England, Netherlands & Italy: Republicans remember Bobby Sands

Members of Republican Sinn Féin abroad used the anniversary of Bobby Sands death to take to the streets in support of the Republican Prisoners held in Maghaberry jail and remember the scarifies of the Republican Hunger Strikers. Protests and pickets were held in London, The Hague and Rome.

On May 5, the anniversary of the death of Republican Hunger Striker Bobby Sands, Republican Sinn Féin abroad used the day to remember Bobby Sands and all Irish Hunger Strikers and to shed light on today’s struggle by the Republican Prisoners in Maghaberry as well as the struggle for Irish Freedom.

In London, members of the Anne Devlin/Bobby Sands Cumann RSF Midlands and the Roger Casement/James Stephen Cumann RSF London held a series of protests. Republican activists held banners and distributed leaflets outside Buckingham Palace, Downing Street No 10, Parliament Square, Thames House, and the Horseguards Museum, among other places.

At Buckingham Palace, three activists were detained and charged with “holding a flag in a Royal Park”, as one activist reported to the International PRO. Republican Sinn Féin strongly opposes the derogatory and undemocratic charges put on our members for holding the Irish Tricolour and the Starry Plough. Activists were released after being informed of court summons to face the petty charges at a later date.

RSF picket English Embassy in The Hague

In the Netherlands, members and supporters of Republican Sinn Féin travelled to The Hague to hold a protest outside the English Embassy. The Dutch Republicans held RSF Flags and the Starry Plough. Leaflets showing the faces of the ten 1981-Hunger Strikers and demanding the immediate release of all Prisoners of War were distributed to passer-by.

Bobby Sands remembered in Rome

Exactly 33 years after the depart of Bobby Sands, who died in the English jail of Long Kesh during a 66 days hunger strike, the Italian section of Republican Sinn Féin based in Rome, chose to pay a tribute to his ultimate sacrifice. The event was held during a concert by “Her Pillow”, Italian band merging the classical sounds of the emerald island with a typical 80s rock, made of guitar, bass and drums.

The soiree named “A Terrible Beauty is Dead”, took place in the Villa Pamphilj Theatre at the Scuderie Villino Orsini on May 4, and has been a tribute to Bobby Sands. The event was a musical dedicated to the memory of the Irish Republican, who fought for the freedom of his country from British domination with his poems (written during his imprisonment), and with his ultimate sacrifice.

These poems have proven greatly inspirational to “Her Pillow” band, which have set them to music creating intense and moving ballads. Every member of the audience was given a booklet with a lineup of the concert and a translation of Bobby Sands’ touching poems. In this occasion all participants have also been given by Republican Sinn Féin a leaflet paying tribute to the memory and to the terrible story of this young hero who died on May 5, 1981.

Críoch/Ends.

For confirmation: PRO International Department Republican Sinn Féin, international@rsf.ie, http://www.rsf-international.org

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