Sinn Fein is set to split into two political parties with republican Sinn Fein in the ascendancy. Martin McGuinnes is to lead a party to be known as British Sinn Fein splitting with New Sinn Fein headed by Gerry Adams, while traditional republicans remain with Republican Sinn Fein.( see video). Differences on a McGuinness policy of bringing Ireland back into the British Commonwealth, along with his secret support for internment without trial by his continued presence in the British parliament. While he did call for the release of Interned prisoners, his record of duplicity on matters such as insisting on Derry to be British and calling it Londonderry, has enraged Nationlists across the North. He has also been linked with a major sex scandal known as the 'Hotel Stormont Orgy.' There are continuous accusations of him being a longtime informer for the British, responsible for the murders of thousands of Irish people.
When Internment without trial was introduced in British Occupied Ireland 40 years ago, the SDLP took a principled stand and resigned from Stormont, "the sectarian parliament for a sectarian people," as boasted by Unionist leaders. The British then flew leading Provos who were interned in Long Kesh concentration camp, to talks in London which came up with an agreement that was eventually called the Good Friday Agreement. Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness who led those talks, were vetoed by their republican leadership. The British then mentored them into the ascendancy withIN the republican movement.
Britain once again broke the terms of the peace agreement and is again interning political activists who oppose the British Occupation in Ireland whether the support armed struggle or oppose it. One of those interned is Marian Price who has been tortured now in solitary confinement for more than year. The British refuse to allow UN monitors into the prison to independently research exactly what is happening. Marian Price now a mature woman with considerable years of political activity on behalf of Sinn Fein is in both physical and psychological daily agony but the British agents who have infiltrated Sinn Fein have abandoned her.
When Britain introduced internment 40 years ago their techniques of subjection to noise, deprivation of sleep, and deprivation of food and drink were investigated by the European Court of Human Rights. In a trial "Ireland v. the United Kingdom" the European Court ruled that techniques amounted to a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment.
In response to the public and Parliamentary disquiet on 16 November 1971, the British Government commissioned a committee of inquiry chaired by Lord Parker, the Lord Chief Justice of England to look into the legal and moral aspects of the use of "Sensory Deprivation."
In response to the public and Parliamentary disquiet on 16 November 1971, the Government commissioned a committee of inquiry chaired by Lord Parker, the Lord Chief Justice of England to look into the legal and moral aspects of the use of the five techniques.
The "Parker Report"was published on 2 March 1972, and found the techniques of "Sensory Deprivation" to be illegal under domestic law:
10. Domestic Law ...(c) We have received both written and oral representations from many legal bodies and individual lawyers from both England and Northern Ireland. There has been no dissent from the view that the procedures are illegal alike by the law of England and the law of Northern Ireland. ... (d) This being so, no Army Directive and no Minister could lawfully or validly have authorized the use of the procedures. Only Parliament can alter the law. The procedures were and are illegal.
On the same day the Prime Minister Edward Heath stated in the House of Commons:
The Government, having reviewed the whole matter with great care and with reference to any future operations, have decided that the techniques...The statement that I have made covers all future circumstances.
"As foreshadowed in the Prime Minister's statement, directives expressly prohibiting the use of the techniques, whether singly or in combination, were then issued to the security forces by the Government."[3] These are still in force and the use of such methods by UK security forces would not be condoned by the Government.
A United Nations expert on torture has already called on Britain and all countries to ban the solitary confinement of prisoners except in very exceptional circumstances and for as short a time as possible, with an absolute prohibition in the case of juveniles and people with mental disabilities.
“Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, Supermax, the hole, Secure Housing Unit… whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by States as a punishment or extortion technique,” UN Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez told the General Assembly’s third committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural affairs, saying the practice could amount to torture.Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, Supermax, the hole, Secure Housing Unit… whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by States as a punishment or extortion technique
“Solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system,” he stressed in presenting his first interim report on the practice, calling it global in nature and subject to widespread abuse.
Indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement in excess of 15 days should also be subject to an absolute prohibition, he added, citing scientific studies that have established that some lasting mental damage is caused after a few days of social isolation.
“Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles,” he warned.
The practice should be used only in very exceptional circumstances and for as short a time as possible, he stressed. “In the exceptional circumstances in which its use is legitimate, procedural safeguards must be followed. I urge States to apply a set of guiding principles when using solitary confinement,” he said.
He warned of an increased risk of torture in these cases because of the absence of witnesses and said some detainees have been held in solitary confinement facilities for years, without any charge and without trial, as well as in secret detention centres.
“Social isolation is one of the harmful elements of solitary confinement and its main objective. It reduces meaningful social contact to an absolute minimum,” Mr. Méndez told the committee, noting that a significant number of individuals will experience serious health problems regardless of specific conditions of time, place, and pre-existing personal factors.
Marian Price has now been interned for more than a year of solitary confinement, was force fed by the British for 6 months as political prisoner of conscience. The Queen ordered her release many years ago with an unconditional pardon witnessed by the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland which the British now say they have lost or shredded, without conducting any investigation. Two judges have already ordered her release based on the same evidence as and unelected Englishman overuling everyone in Ireland, including the judiciary and his Queen on the matter. It is generally accepted that his motives are bigoted and personal as he is a close ally of certain sectarian unionists he in the process of co-opting into his British Tory party along with most of the horsey set of fox hunters in the orange state.
Below are several articles detailing the resignation of another leading Sinn Fein member, coupled with many calls for Martin McGuinness to resign because of his Olympic collaboration for British Occupation in Ireland
Councillor Anita Cavlan
Comhairleoir Anita níCabhláin
Independent – Bushvale
Oifigí pháirtí Sinn Féin
11 Páirc Fassagh
Dún Lathaí
Co. Aontroma
BT44 9AL
Telephone: (028) 2765 7198
Elected to Council - 2005
Voluntary Advice Centre worker - Women’s Aid
Representative to Tribunals
Serves on: North East Partnership Interreg IVA Joint Committee, North East PEACEIII Joint Committee, North East PEACE III Partnership, Ballymoney Borough Fuel Poverty Steering Group, National Association of Councillors, Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), District Policing Partnership, North East Rural Development Partnership LAG.
Committee Membership 2011/12: Consultation Committee, Corporate & Central Services Committee, Development Committee, Health & Environmental Services Committee, Leisure & Amenities Committee, Audit Committee.
“Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated…”
Pete Baker, Thu 24 May 2012, 2:49pm 24
In light of Mick’s post, and now Brian’s follow-up, it’s worth noting an Irish News report today of Ballymoney Councillor Anita Cavlan’s resignation from Sinn Féin ”over concerns it is failing prisoners”. From the Irish News report
The Ballymoney councillor said she believed Sinn Féin had “lost direction” and “should be doing more to represent the prisoners”.
“Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated and now has been rendered unconscious by the intoxication of an illusionary power to govern,” she said.
According to the report the councillor intends to remain as an independent member of Ballymoney District Council.
“It is not that I support dissident activity. I would hate it to go back to the way it was. There were a lot of lives lost in all sections of the community.”
“There are those still amongst us who will insist that continued military action is the only way to achieve a united Irish republic.
“I disagree with them but I will not torture and abuse them if they are imprisoned.”
She said Sinn Féin’s calls for the urgent release of dissident republican Marian Price have been “weak”.
It’s what happens when “the guerillas” become “the people in power”…
But, as I noted in the comment zone earlier, other parties are free to ask questions.
Tags: Anita Cavlan, Ballymoney District Council, dissent, Government, Human Rights, Ireland, Media, NI Executive, Northern Ireland, Parties, Policing, prisoners, Society, Terrorism, UK
Topic: Government, Politics, Society and Culture
Region: Ireland, Northern Ireland, UK
Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 9:40 am Post subject: Cllr Anita Cavlan resigns from Provos
Cllr Anita Cavlan resigns from Provos
by Shan Van Vocht
Ballymoney Councillor Anita Cavlan resigned from Sinn Féin last month. An article in the May 24 Belfast-based Irish News quoted her as saying her resignation arose “over concerns it is failing prisoners” and the failure of the party leadership to address those concerns. She felt Sinn Féin “should be doing more to represent the prisoners” and that Sinn Féin’s calls for the urgent release of Marian Price have been “weak”.
More broadly, she expressed criticism of the way in which Sinn Fein has been incorporated into the British political structures in the six counties and the effect this has had on what SF used to (and some members claim still does) stand for. The party, she said, had “lost direction” and this is what happens, when “the guerrillas (become) the people in power”.
According to Cllr Cavlan, “Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated and now has been rendered unconscious by the intoxication of an illusionary power to govern.”
I think it might be added that, while a significant number of veterans have departed the Provos, many have accustomed themselves to being sedated by the Provo leadership. This is one of the problems that arise not only in a military-led movement like the Provos but quite widely on the left whether we’re dealing with Stalinists, Maoists, Trotskyists or whoever – often a lot of people chose to be primarily loyal to a particular oorganisation or set of leaders rather thanj being loyal to first principles. One result is that it’s quite easy for leaderships to sell out; the other result is that a section of revolutionaries become enablers of the sell out and sacrifice their own principles for shabby people peddling shabby politics.
So, hopefully, others will do what Anita Cavlan has done and stop acting as enablers for New Sinn Fein and its collaborationist leadership cabal.
In relation to anti-GFA armed activity, she told the paper, “It is not that I support dissident activity. I would hate it to go back to the way it was. There were a lot of lives lost in all sections of the community. There are those still amongst us who will insist that continued military action is the only way to achieve a united Irish republic. I disagree with them but I will not torture and abuse them if they are imprisoned.”
Cllr Cavlan told the Irish News that she will now be an independent member of Ballymoney District Council. Independent socialist-republicans sitting on local councils are a good thing, but what is desperately needed is some moves to bring the various socilaist-republican groups and unaffiliated individuals together and develop the kind of party that is needed to take the whole struggle for national liberation and socialism forward.
(The parts of this item which deal directly with the resignatioon and quote Cllr Cavlan are mainly taken from snippets on Slugger O’Toole, as you can’t view Irish News articles on-line without being a paying subscriber.)
Cllr Anita Cavlan resigns from Sinn Fein
JUN 9
Posted by Admin
by Shan Van Vocht
Ballymoney Councillor Anita Cavlan resigned from Sinn Féin last month. An article in the May 24 Belfast-based Irish News quoted her as saying her resignation arose “over concerns it is failing prisoners” and the failure of the party leadership to address those concerns. She felt Sinn Féin “should be doing more to represent the prisoners” and that Sinn Féin’s calls for the urgent release of Marian Price have been “weak”.
More broadly, she expressed criticism of the way in which Sinn Fein has been incorporated into the British political structures in the six counties and the effect this has had on what SF used to (and some members claim still does) stand for. The party, she said, had “lost direction” and this is what happens, when “the guerrillas (become) the people in power”.
According to Cllr Cavlan, “Sinn Féin in my opinion has been slowly sedated and now has been rendered unconscious by the intoxication of an illusionary power to govern.”
I think it might be added that, while a significant number of veterans have departed the Provos, many have accustomed themselves to being sedated by the Provo leadership. This is one of the problems that arise not only in a military-led movement like the Provos but quite widely on the left whether we’re dealing with Stalinists, Maoists, Trotskyists or whoever – often a lot of people choose to be primarily loyal to a particular organisation or set of leaders rather than being loyal to first principles. One result is that it’s quite easy for leaderships to sell out; the other result is that a section of revolutionaries become enablers of the sell out and sacrifice their own principles for shabby people peddling shabby politics.
So, hopefully, others will do what Anita Cavlan has done and stop acting as enablers for New Sinn Fein and its collaborationist leadership cabal.
In relation to anti-GFA armed activity, she told the paper, “It is not that I support dissident activity. I would hate it to go back to the way it was. There were a lot of lives lost in all sections of the community. There are those still amongst us who will insist that continued military action is the only way to achieve a united Irish republic. I disagree with them but I will not torture and abuse them if they are imprisoned.”
Cllr Cavlan told the Irish News that she will now be an independent member of Ballymoney District Council. Independent socialist-republicans sitting on local councils are a good thing, but what is desperately needed is some initiative to bring the various socialist-republican groups and unaffiliated individuals together and develop the kind of party that is needed to take the whole struggle for national liberation and socialism forward.
Sinn Fein calls on Cavlan to vacate seat
11 June 2012 in an príomhbhóthar | Tags: Anita Cavlan, Ballymoney, Sinn Féin
Ballymoney Times
10 June 2012
**Via Newshound
SINN Fein has called on a Ballymoney councillor to vacate her seat after she walked away from the party.
Veteran councillor Anita Cavlan resigned last month over concerns it is failing republican prisoners.
She said she believed Sinn Fein had “lost direction” and “should be doing more to represent the prisoners”.
“Sinn Fein in my opinion has been slowly sedated and now has been rendered unconscious by the intoxication of an illusionary power to govern,” said the 62-year-old.
Ms Cavlan said the decision had left her “heartbroken” but she felt she had been left no option but to walk away from Sinn Fein and become an Independent member of Ballymoney Borough Council.
“It is not that I support dissident activity,” she said.
“I would hate it to go back to the way it was. There were a lot of lives lost in all sections of the community.
“There are those still amongst us who will insist that continued military action is the only way to achieve a united Irish republic.
“I disagree with them but I will not torture and abuse them if they are imprisoned.”
Ms Cavlan also dismissed Sinn Fein’s calls for the urgent release of dissident republican Marian Price as “weak”.
In a statement released on Friday Sinn Fein called for Ms Cavlan to vacate her Ballymoney seat.
“We are disappointed at the decision of Ms Cavlan to resign from Sinn Fein,” it said.
“We are particularly surprised at her criticisms of our approach to resolving the ongoing situation in Maghaberry Prison.
“Sinn Fein has visited the prison and met with the protesting prisoners and prison officials on many occasions. We have made and continue to make representations for an immediate end to strip searching and controlled movement within the prison.
“Anyone who was at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis last weekend left in no doubt what our position is and what the party is doing to resolve the situation in the prisons.
“In common with all other party representatives when elected as a Sinn Fein councillor Ms Cavlan signed a pledge to give up the seat in the event of resigning from the party. Anita Cavlan should honour this pledge and stand down from Ballymoney Council and allow a Sinn Fein co-option in line with the wishes expressed by the electorate in the Bushvale electoral ward last year.”
Anita Cavlan Resigns from Sinn Féin: They are Failing the Prisoners
Seachranaidhe ― Posted 18 days ago
Seachranaidhe1 ― Sinn Féin Councillor Anita Cavlan has resigned due to concerns that the party is failing the prisoners. “Lost direction…should do more…slowly sedated…rendered unconscious…intoxication of an illusionary power…she received no acknowledgement about concerns raised…Sinn Féin calls have been weak” These are the words of a now former Sinn Féin Councillor
2012 Olympics, Armageddon, Big Ben, British Occupied Ireland, Internment, John Bullscutter, london 2012, London Olympics Games, Olympic, Olympic Games, Olympics, Olympics 2012
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Wednesday April 10, 2013 18:23
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Jump To Comment: 1A crowd assembled in Glasgow's George Square where in 1989 protests to the introduction of Thatcher's poll tax took place.Some wore party hats and streamers while a bottle of champagne was cracked with a toast to the deathof Baroness Thatcher.
The Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation, the Communist Party, the Socialist Party, the Socialist Working Party, the International Socialist Group, were also joined by the public to mark the occasion. People also gathered in Brixton, south London the scene of fierce riots in 1981 two years into her first time in office.
In British Occupied Ireland a crowd gathered in Derry to 'celebrate' the death. Many waving Tricolour flags gathered at the famous Free Derry Corner in the city's Bogside. Chinese lanterns were lit as families gathered in the area. Crowds also gathered on the Falls Road in west Belfast. TH he left did little to disguise their jubilation at her death.
However there was one notable in Martin McGuinness, who after attending the last Tory conference, the courtisied to the Queen while embracing her white glove with his naked commoner flesh he then ordered all celebrations of Thatchers death to cease.
George Galloway, ex-Labour , denounce her policies on apartheid and Ireland. “May she burn in the hellfires. She was a witch.” Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, when the Greater London Council was abolished by Lady Thatcher, said “She created today’s housing crisis, she produced the banking crisis, she created the benefits crisis. Every real problem we face today is the legacy of the fact she was fundamentally wrong.”
Musician celebrity, Morrissey, long a critic of Baroness Thatcher, berated her as "barbaric, without an atom of humanity". His creations include, tracks such as Margaret On The Guillotine. He claimed she was "charged by negativity" and said she "closed" rather than opened the doors for women as the first female PM.He further said: "Thatcher is remembered as The Iron Lady because she possessed completely negative traits with as persistent stubbornness and refusal to listen to others.
"Every move she made was charged by negativity; she destroyed the British manufacturing industry, she hated the miners, she hated the arts, she hated the Irish freedom fighters and allowed them to die, she hated the English poor and did nothing at all to help them, she hated Greenpeace and environmental protectionists, she was the only European political leader who opposed a ban on the Ivory Trade, she had no wit and no warmth and even her own Cabinet booted her out.
Thatcher will only be fondly remembered by sentimentalists who did not suffer under her leadership, but the majority of British working people have forgotten her already, and the people of Argentina will be celebrating her death. As a matter of recorded fact, Thatcher was a terror without an atom of humanity," he said.
Film director Ken Loach described her as "an enemy of the working class. Margaret Thatcher was the most divisive and destructive Prime Minister of modern times. Mass unemployment, factory closures, communities destroyed – this is her legacy. She was a fighter and her enemy was the British working class. Her victories were aided by the politically corrupt leaders of the Labour Party and of many Trades Unions. It is because of policies begun by her that we are in this mess today.
"Other prime ministers have followed her path, notably Tony Blair. She was the organ grinder, he was the monkey. Remember she called Mandela a terrorist and took tea with the torturer and murderer Pinochet.How should we honour her? Let’s privatise her funeral. Put it out to competitive tender and accept the cheapest bid. It's what she would have wanted."
Provisional Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said Thatcher caused "great hurt to the Irish and British people. Working class communities were devastated in Britain because of her policies..Margaret Thatcher will be especially remembered for her shameful role during the epic hunger strikes of 1980 and 81.Her Irish policy failed miserably."
The general secretary of Durham Miners' Association said Baroness Thatcher's death was a "great day" for coal miners.Ex-miner David Hopper, 70, spent all of his working life at Wearmouth Colliery, said: "It looks like one of the best birthdays I have ever had. There's no sympathy from me for what she did to our community. She destroyed our community, our villages and our people. For the union this could not come soon enough and I'm pleased that I have outlived her. It's a great day for all the miners, I imagine we will have a counter demonstration when they have her funeral. Our children have got no jobs and the community is full of problems. There's no work and no money and it's very sad the legacy she has left behind. She absolutely hated working people and I have got very bitter memories of what she did. She turned all the nation against us and the violence that was meted out on us was terrible. I would say to those people who want to mourn her that they're lucky she did not treat them like she treated us.
Darren Vaines, 47, a former miner who worked in West Yorkshire and was on strike for 12 months said: "It's a very strange emotional feeling because her death brings back a lot of memories and opens up a wound that has never really healed. The cut went so deep people have never been able to forget about it. It's something they can never get out of their system." His friend and colleague David Jones was killed at 24 when violence erupted on a picket line at Ollerton, Nottinghamshire in 1984, also said many communities have never come to terms with Mrs Thatcher's actions.
Baroness Thatcher’s divisive legacy continues with not just old political foes who appeared to welcome her death. When the news reached National Union of Students (NUS) conference, it was met with applause and cheering.
The Guardian with an article titled "Martin McGuinness tells republicans to stop celebrating Thatcher's death" stated :
"Martin McGuinness has called for an end to republicans organising parties to celebrate Margaret Thatcher's death, even though she was the IRA's No 1 target when he was the Provisionals' chief of staff during the 1980s.
In a move that surprised many republicans, the Sinn Féin deputy first minister said on Tuesday that people should not celebrate Lady Thatcher's death.
Celebrations were held in McGuinness' home city of Derry: dissident republicans held a party close to the spot of the Bloody Sunday massacre on Monday, the night of her death.
In republican West Belfast, people gathered near a mural dedicated to the memory of the IRA hunger strike Bobby Sands to celebrate the former prime minister's death. People drank beer and released Chinese lanterns into the air, while passing motorists on the Falls Road honked car horns.
But McGuinness, who was once one of the most powerful figures in the Provisional IRA, implored republicans and nationalists to "resist celebrating the death of Margaret Thatcher". Sinn Féin's chief negotiator during negotiations for the IRA ceasefire and the peace process said: "She was not a peacemaker, but it is a mistake to allow her death to poison our minds."
Unionist politicians denounced the partying as ghoulish and disgusting. Further celebrations in republican redoubts of Northern Ireland are planned for Lady Thatcher's funeral next week.
Jim Allister, a hardline Traditional Unionist Voice member of the Stormont Assembly, said: "What an insight into the depravity of IRA supporters: their ghoulish street parties to celebrate the death of Mrs Thatcher."
Jonathan Bell, a Democratic Unionist Assembly member for Strangford, said: "While many will differ on policy, such is the nature of the democratic process, all right-thinking people will regard the carnival celebrations following Baroness Thatcher's death deeply inappropriate. At a time of bereavement there should be human compassion for those in mourning."
Unionist politicians were not the only ones denouncing the street parties. David Ford, the leader of the centrist Alliance Party and the justice minister of Northern Ireland, said that while many people disagreed with Baroness Thatcher's policies, "this is no cause for the scenes we have witnessed".
Ford added: "There can never be any justification for the celebration of the death of another human. It is wrong and they should not have taken place."
Alan Shatter, his counterpart in the Irish Republic, also criticised Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin president, for claiming Lady Thatcher caused huge hurt to the Irish people. Shatter said Adams should remember that the Provisional IRA caused a great deal of hurt during the Troubles.
Shatter said: "I think those who comment critically on Margaret Thatcher, in particular those in Sinn Féin who do so, shouldn't be allowed to forget that they were directly responsible, and the Provisional IRA, were responsible for a murderous bombing of a Conservative Party conference that resulted in the death of a number of people."
The Irish Justice Minister was commenting on the IRA's attempt to kill Lady Thatcher and her cabinet in the 1984 Brighton Bomb. Following the explosion at the Grand Hotel during the Tory Party conference, the IRA warned that it "only had to be lucky once" in its bids to kill the prime minister. The IRA blamed Thatcher for the deaths of 10 republican prisoners during the 1981 hunger strike. Brighton was seen by many, both republicans and their enemies, as a revenge attack.
Republican leaders have subsequently claimed that it was Lady Thatcher's stubborn refusal to bend to the prisoners' demands for political status that prolonged the 1981 hunger strike. However, some republicans, including Richard O'Rawe, the former press officer for the IRA inside the Maze prison in 1981, have claimed there is evidence that the Thatcher government offered a compromise on the prisoners' demands in early July 1981 that could have ended the hunger strike and saved six lives.
The suggestion appears to be that Thatcher, while instinctively pro-unionist, was far more pragmatic than ideological in directing Northern Ireland policy. Four years after the hunger strike, she stunned unionists by signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement which gave the republic a say in the running of Northern Ireland. Her decision provoked widespread anger within the unionist community, who accused her of betrayal. Later at a mass protest involving more than 200,000 unionists at Belfast City Hall, her effigy was burned alongside that of the Irish tricolour. For that reason, while the union flag will fly half mast next week during her funeral, there is likely to be no mass outpouring of grief, even in unionist strongholds, where many have never forgiven her perceived treachery."
Cill Dara Shinn Féin Poblachtach staement :
"Thatcher dies: memory of Hunger Strikers lives on
The announcement of the death of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on April 8 immediately brought to mind all of those who were victims of her policies and unrelenting right-wing ideology.
It affects us here in Ireland as well but around the world both directly and indirectly by her unstinting support for fascist regimes such as that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
In Ireland we of course think at once of the 1981 hunger strikes and the stonehearted response of Thatcher’s government to any appeal to a common humanity. The Patron of Republican Sinn Féin Ruairí Ó Brádaigh says that one of his abiding memories of the 1981 election campaign in support of the prisoner candidates is that at the very mention of the name Bobby Sands people would raise their heads whereas when Margaret Thatcher’s name was uttered people’s heads would drop.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News At One programme on April 8 the former deputy-leader of the SDLP Séamus Mallon stated that Thatcher viewed the 26-County State as merely a colony of Britain.
Under Thatcher a vicious war of terror was waged on the nationalist people of the Six Counties, which included a stepping up of the collusion between British State forces and loyalist death squads.
Human rights lawyers such as Pat Finucane, assassinated by a British-backed loyalist death squad in 1988, became prime targets of a British State determined to crush all opposition to its hold on Ireland.
To understand Thatcher you must grasp that she was an unreconstructed colonialist who could not imagine the sun ever setting on a fast-diminishing British world dominance.
Her imperialist adventure to wrest Las Malvinas back from Argentina in 1982 seemed more like something from 1882 but was very much part of the image she wished to cultivate.
Cloaking herself in jingoism and intolerance she was prepared to murder over 323 young Argentinean sailors on the Belgrano in order to bolster her grip on power in Britain.
Within her own State she had no scruples about waging war on entire communities and almost the entire trade union movement, openly declaring that the miners were “the enemy within”.
The scars of the social upheaval caused by Thatcherism are all too evident in the Britain of 2013. As one commentator noted she was prepared to sacrifice two-thirds of her people in order to satisfy one-third. Her legacy was one of polarisation and increased inequality.
From an Irish perspective she epitomised a British political establishment that had failed to learn from its experience by continuing to implement the same polices of coercion and oppression in response to the Irish people’s demand for national freedom. Sadly her successors seem as blinkered in their approach to Ireland.
The continued repression directed against Irish Republicans simply prolongs the conflict while internationally Thatcher’s faith in an unregulated market helped sow the seeds of the present world economic collapse with its dire consequences for working people throughout Europe and around the world.
So on this day we do not mourn her passing but here in Ireland we proudly remember those who died in defiance of her attacks on freedom and democracy.'
Party Pooper Grieving McGuinness