North Kerry 32County Sovereignty Movement

Eddie Carmody Commemoration 2011

2012-01-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Marian Price Charged

2011-07-22T07:13:00.001-07:00

In a blatant attempt to disguise the political reality that internment is in use the British authorities have brought fabricated charges against republican Marian Price to portray her detention as being ordered by a court and not a British Minister. This same British Minister has interned others, including Brendan Lillis, who is critically ill, and all calls for his immediate release have fallen on deaf and indifferent ears. Is this the so called new beginning widely hailed by those who are administrators of this insidious regime?

Marian Price was interned on the day the micro ministers in Stormont were appointing another puppet, a so called ‘Justice Minister’; these charges also protect that position from exposure as being a toothless façade. Nothing has changed. The criminalisation policy of the British government towards Irish republicans continues as does our steadfast resistance to it. These actions demonstrate clearly the failure of the so called peace process to address the root cause of the conflict. The 32CSM calls for the immediate release of Marian Price, Brendan Lillis and all political detainees. We call for the implementation of the agreement in Maghaberry and an immediate end to political policing.

Arrests Condemned

2011-03-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

Kerry/ Limerick 32csm Condemn the Arrests Of Activists

Joint Statement On Arrests Of 32CSM Activists In Kerry

The North Kerry and Limerick Cumainn of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement jointly condemn the arrest of two of their members on the evening of March 5th following a successful No Queen protest in Tralee earlier that day.

Special Branch followed three members of the Limerick Cumann on their way back home until they stopped in Listowel to get something to eat. There they met with a member of the North Kerry Cumann who had just finished work and wanted to know how the protest went.

The two younger members of the Limerick Cumann went outside the premises for a cigarette. While outside, they were confronted by six special branch detectives who proceeded to continue the harassment and intimidation they had plagued the members with earlier at the protest. Upon seeing this, the third Limerick member and the North Kerry member went outside to ask what was going on. Before they had time to ‘finish their sentence’ the special branch called for back-up who were already waiting up the street. 14 Gardaí arrived on the scene, including a people carrier. The Gardaí produced handcuffs and informed the two men that they were under arrest.

The North Kerry man was bent over a car. When the handcuffs were being put on him his left hand was bent up so far it touched his head. The Garda attempted the same with the man’s right hand but ‘it physically could not go up’. The Garda then told him to stop resisting arrest; five more Gardaí helped him finish the job and threw him into the back of the people carrier. The Limerick man was arrested similarly.

They were questioned at the station until morning, all the while Gardaí refusing to inform them of what they had been arrested for. The North Kerry member was released with a caution for refusing to heed the word of a detective. The Limerick man was released with a charge of loitering. Both men still had marks from the handcuffs the following day.

This cowardly act will not deter the North Kerry and Limerick Cumainn 32csm from arranging further protests.

Queen Not Welcome

2011-03-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

Kerry 32csm held a successfull protest recently against the British Queen and to raise awareness of the phlight of our POWs in Maghaberry gaol. Once again the special Branch were out in force harrassing and trying to intimidate Republicans who were holding a peaceful protest. This will not deter us from holding further protests in the county it will actually make us more determined.

32CSM 2011 New Year Statement

2011-01-03T09:53:00.001-08:00

32 County Sovereignty Movement
New Years Statement
2011

We commend our activists for their diligence and hard work in attempting to secure the integrity of our national sovereignty. We applaud the efforts of others who struggle likewise under their own chosen banner. We send New Year greetings to republican POW’s and their families and rededicate ourselves to their service.

2010 was a year which laid bare the harsh realities of our struggle. In protest against the degradation of strip searching and its vindictive use republican POW’s embarked on a series of actions in protest against the Stormont’s regime deliberate policy of attacking republican prisoners. Matched on the outside by regular vigils and marches the political opposition which was generated forced the authorities into negotiations.

With the use of agreed independent arbiters an agreement was reached to the satisfaction of all. However the authorities have resumed their original policy of using strip searching to degrade the prisoners. This was a political decision which has implications for all republicans. An attack on one prisoner is an attack on all prisoners and demands a unified response from all republican organisations. Our resolve must at least match that of the prisoners if we are to successfully confront Stormont’s prison policy.

The recent disclosure of State papers clearly shows that the issue of republican prisoners was a cornerstone in British strategy to undermine our struggle. They clearly show how Dublin also collaborated to achieve the same end. This collaboration now has an added dimension in that former comrades are now part of the British establishment in Ireland. That establishment takes it for granted that its members collaborate in the wider British interest. We openly call on the PSF leadership to come clean and to stop talking out of both sides of their mouths. It is your regime which is inflicting this degradation on republican prisoners. Is this your so called peaceful alternative to Irish unity? It is your actions that define you not your words, overt or otherwise.

2010 also witnessed seismic events in economic terms. Fianna Fáil’s self serving economics led the State to bankruptcy. It bailed out bankers and developers and levied the bill on ordinary citizens. They privatised profits and socialised losses. They surrendered their so called sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund all the while denying it in drunken interviews to the people. But the real issue for republicans and socialists is that our protests failed to impact on events. The crisis in capitalism, which should have opened up so many opportunities for our cause, was duly addressed by capitalism itself. This is the reality we must face and we must face it pragmatically.

2011 must be a year of introspection and innovation. We must look at ourselves and address our failings. What went before has reached its zenith. We need to explore and devise new ways of getting our message across. We need to be more innovative in our protests. We can no longer be satisfied that our protests simply happen: they must also have meaningful effect.

We address young republicans everywhere; this is your time, it is your era, your society, your technological age, you need to lead the way on this front. Irish society has evolved a new language in which it communicates with itself and we need to learn it. Republicanism needs your ideas to advance.

The continued violation of our national sovereignty has led to the inevitable consequence of armed struggle. Those who are engaging in military operations against British occupation have every right to do so, as they always had throughout our history. The function of the Sovereignty Movement is not to question this right nor question the merits of invoking it but to address the cause which makes it inevitable. This we will continue to do in whatever way we deem to be progressive. Treating the Irish Republican Army as a militia is a deeply flawed approach.

Charlie Kerins Remembered.

2010-12-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Eddie Carmody Commemoration

2010-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

Eddie Carmody Commemoration
Oration
Ballylongford 2010
Marion Price

A chairde, when Collins was negotiating the partition of our country Lloyd George told him that the Six County Statelet would be an economically unviable region. What a massive irony it is that we now see the Twenty Six County region falling under this description. The vindication of those who opposed the 1922 Treaty is complete. The vindication of those who opposed the creation of Fianna Fáil and its direction is also complete.

This State has betrayed its own people. It has betrayed the Irish nation. It has betrayed our patriot dead. And it has betrayed even those who once viewed this state as a stepping stone to independence. This state took the lives of Irish people in defence of what it called its sovereign legitimacy. It used British guns and British hangmen against Irish people to preserve its existence. It imprisoned thousands more who argued that self determination was a right for all the people of Ireland. And now, as a result of greed, corruption and incompetence it now cedes this so called sovereignty to the highest foreign bidder. Indeed even Westminster has placed a bid to buy back the treaty it imposed under threat of violence. The state is now under the control of foreign financiers.

It gives us no pleasure in standing at the grave of Eddie Carmody and reciting these facts. Even the graves of those who upheld the treaty are sullied by these actions. Every ideal, every principle, every act of resistance has been set aside to facilitate this grotesque state of affairs. They have lied in the face of overwhelming exposure to the truth. They have misled the people again and again to cover for their misdeeds. And now that their legacy is laid bare the task remains to undo the damage left in their wake.

Comrades, Irish sovereignty is not for sale. Irish sovereignty does not stop at the border. The restoration of Irish sovereignty is the only viable starting point in rebuilding the Irish nation. This is the argument republicans must bring to our people. The Free State is dead, 88 years too late.

We need to bring a new vision to our people. Only republicans working together can realise this effectively. This is not a time for self imposed isolation or factionalism. It is a time to grasp the nettles of reality as to the immensity of our task. Our arguments are solid. Our perspective is rational. The current calamity vindicates what we have being saying all along. The real problem we face is that our voice is not strong enough to be heard. We must change this.

At our recent Ard Fheis the issue of the republican goal and the labour movement was addressed. We are not asking labour to wait but we are asking labour to act in a concise manner. We are reminding them of Connolly’s assertion that the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland. This is even more evident today. We now call on the labour movement to address the issue of Irish national sovereignty and the ending of its violation. We put it to them that the interests of the workers you represent can only be fully realised in a 32 County Sovereign Ireland. That sovereignty represents the returning of ownership and control to the people.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions will be organising a series of protests in the coming weeks. We welcome this. But we also state it clearly; if you do not protest for fundamental change you are protesting for nothing. You cannot say to the workers of Ireland, thus far and no further, leaving them enslaved as before. You cannot call on Irish workers to protest for a better arrangement with the financial elite. You must lead them against partition, against the mindsets that partition engendered, against the outside forces that care more for balance sheets than they do the welfare of people.

Every county in Ireland holds patriot graves. These should be the focal point of our protests. We should assemble at these hallowed spots and march in protest for what they gave their lives for. We need to bring their sacrifice into the heart of where this country now finds itself. These are the people we need to turn to for guidance and inspiration. It is from graves such as Eddie Carmody that a new national narrative must emerge.

The Proclamation and Declaration of Independence must now replace the failed treaties which kept this state on life support. These are the words that the labour movement must now embrace. No more double talk. No more seeking petty arrangements with the status quo. No more looking after sectional interests. It is time for national thinking. It is time to realise the republic Eddie Carmody gave his life for.

Kerry says No To Royal Visit

2010-09-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

32CSM Bodenstown 2010

2010-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

As we predicted the Dublin Government has extended an invitation to the British Queen to visit the Twenty Six County State. Brian Cowen declared that no obstacles remain preventing the British royal from an official visit. What he failed to explain was that the obstacle as far as London were concerned was Dublin’s territorial claim over what the Queen determines to be sovereign British territory. Now that that claim is relinquished, and the Irish are back in their place, Her Majesty can descend amongst us.

There will be those who will welcome this development. There are those who will feign indifference but will secretly welcome it. And there are those who will maintain a strategic low profile lest their hypocrisy is exposed by what they signed up for.

This visit is not merely symbolic but an affirmation of political intent. This State is declaring to both our history and our future that the issue of British sovereignty in Ireland is finally settled. This is how they will celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising. For these people the abandonment of the Proclamation is not an obstacle. The continuation of partition is not an obstacle. The abuse of our people by British police officers is not an obstacle. The deliberate and systematic abuse of republican prisoners is not an obstacle. The enslavement of future generations to financial institutions is not an obstacle.

The only obstacles to stand in their way are republican separatists. And our ability to be effective at this depends on our ability to work together. This visit must be strenuously opposed by all republicans and it must be done so publicly and on the streets. The terms under which this visit is taking place screams to the world that Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet, Thomas Davis, Padraig Pearse, James Connolly and all our great patriot dead were wrong. Our country remains occupied by an army of which this Queen is Commander in Chief.

She held this position whilst her army slaughtered our people on Irish streets for thirty years. Her Secret Service detonated car bombs in Irish cities and towns to ensure repressive legislation was introduced against those who fought to remove her army. She pinned medals on the perpetrators of these acts and stood over the lies of these soldiers when the world demanded the truth. She imprisoned thousands in her gaols and allowed brutality and murder to be committed in her name. We cannot welcome her. We cannot move on until she and her Parliament move out. This is the connection which Wolfe Tone sought to break. This was the starting point through which our people could be truly unified. And this commemoration is a fitting venue to once again rededicate ourselves to Tone’s ideal.

As National Chairperson of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement I am placing all our activists on notice: our preparations for opposing this visit begin now. As an Irish republican I am putting all other republicans on notice: go back to your organisations and prepare likewise. If we fail to make an impact on this visit we have no right to march to the GPO in 2016. These are how high the stakes are.

Our immediate attention is once again drawn to Her Majesty’s Prison at Maghaberry. Without question political direction from Westminster is behind the brutality against republican POW’s. It’s not a case of rogue officers or random occurrences but a systematic and strategic assault on the prisoners.

We must match the prisoners resolve when we campaign on their behalf. There is a momentum gathering around this issue as can be seen by the size, frequency and diverse areas where protests are held. We need to do more.

The prisoners are engaged in a dirty protest. They are demanding an end to strip searches, free association and an end to controlled movement.. But they are acting in the capacity of political prisoners and the resolution to the dispute must begin with the recognition of their political status. We welcome all assistance but we make it clear that concessions in return for acceptance of criminalisation is a non starter. Just as we refused to horse trade our sovereignty for a better partition we also refuse to horse trade on our prisoner’s political status for short term gain.

The momentum that is growing behind the prisoner’s struggle will attract attention from various quarters; some friendly, some hostile and some that will attempt to neutralise this momentum as a political force. This is why we must make it absolutely clear that political status is the starting point. The first question we must ask of them is where do you stand on this central issue?

There are many protests planned for the future and I urge all republicans to both attend these protests and to organise similar protests in their own areas. All ideas for advancing political status are welcome. Raise it in the media, at work, on the internet; raise it where ever people gather. The prisoners resolve will be our strength and the justice of their cause our motivation.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement welcomes the Saville Report in so far as it vindicates the victims of Bloody Sunday. But it remains fundamentally a British Inquiry into British war crimes in Ireland. Its provenance stems from the horse trading which led to the Good Friday Agreement. This establishes its credentials not as an independent inquiry into events in 1972 but rather as part of a wider political agenda. Even on the day of its publication those who gathered in Derry were described as supporters of the so called peace process. This is the drum which establishment nationalists were permitted to beat. Its din was designed to drown out the fact that these same drumbeaters were recognising the Parachute Regiment as the legitimate armed forces in the Six Counties. The British Prime Minister’s apology exacted a heavy price.

Now there are calls for inquiries into other similar events. Our political analysis tells us that Saville is as far as London is prepared to go. Their absolute refusal to cooperate with the inquiry into the Dublin Monaghan Bombings is very telling. The British establishment will only engage in such matters if there is a political benefit for them. They will not countenance an international dimension because as far as they are concerned such issues are internal matters to be dealt with internally.

In truth the only relevant inquiry should be one which examines the British presence in our country. The Sovereignty Movement set out our stall with our submission to the United Nations. True closure for the victims of our long conflict must surely be the final resolution of that conflict. Our legacy to them must be a sovereign Irish Republic, free to determine its own future and free to deal with its own past. We struggle for that republic. We struggle for closure.

No Royal Welcome in the Kingdom

2010-06-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

The North Kerry 32 County Sovereignty Movement wish to express their utter disgust at the prospect of a visit from the unelected Queen Elizabeth of England to County Kerry. The invite from inconsiderate Killarney businessmen has been seen as a greedy opportunistic plot to add to their already overflowing barrels of cash, and has sparked outrage amongst the Kerry people. To add insult to injury the sitting Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport Mary Hannifin, and the rest of the Free-State government, have said they would support the venture.

This statement is a principled objection to an offensive and provocative undertaking by the fat cats who have allowed themselves to be bought and sold for English gold.
Sean O’Driscoll, of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation, offered a brief history lesson of how 2011 is going to be the 150th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria’s visit to Killarney in 1861. He mentions how he feels it would be appropriate for Queen Elizabeth to visit on the anniversary.
Perhaps we could offer Mr. O’Driscoll another history lesson, the part of our history he, the other business men and the free-state government seem intent on ignoring.

Some objectors may wish to recall the centuries of murdering and maiming of Irish people by British monarchs and their armies; others might recall the plundering of our lands, some of which to this day remain in the ownership of British aristocrats; perhaps some will object to a visit as we still await publication of the Saville inquiry into Bloody Sunday; while others wish to object because of the instances of British obstruction in investigating such crimes as the Monaghan bombings of 1974 and the Miami Showband massacre of 1975.

Today, Queen Elizabeth is not only head of state in Britain, she is also Commander in Chief of all United Kingdom armed forces. This includes the 5000 British troops still occupying 6 counties in the North of Ireland. How a visit of a British Monarch could even be contemplated at this time is beyond those of us who oppose the visit.

Sean O’Driscoll said a €20m marketing campaign could not generate the publicity that a visit by the Queen would. This is the one thing we tend to agree with. If such a visit did take place, it would cause such uproar in the Kingdom and the country as a whole that the event would not be forgotten for years.

Honor our patriot dead. Honor those who died at the hands of the Queens army in Kerry and in the rest of the country. Do not insult their memory by allowing their murderers descendant parade the Irish roads which they died defending.

There will be no welcome for English royals in Kerry.

Tralee POW Protest 29/05/'10

2010-05-30T05:50:00.001-07:00

There were over 400 information leaflets handed out on the day. We got a great response with many people returning after reading the leaflet and asking questions about the situation in Maghaberry and the occupied 6 in general. Even the Sinn Fein van beeped the horn in support! We would like to especially thank the Cork and Fermanagh Cumanns for their support.

POW Protest

2010-05-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

Gortaglanna Commemoration

2010-05-17T00:18:00.000-07:00

Speech by John Connolly:

I am happy to be here today. I want to thank especially the North Kerry Cumann of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement for inviting me to say a few words at todays commemoration in Gortaglanna. Today we remember 3 brave soldiers of Ireland and IRA volunteers Paddy Walsh, Paddy Dalton and Jerry Lyons who were brutally murdered at the hands of 3 lorry loads of drunken Black and Tans on the 12th of May 1921. I am sure those of you who are here today know the story of what happened to these brave republican soldiers. This is merely one example of a grave injustice suffered by the local inhabitants here in the Co. of Kerry.

Today however we are facing injustice of a different kind. Both the British and Freestate governments have shamefully adopted a criminalisation policy against all Anti Agreement Republicans, starting with our POWs. As I speak our comrades in Maghaberry gaol are suffering at the hands of an old enemy. I believe it is incumbent for all republican groups irrespective of political differences to come together in unity for our POWs.

Recently Republican prisoner Harry Fitzsimmons from Belfast was stripped and beaten, and dragged to the punishment block where he was handcuffed naked to a bed. It is up to us comrades to tell the people of the inhumane conditions and degrading treatment these men have to withstand on a daily basis.

The media have been absolutely deafening in their silence about this torturous campaign waged against our incarcerated republican comrades by another arm of the British occupation. It is up to us as republicans to take to the streets to protest for our imprisioned comrades. We owe them that much.

Over the coming weeks and months we will be stepping up our campaign in support of the POWs.

It is heartening to see here today comrades that the republican flame is still burning strong in the hearts of Kerry men and women, and that they are holding strong the ideals and objectives of the three men we are commemorating today.

Beir Bua

Getting The Republican Message Out

2010-05-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

Nth Kerry 32CSM Attend National 1916 Commemoration

2010-04-27T13:55:00.001-07:00

Clashmealcon Remembered

2010-04-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

The last great struggle of ther Civil War took place down by the Shannon shore at a place called Clashmealcon. It is a treacherous, rugged coastline stretching from Kerry head to Kilmore.Here stands a tall isolated turret of rock guarding a horse-shoe shaped creek whose base has been bitten in far under the cliff. In summer, the south coast of Clare, Loop Head and Ballybunion can be seen.

Commandant Timothy "Aero" Lyons from Garrynagore, Lixnaw was in Causeway in the Spring of 1923 when Free State troops came to make a round up. He and his men fought them off on every occasion. A comrade og his, Captain James McEnery, a native of Ballyduff, had a house a mile or so from the cliffs where he lived with his wife and his son.

His house was raided on Sunday and he and Volunteer James McGrath were arrested but McEnery escaped and ran to seek refuge among the cliffs. Volunteers Patrick O'Shea, Edward Greaney and Reginald Hathaway, (an Englishman who deserted the British Army and joined the IRA), were in a nearby house and when they saw the troops surrounding McEnery's house they opened fired. Meanwhile, McEnery was spotteed and pursued. Volunteer Tom McGrath saw this and opened fire on the Free State troops thus giving McEnery the chance to escape. Free State reinforcements from Ballyheigue came under the crossfire and they scattered.

That evening when the countryside was at peace again, Lyons and his men returned to McEnery's house: he was in delight over the days work. McEnerys sister Catherine spoke to him that night and asked what he was going to do. "I don't know," He said doubtfully. She then met with her brother and Volunteer Edward Greaney who told her that they were gong to a safe place. Three other members of the column were wary and went elsewhere but the six men, Lyons, McEnery, McGrath, O'Shea, Hathaway and Greaney went into Dunworth's cave.

Meanwhile, Volunteer James McGrath, Tom's brother was being interrogated in Ballymullen barracks by inhuman methods. Eventually he broke down and promised he would take the Free Staters to the cave. He thought the cave was empty at the time.

Early on Monday morning he came out with the Free Staters to Clashmealcon and they watched him as he clambered down theperilous path along the shingle to the mouth of Dunworth's cave. The Volunteers didn't blame him and took him into the cave. Lieutenant Pearson, a Free Stater from Dublin climbed down after him shouting "Come out!" but a shot was fired from the cave and he fell into the sea. Another came after him, O'Neil, and he too was shot, mortally wounded.

The Free Staters got hay and turf from nearby houses ans set fire to them and threw them down to the cave, trying to smoke the Volunteers out. Trucks came out from Tralee with petrol, tar and sulphurous liquid. They made poisionous fumes from dousing sheets and thowing them down but the wind changed and blew the flames out to sea.

During the night when the bombardment died down, they crawled out of the cave, one by one and climbed onto a ledge and into another cave. They were not noticed by the Free Staters above, their ruse successful. Volunteers Patrick O'Shea nad Tom McGrath volunteered to try and go further to seek help but in the darkness they were washed away and drowned.

On tuesday morning trucks came from Tralee with bombs, grenades, ammunition and reinforcements. An armoured car was driven to the cliffs edge and a machine gun and a searchlight were positioned overlooking the cave. The bombardment went on all day. The crackle of machinegun fire and the explosion of grenades shook the nearby houses.

On the 18th of April, the third day of the siege, a scout was ordered to go down. At around 10 o'clock as the scout was preparing to descend the cliff a shout was heard from below. Lyons had come out and put his hands up. Notes were passed from below as Lyons tried to negotiate a surrender. He would give himself up on condition that the others would go free. At about mid-day a rope was lowered and Lyons began to climb up and when he neared the top a Free Stater cut the rope and he fell 100 feet onto the rocks below. There was a dreadful cry of pain from below and a cry of triumph from above. Lyons was then riddled with machine gun fire which lasted for about ten minutes when a local priest, Father Chill stood at the cliffs edge and shouted "Savages! Stop shooting!" Lyons' body was washed away by the incoming tide.

The others were brought up shortly after and brought to the jail in Ballymullen barracks where they were almost beaten to death before being executed on the 25th of April.

On May 5th "Aero" Lyons' body was washed up on a nearby beach. He was buried in the Republican plot in Kilflynn alongside his local comrades Captain George O'Shea and Vol Tim Tuomey who both died at Ballyseedy.

Captain Jim McEnery and Vols Edward Greaney and Reginald Hathaway were buried in Ballymullen barracks but reinterred in the Republican plot in Ballyduff in 1924.

The bodies of Vols Patrick O'Shea and Tom McGrath were never recovered.

Vol James McGrath lived with the memory of the siege until the day he died, 29th January 1972.

In loving memory of the Volunteers of the

3rd Lixnaw Battallion

Kerry No. 1 Brigade

IRA

Easter Function

2010-04-07T13:02:00.001-07:00

The North Kerry 32 CSM held a function in Finucanes Bar, Ballylongford on Easter Sunday night. During the function the Carmody family (whose relative was Lieutenant Eddie Carmody who was murdered by Crown Forces in 1921) were presented with a personalised mirror made by Portlaoise POW's.

A raffle also took place which brought in more than enough funds to cover the cost of the night and the prison crafts which were raffled.

A local comrade was also celebrating his birthday that night so he was presented with a canvass depicting Kilmainham Jail and a quote from the Proclamation.

The night was a huge success and there was plenty of craic agus ceol.

Kerry 32CSM Remembers 1916

2010-04-05T09:17:00.001-07:00

Roger Casement Remembered

2010-04-02T12:17:00.001-07:00

Members of the North Kerry 32 CSM raised the tricolour at the Roger Casement monument near Banna Strand on Good Friday. Afterwards in Ardfert another tricolour was raised at the monument dedicated to local Volunteers who died during the War of Independance.

Joe O'Connor Appreciation Presentation

2010-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

On Suday 28th March, members of the North Kerry 32CSM presented Tralee publican Joe O'Connor with a personalised Bodhrán in appreciation of his support of Republican Prisoners in Portlaoise Prison.

Solidarity In Derry

2010-03-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

2010 Easter Commemorations

2010-03-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

Click To Enlarge

Ballyseedy Commemoration

2010-03-06T09:42:00.000-08:00

On the night of March 6th 1923, five members of the Dublin Guard were killed in a trap mine explosion in Knocknagoshal. The following night nine Republican prisoners were taken from Tralee and brought five miles out the Castleisland road to the crossroads at Ballyseedy. At 2am there was a shattering explosion. Eight men died...

After the Knocknagoshal incident the Free State authorities in Kerry stated that prisoners would be used to clear barricades in future. In Ballymullen Barracks throughout the evening of March 6th the soldiers concieved the plan. They selected nine prisoners to be blown up, making sure that they had no clergy in the family. At nightfall Captains Eddie Flood andJim Clarke constructed the mined barricade at Ballyseedy. David Neligan selected the prisoners to be blown up.

They took three prisoners from the workhouse, about a kilometre from Ballymullen, where the Kerry County Council head office now stands. Stephen Fuller, George O'Shea and Timothy Tuomey were taken from there to Ballymullen Barracks. There, they took Fuller into a room where there were nine coffins. The Free Staters told him that his comrades were in eight of them and that the other one was for him. They then took him to the interrogation room.

The prisoners were tortured using hammers. John Shanahans spine was so badly injured he couldn't walk. He was originally supposed to be one of the prisoners to be taken to Ballyseedy but he collapsed after the torture and his illness saved him. James Walsh had a shattered wrist.

The Free Staters took the nine prisoners to a lorry and told them that they were going to remove a barricade but they were unsure of the true purpose. How were sick men with broken arms supposed to remove barricades?

Captain Ned Breslin was in charge of the "barricade removal." As the prisoners were taken out the Castleisland road a soldier handed them a cigarette each and said "those are the last cigarettes you'll ever smoke."

At Ballyseedy Cross they left the lorry and were told to remove the barricade which consisted of a log laying across the road underneath a metal gate and some stones. As they stood there, hesitant, they were set upon by the soldiers who held them back while a rope was passed around them. They were tied in a circle around the barricade which contained the mine, with their arms and legs bound tight.

"The language wasn't very good," Stephen Fullerr recalls. "One of them called us Irish bastards, and he was an Irishman himself!" One prisoner began to say his prayers and he was hit on the head with a rope by a soldier who said "No prayers, you didn't give our lads time for prayers. Some of ye might go to heaven and if ye do you can say hello to our lads." Then the soldiers moved back about 100 yards into the darkness dragging electrical cord with them. "Pray as long as ye like now," they were told.

They knew what to expect then and one of the prisoners said "goodbye lads." Stephene Fuller replied "Goodbye...Goodbye lads."

.......Then up it went............

The ropes around Fuller's arms and legs were burnt and he was flung into a ditch. As he crawled away he heard three smaller explosions and machine gun fire. The prisoners who weren't already blown to pieces were finished off with grenades and machine gun fire. Fuller crawled over fields to Curran's house where he saw a doctor the next day. The skin was burnt off his arms and the back of his legs, gravel and small stones were blown under his skin. A day later they brought him to and the n at various locations until the eventual ceasefire.

When the shabby coffins provided by the Free Staters were handed over to the families outside the gates of Ballymullen Barracks, they transferred the remains to proper coffins and then broke the origional coffins and left them outside the barracks at the side of the road. A protest by Cumann na mBan almost ended in a riot. Michael O'Connell's sister found her brother in a coffin marked "Stephen Fuller." Pat Hartnett's mother could only recognise her son from a lock of his curly black hair, the rest of his had stones and shrapnel embedded in his body. The bodies of the Republican prisoners were then taken away for burial.

George O'Shea and Timothy Tuomey are buried in the Republican plot in Kilflynn.

Pat Hartnett is buried in Dysart near Lixnaw.

James Walsh and John O'Connor are buried in the Republican plot in Tralee.

Patrick Buckley, John Daly and Michael O'Connell are buried in the Republican plot in Castleisland.

RIP

Nrth Kerry Beir Bua Issue 2

2010-02-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

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32CSM New Year Statement 2010

2010-01-01T11:30:00.001-08:00

32 County Sovereignty Movement
New Year Statement 2010

We commend our activists for their dedication and hard work in pursuit of the republican goal in 2009. We commend all other republican activists for being true to their beliefs and for being generous and inventive in listening to the beliefs of others. 2009 was a year which witnessed that inventiveness being translated into political action which was widely recognised throughout the republican base. It represented the most potent expression of solidarity with imprisoned comrades. It is solidarity in action with those who were bereaved in the struggle. It is also the way forward for Irish republicanism.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement has a clear vision for the year ahead. The reclamation of our sovereignty must take real form. We must give leadership to our communities to help them achieve this. Throughout Ireland communities have been betrayed by the institutions of faith, finance and state which have long purported to speak and act on their behalf. The abundance of trust placed in the integrity of individual leaders has proved misplaced. They have been left leaderless.

They have not, however, been left powerless. It is in recognition of this reality that the 32CSM will now engage with our communities. In a disciplined approach the 32CSM will liase directly with local communities to explore ways of reclaiming their sovereignty, and under these auspices, help them pursue their political and social objectives. We will focus our efforts in ensuring that all community activity will by default be a pursuit toward national sovereignty. Such a process will be a challenge to both states. It is a first step in filling the vacuum left by those who are now wholly subsumed into the apparatus of partition.

Communities so organised can become the template for national freedom. The republican objective is twofold; to secure our sovereign independence and to organise a just society within that independence. Like our republican forebears we can now enact our aspirations, we can involve our people with our beliefs in real and tangible terms. Republicanism cannot be detached from the people and the people cannot be detached from the strategies deployed to secure their freedom. We can only lead through democratic involvement with our communities.

Because it is a first step it must be taken with due diligence. We have prepared our arguments and are refining our position as mandated at our Ard Fheis. It will be democratic. It will be a learning process which will require discipline, patience and pragmatic political judgement. Republicans cannot interact at a distance. We need to create a new interface between ourselves and our people which will allow us to seek their mandate for our struggle. This mandate will not be measured by a gerrymandered vote. Its value will be in its democratic integrity and its sovereign credentials. For us the ballot box means more than just numbers. Democracy can only be returned to the Irish people when their national sovereignty is recognised.

Because it is a challenge to the state the state will obviously respond. Mistakes will be made, but also learned from, and it is this disciplined approach which will allow for this engagement to spread successfully to other areas. In part the success of this project may be gauged from the state’s reaction to it. They will not be alone. Establishment Nationalists will also have a vested interest in seeing this project fail. They will seek to divide and conquer. But a clear understanding as to the implications of its sovereign distinction and clear democratic practices will thwart them. After all it was disdain for democracy within their own organisations which led them into the cul de sac they now find themselves.

The 32CSM will be active on other fronts. Two major international initiatives will be launched in the coming year. We have observed how issues at play on the international stage are geared toward political events in the occupied six counties. We have made our intentions known to the relevant governments that we are determined to follow a particular path challenging any move that would seek to de-legitimise the republican struggle. These initiatives are for the benefit of Irish republicanism, we will not claim sole ownership of them. But we will provide the leadership that will open up counter arguments for all republicans to employ against these nefarious measures.

Republican unity in 2009 resulted in impressive demonstrations on a range of issues. The continuing media and political demonising of republicans is proof of their effect as is their grudging admission of our growth. The media and political establishment’s objective is to ignore us but through mutual cooperation we have made this impossible. In the coming year this cooperation can be galvanised within our communities as these issues now become their issues in pursuit of our national objectives.

The British Government’s strategy of finally destroying any vestige of republicanism within the provisional movement will not be allowed to undermine the separatist ideal. A resurgent republicanism will demonstrate to both governments and the international community that the destruction of the provisional movement was the liberation of Irish republicanism. It is up to all of us to ensure that 2010 clearly demonstrates this reality.

Eddie Carmody Commemoration

2009-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Eddie Carmody Commemoration

Ballylongford Kerry

21/11/09

Oration Francie Mackey

A chairde, Comrades

The circumstances in which I address you here today reflect clearly the nature of the struggle in which we are engaged and our ability to adapt to whatever the forces of occupation throws at us. As you know our National Secretary Marian Price was detained in a political operation by the RUC/PSNI earlier in the week. These events prohibited her attendance here today. But they in no way prohibited or deterred us from holding the event itself. On the contrary our presence here is the most telling answer we can give; nothing they can do will prevent us from honouring our patriot dead; nothing they can do can deter us from prosecuting the struggle to which we are collectively committed.

In honour of Eddie Carmody we respond to these arrests by announcing the formation of the North Kerry cumann of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. Over the past years the Sovereignty Movement has resolved to utilise commemorations like these for a more practical and dynamic purpose. We firmly believe that to truly honour our patriot dead we must advance the cause for which they gave their lives. We resolved that to proclaim a link to the past we needed to demonstrate that we could advance republicanism into the future. This is the greatest service we can pay them. And this is why we endeavour that on each subsequent annual commemoration we are in a position to outline these advances. At this our inaugural commemoration of Vol. Eddie Carmody the formation of our new cumann in this area represents the first step in this process.

This process, like others around the country, will be based on political activism. It will be driven by democratic consensus within our movement to pursue the initiatives we believe will advance our goal of a sovereign independent Ireland. These initiatives cannot be implemented from a distance. Like Eddie Carmody’s involvement with the initiatives of his time there will be no easy way but rather a difficult struggle in the face of a very determined enemy. Eddie’s involvement robbed him of his life in a most vicious and brutal way.

His period of struggle witnessed some of the momentous events in the history of Irish republicanism. Within the short period between 1916 and 1922 our nation once again rose up against a most powerful empire. That sacrifice empowered our people to use their political strength as a sovereign people. That power gave us a National Parliament, Dáil Eireann, from which we declared our independence to the world. Eddie Carmody was a volunteer soldier in the army which defended that sovereignty. He did so with his life. The course of the next few years was to see other republicans also forfeiting their lives alas at the hands of their fellow Irishmen.

And the telling lesson to be drawn is that the British Government chose sovereignty as the very issue to undo all that had been achieved. They went to the very foundations of our struggle to undermine its legitimacy. Not only did they declare the democratic will of the Irish people illegal they also sought to define in their terms what the votes of our people stood for. This was the trap which some of our leaders fell into by accepting this British definition. This was the same trap which subsequent leaders would fall into also.

When republicans were confronted with similar events in 1997 they took the lessons of history and deployed them wisely. Their first move was to defend Irish sovereignty in the face of another British onslaught against it. But this time London was aided and abetted by the institution they created to usurp our sovereignty namely Leinster House. This is why our sovereignty had to be defended in an international context. Republican leaders at the time had secretly accepted the principle of consent in return for a seat at the negotiations table. The Dublin government were to renounce Articles 2&3 and the totality of the British strategy to ensure a national sovereignty did not exist on our island was completed. But they failed to take into account our reading of history. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement sent a delegation to the United Nations to lodge a formal challenge to the proceedings which led to the Good Friday Agreement and also to uphold the Irish people’s right to national sovereignty. The submission remains the only legal challenge to partition in existence.

The UN Submission was just a first but necessary step. It was from that first step we began to develop our future programme just as Eddie Carmody’s leaders did after the Proclamation in 1916. The status and importance of the UN Submission is to be found in the right of all republicans to utilise both its existence and its premise into whichever political programme they deem appropriate to their political strategies.

For us in the Sovereignty Movement the lessons to be learned from the ingenuity of Eddie Carmod’y generation did not stop there. Not only were we inspired by the prophetic and revolutionary text of the 1916 Proclamation but also by the disparity of beliefs which could unite behind it. That display of unity was a very important act of political pragmatism and one which we cannot ignore. We have to look at ourselves in terms that are truthful and realistic and come to understand that we cannot do this alone. There is disparity within the republican community but it remains a community nonetheless. The Sovereignty Movement believes that unity of both purpose and intent can be found by republicans coming together as equals and working toward common ground. We are strong advocates of the Republican Unity Initiative which we believe allows for this process to be successful. The Irish Republican Forum for Unity enabled for the first time our people to come and engage with republican organisations to move our struggle forward. It facilitated a dialogue between different groups and between those groups and our people. It is a true republican ethos.

Of late the project has experienced difficulties. No one said it was going to be straight forward. Indeed some of the problems are not problems with the idea itself but are concerned with external matters. But nonetheless no amount of ideological or political philosophising can escape the basic fact that this process must be seen through if republicanism is to advance its agenda. The Sovereignty Movement will not shirk its responsibilities in the face of any difficulties which may arise. Indeed we have long advocated a strategy which allows for us to collectively address these issues. It is on this basis that we will continue to work with other republicans and advance strategies and ideas which we believe can move us forward.

Like other cumainn in our organisation the North Kerry Cumann have expressed concern and have sought direction in the area of our involvement in the local politics of our communities. Guided by the thinking of James Fintan Lalor who said that the struggle between the tenant and the landlord is a microcosm of the struggle between Ireland and the British government we are devising strategies which allows our movement to fulfil this role. We have been active in our communities for some considerable time but as expressed at our recent Ard Fheis we need to give this activity focus and direction. As republicans we need to be able to go into our communities armed with solutions and alternatives. We have confronted the drugs scourge in areas where we have a presence but we fully realise that our efforts alone does not in itself represent a resolution of this difficult problem. We need the community to be involved with us and we need to establish a mechanism by which this can be accomplished. As republicans we cannot be detached from our people but neither can we allow ourselves be detached from our core objectives in helping them. These two activities we must make synonymous with each other and the Sovereignty Movement will be pursuing a definite strategy which will realise this.

As in Wolf Tone’s time the necessity for a newspaper as means of propagating our message remains the same. It is very heartening to see that the North Kerry Cumann have realised this with the issuing of the first edition of their Beir Bua newssheet. The importance of these publications cannot be over stated. They are not just of local concern but play a vital part in communicating a national message. The Beir Bua’s are the eyes and ears for our national paper the Sovereign Nation. They connect all cumainn in a way that shows our political activism extends throughout our organisation. But they are also a connection with our people, the raison detre of our existence.

Comrades eighty nine years ago Volunteer Eddie Carmody gave his life in defence of our peoples right to determine our own future. We are now part of his future yet what he fought for has still to be realised. Tonight in this part of Ireland we have taken a first step in achieving this. We stand here in his name, guided by his experiences, and declare that we will endeavour to stand here again and be able to report that the ideals for which Eddie Carmody made the ultimate sacrifice have been brought closer to fruition. No more glorious defeats. No more journeys into distraction. No more hiding in history. We are here to forge ahead, Eddie Carmody deserves no less from us.

Beir Bua

North Kerry 32CSM Launced

2009-11-22T12:57:00.001-08:00

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