Post by Papa C. on May 8, 2008 10:43:55 GMT
PUC-PSNI nail their colours to the mast
03/05/08
An éirígí initiative to mark the 92nd anniversary of the Easter Rising has come under both verbal and physical attack in an area of the Six Counties notorious for sectarian discrimination against the nationalist community.
While the distribution of thousands of copies of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and other éirígí commemorative events were well received in Belfast, Dublin, the Donegal Gaeltacht and north Munster, the response from some in the south Derry area has been nothing short of vitriolic.
Seven éirígí flags which were erected, along with a single tricolour, in Magherafelt town centre have triggered a tirade of anti-republican abuse from unionist councillors and their supporters. The seven flags, one to symbolise each of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, were erected on Thursday April 24th to coincide with the 92nd anniversary of the start of the 1916 Rising.
éirígí flag
Speaking on local radio DUP MLA Ian McCrea (son of the firebrand unionist fundamentalist and British death squad apologist Willie McCrea) said of the commemorative initiative:
“This group honours the memory of terrorists and terrorism and therefore their flags are an offence to the decent law-abiding people of Magherafelt.”
Following on from McCrea’s comments the flags where removed by persons unknown on the night of April 29th. Three days later, as éirígí members were in the process of replacing the stolen flags, the RUC-PSNI arrived on the scene and promptly demonstrated their own sectarian prejudices.
éirígí chairperson in south Derry, Dominic McGlinchey, takes up the story:
“While we were in the process of replacing the flags stolen on Tuesday night we were approached by members of the PSNI. Initially they told us that they were responding to a complaint from a member of the public relating to men carrying ladders in the town centre. Apparently it takes up to a dozen armed men to investigate this serious crime!
RUC-PSNI respond to the serious crime
“It wasn’t long before they started to question us with regard to the erection of the flags, telling us that it was an illegal act. But when asked what law made it illegal to fly an Irish tricolour in an Irish town they were unable to answer. Similarly when they were asked whether a large Union Jack flag had permission to be flown in the town they were left stuck for words.
“If further proof were needed that the role and function of British policing in Ireland remains unchanged it was plain for all to see tonight in Magherafelt. While a large Union Jack flies undisturbed 365 days of the year an Irish tricolour is hardly unfurled before a dozen armed men arrive to investigate. And all of this is in a town with a nationalist majority!
“We have made it clear from the outset that we would remove the flags on May 12th to coincide with the anniversary of the final executions of the 1916 leaders. It appears that the thought of the Irish national flag flying in Magherafelt, even for less then three weeks, is just too much for the bigots.
“It is also a sign of the continuing abnormal state of the Six Counties that while the flag of occupation adorns the most prominent buildings in cities and towns, the flying of the Irish national flag sparks hysterical outrage.
“This incident is reminiscent of the worst periods of the Flags and Emblems Act and the recent posturing of unionist councillors is in the same vein as that of Ian Paisley when he encouraged violent assaults on the nationalist community of west Belfast back in 1964. You have to ask the question – Has anything actually changed over the last forty years?
“He was wrong then and they are wrong now.”
The national flag flies over the Diamond in Magherafelt
Dominic continued: “Unionist death squads and their political allies fly offensive, sectarian flags throughout the Six Counties, and coat-trail, with state assistance, through nationalist areas en masse annually, yet republicans it appears aren’t entitled to remember the martyrs of 1916.
“We are replacing these flags as a matter of principal. We intend to erect our national flag in Magherafelt from April 24 until May 12 of each year from here on in, regardless of interference, hindrance or the offence it might cause to the delicate sensibilities of the bigots.
“Those dates mark the beginning and end dates of the most inspiring period of 20th century Ireland, from the beginning of the Rising until the execution of James Connolly and Seán Mac Diarmada, and we will remember them with pride in the simplest of ways – by flying the flag they fought under.
“We would ask that comrades, friends and supporters attend the upcoming éirígí function on Sunday 4 May, at McNally's Toomebridge to show their defiance of the bigots and their allies in the PSNI.”
www.eirigi.org/latest/latest030508.html
