National 1916 Commemoration 2011

Easter Oration 2011

95 years ago the struggle to end British interference in Ireland generated a clear analysis which thwarted the momentum of the Home Rule Movement.

The signatories of the Proclamation saw then if republicanism did not make a stand British Rule would continue unopposed and administered by their lackeys in Ireland.

Fast forward and today we witness the same betrayal by those who used the republican struggle to further their political egos and to turn back the clock 95 years and are now administering British Rule in Ireland.

This Westbrit mentality that is being espoused today as republicanism is the same mentality that allowed the people to castigate Pearse, Connolly and their colleagues.

The 1916 Proclamation outlined how the Home Rulers were wrong in their analysis and this was ratified by the people in 1918 and in the Declaration of Independence.

Those who violate Irish National Sovereignty today, act contrary to both these historic documents. Imagine asking the American people to violate their Declaration of Independence yet that is what the Irish people are being asked to do today.

To implement the revised occupation and partition of our country the Stormont regime, in tandem with British intelligence, have introduced counter insurgency measures to stop any opposition to their betrayal and a central part of that is British Policing in the occupied area.

What we witness today is British Auxilliary police targeting those opposed to British rule in Ireland with stop on sight searches and draconian legislation as a means to harass and intimate. This is followed with house raids and arrests to further emphasise their dominance in protecting and upholding the illegal sovereign claim of their masters. Their mask has slipped and they are proving to be no different than the reviled RUC. This is political policing.

It is irrelevant what religion the person is who wears the uniform of this force, when they are kicking in a door and arresting a father, brother, son, mother, sister or daughter it is the uniform of British policing in Ireland that is behind it.

The 32 CSM or indeed any republican takes no delight when Irish insurgents attack the PSNI resulting in casualties and we took no delight in the killing of a police officer in Tyrone

.

The tragedy and trauma experienced by his family is the same tragedy and trauma experienced by all who were bereaved as a result of the intransigence of a foreign government.

Those who accepted for political opportunism a deal with the British Government which violated our sovereignty and who encourage and advocate joining the PSNI must accept their responsibility in his death. Just as John Redmond did before them, when he urged fifty thousand Irishmen to their deaths in World War 1, these so called ‘constitutional’ politicians have blood on their hands.

It is their flawed analysis that has allowed conflict to continue. It is their failure to uphold the principles of the Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence and their failure to end the cause of conflict that has resulted in that conflict continuing.

Anyone aspiring to be a police man or woman should educate themselves as to what they’re expected role in a PSNI uniform is going to be. They should be fully aware that just like the RIC and RUC the PSNI are designed to politically police British Rule in Ireland.

The criminalisation of the republican position has historically and presently failed and this is recognised by those in Stormont who from time to time make statements critical of the justice system, critical of policing tactics and effectively critical of their own position in violating Irish National Sovereignty.

In the 26 Counties the same tactics are being used against republicans and in particular there is a concerted effort, like the British attempts, to play out a propaganda war. Recently we have a concerted move to link members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement to criminality and to drug and gangland feuding in Dublin with a compliant media prepared to accept downright lies from the Special Branch naming individuals.

These efforts are proof positive of our continuing growth. They are proof positive that our analysis and political activism is being well received.

The attempts to criminalise the 32 CSM will fail.

It is clear that our analysis on the national question cuts through their continuing deceptions and their only weapon against us is lies upon lies. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement will not be deflected from our own strategy in challenging the legitimacy of British rule in Ireland.

The 32 CSM have put forward a peaceful solution to the conflict in our challenge at the UN and in our documents in 2005 to the political parties and the British and Dublin Governments. We outlined our position and asked them for their analysis and response. To date they have failed to do so.

We particularly address this issue to London’s micro deputy minister in Stormont. Time and time again he has falsely asserted that our Movement has failed to engage with his party. He has repeated these lies at every opportunity to deflect from the real issue at hand; his disastrous leadership and negotiations strategy.

So once again we set it out for all to see. You have our analysis; you have our correspondence with you which sets out very clearly our position on meetings with you. You have continually evaded us because you know our analysis lays bare your political impotence in addressing the core issue of Irish national sovereignty. This is why you are running scared of meaningful interaction, preferring instead the media sound byte and the emotive and despicable exploitation of the dead.

The men and women of 1916 gave their unequivocal response to the Home Rule and West Brit mentality and they were prepared to give their lives for that cause. When the signatories of the Proclamation were executed by the British Government a flame was lit that remains bright today. And standing here at their graveside is there any clearer message than their very existence that the British Monarch cannot be welcomed in Ireland?

It is what that Monarchy represents that these men were executed because they chose to defy that Monarchy’s remit in Ireland. That remit remains here today. 1916 was about choices, it is about choices. You have to choose between the Proclamation or Partition; you cannot choose both. And it remains one of the greatest historical ironies that the ones who most ably understand this are the British themselves. And standing on this principle they routed Irish negotiators time after time by first insisting that those same negotiators choose the option which explicitly recognises the legitimacy of the British presence in Ireland. Lloyd George did it with Collins and DeValera and Tony Blair repeated it with Adams and McGuinness.

We stand on the legitimacy of Irish National Sovereignty and say clearly to the British Monarch your violation of that sovereignty renders you an aggressor in our country. We have no welcome for you whatsoever.

In commemorating and remembering the heroes of 1916 and all volunteers who paid the supreme sacrifice we too remember our responsibilities to uphold the principles for which they died.

Our challenge to the British Government is to submit to the UN under international law the evidence of their legitimacy in Ireland and our challenge to those at Stormont is to tell us at what point in time did British Rule in Ireland become legitimate?

As we leave here today let us commit ourselves to the tasks ahead. It is not going to be easy giving the onslaught against us however I believe we are up to the task and we call on all republicans to stand united in the face of adversity.