Let us salute our great friend Nelson
Mandela - Pat Sheehan
Speaking at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis
in Wexford tonight, former hunger striker and Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan pays
tribute to Nelson Mandela
"A chairde, last year saw the
passing of our great friend and comrade, the former President of South Africa,
Nelson Mandela.
Thar cheann an Árd Fhéis seo bá maith
liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh le clann Mandela, lena comradaithe san ANC agus le
muintir an Afraic Theas.
On behalf of this Árd Fhéis I want to
send our condolences to the Mandela family, to his comrades in the ANC and to
the people of South Africa.
Madiba was a remarkable human being.
He was loved and revered not just by his own family and compatriots in
South Africa but by millions throughout the world for whom he was a beacon of
light and a symbol of hope. He was also an inspiration for many in their
struggles against oppression and injustice.
In 2001 I went to South Africa along
with Gerry and Richard and my late wife Siobhán and son Cormac to unveil a
monument in the prison yard on Robben Island to commemorate the shared
suffering of Irish and South African political prisoners. But the
highlight of that trip was our meeting with Madiba in Jo'burg.
Without a doubt many nations, groups
and individuals throughout the world believe they had a special relationship
with Madiba.
Perhaps it is because of the great
loyalty Madiba showed to those friends and comrades from the international
community who gave support and solidarity to the South African people during
their struggle against apartheid that they felt a special bond with him.
We in Ireland certainly felt we had a
great affinity with Madiba and South Africa. Indeed Irish republicans have a long association with the ANC
going back many decades. We supported each other in struggle and in our
respective efforts to achieve peace.
We know now that the IRA provided
practical training, advice and assistance with military operations to MK,
Umkhonto we Siswe, the military wing of the ANC that had been founded by
Mandela in 1961 along with Walter Sisulu and Joe Slovo.
In fact one of the biggest operations
ever carried out by MK - the famous attack in May 1980 on the Sasal oil
refinery near Johannesburg - was carried out with the assistance of volunteers
from the Irish Republican Army.
So Madiba and others in the ANC
leadership were and are hugely supportive of the endeavours of Irish
republicans.
It was right and fitting therefore
that Sinn Féin was represented at Madiba's funeral by our own leader Gerry
Adams. And it was a great honour for all of us when Gerry was invited by
the ANC to be part of the guard of honour.
At the funeral service Madiba's great
friend and comrade Ahmed Kathrada told the mourners that Madiba's abundant
reserves of love, simplicity, honesty, service, humility, care, courage,
foresight, patience, tolerance, equality and justice continually served as a
source of enormous strength to many millions of people in South Africa and the
world.
Madiba may be gone but for all of those
reasons his legacy will survive for decades and centuries to come. He will continue to inspire and motivate freedom-loving people
in every corner of this planet.
Let us remember our friend in the
many and varied roles he fulfilled during his lifetime. He was a father,
a grandfather, a husband, a friend, a comrade, a healer, a negotiator, a peace
builder, a freedom fighter, a political prisoner, a statesman and a hero.
Ní bheidh a leithid ann arís.
His life was filled with hardship and
tragedy but also with joy and happiness. He recalls one of those joyous
moments in Long Walk to Freedom - the day he was released from prison. He
describes walking the last few yards to freedom to meet the large crowd waiting
for him:
"When I was among the
crowd I raised my right fist, and there was a roar. I had not been able
to do that for twenty-seven years and it gave me a surge of strength and joy .
. . I felt - even at the age of seventy- one - that my life was beginning
anew."
Comrades let us salute our great
friend with the rallying cry from the days of resistance.
Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community
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