A rebel voice
A Rebel Voice - A History of Belfast Republicanism 1925-1972
A soon to be released new book by Belfast historian John Quinn will
pay tribute to those republicans who kept the flame of freedom alive
in Belfast in the years from partition to the early 70s and the
renewed conflict in the north.
The book will look at the period, the people and the political
systems, North and South as it attempts to illuminate the sacrifice
and commitment that so many republicans made in the decades from the
20s to the 60s.
`A Rebel Voice - A History of Belfast Republicanism 1925-1972', tells
a story of struggle, of socialism and republicanism, Catholic and
Protestant.
It highlights the events within Republicanism during the thirties and
forties, a period that many in the Six Counties lack a clear
understanding of.
Many of the stories are told by those few survivors who took part.
They tell of a struggle against the odds, of experiences in jails
North and South - the hunger strikes and prison protests. It covers
the actions of Irishmen in the Spanish Civil War, the Stephen Hayes
Affair, the birth of the Provisionals and the fall of Stormont. It
destroys the myth of De Valera's wartime government being a neutral
pro-Republican regime, and shows that De Valera co-operated with
Britain and took a strong stand against Republicans.
This is a book that will stir debate among those with an interest in
Irish and local history and it will serve to educate both communities
about a period in history that many still do not fully understand or
appreciate.
The launch will be on Thursday 4 March at 1.30pm in the Sean O'Neill
Craft Shop, Conway Street Belfast where some of the main characters
interviewed for the book will be present.
Newry remembers Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday
By Kieran and Gerry Lennon
Published by GB Press, Newry (01693) 61491
Price £3.00 (all proceeds to the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign)
Available from bookshops and newsagents in Newry or by phoning the
number above.
A week after Bloody Sunday an enormous civil rights march was held in
Newry. It was a peaceful expression of anger and defiance after the
murders in Derry. The number who marched that day in Newry would only
be equalled during the hunger strikes in 1981 and Drumcree in 1997 -
arguably the three defining moments of nationalist anger on the
streets.
The march after Bloody Sunday was marked by a real fear that more
violence would be visited on the demonstrators. SDLP MP Ivan Cooper
said at the time: ``[Dublin government Taoiseach] Mr Lynch should
position Irish troops close to the border on Sunday and if any
attempt is made to repeat Bloody Sunday these troops should cross the
border to prevent the slaughter of innocent lives.''
In the event British troops sealed off the town centre, preventing
people from South Down from reaching the assembly point on the
Camlough Road. And so two marches were held that day, one on either
side of the town centre. The main march was estimated at 50,000
strong and it passed off peacefully after being re-routed into the
town's Meadow estate.
This little pamphlet, compiled by two members of the Ancient Order of
Hibernians in Newry, describes the march in Newry that day. It also
contains some of the eyewitness accounts from Bloody Sunday and an
analysis of the Widgery Tribunal into the killings.
It is an excellent little publication.
By Brian Campbell
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)