"I am not a Nazi. I am not even pro-German. I am an Irishman fighting for the independence of Ireland" - Sean Russell whose memorial statue in Fairview Park was recently beheaded by an unknown and previously unheard of group of 'anti-fascists'.

Earlier this month a group of (supposed - Ed) anti-fascists beheaded a statue of the republican leader Sean Russell because of his connections with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Russell's request for German aid to help the I.R.A has long been controversial but the historical facts, and the extent of Russell's alleged collaboration with the Nazis often escapes the sternest critics of wartime republicans. This article hopes to examine the extent of Sean Russell and Frank Ryan's involvement with Nazi Germany and asks "Was the destruction of the statue justified?" (The Original Indymedia article on this subject is here)

The idea that "my enemy's enemy is my friend" is as old as war itself. The United Irishmen and later the Fenians held that "England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity" as the British military became increasingly involved in colonial wars and disputes. In the First World War Irish republicans sought German military aid. The small amount of aid rendered does not mean that the I.R.B. supported German imperialism or a German monarchy. Pearse stated at his courtsmartial "Germany is no more to me than England is. I asked and accepted German aid in the shape of arms and an expeditionary force, we neither asked for nor accepted German gold, nor had any traffic with Germany except what I state: My aim was to win Irish Freedom." It was in this tradition that republicans saw themselves acting, when they sought foreign military aid in later years.

Since the inception of Indymedia Ireland in late 2001 well over one hundred people have faced court actions, ranging from injunctions to imprisonment, for participation in movements reported on by this site. This has been the case with the anti-bin charges campaign, with Shannon, with Carrickmines, with Mayday2004 and with the May 2002 Reclaim the Streets.

There has been a long running controversial debate on Indymedia around allegations that Dublin Grassroots in particular has not successfully provided support for the Mayday 2004 defendants.

Meanwhile, longer articles have started to appear in left-wing journals and publications looking back at the Mayday 2004 weekend and the issues arising from the various internecine conflicts. The WSM have a feature in their "Red and Black Revolution" about the buildup, and "What Next?" has an article from a Marxist viewpoint critical on the Wombles (taking the ESF and their attitude in Dublin as discussion points).

• DGN site: http://struggle.ws/dgn/index.php
  
• Red & Black Revolution articles: http://www.struggle.ws/wsm/rbr/rbr8/media.html
  
• http://www.struggle.ws/wsm/rbr/rbr8/mediagame.html
  
• What Next? article: http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/Latest/Wombles.html
  
• The Wombles: http://www.wombles.org.uk/
• Previous post by R
• RTS "Robocop" press release
• RTS Legal Defence meeting post (May 25 2002)
• Indymedia accused of providing too much information (Feb 10 2003)
• Anarchist Prisoner Support (Official website)
• APS statement of activity (Nov 1 2004)
• Cases against 2 English activists thrown out of court (Nov 10 2004)
• Anarchist support for prisoners in Thessalonika
• Mayday 2004: report of conviction trial of one defendant (Jan 12 2005)