Éirígí Begin Campaign Against Proposed English Queen Visit
Éirígí activists received huge support on Wednesday night (22nd August) from motorists and pedestrians alike as they mounted a protest against the proposed visit to the Twenty Six Counties by the English Queen. The protest, which lasted ninety minutes, took place at Newland’s Cross in west Dublin. The road junction is one of the busiest in the country where traffic from the cities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford all enter Dublin.
Speaking during the protest Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson outlined why Éirígí is opposed to the visit.
“Those who support British rule in Ireland, most particularly in the southern state, have recently been floating the idea of a state visit by the English queen to the Twenty Six Counties. Mary McAleese’s comments on the subject have been interpreted by many, correctly I believe, as a ‘kite-flying’ exercise on behalf of a Fianna Fail government nervous about how the idea might be received by the electorate.
“The idea of royalty and monarchy belong to another age. As internationalists and republicans we in Éirígí would view the invitation to Ireland of any queen, or king, prince or princess for that matter, from any country, as a regressive step. However, the case of an English monarch is infinitely more serious as it is they who are the commander in chief of those armed forces currently occupying the Six Counties. It is they too who are the head of state of a country which lays claim to part of Ireland’s national territory.
The agenda of those who support a state visit by Elizabeth Windsor is clear. They see it as another step on the road to ‘normalisation’ of relations between the people of Ireland and Britain. Democrats, socialists and republicans, however, understand that there can be no such ‘normalisation’ until Britain has withdrawn the entire apparatus of its occupation from Ireland.”
Leeson continued, with some advice for Bertie Ahern.
“The reaction that we have received here tonight should cause Bertie Ahern to think twice before he extends an invite to the head of the British Army to visit this state. This is only one small protest but I have no doubt that if he persists with his plans there will be many more and that they will grow ever larger.”