This page will be updated with news in relation to actions planned by the enemies of the Irish Republic. As the centenary of 1916 approaches both partitionist assemblies working in conjunction with their masters in Westminster are determined to destroy the legacy of 1916. The following quote from Republican Sinn Féin President, Des Dalton sheds some light;
The below articles offer an insight into the mindset and ignorance of those who fundamentally fail to understand the concept of a Sovereign Ireland. Let us all be vigilant and whilst our enemies are determined let it be outmatched by our own determination.
“Each year Irish Republicans both in Ireland and abroad have commemorated 1916 without fail. The 26-County state on the other hand has alternated between ignoring the anniversary and banning any commemoration of it. 1916 commemorations throughout the 26 Counties were banned by the Dublin administration in 1937. In 1966 Republicans were baton charged in Dublin by the 26-County police. In 1976 Republicans were prosecuted – including Fiona Plunkett sister of Joseph Mary Plunkett - and some jailed for their participation in a banned commemoration at the GPO. Each year Republicans face the prospect of prosecution for the distribution of Easter Lilies. Despite this repression and repeated attempts at airbrushing the very spirit of 1916 from the collective memory a poll taken on the 75thanniversary of the Rising in 1991 showed 65% of people believed it should be commemorated.
For forty years the 26-County administration ignored the anniversary of 1916 but since 2006 it has opportunistically seized on it in order to sell the big lie that history has come to an end and British rule in Ireland is now accepted."
Long live the Irish Republic - An Phoblacht Abú
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British royal family invited to Easter Rising 100th anniversary
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Free State President to make State visit to Britain
PRESIDENT Michael D. Higgins will become the first Irish President to make an official state visit to Britain after accepting an invitation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Áras an Uachtaráin and Buckingham Palace tonight both confirmed that President Higgins will visit Britain from April 8-10 with his wife Sabina.
Irish presidents have paid visits to the Queen in the past – like when Mary Robinson had tea in Buckingham Palace in 1996 – but until now there has been no full official State visit.
A short statement from Áras an Uachtaráin read: “President Michael D. Higgins is very pleased to accept an invitation from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to visit the United Kingdom from 8-10 April, 2014.
“The President will be accompanied on the State Visit by Mrs Sabina Higgins and the details of the programme will in due course be announced jointly by Áras an Uachtaráin and Buckingham Palace.”
A statement issued by Buckingham Palace added that President and Mrs Higgins would stay at Windsor Castle during their visit.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he “warmly welcomed the official confirmation that President Higgins will pay an official visit to the United Kingdom.”
He added: “This is a further demonstration of the warm and positive relationship that now exists between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
“The State visit in April, following on the very successful visit to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in 2011, will be a wonderful opportunity to deepen this even further. ”
President Higgins has visited Britain on four occasions since taking office on 11 November 2011, although none were at the invitation of the State.
In February 2012, he made a three-day visit to London, which included a tour of the Olympic stadium.
He visited the English capital again in June 2012, giving a frank and exclusive interview to the Irish Post in which he vowed to help the forgotten generations of Irish who paid remittances to Ireland in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
He then visited Manchester and Liverpool in November of that year.
His most recent visit came last July when, in two separate visits, he attended events in London and Edinburgh.
The invitation of an official State visit from Britain had been expected by Áras an Uachtaráin following the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s successful State visit to Ireland in May 2011.
Both British Prime Minister David Cameron and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny had welcomed the idea of a reciprocal State visit.
Speaking in 2011, Mr Cameron described a possible visit by Michael D Higgins as a “great idea”.
“We have now what ought to be proper, normal relations between two states and so we should be doing state visits with each other,” he said.
“But the great thing about the British-Irish relationship is there’s nothing normal about it, it is much closer than normal.
“There are these great bonds and common interests in language and culture and so many things that we share. And I can imagine a state visit, what we call an incoming, an inward visit from an Irish president.”
Enda Kenny at the time also added that a potential full State visit “would be looked forward to by the million Irish people living in Great Britain with great interest.”
http://www.breakingnews.ie/
British royal family invited to Easter Rising 100th anniversary
British royals, politicians and Unionist leaders will be invited to Dublin to remember those who fought for Irish freedom.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said he hoped to host representatives of the royal family and the British Government, along with the leaders of unionism, at commemorations for the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016.
Mr Gilmore also wants all sides to respectfully remember those who gave their lives at the battle of the Somme, as well as Irish men who died fighting in a British uniform.
In an address to be given later to the British Irish Association in Cambridge, he said both countries shared a dual history.
“Unless we are attentive and respectful to both traditions, nationalist and unionist, we will remain a divided society,” he said.
“We each bear a dual civic responsibility.”
Mr Gilmore, who plans to lay a wreath at Belfast’s Cenotaph on Remembrance Day for the second year running, said all have a responsibility to prepare and carry out commemorations in a way that gives no offence and is mindful of the sensitivities of all citizens.
Highlighting worries over “continuous tensions” in Northern Ireland in recent months, the Tánaiste warned that residents fear a return to sectarian violence.
“Both communities and the organisations which claim to represent them have the right to celebrate their history and traditions,” he said.
“But if these events commemorate acts of conflict or involve displays of triumphalism or antagonism against their neighbour then people need to reflect more deeply about the value of such commemorations and how they are marked.”
http://www.breakingnews.ie/
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'1916 centenary should not be played by anyone for party political advantage' Classic Revisionism
The powerful television documentary about the disappeared has obviously proved embarrassing for Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams but it should also prompt wider reflection across the political spectrum about the reality of political violence in Ireland over the past century and how it should be commemorated.
The horrifying thing about the story told by the documentary was not so much that it shone a light on the viciousness and cruelty of the Provisional IRA but the fact that so many members of the Catholic/ nationalist community on both sides of the Border were prepared to justify it or at least look the other way.
The programme revealed how normal standards of human decency can be swept aside when a society is put under unbearable strain by political violence that facilitates the behaviour of psychopaths.
One of the ironies of the programme was that the most damning testimony against Adams came from former comrades, addicted to the cult of violence, who opposed the belated moves by the republican leadership to bring the IRA campaign to an end.
While Seamus Mallon hit the nail on the head with his famous remark that the Belfast Agreement of 1998 was “Sunningdale for slow learners” it is still a case of better late than never. There was no justification for the Provisional IRA campaign, particularly after the Sunningdale agreement of 1973, but the fact that Adams and McGuinness finally brought it to an end is something to be welcomed rather than deplored.
Propaganda campaign
One of the many positive things arising from the documentary about the disappeared is that it might put a dent in the ongoing propaganda campaign by republicans to convince people the IRA campaign was a legitimate response to the injustice that undoubtedly existed in Northern Ireland.
That campaign has been quite successful and has helped to facilitate Sinn Féin’s emergence as the dominant nationalist party in the North and a growing political force in the Republic. The sordid reality of the IRA campaign as revealed in the programme might make people think twice about accepting the republican propaganda version of “the war”.
It should also prompt all of the political parties in the Republic and society in general to be wary of accepting a simplistic account of the events of 100 years ago as the centenary of 1916 gets ever closer.
The Irish and British governments have made a genuine effort to inaugurate an inclusive decade of commemoration that respects the historical experience of all the people on the island of Ireland from the Home Rule Bill of 1912 to the creation of an independent Irish state in 1922.
However, there is no doubt that all of the momentous events of the decade, from Home Rule to the meeting of the first Dáil in 1919 and the establishment of the State in 1922, will inevitably be overshadowed by the commemoration of 1916. Violence and carnage inevitably fascinate subsequent generations more than the laborious nuts and bolts of nation-building.
Stephen Collins
http://www.irishtimes.com/
Provisional Sinn Féin hypocrites
November 2013
Mairtin O Muilleoir stood alongside DUP Deputy Lord Mayor Christopher Stalford during yesterday’s two-minute silence.
Mr Stalford welcomed Mr O Muilleoir’s decision to attend the cenotaph.
“I think that was a positive and forward step and I hope it is a first step towards Sinn Fein embracing remembrance and all of the events that take place around that,” said Mr Stalford.
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt praised what he described as “a new attitude among Irish nationalists and some republicans” to services of remembrance.
He said: “The Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Civil Service hold a joint service every 11th of November in the Senate Chamber at Parliament Buildings. It was pleasing to see not only that there was standing room only, but that among those standing to pay their respects were several senior figures within the SDLP, including their party leader, Alasdair McDonnell MP MLA.
“I also hear that the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Cllr Mairtin O Muilleoir, attended the Armistice service at Belfast City Hall, thus becoming the first Sinn Fein representative to take part in an Armistice Day ceremony at City Hall.
“I consider these gestures important at a time when a generosity of spirit will be required from all political leaders if we are to succeed in our current efforts to reach agreement on the difficult issues under consideration in the Haass talks process.”
Mr O Muilleoir would not be drawn yesterday on whether a Sinn Fein representative would ever attend formal wreath laying Remembrance Sunday events in the future.
“I don’t do hypotheticals,” the mayor said, adding that yesterday was “a good day for Belfast”.
“What the future will bring I don’t know,” he said.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/
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