Whirlwind tour
Eoin O Broin reports from the SF Youth delegation in
the Basque Country
Sinn Fein Youth's seventeen delegates spent their first
week travelling the length and breadth of Euskal
Herria. They met with eleven different organisations:
prisoners and prisoners' families groups, youth
organisations, student groups, trade unions, Basque
language groups, anti-militarist and environmental
campaigners, women's organisations and international
relations activists.
In addition meetings were held with the Basque youth
organisation Jarrai and Herri Batasuna. SFY met with
the national spokesperson of HB, Arnaldo Otegi and the
general secretary of the republican trade union LAB,
Rafa Diez. The delegation also met with the HB mayor
from Lezo, who presented the group with gifts on behalf
of the Town Council.
A core group of four delegates from Dublin, Belfast and
Newry met with various Jarrai committees - local,
provincial, communication designers and activity
committees - in order to get a more thorough
understanding of how the organisation functions.
In addition, the delegation took part in a number of
protests, the largest of which was in Bilbao on Sunday
5 April. The demonstration of 100,000 people called for
the repatriation of Basque prisoners to jails near
their families. The day before, in Bayona, the group
attended a 5,000 strong march in support of the Basque
langauge. A number of smaller activities also took
place, including a spontaneous gathering of young
people in Donostia after a Basque refugee was
extradited from Mexico to Madrid.
The delegation delivered a number of talks in
universities and youth centres across the country. On
Monday 26 March some of the delegation spoke to several
hundred young people from a secondary school in
Durango, a small village in Gipuzkoa. Universities in
Donostia, Bilbao and Bayona also hosted talks, as did
Gaztetxe (youth houses) in Altsau and Azpeita.
A press conference was held in Donostia with SFY and
Jarrai to outline the politics of the trip and the
importance of national independence for young people.
Jarrai highlighted the many forms of oppression young
people experience in conflict situations and Sinn Fein
Youth stressed the importance of youth involvement in
the peace process. In addition both groups emphasised
the need to work together to pool experiences,
resources and strength.
As is always the case in Euskal Herria, the delegation
attraced a lot of interest. National and local
television stations, independent and commercial radios,
newspapers of all political hues and local and national
magazines have reported the activites during the week.
Most importantly, the youth supplement of the left
independence daily newspaper, Egin carried a brief
account of the delegation, and is to publish a full
interview with the group this Friday.
Aside from politics the delegation also had a number of
opportunities to experience the everyday culture of the
Basque country. Between the food, drink and music, the
Sinn Fein Youth activists have spent most of their
spare time speaking with Basque youth about all the
things which concern, from education to popular
culture, and sport to alcohol. On Thursday 2 April the
group went to a Sagardotegi in Hernani. These cider
houses are a traditional mixture of Basque food and
cider, which is eaten in a particularly ritualistic
way, with glasses of cider being drunk straight from
the vats after each course. The food, which is eaten
while standing, is the closest Euskal Herria comes to
potatoes, cabbage and bacon.
The delegation has been impressed by the solidarity of
the Basque people, and their broad knowledge of the
Irish political situation. Also their openness and
generosity has stunned many. While for many of the
young activists, this is their first trip abroad, the
sincerity and friendship of the Basques has ensured
that it will be a memorable one. More importantly, the
level of work has at times reached overload, as the
delegation run from meeting to meeting, and interview
to protest.
The delegation has set itself a number of aims. Firstly
to deepen the solidarity between the youth of both
countries, experiencing directly the life and culture
of Euskal Herria. Secondly, SFY and Jarrai have a
number of working commitments which include information
exchanges and future delegations, the details of which
are currently being organised. Thirdly, both
organisations are exploring the possibility of
developing a joint campaign around the relationship
between youth rights and national self-determination in
the context of Europe. Finally and equally importantly,
as Jarrai is an organisation with twenty years
experience under its belt, there is much that Sinn Fein
Youth can learn from them.
It is already clear, one week into the trip that most
if not all the objectives of the delegation have been
achieved.
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