Limerick Opposes Royal Visit

Sean Sabhat Commemoration

Séan Sabhat Commemoration

2011

The Brookeborough Raid is one of the most celebrated in the long history of our struggle. It epitomises the bravery, tenacity and selflessness that IRA volunteers have shown in carrying the struggle to the enemy. It also demonstrated the deadly realities of armed struggle and although hugely inspirational this attack also forewarned that war is not a romantic pursuit.

The deaths of Sean Sabhat and his comrade Fergal O’Hanlon sent the clearest message to all the world that Ireland was not at peace. Despite the best efforts of the Dublin government to suppress the national resistance, with military courts and English hangmen, volunteers of the calibre of Sabhat and O’Hanlon were still to be found. They were young, idealistic and prepared to act for the freedom of their country.

The time chosen for the attack was also hugely symbolic. On the threshold of a new year the intent of republican resistance was clear; a new struggle was in being. It is a symbolism which has a resonance for republicans today. What will our new message be? What will our new struggle consist of? What new hope can we bring to our communities that Irish republicans can advance the objective of Irish freedom? These are questions which we need to answer if we truly intend to honour Sabhat and O’Hanlon.

We are witnessing a watershed in the politics on this island. The recent economic calamities have clearly demonstrated that partition has failed on both sides of the border. The illusion is laid bare that the Six Counties are simply an outstanding addendum to the Twenty Six County State. Both have failed miserably. Both engendered a tribal body politic. Both pandered to organised religion to underpin electoral support. And both crucified the working people on the altar of economic expediency. This is why both states need to be abolished and replaced with a sovereign Ireland.

A blueprint of the Ireland we envisage is an essential part of our message to the Irish people. Though we honour the past we have a future vision. All republicans and socialists need to contribute to this blueprint so that our combined voice can be heard wider, deeper and longer.

Republicans must adapt to the changes that are coming. And we must recognise that our influence on these changes was minimal at best. In the Six Counties we have held the line against normalisation but our ability to transmit this success is seriously wanting. With the massive resources arranged against us our only true weapon is our ingenuity. Our new message must be a bold one. Our new protests must be born of innovation and originality. Our language must be clear and fresh to find the ear of the people. And we need new mechanisms to accomplish this.

Despite great efforts to resolve the hostile use of strip searching against republican prisoners the occupying power has returned to form. The agreement brokered is being strategically and systematically broken and prisoners are once again being subject to this degrading practice. Let us be clear about this; no republican can stand for this, no republican can stand idly by and quibble that prisoners of different groups somehow warrant less support than others. Such assaults are an assault on our struggle itself and demands in the most forthright manner that all republicans stand squarely against it. We in the 32 County Sovereignty Movement pledge our fullest support for republican prisoners and dedicate whatever resources we have to assist them in this struggle. We expect other republican organisations to do likewise.

The economic decimation in the Twenty Six county state also highlighted how weakened the voice of republicanism and socialism are there. This cannot be analysed away or excused for. Only ourselves can make our own case and if that case is weak we have only ourselves to blame. The Republican Movement needs an injection of fresh formulas from its younger members as these activists have most empathy with the new society which is forming.

Our communities are in an age where information is at their fingertips and distractions are widespread. These are the new vehicles of change and the barriers to circumvent. Young republicans must now pioneer the next phase of this struggle. They must come together and fashion ideas that take this struggle into the heart of the language our communities are now speaking.

Sabhat and O’Hanlon acted in their time. They acted as they deemed it necessary. They inspire us but our actions need to be relevant to our time. Our message is the same, what we need are new ways to say it.

32CSM 2011 New Year Statement

32 County Sovereignty Movement

New Years Statement

2011

We commend our activists for their diligence and hard work in attempting to secure the integrity of our national sovereignty. We applaud the efforts of others who struggle likewise under their own chosen banner. We send New Year greetings to republican POW’s and their families and rededicate ourselves to their service.

2010 was a year which laid bare the harsh realities of our struggle. In protest against the degradation of strip searching and its vindictive use republican POW’s embarked on a series of actions in protest against the Stormont’s regime deliberate policy of attacking republican prisoners. Matched on the outside by regular vigils and marches the political opposition which was generated forced the authorities into negotiations.

With the use of agreed independent arbiters an agreement was reached to the satisfaction of all. However the authorities have resumed their original policy of using strip searching to degrade the prisoners. This was a political decision which has implications for all republicans. An attack on one prisoner is an attack on all prisoners and demands a unified response from all republican organisations. Our resolve must at least match that of the prisoners if we are to successfully confront Stormont’s prison policy.

The recent disclosure of State papers clearly shows that the issue of republican prisoners was a cornerstone in British strategy to undermine our struggle. They clearly show how Dublin also collaborated to achieve the same end. This collaboration now has an added dimension in that former comrades are now part of the British establishment in Ireland. That establishment takes it for granted that its members collaborate in the wider British interest. We openly call on the PSF leadership to come clean and to stop talking out of both sides of their mouths. It is your regime which is inflicting this degradation on republican prisoners. Is this your so called peaceful alternative to Irish unity? It is your actions that define you not your words, overt or otherwise.



2010 also witnessed seismic events in economic terms. Fianna Fáil’s self serving economics led the State to bankruptcy. It bailed out bankers and developers and levied the bill on ordinary citizens. They privatised profits and socialised losses. They surrendered their so called sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund all the while denying it in drunken interviews to the people. But the real issue for republicans and socialists is that our protests failed to impact on events. The crisis in capitalism, which should have opened up so many opportunities for our cause, was duly addressed by capitalism itself. This is the reality we must face and we must face it pragmatically.

2011 must be a year of introspection and innovation. We must look at ourselves and address our failings. What went before has reached its zenith. We need to explore and devise new ways of getting our message across. We need to be more innovative in our protests. We can no longer be satisfied that our protests simply happen: they must also have meaningful effect.

We address young republicans everywhere; this is your time, it is your era, your society, your technological age, you need to lead the way on this front. Irish society has evolved a new language in which it communicates with itself and we need to learn it. Republicanism needs your ideas to advance.

The continued violation of our national sovereignty has led to the inevitable consequence of armed struggle. Those who are engaging in military operations against British occupation have every right to do so, as they always had throughout our history. The function of the Sovereignty Movement is not to question this right nor question the merits of invoking it but to address the cause which makes it inevitable. This we will continue to do in whatever way we deem to be progressive. Treating the Irish Republican Army as a militia is a deeply flawed approach.

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Limerick Says No To Royal Visit

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32CSM New Year Statement 2010

32 County Sovereignty Movement

New Year Statement 2010

We commend our activists for their dedication and hard work in pursuit of the republican goal in 2009. We commend all other republican activists for being true to their beliefs and for being generous and inventive in listening to the beliefs of others. 2009 was a year which witnessed that inventiveness being translated into political action which was widely recognised throughout the republican base. It represented the most potent expression of solidarity with imprisoned comrades. It is solidarity in action with those who were bereaved in the struggle. It is also the way forward for Irish republicanism.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has a clear vision for the year ahead. The reclamation of our sovereignty must take real form. We must give leadership to our communities to help them achieve this. Throughout Ireland communities have been betrayed by the institutions of faith, finance and state which have long purported to speak and act on their behalf. The abundance of trust placed in the integrity of individual leaders has proved misplaced. They have been left leaderless.

They have not, however, been left powerless. It is in recognition of this reality that the 32CSM will now engage with our communities. In a disciplined approach the 32CSM will liase directly with local communities to explore ways of reclaiming their sovereignty, and under these auspices, help them pursue their political and social objectives. We will focus our efforts in ensuring that all community activity will by default be a pursuit toward national sovereignty. Such a process will be a challenge to both states. It is a first step in filling the vacuum left by those who are now wholly subsumed into the apparatus of partition.

Communities so organised can become the template for national freedom. The republican objective is twofold; to secure our sovereign independence and to organise a just society within that independence. Like our republican forebears we can now enact our aspirations, we can involve our people with our beliefs in real and tangible terms. Republicanism cannot be detached from the people and the people cannot be detached from the strategies deployed to secure their freedom. We can only lead through democratic involvement with our communities.

Because it is a first step it must be taken with due diligence. We have prepared our arguments and are refining our position as mandated at our Ard Fheis. It will be democratic. It will be a learning process which will require discipline, patience and pragmatic political judgement. Republicans cannot interact at a distance. We need to create a new interface between ourselves and our people which will allow us to seek their mandate for our struggle. This mandate will not be measured by a gerrymandered vote. Its value will be in its democratic integrity and its sovereign credentials. For us the ballot box means more than just numbers. Democracy can only be returned to the Irish people when their national sovereignty is recognised.

Because it is a challenge to the state the state will obviously respond. Mistakes will be made, but also learned from, and it is this disciplined approach which will allow for this engagement to spread successfully to other areas. In part the success of this project may be gauged from the state’s reaction to it. They will not be alone. Establishment Nationalists will also have a vested interest in seeing this project fail. They will seek to divide and conquer. But a clear understanding as to the implications of its sovereign distinction and clear democratic practices will thwart them. After all it was disdain for democracy within their own organisations which led them into the cul de sac they now find themselves.

The 32CSM will be active on other fronts. Two major international initiatives will be launched in the coming year. We have observed how issues at play on the international stage are geared toward political events in the occupied six counties. We have made our intentions known to the relevant governments that we are determined to follow a particular path challenging any move that would seek to de-legitimise the republican struggle. These initiatives are for the benefit of Irish republicanism, we will not claim sole ownership of them. But we will provide the leadership that will open up counter arguments for all republicans to employ against these nefarious measures.

Republican unity in 2009 resulted in impressive demonstrations on a range of issues. The continuing media and political demonising of republicans is proof of their effect as is their grudging admission of our growth. The media and political establishment’s objective is to ignore us but through mutual cooperation we have made this impossible. In the coming year this cooperation can be galvanised within our communities as these issues now become their issues in pursuit of our national objectives.

The British Government’s strategy of finally destroying any vestige of republicanism within the provisional movement will not be allowed to undermine the separatist ideal. A resurgent republicanism will demonstrate to both governments and the international community that the destruction of the provisional movement was the liberation of Irish republicanism. It is up to all of us to ensure that 2010 clearly demonstrates this reality.