At the Robert Emmet 1916 Society, Lisnaskea commemoration on Easter Sunday in Rosslea, Independent Councillor Eamon Keenan questioned what has been gained by the Good Friday Agreement and the Peace Process.

Speaking at the monument of Tony Ahern, who was killed in 1973, Councillor Keenan said: “We are now standing here at Tony’s monument almost 30 years into the Good Friday Agreement pacification process.

“What has been gained? Some people will tell us that the Border poll is the answer, but we are waiting almost 30 years for this Border poll, and for the British to surrender to our wants and our needs.

“We are now facing more social and economic issues than we were at the start of the Civil Rights movement 50 years ago. We have more poverty, more inequality, more homelessness and there is still oppressio.”

‘Sovereignty’

The Fermanagh East councillor said some people want to change what he claimed is British oppression to European oppression. He continued: “This is not sovereignty, this is not freedom, and this is not what Tony Ahern and men and women like him fought, died and ended up in jails for.

“We need to make sure that the next generation understands this. We need to make sure that they are educated and organised, and understand that the only way to end oppression is to build towards the ideals of James Connolly and all of the leaders of 1916, which is a 32-county Socialist Republic – a Republic where all the children can be cherished equally. A Republic where the Irish people have unfettered control over their destinies, and a Republic where the wealth and the resources of this island are redistributed equally to the many, not the few.

“This is the best way for us to remember all of our patriot dead, so let’s start building now towards our Republic for the many, not the few.”