Pearse Doherty TD
Sinn Féin
Wolfe Tone Commemoration
23rd June 2013
Bodenstown, County Kildare
A chairde.
Today — on the 250th anniversary year
of his birth — we gather at the graveside of Theobald Wolfe Tone, the foremost
revolutionary figure in Irish history and founder of the Society of United
Irishmen.
Tone led the 1798 rebellion which
aimed to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent and
democratic Irish republic.
Today, as we do every June, we honour
the principles for which Tone gave his life; the men and women of 1798, and
each subsequent generation who struggled for republican objectives.
Tá dhá chuimhneachan Céad bliain
tábhachtach eile i stair na hÉireann ann i mbliana – Frithdhúnadh Mór Bhaile
Átha Cliath agus bunadh Óglaigh na hÉireann agus Airm Saoránach na hÉireann
Thaispeáin an Frithdhúnadh (an
Lockout) an uchtach agus an spiorad láidir a bhí i muintir Bhaile Átha Ciath ag
an am crua sin agus ba sin díreach an eachtra a chuir lásóg sa bharrach agus a
réitigh an cosán do Éirí Amach 1916.
Ba dhá eagraíocht a bhí in Óglaigh na
hÉireann agus in Airm Saoránach na hÉireann a chuir a gcuid gualainneacha le
chéile chun an Éirí Amach sin a chur ar cois.
Ba chóir do phoblachtaí na hócaidí
tábhachtacha seo a chomóradh agus ba chóir dúinn amharc orthu mar dheis; sé a
chairde Deis agus Deis iontach thábhachtach chun tús a chuir le plé agus le
cainteanna tábhachtacha faoin staid ina bhfuil Éirinn sa lá atá inniu ann.
It is also important to note that it
is 100 years since - almost to the day - that Pádraig Mac Piarais addressed the
Wolfe Tone Commemoration here in Bodenstown.
Just as Pearse told those assembled
here, a century ago, we believe that we are gathered in a very special place to
honour a very special man - Wolfe Tone.
For us, merely coming here to pay
respects to an historic revolutionary leader is not enough. To rightfully
honour Tone, republicans today must take the democratic and republican
principles he espoused and apply them to the Ireland of 2013.
Thirty years ago speaking here, Gerry
Adams, then the newly elected MP for West Belfast, said that if Wolfe Tone were
alive he would be “formulating policies, strategies and revolutionary tactics
to combat the national, social and economic evils which beset our people.”
That remains the task of republicans
in 2013. If we wish to be true to the memory of Tone we need to take his words
and apply them to the reality of Ireland today.
Tone said his objects were to
“subvert the tyranny of our execrable government, to break the connection with
England, the never-failing source of all our political evils, and to assert the
independence of my country”
The malign influence of the British
Government is still a political issue in Ireland. Pledges made at St Andrews in
2006, on a range of social and economic issues, have been broken. This is
undermining both the work of the North’s Executive and the Peace Process
itself.
The situation has been compounded
with British authorities charging Donegal republican John Downey and Belfast
man Michael Burns – both supporters of the Peace Process – in a clear breach of
commitments given by the British Government at Weston Park and subsequent
negotiations.
Let me say very clearly that the
Conservative British Government needs to reverse the disastrous course it has
been pursuing in relation to the North. It needs to honour its obligations to
the Peace Process. And the Irish Government needs to hold it to account in this
regard.
Irish unity
However, as followers of Tone, we
will not be satisfied until British Government involvement in Irish affairs has
been ended.
It is now 15 years since the Good
Friday Agreement, which included a commitment to a border poll on Irish
Unity. Sinn Féin believes that now is the time for the people to have
their say. We have argued for a border poll to be held in the lifetime of the
next Assembly.
The power to call such a poll rests
with the British Secretary of State but the Irish Government clearly has a
responsibility to ensure that the commitment in the Good Friday Agreement is upheld.
A Border poll is part of the process
of building a modern and dynamic New Republic on this island – an agreed
Ireland achieved by peaceful and democratic means.
This generation of Irish people
stands on the threshold of great change. Previous generations have struggled
for a united Ireland. But our generation has the best opportunity of achieving
it.
Anti-sectarianism
Wolfe Tone was just as clear on the
means by which he sought to achieve his objectives. These were: “To unite the
whole people of Ireland, to abolish the memory of all past dissensions, and to
substitute the common name of Irishman, in the place of the denominations of
Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter.”
In post-conflict Ireland I believe
strongly that we need to renew Tone’s message of unity among our people. Much
work remains to be done to tackle the scourge of sectarianism.
The North has been transformed by the
Peace Process. Republicans and unionists are working together in the Executive.
But we need to strive for a situation whereby at all levels of society,
republicans and unionists are working to bring communities together and to
dispel mistrust.
This can and must be done without
prejudice to our respective political aspirations and the competing objectives
of a united Ireland on the one hand or maintenance of the union on the other.
If we work on dismantling the mindset
that has kept them in place, we can remove the physical walls that separate our
communities, Tolerance, mutual respect and the acceptance of equality are the
touchstones for the way forward.
Secularism & inclusion
The United Irishmen sought to create
a secular republic that was not under undue influence from the hierarchy of any
particular church.
Partition and counter-revolution
created two reactionary states on this island, which the conservative
political, church and business elites shaped to protect their self-interests —
in contrast to the vision of Tone and subsequent republican revolutionaries.
Sinn Féin today seeks a secular
republic in which the rights of citizens of all creeds and none are respected.
We are about building an Ireland for all our citizens in all their diversity,
including the new minorities who have made this land their home in recent
years.
Neutrality & Internationalism
Tone was the first leader to publicly
advocate an independent Irish foreign policy and the idea of Irish neutrality.
The Irish political establishment of
2013 however seeks incrementally to undermine Irish neutrality and independence
and to enmesh this country ever more deeply into EU and US military structures.
Sinn Féin today stands firmly against
the erosion of Irish neutrality in the interests of international power blocs.
The United Irishmen were deeply
influenced by the French and American revolutions and Internationalism has
always been a core part of Irish republicanism. Sinn Féin proudly continues
that tradition.
We have raised the plight of the
Palestinian people as Israel continues to ignore international law and deny
them their basic human rights. We stand with those opposing the spreading
of illegal Israeli settlement colonies in the West Bank and last year’s savage
bombardment of Gaza.
Sinn Féin stands in solidarity with
those across the world struggling against imperialism and with those fighting
poverty and hunger in the developing world.
Our thoughts at this time are with
the suffering people of Syria. The civil war there has already claimed over
80,000 lives and created 1.5m Syrian refugees.
Any decision by western powers to
send more weapons into Syria will merely increase the bloodshed and deepen the
conflict. It also has the potential to further destabilise the entire region.
The way to stop the conflict in Syria
is through peace talks and a peace process.
Struggling in a time of austerity
Tone was very clear from where
support for his republican objectives would come. He said:
“If the men of property will not
support us, they must fall. Our strength shall come from that great and
respectable class — the men of no property.”
Today’s ‘men of property’ — the bankers
and the speculators and their friends in high places —have brought huge
hardship to Irish families.
People are losing their jobs; more
see the only future in emigration. Those left behind fear for their future and
what tomorrow holds for their children.
Bondholders, bank executives and
financiers still live affluent lifestyles, receiving huge salaries and bonuses
while others — who had no hand, act or part in the financial catastrophe — pay
for their recklessness, speculation and greed.
Ordinary hardworking families face
the daily fear of how they are going to pay their mortgages and household
bills.
Meanwhile public services are cut to
the bone by the Austerity deal stuck with the Troika by Fianna Fáil and now
meekly implemented by Fine Gael and the Labour Party.
Fine Gael/Labour failure in
Government
After more than two years in office
it is painfully clear that The Fine Gael/Labour government has utterly failed
the Irish people.
They have failed to tackle record
emigration, failed to tackle escalating unemployment, failed to tackle the
banks, failed to tackle the scandal of mortgage distress, and failed to tackle
the problems facing small businesses.
Michael Noonan has failed to
negotiate a debt write-down on the Promissory Note.
James Reilly has failed our health
services. Cronyism and shambolic management are the hallmarks of his disastrous
tenure. Among other scandals in health we have watched as people with
disabilities are targeted through the removal of the mobility allowance.
Ruairi Quinn has failed on Education,
presiding over a shambles on third levels grants, stripping resources from our
schools and making cuts in special needs assistance
Alan Shatter — the most arrogant
Justice Minister since Michael McDowell — has failed spectacularly, closing
down rural Garda stations and losing the confidence of both Gardai and the
general public
Brendan Howlin has completely failed
to tackle excessive pay in the public sector and instead has targeted frontline
workers on low and average pay.
Enda Kenny has failed to deliver his
much vaunted ‘democratic revolution’,
And Eamon Gilmore has abjectly failed
the cause of labour and all of those who had placed their hope in the Labour
Party.
Government of spin and bluster
Spin, bluster and attempted media manipulation
have been some of the hallmarks of this government.
The most recent example of this was
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s exaggeration about the outcome of negotiations on a
potential EU deal on the Multi-annual Financial Framework.
This is not the first time that Irish
Government Ministers have tried to oversell the results of their negotiations
at EU level.
But this time Mr Gilmore’s actions
backfired badly and indeed could have potentially serious implications for
Ireland’s EU presidency.
In the same vein, in the last two
tears in a row, in the run up to the budget the Irish public has been subjected
to a drip, drip of media leaks from within the government.
These leaks are aimed at hyping up
the scale of adjustments to be made in the Budget.
It is a transparent attempt to spin a
positive line when Budget day itself arrives.
It is an insult to people’s
intelligence.
We have seen it again in recent days.
So, this year I would ask those in
the Irish media to remember their responsibility not to be manipulated by the
government’s annual pre-budget spin.
Ireland needs republican politics
In the Ireland of 2013, the message
of Tone is more relevant than ever. Now more than ever, this country needs
republican politics.
In recent years, Sinn Féin has
increased in representation at all levels of government on this island north
and south. But radical republican voices in the corridors of power are not
enough.
We need more radical republican
voices in the corridors of schools, colleges, community centres, in the halls
of people’s homes, in workplaces, and on the streets — delivering the
republican message that politics is not ‘all the same’ and that there is a
better way to run this country and organize our economy.
Let us leave here today committed to
properly honouring all those who have fought for an Irish Republic by going out
and making it happen.
We owe it not just to the generations
who have gone before us but most importantly the generation growing up in the
Ireland of 2013 and the generations yet to come. Let’s make Tone’s Republic a
reality.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.
Sinn Féin Mountmellick-Serving The Community
