A chairde agus a chomrádaithe, tugann sé ardú croí dom a bheith anseo libh inniu agus muid ag déanamh comóradh ar na Stailceanna Ocrais. Ar ndóigh tá sibh tagtha ó chuile coirneálden tir s’againne chun cuimhniú orthu siúd a chailleadh arStailc Ocraic agus chun muid a dhíriú arís eile ar an sprioc atáagainn ar fad mar Phoblachtánaigh – athaontú na hÉireann.
It is an incredible honour to be joined here with all of you today, I know that ye have travelled from the four corners of Ireland, as well as many international friends, as we do every year, to remember our Hunger Strikers.
Today, we also remember all of those who lost their lives during the conflict.
The crowd here today is testament to the courage and determination of our Hunger Strikers, it is testament to the legacy that they have left behind them and, of course, to our understanding that we must continue in our goal of Irish Unity.
A chairde, first of all, I would like to say on behalf of all of us present here that we are deeply honoured to be joined by the families of our Hunger Strikers and that we would like to show our continued respect and solidarity with them. Bualadhbos a chairde. (Clap)
Like every family at any given time, each family who had a loved one on Hunger Strike had their own story, their own things going on and their own very personal memories of that time. The strength of those who joined the Hunger Strike to me is unfathomable and equally I am in awe of the strength of their families.
To me when I think about the brave ten men who died in 1981, when I think of Galway’s own Hunger Striker Tony D’arcy, Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan, when I think of my aunty Mairéad, Mary Doyle, Mairéad Nugent and all the Republicans who engaged in Hunger Strike over the decades, I see ordinary people who lived in extraordinary times whowere from and of their community and who were willing to give everything to achieve Irish freedom and to create a better place for me, my generation and every single one of us here today.
I am conscious that we are here in Derry, a city which raised Mickey Devine and Patsy O’Hara and a county which rearedTom McElwee, Kevin Lynch and Francis Hughes. They of course followed in the footsteps of Raymond McCartney and his comrades who embarked on the 1980 Hunger Strike. That this proud county was home to five of our comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice on Hunger Strike in 1981 issomething that we can be eternally proud of.
This week we lost another one of this city’s rebellious children Nell McCafferty, a fierce woman, who we too remember here today.
As a Connacht woman I would like invite all of you here today back to Connacht with me, to Ballina, in Mayo, on Saturday 14th of September as we come together to mark Michael Gaughan’s 50th anniversary. I hope to see you all there.
As Irish Republicans we can all pinpoint to moments which inspired and awoke our inner republicanism or as Bobby Sands described it as our inner thing, for each generation after 1981 the hunger strike and the 10 men who died on that Hunger Strike has been a huge source of inspiration. They are remembered in the same breath as the leaders of the 1916 Rising.
The Hunger Strike was a difficult time for the Irish People but a time in which we saw huge solidarity from across the globe. People gathered in their thousands on the streets of Paris, in New York the Longshoremen’s Union boycotted British ships and on Robben Island Nelson Mandela noted Bobby Sands’ death in his diary from his prison cell. Some of these places had a strong Irish Disapora and some did not, such was the nature of the sacrifice that they made.
So it is no surprise that we as an Irish people show that same solidarity with the people of Palestine. We have an understanding of the suffering that they have endured. We have a responsibility as Irish people to shout stop, to put our heads above the parapet and to do everything we can to stop this genocide.
Words of condemnation are not enough, the people are clear, we want no hand, act or part in the genocidal acts of Israel, the Irish Government must ensure that there is no complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people, they must ensure that no airports are used to supply military equipment to Israeland that there is no Irish investment in the occupied territories or in any companies which are profiting off the back of Palestinian suffering.
In standing with Palestine, we are united in our calls for an unequivocal ceasefire.
As Republicans we have gone through very difficult times but what has always gotten us through these times is each other. And we should never forget that.
I have seen this personally in the resilience of communities from Belfast to Cork, Kerry to Derry, Galway to Tyrone and I know that same resilience to be true in republican communities across Ireland.
Like all movements for self determination which stem from ordinary communities, who are demanding their rights, we are made up of communities which through everything had the determination to keep going and always had each other’s back. Because a chairde, as Bobby Sands said “it is the thought that says I’m right” which keeps us moving forward.
And because we are all part of that Republican family we interlinked in so many ways. This morning I had the honour of meeting with the families of our brave hunger strikers, including the family of Kieran Doherty TD, my family like the Dohertys are from Andytown, Mairéad and Kieran were close comrades and both ended up on Hunger Strike yet atdifferent times. Now, I, like Kieran was, am a Sinn Féin TD and every time I have a meeting in the Sinn Féin party room I see a beautiful mural of Kieran which has been painted in his honour. It shows how things have come full circle that myself and Kieran’s brother Michael canvassed together for OrlaithíFlynn, we continue to work together for self determination.
When I mentioned this connection to a comrade of hers she reminded me that Mairéad was also very close to Joe McDonnell and that she got all the Andytown scéal from him.
I find it uplifting that amongst all the heartache that people like Mairéad and Joe were still fascinated by scéal from home.
While me and my auntie Mairéad’s lives could not have been more different in so many ways she like me ran for election.Mairéad was 24 years old when she ran for election in Cork North Central and it just struck me recently that I was actually the exact same age as my aunt when I ran for election for the first time.
And what really struck me was the very different circumstances and daily realities we had at the time of our campaigns. Mairéad ran only months after spending 19 days on Hunger Strike with her comrades Mary Doyle and Mairéad Nugent and had already spent five years in Armagh Gaol. She ran for election on the Anti H Block and Armagh ticket from that Gaol. But it is not by some chance that I didn’t have to go through what my aunt went through it was as a direct result of the leadership shown by those women that I have spoken ofand the leadership of Republicanism. And I am proud now to have in my Dáil office my and her nomination papers side by side which serve as a reminder of who we are, where we have come from and where we have yet to go.
But for us it is about where we have yet to go.
New energy has been injected into the unity discussion from a broad and diverse cross-section of society across Ireland and a real outreach into that section of people who are against unity or are unsure of its impact is growing also.
So too is the demand on the Irish government to look beyond its traditional rhetorical republicanism and to properly begin the process of planning for unity.
Ireland is changing, we are in a decade of opportunity, the unity referendums will be held, and the Irish government has a responsibility to intensify planning and preparation for the referendums and for Irish unity so that they are won.
Sinn Féin will work hard for everyone north and south and continue the march of progress for a better future for ordinary workers and families.
We are on the side of local communities.
Home ownership has collapsed for an entire generation under this Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil government.
So, we need a change of government.
Sinn Féin will end the housing crisis.
We will ensure that home ownership is brought back within the reach of working people.
We believe that you should have a home of your own.
Ending the housing crisis; transforming health; providing affordable childcare; driving a successful economy where everyone prospers and benefits; uniting Ireland and delivering a fairer Ireland with families, workers and communities at its heart is what we stand for.
No matter what is thrown at us in the time ahead we must show the resilience and the fortitude that has been shown by our communities throughout our history.
To me the ultimate commemoration for all those who came before us will be a United Ireland. The creation of a Republic that truly reflects the vision of 1916, the vision of Tone and Connolly, Máire Drumm and Bobby Sands.
Liam Mellows led the 1916 Rising from my home county of Galway. He described the men and women of 1916 as unconquerable and we too must be unconquerable.
It was Pádraig Pearse who said
“If you strike us down now we shall rise again and renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland; you cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom then our children will win it by a better deed.”
Let us be those children, let us do that deed, let us win.
Beirimis bua!
