SINN Féin Foyle MLA and Former Hunger Striker Raymond McCartney has announced that the annual National Hunger Strike commemoration will take this Sunday, August 4, at 2.30 pm in Strabane.
Raymond McCartney said: “The prison struggle of the late 1970s and early 1980s were without any doubt a key moment in the Irish struggle for freedom and justice. And within that period the Hunger Strike of 1981 is of course the defining moment.
“The National commemoration in Strabane is one of the biggest events in the Republican calendar and I appeal to the wider Republican community in Derry, to the people of Ireland and international sympathisers to mobilise and show support for the ideals for which the Hunger Strikers gave their all.
“The main speaker will be Martina Anderson MEP, we are asking people to assemble in the Diamond ,Lifford at 2.30pm before proceeding to Strabane town centre.”
Meanwhile, republican activists from Lifford and Strabane have unveiled a mural dedicated to the 1981 Hunger Strikers, as well as Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg who died on hunger strike in England in 1974 and 1976 respectively.
Chairperson of the McLaughlin/McGinn Sinn Féin Cumann, Tony McDaid gave a short oration on the context of the prison protests of the 70’s/early 80’s.
A lament followed by Amhran na Bfhainn was played by local musician Noel Devine.
Speaking following the event Tony McDaid said, “This mural is our contribution in honouring the sacrifice of the 1981 Hunger Strikers and all who died on hunger strike before them.
“These were ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, who chose to stand up and fight against the might of British oppression, and paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so.
“We are in the process of finishing their job of ending British rule in our country and creating a new republic, and it’s men like those whom we commemorate here today who inspire us in our activism.”
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