Provo Parade 'Abuse of the Memory' of Hunger Strikers

Anti-National elements cannot claim link with actions of Hunger Strikers.

A Derry-based spokesman for Republican Sinn Féin said that supporters and enforcers of English rule should desist from linking their current actions with those of the H-Block Hunger Strikers.

“This parade represents an abuse of the memory of those ten brave soldiers who gave their lives for Ireland in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh in 1981”, said the Director of Publicity for the organisation, Richard Walsh.

“Those who claim to be honouring the sacrifices of the Hunger Strikers at a rally in Derry City on Sunday were responsible for signing away Prisoner of War Status under the terms of the 1998 Stormont Agreement. It was the denial of this right, and indeed the denial of the right of the Irish people to govern themselves, which led to the untimely and brutal deaths of those ten men.

“Despite the wishes of RUC Chief Hugh Orde, Irish Republicanism is not in its 'death throes'. The unbowed and unbroken Republican Movement will continue to pursue a full and final British withdrawal from Ireland. Securing this objective would serve as a fitting tribute to the Hunger Strikers, and all of Ireland's Patriot Dead who have gone before and since.”