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Successful White Line Picket Held in Cork City

13/07/12

On Saturday June 30th a very successful white line picket was held in Cork city to highlight the ongoing injustices republican political prisoners face on a daily basis. The protest, which was attended by republicans from many organizations including éirígí, was organised by the Prisoner Solidarity Group and brought activists from all over Cork city and county as well as counties Tipperary, Limerick and Clare together to stand united in solidarity with the prisoners.

The Prisoner Solidarity Group was formed in Cork city last January with the aim of holding regular demonstrations in the city and to raise public awareness of the suffering that our political prisoners have to face in this so-called peaceful Ireland.

Saturday’s picket drew much attention from the public, with both pedestrians and motorists expressing their support for the protestors and many people expressing their disbelief that such things are happening in Ireland today. There was also plenty of attention given by the state’s political police force, the Garda Special Branch, who tried their usual bullyboy tactics such as threats of arrest and over-zealous photographing of activists.

Before the protest began, the Gardaí had warned the protestors that if they set foot on the road then they would all be arrested and charged with public order offences, but this obvious act of politically motivated policing was ignored and the protestors called their bluff. The Special Branch and uniformed Gardaí kept a presence for the duration of the protest and at one point a Branchman approached the picket threatening activists with arrest once more, only to scurry back to his car as soon as it started to rain!

Speaking at the protest, Labhrás Ó Tuama of éirígí Corcaigh said, “This is not the first time that the state’s police forces have attempted to prevent republicans from engaging in legitimate and peaceful protest, and I am quite confident it won’t be the last. Like many before us, we in the Prisoner Solidarity Group will not be deterred or intimidated by the actions of these ‘gombeen men’, as Brendan Behan so eloquently described them. Republican activists have always faced Garda harassment and it will only serve to make us even more determined to continue to highlight the issues that have brought us onto the streets of Cork city today.

“Internment, forced strip-searching, psychological torture – these are all actions that any right-minded person would oppose so we will continue to play our part in raising public awareness of the reality of British rule in occupied Ireland and to stand in solidarity with all republican prisoners, whether it is Maghaberry, Portlaoise or Lithuania where they find themselves imprisoned. Victory to the prisoners.”

To keep up to date on the Prisoner Solidarity Group’s activities and to keep informed of upcoming protests, visit their blog at prisonersolidaritygroup.wordpress.com.