Standing at the crossroads | International Solidarity | Honouring Rita O’Hare | Remembering Bobby Sands

Springhill Heroes |Tiocfaidh ár lá | Free Marwan Bargouti

Springhill Heroes When I was a wee buck growing up in Ballymurphy there was a river at the back of the houses across from our home place at the corner of Glenalina Road and Divismore Park. The river ran the length of our street and the length of Ballymurphy Road before exiting below the Whiterock Road and into the City Cemetery. From there it meanders down to and under the Falls Road beside the Bus Depot and onwards to the Bog Meadows. You can see it there to this day.  The stretch which used to border our street was long ago captured and incarcerated in a pipe below ground. Before then it was one of our favourite places to play. The Ordinance Survey maps name this rivulet as the Ballymurphy Stream.  I can’t find its Irish name. It rises in the mountain and cuts under the Springfield Road beneath a very high arch just up from our street. It used to be at its widest at that point. Perfect for jumping. Swinging across on a rope. Falling in. Catching frogs. Plastic sandals were all the go. Perfect for walking on water.    Tiocfaidh ár lá It does not feel as if 45 years have passed since the death on 5 May 1981 of Bobby Sands on hunger strike. Bobby’s death and that of his nine comrades changed so much in our struggle and opened up so many new opportunities that it is rightly viewed as a tipping point in recent Irish history. On Sunday former hunger striker Pat Sheehan MLA gave a wonderful speech at Bobby’s statue in Twinbrook. The courage and heroism of the ten men who died and those who took part in the hunger strike, and of Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg, are a huge part of our republican history.    But we should never lose sight of the fact that Bobby and his comrades in the H-Blocks and in Armagh Women’s Prison were more than political prisoners. They were family members, friends, neighbours. Comrades. They were ordinary young men and women who enjoyed life.    Free Marwan Bargouti Freedom struggles across the globe have their heroes. Nelson Mandela, Che Guevara, Bobby Sands and in Palestine, Marwan Bargouti . Last September a mural celebrating Marwan’s leadership and resistance to Israeli occupation and the oppression of the Palestinian people,was unveiled at the international wall on Bóthár na bhFál. Two weeks ago at the Ard Fheis I met with Marwan’s son Arab. Since then we have spoken by zoom. His family and those, like me, who believe he should be released are fearful for his life.

Standing at the crossroads | International Solidarity | Honouring Rita O’Hare | Remembering Bobby Sands

Standing at the crossroads Sinn Féin, but especially, the party in Belfast pulled out all of the stops at the weekend to ensure that the Ard Fheis was a huge success. The ICC Waterfront Hall was buzzing with republican voices from across our island and beyond talking about the big issues confronting all of us nationally and internationally. The number of young people attending and taking part in the debates was particularly encouraging. There were 167 Motions on the clár for discussion. They ranged across the cost of living crisis, housing, Irish unity, education, health, the climate crisis and our environment, rural Ireland, justice and human rights, and the fraught international situation. International Solidarity Sinn Féin believes in international solidarity. Consequently, an important element of our annual Ard Fheis is the many international guests who travel to be with us. This year there were around 60 guests from the ANC in South Africa, EH Bildu in the Basque country, the ERC in Catalonia, from Australia, Kurdistan, France and other comrades. I was especially pleased to meet again with Arab Barghouti, from Ramallah in the west Bank and son of Marwan Barghouti who has been imprisoned for 24 years by Israel. The situation is Gaza continues to be appalling with scores of Palestinians being killed on an almost daily basis, and towns and villages in the west Bank regularly targeted by criminal Israeli gangs of settlers. Honouring Rita O’Hare The next time you go into Áras Uí Chonghaile on Bóthar na bhFál in Belfast go up to the first floor where there is a plaque dedicated to the work of Rita O’Hare, who played a huge part in securing the support of American Trade Unions for the Áras.  Last Friday a bunch of us, her family and friends, got together to remember Rita and to unveil a James Connolly bust in her memory. It’s a striking piece of art. It was created by the talented sculptor Steve Finney and Barry O’Neill of Lough Neagh Bronze. The bust was originally donated to the Moore St. Preservation Trust that is campaigning to save the 1916 Battlefield site in Dublin. Remembering Bobby Sands Finally, next Tuesday, 5 May, will be the anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Bobby Sands. He was the first of ten men to die during the six-month hunger strike in 1981. This weekend there will be a number of events to remember Bobby and his comrades and their contribution to the struggle for freedom. ·      At 9.30 am on Sunday the Annual Bobby Sands Walk will take place on Divis Mountain. ·      At the same time there will be a 12k freedom run meeting at the Bobby statue in Twinbrook. ·      At 2pm on Sunday there will be a commemoration and wreath laying at the Bobby Sands statue in Twinbrook. ·    And later that evening at 8pm the Annual Bobby Sands Lecture will take place in Andersonstown Social Club.

The Great Fenian Escape | Moore St Trust Calls on the State to buy Moore St Terrace | Ard Fheis 2026

The Great Fenian Escape For as long as the English have occupied Ireland there have been political prisoners. As long as there have been political prisoners there have been daring and ingenious escapes. In the most recent period of conflict it is estimated that around 100 republicans participated in escapes, including the great escape from the H-Blocks in 1983. That was the biggest ever in British penal history. Others tunnelled their way out; clambered over walls; escaped in a helicopter; shot their way out; blew a hole in a wall; hid in a bin lorry or dressed as priests or in one case as a woman. I was a Samuel Beckett type of escapee. I failed. But I never gave up. I failed better.  Moore Street Trust calls on State to buy Moore St. Terrace This Friday, 24 April, is the date 110 years ago when the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army launched the Easter Rising. They published the 1916 Proclamation and proclaimed a Republic. For six days a small band of Irish rebels took on the might of the British Empire.    Ard Fheis 2026 in Belfast This weekend the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis will be held in the ICC Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Like hundreds more I will be there as the party debates policy, including how we can advance our core objective of Irish Unity.

Irish government and the Fuel Debacle | Another Israeli Offensive likely in Gaza | Palestinian Prisoners Day 17 April | A Nation For All

Irish government and the Fuel Debacle The blockade of fuel depots, motorways, towns and Dublin City centre was entirely avoidable if the FFFG government had taken the growing crisis around the cost of living and increasing fuel and energy bills seriously months ago. Instead Micheál Martin and Co. stuck their heads in the sand and ignored the mounting anger. Another Israeli Offensive likely in Gaza As I write this the talks between Iran and the USA, over the illegal Israeli/US war against Iran, appear to have foundered. It is likely that the energy and economic crisis that has resulted will continue. Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been lobbying the USA for decades to attack Iran. Other Presidents refused. President Trump agreed. The bombing of Iran and Lebanon result from Netanyahu’s war aim of expanding Israel’s borders. Palestinian Prisoners Day 17 April: This Friday is Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. It is a day set aside internationally and dedicated to the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners and in support for their rights. A just published report - titled “Another genocide behind walls” - by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor https://euromedmonitor.org/en [https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Feuromedmonitor.org%2Fen&data=05%7C02%7C%7Ca4f33e4cd7ec4c3215b208de9a1eee95%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639117654805182942%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2eMoFlGjfOJJS14K%2B7xLt10pOtEUbTDI%2BrQpV6A6NnI%3D&reserved=0] documents the appalling widespread patterns of brutality and sexual violence, including rape, used by Israel against detainees from the Gaza Strip. A Nation For All Caoilfhionn Ní Dhonnabháinnn’s book A NATION FOR ALL is a must read primer for anyone interested in the struggle for the re-conquest of Ireland by the people of this island. I whole heartedly recommend it.  Especially to activists or those brave souls who are on the journey into activism and who are trying to figure out how, in this turbulent world, the struggle for equality, solidarity, democracy and sovereignty in Ireland is to be taken forward. As always it is important to get the basics right. A Nation For All does that.

American Trade Unions and Ireland | Keeping the Faith for Unity | Terry ‘Cruncher O’Neill | Gabriel Rosenstock

American Trade Unions and Ireland Last Friday I spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the company of my good friend American Trade Union leader John Samuelson and the staff of Áras Uí Chonghaile and Fáilte Feirste Thiar – the west Belfast Tourist Board. Unbeknownst to John both organisations had agreed to name one of the Áras rooms after himself and a former Transport Workers Union, (TWU) President Mike Quill.  Keeping the Faith for Unity This Easter the Good Friday Agreement is 28 years old. It only seems like yesterday that we were all gathered in Castle Buildings wondering if David Trimble was going to take the leap. He hadn’t spoken to Sinn Féin at any time during the negotiations – except on one occasion when I said hello to him in the toilet and he told me to grow up. But on Friday 10 April 1998 he signed up to the Agreement. It was a defining moment in our recent history. It was a compromise between conflicting political positions. For the first time since partition the Agreement brought peace, stability and hope, and the opportunity for a better future for all the people of the island of Ireland.  Terry ‘Cruncher O’Neill It was the profound sadness that I heard on Sunday of the death of my friend and comrade Terry ‘Cruncher’ O’Neill. Cruncher was an incomparable singer of Irish songs of resistance. Type his name into google and you Will discover videos and audio recordings of Cruncher singing.  My memory is full of occasions when he enthralled an audience. There is a great Frankie Quinn photo of himself, Joe Cahill, me and Gerry Kelly singing ‘Something Inside So Strong’ at the tops of our voices outside the old Sevastopol Street office. Cleaky is in the foreground looking after us.  Gabriel Rosenstock.  As we go to press I am also sorry to hear of the death of Gabriel Rosenstock, poet, play wright, haikuist and writer. Gabriel was one of the leading lights of Irish language literature. He was the author and translator of more than 180 books and publisher of over 400.