Bernard Fox To Speak At Éirígí Thomas Ashe Commemoration
The former hunger-striker Bernard Fox will be a guest speaker at Éirígí’s Thomas Ashe commemoration in Dublin on the 22nd September 2007. The event will also mark the official launch of Éirígí’s campaign for a British withdrawal from the occupied Six Counties.
Speaking in relation to the commemoration Éirígí’s Stewart Reddin said,
“Thomas Ashe was the first Irish Republican to die on hunger-strike. His death on the 25th of September 1917, less than eighteen months after the 1916 Rising, was a hugely significant event in Irish history. His funeral, which was attended by tens of thousands of mourners and Irish volunteers, was a very public demonstration of support for the revolutionary forces of the day.”
Reddin continued, outlining some of the background to Ashe’s death.
“At the time of his death Ashe was the President of the supreme council of the IRB and a leading member of the Gaelic league. During the 1916 Rising he had commanded the Volunteers in the Fingal area. Having been released in the general amnesty of 1917 it wasn’t long before he was again incarcerated, this time under the Defence of the Realm Act. It was during this imprisonment that he went on hunger-strike for political status.”
Thomas Ashe’s funeral procession.
In conclusion Reddin noted the symbolic importance of Bernard Fox speaking at the commemoration.
“It is entirely fitting that Bernard Fox, himself a veteran of the 1981 hunger strike, will be speaking on the day. That hunger-strike too was for political status. Although separated by more than sixty years both generations of republicans understood how important it was to refuse to allow Britain to criminalise the struggle for Irish freedom. The same is true today, ninety years after Ashe’s death and twenty-six years after the 1981 hunger strike.’
Éirígí’s Thomas Ashe commemoration will take place on the 22 of September, assembling at 2.30pm at Harte’s corner before the short walk to Glasnevin cemetery.