Easter Statement from Cumann na Saoirse Náisiúnta

To our friends, comrades, and supporters gathered worldwide to commemorate the 102^nd anniversary of the great Easter Rising, we extend our greetings and solidarity.  Each year at this time, we gather to pay tribute to the great women, children, and men who fought and suffered that Ireland might be united and free.  Speeches and memorials are traditional, but let this year remind us that to truly honor our Fenian dead, we must match words with action to bring to a end this unfinished business of uniting our dear Éire once and for all.

Éire Nua remains the only viable alternative to the status quo in Ireland which provides for freedom, equality, and peace.  As we predicted, and was inevitable, the Stormont agreement has collapsed under the weight of its own contradictory promises and inability to address the primary cause of trouble: British occupation and the partition of Ireland.  The Republican movement in America continues to raise awareness of Éire Nua amongst the Irish diaspora as well as elected officials.  We have expanded the campaign with a second website dedicated to Éire Nua and have carried the banner of Éire Nua to the streets with banners and parades.

We condemn the ongoing harassment of the proponents of Éire Nua in Ireland as well as other political activists.  The forces of occupation in the north and their lackeys in the south can no longer hide the abject failure of the current “peace process” to solve the issues facing Ireland.  Unable to keep the failure hidden, they will stop at nothing in order to maintain the status quo and continue their strive for profits. False allegations of military activity, personal attacks, and intimidation are all used to silence critics of the ruling regimes.

We remind those implementing these policies, that 100 years and some months ago, the 7^th of July 1918, a  proclamation banning Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, the Gaelic League and Cumann na mBan was issued. Until that point, Sinn Féin had been struggling.  That December, Republican abstentionist candidates won 73 of 105 seats, and formed the First All-Ireland Dáil Éireann.  In the words of Pearse,

And I say to my people’s masters: Beware

Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people

Who shall take what ye would not give.

Did ye think to conquer the people, or that law is stronger than life,

And than men’s desire to be free?

We will try it out with you ye that have harried and held,

Ye that have bullied and bribed.

Tyrants… hypocrites… liars!

We welcome the release of Gabriel Mackle, while condemning the deplorable process of internment by remand.  The forced incarceration of Republicans against whom no charge has been brought is an affront to human dignity and rights, and must be opposed by all of good conscience.  We demand the release of Tony Taylor, the Craigavon Two, and all others so unjustly held with malice.  We salute and draw inspiration from their strength in struggle.

We continue our demands for political status of Irish prisoners of war in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.  As the undefeated armed forces of the 32 county All-Ireland Dáil Éireann, and her allies, with a direct line of continuity to that august body, Republicans that have engaged in armed struggle against the occupier are entitled to all the protections afforded members of other national militaries.  We greet with contempt and disgust the ongoing attempts at the criminalization of these women and men who have sacrificed so much for the unification of Ireland and the re-establishment of the All-Ireland Dáil.  It is to them, who have borne the true weight of our revolutionary heritage and nevertheless remain unbowed in the face of oppression, that we owe a great debt.

Let us go forth from our remembrance today fortified in the knowledge of the just nature and inevitable triumph of Ireland’s cause.  May the memories of Meagher & Connolly, Flannery & Harrison keep us focused and true to the cause of a united and free Ireland – as the Fenian Meagher once stated, “We could not hope to succeed in our effort to make Ireland a Republic without the moral and material support of the liberty-loving citizens of these United States.”

Long live the All-Ireland Republic!  An phoblacht abu!

Leadership of the Republican Movement in America