Wicklow Sinn Féin held their annual 1916 Easter commemoration In Bray on Easter Monday. Over 100 people attended the commemoration which was led by a piper down Bray Main Street to the 1916 garden in the People’s Park in Little Bray.
Proceedings were chaired by Greystones local election candidate Esther Kelly; the Proclamation was read by Anthony Hill from Wicklow Town, and West Wicklow Candidate Aidan Kinsella read the Wicklow Republican Roll of Honour, while Bray Councillor Mick Ryan read the poem from Bobby Sands The rhythm of time. A wreath was laid by Greystones representative Brian Fogarty.
In the main oration, Sinn Féin Candidate Connor Byrne from Kilbride in West Wicklow, said that.
“We can never take the promise of the republic for granted. It is why we remember all of those who struggled in the pursuit of Irish freedom, to remind us of their sacrifice and to recommit ourselves to the republic that they dedicated their lives for and to making their hopes and dreams a reality for this generation and for generations to come.”
Byrne said that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens in government are worsening the welfare of citizens.
“Since taking office the crucial problems pressing down on people have not been solved. Indeed, things are getting worse. The right to secure shelter for citizens and their families has been eroded and chipped away by a housing crisis that has been created and deepened by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
He also expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine “Today as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has now entered its seventh month, the death toll has surpassed 30,000, the majority of which have been women and children. We send solidarity to the Palestinian people. Israel’s slaughter is not a war of defence. It is being executed as a war of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, not only in Gaza, but across the West Bank. We stand with the Palestinian people.
Israel must be held to account for its continuous flouting of international law and its genocide against the Palestinian people. There must be an immediate ceasefire. The Irish government must officially recognise the state of Palestine and enact Sinn Féin’s Illegal Israeli Settlement Divestment Bill.
He also called for a general election “Next week we will see Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Greens, supported by Independents, try vote through another Taoiseach. This should not happen. We need a general election now, so the people can decide who the next Taoiseach will be.
Change is coming. The demand for change is growing. Our responsibility is clear, to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the proclamation. Irish Republicans today are as committed to that mission as those who read that proclamation on the steps of the GPO in 1916 and all of those who strove to achieve its noble aims.
He concluded by saying “Our mission is to build a republic, a united Ireland with social justice and equality as its foundation stone – a fitting tribute to everyone that gave so much for Irish freedom. We have the means, we can do it, let’s do it together, let’s rededicate ourselves to finishing the journey, to finishing the job of building a republic as a fitting tribute to the legacy of all of those who gave their lives,” he said.”
