Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, January 1, 2012
IT is an honour to be invited here to speak at the grave of my fellow
Corkonian and comrade Dáithí Ó Conaill. His untimely death at the age of
51 was a great blow to the Republican Movement.
Dáithí came from a strong Cork Republican family. His uncle Michael
O’Sullivan (17), along with five of his comrades, was bayoneted to death
by British Crown forces in March 1921. He joined Sinn Féin at the age of
17 during the local elections in 1955. By the end of the following year
he was on active service as a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army
serving as an organiser under GHQ staff in Co Fermanagh.
On January 1, 1957 he was second-in-command of the Pearse Column during
the attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks which resulted in the deaths of
two of his comrades, Fearghal Ó hAnluáin and Seán Sabhat. Four others
were wounded including the column commander. At 18 years of age Dáithí
took command and led a successful withdrawal back across the border –
evading 400 RUC, B-Specials, two helicopters and the British army –
where they were forced to retire. He was then imprisoned in Mountjoy and
the Curragh Concentration camp from where he escaped with his friend and
comrade Ruairí Ó Brádaigh in September 1958.
He returned to active service and for a period was Director of
Operations. He was critically wounded in an ambush by the RUC and
B-Specials in Arboe, Co Tyrone on the shores of Lough Neagh in November
1959. He made his escape but was forced to seek help because of loss of
blood and his weakened condition. He was captured by Crown Forces and
was sentenced to eight years which he served in Belfast’s Crumlin Road
Jail. Following his release in 1963 he reported back to active service.
In 1969/70 he again made his talents available to the Republican
Movement. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said of him he possessed the ‘ablest mind in
the Republican Movement for over 20 years’. The sheer breadth of his
ability and intellect was evidenced by his service to the All-Ireland
Republic both militarily and politically. He had a central role in
framing ÉIRE NUA and remained a tireless advocate of it right up to his
death in 1991.
Dáithí Ó Conaill never equivocated on what was the cause of the war in
Ireland or what was required to deliver a just and lasting peace for all
of the Irish people. Speaking in Belfast at Easter 1973 he said: ‘Today,
the central issue in the war is one of conflict between Ireland’s right
to freedom and England’s determination to keep us in subjection. All
other issues are subordinate to this basic point. There can be no
compromise on the fundamental issue as to who should rule Ireland: the
British Parliament or the Irish people. We have had 800 years of British
ineptitude in ruling Ireland; we have never known rule by the Irish, of
the Irish, for the Irish. Until we do, we shall never enjoy peace and
stability in our land.’
In the past year we have seen the Establishments in Britain and Ireland
move to cement the status quo – the British presence in Ireland. The
visit of the Queen of England, which was a non-event in the eyes of most
of the Irish people, has been elevated to almost a holy event where we
are told ‘the relationship between Ireland and Britain is changed
forever’. The shoneens in the Dublin Administration would have us
believe that because she spoken a few words of broken Irish the past
must be forgotten and all is forgiven.
Well, that can only come about when the British presence is removed from
all of Ireland and its military apparatus has gone, lock, stock and
barrel. While Britain holds sway over any part of our country there will
always be men and women to resist that presence, no matter how many
former comrades take the British shilling and do her dirty work. Empty
gestures will not bring about a 32-County United Ireland where all,
nationalist and unionist, may live in peace together.
The coming year presents us all with huge challenges but also
opportunities. The two fronts on which it is essential that we engage in
2012 are political and economic.
The young people in the Six Counties who took on the forces of the
British Crown during 2011 were once again dismissed as ‘apolitical
thugs’ or merely representing an anti-social sub-youth culture. We know
what the truth is. These young people represent a new undefeated
generation prepared to take on British rule in Ireland. They are young
people simply taking their place in the latest phase of the historic
struggle for Irish freedom.
It is our duty in Sinn Féin –the only political organisation
representing the revolutionary Irish Republican tradition – to give
political expression and leadership to this new generation.
I take this opportunity to send new year greetings to the Republican
prisoners in both Portlaoise and Maghaberry. The situation of the
Republican prisoners in Maghaberry in their fight for political status
is extremely serious and the conditions they are enduring requires all
of us to make a huge effort in the coming year to bring their protest to
a successful end. The internment of Martin Corey and Marian Price must
be ended. It is up to all of us to do our utmost to publicise the plight
of the Republican POWs.
Here the 26-County Administration, faced with a choice between taxing
the rich or taking from the marginalised and vulnerable, have once more
chosen to put their hands in the pockets of the poor. Employers and the
State are intent on rolling back any advance made by workers over the
course of the last century. Whatever sovereignty the 26-County State had
is now in the hands of the so-called troika of the EU/EMF/IMF and this
is set to get worse in coming years. Water taxes, septic tank taxes,
property taxes and waste charges are crippling people while the rich
continue to get richer.
Ninety-six years after the 1916 Proclamation the children of the nation
are certainly not cherished equally. The men and women who sacrificed
their lives and freedom so that we could live in a country free from
foreign interference are turning in their graves as they see the mess
that has been made of the country by self-serving and incompetent
politicians, bankers and developers. Once again our young people are
being forced to emigrate all over the world to find work and whole
communities are being decimated.
In the run-up to the centenary of the 1916 Rising those of us who follow
in their path must provide the lead to the Irish people as they struggle
to fight the cuts and deprivation caused by the failure of those elected
to run the country, north and south.
Armed as we are with clearly thought out and radical programme for real
political and economic democracy ÉIRE NUA and SAOL NUA we can take our
rightful place in the vanguard of the struggle.
One final thing: There are people, some former members of our
organisation who either left because they were not prepared to accept
the democratic decision of An Ard-Fheis or who were dismissed for
bringing the organisation into disrepute, and their camp followers who
were never members, are using the honourable name of the Republican
Movement while engaging in criminal and nefarious acts.
These people are doing the work of the enemy and we in Republican Sinn
Féin will not allow them to continue to do so. We demand that they cease
using the name of this organisation forthwith. Republican Sinn Féin is
not now, nor never has, been involved in gangsterism and criminality and
these people will not be allowed to besmirch our name.
Our work is clearly marked out for us. It is our duty to bring to the
task all our energies and abilities. This is the most fitting tribute we
can pay Dáithí Ó Conaill and all those who lie in this pantheon of our
patriot dead. ‘Life springs from death; and from the graves of patriot
men and women spring living nations.’
Beir Bua agus beannacht agus Áth-bhliain fé mhaise go léir
IT is an honour to be invited here to speak at the grave of my fellow
Corkonian and comrade Dáithí Ó Conaill. His untimely death at the age of
51 was a great blow to the Republican Movement.
Dáithí came from a strong Cork Republican family. His uncle Michael
O’Sullivan (17), along with five of his comrades, was bayoneted to death
by British Crown forces in March 1921. He joined Sinn Féin at the age of
17 during the local elections in 1955. By the end of the following year
he was on active service as a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army
serving as an organiser under GHQ staff in Co Fermanagh.
On January 1, 1957 he was second-in-command of the Pearse Column during
the attack on Brookeborough RUC barracks which resulted in the deaths of
two of his comrades, Fearghal Ó hAnluáin and Seán Sabhat. Four others
were wounded including the column commander. At 18 years of age Dáithí
took command and led a successful withdrawal back across the border –
evading 400 RUC, B-Specials, two helicopters and the British army –
where they were forced to retire. He was then imprisoned in Mountjoy and
the Curragh Concentration camp from where he escaped with his friend and
comrade Ruairí Ó Brádaigh in September 1958.
He returned to active service and for a period was Director of
Operations. He was critically wounded in an ambush by the RUC and
B-Specials in Arboe, Co Tyrone on the shores of Lough Neagh in November
1959. He made his escape but was forced to seek help because of loss of
blood and his weakened condition. He was captured by Crown Forces and
was sentenced to eight years which he served in Belfast’s Crumlin Road
Jail. Following his release in 1963 he reported back to active service.
In 1969/70 he again made his talents available to the Republican
Movement. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh said of him he possessed the ‘ablest mind in
the Republican Movement for over 20 years’. The sheer breadth of his
ability and intellect was evidenced by his service to the All-Ireland
Republic both militarily and politically. He had a central role in
framing ÉIRE NUA and remained a tireless advocate of it right up to his
death in 1991.
Dáithí Ó Conaill never equivocated on what was the cause of the war in
Ireland or what was required to deliver a just and lasting peace for all
of the Irish people. Speaking in Belfast at Easter 1973 he said: ‘Today,
the central issue in the war is one of conflict between Ireland’s right
to freedom and England’s determination to keep us in subjection. All
other issues are subordinate to this basic point. There can be no
compromise on the fundamental issue as to who should rule Ireland: the
British Parliament or the Irish people. We have had 800 years of British
ineptitude in ruling Ireland; we have never known rule by the Irish, of
the Irish, for the Irish. Until we do, we shall never enjoy peace and
stability in our land.’
In the past year we have seen the Establishments in Britain and Ireland
move to cement the status quo – the British presence in Ireland. The
visit of the Queen of England, which was a non-event in the eyes of most
of the Irish people, has been elevated to almost a holy event where we
are told ‘the relationship between Ireland and Britain is changed
forever’. The shoneens in the Dublin Administration would have us
believe that because she spoken a few words of broken Irish the past
must be forgotten and all is forgiven.
Well, that can only come about when the British presence is removed from
all of Ireland and its military apparatus has gone, lock, stock and
barrel. While Britain holds sway over any part of our country there will
always be men and women to resist that presence, no matter how many
former comrades take the British shilling and do her dirty work. Empty
gestures will not bring about a 32-County United Ireland where all,
nationalist and unionist, may live in peace together.
The coming year presents us all with huge challenges but also
opportunities. The two fronts on which it is essential that we engage in
2012 are political and economic.
The young people in the Six Counties who took on the forces of the
British Crown during 2011 were once again dismissed as ‘apolitical
thugs’ or merely representing an anti-social sub-youth culture. We know
what the truth is. These young people represent a new undefeated
generation prepared to take on British rule in Ireland. They are young
people simply taking their place in the latest phase of the historic
struggle for Irish freedom.
It is our duty in Sinn Féin –the only political organisation
representing the revolutionary Irish Republican tradition – to give
political expression and leadership to this new generation.
I take this opportunity to send new year greetings to the Republican
prisoners in both Portlaoise and Maghaberry. The situation of the
Republican prisoners in Maghaberry in their fight for political status
is extremely serious and the conditions they are enduring requires all
of us to make a huge effort in the coming year to bring their protest to
a successful end. The internment of Martin Corey and Marian Price must
be ended. It is up to all of us to do our utmost to publicise the plight
of the Republican POWs.
Here the 26-County Administration, faced with a choice between taxing
the rich or taking from the marginalised and vulnerable, have once more
chosen to put their hands in the pockets of the poor. Employers and the
State are intent on rolling back any advance made by workers over the
course of the last century. Whatever sovereignty the 26-County State had
is now in the hands of the so-called troika of the EU/EMF/IMF and this
is set to get worse in coming years. Water taxes, septic tank taxes,
property taxes and waste charges are crippling people while the rich
continue to get richer.
Ninety-six years after the 1916 Proclamation the children of the nation
are certainly not cherished equally. The men and women who sacrificed
their lives and freedom so that we could live in a country free from
foreign interference are turning in their graves as they see the mess
that has been made of the country by self-serving and incompetent
politicians, bankers and developers. Once again our young people are
being forced to emigrate all over the world to find work and whole
communities are being decimated.
In the run-up to the centenary of the 1916 Rising those of us who follow
in their path must provide the lead to the Irish people as they struggle
to fight the cuts and deprivation caused by the failure of those elected
to run the country, north and south.
Armed as we are with clearly thought out and radical programme for real
political and economic democracy ÉIRE NUA and SAOL NUA we can take our
rightful place in the vanguard of the struggle.
One final thing: There are people, some former members of our
organisation who either left because they were not prepared to accept
the democratic decision of An Ard-Fheis or who were dismissed for
bringing the organisation into disrepute, and their camp followers who
were never members, are using the honourable name of the Republican
Movement while engaging in criminal and nefarious acts.
These people are doing the work of the enemy and we in Republican Sinn
Féin will not allow them to continue to do so. We demand that they cease
using the name of this organisation forthwith. Republican Sinn Féin is
not now, nor never has, been involved in gangsterism and criminality and
these people will not be allowed to besmirch our name.
Our work is clearly marked out for us. It is our duty to bring to the
task all our energies and abilities. This is the most fitting tribute we
can pay Dáithí Ó Conaill and all those who lie in this pantheon of our
patriot dead. ‘Life springs from death; and from the graves of patriot
men and women spring living nations.’
Beir Bua agus beannacht agus Áth-bhliain fé mhaise go léir