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“We
declare the right of the people of Ireland to the
ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control
of Irish destinies to be sovereign and indefeasible.
The
long usurpation of that right by a foreign people
and government has not extinguished that right nor
can it be extinguished except by the destruction of
the Irish people”.
When
Thomas Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas Mc Donagh,
Padraig Pearse, Eamon Ceannt, James Connolly and Joseph
Plunkett signed the Proclamation with those words,
who could have ever foreseen the usurpation of National
Sovereignty continue not alone by the foreign government
but assisted by Irish men and women who call themselves
republican but who have sold out on the principles
of the 1916 Proclamation.
We
stand proudly here today 88 years later honouring
these great leaders who readily gave their lives to
uphold and protect Ireland’s nationhood and in
so doing we remember with pride and honour all Irish
men and women who paid the supreme sacrifice to end
British rule in Ireland.
Those
brave citizens who fought and died to protect the
Irish Nation and to uphold its Sovereignty.
Two
years after the rising and the execution of the Provisional
Government the Irish people voted for the ideals of
the proclamation and Irish National Sovereignty was
re-established. The same sovereignty we uphold today.
Can
those who in the years following 1916 who have accepted
less than what these great leaders died for, truly
say they are in the same mould.
I
don’t think so.
Today
in Glasnevin, in Tyrone and across this great nation
revisionists will use the sacrifice of these leaders
to further their political ambitions, having usurped
the sovereignty of the Irish nation and who now deny
the Irish people the ownership of Ireland as stated
in the proclamation.
They
deny the Irish people the unfettered control of their
destinies and have allowed through their acceptance
of the Belfast Agreement, the foreign British Government
and their army of occupation to claim sovereignty
in the occupied 6 counties.
These
same individuals try to tell us there is no other
way. No other alternatives.
Well
let me be very clear on behalf of republicans through
out Ireland when I say, there are alternatives. There
will always be alternatives to British rule in Ireland.
Let
the British Government and their army of occupation
get out of this country and leave us the Irish people
in peace.
If
they don’t leave this nation history has shown
the Irish people have never been found wanting when
it comes to challenging the foreign occupier.
Now
in 2004 we find ourselves continuing that challenge.
Just as in 1916 republicans in the great Fenian tradition
must again organise and be prepared for the right
moment to present itself.
To
those who tell us we are wrong and who attempt to
criminalize us let me say you have failed. Your treaties
have failed and will continue to fail because your
leaders have failed on the only issue, which has been
the source of conflict in Ireland.
That
issue is National Sovereignty.
To
all Irish citizens and particularly our young people
who may be commemorating the rising, can you say you
uphold the ideals of it as voted for and sanctioned
by the Irish people which in turn produced the Declaration
of Independence.
Everyone
on this island must examine in depth and with clarity
why it is that in everyone generation, Irishmen and
Irish women have resisted British rule in this country.
It
is also true that so-called great leaders in our history
have facilitated the British government with their
divide and conquer mentality.
Let
us recognise the contribution of those people but
let us also recognise that it is their failure that
has left republicanism in its present state. They
have denied us our rights as outlined in the 1916
proclamation.
We
have a duty to uphold the sovereignty of the Irish
nation, which our forefathers fought and died to protect.
With
that brings responsibility to carry our duties in
a pragmatic way.
We
must get our message, the republican message, out
loud and clear without ambiguity that for as long
as the British government maintain an illegal sovereign
claim to part of our country there will be people
to challenge them. We must never reach a point where
our forefathers died in vain.
We
can never forget or forgive until the British government
relinquishes their sovereign claim and end the occupation
of our country.
On
the issue of sectarianism, republicans should not
be involved because it deflects from our cause if
allowed to fester. Sectarianism today is more evident
than ever before and is a distortion and a diversion
from the real issue.
The
32 County Sovereignty Movement calls on all Irish
citizens to support us on this single issue, to support
us in our peaceful alternative to British rule and
to support our peaceful alternative at the United
Nations.
We
urge other Nations throughout the world to unite against
the corrupt and undue pressure being applied on the
UN by the American and British governments. Such pressure
is designed to selfishly suit their imperialist agenda.
They must stop interfering with the functioning of
the UN whom are an arbitrary body dealing with international
affairs.
They
must stop interfering with the workings of the Human
Rights commission to suppress the exposure of human
rights abuses carried out in the name of their respective
countries.
The
UN has a duty to stand up to domination of these super
powers and ensure the human rights of small nations
are preserved. It is not enough to pay lip service
to the sentiment of human rights. Action must be taken
against those countries that violate the rights of
a people.
In
our situation action must be taken against the British
government for the continued abuse of human rights
in the occupied six counties.
We
have a responsibility to continue to highlight such
abuses. We have a moral obligation to seek assistance
across the world to challenge at the UN in support
of our submission to protect the rights of the Irish
people as envisaged by the 1916 leaders 88 years ago.
As
we leave here today from the graveside of theses men
let us make the extra effort necessary to strengthen
our challenge and to bring to fruition the vision
and ideology of the men and women we have commemorated
here this afternoon.
Let
us go armed with the knowledge that we are right in
our analysis and we are right in the direction we
are going.
Let
us push for the only option that has never been tried
before.
Go
raibh maith agat.
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