Twenty-Five
years ago, ten brave men stunned the world by their
agonizing deaths on Hunger Strike in Long Kesh jail
in Ireland. Seven political prisoners allied to
the Irish Republican Army, and three representing
the Irish National Liberation Army, sacrificed their
lives to expose injustice and brutality in British
jails and to restore Political Status to their imprisoned
comrades. These ten martyrs, united in cause and
principle under different factions of Irish Republicanism,
left an unfulfilled legacy of strength in unity
to Irish Republicans today.
In
2006, the 25th Anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strikes,
a diverse group of US-based Irish Republican organizations
will unite in homage to the memories of these ten
martyrs and to the causes and demands for which
they died. These organizations, the Concerned Group
for Republican Prisoners, the Chicago Cumann of
The Irish Freedom Committee, and The Irish Republican
Socialist Committees of North America, will join
together under the banner of the Chicago Hunger
Strike Commemoration Committee to stage a series
of events in the Chicago area to observe the historic
25th Anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strikes. All
groups involved are devoted to the pursuit of a
United and Sovereign 32 County Socialist Irish Republic,
free of British military and administrative rule;
and to the support of the families of Irish Republican
political prisoners.
The
Chicago Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee will
stage several events in the Chicago area in 2006
to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Hunger Strikes.
Event dates and locations are to be announced shortly,
but these will include a benefit Rock and Roll show
in April, and a Commemoration Dinner Dance to be
hosted in August 2006. A special Testimonial Journal
will also be pressed for this historic occasion.
All funds raised at the Commemoration will go directly
to aid the families of current Irish Republican
POWs, some of whom still fight for the Political
Status which the ten 1981 Hunger Strikers died for.
In
the spirit of Theobald Wolfe Tone, who sought to
unite "Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter";
in acknowledgement of the leadership of the Easter
1916 Rising, which united disparate Republican forces
against the might of Britain's army; and most especially
in the memory of the 1981 hunger strikers, who died
united in protest inside the H-Blocks of Long Kesh;
The Chicago Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee
will do our part in unity to pay respectful homage
to the legacy of ten brave men who sacrificed all
for Ireland.
IN
TRIBUTE TO THE TEN MARTYRS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES
ON HUNGER STRIKE
Vol.
Bobby Sands, IRA Vol. Francis Hughes, IRA Vol. Patsy
O'Hara, INLA Vol. Raymond McCreesh, IRA Vol. Joe
McDonnell, IRA Vol. Martin Hurson, IRA Vol. Kevin
Lynch, INLA Vol. Kieran Doherty, IRA Vol. Thomas
McElwee, IRA Vol. Michael Devine, INLA
Tiochfaidh
ár lá!
For
more information and event updates please visit
The Chicago Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee
at http://www.wemustbeunited.com,
or email the CHSCC at info@wemustbeunited.com.
The
Concerned Group for Republican Prisoners (CGRP)
was launched in the summer of 2005 in response to
a critical need for support for a group of Irish
Republican Political Prisoners on E4 landing at
Portlaoise Prison. The Irish Freedom Committee (IFC),
formed in 1961, is a Nation-wide organization which
has supported anti-Treaty Irish Republican political
prisoners and their families for many years and
has lead numerous human rights campaigns, speaking
tours, film screenings, musical benefits, and public
protests on behalf of the prisoners and their families.
The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North
America (IRSCNA) was founded in 1984 to expand support
for the Irish Republican Socialist Movement in Ireland
through political forums, press releases, and demonstrations.
