Glasgow hunger strike march
BY JIM SLAVEN
This Sunday, the West of Scotland 1981 Hunger Strike Committee holds its 20th anniversary march and rally. It is particularly significant for republicans in Glasgow, who recall the dramatic events of April 1979, when a march was held in support of the blanket prisoners.
That march was attacked by a loyalist mob led by Pastor Jack Glass before police refused to allow marchers to proceed into the city centre.
Organisers were later told ``republicans would never march in Glasgow city centre''. Shortly after the march, the three flute bands which took part, the James Connolly, the Billy Reid and the Kevin Barry, formed the West of Scotland Republican Bands Alliance but republicans were still denied access to their own city centre, until now. Of the three original bands, the James Connolly and Billy Reid will finally march the full route. Members of the original committee have played an important role in organising this year's march, as they have in republican activism over the last 22 years.
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