'Awaiting The Lark' Book Launched
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miscellaneous |
press release 
Tuesday August 15, 2006 14:53
by The Lark - Ógra Shinn Féin
Hundreds attend launch
Ógra Shinn Féin formally launched their recent publication looking at the hunger strike of 1981 on Saturday 12th August. Awaiting the Lark is a collection of personal memories, recollections and accounts from different republicans about the Hunger Strike of 1981 and was launched in the Felons club in West Belfast. Hundreds of people attended the launch, mostly youth.
Raymond McCartney MLA, Dominic Adams, Michelle Gildernew MP and Seanna Walsh performed the launch.
Many of the people who have written for the book were also in attendance.
Colm O’Neill of Ógra Shinn Féin chaired the event while Barry McNally explained the background of the book. Following this Michelle Gildernew Dominic Adams and Raymond McCartney read their extracts from the book. Seanna Walsh then stepped forward to give a brief overview of the prison struggle and in particular the 1981 hunger strike.
A musician was also in attendance and played many songs reflecting on the events surrounded the participants and the hunger strike of 1981. The event then concluded with Amhrán na bhFiann.
Many known republicans have written for the book including former blanket man and hunger-striker Raymond McCartney, former Mayor of Tralee Toireasa Ferris and the current MP for Fermanagh / South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew. Bobby Sands held that same seat in 1981 when the people of Fermanagh/ south Tyrone elected them as their MP. The Book deals with hunger strikes in Crumlin Road jail in the 1970s and Long Kesh in 1980, but deals mainly with the 1981 Hunger Strike and looks at the hunger strike from a youthful perspective.
Comments (10 of 10)
Jump To Comment: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1If RSF ever managed to get the near mythic 'Eire Nua' documument implemented, where would the federalist Ulster parliament be situated? Stormont I suppose? Would your organisation be then guilty of 'treachery'. It's just a building lads, made of bricks and mortar. It's what happens inside that counts.
There were some ex-prisoners there, employees of SF those job it is to sell the lie that today's SF are continuing on the road to a 32 County Socialist Republic for which the Hunger Strikers and many other Volunteers gave their lives. That road however didn't lead to Stormont and a 6 County State now well trodden by SF and their employees. No matter what spin they put on it that road ends at the door of Unionist misrule for nearly 100 years, a door which SF have reopened in their desire to become part of any type of Government and behind which they will sit as subservient as those Representatives of Nationalism before them.
These ex-prisoners are now prisoners of Adams' deceitfulness.
'Hundreds of people attended the launch, mostly youth.' I'll bet that there wasn't too many former prisoners there.
When the provisionals are told,truthfully, that there is not an iota of Republicanism in their party , they drag out members past involvement in the Republican Movement. Many members of the provisionals were never really Republicans to begin with, Danny Morrison admitted as much when he stated that for him and many provos that the armed campaign was not a war of liberation but a mere "armed civil rights campaign:".
Members of the Adams clique motives clearly were not based on Republicanism in any form. Yet they drag out individuals such as Ray McCartney to tell us he did this , or so and so did that.''
So what?
At the end of the day they have turned their backs on the 32 county Republic. As has been stated before : Collins, DeValera, Goulding etc. ALL, like a few provisionals today, had proir service to the Republican Movement. all, like the provos today, left the Republican Movement, sought power and privledge and for that turned their backs on Republicanism. What they may or may not have done yesteryear is immaterial, sure even judas was once an apostle.
How these people can claim to have anything in common with the Hunger Strikers amazes me. OK McCartney was a former Hunger Striker, but didn't De Valera fight in the 1916 Rising and look what he did for Republicanism when he got into power.
Here's something you wont see in any of their books;
http://lark.phoblacht.net/AM09050613g.html
I wish that people would stop referring to these people as Republicans. McCartney, Ferris and the others are members of Partitionist Sinn Fein.
Get your facts right before you start writing. The mayor of Tralee had no part to play in to proceedings- apart a photograph with a number of other people who have written for the new book. As someone who attended the event i think i went well.
Instead of the above person, representing the 'IRBB', posting items aimed at detering young republicans, he should be supporting the young republicans in Ógra Shinn Féin who remembered with pride the 1981 Martrys.
Sorry, I just noticed the launch didn't take place in Tralee, but included the "mayor" of Tralee in its' proceedings.
It's amusing how this "republican" function in Tralee, Kerry was not attented nor recognised by Dan Keating, a former member of Na Fianna Éireann, Tralee, 1918/ I.R.A. 1920+.
I guess the fact that this life-long Republican did not support nor recognise this event is lost on a many gullible people.
Maybe people would do themselves a favour and realise that this dedicated, life-long soldier of the Republic, recognises Republican Sinn Féin and the Continuity Army Council as the TRUE republicans operating in this time.
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