In a statement on August 31, Republican Sinn Féin sent solidarity greetings to Linda Nash and Helen Deery who are staging a sit-in at the museum in Derry:

“Every year alongside fellow Republicans and activists we stand in solidarity with the families of the Bloody Sunday victims in their pursuit for justice. On January 1972, 14 people were callously murdered by the British Parachute Regime.

Ever since Provisional Sinn Fein decided to sign the Giveaway our Freedom Agreement (GFA), and capitulate to British Rule, they have traveled down a path of rewriting our history, whitewashing the bloodstained pavements and trying to cover the cracks of this abnormal society. Included in this process was their attempt to end the Bloody Sunday marches despite the fact that there still has not been a single conviction against any member of the British murder squad who carried out the execution of innocent civilians on that day.

Due to the gallant determination of the Nash sisters Linda and Kate alongside other family members the marches continues and likely will continue until justice is reached. Not satisfied with these attempts they have now taken things a step further since the refurbishment and reopening of the Museum of Free Derry, which is run by Provisional Sinn Fein by proxy through its membership, also the involvement of the Bloody Sunday Trust which for all intended purposes is a lame duck who accepted an apology without justice, which in our view is meaningless.

They have seen it appropriate now to include those innocent people killed on Bloody Sunday along with other victims of British murder squads such as Manus Deery, in an electronic memorial with the same people who murdered them, also there are IRA volunteers included on this memorial.

There has been numerous attempts by the Nash Sisters and Helen Deery, sister of Manus, to have this issue resolved amicably, yet every time they tried they were met with silence, until they carried out a petition with a great deal of signatures (over 1,000) reflecting the disgust in the community surrounding this issue. When they presented the petition they were verbally abused and later attacked online by employees of the museum, who used the most vile and disgusting language.

After this a protest was held which seen heated exchanges and really showed the character of the Provisional Proxy Museum. Now Helen Deery and Linda Nash have embarked on a sit-in in protest to highlight the continuation of the disgraceful memorial to British murderers, and are directly challenging those who believe they can change our history and normalise it to suit the political narrative of today.

We at Republican Sinn Fein wish to express our unending solidarity with those who struggle for justice against the British State and we fully support Linda Nash and Helen Deery in their current phrase of protest. We will continue to directly assist in any way we can in the removal of those innocent people from the British Soldier Memorial.”

Take it down!

Republican Sinn Féin
PRO Ulster
Lúnasa/August 31, 2017

Ranganna:[RSF News] Statements