Events have been taking place in Rathvilly, County Carlow to mark the 105th anniversary of the execution of martyr Kevin Barry by British forces.

On 28 October 1920, the eighteen-year-old UCD medical student became the first Irish Republican to be sentenced to death by a British court since the Easter Rising four years previously. He was hanged in Mountjoy jail four days later.

Éirígí and the 1916 Societies held a joint wreath-laying ceremony in Rathvilly last weekend, where Éirígí activist Gary O’Brien delivered a speech on his legacy.

In his speech, he said the teenager was “so advanced and socially aware” that at the age of 17, he had written an “awe-inspiring” essay on the subject of Prejudice.

He continued: “Was it learned from an elder, or a case of self-discovery? Either way, Kevin grasped it beautifully. He joined the dots with imperialism and capitalism. The old conquer, divide and rule tactic.

“Divide and rule has as much prevalence today as it did in 1919. We have our own home-grown racists, many who are inspired by the upper class in Britain, who seek to divide. The Farages, the far-right Tories etc., cut from the same cloth as Enoch Powell and Thatcher.

“In Ireland today we have deep divisions within the working class. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have to ask ourselves, whose interests does it serve?

“We all have wants and needs. The people leading these anti-immigrant and explicitly racist and fascist movements, if, hypothetically, they put a complete stop on immigration, whether that be legal or illegal, it certainly does not lead us to the land of milk and honey, which they promise.

“Yes, we need a sensible, civilised debate on immigration. Yes, we have a struggling health service, housing crisis, education crisis, mental health crisis, cost of living crisis and a total mismanagement of the economy.

“Those problems have been there for decades. As James Connolly proclaimed: ‘Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred towards any of my fellow men’.

“The recent presidential election produced the results that socialism, peace and humanitarian ideas are still on the table. It’s still amongst the hearts and minds of the people while the state is rushing towards NATO and imperialist wars.

“We are a progressive, resilient people who know, understand and suffer oppression from this state and the occupying forces of the British.”

He concluded: “Irish republicanism is not merely wrapping ourselves in the British flag and calling ourselves a nationalist, but to be internationalist and recognise the suffering of others as it was wrought upon us. Much the same as republican revolutionaries fought for the republic in Spain against the rising fascist tide spreading through Europe, we have always had ties with various revolutionary movements across the world.

“The tricolour is not just an anti-sectarian flag, but a beacon and must be reclaimed from those who use it as a weapon to bash immigrants. It must be reclaimed and flown with honour and respect. It’s the flag we republicans claim.”