Press Release

Cló Saoirse publish Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 1

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, former President of Sinn Féin, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Republican Army and TD representing Longford/Westmeath, died in June 2013. He was one of the most influential figures in Irish Republicanism for more than half a century. To honour this Irish Revolutionary, Cló Saoirse /Irish Freedom Press publish Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 1, 1970-1986.

Sinn Féin Poblachtach President Des Dalton called Ruairí Ó Brádaigh “a towering figure of Irish Republicanism”, Henry McDonald writing in the Guardian characterised him as “an icon for a new generation of hard-line republicans”, for his biographer Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was simply “the last Republican”, and IRA-Volunteer Dolours Price just called him “’Ruairí’ as he calls me ‘Dolours’.” At the same time, he is one of the most controversial figures of 20th Century Ireland. Ruth Dudley Edwards compared him with Robbespiere, writing in the Irish Independent: “Like Robespierre, Ó Brádaigh was incorruptible, utterly rigid and thought terror intrinsically virtuous when employed on behalf of the republican ideal. [For him] maintaining ideological purity was more important than human life.”

While holding leading positions in the Irish Republican Army for more than 60 years since the 1950s, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was not just a soldier, a Volunteer of the Irish Republic. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was a thinker, a speaker, a writer, and a politician.

To honour Ruairí Ó Brádaigh’s theoretical contribution to Irish Republicanism and to honour Ruairí Ó Brádaigh as a revolutionary politician, Cló Saoirse/Irish Freedom Press will publish Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 1, 1970-1986 (ISBN 0-9545791-3-5). The book is edited by historian Dieter Reinisch, Researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and author of Cumann na mBan: 100 Years Defending the Republic (2014). It includes an Introduction by Prof. Robert W. White of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the author of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary (2006) and Provisional Irish Republicans: An Oral and Interpretive History (1993).

The writings included in this volume span the period when Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was member of the so-called Provisional Irish Republican Movement and President of Sinn Féin (until 1983). This was a crucial period in the life of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, the Republican Movement and Irish history. The period is encircled by two important splits in the Republican Movement, the formation of the Provisional Army Council (1970) and the formation of the Continuity Army Council (1986). Consequently, the Volume starts with the programmatic What is Irish Republicanism? (1970) and ends with Ruairí Ó Brádaigh’s speech at the Sinn Féin Ard-Fheis in 1986 before leading a historic walk-out.

In the 16 years between these historic events, Ireland witnessed the heights of the War in the occupied 6 Counties, the formulation of Éire Nua, the Hunger Strikes of 1980/81 and the introduction of the Armalite and ballot box strategy. All these events are mirrored in this volume.

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 1, 1970-1986 is published by Cló Saoirse/Irish Freedom Press in November 2014. A book launch will be organised in early December. The book is € 15,- for pre-orders until 31 November 2014 and on the night of the book launch. Successive volumes will be launched each year in the autumn. Thus, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 2, 1987-2013 will be launched at the Sinn Féin Ard-Fhéis in November 2015.

The first Volume will include approx. 160 pages. It is sold for € 17,- (paperback). A special limited edition will be available as hardback for € 25,-. Bookshops may ask Cló Saoirse/Irish Freedom Press for cost price for the paperback. Special rates are available for public libraries and universities.

The book will be available at the RSF Bookshop in 223 Parnell Street, Dublin and the Ulster Office of Republican Sinn Féin on 229 Falls Road, Belfast. To order, send an e-mail to: irishfreedompress@saoirse.info.

For orders and any further information contact Josephine Hayden of Cló Saoirse/Irish Freedom Press: +353 (0)1 872 97 47 or irishfreedompress@saoirse.info.

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
Selected Writings & Speeches, Vol. 1: 1970-1986
Cló Saoirse/Irish Freedom Press
Dublin, November 2014
approx. 160 pages,
€ 17,- (paperback)
ISBN 0-9545791-3-5

Críoch/Ends.

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