The Easter Rising

On the 24^th of April 1916, Easter Monday, Dublin was thrown into disorder and chaos as around 1,200 armed Republicans seized strategic buildings around the city. From the steps of the General Post Office, Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the uprising, read a proclamation that declared Ireland an independent republic. The revolutionaries initially hoped that Irish Republicans all across the island would take up arms in conjunction with the unrest in Dublin, but confusion and poor organization meant that the Easter Rising was an affair that took place almost entirely within Dublin. The British government reacted quickly to this unrest, and after a week of brutal street fighting which saw hundreds of innocent people killed in the crossfire, British rule was restored to Dublin. The leaders of the rebels were marched through the streets as crowds booed and jeered. Tried for treason, the leaders were shot. However, while the British might have killed these revolutionaries, their deaths gave new life to the idea of Irish Republicanism, and by 1919 Ireland would have its independence. The events of this short week in 1916 continue to influence events even now, one hundred years on. In Northern Ireland the Easter holiday lasts from Good Friday until Easter Tuesday, over this long weekend there are celebrations throughout the Republic of Ireland and the Catholic areas of Northern Ireland. The celebrations for the hundredth anniversary of the rising were expected to be especially large. The P.S.N.I also warned of possible dissident Republican attacks during the lead up to this year’s commemorations, although none materialized.

Good Friday

Good Friday was relatively quiet, at least in Belfast, but in the town of Newry some hooded youths decided to try to relive the revolution by stoning some passing P.S.N.I vehicles.

Saturday

In 2013 a group of Orangemen were stopped by the police from marching home along their traditional route because they would have to pass by a Catholic neighbourhood. This seemingly small act caused huge outcry among the Loyalist community, and the Orangemen decided that they’d not just give up and let the parade’s commission tell them when and where they could march. Since then they have marched every night and every Saturday afternoon to protest what they view as the attempt by the parade’s commission to infringe on their freedom of assembly at the behest of “intolerant nationalists.” So they march, day after day, and day after day they are greeted by a wall of armoured cars and police officers who force them to follow the parade’s commissions’ instructions and prevent them from reaching the Catholic area. On Saturday I followed these Orangemen during their parade, starting at the Shankill Road Orange Lodge and ending at the usual police barricade. The march was surprisingly low key, the Orangemen marched silently through a Protestant neighbourhood that seemed largely uninterested in what they were doing.

Orangemen March on the Shankill

Orangemen March on the Shankill

As we approached the Parade’s Commissions’ ‘line in the sand’, the P.S.N.I Land Rover that had been acting as point man for the march peeled off down a side street to our right, blocking all movement down that way. The Orangemen kept pushing forward towards the Crumlin Road, their ultimate goal, all that seemed to lay in front of them now was a small hill. Our little company began their ascension, but as we neared the summit the white roofs of the P.S.N.I Land Rovers waiting for us at the top came into view. There were four or five armoured jeeps parked on either side of the street, with a wall of green coated officers standing between them. 

Orangemen Face the "Thin Green Line"

The Orangemen stopped right in front of that thin green line, once again the parade’s commission would have its way, but these marchers weren’t finished yet. One of them pulled out a camcorder and tripod, formed their own line in front of the police. 

Orange Line

One of the Orangemen brought out a microphone, “I’ll be celebrating the Easter Rising, the true Easter Rising, Jesus Christ is risen today alleluia … that is the true Easter Rising” he said. After the sermon a new speaker came out from the crowd, and had a markedly more political view of events. “We do not gather … to cause offence, we gather to highlight the intolerance and injustice that we face.” Claiming that the parade’s commission wants to criminalize them “simply for walking” he stated defiantly that the “protests will continue.” As the colours were trooped away, the Orangeman began to remove their hats, and sang the first verse of God Save the Queen. I’ve attached the entire speech below in case you’re interested in watching it yourself.

Protestant Speech

Elsewhere in Ulster, unrest that would flare up again and again over the course of the weekend began in the county Armagh town of Lurgan. During The Troubles, Lurgan was part of “murder triangle” an area infamous for its high number of sectarian attacks and killings. Today Lurgan is one of the few areas in Northern Ireland where dissident Republicans hold a significant amount of support, and that support shone bright this weekend. On Saturday a dissident Republican colour party marched through the Kilwilkie Estate dressed in paramilitary uniforms and hiding their faces with masks. While they were observed by a police helicopter, the P.S.N.I did not make any attempt to stop the parade, even though it was in violation of Northern Irish law which maintains that all marches must be approved by the Parades Commission before they can go ahead. 

Dissident Marchers in Lurgan (Photo Credits: Clodagh Kilcoyne)

This brazen show of strength by the dissidents, coupled with the P.S.N.I’s failure to respond outraged Unionists. News Letter reported that the Traditional Unionist Voice’s candidate for Upper Bann stated in response to the march: “If this had been a Loyal Order parade the P.S.N.I would have been present in numbers to ensure the letter of the law was observed. Yet republicans have been permitted to put on a show of strength with masked men with no arrests.” Lurgan’s woes didn’t end as day turned into night on Saturday, and in fact they’d only grow worse over the course of the Easter Celebrations.

Easter Sunday

The Easter Sunday parade on the Falls Road was probably the largest parade I’ve ever seen, and while it might not have attracted as many spectators as the Macy’s Thanksgivings day Parade, the turnout was still unbelievable. Ten of thousands stood under the tricolours and green, white, and orange bunting that weaved between the lampposts like a spider’s web. Alongside the tricolours flew the green flag of “D-Company,” West Belfast’s local I.R.A. unit during The Troubles. Before the official parade began, the veterans of “D-Company” marched down from Barrack Street to the local I.R.A Garden of Remembrance on the Lower Falls (There’s a photo of this garden on my earlier Falls Road post.) Dressed in paramilitary uniforms, their little troop was greeted enthusiastically by the audience during their short march. 

 "D-Company" Marches

"D-Company" at Attention

Once they reached the Garden, their spokesman addressed the assembled crowd by saying: "British rule was wrong in 1916 and it is still wrong in 2016. Let no-one tell you any different. We will settle for nothing less than a declaration of independence." “Amhrán na bhFiann,” the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland, and a decade of Rosary in Gaelic were then recited, to the cheers of the assembly. All throughout this, a P.S.N.I helicopter was keeping watch, and when someone in the crowd threw up a drone to get a better view of the parades, a group of men around me starting cheering that the drone was “their air force,” and that it was going to go shoot down the helicopter!

Speakers on I.R.A Memorial

I managed to get very lucky with where I stood in the crowd, somehow I managed to find myself in the same place that the Sinn Fein organizers had decided to put the families of the Republicans who had been killed during The Troubles. Each of them carried a little black and white photo of the son, daughter, wife, husband, or whomever else they lost, it was quite heartbreaking actually. Once “D-Company” had finished their rally, the official parade began. Led by a colour party of men and women dressed in the uniforms of the original Irish rebels of 1916, and carrying dummy rifles from the time, they marched up the Falls towards the Milltown Cemetery. As the colour party passed by the families of those who died they stopped, turned to face them, and saluted. The families then made their way into the parade, and formed a huge party of followers to the colour party. Once they had passed the flute bands came, at least twenty different Republican bands marched in behind the colours, although not all of them were Irish. I saw at least two from Scotland, two American pipe bands from New York, and I even saw someone carrying the flag of the Basque Nations! If you want to watch the parade, I've attached a link to what I filmed.

Easter Rising Parade

 Families of Republicans Who Were Killed

Huge Crowds on the Falls 

 Huge Crowds on the Falls

 Marchers in Period Clothes

Marchers in Period Clothing 

I decided to move with the parade up towards Milltown, and came face to face with the horror of Irish weather; it felt like the conditions went from freezing downpour to scorching sunlight every five minutes. Once the parade finished at Milltown, the crowd shuffled into the Cemetery towards a large stage that the organizers had assembled.

 Milltown Cemetary

Milltown Cemetary 

 Here Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, gave a speech. It’s not the first time he has been at the Milltown Cemetery, he was there when in 1988 a Loyalist named Michael Stone attacked an I.R.A funeral with bombs and a handgun, killing three. Gerry Adams was heavily involved in the Republican movement in the 1970s and 80s, and many of the Protestants I talk to are adamant that he was one of the Provisional I.R.A’s top men during The Troubles. For being an accused I.R.A man his speech was surprisingly supportive of the Peace Process. “Huge progress has been made in recent years. The Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement marked a historic shift in politics on this island. For the first time, the roots of conflict were addressed and a democratic route to Irish unity opened up. But there is much yet to be done” he stated, although he still towed the classic Republican line, accusing the government of the Republic of Ireland of betraying the revolution, and demanding the British “imperialist” government's withdrawal from the North. I’ve attached a link to the whole speech, filmed by Sinn Fein, below (I actually filmed it all myself but you can’t hear a thing because of the wind, so I had to find another recording.)

Gerry Adams' Speech

Back in Lurgan masked Republicans marched again, and the “Army Council” of the Irish Republican Army issued new threats against the security services, and warned that police officers may be targets. The council stated that “The volunteer soldiers of the I.R.A are ready and determined to take the war to the age-old enemy of our nation.” In addition, an ex I.R.A man, Bernard Fox, who survived the infamous 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison told the media that Republicans are entitled to use “any means necessary” to end partition. (Information Credit to the Irish News)

Easter Monday

Tensions in Lurgan reached a peak on Easter Monday, as a huge gathering of around 60 Loyalist bands from all over Ulster prepared to march through the city. I actually watched one of the bands pass by the Clifton Street interface area in North Belfast on their way to be bussed to Lurgan. The police response was unbelievable, with more armoured cars than marchers being present, and officers with rifles guarding each street corner. I've attached a link to what I filmed below.

Unionist Parades

 Protestants might ask why their parades are watched so diligently by the P.S.N.I, while Republican parades always seem to have a minimal police presence, although after the events in Lurgan that morning I can understand why they might have been on their guard.

 Heavy Police Presence at Orange March

Heavy Police Presence at Orange March

 At about 4:30 a.m. a van was hijacked and set alight on the railroad from Belfast to Dublin that passed through Lurgan’s Republican estates, forcing the closure of the trains for 24 hours. When police arrived at the scene three petrol bombs were thrown at them, fortunately no injuries were sustained. The rest of the morning was quiet, and the huge Loyalist gathering, under heavy police guard, passed without incident. However, several hours after the Loyalist parade passed unrest flared up again, with several masked youth’s threw stones and petrol bombs at police Land Rovers, injuring two P.S.N.I officers. Two fifteen year old boys were arrested in response. Youths in Londonderry also threw petrol bombs and stones at police Land Rovers, although there were no injuries or arrests as a result of this. (All information credit to the Irish News)

Passive Aggressive P.S.N.I sign at Londonderry Republican Parade (Photo Credits: Irish News)

Youths Throw Petrol Bombs at P.S.N.I in Londonderry (Photo Credits: Irish News)

Until Next Time!

-Luke van Reede van Oudtshoorn