AN APPEAL

FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT

FOR THE

SUFFERING DEPENDANTS OF

 IRISH REPUBLICAN POLITICAL

 ACTIVISTS

IMPRISONED OR

OTHERWISE MARGINALIZED

FOR THEIR

SUPPORT AND PROMOTION

OF THE IRISH DRAFTED

EIRE NUA (NEW IRELAND)

POLITICAL FORMULA;

A FORMULA THAT SETS FORTH

FAIR AND REALISTIC

 PROPOSALS

FOR ACHIEVING

A JUST AND LASTING PEACE

IN IRELAND

THE PLIGHT OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS

Since the partition of Ireland by the British in 1922, Irish Republican activists who continue to struggle for a reunited Ireland are targets of draconian legislation and criminalization policies by the authorities in both the British occupied six counties and in the twenty-six county Irish Free State.

The Special Powers Act of 1922 promulgated by the British in the occupied counties was later matched by the authorities in the twenty-six county Irish Free State with the equally repressive Public Safety Act, known today as the Offenses Against the State Act. These repressive Acts provide for arrest without warrant, interrogation without legal counsel, denial of the rights to remain silent, non-jury courts, and the suppression of the rules of evidence.

This perversion of justice set in motion a seamless conveyor belt of injustice that ensures the confinement of republican activists who promote the Eire Nua (New Ireland) political formula. Eire Nua is an Irish crafted political formula designed to bring a just and lasting peace to Ireland as opposed to the 1998 British formulated Good Friday Agreement (GFA) that copper-fastens the partition of the Irish nation.

Inside prisons in both states, republican activists continue to resist criminalization policies while demanding their rights for political status. Their demands include; 1) segregation from pro-British death squad members, 2) recognition as a political group, 3) the right to appoint a spokesperson to represent the group, and 4) a separate wing or landing.

Their struggle for political status has resulted in enormous sacrifices including torture, isolation, and hunger strikes resulting in death. Their dependants have been used by authorities in both states as pawns to exert maximum pressure on activists to accept criminalization.

As a result of constant police harassment at homes and places of employment, political activists and family members are being ostracized and marginalized in their own communities. As an added burden, political activists appearing before non-jury courts are subjected to arbitrary bail conditions that inflict severe hardships on their dependants. These arbitrary bail conditions are tantamount to a virtual state of imprisonment. All of these malicious tactics are designed to silence the voice of Eire Nua proponents, who are viewed by the ruling elite in both states as a threat to the status quo; hence, a threat to their own privileged lifestyles

INTERNATIONAL VERDICT

Below are findings of various investigations and enquiries concerning the use of draconian laws and tactics used by the British and Irish authorities against political activists engaged in promoting the freedom and reunification of Ireland.  

The following references are taken from 'Outlines of History" by Professor Seamus Metress 

Amnesty International Report July 2000 - Amnesty International is urging the UN Human Rights Committee to scrutinize emergency legislation, fair trial issues and police investigations during the examination of the second periodic report of Ireland on 13 July in Geneva. Amnesty International draws the Committee's attention to various provisions and practices which are in contravention of the internationally recognized rights to life, to fair trial, to liberty, and to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 

Amnesty International, 1994 – details the chief aspects of army collusion with loyalists armed groups in the planning and execution of political killings. 

Amnesty International, 1991 – documents new cases of ill-treatment of prisoners, violation of rights to fair trial, collusion between security forces and armed groups and killings in disputed circumstances. 

Amnesty International, 1988 – documents concerns about killings in disputed circumstances and the use of paid perjurers to convict. 

Bennett Report, 1978 – a British government report documenting mistreatment of Irish political prisoners. 

Amnesty International, 1978 – reaffirmed and presents new evidence of use of systematic torture by authorities in northeast Ireland. 

European Commission on Human Rights, 1978 – found the British government guilty of the torture of Irish prisoners  

Amnesty International, 1972 – reported systematical torture by the British in northeast Ireland.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

 The NIFC's undertaking to lend financial support to the dependents of political activists being penalized for promoting the Eire Nua program is an obligation inherent in its founding principles as espoused by Wolfe Tone i.e.,

To unite the whole people of Ireland regardless of religious conviction and

To break the connection with England, the never-ending source of all political evil.

In order to meet this obligation, the NIFC will support the aforementioned dependents through Cabhair in Ireland. Cabhair is a charitable organization that has been in existence for many years supporting the dependents of political activists throughout the thirty-two Irish counties who subscribe to Tone's dictum. You can help them by any of the following means:

Monthly Sustainer program.

The Sustainer program operates on the pledge principal, whereby, donors pledge a monthly contribution; the amount to be decided by the donor. Refer to the insert (coupon book) for additional details

Pennies/ nickels in a jar. 

Deposit your pennies and / or nickels in a jar in your home. Additional jars may be placed in other locations of your choice.

Annual Contribution.

In lieu of contributing through the Monthly Sustainer campaign you can make one annual contribution.

Your contribution will be greatly appreciated by those victimized dependants. The NIFC will absorb all operating costs so that all monies raised will go to the dependants through Cabhair.