This time of year brings to mind our generations long struggle for independence. We remember the selfless sacrifice of patriots and the struggles of working people. We remember the heroic deeds of ordinary men and women, be they in great armies, IRA flying columns, Citizen Army ranks or otherwise. Every generation has played a part; there can hardly be a single family in all of Ireland without some relative who has not given their all. We remember the inhumanity imposed on defenceless people, war, famine, immigration, exile, enslavement and improvishment. We remember the cultural attacks on our great heritage and language, all part of conquest by a foreign imperial power.