Re-conquer Ireland - Adams
By Donal Cusack
``Take ownership of the struggle - the future is too important to
be left to politicians,'' was the message from Sinn Féin President
Gerry Adams, addressing a crowd of over 3,000 people at the site
of the Volunteer ambush which helped to change the course of the
Black and Tan war at Kilmichael, West Cork, on Sunday 7 December.
Speaking on the 77th anniversary of the day when 46 IRA
Volunteers fought head to head with the elite of the British army
in ``grim and silent determination'', Gerry Adams reminded the
large gathering at the cold and windswept Kilmichael monument
that it was the ordinary people of Cork, the labourers, the
shopkeepers and the small farmers who defeated the forces of the
crown, and that the ordinary people of this small island have a
vital role to play in shaping its long-term future.
Referring to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 as having
left ``a legacy of unfinished business'', Mr Adams remarked that
addressing that legacy was ``a shared responsibility'', which
should involve all the people of this island, that it was not up
to the Sinn Féin leadership alone to persuade Tony Blair that a
British withdrawal from our country would be in the best
interests of all the people of both Britain and Ireland.
Calling for a ``re-conquest of Ireland by all the people of
Ireland'', the Sinn Féin President stated that any future
settlement must have ``a foundation of equality'', and that the
nationalist people of the Six counties would never again accept
the status of 2nd class citizens.
Referring to his forthcoming visit to 10 Downing Street, with
Martin McGuinness, Mr Adams declared that everything would be on
the tale for discussion, including the Act of Union, the
Government of Ireland Act. Urging those present and beyond to
become in involved in the Saoirse campaign, he stated that the
issue of political prisoners would be a priority for the Sinn
Féin delegation.
Concluding his address, Mr Adams quoted Bobby Sands on how
Republicans should look to the future. While he had ample reason
to be bitter and resentful from his cell in Long Kesh, having
endured the degrading and inhuman treatment which is still
inflicted on republican prisoners today. Bobby Sands said ``Let
our revenge be the laughter of our children''.
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