Republican News · Thursday 29 August 2002

Former Hunger Striker addresses Strabane commemoration

Former Long Kesh Blanketman and Hunger Striker Raymond McCartney was the main speaker at this year's West Tyrone Volunteers' Commemoration.

The parade and graveyard ceremony brought to a close a series of events held in Strabane to commemorate the memory of all those who have gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom from the West Tyrone area.

A republican colour party, followed by the Strabane Memorial Flute Band and the South Derry Republican Band, led a large crowd from Ballycolman Shops to the Republican Plot at Strabane Cemetery.

John Kelly, Chair of Strabane National Graves, chaired proceedings. Family members of fallen Volunteers laid floral tributes. Wreaths were laid and Raymond McGowan of Strabane National Graves read the West Tyrone Roll of Honour and Remembrance. Councillor Jarlath McNulty read a poem dedicated to the area's republican dead.

In a moving speech, Raymond McCartney spoke of how the suffering of the families of dead republicans is often unseen, forgotten and overlooked. Referring to Mitchel McLaughlin's recent article, which set down 2016, one hundred years after the 1916 Rising, as Sinn Féin's timescale for achieving Irish unity, McCartney called on everyone present to become active participants in the struggle to achieve this objective. He also paid tribute to all those involved in organising the weekend's events.

One of these events was the public display of 'The Remembering Quilt' in Fountain Street Community Centre. Members of the 'Relatives for Justice Group' made the quilt. The group is made up of family members of the hundreds of people killed by Crown forces and loyalist paramilitaries. The quilt made a deep impression on all who viewed it and it is hoped that contributions from affected families in the West Tyrone area can now be added to it.