Delaney Brothers Commemoration
December 2009-11-25 Cork
Oration By Val Lynch
A chairde, comrades once again we gather at this most historic place dedicated to Con and Jeremiah Delaney to give an account of our efforts in securing the objective for which they gave their lives. This year has seen our movement grow throughout the island. A national recruitment drive was launched with the distribution of thousands of posters throughout the country. This effort has yielded promising results particularly amongst the youth whose participation in the national struggle is an absolute necessity.
In the neighbouring county of Kerry the North Kerry cumann of the Sovereignty Movement has been established. Our national chairperson Francie Mackey gave the oration at the inaugural commemoration of Volunteer Eddie Carmody who, like Con and Jeremiah, gave his life during the same period of our struggle. Once again the Province of Munster has not let us down. This region has an esteemed history in the War for Independence. It has yielded some of the most gifted soldiers and astute republican thinkers. And of course it has yielded its sons and daughters up to the ultimate sacrifice which still inspires us to this day.
On the political front the Sovereignty Movement has been to the fore in advancing progress. Through the Irish Republican Forum for Unity we have joined with other republican comrades in confronting the British government machinery in our country. The policy of normalisation, particularly on the issue of Policing and Justice, has been vigorously challenged. In Derry several attempts to hold meetings of the District Policing Partnerships have been foiled by the combined actions of republicans. The importance of these actions cannot be over emphasised. The Policing Partnerships are the front line bodies for the British government to normalise their policing in our country. We can never allow this to happen and our efforts in Derry need to be exported to other areas where similar Partnerships attempt to meet.
The Unity Initiative has been the catalyst for this success. It is a success that we must build on. It is a success that we will build on. It has reached a stage where the next steps must now be taken. At our recent Ard Fheis the membership mandated the National Executive to put in place political bodies which can take our struggle forward. These bodies are proportional to our political and organisational abilities at this time. They have to be. During the Delaney Brother’s tenure of our national struggle we witnessed the establishment of our National Parliament, the First Dail Eireann. We witnessed this because it was in their gift to establish it. We do not alas possess the ability to mirror that momentous achievement but we do have the political insight to mirror the strategic thinking behind it. We must give our people an alternative as a means of bringing them in to the republican struggle. We have to have mechanisms in place which makes the struggle relevant to their present and their future. The year which lies ahead will be a very challenging one and if republicans can maintain disciplined cooperation it could well mark a watershed in our struggle.
Republicans remain incarcerated in Irish, British and foreign jails. We salute their courage. We do so in tandem with political actions which highlight their plight to the best of our abilities. Again republican cooperation has been indispensable on this front. Successful and most importantly consistent protests have been held to bring to the attention of all those who will listen that Ireland has not been pacified. The conflict cannot be over whilst the conditions which force our men and women into acts of resistance remain. This has always been the case as it was in the time of Con and Jeremiah when the Treaty of 1922 was imposed as a supposed solution. The only solution to this conflict is the establishment of a sovereign democratic Ireland wherein its people can determine the structure and ideological make up of their own government. This is what Con and Jeremiah fought and died for. It is what we strive to achieve, inspired and motivated by their logic and their sacrifice.
We will gather here twelve months from now, let us ensure that we honour the Delaney Brothers and all those like them with reports of positive and dynamic political advancement.
Ar deis go raibh a hanamac dilis.
Beir Bua.
Wreaths were laid by veteran republican Ned Spriggs (above) on behalf of the Republican Movement.
Pat Lalor on behalf of the National Executive of the 32CSM.
Dean Kavanagh on behalf of Republican POW's.
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