Republican News · Thursday 24 April 2003

OLD DEV SPEAKS AT GALWAY EASTER COMMEMORATION

De Valera came back from the grave on Easter Sunday, when the Galway Alliance Against War staged a counter-Fianna Fáil Easter Commemoration in Eyre Square. The actor Brendan Murray, formerly of Ros na Rún, played the part of Dev, while an original soundtrack of one of de Valera's pro-neutrality speeches was played over loud speaking equipment.

There was an added bit of drama when the Gardaí threatened to tow away the car containing the speakers because it was parked on a double yellow line. As Dev's speech progressed, more and more Gardaí, uniformed and plain clothed, suddenly appeared, with the latter openly filming the hundred or more people participating in the event. Unable to tow the car away, the uniformed Gardaí slapped a parking ticket on the car's windscreen.

Niall Farrell, the chairman of the commemoration, explained why this alternative Fianna Fáil 1916 commemoration had been held

"It was to highlight the fact that Fianna Fáil have not only discarded their policy of maintaining Irish neutrality but have no longer any links to the aims and ideals of those men and women who took part in the Rising.

"The 1916 Rising had to do with Irish independence and an independent foreign policy, in particular it was to prevent the use of conscription in Ireland during World War I. This stands in stark contrast to present Fianna Fáil policy, which has been assisting the US in its invasion of Iraq."