Successful John Joe McGirl weekend
The J.J McGirl Memorial Committee annual weekend of events took place in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, on Friday and Saturday, 10 and 11 August.
Jim Gibney, from Belfast Sinn Féin lectured on the political legacy of the hunger strikes to upwards of 300 people. He said that the electoral successes being experienced by the party now were rooted in the events of 1981. The hunger strike period had a profound politicising effect on the republican struggle, he said.
Newly elected MP for Fermanagh South Tyrone, Michelle Gildernew, also spoke. She said she was proud to succeed Bobby Sands as an MP for the area and that the summer's electoral successes were only a small taste of what is still to come.
On Saturday evening, a crowd gathered at the McGirl monument in Ballinamore, where Vincent Kenny laid a wreath on behalf of the Republican Movement.
Afterwards, there was a moving tribute to the prison struggle in the Lá Nua Centre, when the Fáilte players performed a peagent of drama, poetry and music. The night concluded with a feast of traditional music in McGirl's, courtesy of Dominic and Franjo.
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