30 August 2001 Edition
Youghal Councillor Defends Hunger Strike Plaque
Poll-topping Youghal UDC Sinn Féin Councillor Martin Hallinan has stated that he will never dishonour the memory of the 1981 Hunger Strikers by removing a plaque in honour of the patriots unveiled in the local 1798 Memorial Park last weekend.
The two-foot sqaure plaque was commissioned and erected by the local Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee, and was unveiled by Sinn Féin North Belfast Assembly member Gerry Kelly and former Long Kesh Blanketman Eoghan Mac Cormaic at last Sunday's commemoration in the town.
Just the previous evening, Councillor Hallinan, a member of the committee, was contacted by the Town Clerk with an ultimatum to have the plaque removed by 9am on Monday morning or ``the council would remove it themselves''.
Hallinan took grave exception to the threat, and speaking at the commemoration ceremony on Sunday afternoon, castigated his eight fellow councillors on Youghal UDC who have combined forces against the plaque. He reminded them, to great applause from the large crowd in attendance, that the 1798 Memorial Park in Youghal was there to pay tribute to republicans and nationalists who have fought and died for Irish freedom. ``The 10 men who died in Long Kesh in 1981 are as entitled to be honoured here as much as anyone else. Their cause was the same,'' he stated.
Gerry Kelly also commented that it was fitting that the names of the Hunger Strikers should also be included while Eoghan Mac Cormaic warned that Fianna Fáil in time will try to claim the hunger strikers as their own, just like they are attempting to do so now with Michael Collins.
On Monday morning, the Commemoration Committee contacted a solicitor, who wrote to the council requesting that the plaque not be removed until he had time to clarify the legal situation.
That afternoon, Youghal UDC called an emergency meeting to discuss the ``crisis''. One by one, the other eight councillors castigated Martin Hallinan over the plaque issue, and two motions were passed, proposed by Fianna Fáil and Green Party representatives. The first called on the UDC to remove the plaque, while the second called on the council to ``withdraw cooperation with Cllr. Martin Hallinan until he apologies''.
An angry Sinn Féin Martin Hallinan retorted that the 1798 Memorial Park was ``the most obvious and appropriate place in Youghal to have such a plaque erected to Irish patriots''. Commenting on the attempt to censure him, he said that in attempting to do so, they were ``disenfranchising 715 first preference voters, and probably as many more who also voted for him in the 1999 local elections''.
He told An Phoblacht: ``I am committed to continuing the work I have been elected to do by the people of Youghal. The attempt by the other councillors to withdraw cooperation is no different from the sanctions imposed by David Trimble on my Sinn Féin colleagues north of the border. Like them, I will not accept this situation.''
The two-foot sqaure plaque was commissioned and erected by the local Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee, and was unveiled by Sinn Féin North Belfast Assembly member Gerry Kelly and former Long Kesh Blanketman Eoghan Mac Cormaic at last Sunday's commemoration in the town.
Just the previous evening, Councillor Hallinan, a member of the committee, was contacted by the Town Clerk with an ultimatum to have the plaque removed by 9am on Monday morning or ``the council would remove it themselves''.
Hallinan took grave exception to the threat, and speaking at the commemoration ceremony on Sunday afternoon, castigated his eight fellow councillors on Youghal UDC who have combined forces against the plaque. He reminded them, to great applause from the large crowd in attendance, that the 1798 Memorial Park in Youghal was there to pay tribute to republicans and nationalists who have fought and died for Irish freedom. ``The 10 men who died in Long Kesh in 1981 are as entitled to be honoured here as much as anyone else. Their cause was the same,'' he stated.
Gerry Kelly also commented that it was fitting that the names of the Hunger Strikers should also be included while Eoghan Mac Cormaic warned that Fianna Fáil in time will try to claim the hunger strikers as their own, just like they are attempting to do so now with Michael Collins.
On Monday morning, the Commemoration Committee contacted a solicitor, who wrote to the council requesting that the plaque not be removed until he had time to clarify the legal situation.
That afternoon, Youghal UDC called an emergency meeting to discuss the ``crisis''. One by one, the other eight councillors castigated Martin Hallinan over the plaque issue, and two motions were passed, proposed by Fianna Fáil and Green Party representatives. The first called on the UDC to remove the plaque, while the second called on the council to ``withdraw cooperation with Cllr. Martin Hallinan until he apologies''.
An angry Sinn Féin Martin Hallinan retorted that the 1798 Memorial Park was ``the most obvious and appropriate place in Youghal to have such a plaque erected to Irish patriots''. Commenting on the attempt to censure him, he said that in attempting to do so, they were ``disenfranchising 715 first preference voters, and probably as many more who also voted for him in the 1999 local elections''.
He told An Phoblacht: ``I am committed to continuing the work I have been elected to do by the people of Youghal. The attempt by the other councillors to withdraw cooperation is no different from the sanctions imposed by David Trimble on my Sinn Féin colleagues north of the border. Like them, I will not accept this situation.''