PRESS RELEASE FROM PRO DEPARTMENT 1916 SOCIETIES
_______
The 1916 Societies have been reliably informed that efforts on St. Patrick's Day to promote our legitimate political campaign for an all-Ireland referendum on Irish reunification, through the use of a light-airplane carrying a banner with our flagship message of 'One Ireland-One Vote' during the parade celebrations in Dublin city, met with state intimidation and censorship at the hands of An Gardai Siochana.
Initially the National Flight Centre in Kildare had agreed to fly the banner and accepted payment in full to that end only to mysteriously cancel twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled flight, claiming it was necessary to do so as the plane had developed unforeseen 'technical difficulties'.
Following contact from local media outlet the Leinster Leader it was brought to our attention that armed Gardai carrying assault weapons arrived at the airport in a menacing show of force, warning its management not to fly the banner. Although suspicions of political interference to some degree or other were already considered as the likely cause of the last-minute decision to cancel our plans we were nonetheless shocked when told the full extent of the sinister and violent role of the state in this incident and are appalled by what amounts to threatening, gestapo-type tactics to undermine and censor our legitimate and peaceful movement.
Despite repeated protestations from the state and its organs that this type of censorship has long been consigned to the past this amounts to an alarming development which questions the democratic bona fides of both the Gardai and the state which it serves. Our message is simple and is a threat to no-one, we see national self-determination expressed through an all-Ireland referendum as the way to bring about the reunification of our country and our work is to that end and that end alone.
Such outrageous intervention on behalf of the state to limit free and democratic expression should be opposed by all right-thinking people and ultimately demonstrates the repressive leanings of those in authority in our country today. The 1916 Societies remain undeterred and fully committed to our vision of a 32-county sovereign Ireland where censorship, marginalisation and the apparatus of repression used to enable their implementation are consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong.
" armed Gardai carrying assault weapons arrived at the airport in a menacing show of force, warning its management not to fly the banner. "
ReplyDeletewhat a shower of bullying goons, shameless overpaid bone-idle supermac munching brown-enveloping bullyboys.The ‘goons in the Garda Special Branch are as bad as any of the pigs on this island, if not worse. At one stage in the seventies they were so infiltrated by MI5 it was said they were being lead by the nose by them. The Irish Army top brass have long been riddled by our friends in Palace Barracks also, not that they need to be, they are collaborators by their nature anyway - what pathetic forces we have supposedly defending us. The only army in the world that never went to war and half of them went deaf. The Deafence Farce.
hateful west brit pigs. what a gimp statelet this 26 county cesspit is now, this story has really pissed me off. seriously, all this over a banner on a plane, you'd think the banner read somethin despicable to merit the thug like reaction from the siochcroneys. scumbags every one of them.
Plain to be seen Grouch they fear our message and its resonance among the people of this country. For so long they decried the lack of a political alternative but now that a credible one is beginning to emerge it scares the bejaysus out of them and they want to strangle it before it gets out of control. It's in the nature of vested interests and the status quo to do as much. They fear an alternative emerging that might actually threaten Britain's interests in Ireland and those of their Free State gombeen lackeys. The last thing they want is a reorganised republican movement and hoped they'd it all taken care of after successfully co-opting a previous leadership into its political arrangements for Ireland. But the tide is turning on that front. 'One Ireland-One Vote' has the capacity to transcend the status quo currently offered by the new establishment and they know it. The work to make it a success lies ahead of us. When we look at the emerging strategies being used by independence movements around the world of using referenda to advance their struggles then we can do the same here. It's a matter of building towards that end.
ReplyDeleteFianna Fáil are now talking about organising in the six-counties to be ready for elections in 2019 and there's a motion to actively pursue Irish reunification being put to its Ard Fheis. It's interesting to the extent that it shows the issue of reunification is still alive and is gathering traction. The run-in to the centenary of the Rising offers us a platform to build momentum towards that end. There's much to be done and with the work ongoing in Scotland and Catalonia there's much we can learn along the way from those campaigns. Those who dismiss the idea of an all-Ireland referendum as unrealistic are unwilling or unable to think outside the box. The recent example of Veneto in Italy shows that such a referendum can be organised independent of central government. There's loads of things we can be at to build this campaign, I'm starting to feel real positive about what we can do in the next few years regardless of the oppressive measures the authorities in our still occupied country may try and use to bring us to heel
bres, glad for that comment, uve calmed me down a bit a cara. im no fan of solicitors and all that but surely these pigs shud not be let away with this infringement of rights - both the 16ers and the staff at aeroplace.
ReplyDeleteWe never thought of the legal route but it's been suggested we write a formal letter of complaint to the relevant political offices. Quite frankly it's a scandalous abuse of police powers and a usurpation of a public service that should see the offenders held accountable and punished - and not those who rumbled in with machine guns to scare the shit out of the airport staff but those who sent them. Totally unacceptable but you kind of expect it in this country no matter what side of the border you're on. The Guards handed out many's a beating themselves and can be as reactionary as the RUC when it suits them. Recall being at a conference back in the 90's were Special Branch blatantly staked out the building. We went outside and surrounded the vehicle, at one point threatening to overturn it. Next thing the street was sealed off by squads of goons. Things got heated but the situation was diffused - at least until later that night. A bunch of us on our way back to the billets from Widow Scallan's got the heads beat clean of us by Store Streets finest in a batin' match Omagh's finest would have been proud of. Those unfortunate enough to be scooped got the hammering of their lives back at the barracks, all their wallets emptied then dumped on the street the following day on police bail. The scumbags down there can be as bad though of course they never stooped as low as murder like the vermin up here
ReplyDeletebullying turds. im a pacifist now but willing to make an exception for saxon shilling grabbing bottom-feeding corrupt croney scumbags.
ReplyDelete