Over 250 republicans paraded through Castlewellan on Easter Sunday on the 99th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.
The parade, which was led by the Longstone Pipe Band, ended at the Republican monument in Lower Square of the town, where the 1916 Proclamation was read by Councillor Naomi Bailie, the first chairperson of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
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Chris Hazzard MLA, right, marches in the Easter Commemoration celebration in Castlewellan.[/caption]
The main speaker at the commemoration was Chris Hazzard MLA and Sinn Féin candidate in the upcoming Westminster election for South Down. He welcomed the supporters at the event and outlined why Easter is a special time in the republican calendar. He said: “In the weeks following the 1916 Rising, hundreds of young men and women joined the growing ranks of the IRA and Cuman na mBan here in Down, inspired by the events of that Easter Week.
“Whilst we don’t face the rigours and heartache of conflict on our streets on a daily basis in 2015, we are as Pearse foretold, never at Peace.
“Republicans today remain locked in a battle with the British establishment here in the North of Ireland, and with a corrupt gombeen elite in the South.”
Alluding to the growing electoral strength of Sinn Féin, Hazzard added: “Not since the historic 1918 election have we been as electorally strong and equipped to take real power in Ireland… we stand ready to challenge the establishment like never before.
“But make no mistake; we are in a battle each and every day. Whether it’s Dublin or Belfast or our own local media here in South Down – we have had to face down vilification and hostility.” He said that “we will not allow our movement and our patriot dead to be criminalised.
“Successive Dublin governments have hollowed out the heart of the 1916 Proclamation – they have stripped away the values embedded in the 1919 Democratic Programme.”
Hazzard said that while the gathering was proud of the memory of republicans who had dedicated their lives in the past, the fundamental question was posed: “Will these fine granite stones and marble of their monument be all that we leave behind in their memory?”
He called on everyone to “believe in their future” and asked them to evaluate their roles. “Ask yourselves are you happy to leave nothing but these fine granite stones for our unborn generations – or do you want to leave for them a free and united Irish Republic?
“Republican activism, loyalty and discipline are as necessary now as ever before.”
Wreaths were laid, by the local Sinn Féin cumann, in tribute to those from South Down, who gave their lives to the republican cause in the area.
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