THE BIG Republican demonstration Belfast on Sunday 11 August included 116 people from Britain among its ranks. At the rally which followed, Geraldine Egan from Birmingham Trades Council said: 'A growing groundswell of people in England are objecting to what is happening here. We too are struggling for our freedom...and we like you have our chains to break.
*That fight for us starts here, and it starts with getting the troops out of Ireland,' she said. Like other speakers here words were drowned out for most of the crowd by a British helicopter hovering low over the rally.
The delegation included Pat Reynolds of the Irish in Britain Representation Group, Ray Davies from the Rhymney Valley Miners' Support Group, Pam Oldfield from the Notts Women Against Pit Closures, and Lloyd Hayes, a former soldier who was twice stationed in the Six Counties, as well as members of the Newham Monitoring Project, and Socialist Action supporters. In all there were 500 international visitors put up in the homes of nationalists in Belfast that weekend.
On Saturday night we attended a social, with the first song dedicated to the British miners. The last was a chorus of 'Here we go'. As international delegations were introduced, the audience gave its WALLCOL welcome to NORAID was welcomed too.
When we arrived in Belfast on Friday morning bus drivers refused to travel the Falls Road — so we had to walk its half mile. Three armoured jeeps drove by, returning to take the film from someone who had taken a picture of them. While the RUC spoke to us, the British army fanned out in surrounding streets. Sinn Fein explained that this was what 'normalisation' has police do the talking, but they go nowhere without an army escort.
previous night bonfires throughout the nationalist areas to begin the commemoration of internment. In Andersonstown, an RUC jeep arrived at one of them around 1.20 in the morning. They fired two flares to illuminate te area ten sool one man m cae nead will a plastic bullet. BBC headlines next day reported 'Andersonstown man seriously violence'!
On Saturday morning our delegation was taken on я tour of army forts. is visible from most of Belfast flats were knocked down to give it a commanding position.
The rest of the delegation weekend included videos and workshops, including the banned BBO programme Edge of the Union.
• East London Socialist Action is preparing a slide show based on the delegation, march as well as life in the nationalist areas. bookings, write to: PO Box 36, 136 Kingsland High Street, London E8.
Demonstration outside Armagh jail in the Basque contingent.
meant: the unionist lit DeeD after street The largest, Fort Jericho, some high-rise showing the
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