Statement From Des Long (RSF)

DEFENCE MINISTER QUERIED OVER BRITISH RULE

The presence of the Defence Minister of the 26 County
Administration at the Remembrance Sunday ceremonies
in Limerick indicates a new level of subservience to the
interests of the British Crown in Ireland, the locally
based vice-president of Republican Sinn Fein said today.

Des Long from Corbally who is contesting the leadership
of the party at the Ard Fheis next week in Dublin said
that remembering the dead of world wars is all very
well but at present the ceremonies are nothing more
than propaganda for the British Army operating in
Afghanistan and Iraq.

In fact the entire Remembrance event at the Albert
Hall in London could only be described as a rallying
cry for the British forces occupying foreign lands.

The fact that the Defence Minister attended and took
part in the Sunday ceremonies indicates his support
for the British presence in Ireland. He is now on the
same level as the Provisionals who also attend such
ceremonies designed to boost the British Army.

People tend to forget that we live in a partitioned
country and that border is protected and enforced
by the British presence in Ireland.

The Defence Minister must clearly state if he is
now supportive of the British presence in Ireland
because attending such ceremonies sends out the
message that the normalization of British rule is
under way throughout the entire island of Ireland.