Thomas Ashe Commemoration
Those attending Éirígí’s ninetieth anniversary Thomas Ashe commemoration today were rewarded with sunshine and blue skies. Up to a 120 people gathered at 2.30pm at Harte’s corner in Phibsborough, before the short walk to Glasnevin cemetery on Dublin’s Northside.
The procession was led by a piper and a specially commissioned banner to mark the ninetieth anniversary of Ashe’s death. On arrival at Ashe’s graveside Éirígí’s Geraldine Dougan from Derry welcomed everyone and then introduced the first speaker of the day – Padraig Ó’Meiscill from Belfast who read a copy of a letter that Thomas Ashe wrote to his brother on the topic of the 1913 lockout.
Pádraig was followed by Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson who outlined the political background to Éirígí’s recently launched campaign for a British withdrawal. In his contribution Brian referred to the need for a new twenty-first century Irish liberation struggle. He stressed that such a new struggle would need to be focused on achieving the collective right of the Irish people to self-determination and that in this Republicans would need to open to new thinking, beyond the traditional party political model of the last century. Any new movement for Irish democracy would need to attract the support of organised labour, cultural, community and voluntary groups as well as the traditional Republican base. Brian concluded by asking everyone present to do identify initiatives that would challenge British rule in Ireland and to take the opportunity today to join or actively support Éirígí.
Siobhan Curran from Dublin followed with a reading of a copy of a letter written by Thomas Ashe to Cathal Brugha from Lewes Jail in England. The letter was written during Ashe’s imprisonment following the 1916 Rising.
Up next was Paul Hayes from Tipperary who read an extract from a speech given by Thomas Ashe in Tralee at the first anniversary commemoration of the death of Rodger Casement in 1917.
Some music followed Paul’s contribution with a lament played on the flute and a rendition of ‘The Bold Fenian Men’ by Cormac Ryan from Dublin.
The main speaker of the day, 1981 hunger striker Bernard Fox was the last contributor of the event. He started his speech by thanking Éirígí for the invitation to speak and by commending the content of the commemoration. In particular Bernard singled out Éirígí’s analysis of the need for a new Irish liberation movement as a point on which he agreed.
Much of Bernard’s contribution focused on the parallels between the prison struggle against criminalisation in the period following the 1916 Rising and the period running up to the 1981 hunger strike. In both periods the practical demands of the prisoners were almost identical – the right to free association, segregation from non-political prisoners, the right to receive post and parcels etc. In both times the prisoners eventually won their demands, but not before some of their number had died on hunger strike.
For Bernard there was also personal symmetry in his own experience of hunger-strike and the death of Thomas Ashe. Thomas Ashe died following force feeding on the 25th of September 1917 – Bernard ended his own hunger strike after thirty-three days on the 25th of September 1981.
In his conclusion Bernard re-emphasised the need for opposition to British rule in Ireland, stating that the process of building this opposition would be slow and gradual.
A rendition of Amhrán na bFhiann marked the end of the commemoration.
See below for the full photo album.
