Post by Papa C. on Sept 10, 2006 15:26:36 GMT
Date: Sep 9, 2006 12:34 PM
Nationwide Protests in Support of Maghaberry Prisoners
SAOIRSE, Sept. 2006
IN spite of a large RUC/PSNI presence a very large crowd turned out in Lurgan, Co Armagh on Saturday, August 19 to support the five demands of the Republican POWs currently on protest in Maghaberry jail.
The protest organised by the Republican Prisoners Action Group (RPAG) took place in the Edward Street area of Lurgan. A white-line picket took place on Edward Street, followed by a rally nearby. A former Independent Councillor for Fermanagh, Tony McPhillips, chaired the proceedings. He introduced Mrs McKenna the mother of one of the protesting prisoners from the Lurgan area who read a statement on behalf of the POWs. Tony McPhillips then introduced lifelong Republican Des Long from Limerick, who was the main speaker for the occasion.
Des Long said that the failed Stormont Agreement is responsible for the current plight of Republican prisoners who are being criminalised by the political Administrations in Dublin, Belfast and London and that the same struggle as the 1981 hunger strikes is now being waged in jails throughout the 32-Counties. He said that the current crisis in Maghaberry prison could easily be resolved by the granting of political status.
It gives the lie to all those who say that there is no Republican resistance to British rule in Ireland. In every struggle for national liberation it is recognised that the actions of the resistance arise out of the political situation and in Ireland it is no different.
The sad fact is that ten men died on hunger strike to establish and enshrine the principle of political status and as a member of the National H-Block Committee at the time I have no hesitation in saying that today the same struggle is being waged by true Republicans who are incarcerated in jail.
It is even more tragic for the families of the men who died on hunger strike to realise that their noble sacrifice was sold out during the negotiations for the failed Stormont Agreement sold out by a discredited and disgraced Provisional leadership who embraced and emboldened British rule in Ireland.
We as true Republicans must never tolerate this treatment and above all we must never accept that true Republican prisoners are criminals they are resisting British rule in Ireland and we are proud of them because like us they know that the failed Stormont Agreement can never bring a real and lasting peace to Ireland.
It is despicable that former comrades in the Provos are to the forefront of attempts to criminalise these men. It is even more disgusting that the Provos continue to condemn the continued resistance to British rule. Calling us microgroups without support may be pleasing their British masters, but the Provos cannot crush the age-old aspiration to national self-determination. Just because they have sold out and taken the Queens Shilling does not end the struggle for Irish unity!
The British colonial police harassed many of the protesters that had turned out for the event. A car was stopped by an unmarked RUC vehicle in the Church Place area of Lurgan shortly before the protest was due to begin, holding the driver for approximately 20 minutes and asking how concerned people knew him. A minibus returning from the parade was also stopped under the Road Traffic Order, with the occupants subsequently being questioned under Britains so-called Terrorism Act. Backup units from the RUCs DMSU (Divisional Mobile Support Unit) also arrived on the scene.
BELFAST
More than 7,000 leaflets were distributed outside Casement Park on August 13.
CORK
About 120 people turned out at 2pm on August 5 at Daunt Square in Cork for a vigil to highlight the continuing attempts at the criminalisation of Republican prisoners in Maghaberry and in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people, in opposition to the widespread and devastating Israeli military attacks on civilians.
The vigil for political status was organised by the Mac Curtain/McSwiney Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin, Cork, and the RPAG (Republican Prisoners Action Group), whose members were in attendance.
This was done in association with the vigil for the Lebanese and Palestine peoples organised by AntiWar Ireland, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the IAWM, the attendance was diverse, and included members of a variety
of left-wing groups.
Hundreds of leaflets were handed out, highlighting the present conditions in Maghaberry and the continuing protest for political status, which after been won by the sacrifices of ten brave men in 1981 has been removed by the British Government and those who signed the failed 1998 Stormont Agreement.
The reaction from passers by was positive.
Other leaflets from the IAWM calling for workplace and trade union blacking of Israeli goods were also given out.
LIMERICK
On August 11, members of the Hurson/Sands and Brugha/Sabhat Cumainn of Republican Sinn Féin handed out 4,000 leaflets in OConnell Street, Limerick.
The leaflets supported the five demands of the Republican prisoners on protest in Maghaberry jail for political status.
One young Belfast woman on holiday told the leafleters that as a young child she, along with a sister and two brothers, spent 12 years going on the bus to Long Kesh to visit their father. She said her childhood was destroyed along with thousands of other children and that it appeared it had been for nothing.
There was a great response from the public to the contents of the leaflet.
WATERFORD
A picket in support of the Maghaberry prisoners was in the centre of Waterford city on August 26 and leaflets were disuributed.
DUBLIN
On September 2, members of Republican Sinn Féin from all parts of Leinster staged their monthly picket at the GPO in Dublins OConnell Street.
Leaflets have also been distributed and posters put up in Newry, Co Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Monaghan, Dundalk, Wexford, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Kerry, Clare and in Glasgow.
The annual Eve-of-all-Ireland Rally run by Republican Sinn Féin at the GPO on Dublin on September 16 will this year take the form of a rally for political status for the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE
In a statement on August 4, the Republican Prisoners Action Group (RPAG) said they viewed with deep concern the continuing abuse of the passive drugs (sniffer) dog in Maghaberry jail. In light of the fact that no drugs have ever been discovered either amongst Republican prisoners or their visitors, it is clear that
this measure is simply punitive in nature.
It has been brought to our attention that two Republican POWs have been denied open visits due to alleged detections by the dog. One of the prisoners has been refused visits every second week, whereas the other prisoner has been denied his last three visits by different family members. The end result of this harassment is that he has not received a visit for over a month.
The RPAG believes that this amounts to nothing less than psychological torture of the POWs. We reiterate our call for the removal of the so-called drugs dog, and for the concession of the protesting prisoners five demands.
Nationwide Protests in Support of Maghaberry Prisoners
SAOIRSE, Sept. 2006
IN spite of a large RUC/PSNI presence a very large crowd turned out in Lurgan, Co Armagh on Saturday, August 19 to support the five demands of the Republican POWs currently on protest in Maghaberry jail.
The protest organised by the Republican Prisoners Action Group (RPAG) took place in the Edward Street area of Lurgan. A white-line picket took place on Edward Street, followed by a rally nearby. A former Independent Councillor for Fermanagh, Tony McPhillips, chaired the proceedings. He introduced Mrs McKenna the mother of one of the protesting prisoners from the Lurgan area who read a statement on behalf of the POWs. Tony McPhillips then introduced lifelong Republican Des Long from Limerick, who was the main speaker for the occasion.
Des Long said that the failed Stormont Agreement is responsible for the current plight of Republican prisoners who are being criminalised by the political Administrations in Dublin, Belfast and London and that the same struggle as the 1981 hunger strikes is now being waged in jails throughout the 32-Counties. He said that the current crisis in Maghaberry prison could easily be resolved by the granting of political status.
It gives the lie to all those who say that there is no Republican resistance to British rule in Ireland. In every struggle for national liberation it is recognised that the actions of the resistance arise out of the political situation and in Ireland it is no different.
The sad fact is that ten men died on hunger strike to establish and enshrine the principle of political status and as a member of the National H-Block Committee at the time I have no hesitation in saying that today the same struggle is being waged by true Republicans who are incarcerated in jail.
It is even more tragic for the families of the men who died on hunger strike to realise that their noble sacrifice was sold out during the negotiations for the failed Stormont Agreement sold out by a discredited and disgraced Provisional leadership who embraced and emboldened British rule in Ireland.
We as true Republicans must never tolerate this treatment and above all we must never accept that true Republican prisoners are criminals they are resisting British rule in Ireland and we are proud of them because like us they know that the failed Stormont Agreement can never bring a real and lasting peace to Ireland.
It is despicable that former comrades in the Provos are to the forefront of attempts to criminalise these men. It is even more disgusting that the Provos continue to condemn the continued resistance to British rule. Calling us microgroups without support may be pleasing their British masters, but the Provos cannot crush the age-old aspiration to national self-determination. Just because they have sold out and taken the Queens Shilling does not end the struggle for Irish unity!
The British colonial police harassed many of the protesters that had turned out for the event. A car was stopped by an unmarked RUC vehicle in the Church Place area of Lurgan shortly before the protest was due to begin, holding the driver for approximately 20 minutes and asking how concerned people knew him. A minibus returning from the parade was also stopped under the Road Traffic Order, with the occupants subsequently being questioned under Britains so-called Terrorism Act. Backup units from the RUCs DMSU (Divisional Mobile Support Unit) also arrived on the scene.
BELFAST
More than 7,000 leaflets were distributed outside Casement Park on August 13.
CORK
About 120 people turned out at 2pm on August 5 at Daunt Square in Cork for a vigil to highlight the continuing attempts at the criminalisation of Republican prisoners in Maghaberry and in solidarity with the Lebanese and Palestinian people, in opposition to the widespread and devastating Israeli military attacks on civilians.
The vigil for political status was organised by the Mac Curtain/McSwiney Cumann of Republican Sinn Féin, Cork, and the RPAG (Republican Prisoners Action Group), whose members were in attendance.
This was done in association with the vigil for the Lebanese and Palestine peoples organised by AntiWar Ireland, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the IAWM, the attendance was diverse, and included members of a variety
of left-wing groups.
Hundreds of leaflets were handed out, highlighting the present conditions in Maghaberry and the continuing protest for political status, which after been won by the sacrifices of ten brave men in 1981 has been removed by the British Government and those who signed the failed 1998 Stormont Agreement.
The reaction from passers by was positive.
Other leaflets from the IAWM calling for workplace and trade union blacking of Israeli goods were also given out.
LIMERICK
On August 11, members of the Hurson/Sands and Brugha/Sabhat Cumainn of Republican Sinn Féin handed out 4,000 leaflets in OConnell Street, Limerick.
The leaflets supported the five demands of the Republican prisoners on protest in Maghaberry jail for political status.
One young Belfast woman on holiday told the leafleters that as a young child she, along with a sister and two brothers, spent 12 years going on the bus to Long Kesh to visit their father. She said her childhood was destroyed along with thousands of other children and that it appeared it had been for nothing.
There was a great response from the public to the contents of the leaflet.
WATERFORD
A picket in support of the Maghaberry prisoners was in the centre of Waterford city on August 26 and leaflets were disuributed.
DUBLIN
On September 2, members of Republican Sinn Féin from all parts of Leinster staged their monthly picket at the GPO in Dublins OConnell Street.
Leaflets have also been distributed and posters put up in Newry, Co Down, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Monaghan, Dundalk, Wexford, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Kerry, Clare and in Glasgow.
The annual Eve-of-all-Ireland Rally run by Republican Sinn Féin at the GPO on Dublin on September 16 will this year take the form of a rally for political status for the Republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE
In a statement on August 4, the Republican Prisoners Action Group (RPAG) said they viewed with deep concern the continuing abuse of the passive drugs (sniffer) dog in Maghaberry jail. In light of the fact that no drugs have ever been discovered either amongst Republican prisoners or their visitors, it is clear that
this measure is simply punitive in nature.
It has been brought to our attention that two Republican POWs have been denied open visits due to alleged detections by the dog. One of the prisoners has been refused visits every second week, whereas the other prisoner has been denied his last three visits by different family members. The end result of this harassment is that he has not received a visit for over a month.
The RPAG believes that this amounts to nothing less than psychological torture of the POWs. We reiterate our call for the removal of the so-called drugs dog, and for the concession of the protesting prisoners five demands.
