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éirígí to Actively Oppose any Belfast RIR March

04/04/11

Speaking in advance of tonight’s [Monday] vote in Belfast City Hall, éirígí’s Pádraic Mac Coitir has pledged that the socialist republican party will actively oppose any British army march through the city.

The Democratic Unionist Party will tonight place a motion before Belfast City Council calling on councillors to back a ‘homecoming parade’ for the Royal Irish Regiment through the city centre next month. In November 2008, hundreds of republicans attended an éirígí-organised demonstration in opposition to a similar ‘homecoming’ event.

Mac Coitir, who is the éirígí candidate for Belfast’s Upper Falls in May’s council elections, said: “The Royal Irish Regiment is a sectarian militia that terrorised nationalist communities across the Six Counties and is now terrorising the people of Afghanistan. These people should be in front of war crimes tribunals, not being feted in the centre of an occupied city.

“The DUP’s bigotry and arrogance knows no bounds. They know the hurt that was caused to the many victims of British state violence the last time the RIR was paraded through Belfast and, now, they want to inflict that hurt all over again.”

Mac Coitir continued: “If the councillors in Belfast City Hall vote in favour of another RIR coat trailing procession tonight, they should be aware that opposition to their latest stunt will not stop there.

“éirígí has shown in the past that it is prepared to actively oppose the British military presence in Ireland and we will have no compunction about doing so again.

“The nationalist and republican people of Belfast are sick, sore and tired of having all the trappings of British imperialism flown in their faces. We will not stand idly by and watch war criminals being paraded through our streets.”

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