. They followed behind their own colours and their mascot, an Irish Wolfhound. As well as the many hundreds who took part in the parade hundreds of other people lined the route.

The brainchild of the Falls Cultural Society, the magnificent monument was a year in the planning and the efforts of Dominic O'Neill and Paddy Monaghan, among others to get the memorial finished on time was a feat in itself.

In asking Bridget Hannon and Willie John McCorry to carry out the official opening, the Falls Cultural Society recognised the work and commitment of two veteran republicans whose efforts are well known.

As guest speaker, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams commended the families of the dead Volunteers of D `Company for their ``great sacrifice to the republican struggle''.

In a statement from the Belfast Brigade, Oglaigh na hÉireann, read during Sunday's proceedings, the IRA commended the present leadership of the republican movement as being among the most astute, determined, dedicated and most revolutionary in deed and action that our struggle has ever seen.

The statement also praised the efforts of Sinn Féin on its successes in this month's elections, saying ``the republican argument is strong and continues to grow''.

Hunger Strike Memorial unveiled in South Armagh.

A crowd estimated at well over a thousand people paraded to the crossroads of Fords Cross and Silverbridge in South Armagh last weekend to witness the unveiling of a new memorial stone commemorating the sacrifice of the ten republican prisoners who died on hunger strike in 1981. Sinn Féin Councillor Elena Martin chaired the proceedings and introduced the first speakers Davy Hyland, recently elected Chairperson of Newry and Mourne District Council and Cllr B. Lewis, a member of the 1981 Hunger Strike Committee.

Former hunger strikers Laurence McKeown and Paddy Quinn performed the unveiling ceremony.

Speaking at the unveiling, Sinn Féin's West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty said: ``For republicans and I'm sure many other people the 1981 hunger strikes marked a watershed. The 20th anniversary and how we respond to it is deeply important.

``The actions of those on hunger strike showed that there is more than one way to fight a system of tyranny. It was the opening up of a new front, a pragmatic front, in the battle to assert the rights of Ireland to be free. It destroyed the myth that the prisoners were criminals. The cynicism, hypocrisy and lack of humanity of the British government was laid bare before the world. The Irish hunger strikers became a symbol across the world, not only against oppression but also a symbol of humanity and of the desire of people to be free.

``I firmly believe that there has never been a time when the need was greater for ordinary people to take politics back from the professional politicians - something which happened here with such success in the council elections and with Conor Murphy's huge vote in the Westminster elections. One very real and important legacy was the deepening of our commitment that this generation of Irish republicans will bring about Irish reunification.''