Every Easter the Irish National Association in Sydney organises a commemoration ceremony for three centuries of struggle by martyrs and patriots for Irish independence and freedom . From the 1798 Rebellion through to the 1981, Bobby Sands and H-Block martyrs who starved themselves fighting British imperialism in Northern Ireland, all are remembered and revered.
The H-Block martyrs memorial tablet at Waverley
This year’s meeting was no different with messages and attendees from state and local government ALP politicians, the Irish National Association and importantly from Sinn Fein. Speakers acknowledged the links with Australia through the role of Michael (the Wicklow Chief) and Mary Dwyer (who are buried in the memorial) and the escape in 1876 of six Fenians aboard the whaling ship Catalpa to the USA.
While Ireland gained a degree of independence following the Easter Rebellion, it was as a British dominion with only 26 of the 32 counties with a Governor-General. The British kept 6 northern counties as part of the United Kingdom. According to the Sinn Fein spokesman, full political and economic union of all the parts of Ireland is the task ahead.
The Irish peoples experience of 800 years of colonialism and later imperialism by the British crown has formed an appreciation and response of solidarity with other oppressed nations. In recent times, actions against apartheid South Africa and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against the Zionist regime reveal the depth of solidarity by the Irish people.
Contemporary struggles such as Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba and the U.S. war on Iran were raised by speakers providing a rich brew of political thought to flow around the attendees.
The Irish people’s struggle for independence and freedom has been long and tortuous and is not yet complete, yet it can provide lessons for the Australian struggle.
