Wolfe Tone Society previous events:

There will be a new events archive coming soon. At the moment, this page contains any previous events over the the last few months with event information, reviews and photos.

 

 

Wolfe Tone Society Benefit social Saturday 11th July 09 starts 9pm till late with The Spirit of Freedom (from Tyrone) @ Mannions The Prince Arthur, Broad Lane Tottenham N15 (nearest Tube Seven Sisters and 5 minute walk) Tickets £4 adv. £5 Door.. Telephone Peter on 07956919871 to reserve tickets

 

A special screening of Steve McQueen’s with a discussion with Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane leader of political prisoners in Long Kesh prison during the 1981 hunger strikes   2pm Sunday 17th May 09 Phoenix Cinema, 52 High Road, East Finchley N2 9PJ                         Special screening and discussion HUNGER (15) 2.00 (UK/Ireland 2008) dir. Steve McQueen, 90m. £6/£5 concessions Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Brian Milligan, Liam McMahon VENUE — PHOENIX CINEMA Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen directs a powerful and compelling account of the 1981 hunger strike of Bobby Sands in Belfast‘s Long Kesh Prison. With a devastating performance by Michael Fassbender, this key moment in recent history proved a turning point in the political struggle and is recreated in a visually striking film of awesome power. This award winning film has put the issues surrounding the Hunger Strike back on the political agenda, and provoked renewed debate and interest in the lessons of that period for today. Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane was the leader of republican political prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison during the 1981 hunger strikes. He succeeded Bobby Sands in this role when he commenced hunger strike on 1 March. In 1983 he was one of the key people involved in crucial roles in a mass jail escape, when 38 republican prisoners broke out of what was the highest security jail in Western Europe. Recaptured in 1986, he spent over 20 years in jail until his release in 1998. A strong participant in the development of the peace process, he currently works for Sinn Féin and is a vocal supporter of the continued political direction. Supported by the Wolfe Tone Society

Ken Livingstonwe out and about with Irish supporters in Kilburn

Large contingent of Wolfe Tone Society members & friends following the Wolfe Tone Society Minibus and Sound System which livened the parade on a very wet and cold day on May 16th 2008 in Central London

Participants on Easter Monday 1916 Historical walk through central London, outside the Germann Gynasium at St Pancras Station. This is where the London Branch of the Irish Volunteers under Michael Collins command used to train from 1914-16 before they followed the call to join the 1916 Easter rising in Dublin.

Speakers at the Bloody Sunday commemoration London January 2008

Speakers at the Irish Unity Coneference November 17th 2007

WTS Unity conf report & proposals 07

Walking Tour of Central London

Saturday 3rd February.

Meet at Marble Arch Tube station

in ticket Hall at 12.45pm

for a tour with guide around Central London.

We will be looking at the Historical, Political, Social relationships between Ireland and England, Irish migration to London and discrimination faced by Irish emigrants over the last 400 years. Along with various places associated with Irish people living in England.

Ogra Shinn Fein and WolfeTone Society Picket on Saturday 3rd February 2007 at Downing Street against British Collusion in the murder of Irish people in the Ireland

Barry McColgan Ógra Sinn Fein speaking at the Bloody Sunday Meeting in London On Sunday 4th February 2007 with John Kelly Bloody Sunday Relatives, Raymond McCartney Sinn Fein and Alan Brecknell PFC

Bloody Sunday 35 Years On: "Hold Power to Account" (London 4/02/ 07)

By Theo Russell

Activists met at the London Irish Centre in Camden on Sunday to commemorate the 14 protesters shot by the British Army in Derry in January 1972, and to assess the the 35-year long campaign for justice. The meeting was addressed by Barry McColgan, national organiser of Ógra (young) Shinn Féin, Raymond McCartney MLA from Derry, John Kelly from the Bloody Sunday relatives, Alan Brecknell of the Pat Finucane Centre, and John McDonnell MP.

Barry McColgan said the theme of this year's march in Derry was 'Hold power to account', and called on Britain not only take full responsibility for the massacre but "to ensure that the lies about Bloody Sunday are removed from the history books."

John Kelly said the relatives had been told by Lord Saville, who chaired the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, that its report would be published at the end of 2008 at the earliest - ten years after the enquiry opened.

Kelly said "we have gone 35 years to get the truth, so the families are prepared to wait. We know the truth, but it's the admittance of the British government that's important to us."

He said the families also want assurances that they will see the report as soon as it is published, to ensure that "nothing is hidden or deleted," adding: "Widgery murdered the truth of Bloody Sunday - truth was the 15th victim."

Asked whether the families trusted Saville, Kelly replied: "If he delivers the report we want, then I will trust him." He also pointed out that because of the new Inquiries Act, the Saville Inquiry "is the last to be held in an open, accountable way."

John McDonnell MP found time in his campaign for election as Labour Party leader to speak at the meeting, and called on the British government to ensure that elections in Northern Ireland go ahead and "to move towards the re-unification of Ireland." He also called for support for the Muslim community, which he said was "going through what the Irish community went through 20 years ago."

"People in these communities," he said, "are beginning to understand the impact of imperialism, both in the wars it wages and their effects here in Britain."

John McDonnell MP speaking at the Bloody Sunday Public Meeting with Barry McColgan

(Ogra Shinn Fein) on Sunday 4th February 2007.

Report back by Observers from Wolfe Tone Society at Sinn Fein's historic Special Ard Fheis on Policing in Dublin on the 28th January 2007.

A new theatre of struggle
by Theo Russell

NINE HUNDRED delegates and 1,200 Sinn Féin members and supporters from every corner of Ireland and abroad packed into Dublin’s Royal Dublin Society for one of the party’s most historic meetings last Sunday.

And after an intensive consultation process, with over 100 meetings across the island, the motion to participate in the devolved policing and justice structures was carried by around 95 per cent of votes.

Martina Anderson speaking

at the Special Ard Fheis

Belfast delegate Martin Meehan said that after so many republican families had suffered at the hands of the British security forces, the debate had been “a very anxious time and a very heart-rending time”. But he said republicans faced “a new theatre of struggle where we need to dismantle the sectarian RUC”.

The decision triggers a rapid timetable paving the way for full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement after nine years. Elections to the Assembly will be held on 7th March with Sinn Féin expected to be the second largest party. This will allow Martin McGuinness to take the post of Deputy First Minister.

Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party – which is split into three factions over the peace process – is already placing conditions on accepting that Sinn Féin is committed to policing. But it will now come under enormous pressure to commit to power-sharing with republicans and nationalists.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and policing spokesman Gerry Kelly reported on a series of crucial changes to policing provisions achieved during several years of intensive talks with the British and Irish governments, which continued over Christmas.

These include a second policing Act and Justice Act; complete separation between civic policing and MI5; a commitment not to use plastic bullets for public order or crowd control; and plans for a Justice Department that “substantially reflects Sinn Féin’s model” and a public acknowledgement by PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde of the hurt caused to the families involved by British forces.

Many delegates made it clear this was only the beginning of the struggle for a fully accountable police service. In the words of veteran activist Francie Malloy, it would “put the building block in place for an all
Ireland accountable civic policing service”.

Many also stressed the need for proper policing in working class nationalist areas of the north which are plagued by crime.

And delegate Sean Murray warned sectarians that “for any remaining within the ranks of policing, we have a message for you: your day has gone, we will ensure that you face the full rigours of the law.”

Another delegate said: “We will undermine what remains of Unionist hegemony in the North and open the way for unification,” while delegate Sean Hannaghan said the time was right “to get inside these institutions and take them apart brick by brick”.

Chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said that Sinn Féin would go into the new structures and become “the boss”, adding: “I want the police to watch MI5, to spy on MI5, and to arrest members of MI5 if they break the law.”

The SDLP was heavily criticised; Gerry Adams recalling that the party had never demanded the disbandment of the RUC and “became part of the policing problem by joining the Policing Board”.

Michelle Gildernew MP recalled that the SDLP had repeatedly dismissed allegations of collusion as “republican propaganda”, and that during the negotiations not only accepted the integration of MI5 into the PSNI, but even claimed it as a victory!

A number of delegates called for the policing motion to be rejected. One, from Cork, warned that after backing policing “we become a constitutional party,” while another from County Offally spoke of a “re-branded police force”.

The party’s youth wing, Ógra Shinn Féin, also urged its members to oppose the resolution, but said they should “respect whatever decision is taken by the party’s Ard Fheis”.

Francie Malloy argued: “Some fear that engaging with the PSNI will legitimise partition and British jurisdiction in Ireland. While this may be a genuine fear, it is misplaced.”

Gerry Adams also renewed his offer to meet other republican organisations who are opposed to the peace process, despite the recent rejection of an earlier offer by Republican Sinn Féin.

Commenting on these micro-groups – who recently issued death threats against him – Martin McGuinness said: “The IRA fought Britain and the RUC to a standstill, yet we are being criticised by people who have yet to fight them to a start.”

************

View from Back of Ard Fheis

Sinn Féin emerges united
by Theo Russell

SINN FEIN chief negotiator Martin McGuinness, speaking at the party’s historic extraordinary Ard Fheis last month, said: “The eyes of the world are on us and people are willing us on. So too are the eyes of British securocrats and NIO in Belfast and the eyes of the human rights abusers and DUP rejectionists are on this hall today. They are watching this Ard Fheis with great fear and trepidation.”

The latest in a series of historic moves by Sinn Féin followed the intense negotiations leading to the St Andrews Agreement last Christmas, paving the way for new elections to the northern Ireland Assembly, and full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.  

These negotiations produced a second policing act and a second justice act, legislation for transferring powers to the north of Ireland, an agreed model for a justice department close to Sinn Féin proposals, and the exclusion of MI5 from any role in civic policing.

But there are no illusions that entering policing will be straightforward. Policing and Justice spokesman Gerry Kelly pointed out: “We know that while British jurisdiction exists anywhere in Ireland so will MI5. They will leave our country with the rest of the British establishment, but in the meantime they will be kept outside civic policing.”

The key to understanding the policing move is that this is a strategic decision aimed at advancing Sinn Féin’s overall political agenda. As Gerry Kelly explained: “After getting this far we cannot leave this fundamental arena to unionists who have dominated the same area for generations – and we especially cannot exclude ourselves. Every arena that Irish republicans have entered they have made radical change for the benefit of ordinary people.

There is no good time, comrades, but now is the best time. This is about achieving a united and independent Ireland; this, comrades, brings that closer.”

The timeframe for the transfer of policing and justice powers is May 2008, with an assurance from London that this will not be delayed. But Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley has already reneged on his part of the deal.

The DUP had agreed to release a statement accepting power-sharing after the adoption of the policing motion by the Ard Chomhairle (Sinn Féin’s national executive). Paisley failed to deliver, so the implementation of the Ard Fheis motion was made conditional:

“...only when the power-sharing institutions are established and when the Ard Chomhairle is satisfied that the policing and justice powers will be transferred. Or if this does not happen within the St Andrews timeframe, only when acceptable new partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement are in place.”

Predictably, Paisley has already begun laying down new conditions calling for “real delivery” by Sinn Féin, which only the DUP can judge. Gerry Adams responded: “Assertions by the DUP that they are going to test republicans don’t wash. They have no veto over how we deal with this issue. What republicans did at the weekend was done in the national interest and in the common good. It wasn’t done for the DUP.”

Times have changed, and Paisley will come under enormous pressure from his own constituency and the British and Irish governments to accept power-sharing. The fact is that the DUP is running out of conditions.
 
Collusion finally admitted
 
The Ard Fheis was an also an opportunity to tackle the burning issue of British and RUC collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, which was officially admitted for the first time only a week earlier in the report by Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan.

  Gerry Adams said in his opening speech: “The Ombudsman’s report gives us only a snapshot of the corruption of collusion in a very small area, over a short period of time. British state terrorism and collusion with death squads was an administrative practice and part of the British government’s strategy to defeat the republican struggle.

“And because it employed serial killers, drug pushers, and sectarian thugs, they killed anyone else who got in their way, including Raymond McCord junior and many others.”

Opening this can of worms the will be traumatic for the British and Irish governments, many former and existing officers in the RUC and PSNI, and the Social Democrat and Labour Party (SDLP).

  Martin McGuinness described the O’Loan report as “a collusion lesson for the slow learners of the SDLP,” while Adams recalled that the SDLP had “until recently claimed that collusion was a republican myth... and never demanded the disbandment of the RUC. So it was hardly a shock when they joined the Policing Board in 2001. And when they did, instead of confronting collusion, MI5 and the human rights abusers, they became cheer leaders for the PSNI.”

 Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew said the SDLP had supported the RUC, including Special Branch – its force within a force – and its leader Mark Durkan not only accepted the integration of MI5 into the PSNI, but claimed it as a victory in the negotiations!

Gerry Adams said that a file on collusion had been handed to Tony Blair at their first meeting in 1997, but the collusion did not stop under Blair. Adams said he had been assured by Blair that since his time in Downing Street he had not authorised any such activities in Ireland, but he asked:

  “Who did authorise these killings or the cover ups, or the running of the drug pushers, or the payments of these killers? Who authorised their non-prosecution by the DPP? Who within the British establishment thinks they are more powerful than the British Prime Minister?”

And Martin McGuinness said that one of the RUC’s most senior officers, former Assistant Chief Constable Raymond White, “told a Sunday newspaper that British Ministers and senior officials were ‘regularly briefed’ on undercover operations and that he personally had briefed former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This goes right to the very top.”

  Adams also mocked the Irish government’s expressions of shock at the O’Loan report. “Shocked? What are they shocked about? This city of Dublin was bombed and 26 people were killed. The same day the same gang killed seven people in Monaghan. There wasn’t even a proper Garda investigation into these atrocities.”

  After the bombings the British told the Irish government that they had interned those they believed were responsible. “And what did the government of the day do? Absolutely nothing! They didn’t have these men questioned, they didn’t seek their arrest. And every Irish government since then has failed these families and all those killed as a result of British state violence.

 ”The Dublin Monaghan bombings were carried out by the Glenanne gang, based in Armagh and run by MI5. This gang was a mixture of UDR, RUC, and unionist paramilitaries. The government has known about this for a very long time. So why do they say they are shocked?”

Adams also recalled that the Irish Taoiseach had never met the family of Eddie Fullerton – a Sinn Féin councillor assassinated in Donegal in 1991 and “an elected representative of citizens of this state” – until November last year.

And he pointed out: “The Office of the Ombudsman would not be in existence and would not have the powers that it does if Sinn Féin had not been tenacious and determined in our negotiating strategy.”

Responding to the O’Loan report, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain claimed that only “a small number of officers” were involved in the events, and rejected calls for a public inquiry into collusion, claiming it would not “uncover any new or additional evidence that has not already been unearthed”.  

  But the Ard Fheis sent a clear message that Sinn Féin will keenly pursue the issue of collusion when it joins the policing bodies. Delegate Sean Murray said that for any human rights abusers still serving: “We have a message for you: your day has gone, we will ensure that you face the full rigours of the law.”

A delegate from South Armagh recommended that “we should start at the top and weed them out from there,” while Belfast activist Martin Meehan said:“We’re going to go in there and shake that tree rigorously until all the bad apples fall out – as we’ve done in Leinster House, as we’ve done in Stormont, and as we’ve done in local councils.”

  Veteran activist Francie Malloy pointed out: “The RUC, like the UDR and many other vestiges of the old Six-County state, is gone, never to return,” and that by withholding support from the PSNI and staying out of policing boards “we maximised the political pressure for change”.

“The task now is to take policing in the north away from the exclusive control of Unionism and British securocrats. We must lay the foundations; put the building blocks in place, for an all-Ireland accountable civic policing service.”

All-Ireland policing
 
The Ard Fheis was not just about policing in the north: policing in the Irish Republic came in for strong criticism, and the policing motion said Sinn Féin must “hold the police and criminal justice systems north and south fully to account”. As the only effective all-Ireland party, its ultimate goal is an accountable all-Ireland police service.

 The motion reiterated Sinn Féin’s support for An Garda Síochana (the Irish Republic’s police), but also recalled “the ill-treatment of republicans by the Garda Special Branch” and said: “Gardaí corruption and malpractice, which has been exposed in the Morris Tribunal and the Abbeylara inquiry in the 26 counties, shows the need for constant vigilance and oversight.”

  Gerry Adams pointed out: “There are now more accountability mechanisms in the north than there are in this state (the Republic) and there is resistance from the Department of Justice and the establishment here to have these mechanisms in place in this jurisdiction.”

 Sinn Féin is already actively pursuing accountable policing in the Republic through community policing forums, which were only established last year. Francie Malloy said: “Its TDs and councillors have been to the forefront in holding the actions of the Gardai to account; highlighting corruption, inefficiency, prejudice, and failure to meet the policing needs of working-class communities.”

 Sinn Féin moves on from the Dublin Ard Fheis stronger than ever and faces new elections in the north in March and in the Republic soon afterwards. More importantly the movement emerged united from one of the most difficult and traumatic decisions in its history. In contrast, the pillars of Unionism are visibly crumbling: the Orange Order is a pale shadow of its former self, while the DUP is split into factions.

Saturday 30th Sep 06

10th Anniversary of the Death of Vol. Diarmuid O'Neill.

The Wolfe tone Society and Justice for Diarmuid O'Neill campaign are organising a Commemoration on Saturday 30th September at the Camden Irish Centre, Murray St, London NW1 1JR.

Speakers: Gerry Kelly Sinn Fein, Peter Middleton, Wolfe Tone Society, Terry Stewart, Harry Stanley Campaign & invited speakers from An Fhirinne.

Followed by Social evening. Event starts 6pm - midnight.

Further Details contact WTS on 020-8442 8778 or email back.

Please pass on to as many people as possible.

Sinn Fein Stall at the Fait L'humanite in Paris where there was a huge international presence and where several members of the Wolfe Tone Society worked in support Sinn Fein and the Solidarity Irelande (France) in September 2006

Sat 27th May 2006

Benefit Social with Spirit of Freedom

8pm till late. organised by The North West London Celtic Supporters club and Wolfe Tone Society at the

Greenwood Tavern, Whitten Ave East, Greenford, West London.

Nearest tubes:Sudbury Town, Sudbury Hill or Greenford stations.

For further information Tel: 020-84428778

Picture from walking tour of the rich and turbulent history of the Irish in London 10th June 2006.

Saturday 10th June 06

Around the World in Eighty Days: Ireland

Talks: Sat 10 Jun 2006.

This is part of The Institute of Contemporary Arts Around The World in Eighty Days Tours of London looking at different emigrant groups that have settled in London over the centuries. Check website for further information http://www.ica.org.uk/

Peter Middleton leads a walking tour of the rich and turbulent history of the Irish in London. Advanced booking required.

Beginning at Marble Arch and site of Tyburn Tree, where many Irish patriots died in the 14th to 16th centuries; past the homes of the literary figures who lived around Oxford Street; to Soho, the first Irish ghetto (called little Tipperary); down to Trafalgar Square, site of the Bloody Sunday March in 1972 and riot and now the end of the St Patrick’s Day parade; then to Downing street, passing Old Scotland Yard and the set-up of the Special Branch to combat the Fenian movement in the 1860s and towards Westminster and all the political events that have happened there: the Home Rule party, Parnellism, the Irish Treaty negotiations in 1921, Good Friday agreement in 1998 and the ongoing work of Irish groups in parliament. Finish at the ICA.

Meet: Marble Arch Tube, by ticket barrier

Wolfe Tone Society members handing in a letter of protest to 10 Downing Street 1st March 2006

Monday 12th June 2006

25 anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike Exhibition & Speakers

Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, nearest tube station Holborn
Reception and Exhibition from 6.30pm (with light refreshments)
Rally 7.30 - 9.30 pm

organised jointly by the Troops Out Movement and The Wolfe Tone Society

This is an opportunity to view the Hunger Strike Exhibition produced by people who were political prisoners in Long Kesh. Speakers from Ireland are Seando Moore, Ex-Blanketman (protesting prisoner) and Jim McVeigh, the last Officer Commanding in the H-Blocks. Other speakers will include families of the Guantanamo detainees

25th Anniversary Candlelight vigil outside Downing Street in memory of the

start of the 1981 Irish hunger strike 1st March 2006

Tuesday 13th June 06

Westminster Public Meeting with Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy

Westminster Public Meeting with Conor Murphy will be in London on 13 June, where he will address a Westminster Public Meeting on the current developments and choices for the peace process. The meeting is at 7pm, Boothroyd Room in Portcullis House, House of Commons (Embankment entrance). All welcome.

Details from fisherj@parliament.uk

Wolfe Tone Society on May Day March in Centrel London 2006

Saturday 8th July 06

London United Anti Racist Festival

Wolfe Tone Society will have a stall at the Rise - London United Anti Racist Festival in Finsbury Park, London on Saturday 8th July from 12 till late. This is a free event with bands such as Common, Graham Coxon, Sway, Buzzcocks, Killa Kela, Roy Ayers and The Wailers and many more.

For further information contact WTS, BM box 6191, London WC1N 3XX.

Tel 020-84428778 or email wts@brosna.demon.co.uk

Several members of The Wolfe Tone Society with Francis Brolly at the 2006 James Connolly / Bobby Sands Rally

Francis Brolly MLA singing at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis March 2006

St Pattrick's Day parade March 2006