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Showing posts with label FIBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FIBI. Show all posts
FIBI Ireland  ✒ is hosting an Eddie O’Neill Memorial Eveningg in the Teachers Club, Dublin, on 5 August @ 2000.



An evening to remember our good friend and comrade.

Eddie O’Neill was an Irish Republican, P.O.W.  - Internationalist, anti-fascist, and a founding member of FIBI.

Due to Covid concerns it was not possible to hold an appropriate event in Dublin following Eddie’s passing last year. 

This evening is an opportunity for friends, comrades and all those who recognize his massive contribution to various causes to celebrate his life and remember his ideals and unbroken spirit.

A short memorial talk will be presented by Dr Ruan O’Donnell (historian, activist and author).

Ruan had worked closely with Eddie in preparation of his ground breaking volumes Special Category: The IRA in English prisons.

The evening will include music, song, video and chat.

All Welcome

Free Event

Eddie O’Neill Memorial Evening

Friends of the International Brigades Ireland (FIBI) ▰ remember one of their colleagues.


The sudden passing of Manus O'Riordan on Sunday, September 26, came as a massive shock to everyone connected with FIBI, particularly as many of us had met him at our annual Sliabh Foye commemoration in Omeath, Co Louth, the previous afternoon.

Manus had proudly carried the late Jer O’Leary’s trademark Connolly Column flag to the cairn honouring seven Co Louth brigaders, on the hillside overlooking a magnificent Carlingford Lough, where the ashes of his mother, Kay, and his father, Michael, had been scattered. He had borne this flag to many an event over the years, most recently at a community gathering to express solidarity with the Palestinian people during the bombing of Gaza.
 
And, as usual, although he was clearly revelling in the beautiful day and the cordial company, he had to rush off to yet another event. On Saturday night it was a singing session in his native Dublin, but it could have been anything from a football match to an appearance as a keynote speaker at an academic symposium in west Cork.

As he headed towards his car after the wreaths were laid and tribute was paid to FIBI founding member and president Eddie O’Neill, who died in July, the farewells would have been ringing in his ears and he might have been looking forward to the resumption of our annual Jarama Valley commemoration next February.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. On Sunday evening, our friend and comrade - a stalwart of the anti-fascist movement and key figure in preserving the memory of the International Brigades – would leave us bereft.
 
Manus was a man who wore many hats. As well as being a member of the FIBI executive, he filled the role of Ireland Secretary for the International Brigades Memorial Trust (IBMT). He was also a trade unionist, political activist, polemicist, writer, and singer of some repute.

Manus was reared in the Portobello area of Dublin, but his background could hardly have been more internationalist. His father Michael was an IRA veteran from Cork who would later become the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Ireland. A brigader, he was wounded in the last major action of the Spanish Civil War during a republican offensive on Hill 481 near Gandesa in 1938.

As Manus freely admitted, he and his late father didn’t always see eye to eye when it came to politics, but they were always united in their pride of the heroism of the International Brigaders who defended the Spanish Republic in the fight against fascism. They not only believed in the nobility of their ideals but realised the necessity of preserving their memory to inspire future generations.

The end of Franco’s tyrannical dictatorship following his death in 1975 paved the way for a new regime to publicly recognise the role played by those international volunteers who had fought for the Republic. Surviving veterans were welcomed and warmly received. In 1988, Manus accompanied his father to the former battlefields for the first time, and they attended the unveiling of a memorial in Barcelona.
He was fond of relating a particular anecdote from this special trip.

Raising a glass, Michael quipped: ‘It’s taken me 50 years to have a beer in Gandesa!’.

Thankfully, it wouldn’t be his last! In the following years, the pair would attend many more commemorative events in Madrid, Catalunya, and Euskadi. And Manus would become firm friends with many of his father’s comrades and fellow veterans, including Bob Doyle, Eugene Downing and Peter O’Connor.

In May 1996, the then President of Ireland Mary Robinson unveiled a statue marking the 80th anniversary of the death of James Connolly at Beresford Place, opposite Liberty Hall, Dublin. The dwindling band of surviving Irish Brigaders were given pride of place at the ceremony and the president singled them out for attention. It isn’t hard to detect the hidden hand of Manus behind this belated recognition.

In 2016, when the current President of Ireland Michael D Higgins officiated at the AGM of the IBMT at Liberty Hall, Manus stated:

Ireland should rightly be proud of these volunteers who fought against fascism and for social justice. Acknowledgement of their sacrifice and inspirational role in the war in Spain was a long time coming, but in recent years it has been heartening to see greater public awareness and official recognition of the Irish volunteers.

Much of this greater public awareness and official recognition was due to Manus’ tireless campaigning against media and historical distortion. He was a constant thorn in the side of those who sought to twist their actions – always challenging their propaganda through letters to the newspapers and well-argued articles in various authoritative publications.

In 2013, Manus was persuaded to combine his role as IBMT Secretary with an executive position in FIBI, which had evolved from The Friends of Charlie Donnelly, an organisation formed by Eddie O’Neill, Bob Doyle and Harry Owens, to honour the memory of the young Co Tyrone poet who fell at the Battle of Jarama.

Manus was attracted by the activism of FIBI, which had established very close contacts within the municipality of Rivas-Vaciamadrid and had, in 2010, erected a memorial cairn constructed with a stone from every county in Ireland, overlooking the Jarama battlefield.

FIBI has since extended its remit, developing strong bonds in Spain and Catalunya. It has built several, similar cairns across Ireland and is involved in extensive research into men and women born in Ireland who fought against Franco. Throughout the last decade, Manus has been an intrinsic part of our many endeavours and events near and far to keep alive their memories.
 
He was a mainstay in the annual Jarama Commemoration and was involved in planning and attending commemorations in Lopera, Brunete, San Pedro de Cardeña, as well as many locations throughout Ireland of particular significance to The Connolly Column.

Perhaps the most poignant trip abroad occurred in 2018 when FIBI marked the 80th anniversary of The Retreats, where his father Michael was wounded. Manus and his sister, Brenda, stood shoulder to shoulder at the spot beside the River Ebro where their father had crossed into battle. He too had carried a flag into battle.

Manus had a sharp intellect, which he used to rebut any slur on the memory or reputation of International Brigade volunteers. He was also dogged in his pursuit of historical revisionists, lazy journalists, and careless researchers. He would demolish their shibboleths with precise, sharp, forensic arguments. Over the years, he often had to challenge smears against Frank Ryan, Bob Doyle, Charlie Donnelly or the Brigades in general. He was not found wanting when it came to taking on the right-wing peddlers of distortion.

In a long, varied career as a trade union official, he was an Economist with the Irish Transport & General Workers Union (ITGWU) but was probably better-known as Head of Research with SIPTU, a position he filled with distinction for many years. He was an outstanding labour historian and an accomplished traditional singer, in both Irish and English. Those of us fortunate to spend time in his company appreciated both his love of song and his extensive repertoire.

He was also an avid supporter and proud member of his local League of Ireland football club, Bohemian FC. His son Luke is the club’s Communications Director, and his eldest son Neil is also a member. The family love affair with the club continues down to his grandchildren.

On Monday night, the day after his death and only three days after he had attended what would turn out to be his last match, fans of both sides observed a respectful minute’s silence before the club’s away game with Dundalk at Oriel Park. The Bohs’ fans paid tribute with a large banner: ‘RIP Manus – No Pasaran!’.

We will miss our fallen comrade, but our thoughts are first and foremost with those who have lost a father, grandfather, brother, and partner. Our sincere condolences to all his family members.

With the passing of Manus so soon after Eddie we are conscious of the huge debt we owe them and the massive contribution they have made to the legacy of the anti-fascist fighters of the 1930s and the continuation of that struggle today.

We believe there is no better tribute we can pay to Manus and Eddie than to ensure that their work continues. FIBI will build on the solid foundations they have laid.

La Lucha Continúa. 

Manus O’Riordan 1949 - 2021

Pádraic Mac Coitir ✒ I can't remember exactly when I became aware of the Spanish Civil War but it was years ago. I'd read bits and pieces about IRA volunteers who became very disillusioned with the conservatives in the movement and many of them left.


In 1986 whilst on remand in Crumlin Road gaol I was lucky enough to get a copy of a book on Charlie Donnelly sent in to me - lucky because the screws were so petty and censored books, newspapers and our letters.

I got to read more about Charlie Donnelly and others when more books became available to us in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh.

When I was released in 1996 I'd go to talks and lectures and was lucky to have met Michael O'Riordan and Bob Doyle, two men who fought against the fascists and although old they encouraged me and others to keep up the struggle against fascists and counter-revolutionaries here in Ireland and other countries.


About ten years ago I went to Madrid with other Irish Republicans where a cairn was built on the site of one of the most famous battles, Jarama. The cairn was made of stone from each of the 32 counties and one from Jarama. A great crowd made up of Irish people and Spaniards attended and amongst them were men and women imprisoned by the fascists during the Civil War.

Eddie O'Neill and a number of Irish people founded the Friends of Charlie Donnelly which later became The Friends of the International Brigades of Ireland(FIBI).

On Sunday they organised a walk from Omeath To Sliabh Fea which was attended by a very good crowd of people from political groups and none. I met some I hadn't seen in years and the atmosphere was great as we walked the four mile along the banks of Carlingford Lough and up a very steep path to the cairn which was built six years ago in memory of the men who fought and died in Spain.

We were treated to great food such as paella, ham, chorizo, peppers olives and fresh cream buns. As we stood about eating and talking a woman played lovely tunes on the bagpipes.

Proceedings then finished with a lovely tribute to Eddie O'Neill who died a few months ago.

The Spanish Civil War was a defining moment and although it took place in the 1930s it's important we don't just talk about those who fought against fascism. The struggle goes on to make Ireland, and indeed the rest of the world, a better place. Join that struggle and keep alive the memory of all those who died to make the world a better place.

Padraic Mac Coitir is a former republican
prisoner and current political activist.

Spanish Civil War ➖ Omeath To Sliabh Fea

Friends of the International Brigades Ireland (FIBI) ✒ remember a fine colleague and its honorary president. 

‘Eddie’ Ó Néill, a true legend of the left republican and anti-fascist movement. passed away peacefully in the company of his family in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, Dublin, on July 27. Eddie was a proud loughshore native of Doire Treasc i gContae Thír Eoghain.

We send our condolences to his family in Dublin and Tyrone and to his many comrades and friends across Ireland, Spain, the Basque Country, Catalunya, the US, Britain, Canada, Cúba and elsewhere.

Eddie O’Neill represented the very essence of Irish republican resistance and its symbiotic relationship with international anti-fascist solidarity and activism. A warm, engaging, charismatic and intriguing individual, he represented all that is best in humanity, with his understated selflessness often masking a fearless determination.

Interned as a young man while serving his engineering apprenticeship at Shorts, he was incarcerated in Crumlin Road Jail, Belfast, and Magilligan prison Camp, Co Derry, where he witnessed the infamous precursor to Bloody Sunday, when soldiers fired plastic bullets and CS gas at anti-internment protesters on Magilligan Strand.

After his release, Eddie became a full-time republican activist, operating in Ireland, the US and England. He was arrested in London in 1974 on conspiracy charges and while on remand he was broken-hearted by the death of his close friend and Co Tyrone comrade, Hugh Coney, who was shot dead by British soldiers after an escape from Long Kesh prison camp that October.

Convicted as a member of the so-called ‘Uxbridge 8’ the following year, he received a 20 years’ sentence in maximum-security English prisons. Over the next 14 years until his eventual release in 1988, he would spend much of his time in solitary confinement in various jails, enduring unimaginable brutality.

Eddie held little regard for material things, but he did treasure a copy of Peadar O’Donnell’s The Gates Flew Open – although he never read it. It belonged to his comrade Frank Stagg who left it open on his locker before he died on hunger strike in 1976. Eddie had shared the adjoining cell in Wakefield Prison. In all the years he had it, he never turned that page.

He was classed as a Category A prisoner - one considered likely to escape. He made good on this classification in 1977 with an escape attempt from Wormwood Scrubs and the following year he took part in a rooftop protest in Gartree in pursuit of demands for repatriation and political status.

As a result of the relentless attempts to break his spirit, in May 1979 he was rushed to the prison hospital at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight suffering from blinding headaches, insomnia, partial blindness and partial paralysis.

For the previous two years he had suffered an inhumane regime of sleep torture, consisting of his cell light being left on 24 hours a day and frequent night searches, even though he was forced to strip before going to bed and to leave his clothes outside his cell.

He had no sooner finished his treatment than he was transferred to Winson Green prison and put back into solitary. He subsequently received a severe beating from prison officers. When he complained about his injuries, he lost his remission. Ever the fighter, he appealed this capricious decision, and the lost remission was restored.

He took everything that the empire could throw at him.

Following his eventual release, he continued his republican activism but widened it to encompass internationalism and anti-fascism. This path inspired him, along with International Brigades veteran Bob Doyle, Harry Owens and a small number of others, to establish the Friends of Charlie Donnelly, in memory of a fellow republican socialist, Co Tyrone native and International Brigader who had fallen at the Battle of Jarama in defence of the Spanish Republic in February 1937.

The group’s motivation has never been purely historical in nature: Eddie and the other members believe that the best way to honour the International Brigades is to draw inspiration from them to encourage future generations to take up the fight against fascism and imperialism.

Thanks in no small part to Eddie’s single-minded dedication to getting things done and his ability to attract people to work with him, in 2010 the group evolved into Friends of the International Brigades Ireland (FIBI).

Eddie proved that neither borders nor languages were insurmountable barriers to activism. He forged strong and enduring links across Ireland, Britain, Spain, The Basque Country, Catalunya, and the US in particular. These relationships will be the backbone of FIBI’s work into the future.

In Ireland, Eddie and other FIBI members had been erecting and repairing monuments to International Brigaders for several years. His work extended to every corner of Ireland and in 2010, he fulfilled a long-term ambition to complete a cairn overlooking where Charlie Donnelly fell at Jarama.

Of course, he had already planned this many years before it happened, laying the groundwork for this initiative of such symbolic importance through close co-operation with the Ayuntamiento de Rivas Vaciamadrid local authority and activists in the Asociación de Amigos de las Brigadas Internacionales (AABI).

The cairn, comprising stones from the 32 counties of Ireland, has been maintained and restored by the local authority after frequent attacks by Franco’s heirs and successors – a backhanded compliment to its significance. This monument has become a rallying point for internationalists, socialists, republicans, communists, anarchists, and democrats who gather every year to pay homage to those who defended democracy and freedom in the 1930s.

Eddie was committed to erecting memorials to every single Irish Brigader who served the anti-fascist cause in Spain. He researched primary and secondary sources in several countries and unearthed information on previously ‘lost’ volunteers, spending countless hours researching the labyrinthine Moscow Archives.

This research forged a path for commemorations in areas where local communities had no idea of the heroism of their forebears. Many of these ‘Volunteers of Liberty’ remain buried in unknown graves on Spanish soil, but Eddie was determined that their memories would endure.

Eddie’s determination to confront fascism became emblematic of his activism and internationalist outlook. In him, it was easy to recognise the living spirit of the International Brigaders.

His name was rightfully synonymous with the anti-fascist cause in Ireland and beyond. He planned and organised commemorative events across Spain, the Basque Country and Catalunya, where he was a regular and popular visitor in his famous green hiace van (which served simultaneously as transport, accommodation and centre of logistics). Eddie’s name is lauded in many villages, towns, and cities across the Iberian Peninsula where he rested, laughed, talked politics, cajoled, and took part in acts of international solidarity.

Eddie stayed particularly close to his many friends and comrades in the Republican Movement and he had a deep and enduring bond with his fellow ex-prisoners, many of whom joined him as he led solidarity trips to Spain and the Basque Country from 2007 onwards.

Although a committed internationalist, he remained very proud of his Co Tyrone roots. He was the force behind the recent revival of the Charlie Donnelly Winter School in Dungannon and the annual commemorations at Killybrackey and Moybridge. He was also passionate about his beloved Fir an Chnoic (Derrytresk Gaelic Football Club) in his native parish and was extremely proud to see the team reach the All-Ireland Final in Croke Park in 2012.

Eddie leaves a powerful, inspiring legacy that will endure for those of us who follow. His energy seemed boundless and, even as his final illness took a heavy toll, he continued to carry his pain with stoicism, dignity, and humour.

His loss is devastating, not only to his family and friends, but to FIBI, of which he was the founder and Honorary President. His final message to the group urged us to carry on his work in commemorating the International Brigades and continuing the anti-fascist cause, which he considered more relevant now than ever, in the face of the increasing threat from resurgent monopoly capitalism, neoliberalism and the growing confidence of the fascist foot soldiers of hate and intolerance.

In his final days, he implored us to keep following in his footsteps. We are comforted in the belief that he knew we would continue his struggle. And what an inspiration we now have! What a legacy he has left us.

La lucha continúa!

No pasarán!

The Flowering Bars

(Charlie Donnelly 1914-37)

After sharp words from the fine mind,

protest in court,

the intimate high head constrained,

strait lines of prison, empty walls,

a subtle beauty in a simple place.


There to strain thought through the tightened brain,

there weave

the slender cords of thought, in calm,

until routine in prospect bound

joy into security,

and among strictness sweetness grew,

mystery of flowering bars.

Eddie O Neill 1950 - 2021 ➖ Irish Republican, Anti-Fascist, Internationalist

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