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Ruairí
Ó Brádaigh 1932 - 2013
 The
death took place on June 5, 2013 of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Patron and
former President, Republican Sinn Féin.
Ruairí
Ó Brádaigh was a towering figure of Irish Republicanism in the
latter half of the 20th century. He came to embody the very essence
of the Republican tradition, setting the very highest standards of
commitment, duty, honour and loyalty to the cause of Irish freedom.
Since 1950 he served at every level of the Republican Movement, and
from 1956 took on the onerous responsibilities of national
leadership with only a short interval, up to the present day. Ruairí
was a man of immense capability both as a politician and as a
soldier. He holds the unique distinction of serving as President of
Sinn Féin, Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and from 1957
to 1961 as a TD, representing Longford/Westmeath.
At critical junctures in the history of the Republican Movement,
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, along with his close friend and comrade, the late
Dáithí Ó Conaill, manned the gap against the forces of reformism who
sought to convert a revolutionary movement of national liberation
into a mere constitutional political party, first in 1969/70 and
once again in 1986.
For
Ruairí the essential principles of Irish freedom were clear and
marked the political course to be followed.
He dismissed any cult of the personality, warning always of the
inherent dangers of following merely the man or woman over the cause
of Irish national independence.
At a time when our sense of identity is being steadily eroded, when
our people are discouraged from taking pride in their history or
culture Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was a tireless champion of the Irish
language viewing it as the cornerstone of our unique identity as a
nation.
Like
Pádraig Mac Piarais he believed in an Ireland that was: not only
free but Gaelic as well; not only Gaelic but free as well. As an
Irish Republican he believed passionately in Theobald Wolfe Tones
vision of substituting the denominations of Protestant, Catholic and
Dissenter with the common name of Irish man and Irish woman.
He played a leading role in formulating the ÉIRE NUA proposals for a
four-province Federal Ireland, which was based on the principles of
true decentralisation of decision-making with full particatpory
democracy involving all sections of the Irish people as trust
founders of a New Ireland. Such a democratic template would provide
the Unionist minority with a New Ireland with real political power
and decisionmaking. He was among the Republican leaders who met
representatives of loyalism and unionism at Feakle, Co Clare in 1974
and later strongly supported the MacBride/Boal talks, which were
eventually sabotaged by a 26-County Government Minister.
Such
was Ruairi’s commitment to the principles of a non-sectarian and
pluralist Ireland that he and Dáithí Ó Conaill stepped down from the
positions of President and Vice President respectively of Sinn Féin
when ÉIRE NUA was dropped as a policy document to further the agenda
of a reformist clique operating within the Republican Movement in
the early 1980s.
For
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh there could be no temporising on the issue of
British rule in Ireland. Drawing on the lessons of Irish history he
recognised that it constituted the root cause of conflict and
injustice for the Irish people. In opposing the 1998 Stormont
Agreement he rightly viewed it as a flawed document serving only to
copper-fasten British Rule while also institutionalising
sectarianism, thereby further deepening the sectarian divide.
Ruairí
Ó Brádaigh’s analysis has since been borne out by a number of
independent studies which have shown an increase in sectarianism in
the Six Counties in the years since 1998. The economically and
politically oppressed and partitioned Ireland is far removed from
the vision of a New Ireland, which inspired Irish Republicans such
as Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.
In
an introduction to the biography of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh written by
Professor Robert White, the journalist Ed Moloney described Ruairí
as the last, or one of the last Irish Republicans. Whilst the
tribute was well intentioned the case is quite different. It is
because of the life’s work of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh that he is not the
last Republican but has rather ensured the continuity of Irish
Republicanism, passing on the torch to succeeding generations.
We in Republican Sinn Féin are proud to remember him as our
President and later our Patron, as a man of great intellect, coupled
with great humanity and empathy for the oppressed both in Ireland
and internationally. We salute his memory and pledge our resolve to
honour him by continuing his work, guided by the same principles and
maintaining the same high standards of integrity, truth and that
marked Ruairí Ó Brádaigh as man and patriot.
We extend our profound sympathies to his wife Patsy, and the Ó
Brádaigh family.
Ar
dheis dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Des Dalton
Sinn Féin Poblachtac
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