Alan Ryan 13th Anniversary Commemoration
Last Sunday, 7th September, the annual commemoration was held for IRA Volunteer Alan Ryan, this year being his 13th anniversary.
The following oration was read by 32csm national chairman Francis Mackey.
A chairde, I would like to welcome you all here today to our annual commemoration for IRA Volunteer Alan Ryan. As stated at his graveside last year the challenge facing Irish republicanism is one of making republicanism a relevant voice within the national political narrative.
The long war did not bring about a political settlement that remotely represented republican objectives. The resultant so-called long peace has developed a politics that’s entrenched in the belief that British involvement in Ireland is intrinsic to any long-term constitutional settlement.
So where is the voice of Irish republicanism today? What are we saying that is impacting the daily lives of our people and communities? What ideas do we possess to advance the objectives of Alan and Vinnie at rest here?
The political reasoning behind partition alters and adapts to the differing needs of the British establishment to preserve it. And because the Good Friday Agreement does not oblige the Twenty-Six County State to pursue the ending of Partition those British needs will go unchallenged.
This British strategy is clearly audible in the language and actions of constitutional and establishment nationalists. Gone is the language of sovereignty and self-determination instead replaced with terminology such as ‘Agreed Ireland’ and ‘Shared Island’ couched in the emotive rhetoric of peace and reconciliation.
The relentless assault on the policy of neutrality, to enmesh present and future Irish Armed Forces in Western Military Alliances, further underscores Westminster’s long-term intentions and nationalist compliance with the same.
This is precisely why the British retained complete control over that aspect of the Good Friday Agreement which deals with constitutional change. The primary purpose of a Border Poll is not what establishment nationalists hail it to be, but rather a mechanism by which the British can determine the nature of any state that results from such a poll.
It is imperative that Irish republicans must build strategic alliances with other political and protest movements to clearly demonstrate that the restoration of Irish national sovereignty is absolutely essential to the objectives of these movements.
Irish neutrality is at the mercy of British involvement in our country. There is no question that long-term British interests have their sights on Ireland in a western military alliance. The demand for an increase in military spending by EU member states, the constant undermining of the Triple Lock mechanism for peace keeping intervention and the spineless reaction of this State’s political class to these relentless pressures all point to an inevitable conclusion.
Our solidarity with the Palestinian people is equally linked both to neutrality and national sovereignty. By default any western style military alliance, like NATO itself, will be pro-zionist because the State of Israel is the primary representative of the political interests of NATO leaders in the Middle East region.
Even in the face of a deliberate policy of famine and genocide in Gaza by the Nethanyatu regime the foot-dragging by Parliaments such as Westminster in response to this televised terror clearly reflects the over-arching political mindset of the western military powers.
Ireland’s only chance to secure a true and active policy of neutrality and to deliver practical solidarity and support for the sovereignty of the Palestinian people is through the establishment of a sovereign Irish republic free of British interference in our democratic affairs.
If we apply our republicanism, if we enact our sovereignty, we can revive the Republican Movement into a position of relevance. There is no other way forward at this time. Let us keep the memory of Alan Ryan, and all our patriot dead, as an inspiration for the long road ahead.
Beir Bua!
