anti-Agreement

Our Present Fight

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“[Scaoıl] saor Niall Sheerin anoıs”, “Republican prisoners still exist”. Niall Sheerin was imprisoned for seven years for possession of the weapon that police believe was used by the New IRA to shoot Lyra McKee in April, 2019 (BBC). The calls for his release have been prompted by Sheerin reaching the 50% mark of his stretch and becoming eligible for parole. (RN | Fb video of a protest | a Newry billboard (BBC) (previously used for Don’t Forget The Palestinian Children). There is also a large board supporting Sheering in Creggan.

“We must see our present fight right through to the very end – Bobby Sands IRA volunteer”. The quote does appear to be genuine, though its source is unknown, suggesting it was in a Marcella column in AP/RN. An extended version reads, “We must see our present fight right through to the very end. Generations will continue to meet the same fate unless the perennial oppressor – Britain – is removed, for she will unashamedly and mercilessly continue to maintain her occupation and economic exploitation of Ireland to judgment day, if she is not halted and ejected.” (Leave a comment/send an e-mail is you can provide the source.)

The ‘barbed wire’ emblem is from the IRPWA (web) and the ‘sunburst’ from Saoradh (web). The ‘green ribbon’ is a generic symbol of republican political prisoners going back to the ceasefire era (see the Peter Moloney Collection) and the ‘Easter lily’ of Irish republicanism. (There is a small Sheela-Na-Gig/Síle-Na-Gıgh plaque next to the lily, possibly part of Project Sheela (web).) The ‘clenched fist’ is the same fist as appeared in the old (1994) Battle Of The Bogside mural.

Lecky Road, Bogside, Derry

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We Rise!

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The same slogan – “We exist! We resist! We rise!” – has been used by Saoradh (web) in connection with Palestinian prisoners in west Belfast (see Springfield | Andersonstown) but here the accompanying image shows the sun rising on a native American in full headdress holding a spear, mirroring the Gal Gréıne and the pike that are part of the Saoradh emblem. It’s not clear if there is a current campaign around Native rights; in the past Saoradh has expressed support for Leonard Peltier.

Lone Moor Road, Brandywell, Derry

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Support Republican Political Prisoners

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Here are two anti-Agreement boards in Creggan, Derry.

On the east side of Central Drive, along with the boards seen in Stand Up And Speak Out, is a new IRPWA (web) board in support of Niall Sheerin. For background, see Our Present Fight.

The ‘Republican Solidarity With Palestine’ board was previously next to the waste-ground created when the Bogside shops were knocked down. The ‘No RUC’ circle goes back to 2022.

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Liberation

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Saoradh describes itself as an all-Ireland, revolutionary, socialist, republican party (web) with the IRPWA (web) as its “prisoners’ welfare” department and Éıstıgí as its youth wing. The “revolutionary” is perhaps in reference to its (alleged) association with the New IRA.

Brompton Park/Havana Way, Ardoyne, north Belfast

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ONH

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Anti-Agreement armed group Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann split in 2024 (BelTel) with the larger faction following Tony McDonnell (BelTel). Death threats against seven members from the smaller faction (under Sean O’Reilly) were issued and attacks were made in February (BBC), March (Irish News/reddit), and July (Irish News).

The signage seen here is in the New Lodge in north Belfast. On the left are the names of the ten deceased 1981 hunger-strikers, on the right, armed and masked volunteers pose against a background of a vintage picture of the flats (from Getty Images – BBC).

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Continuity, Not Compromise

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The CIRA (Continuity IRA) is the military wing of Republican Sınn Féın (RSF web), which split from Provisional Sınn Féın in 1986, though the military campaign did not begin until the Provisional IRA ceasefire in 1994. Like all of the various IRAs, the CIRA claims to be continuing the fight for (all-island) Irish freedom begun with the 1916 Easter Rising – the board (above) commemorates the centenary of the Rising.

To the left is a slightly newer RSF board: “Stop the extradition of Liam Campbell now – don’t hand him over, don’t play England’s game”. Campbell was extradited from the Republic to Lithuania in 2022 (BBC) but was returned to Ireland later the same year when a court ruled the statute of limitations has expired (RN).

The CIRA’s armed campaign is represented by the hooded gunman in the ‘warning sign’ below.

Also included (last below) is a small IRSP (web) stencil.

The pieces are in the adjacent Meadowbrook and Drumbeg areas of Lurgan.

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Newry Supports Palestine

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Here are two IRSP (web) boards and one IRPWA (web) board at Camlough Road on the edge of Derrybeg, Newry. Above, “Stop the genocide – Newry supports Palestine” (Teach Na Fáilte is the IRSP’s ex-prisoners division – Newry Fb); immediately below, “For a socialist republic – ‘He was the only one who truly understood what James Connolly meant when he spoke of his vision of the freedom of the Irish people’ – Nora O’Connolly O’Brien on Seamus Costello”; last below, “End internment – Portlaoise, Maghaberry, Hydebank”.

October:

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Empower Your Community

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Here are IRSP (web) and RNU (Fb) signs side-by-side in Bishop Street, Derry, both employing the idea of ’empowerment’. Above: “Empower your community – Join the IRSP, the party of Connolly and Costello”; below: “RNU for the community – support, empower & prosper”.

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Hooded Man

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“Óglach Kevin Hannaway, Irish Republican Army, hooded man. Unbowed & unbroken. Ar dheıs Dé go raıbh a anam.”

Kevin Hannaway died in January (2025), aged 77. In 1971 he was interned (Belfast Media) and subjected, along with thirteen others, to the “five techniques” – deprivation of food/drink and of sleep, subjection to noise, prolonged stress positions, and hooding (WP) – as well as being beaten and dropped out of a helicopter (Irish Times). The ‘five techniques’ were found to constitute torture in 2021 (RTÉ) and the PSNI apologised to the victims in 2023 (BBC | Irish Legal News).

Hannaway remained a republican throughout his life and was anti-Agreement in recent years (BBC). The board in Hannaway’s honour was launched on Sunday July 13th (Fb video). The panels of the board were siezed by the PSNI during a drug raid on a home in St James’s on the 11th but returned the next day (BelTel).

“IRPWA [web]. Republican prisoners still exist! Unfinished revolution. Unbowed, unbroken.”

Hugo Street, west Belfast. For a close-up of the Pearse Jordan plaque on the left, see the Peter Moloney Collection.

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