In memory of Seamus Costello

TRIBUTE TO A COMRADE
by JohnGilligan



The wind it blew cold that October, as I watched the sad cortege depart
And I knew the bright sunshine of springtime, n'er would ease the dead chill in my heart
As I slowly came down from that chapel and we went oh, so slow, to his grave
'twas for us this great lover of mankind, for us always his lifetime he gave

His brilliance shone forth like the morning, as he rose up to champion the weak
And our jailers in the island dungeon cowered when Costello dared all for to speak
For his was the voice of the worker and justice for all was his creed
and he told us "arise in your greatness, and conquer this world full of greed."

Not bigots nor hate can divide us, as we fight for the flag of the free
Not murder nor armies defeat us when we strike out for our liberty
And his voice it came back form the coffin, as I shouldered it close to my cheek
"Go on - ever onwards my comrades - 'til we build up that nation we seek."

"And no power in this world can stop you - the assassin has failed can't you see
And remember as you bury my body, my spirit as always is free.
And I stride along there beside you, as you march on to your destiny
And remember I was willing to trade it, my life for your liberty."

It was cold when we buried that hero, and many's the heart cried with pain
For we knew as we buried our comrade, we'd not see his likes e'er again
But his words seemed to ring in the morning, as we slowly departed his grave
"Remember you were born to be free then, not quisling, not lackey,not slave

And my work in this life was an honour, so take up my struggle with pride
Doing that this cold day is beaten, and I, Seamus Costello, have not died."

Your Parish Under Attack!

Your Parish Under Attack



Crime and Anti-Social behaviour is spiraling out of control in our parish.

Old age pensioners have been targeted for robbery and intimidation. Old people are afraid to go to sleep at night. Thugs have threatened to burn out innocent families. Local businesses are constantly robbed and vandalised. Witnesses have been intimidated and NO convictions have been made.

Its time for the people to stand up and stand united

This is not Limerick or Dublin. Don’t allow a bunch of mindless yobs to take over YOUR parish and run it into the ground.

This is the time to act

- Contact Gardai with any and all information that you have about the local crime wave. Don’t be afraid to report ANY suspicious behaviour in your area to the authorities. You could be preventing a violent crime by doing so.

- OAP’s are being targeted. Keep a close eye on your elderly neighbours. Keep in regular contact with them, and insure them that they are safe, while informing them to take precautions.

- Refrain from any vigilantism. The Gardai are trained and sanctioned to enforce the law. It is your duty as a citizen to report criminal activity to them, and not to take the law into your own hands. If we all work in unison with the Guards, convictions will be made, and this crime wave will be brought to an end.

- Report ALL robberies. Don’t allow the perpetrators to intimidate you or anyone else. All
statements of violence made against individuals or businesses should be reported to the Gardai.

- Remain vigilant and United.


Sinn Féin is committed to making our communities safer for our citizens in South Wexford. To do this, we intend to work with all genuine people and community leaders. Sinn Féin condemns any acts of vigilantism taken against these local criminals. Obviously it is tempting for people to want to defend their families, but remember, these scumbags want you to respond to them with violence so that they may justify their actions. The correct thing to do is to co-operate with the Gardai, and to testify in court against these people.


Our Fight is Your Fight

The divided Left

Richard Boyd Barrett has wrote an incredible piece in the current issue of Village magazine, which has already been picked upon by An Phoblacht.

As An Phoblacht correctly pointed out, Barrett, like many who write for the middle class read Village, has been less then kind to Sinn Féin. He even managed to out do his intellectual left friends by getting "Sinn Féin" and the "devil" in the one sentence.
Barrett goes on to state that certain groups such as people before profit have "
principles that don’t bend with every passing wind", and "they opposed the neo-liberal economic model when was it was neither profitable nor politically fashionable to do so". Prehaps it wasn't fashionable to oppose the policies of the Tiger/Greed economy, but, as Richard Boyd barrett well knows, Sinn Féin led the way in opposing it.
Barrett admits that, "the Left has its failings – the biggest of which is being too divided and failing to communicate its message in a language that ordinary people can understand.

Mmmm, lets see if we can address that.
Maybe the Left is divided because Mr Barrett and his University educated defenders of the working class can't get through one article in a poorl;y circulated elitist magazine without attacking the largest alternative left party in Ireland today, Sinn Féin.
And maybe the ordinary people cannot understand your message Richard, because you have little, if anything, in common with them.
The elitist, so called intellectual left have been the sole cause of our failure to gain a true workers republic. The people do not want to be talked down to by a bunch of snobs who have no real electoral support, and who could NEVER enter government without being brought in as minor partners with a larger Left wing party such as Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin are well known in the working class estates of Ireland, because most of us LIVE in them. This is not a weekend game for us, its life. We are engaged in trying to build a better country for our friends and family. The elitists want to help the poor downtrodden proles, who wouldnt be welcome in their driveways, yet alone their homes.
Remember what the last great elitist left party, the workers party, used to call building labourers and shop workers? The Lumpenproletariat. A phrase used to signify a group that they felt were "counter reactionary" and unfit to serve the cause of a workers republic. Ironic, the fact that they were the workers!
Sinn Féin don't believe in the lumpenproletariat. We believe in the people. We are a vessel for the people to reach their true destiny, as laid down in the 1916 proclaimation and the 1919 democratic programme.
We don't worry about minor things like wheather or not Stalins views were better than Trotsky. We don't care what Richard Boyd Barrett thinks of the Irish left. We just don't care. The only thing we do care for is the welfare of the Irish people.
Sinn Féin is the only true peoples party in Ireland. Fact.