Irish Defeat of the British Brought Hope to Worlds' Oppressed

[Parnella]

I was looking at this wonderful photograph and couldn't help thinking how the defeat of the British tyrannical empire in Ireland by a group of ordinary men, forced into an armed struggle, must have brought hope and encouragement to oppressed and brutalised people everywhere.



Indeed, many selfless men such as Nelson Mandela have expressed their admiration of the Irish who engaged in the armed struggle from 1916 through to the 1990s.

Tom Barry's book "Guerilla Days in Ireland" was adopted by many freedom fighters opposing tyrannical fascist regimes such as the British.

There are many countries (e.g. Argentina) where streets and buildings are named after Irish heroes such as Bobby Sands and many GAA teams worldwide are also named after our heroes.

We do not do enough to pay tribute to these brave men.

Hopefully, when we have a United Ireland and the brutality of the British is only a bad memory, we can celebrate these brave men on Independence Day.

[toxic avenger]

Then they f*cked it all up and turned on each other, committing the kinds of atrocities that even the British would balk at. Plus, killed twice as many.

And, they didn't win, they prevented the British winning, which was different.

[H.R. Haldeman]

Do you people just sit around thinking about this crap all day? Apparently.

[Aindriu]

Do you people just sit around thinking about this crap all day? Apparently.

I agree. This is just as bad as Pogon's sh1te.

[Kiss]

What the ******************** did Bobby Sands do for our freedom?

Thanks, but I do without bombing a sweet shop beside a school at lunch time. Not in my ******************************g name.

[Clanrickard]

Do you people just sit around thinking about this crap all day? Apparently.

No dumbo he saw a picture and he was reminded of a very proud moment in our history. The lowering of the flag of the mightiest empire in the world thanks to the actions of a few brave men and women should stir a feeling of pride in every true Irish person.

[slap_harry]

It was a victory, but not total.

I would agree in principle with what's been said here, if not with how it's been said.

Israel
As I mentioned on another thread, the Israeli paramilitary group called the 'stern gang' owe their inspiration to the struggle for freedom in Ireland. The nom de'guerre they used in communications with the British forces was 'Micheal' after Collins himself. (the stern gang were one of the groups originally armed and trained by the British to help try and keep the Arabs of Palestine under control as the prize in the area was not democracy or 'civilizing' natives, it was the Suez canal - the old divide and conquer tactics which had worked so well for the British elsewhere and is the cause of many conflicts in the world today). With the climax of WW2, the British were not prepared for the sudden influx of Jews heading for Palestine, and in trying to keep their house trained minority as a minority, created concentration camps on Cyprus to try and hold the influx of refugees from Europe. Jewish freedom fighters were not only inspired by the actions of the IRA during the war of independence, they were also helped by some. Ex-IRA man Bob Briscoe became a gun runner for the Israelis. You can read more abou that here:
Free Stater: Just for interest: A story of Dev, Bob Briscoe and Israel/Palestine
The IRA had also met with some members of the Jewish freedom fighters in London and had planned a bombing campaign of the city but this was never carried out.



India
Our history in India in relation to their own struggle to free themselves is a long and coloured one. Galway man Thomas Arthur Lally was French Commander in Chief in India who had tried to defeat the British army there as they tried to invade the whole country. Initially, he was successful, but he eventually lost to British forces, who were led by Limerick man Lieutenant Colonel Eyre Coote. He was captain of the 39th regiment when it became the first British regiment to be sent to India in 1754. This regiment was first raised in Ireland in 1689 to defend British interests.

India’s first woman magistrate was Margaret ‘Gretta’ Cousins from Boyle, Co. Roscommon. She was a life-time campaigner for women’s rights as well as for Irish & Indian independence. Her militant activism led to her imprisonment in Ireland, Britain and India.
Margaret founded the 'Indian Women's Association in 1914 within a year of emigrating with her husband to India. In 1922 she was appointed India’s first woman magistrate. In 1928 she founded the first 'All-India Women Conference' which is still active today with over 1.5million members and over 500 branches. While still a magistrate, Margaret was sentenced in December 1932 to one year in prison for protesting against the introduction of emergency legislation curtailing free speech in India. While in Vellore Women's Jail she went on hunger-strike in support of Mahatma Gandhi who had also being imprisoned.
After her release in October, 1933 Margaret continued to campaign for women's rights and in 1938 was elected President of the All-India Women's Conference.
In 1949, the Indian government financially compensated Margaret for her imprisonment and activism on behalf of the cause of Indian independence.

Irishwoman Sister Nivedita designed the first Flag of India in 1904. It was a red flag with a yellow inset depicting a thunderbolt and a white lotus

Irish Nationalist and MP (Westminster) for Waterford Alfred Webb became president of the Indian National Congress (INC), the party of Gandhi, Nehru and Bose, 9 years after it's creation. The Irish Home Rule party at Westminster was a prime contributor to parliamentary debates on India. According to author Michael Silvestri, one of the Irish MPs F.H. O’Donnell set up a short lived ‘Home Rule for India’ movement in 1875 known as the Constitutional Society of India that consisted of Irish politicians and Indian students living in London. Silvestri even states that there was a failed attempt in 1883 to get Indian nationalist leader Dadabhai Naoroji to stand for Westminster parliament as an Irish Home Rule candidate.

The first full-time all-Indian political party All India Home Rule League was co-founded by Annie Besant in September 1916 modelled on Sinn Féin and the demands of the Irish armed rebels of the unsuccessful Easter Rising of earlier that year. Its set up local branches across the country which organised political demonstrations and meetings. Annie’s clarion call of ‘England’s Need is India’s Opportunity’ echoed the Irish revolutionary ‘England’s Difficulty is Ireland’s Opportunity’ as both tried to take advantage of Britain’s war (WW1) with Germany and its allies. Though born in England Annie came from an Irish family (mother Irish & father half-Irish), was extremely proud of her Irish roots and was an avid supporter of Irish self-rule all her life. When she emigrated to India, she continued her active opposition to Imperial domination and women’s rights.
Interned by the British in 1917, Annie’s ceaseless demands for self-rule led to the unification of Muslims and Hindus into one political independence party. A nationwide popular campaign led to her release and she was elected INC President (the second ‘Irish’ person to be given such an honour) which she transformed into a proper political movement.
“Had it not been for her and her enthusiasm, one could not have seen Mr. Gandhi leading the cause of Indian freedom today. It was Mrs. Besant who laid the foundation of modern India – Dr. Besant was a combination of Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati.”Dr. Raj Kumar (Indian National Congress website)

During DeValera’s 1919/1920 tour to the USA to gain support for the Irish rebellion, he addressed the Friends of Freedom in India in New York and talked of solidarity between occupied nations:We of Ireland and you of India must each of us endeavour, both as separate peoples and in combination to rid ourselves of the vampire that is fattening on our blood and we must never allow ourselves to forget what weapon it was by which (George) Washington rid his country of the same vampire. Our cause is a common cause.”
As DeValera watched from the review stand, the 1920 NY St. Patricks Parade was transformed into a mass demonstration for Indian as well as Irish independence. Indian republicans carried large banners emblazoned with messages such as Up the Republic of India' '315,000,000 of India with Ireland to the Last' 'President De Valera's Message to India: Our cause is a common cause.'
Indians also participated in other Irish freedom marches in Philadelphia and elsewhere in the United States.
The Indian revolutionary ‘Ghadar’ (rebellion) Party founded in 1913 and headquartered at San Francisco released an article which stated "…India has her Sinn Feiners. . . . the Hindu Sinn Feiners today are as influential as the Irish were in the days of Robert Emmett…”
Sure isn't India's flag green white and gold.

When I get a chance, I'll add some more to this thread (I do like my history).

[H.R. Haldeman]

No dumbo he saw a picture and he was reminded of a very proud moment in our history. The lowering of the flag of the mightiest empire in the world thanks to the actions of a few brave men and women should stir a feeling of pride in every true Irish person.

lol. OP "saw" the picture? Where, on the side of a bus or the front page of the Indo? You fuc**ing muppet. OP sought out the picture because he/she spends her days masturbating over stories and pictures of dead rebels.

And as usual, I reject utterly your fascistic attempt to decide who is and who is not a true Irish person. Who the f**k are you to decide such a thing? This shows what a sham your "republicanism" is. A government of the people, for the people, by the people (as long as they are ideologically pure). Pure jackboot stuff.

Seriously, you should just go back to bombing people you disagree with, at least there's some straightforward honesty to that.

[Aindriu]

What the feck is it doing in the nordie forum anyway? When I last looked they were still part of the UK

[markeys]

Whats gives hope to people world wide is that the Irish people never surrendured their freedom to the IRA.
At the barrell of a gun, they refused to be bullied into something, and refused to have their fellow country men be bombed into something they had no say in. For decades they resisted the bombings and shootings, the murders and kidnappings, the threats and the use of force by the IRA.

The people would just not give in! This is what gives people hope world wide. They see that the Irish never gave up their freedom to people who use guns and bombs. They never abondoned the right to have their vote count, and to be counted. It inspires millions worldwide to this day, to continue to resist minority armed groups that go directly against the will of the people for their own selfish aims.




They completly and utterly rejected the position and methods of the IRA. They rejected the UFF. They rejected the UVF. That was the victory for the people. They never allowed minority armed groups to dictate to them what they should and should not do.

Thankfully the IRA recognised that the majority of the people must always be allowed make the democratic choices that they want. Anything else is terrorism.

That position of the people still holds true today, as it did 10,20,30,60... years ago. The will of the people cannot be trampled upon, no matter how many bombs you set off.

Unfortunately there is still a minority today that seek to force a United Ireland by means of force. They remain the greatest impediment to a United Ireland. If only they would also recognise that nothing but the vote of the people is what can bring a united ireland about then we truly would be making progress.