SINN Féin MEP Chris MacManus opened his address to the Drumboe Commemoration yesterday speaking of his own family’s “long-standing and proud relationship with the Republican family here in Donegal”.
Recalling all those who were remembered at this time he said, in their memory they commit to “removing the stain of partition, Britain’s border in Ireland”.
He described the treaty and partition as an immense tragedy for the Irish nation.
“Irish Republicans saw all their hopes of a free, united, and socially just Ireland dashed. Nonetheless, they continued the fight for freedom. Thousands suffered imprisonment.
“Seventy-seven republicans were executed in Free State prisons. It is only fitting that we especially recall with pride Charlie Daly, Daniel Enright, Timothy O’Sullivan and Séan Larkin, who were executed by a firing squad of ex-British army veterans in a wood near Drumboe Castle and at whose memorial we stand at today. Many more were murdered after capture outside the prisons.
“We also especially remember the role of republican women. Cumann na mBan rejected the Treaty; all six women TDs in the Dáil voted against it. In fact, the Free State imprisoned far more republican women than the British ever did.”
Claiming partition held back Ireland’s potential, he said there is now a real opportunity to shape a better, more prosperous, more equal future.
“We now have the means to achieve an economically strong, socially just United Ireland. The reunification of Ireland is firmly on the table and I believe that referenda on Irish Unity can take place before the end of this decade. But that means starting to prepare and plan now,” he added.
He went on to say that unity would benefit all people, north and south, unlocking the potential of this island adding that: “A United Ireland will receive the support and goodwill of the international community.”
He spoke of the important role of a Citizens’ Assembly, stressing that it would be key to setting out a clear pathway for a new, United Ireland prior to any referendum.
It must demonstrate that all citizens have rights, and all citizens are respected.
“Republicans must be generous and imaginative. Those with a British identity must be protected and respected in any unified state. We will not do to their community as they did to ours. Irish Republicans are better than that because at the core of unity is the issue of equality, of rights for all.
“Rights for Republicans, for unionists, all faiths and none. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or disability, diversity must be celebrated and protected and never threatened by bigotry and hatred.”
He spoke of the Stormont of the past and its foundations of discrimination, sectarianism, and inequality, adding that “today we are in a very different place”.
He spoke of how in the time ahead Sinn Féin will lead a government in Dublin because “the appetite for change is all around us”.
“The first opportunity to show that appetite for change starts will be June 7 in the local and European elections. We must maximise that vote for change,” he said.
He said how Sinn Féin’s commitment to their fellow citizens here in Ireland stands in tandem with their continued solidarity with oppressed nations, such as the brutal apartheid suffered by those in Palestine.
“At every level and at every forum possible we have unapologetically raised the obscenity of the Gaza genocide and called for the efforts of all political leaders to be directed towards an immediate ceasefire.
“Through many years of political struggle and experience of negotiation, Sinn Féin believes strongly in the value of political engagement at all levels in efforts to find solutions to seemingly intractable issues, particularly those of conflict and war.”
Mr MacManus concluded his address saying that the party have travelled far and achieved much but the only fitting tribute to those who came before them, is to build the republic proclaimed in 1916.
“We have further to travel to build that republic. It will take commitment, hard work and patience. But that is the way of struggle.
“As I look around here, I see the people that will help deliver that change. Together we will build the only fitting tribute to our patriots – a true republic. And let me be very clear that the Irish republican leadership today is as determined to achieve those objectives as were those who fought in 1916. We stand by and for the Republic, that is our resolve,” he concluded.
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