Was the selection of Cappagh a Cynical Sinn Fein Ploy?'Provos had hijacked a GAA premises to cynically deflect attention from Sinn Féin’s internal problems'
~SDLP Deputy Leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell~
The selection of Cappagh as host to this year’s National Hunger Strike Commemoration including the ’81 Hunger Strike led by Bobby Sands, is as strategic as it is poignantly symbolic. Strategic in that it can be envisaged as a concerted attempt by Sinn Fein to re-consolidate their grass root Irish Republican support, in an area not averse to vocally showing their disaffection with the party’s recent political decision making on the island of Ireland.
Last year the Sunday World newspaper claimed that members of Sinn Fein were asked to stay away from 1916 Easter Rising commemorations to be held in Galbally and Edendork. According to the newspaper, local people were incensed by an alleged Sinn Fein attempt to dictate the content of graveside orations normally controlled by the independent National Graveside Association (NGA est. 1867). The Sunday World reported that the row was initially sparked by a Sinn Fein representative allegedly demanding that a pre-written statement signed by P. O’Neill be read at the 1916 Easter commemorations in East Tyrone held this year. This incensed NGA members in attendance as they construed the SF demand as a deliberate attempt to undermine the self governing ethos of their organisation.
Furthermore, in an unrelated incident in East Tyrone prior to this row, it had been reported in media circles that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were both asked to leave a prearranged public meeting in Cappagh.
Given these recent heightened tensions in the area regarding the recent political strategy adopted by the Sinn Fein leadership, the fact that Cappagh was chosen may reflect that some of these issues have been internally resolved or is a veiled attempt to do so. Also, it is very doubtful that Sinn Fein would use the hosting of such an event as a cynical and shallow diversionary tactic to simply appease local Irish Republican disaffection. Surely, they would be well aware that such a fool hardy strategy would be quickly sussed by the local Irish Republican community to their detriment. Especially given the historic Irish Republican symbolism encapsulated in East Tyrone and the fact that Cappagh lost one of its own sons, Martin Hurson, during the ’81 Hunger Strike.
Recognition of South Tyrone’s Contribution to the Struggle for Irish Unity
The symbolism of hosting the event in Cappagh can be found by reflecting upon the contribution made by East Tyrone to the political and military struggle for Irish Unity. During ‘The Troubles’, this rural area became the bedrock for the notorious and indomitable East Tyrone Brigade of the IRA. However, this formidable defiance against British presence in Northern Ireland was to come at a heavy toll for the IRA unit and their local community.
Ed Maloney in his book A Secret History of the IRA, recounts that the East Tyrone Brigade lost a total of 53 volunteers during ‘The Troubles’. 28 of these killings occurred between 1987 and 1992. The heaviest single loss of life inflicted upon the IRA unit occurred at Loughgall RUC station on 8 May 1987 (The Loughgall Massacre). A total of 8 IRA volunteers (Loughgall Martyrs) were gunned down by a 24 man SAS unit as they detonated a bomb outside the perimeter of the unmanned RUC barracks. Among the 8 massacred were Jim Lynagh (who devised an Irish adaption of the Maoist military strategy), Patrick Kelly (Commander of the East Tyrone Brigade), Pádraig McKearney (one of the architects of the "third phase" of the IRA’s armed struggle),Gerry O’Callaghan, Eugene Kelly, Tony Gormley and Seamus Donnelly the youngest volunteer at just 19.
Many perceived this largest single killing spree of Irish Republican volunteers by the SAS as the decimation of the East Tyrone Brigade. But the subsequent years this IRA unit would continue their armed struggle undaunted and suffer further casualties in the process. The SAS/NI Security Forces/loyalist paramilitaries were to inflict further causalities in the following years including;
- Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin in August 1988 (SAS)
- Lawrence McNally, Peter Ryan and Tony Doris in June 1991 (SAS)
- NI security forces killed Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent in February 1992
- The nationalist community in East Tyrone also had to contend with the threat from Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) who killed 40 people in the area between 1988 and 1994.
Against this backdrop in a week that witnessed the 40th Anniversary of ‘The Troubles’ it is only fitting that this year’s National Hunger Strike commemoration should have been celebrated in Cappagh!
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