It is really only in the last 12 months or so, mostly through the net, that I have become fully aware of the thriving Irish Republican communities which exists both in Glasgow and also in Liverpool, I knew that there was of course Irish there who supported the cause but didn’t fully know or understand the extent of their involvement. However, a young ‘Scouser Republican’, who quite simply but very eloquently described it as “the ones who chose the green” explained all this to me. In anyway this blog is just some thoughts and experiences that I have decided to put down on paper regarding the subject, its only very basic, although I could have kept writing for hours on the subject. Anyway, I have been meaning to do it for quite sometime but being over in Glasgow this weekend and being up the Gallowgate made me determined to do it now, and I hope anybody who reads it goes on further to learn more about the subject.

Over the last year as I have got to know some of the Irish community in England and Scotland quite well, many are young second and third generation Irish, I have become both intrigued by their passion for the cause of Irish Republicanism but also inspired to go and learn and understand more about the contribution made by the Irish Diaspora over the years in England and Scotland towards the fight for Irish self-determination. The big question I had in my head was ‘Why when so many in my own country are ambivalent to the cause are they willing to give up their time, energy, and commitment to something which is so far removed from them?’ I am still not sure I know the answer to this question, but learning about this part of the struggle has been fascinating and personally I think that every person who calls themselves Republican should make the effort to educate themselves about the facts surrounding this hugely significant contribution.

As a youth I was aware that the ‘Troops out movement’ existed and did excellent work in England and Scotland to try and highlight the atrocities and injustices taking place in Ireland through Britton’s illegal occupation, they ran very high profile campaigns all throughout the years of the troubles including protests against the British governments use of ‘Shoot to kill’ tactics in the 6 counties as well as highlighting British injustice regarding cases such as the Birmingham Six and the Guilford Four.

I remember meeting two activists from this movement in the early 90’s when I used to skip of school as a very young youth to go help out in the ‘Anti-extradition’ office down in Mountjoy Square. They were sitting at a table talking to some of the heads of the campaign while I was in the corner helping to fold leaflets and probably missing a Geography class, I remember listening to them talking, in their London accents, talking about the need to ‘Break the current extradition policy being perused by the Haughey government’ and what they could do in England and Scotland to help. The one thing that struck me was despite their accents their devotion to the cause was no different to any of the Irish born activists in the room, and if anything the fact that they were born and living in England and were still prepared to stand up for Justice in Ireland showed even a greater level of dedication. These were people who looked at what was happening in the six counties and decided it was wrong and had to be opposed, they were not forced to do this as comrades were in the 6 counties, they chose to do so, and they did while many in the 26 counties, people in parties like Fianna Fail who describe themselves as Republicans, were prepared to simply stand and observe or even worse through extradition actually collaborate with the British terror system in the 6 counties. In fact it’s only now looking back that I am able to fully appreciate the enormity of the self sacrifice these people were willing to give to bring about British withdrawal from Ireland. They we

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

The recruiting sergeant told me boys, how army life is fine
But he did not mention the mortar bombs or those bloody Claymore Mines!

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

He told me of the German girls; the discos evert night
But the only craic in South Armagh comes from an armalite!

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

Well I've spent some time on the Toombe Bridge line where I thought I knew no fear,
Then a van-bomb parked outside my Lisburn base and brought the barracks in around my ears!

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

So farewell at last to West Belfast: to the Markets and the Falls
I quickly got the message there it was written on the walls
Brits Out!

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

So all you young lads who in England be signing on the brew
Keep well away from the IRA and they won't bother you...

So Auf Wiedersehen to Crossmaglen farewell to Carrickmore;
I've seen enough of Ireland boys and I won't be back for more!
No I won't be back for more!

I have to say the first time that I read the Saint Andrews agreement I thought what a dreadful document, and what possibly was there contained within it which republicans could call positive. It seemed as if we had once again been forced to bow down to Unionism and move to a point where we did not want to go. The idea of joining the policing boards was hard for me to take at the outset. I have to say after I got my hands on it on that Friday the 13th at about 5pm I thought it was truly a day where bad luck had ruled supreme.

So I approached the whole consultation process with something I don’t usually carry about, quite a closed mind. But having read through it a good six or seven times now I am actually starting to be able to lift the positive elements from it, this is something I did not think was possible after the first time I read its contents, but that has changed. As you read it and apply it to the strategic objectives of the party you start to realise that there are indeed positive elements within it, you also start to realize that it is a negotiation process we are in with Unionism and not the negotiation of the final days of the union. And while of course we would all like to see this document as a refection of all our policies we also need to be cognisant that it also must appear reasonable to the unionist community.

I have long held the belief that the control of the lives of Irish people should be in their hands alone, and it needs to be done in partnership with Unionism if the vision of people like Tone and Emmet is to be realised. We wish at all cost to avoid going back to Unionist domination, but we must equally be determined that the Ireland we create does not seek dominance over the Unionist community; it must be an Ireland of Equals. A first important step on the route to this happening is the sharing of power, when divisions are eroded a united people can happen and then a united Ireland. You hear some people talk about the need to kill all huns; this is the antitheses of our vision which is to share this island with them in partnership and united. We should be equally as concerned about poverty in Unionist areas as in Nationalist ones because even if they do not see themselves as citizens of this country we should and should seek equality and justice for all.

And of course, the truth is that an assembly which takes power out of the hands of West Minister and puts it in the hands of Irish men is infinitely better than the current position we face where there is no accountability to an Irish electorate, we want to see an united Ireland but this can be a positive step along the way. Also, I do trust republicans and their abilities to see the creation of the new institutions as a site of struggle and a place to fight in order to move our republican politics forward. I know people see it as a return to Stormont with just another name, but when you look at what is envisaged you will quite quickly see that it is indeed nothing of the sort.

I wrote something similar to this last year, called “From a position of strength” at the time when the army where about to decommission and there was all the worry that we where doing it at the wrong time, or that it shouldn’t happen at all. I argued that the timing was spot on because it seriously had the potential to undermine the position of the DUP and Unionism in general; and of course this is one of the major goals of Sinn Féin and the republican movement. Over the last months I had come to question that position and had thought to myself that I was probably wrong in my analysis at the time. But the last two weeks have shown me that it actually was the right time to do it, it gave our negotiators a clean slate to work off without any other baggage to be dealt with. And it also took away the comfort blanket from the DUP and left them with the stark reality that they could either share power or face joint authority, and it looks like they have chose