Thursday January 01 1970
5th Annual International POW Day of Action.
national |
history and heritage |
event notice 
Monday October 19, 2015 16:04
by Sharon. - Individual.
Event in support of Irish republican prisoners in Maghaberry, Portlaoise and Hydebank jails.
A picket will be held on Sunday 25th October 2015 at the Half'penny Bridge in Dublin , beginning at 1pm.
Hi!
The 5th Annual International Day in Support of the Irish Prisoners of War held in Maghaberry, Portlaoise, and Hydebank jails will be held on the 24th, 25th and 26th of October 2015 ; this event, since 2011, has been held annually on the last weekend of October and, as in previous years, it is organised by the "International Committee to Support the Irish Prisoners of War". The committee is supportive of all Irish republican prisoners held in Irish and British jails.
The last weekend of October is a historical date for Irish republicans ; on October 25th, 1917, the Ard-Fheis of Sinn Féin adopted a republican Constitution and, three years later, Sinn Féin’s Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney, died after 74 days on hunger strike. Furthermore, Joseph Murphy died on hunger strike in Cork prison on that day. On October 27th 1980, the first H-Block hunger strike began and on October 26th 1976, Máire Drumm, Vice-President of Sinn Féin, was murdered in the Mater Hospital, Belfast, by a loyalist death squad. Finally, on the last day of October 1973, the helicopter escape from Mountjoy jail took place.
In 2015, as in previous years, to mark these historical events as well as highlighting the plight of today's Irish republican POW's, protests and pickets will be organised by various organisations and concerned individuals in Ireland, England, Scotland, Continental Europe, USA, Australia, and elsewhere. If you want to add a city or country to that list, contact the Organising Committee at the 'Related Link' below and/or email supportthepows AT irish-solidarity.net.
All international organisations, Irish republican activists and their supporters are invited to join preparations to make the 5th annual POW-Day a success. We would appreciate if those reading this in Ireland who want to show their support for Irish republican POW's could join us on Sunday, 25th October 2015, at 1pm on the Half'penny Bridge in Dublin city centre. All genuine supporters welcome!
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
1,200 items of printed material of a republican nature will be distributed , in various-sized 'packs', at this event.
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About twenty Irish republican activists maintained a presence on the Half'penny Bridge in Dublin yesterday (Sunday 25th October 2015) for approximately ninety minutes to voice support for political prisoners at home and abroad. All available 'leaflet packs' were distributed to interested passersby, many of whom made inquiries regarding the situation. The following statement was read during the event by an RSF representative -
'Comrades, we are gathered here today to pay homage to our brave volunteers and to highlight the plight that they are currently facing as they languish in captivity. It is important to send not only our solidarity, but also to show our defiance of British rule and continue to progress towards the united Ireland we need. The Agreement reached in August 2010 never really stood a chance with the securocrat regime in Maghaberry Jail. Co Antrim, which is controlled by MI5.
Continually republican POWs have stressed that they wish to see the Agreement implemented and have given over the last five years, adequate time, in which the jail administration could have implement it. After a succession of negotiation attempts we are now seeing the prisoners facing a worse predicament than they have faced since the Agreement was put in place, with the continuation of the “take big, give small” strategy in full flow.
The men are now in a prison within a prison, within a house and on landings where their association areas are caged off and access to and from these areas are in the complete control of the screws. Just as recent as last week their entire right to privacy was eroded with the screws wearing body cameras; the POWs are now having every aspect of their heavily restricted existence recorded by the enemy. The jail administration has continued to show their petty vindictiveness through the damaging of handcrafts and the confiscation of mail - both done without any sort of justification or explanation.
We would like to at this time extend our solidarity to the Palestinian prisoners and the revolutionary prisoners in Turkey. Much like our own revolutionary prisoners we know your spirits will not be broken by the oppressor. The enemy will never criminalise the republican POWs, they can never break our defiance. So long as we have resistance comrades, we have victory. We reiterate the prisoners’ stance: implement the August 2010 Agreement, bring down the cages and end the petty vindictiveness. End the dehumanising practice of strip searching, we will accept nothing less than its complete removal from jail policy, no interpretation of its use is acceptable.
It is important that we stand here today and show our enemy that we have not forgotten our men behind the wire. From Ireland to England, from Rome to the USA, from Sweden, Netherlands to Australia, Republicans stand united against the tyranny of British rule through the support of our comrades in captivity.
Victory to the POWS! '
Thanks for reading,
Sharon.
One of the RSF activists who took part in the 'International Day of Protest' at the Half'penny Bridge in Dublin on Sunday 25th October 2015.
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