A member of the UK Parliament is the keynote speaker at an event tomorrow commemorating ‘volunteers’ in South Armagh. The ceremony will take place in the tiny village of Mullaghbawn, set in the now picturesque Ring of Gullion, more familiar to students of the Northern Ireland Troubles as the heart of ‘Bandit Country.’ According to one Northern Irish politician, previously the event has included a ‘roll of honour’ for members of the IRA.
Sinn Fein’s North Belfast MP, John Finucane, who is billed as the keynote speaker, is no stranger to the sort of sectarian horror terrorists inflicted on this part of the world. In 1989 his father was murdered in front of him by Loyalist volunteers who broke through his front door and shot his defenceless father 14 times as they sat at their Sunday dinner. Any ‘celebration’ of the exploits of this murderous gang would be foul and inconceivable.
Yet for Sinn Fein and the IRA, celebrating terrorists is merely the continuation of a strategy which sees no contradiction in attending the coronation of King Charles then continuing to glorify the murderers of his British subjects.
Remembering the terrorist dead of Northern Ireland’s troubled past is something of a preoccupation for Sinn Fein.
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