The Plough Vol 02 No 49

The Plough
Volume 2, Number 49
19 August 2005

E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party

1) Editorial
2) Remembering the 1981 Hunger Strikers
3) IRSCNA Statement for Hunger Strike Commemoration
4) Solidarity from DHKC
5) Statement from the Free Dessie O'Hare Campaign
6) Covering Up Sectarian Attacks
7) Suicide Treatment Questioned
8) Left Republicanism and the Good Old Days
9) Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign
10) Message from Members of the Families of the Cuban Five
11) What's On

*******

EDITORIAL

On Wednesday 17th August Thomas Devlin was buried by his family. He
was killed by members of the UVF from Mount Vernon. He was stabbed
five times in the back as he made his way home with two friends from
a garage in North Belfast where they had bought sweets and crisps.
The UVF organisation has killed over 30 people since it declared a
ceasefire. No one has been prosecuted for these murders because
police informers are two a penny inside the UVF. The police are
reluctant to say that Thomas's death was sectarian.

Interestingly enough despite the widespread intimidation of
Catholics, including repeated attacks on schools and churches in
Antrim, the PSNI/RUC are still in denial about the sectarian nature
of the attempts by loyalists to drive out the last few remaining
Catholic families in Ahoghill. Indeed they attempt to imply that some
of the intimidation is part of neighbourhood dispute. This is the
same PSNI that allowed three hundred UVF and UDA members to drive out
families from their homes in East Belfast without one arrest. A
worker, allegedly a LVF supporter or member, is gunned down in Sandy
Row in broad daylight by the UVF. The LVF/UVF feud has exercised the
minds of the unionist politicians more that the ongoing campaign
against Catholics. Unionist politicians sit on forums, commissions
and god knows what with the leadership of the loyalist gun gangs.

All of the above goes to show the inherently sectarian nature of the
state here. Sectarianism has been nurtured and fed by the British
ruling class as an instrument of policy. The creation of sectarian
divisions is a well practiced policy whether in Iraq today, India in
the early part of the 20th century or Africa in the 19th century.

We in the IRSP have always adhered to the proposition that the
destruction of the existing sectarian states on the island and the
creation of a socialist society was the only way to transcend the
sectarian divisions, end poverty and discrimination and awaken the
real human potential of all our citizens. That has been one of the
reasons we have been and are critical of the Good Friday Agreement.
We argued from the outset that that agreement was not only copper-
fastening partition, itself a crime against the working classes,­
but it institutionalised sectarianism. There is no incentive on
elected politicians to stand up to the sectarian pressures from their
own communities. Indeed many of those politicians are actively
encouraging sectarianism. There is a duty and responsibility of us
all active in politics in Ireland to stand up to sectarianism no
matter where it comes from.

Those who argued about the progressive nature of the Good Friday
Agreement and who say it is a stepping stone to a Republic could not
be more wrong. Ahoghill, North Antrim, The Fountain, North Belfast,
the Lower Shankill - these and many more areas stand testimony to the
sectarian nature of the state. The GFA only perpetuates, not
destroys, sectarianism. There is another way and it is called
socialism.

*******

REMEMBERING THE 1981 HUNGER STRIKERS

A spokesperson for the Irish Republican Socialist Party in Derry
urged all those who supported the demands of the hungerstrikers in
1981 to turn out in large numbers this Saturday to remember the men
who gave all they had in the 1981 hunger strike.

The prison protest in 1981 was a very harrowing time for republicans
as we watched our comrades' lives ebb away in the H-Blocks.
Republicans today are forever in awe of the courage and determination
of all those who stood firm in Long Kesh and Armagh Gaol at that
time. For it is their example that guides us in 2005 as we strive to
build a new society in Ireland, free from British imperialism and
free from foreign and native capitalism. A society that respects
diversity and difference.

This Saturday is the 24th anniversary of the death of the tenth and
last man to die on hunger strike, INLA Volunteer Michael Devine from
Derry.

The Irish Republican Socialist Movement will be holding a march in
Derry on Saturday 20th August.

The march will begin at the Rosemount Factory at 2pm and make its way
from there to the graves of the two Derry city men who died during
the 1981 protest, Patsy O'Hara and Micky Devine, at the Republican
Socialist Plot in the city cemetery.

Speakers will include Martin McMonagle from the IRSP and Margaret
McNutt, whose five-year-old son Michael was seriously injured by
deathriders recently in Galliagh. Margaret McNutt will use the
platform to call for support for the campaign to rid the scourge of
joyriding from the streets of Derry.

Anyone requiring further details should contact the IRSP in Derry on
02871 262999 or email derryirsp@hotmail.com.

*******

IRSCNA STATEMENT FOR HUNGER STRIKE COMMEMORATION

On this the 24th anniversary of the death of Irish National
Liberation Army Volunteer Michael Devine on hunger strike, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America send our greetings
to the national hunger strike commemoration taking place today in
Derry.

Ten brave men, including INLA Volunteers Patsy O'Hara, Kevin Lynch,
and Michael Devine, died on hunger strike in 1981 not just for their
rights as Irish soldiers and political prisoners, but for the
liberation of Ireland from over 800 years of British imperialism and
the liberation of the Irish working class from the shackles of
capitalism.

While much has changed 24 years later, the struggle for national and
class liberation continues. Let the example of the hunger strike
martyrs inspire us as we continue the long struggle which they
proudly took part in. Let no one say that their deaths were in vain.
The best way we can honour their memories and sacrifices is to never
give up as we boldly go forward in our struggle for the liberation of
the Irish working class from the shackles of capitalism and
imperialism.

As Patsy O'Hara said: Let the fight go on!

*******

SOLIDARITY FROM DHKC

1981 ten brave men lost their lives for maintenance of humanity. 1981
they became immortal. The brave comrades became a symbol for
resistance. They are living in our hearts and our struggles. The ten
comrades became an example for generations of fighters, thousands of
kilometers away. They were our examples in the death fast 1984, 1996
and now in the death fast, which takes place unbroken since 2000.
Against the attacks from the state of Turkey 1984 four comrades
became immortal on the way, which the hunger strikes had paved. Also
1996 twelve comrades fended the state of Turkey by becoming immortal.
Now since 2000 we experience the bulkiest attack of the state of
Turkey. They want to isolate the political prisoners and the whole
population. The ten brave Irish comrades still give us strength in
fighting against isolation and repression. We will win on the way,
which was paved by the brave Irish comrades. 120 fallen comrades are
the guarantee for the victory.

Finally I would like to preserve the memory of the brave fallen
comrades in the hunger strike 1981. They mean a lot for us.

They will forever live in our struggles.

Fraternal greetings,
Nermin on behalf of DHKC International
isolation@post.com

*******

STATEMENT FROM THE FREE DESSIE O'HARE CAMPAIGN

http://www.irsm.org/irsp/free_dessie/

On Tuesday afternoon, eleven activists of the Free Dessie O'Hare
Campaign occupied the top security Deptartment of Justice on St.
Stephen's Green. The government building, which is rigged with high
tech surveillance equipment, is manned by a 24 hour Garda presence
inside and outside the main entrance. Activists had been watching the
building for a number of weeks and noting Garda shift routines. It was
noticed that one particular female officer always parked her car
opposite the government building and five to ten minutes before her
shift was finished would make her way across the busy road and sit in
her car until her replacement took his position guarding the main
entrance of the government building.

It was decided that Tuesday afternoon at 2pm would be the best time
opportunity to gain access to the building. At 11am an activist of the
Free Dessie O'Hare Campaign confirmed that the same Garda was on duty,
so we all arranged to meet in St. Stephen's Green at 1:45. All
activists made there way over to the park entrance facing the
government building. At 1:55 the female Garda keeping to her routine
left her post and made her way over to her car so as to sit and wait
for her replacement to come on duty. Activists bolted out of the park
armed with banners and posters and made their way across the road and
entered through the revolving doors of the government building to the
shock and dismay of the two receptionists. It was immediately made
known to them that it was a peaceful protest organized to draw
attention to the continued refusal of the Irish government to release
Dessie O'Hare.

At this time the extremely agitated female Garda came barging into the
reception and roared with a number of expletives that we must have
been waiting for her to get into her car. She demanded that we leave
at once, that it was a government building, and that we were breaking
the law. I interceded to calm her down and told her to take a chill
pill, that we were not going to be lectured on law breaking
particularly when the Irish government has by its actions totally
ignored a high court ruling which recognized Dessie O'Hare as a
qualifying prisoner under the terms of the GFA. This seemed to make
her worse, she started roaring and screaming at us to get out. I
refused her request and told her that we were engaging in a peaceful
protest. She stormed out of the building to get reinforcements. One of
the activists took a number of photos with a digital camera and then
left the building to put the camera offsite.

A few minutes later a number of Garda reinforcements arrived and we
took a collective decision to leave the building and continue our
protest outside. Six Special Branch men who proceeded to take names
and addresses of all Free Dessie O'Hare activists soon joined us.
After an hour we called a halt to the protest and decided to split up
in pairs so as to distract the attentions of the Special Branch. Not
long after I received a phone call from wheelchair-bound Eddie
McGarrigle, co-coordinator of the Free Dessie O'Hare Campaign, who
explained that he and a female activist were stopped and forcibly
searched by the Special Branch who demanded that they hand over the
digital camera. Eddie told them that he or his companion didn't have a
camera on his possession. They then physically lifted him up to see
was he sitting on the camera and removed the back cushion of his
wheelchair to search for any hidden objects. When they couldn't find
anything they soon left to harass other activists.

For the attention of the Special Branch, photographs of yesterday's
event are below.

http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare001.jpg
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare002.jpg
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare003.jpg
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare004.jpg
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare005.jpg
http://www.morrigan.net/irsm/dessieohare006.jpg

*******

COVERING UP SECTARIAN ATTACKS

The IRSP in North Belfast condemn both Peter Hain and the PSNI for
refusing to acknowledge that the murder of Thomas Devlin in North
Belfast was sectarian. Sectarian murder is not motiveless murder. If
an Asian or black person was killed similar circumstances would they
not say it was racist!

For 30 years we have endured this type of random sectarian attack and
murder, for the Brits not to acknowledge Thomas's murder as a
sectarian murder adds insult to injury. Sectarianism needs to be
confronted in North Belfast, the present Brit policy of pretending it
doen't exist on one hand and on the other funding and resourcing the
very division that in the end is responsible for the death of young
people like Thomas Devlin.

The IRSP in North Belfast send our condolences to his Mum and Dad at
this difficult time and urge all young people to exercise caution and
vigilance when out at night.

*******

SUICIDE TREATMENT QUESTIONED

The IRSP in North Belfast are calling on the North and West Belfast
Health Trust to reveal how many of the young victims of suicide were
being treated by a certain type of anti-depressant that have been
subject to drug alerts in Britain and America.

The anti-depressant grouped as SSRIs, which include the brands Seroxat
and Prozac, have been subject to a number of alerts of dangers to
users, especially the young. The Department of Health set up a review
of SSRIs in May 2003, the terms of reference included ­"to consider
the currently available evidence with regard to behavioural
disorders, particularly suicidal behaviour, suicide attempt and
suicide and a casual association with SSRIs."

The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. in 2004 issued the
following alert: "Antidepressant Use in Children, Adolescents, and
Adults - Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asks manufacturers of all
antidepressant drugs to include in their labeling a boxed warning and
expanded warning statements that alert health care providers to an
increased risk of suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior) in
children and adolescents being treated with these agents, and
additional information about the results of pediatric studies."

In June 2005 the FDA further warned "FDA Public Health Advisory -
Suicidality in Adults Being Treated with Antidepressant Medications -
Several recent scientific publications suggest the possibility of an
increased risk for suicidal behavior in adults who are being treated
with antidepressant medications. Even before these reports became
available, the FDA began a complete review of all available data to
determine whether there is an increased risk of suicidality (suicidal
thinking or behavior) in adults being treated with antidepressant
medications. It is expected that this review will take a year or
longer to complete. In the meantime, FDA is highlighting that:

• Adults being treated with antidepressant medications,
particularly those being treated for depression, should be watched
closely for worsening of depression and for increased suicidal
thinking or behavior. Close watching may be especially important early
in treatment, or when the dose is changed, either increased or
decreased.

• Adults whose symptoms worsen while being treated with
antidepressant drugs, including an increase in suicidal thinking or
behavior, should be evaluated by their health care professional."

The IRSP believe that the North and West Belfast Health Trust should
make this information available to the general public, if these drugs
are at the core of the recent huge upsurge in suicides patients have a
right to know. The suicide of a family member is difficult enough for
loved ones to come to terms with, feelings of guilt and blame are not
uncommon in those bereaved, If these type of drugs, SSRIs are
suspected by the medical profession of increasing the likelihood of
suicide they should be withdrawn from the market and replaced by
professional counseling and psychiatric treatment for patients
suffering from depression.

*******

LEFT REPUBLICANISM AND THE GOOD OLD DAYS

(Below is Liam 0'Ruairc's response to criticism of his contribution
to The Plough Vol 2, No 47, by Peter Urban. Urban's criticisms can be
found on the Aontach discussion site for those interested in wasting
an hour or two in cyberspace.)

A few comments on Peter's reaction to the Weekly Worker debate.

"To embrace 'left republican' as an apt description of the IRSP is to
allow the IRSP to retreat from its tradition of revolutionary
Socialism."

Lenin warned against "painting Nationalism red". I think that there
is a clear danger of painting Republicanism and Republican Socialism
as 'redder' than they actually are. For example, it is typical of
Republican Socialists to remove any evidence which does not fit the
image of Connolly as a revolutionary Marxist, i.e. Connolly in 1916
asking his wife Lily Reynolds, a Protestant, to convert to
Catholicism or the ambiguities of his position on the First World
War, etc. I don't think that the "good old days" Peter is referring
to ever existed. I maintain my position that the IRSM stands in the
tradition of Left Republicanism. Marx and Engels were only grafted
fairly late, in 1984. Very few of the members and supporters of the
IRSM are actually Marxists. I see Marxism as the radicalisation of
what is best within Left Republicanism, but it remains a distinct
tradition to that of social republicanism.

"When Liam goes on to quote Ryan, however, his position is not at all
inconsistent with the revolutionary socialist program the IRSP has
traditionally embraced...Certainly to distinguish oneself from the
program of the CP is not at odds with calling oneself a Marxist."

But for Ryan, the problem with the CP was precisely because it
identified itself with Marxism. The CP was too far on the left for
him. And as to the 'left opposition' to the CP, his position was
quite clear. Of Trotskyists and Anarchists, he wrote of the general
necessity of "crushing this pest once and for all", and specifically
backed the destruction of the POUM - "that fascist force in the
rear" - in Catalonia. (Irish Democrat, 8 May 1937)

"One could begin with the revolutionary Marxism of James Connolly,
which Nora Connolly O'Brien said was best represented in contemporary
Ireland by Seamus Costello. That has, in fact, been the starting
point from which the IRSP has said it was proceeding since 1984, at
least, but from with which it apparently no longer identifies."

Seamus Costello identified himself as a Republican Socialist; I don't
think there are any instances where he publicly identified himself as
a 'Marxist'. Interestingly, this is what Nora Connolly O'Brien wrote
about Marxism in 1981: "(Connolly) was also a Marxist. But my view is
that Marxism is no use to workers today. What was good for one
generation is not necessarily good for the next. That is my view and
it was also the view of my brother Roddy." (Nora Connolly O'Brien, We
Shall Rise Again, London: Mosquito Press,
1981, p.64)

Also note that Nora Connolly O'Brien supported not just Costello, but
also the Provisionals because of their "unbroken continuity" with her
father's teachings.

Those may perhaps be the ramblings of an old woman, but our tradition
and movement has had a far more contradictory relation with Marxism
than implied by Peter.

But Marxist or not Marxist, one thing is certain, it is that our
tradition(s) and movement have always been revolutionary.

*******

IRISH PALESTINIAN SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN

Next meeting of Belfast branch of IPSC, 7.30pm, Wed 24th August.

If anyone has any items for the agenda will you please let me know
asap.

Proposed Agenda

Minutes of last meeting held on 18th July

Matters arising

Reports back from sub groups

· Boycott

· School Twinning

Finance Report
Nat Exec Committee meeting report (AGM 1st Oct) Belfast branch AGM -
date and agenda (work plan for year) AOB

Short report on the National Committee Meeting, Saturday Aug 13th in
Dublin, at 1pm.

Office has now been re-established in central Dublin.

Post of co-ordinator has been advertised - part-time. Money for costs
to be covered by annual membership fees and direct debit monthly
donations from supporters. Out of more than 1000 members only 70
current membership subscriptions.

Wide-ranging discussion on the boycott campaign strategy and tactics.
The need to get a clear statement from Palestinians on this was again
re-iterated. The PNC to be chased about this since the PNA seem
unable to provide this. Document on the cultural boycott to be drawn
up for distribution to festivals etc. Ireland wide work Programme for
coming year on cultural, sporting, and academic and trade boycott to
be drawn up at AGM.

AGM takes place on Oct 1st.

Main national events for the rest of 2005.

· Fundraising Dublin Concert

· IPSC Christmas Card - new design being looked at

· A full page ad in the Irish Times to be sponsored by prominent
people in Ireland? -decision deferred - National Ploughing
Championships in Mogeely, Cork,

Sept 28th-30th - stall
· Fleadh Ceoil na hEireann - Letterkenny 26th Aug - stall

Affiliations, particularly with Trades Unions, and prominent
individuals to be pursued as mandated by the last AGM.

Branch being set up in Derry. One already established in Fermanagh,
which is working with the Sligo branch

*******

MESSAGE FROM MEMBERS OF THE FAMILIES OF THE CUBAN FIVE

11 August 2005

In the name of the five Cubans unjustly imprisoned in the United
States and their families, we want to share with all our friends in
solidarity with us, the happiness that we feel on receiving the
verdict from the court in Atlanta and the justice it brings after a
long and anguished wait. Our sincere appreciation for all the support
and unconditional backing for the cause. It was only possible with
the constant work of all of you that had a bearing on the spreading
of the truth so that the American people and the world now knows
about violations that were committed against them. The joyfulness
cannot put a brake on our actions, now more than ever we need the
unity and the strength of everybody to make sure that the victory
will become a reality as soon as possible.

With all our respect and gratitude,

Magali Llort, Irma Sehweret, Mirtha Rodriguez, Carmen Nordelo, Rosa
Aurora Freijanes, Olga Salanueva, Adriana Perez, Elizabeth Palmeiro,
Antonio Guerrero (son), Irma Gonzalez (daughter)

*******

WHAT'S ON

*

Saturday, 20 August

This year's National Hunger Strike Commemoration will take place on
Saturday, 20th August. Assemble 2pm, Rosemount Factory, Derry for
march and rally.

ALL REPUBLICAN SOCIALISTS TO ATTEND

All Welcome

*

Friday-Sunday, 26-28 August

Seventeenth Desmond Greaves Summer School 2005

A weekend of political thought and discussion from Friday to Sunday,
26-28 August 2005, at the Irish Labour History Society premises,
Beggars Bush, Haddington Rd., Dublin 4.

Friday August 26th at 7.30pm: The Prospects for the Left in Ireland

Eugene McCartan, General Secretary, Communist Party of Ireland

Chair: Robert Ballagh

Saturday August 27th at 2.30 pm: Desmond Greaves as an historian

Mary Cullen and Brian Hanley will evaluate Desmond Greaves's
historical writings and his contribution as an historian

Mary Cullen is an historian and research associate at St Patrick's
College Maynooth, and TCD

Dr.Brian Hanley is a Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Modern
History, NUI, Maynooth, and author of The IRA 1926-36 and other books

Chair: Kevin McCorry

Sunday August 28th at 11.00 am: The Politics of the Peace Process

Owen Bennett will examine the current position of the Northern peace
process and the views of its supporters and critics, and will
consider its relevance for the future of Irish Republicanism

Chair: Finian Mc Grath TD.

Sunday August 28th at 2.30 pm: A forum on C. Desmond Greaves -
personal reminiscences by some who knew him

Gerard Curran, who has been a member of the Connolly Association
since 1952 and is former Literary Editor of the Irish Democrat,
London, which Greaves edited from 1948 to 1988;

Helga MacLiam, Dublin, with whose family Greaves used often stay
when visiting Ireland;

Bernard Morgan, long-time member of the Connolly Association,
Liverpool, Greaves's native city;

Sean Redmond, Dublin trade union official and general secretary of
the Connolly Association in the 1960s;

Chair: Anthony Coughlan, Desmond Greaves's Literary Executor

Full School E15; Individual sessions E5; Unwaged half-price;
Enquiries to Frank Keoghan, School Director, at 25 Shanowen Crescent,
Dublin 9; Tel.: 00-353-1-8423076
__________

How to get there: Buses 5,7,7a or 8 from O'Connell Bridge, Dublin,
alighting at the first stop in Northumberland Road, Ballsbridge.
Haddington Road is first on the left, parallel to the canal.
__________

C. DESMOND GREAVES (1913-1988)

C. Desmond Greaves, whose work and writings inspired the foundation
of this annual Summer School, was one of Ireland's leading labour
historians. He was author of The Life and Times of James Connolly,
Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution, Sean O'Casey: Politics and
Art, Wolfe Tone and the Irish Nation, History of the Irish Transport
and General Workers Union: the Formative Years, The Irish Crisis, and
two books of verse, Four Letter Verses and the Mountbatten Award, and
Elephants Against Rome.

Desmond Greaves held that the peaceful way to end the partition of
Ireland was to secure maximum equality between Protestants and
Catholics in the Six Counties, thereby removing any rational basis
for unionism as an ideology that justified domination over Catholics,
and opening a way for northern Protestants to rediscover in time the
political implications of the common Irishness they share with their
Catholic and non-Protestant fellow countrymen and women.

As an activist in the Connolly Association, London, and editor from
1948 to 1988 of its monthly newspaper, The Irish Democrat, he
pioneered the idea of a campaign for civil rights as the way to
shatter unionist political domination, which was taken up by the
1960s northern Civil Rights Movement. He held that it was essential
for Ireland to win allies internationally for any moves to end
partition and that organised British public opinion, especially as
embodied in the British labour and trade union movement, which the
Irish community in Britain could significantly influence, was the
most important such potential ally.

He believed that in the era of the EU and the near-global domination
of transnational capital, the most important political task for
democrats and the labour movement was to join in an international
movement in defence of the nation state as the fundamental locus of
political democracy, and the only mechanism which history has evolved
for imposing social controls on private capital.

*

Thursday, 25 August and Friday 26 August

Coiste na nIarchimí
Scoil Samhraidh/Summer School

Ti Chulainn Cultural Centre
Mullaghbawn
Co Armagh

25/26 August 2005

Irish Republicanism: can it be militant without being militaristic?

Thursday 25 August

7.00 p.m. Official opening of the summer school by Pat McGinn,
Mayor of Newry and Mourne Council

7.30 p.m. Martin Ferris Sinn Féin TD, Chair: Mike Ritchie

Friday 26 August

10.30 a.m. Mary Lou McDonnell Sinn Féin MEP, Tommy McKearney former
IRA prisoner, Gerry Kelly Sinn Féin MLA, Chair: Laurence McKeown

1.00 p.m. Lunch

1.30 p.m. Historical walk and talk

3.00 p.m. Agnes Maillot lecturer at Dublin City University, Denis
O'Hearn lecturer at Queen's University, Mike Ritchie Director of
Coiste na nIarchimí, John Gray curator of the Linen Hall Library,
Margaret Ward political historian, Chair: Rosie McCorley

A chairde,

I am delighted to invite you once again to south Armagh to the third
summer school organised by Coiste na nIarchimí. The summer school
offers you, the participants, an opportunity to reflect on, discuss
and debate topical issues and explore the opportunities and obstacles
to building a nation rooted in respect for diversity and committed to
justice and peace.

The theme of the summer school, Irish Republicanism: can it be
militant without being militaristic? is very much a live topic at the
moment, viewed much differently depending upon your political outlook.
As an organisation working proactively on behalf of former republican
prisoners, their families and displaced people, you could say we have
been 'militant' in our refusal to accept the status quo and the
discriminatory barriers that currently impact upon the constituency we
represent and deny them full citizenship. In that sense we are
carrying on the tradition from the prisons where republicans displayed
their militancy, as opposed to their militarism, in a host of ways
­ the burning of Long Kesh, the blanket protest, the hunger
strikes, the escapes, the education programmes, the handicrafts, the
lobbying, the legal cases. This was not militancy for its sake alone
but to challenge oppressive regimes, strive for intellectual and
physical freedom and to create a better way to live with one another.

Our challenge today is to continue that work at a societal level in an
equally militant, but not militaristic, manner.

I look forward to seeing you in Mullaghbawn.

Mike Ritchie
Director Coiste na n-Iarchimi.

Coiste na n-Iarchimi is the umbrella organisation of the republican
ex-prisoner network throughout Ireland. Since its establishment in
1998 it has played a key role in highlighting and lobbying against the
social, economic, legal and societal barriers faced by political
ex-prisoners and their families.

Coiste na n-Iarchimi has gained a reputation for developing radical
and challenging projects which foster greater interaction between
republican ex-prisoners and all other sectors of Irish society. This
summer school is organised under one such project entitled
'Processes of Nation Building'.

*

Saturday, 17 September

The Irish Republican Socialist Party will be hosting a fundraiser on
the 17th of September 8.30pm in the Ardee Public House (off Cork
Street) Dublin. Admission is 5 euro and will be strictly ticket only.
There will be a benefit draw on the night concisting of a selection of
prison craft with proceeds going to Republican Socialist POWs. For
more details contact DublinIRSP@hotmail.com.

*

Camp Havana Glencolmcille

From Friday 16th to Sunday 18th September 2005 over 100 men, women and
children from every corner of this island - and indeed from much
further away - will gather in Glencolmcille / Donegal. They will
come in busses, by car, bicycle or on foot.

They will erect CAMP HAVANA and walk to the top of Slieve League.
Some will take the challenging hike across the whole ridge,
accompanied by a trained mountain guide. Some will use a more relaxed
walking route and some will only go as far as the bus can take them.
All of them will enjoy Europe's highest sea - cliffs which are
surrounded by scenery incomparable to anywhere else on this earth.
Of course we are not just gathering to admire spectacular scenery. We
will get together in what is going to be the biggest show of
friendship with people from another island, Cuba, ever to happen on
these shores.

We are making this effort mainly because five young men are serving
lengthy prison sentences in the USA, guilty of nothing but the attempt
to stop terrorism; murderous and destructive acts which have killed
over 3,500 civilians in Cuba - more than the troubles in Northern
Ireland.

These men went to Miami to try and stop the people who orchestrate
this terrorism and ended up in US prisons. They have spent months in
isolation cells; their wives, kids and relations have been denied
visits.

The Miami 5 are victims of one of the most brutal human rights
violations in recent history, victims of breaches of both
international and US law.

We want freedom for these innocent men!

With our sponsored mountain walk and the large meeting / concert on
the evening of Saturday September 17th we will achieve;
- Massive publicity and increased awareness about the case.
- Pressure on political representatives (TDs, MPs, MEPs) to act
as opposed to talk.
- Raising of much needed financial support for the campaign and for
another urgent aid project in Cuba
- Pushing forward the world-wide campaign to free the Miami 5
and strengthen the links between campaigners from various countries
(At this very early stage we already know that there will be people
from England, the USA, Austria, Germany and Denmark coming to show
their support).

We can and we will free the Miami 5!
Nobody in this world is going to do it for us!
Lend us your support!
Join Camp Havana Glencolmcille 2005!
Get in touch with us now!

On behalf of the organisers of Camp Havana
Yours fraternally
Hermann Glaser-Baur

Phone us at: 028 77742655 (from Republic of Ireland: 04877742655)
E-mail: yohoocamphavanaglen@yahoo.ie

*

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