They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who

doesn't want to be broken - Bobby Sands

They have nothing in their whole imperial a rsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken - Bobby Sands

Irish Republican Prisoners Support Group

PO Box 59188, London, NW2 9LJ, irpsgroup@gmail.com

Political Status for Irish Republican prisoners! Free all anti-imperialist political prisoners!
Lobby of Sinn Feins 30th Anniversary of the Hunger Strike Conference Saturday 18 June 12 noon London Irish Centre 5052 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB Adams and McGuinness: Support the demand for Political Status Now!

he hunger strike shaped the course of history says Gerry Adams in the blurb for this conference, implying that the hunger strikers would have supported the Good Friday Agreement and Sinn Feins acceptance that the conflict was about Loyalisms legitimate concerns (that they might have to concede equality to nationalists) and not about the occupation of the six north eastern counties of Ireland by the armed forces of British imperialism. Look at Stiofn Morna's account of what happened to Harry Fitzsimmons just a few weeks ago in Maghaberry and then tell us that Bobby Sands and his comrades would not have championed the right to political status of Harry and all his comrades in Maghaberry and elsewhere today. This conference cannot even mention that there are Irish POWs today, in the exact same position, fighting the exact same battles as 1981 and the years preceding and following those hunger strikes. But there is inevitable resistance. Dissident republicans recognise that British Imperialism is dividing the Irish people by force and continue to fight for the expulsion of the forces of the crown. The Irish Freedom Committee lists 65 Irish Republican Political Prisoners held in Ireland, north and south and two abroad in their list updated on

05/20/2011. Latest to join the list is that veteran fighter for the cause Marian Price, secretary of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement on 15 May. As they did to Martin Corey and Brendan Lillis a British minister has revoked her release from prison on licence. The Free Marian Price Campaign says, Marian Price has stood by the Republican POWs and fully supported their families for years, in her role in the irpwa, she stayed dedicated to the cause of Irish freedom, she would not be bought when offered, see saw through the lie of Stormont. Now today she stands interned for her political position, by the British government, who have no legal right to be in Ireland. We as republicans need to stand by Marian in her current situation just like she stood by us and get on to the streets and protest, send her letters of support and highlight her plight as best you can. They will never criminalize our struggle. Not only are there these prisoners but the fight for political status is intensifying inside the prisons, the very thing that the ten hunger strikes died for 30

years ago, which was abandoned 13 years ago with the signing of the GFA. The Belfast Telegraph reports from Maghaberry, Dissidents on lockdown as Maghaberry protest grows on 26 May, The jail protest is about a number of issues strip searches, lock-up times and freedom of movement inside Roe House, where on two landings more than 30 dissident prisoners linked to a number of groups are heldSome of those prisoners are now involved in a so-called dirty protest. Others have been involved in "hand-to-hand fights" with prison officers in recent days. The GFA has not improved the relationship between the communities in the north of Ireland. In Belfast, according to Henry McDonald in The Guardian on 28 July 2009, There are now 80 permanent barriers dividing loyalist and nationalist areas of the city, according to a report by the Community Relations Council (CRC) in Northern Ireland. In 1994, when the Troubles were declared over, there were 26. The GFA has legitimised sectarian bigotry; it has made the supremacist ideology of Loyalism a respectable institution and sanitised it in the eyes of the British public. This has made the unification of Ireland far more difficult. We demand that the participants in this meeting take their responsibilities to todays Republican prisoners seriously, fight for their political status and that Sinn Fein cease imposing severe economic austerity on the working class and the poor, which is bound to exacerbate community tensions.

The Brutality of Maghaberry Strikes Again

By Stiofn Morna 29 May 2011

Is it 1981 or 2011??

We have been getting some more details of the assault on POW Harry Fitzsimmons. Harrys cell was entered by the riot squad, there had been no confrontation, no exchange of words, just brutality. His glasses were smashed into his face with such force that Harry believes there may be glass in his eyes, he said it is definitely in the multiple lacerations in his face, the thugs held him while others punched, kicked and tore his clothing from his body. When they completed their mission they left Harry lying wracked with pain and laughing at him. Harry has been able to relay the story to other POWs and he has told them he thinks he may have some broken ribs as he is having difficulty breathing as well as a broken nose and wrist. Today, Republican prisoners are again subjected to an unjust, oppressive and violent regime. Republican prisoners are again locked up around the clock in their cells, surrounded by their own bodily wastes. That situation has not arisen by accident. It has came about as the direct result of a deliberate policy embarked upon by the British state and the prison authorities with one simple outcome in mind to treat those men in Maghaberry as common criminals rather than acknowledge that they are in prison because of their political beliefs. 30 years ago 10 men gave their lives for political status so that todays POWs wouldn't have to suffer as they did, yet here we are in 2011 with POWs being tortured, stripped and beaten. And not a peep from the great and the good. The ANC speaker here, Ronnie Kasrils, Minister in Nelson Mandelas government, is representing a neo-liberal ANC You won't see or hear of any of this on the news or radio so It's time to take to the streets again and government. The ANC came to power in 1994 with a Keynesian program but after only two years imposed the highlight what's happening in Maghaberry. neo-liberal Growth Employment and Redistribution Strat- As many people as possible need to make their way egy (GEAR). to Maghaberry next Sunday at 3pm, if anyone from Unemployment rose from 16% in 1990 to more than 40%. the Newry area is interested in going send me a It is now back to only 24% and rising again. Inequality in private message so travel arrangements can be income is amongst the highest in the whole world; it is the made. 10th worst country after the likes of Namibia and the Ivory It is our job to support these POWs and their famiCoast. Like in Ireland the rich are getting far richer, the lies and to add our voices to the call for the immedicondition of the working class and poor is growing ever ate implementation of the 'agreement' reached last more desperate. Look at the similarities in the project of August which is now long overdue. the ANC and those of Sinn Fein/DUP in the north and Fine VICTORY TO THE POWs! Gael/Labour in the south and see the future.