amonn McCann on RSF and Political Legacy of 1916 RSF AUTHENTIC CLAIMANTS TO POLITICAL LEGACY OF 1916 RISING WRITING in the Sunday edition of the Derry Journal journalist and author amonn McCann said that in his view as far as Republicanism was concerned the most authentic claimants to the political legacy of the 1916 Rising were Ruair Br daigh and Republican Sinn F in He said The Proclamation didn t promise a fight to achieve the Republic It proclaimed the Republic as an actually existing entity It is for this reason that IRA volunteers ever since have pledged not to strive for the achievement of the Republic but to defend the Republic already achieved In this perspective a deal which others might see as a step towards the ultimate objective will be seen as contemptible retreat from the struggle In detaching himself from the Provisionals in 1986 because they d accepted the legitimacy of the Leinster House parliament Br daigh stood by the Republic established on Easter Monday Looked at from this angle as legitimate an angle as any other there is no question Mr Br daigh and his followers stand alone in true succession to Easter Week Those of us who stand rights outside the Republican tradition and who take a socialist view also see Easter Week in the perspective of our own politics see its enduring legacy in the fact that it was a blow against the most powerful Empire on earth at the time and regard it as self evident that its spirit is best represented today in the fight against the imperial power of the US ruling class In this view the most egregious betrayal of 1916 lies not in grudgingly taking seats in a partitionist parliament but in cheerfully breaking bread with George W Bush The Sunday Journal also carried an article entitled We re the true inheritors of 1916 Derry Republican Sinn F in on page 4 Plans by the Irish Government to celebrate the 1916 Easter Rising are hypocritical a Derry Republican Sinn F in RSF activist has suggested Derry based spokesman for the movement Richard Walsh says that RSF are the only true inheritors of the historic insurrection and the proclamation of independence He hit out at the 26 County Administration for war crimes against those who believed in the ideals of the uprising during the Civil War He said There has been much talk of late about the legacy of the Easter Rising of 1916 Bertie Ahern has announced plans by the 26 County State to commemorate 1916 with a Free State military parade Let no one forget that it was the Free State Army that executed four Republican soldiers in Co Donegal by firing squad in 1923 as a reprisal for Republican military operations True Republicans commemorate the Drumboe Martyrs at Eastertide every year The Staters were also responsible for many other war crimes such as the Ballyseedy massacre in Co Kerry also in March 1923 where eight Republican soldiers were killed whilst strapped to a landmine by Free State forces miraculously leaving one survivor He added that the 26 County government can not claim ownership to the legacy of the Easter Rising Those who not only betrayed the All Ireland Republic proclaimed in arms at Easter 1916 endorsed by the people of Ireland in 1918 and effectively established by D il ireann in January 1919 but also actively waged war against it can not claim the legacy of 1916 These people continue to imprison Republicans by using the Special non jury Court in Dublin the same building in which Robert Emmet was sentenced to be hanged drawn and quartered by the English on the basis of the opinion of the 26 County police Garda He added that the Republican Movement on the other hand had remained loyal to the Republic of Clarke Mac Diarmada Mac Donagh Pearse Ceannt Connolly and Plunkett and have commemorated the 1916 Rising every year since Those who have maintained this continuity are the true inheritors of the noble ideals of 1916