Ogra Shinn Fein Free Sean Kelly Protest Yesterday At British Embassy.

by Buck Fri Jul 29, 2005 04:21

Why didn't you have some posters as Gaeilge?

by Duine Fri Jul 29, 2005 15:33

Is ionadh liom nach raibh postaerí agaibh ag iarraidh " Saor Tuaisceart Éireann".

by Barry Sat Jul 30, 2005 03:36

Id quite like to be free from British rule . Id quite like it as well if my brother was set free from the same dirty British jail Mr Kelly was briefly held in .

Luckily for Mr Kelly he did not have to go into solitary confinement in order to be protected from Shankill loyalists because my wee brother and his RIRA comrades went on a stinking dirty protest a while back which eventually won segregation for republican prisoners who were daily being attacked by loyalists in the jail . No help from Sinn Fein though . In fact they even sacked MLA John Kelly when he spoke out in support of their demands for political status .

Im glad Sean Kellys back with his family but my family would like our fella back too .

It seems that the leaders of this "undefeated army" are now being allowed back into the British administration which keeps republican subversives like him and his comrades locked up for being ,.well..republicans who wont accept British rule and who wont dump their arms until Britain goes .

And this administration doesnt recognise him or his ilk as political prisoners either , criminalising , strip searching and harassing them on a daily basis . Forgive me for not exactly being over the moon at todays events .

Watching a bunch of fucking traitors rubbing their hands at being allowed back into the system which jails Irishmen for resisting British rule makes me sick to my stomach . Before too long these bastards will have British uniforms on their backs locking Irish republicans away for the crown too .

Thats their reward for dumping arms , being considered fit to join Stormont and the PSNI . 30 years of war and misery for that and no more .

Shame on them .

by Colm Gallagher Sat Jul 30, 2005 04:05 toinanbhaile at hotmail dot com

While I agree with some of what Barry says about the nature of Sinn Féin's bartering with the Northern state, I have to disagree with the overall feeling I get from his postings that a return to war would be a good thing for the cause of Irish freedom.
I'm from West Belfast and have lived through the war. I don't agree with the "peacenicks" who say that resistance to the oppression of the British state was always wrong. I find it particularly nauseous when people criticised the IRA for not including an apology in their recent "dump arms" statement. The loyalists, when they were announcing their ceasefire in the run up to the GFA, apologised "abjectly" for their activities and then, at the first possible opportunity, stiffed a couple of Taigs!
So much for apologies!
The thing is, there is a time and a place for every kind of resistance and, to be fair to the republican leadership, I think they have realised that support for the war was waning and that military actions were not receiving the sort of support they used to have.
Combine that with electoral support and you have the makings of a compromise.
Where that compromise leads you is another thing.
Nobody expected SF to enter into PPP or PFI with such gusto once they got a sniff of power.
With all the outrage at the way the Southern state is treating the Rossport 5, I wonder why no-one has pointed out the similarities with the people living near Derry City airport.
SF councillors have backed a plan by Ryanair to extend the runway, forcing 16 (I think) families out of their homes.
What sort of republicanism is this?
Michael Davitt stood up against this sort of behaviour.
The people of Rossport are stasnding up against this.
SF are the modern equivalent of Captain Boycott.
But the future for resistance to British rule isn't through a return to war.
The support just isn't there..

by Barry Sat Jul 30, 2005 04:52

But Britain definitely is . While Britain remains in occupation of the national territory , denying Irish people their sovereignty , with no declaration of intent to withdraw then the conditions for armed conflict remain , as they always have .

The Provos statement maintains that the conditions for armed conflict no longer exist , despite nothing having changed as regards the core reason for the conflict in the first place - British occupation and refusal to accept the Irish people as a sovereign people . The Provo statements is a lie , a massive lie and an utter betrayal of the republican position .

As they claim this is an historical statement , the historical and political analysis will undoubtably be " what the hell were they fighting for in the first place " ? Because this deal , the acceptance of Stormont and British institutions was on the table since 1972 .

Adams McGuinness and others rejected it then as national suicide . Whats it all been about since ?

I do not advocate a return to war . Instead I know exactly what the war was about in the first place - bringing an end to British occupation and in defence of Irish sovereignty . This process does neither . In fact this process ensures both core republican objectives are thwarted . It is a British process , British politics and Britains vision of all Irelands future , not just the Norths . Further armed conflict is inevitable under these circumstances .

by Colm Gallagher Sat Jul 30, 2005 05:21

I agree that the core reason for the war still exists but I still think that it is unreasonable to make the argument that it is unacceptable to change strategy in the struggle for liberation. I fundamentally disagree with SF's current strategy in that they have accepted the 2 states and have embraced a total compliance with the agenda of the capitalists on both sides of the border.
However, limiting your attacks to the narrow front of the pro-British side of things also limits your audience for republican ideas.
There is a huge amount of disaffection in protestant areas of Belfast. Nothing within present republican politics can address that. You only have to look at the way the PSNI attacked a young Derry protestant a while back, an event which was captured on video and presented on this site, to see that there is a need for a politics which can cross the artificial barriers of religion and bring all Irish people, be they protestant, catholic, gay, straight, traveller, settled, or of another national heritage, together in opposition to opression from botth states.
Time was when ideas like that found a resonance within republicanism.
Unfortunately that time seems to have gone.
Unless republicans waken up to the new reality, they will be seen as a force for a return to narrow sectarianism.

by eeekkkkk Sat Jul 30, 2005 13:01

"There has been a gesture of solidarity by members of a Ballymena Presbyterian church following loyalist attacks on two Catholic churches in the town.

On Friday, people from High Kirk church handed out roses to Massgoers at All Saints church which was smeared with paint earlier this week.

They also scrubbed sectarian graffiti off the door and walls of the Church of Our Lady in Harryville on Thursday.

The church has suffered graffiti and paint attacks in recent weeks. "