Freedom of Speech denied To Insulate British Monarch

In its desperation to portray to the outside world the image of a welcomed British Monarch in Ireland the Dublin Government has demonstrated a massive disregard for freedom of speech and movement of its own citizens. Having spent millions ensuring that streets were deserted to insulate the monarch from legitimate protest they have now adopted the tactic of pre-emptive arrests to ensure that protests do not happen at all.

This evening close on twenty members of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement were arrested under Section 21 of the Public Order Act as they assembled in Dublin to protest at the monarch’s presence. For all the grandiose talk of new relations and looking to the future the thin veneer has been scraped away to expose the political bankruptcy underneath.

The politics of this visit are clear; in the eyes of those organizing it partition is now fully legitimized. The laying of a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance reflected the view of those present that the Proclamation and Declaration of Independence were wrong and that the Anglo Irish Treaty of 1922, and subsequent derivatives, represents the lawful parameters of Irish sovereignty. We reject this utterly and will continue, despite dictatorial political policing, to expose it.