Statements regarding the recent
Proscription of the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Fein in the United States
The National Irish Freedom Committee
Press Release
July 14 2004
The National Irish Freedom Committee (NIFC) is an U.S. based organization with no foreign principle. It's primary objective is to promote the
Eire Nua (New Ireland) program here in the U.S. Another of its objectives is to lend financial support through Cabhair in Ireland to the dependants of Eire Nua activists who are being harassed and marginalized by the authorities in both parts of Ireland for promoting Eire Nua. A third objective of the NIFC, is to promote our Irish-American cultural heritage here in the U.S.
The authors of Eire Nua, who happen to be members of
Republican Sinn Fein have been denied entry visas by the U.S. government since 1976. This policy has severely hampered the promotion of Eire Nua in here in the U.S. It has left the American public with the impression that their is no alternative to the British authored
Good Friday Agreement (GFA) Despite this arbitrary visa policy, the NIFC will continue to promote Eire Nua as a viable alternative to the GFA.
It regrettable that Republican Sinn Fein (RSF), the oldest political party in Ireland, whose members were the authors of Eire Nua, are now deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. It has a chilling effect on the exercise of the freedoms that we hold sacrosanct and casts a cloud on the sacrifice of those who died to preserve those same freedoms.
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US State Department McCarthyism
Press Release
Republican Sinn Féin, Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street,
Dublin 1, Ireland
Statement by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, President, Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin is a separate and distinct political organisation dedicated to the national liberation of Ireland. It has no military wing nor is it the political wing of any other organisation.
The US State Department, which has been notoriously pro-British over the decades, in its current report says that Republican Sinn Féin is an alias for the Continuity IRA. This is a blatant misrepresentation and an attempt to brand a long-standing Irish Republican organisation as a candidate for the latest bout of McCarthyism under the cover of
the recent
Patriot Act enacted since September 2001.
It also seeks to repress legitimate opposition to the
Stormont Agreement and the promotion of the
Eire Nua (New Ireland) alternative to it. The President of Republican Sinn Féin has been banned from the USA for over 30 years and other leading members have been likewise excluded in recent years.
This repression and misrepresentation will not deter our members from their political activities at this time or in time to come.
ENDS
