19/02/08 Following consultation with many of its members and supporters éirígí has decided to move the venue of a protest previously planned for the British Embassy to Ballybough in Dublin 1. The protest will now assemble at the junction of Ballybough Road and Clonliffe Road at 3.30pm on Saturday 23rd of February. The move comes on the back of the announcement that Anne Windsor, daughter of the British queen and commander in chief of a number of units of the British army*, is to attend this weekend’s rugby international in Croke Park.
Speaking in advance of the protest éirígí’s Brian Leeson condemned the blatant use of a sporting event for political ends - ‘Anne Windsor’s attendance at Croke Park on Saturday is part of a broader British policy of ‘normalisation’ in Ireland. It is intended to ‘soften-up’ the population of Dublin and the Twenty-Six counties for a future state visit by her mother, the British queen. To use a sporting event such as the Scotland/Ireland rugby international for such ends is truly despicable. The advanced public announcement of her attendance is proof, if any were needed, that this is no ‘private visit’, but instead part of a wider political agenda.
Speculating on the negative spin that some may attempt to put on Saturday’s protest Brian continued, ‘Our protest on Saturday is in no way linked to the playing of rugby in Croke Park - which is entirely an internal decision for the GAA. Nor is it aimed at those thousands of rugby fans who bought their tickets for the game, unaware of the fact that it was to be used by the British state for their own cynical ends. Indeed we hope to engage with many of those same fans as they enter the ground and explain to them the true reasons for Anne Windsors attendance.
*Anne Windsor currently holds a number of roles within the British military including:
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British royals not welcome in Ireland! 
éirígí are inviting republicans, socialists and democrats from across Ireland to join them on Saturday in opposition to the British governments attempts to ‘normalise’ its occupation of the Six Counties. 
Brian went on to explain a reluctance on éirígí’s behalf in organising a protest in such close proximity to Croke Park, ‘It is far from ideal that we are having to organise a political protest in such close proximity to Croke Park, or indeed any other sporting venue. However it is not us, or the Irish people, who have decided to politicise this match by attempting to use it for the propaganda of ‘normalisation’. That decision was made in the halls of Whitehall and Leinster House.’ 
‘The fact remains that Britain continues to illegally occupy the Six Counties with a permanent military garrison of more then 5,000 combat troops. Anne Windsor is a senior member of a British royal family which is intrinsically linked with both the British state and the British Army. She herself is an ex-member of the crown forces and is the currently the commander in chief of a whole rogues gallery of British army units, many of whom have served in Ireland. Those, like Anne Windsor, who seek to portray the British occupation as ‘normal’ will not do so without meeting solid resistance from Irish republicans, socialists and democrats. This Saturday represents an opportunity for people to register their opposition to the British occupation and the policy of ‘normalisation’. We in éirígi would encourage as many people as possible to make the effort to come along and join the protest.’
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“If
you strike at, imprison, or kill us, out of our prisons or graves 
we
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