Sinn Féin minister honoured in Montreal
Sinn Féin Executive health minister, Bairbre de Brún, was the centre of attention during St. Patrick's Day festivities in Montreal, Canada. Over half a million people turned out to watch the city's annual St Patrick's Day parade wind its way along downtown St Catherine Street and see Minister de Brún walk with the Montreal Coalition for Peace in Ireland, whose members kept up a steady chorus of chants calling for the Good Friday Agreement to be respected.
De Brún was flanked by dignitaries such as Gilles Duceppe, MP and leader of the Bloc Quebecois Party (BQP), Marlene Jennings, MP for the ruling Canadian Liberal Party, and Warren Allmand, president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. De Brún was welcomed on the reviewing stand by leaders of Montreal's Irish community and Montreal mayor Pierre Bourque.
The parade appearance was the climax of a very successful visit to Montreal and Ottawa for the Sin Féin representative. On Thursday, 15 March, de Brún met with Ian Green, the Deputy Health Minister of Canada. She was subsequently received at the Canadian Parliament by the Canada-Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Group, where MPs from all five federal parties welcomed her and expressed concern over the lack of progress on the policing issue in the Six Counties. In the afternoon, de Brún met with representatives of the Canadian Labour Congress and gave a republican analysis of the peace process to members of the Canadian External Affairs Department. She thanked the Canadian government for its support of the Irish peace process and urged that it continue to play a positive role.
In Montreal, on Friday, 16 March, de Brún met with Gilles Duceppe, MP and BQP leader, and Francine Lalonde MP, the BQP external affairs critic. She then spoke to the president and several executive members of the Confederation of National Trade Unions (280,000 members). At noon, the health minister attended the annual Montreal St. Patrick's Day lunch, where she received an enthusiastic reception. That evening, de Brún was honoured at a reception held at the offices of the St Jean Baptiste Society. Over 200 people, including many federal and Quebec politicians, came to meet her and express support for the peace process, including Quebec cabinet minister Louise Beaudoin and SSJB president Guy Bouthillier. The tremendous reception received by Bairbre de Brún shows clearly that the republican message is being heard and appreciated internationally.
BY KEVIN CALLAHAN
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