Join 32csm

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement is currently recruiting in the Sligo and greater Connaught region,if your interested in joining contact 32csmconnaught@gmail.com or joinus@32csm.info

32csm wolfe tone commemoration

Unemployment in the North West

Unemployment in the North West
Recent figures released by the government show that unemplyment across Ireland has now hit 15%. Unemployment rates are highest amongst young males aged 18-25. Nearly half a million people are now on the dole. The North West suffers from a proportionally higher degree of long term unemployment than the rest of the country. This is due primarily to long term neglect of the region by successive governments who failed to invest in infrastructure or jobs creation. Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim all now have thousands of people who have little prospects of finding employment in the near future. These people are treated by the government and media as a problem. Their benefits are constantly attacked and business lobby groups advocate cutting them further as an "incentive to work".
The reality is that the people on the dole would rather be employed and earning a steady wage. They are not the problem.Rather it is the billions of euros being pumped into pointless banks to pay off private debt that is the problem. The government can always seem to find more money to support the bankers yet when it comes to helping the unemployed their strapped for cash! The government promised that it would introduce job creation programmes. This has not happened in any satisfactory manner. The 32 County Sovereignty Movement supports the rights of the unemployed and we regard it as essential to organize against further cuts. We urge anyone on the dole who wishes to promote the interests of the working class against the IMF agenda to contact us and help organize campaigns in their area.

Sligo 32csm condemn Government u-turn

Sligo 32csm condemns government u turn on cancer services
The 32csm in Sligo is disgusted at the continued failure of the government parties to live up to election promises made to the people of the North West region. During the election both labour and Fine Gael candidates stated that they supported the retention of cancer services in Sligo general hospital. Fine Gael td John Perry announced that within the first 100 days of the new government being in power cancer services would be returned to Sligo. This has not happened.
The 32csm has fully supported the save our services campaign. We believe that universal socialized healthcare is what the people of Ireland deserve. The current system of public-private coexisting is an unfair and unequitable system. The level of care that people receive should not be dependent upon whether or not they can afford overpriced private health insurance. We call on the government to stick to its promises and to keep these services in Sligo. If they maintain their current stance then pateints across the North West will be burdened with 8 hour round trips in some cases to receive chemotherapy. This is an extra burden that people suffering from the effects of cancer can not afford.
The 32csm stands by the people of Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim and elsewhere in calling for these services to be returned to Sligo general hospital. We call for an end to the private system taking precedent over the public good. We will not stop in our fight to ensure that the people of the North West are treated efficiently and humanely in their hour of need.

32csm condemn Tom Elliot's statement

32csm Condemn Tom Elliot’s Remarks

The Ard Comhairle of the 32csm wish to condemn recent remarks made by Tom Elliot, the leader of the UUP. Mr Elliot in the past week has called on Owen Patterson to revoke the licence of ex POW and 32csm member John Connolly. This comment came in the wake of John attending an anti-royal visit protest in Dublin. At the protest two masked members of the crowd burned a Union Jack. John was not involved in this incident, nor did the Gardaí arrest the individuals who burned the flag. Despite these facts Mr Elliot regards John’s presence at a republican protest as sufficient reason to have his licence revoked.

This is not merely a repetition of Tom Elliot’s familiar anti republican rhetoric. Rather we see this as a further step in a sinister pattern that has resulted in a number of ex POWs either being imprisoned on trumped up charges or having their licence revoked due to their political stance. In the past two weeks another of our Ard Comhairle members, Marian Price, had her licence revoked for attending an Easter commemoration in Derry. In the same week two members of Republican Sinn Fein were charged under obscure legislation of "supporting terrorism" for stating in an interview that they supported the right of republicans to engage in armed struggle.

Mr Elliot referred to Marian as a terrorist and justified her internment on those grounds. Given his own lengthy involvement in the UDR who colluded with Loyalist paramilitaries surely he himself qualifies for similar treatment?

This latest statement is not merely a publicity stunt; rather it is an open call for internment and political censorship. John Connolly was released in 2007. He is a well respected community activist and an unashamed republican. Tom Elliot is in effect calling for all ex POWs opposed to the GFA to be interned for their beliefs. Given the case of Martin Corey we do not think that this is mere hyperbole but rather a very distinct strategy being utilized by the British administration in an attempt to silence republicans. The 32csm stands fully behind John and his young family as well as all of the republican ex POWs that Tom Elliot is trying to intimidate and censor. We send solidarity greetings to Marian, Martin and the other republicans imprisoned in Maghaberry for refusing to abandon their beliefs. We urge all republicans to support these individuals in any way they can.

Ard Comhairle
32 County Sovereignty Movement

POW savagely beaten in maghaberry

Latest from Maghaberry:


Update on POWs : It is being confirmed by Republican POWs in Maghaberry prison, that Harry Fitzsimons has received a severe beating by the riot squad.
They went into his cell this morning, holding their hands over his mouth and nose to stop his breathing, punching his face until they broke his glasses cutting his face and leaving him with a suspected broken nose.
Another POW said he's unrecognisable, having a suspected broken wrist and broken ribs due to the severe punching to his body.The screws then brutally ripped every stitch of clothing off his body, then got on top of him and beat him as he screamed out in pain.
The other POWs said they didnt even recognise the voice. other updates will follow.

Sligo 32CSM Oppose Royal Visit

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Sligo and the North-West would like to register our opposition to the recently announced Royal visit in May. We oppose this visit on a number of grounds.

The queen is the commander in chief of the British armed forces, 5000 of these mercenaries currently occupy the six counties. She is a symbol of British imperialism, an ideology that has caused suffering around the world and which continues to inflict unforgivable atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan. This visit also comes amidst the worst economic downturn to ever affect this country. As 1000 people emigrate each week due to the economic circumstances the government is planning to spend at least 8 million euros for this royal visit. They could not afford to protect Sligo's cancer services or invest in the North West yet there is plenty of money available to ensure the queen is kept in luxury during her visit to the former colony!


We urge all republicans in Sligo and the North West to register their opposition to this visit and to work together to ensure that the queen is left in no doubt that she is not welcome here.
Beir Bua

Easter Commemeration

IMF Not Welcome in Ireland.

32 County Sovereignty Movement.

IMF not welcome in Ireland.

The confirmation that the Free State government is seeking aid from the International Monetary fund and the EU is a grim development in what has been a catastrophic two years for the Irish people. Incompetence, greed and corruption have destroyed the Free State’s ability to manage its own affairs and so with begging cup in hand they have crawled to the IMF.

The 32csm wishes to make clear that the IMF is not welcome in Ireland. Their track record has been one of attacking the working class to preserve the ruling class wherever they have intervened. Make no mistake there are plans being put in place to attack fundamental rights of workers in the 26 Counties. The minimum wage, social welfare and education for working class people are all going to be altered so as to facilitate the process of "recovery". We are calling now on the Trade Union Movement to fight back and to fight back ferociously. The leadership of these bodies have failed to protect workers and have signed deals to preserve social partnership; deals that are now being torn up with abandon.

Now is not the time for meaningless words about people sharing the burden. The burden must be bore by those responsible for it, the bankers, the political establishment and their apologists. Now is the time for a widespread campaign of resistance and fundamental to this must be a National Strike which brings the state to a halt and shows the government and their neo-liberal allies that the power is with the workers!

It is also imperative to point out that an election called now will be nothing more than a rubber stamp of approval for the IMF and their policies for none of the Parties have the moral courage to take a stand for the Irish people above their own interests. The press conferences called by Fianna Fail are to reassure the international banking system not the Irish people. It is the duty of republicans everywhere to support the people of Ireland north and south in resisting these savage cuts, it is the time for unity and the time to resist!


Beir Bua

Time To Act

32 County Sovereignty Movement.

Time to Act.

After usurping the Declaration of Independence the architects of the Twenty Six County State invoked a sovereign legitimacy to use British guns on fellow Irish people. It continued to invoke this legitimacy to strap Irishmen to landmines, to execute Irish prisoners, to allow Irishmen die on hunger strike and to employ an English hangman to eradicate those who believed that Irish sovereignty does not stop at the border and that our national ethos should be modelled on the Proclamation.
Invoking a sovereign legitimacy it set about rewriting the terms of its own existence, not in accordance with those who defended it as a preamble to national reunification, but as a prologue for establishing a partitionist power base serving sectional interests. When it introduced its Constitution in 1937 it predicated that document on a definition of sovereignty as one which encompassed the whole island and its peoples. It spent the next sixty one years failing to restore that sovereignty culminating in its abandonment in 1998. It abandoned their fellow Irish people in the Six Counties, standing idly by whilst a sectarian gerrymander was allowed to masquerade as democracy.
Invoking a sovereign legitimacy it raised an army and called it Oglaigh Na hEireann. It placed this army on the border to reinforce its view that the Twenty Six County State had a sovereign right to exist. It sent this army into the world as a symbol of its sovereignty and generously referenced their peace keeping efforts, and their deaths, as a glowing tribute to this sovereignty.
Invoking a sovereign legitimacy it raised its own tax and allowed its governments to utilise these funds for party political interests. It allowed its Ministers to feather their own nests and encouraged a political ethos which was solely concerned with satisfying the local constituency. In pursuit of power it placed the Catholic Church and Financial Speculators at the heart of its policy making with disastrous consequences. Those that
opposed such economics were adjured to commit suicide and those who argued for complete Church State separation were marginalized and stigmatised.
And now it stares into the abyss created by its own abject failure to understand what Irish sovereignty actually represents. It has now surrendered the fate of its citizens to an institution whose sole concern is the making of money no matter the social cost. As a state it can neither look back nor look forward to redeem itself. Only its citizens retain the ability to rise above the penury the state has forced them into.
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement calls on all the Irish people to take back their sovereignty. We call on all republican organisations and the labour movement to unite and organise the shutting down of the state. This is not a time for righteous rhetoric or for tinkering with the status quo. It is a time to reach out and effect fundamental change for our people. Partition has failed on both sides of the border. The restoration of our national sovereignty is an essential prerequisite to achieving this change. It is time to act.

Francie Mackey Address 32CSM Ard Fheis 2010

Francie Mackey Address 32CSM Ard Fheis 2010
Chairperson’s Address
Ard Fheis 2010

A chairde, delegates and comrades; we are the spearhead of this struggle. Our innovation, political maturity, our activism and leadership has ensured that this struggle is to the fore in the minds of the political establishment. We are a movement that looks forward and moves forward. We have grasped the nettle of reality concerning our struggle and laid bare the fallacies which have mired it in suspicion and factionalism.

All this we have done because we put republicanism first. We put the objective first. We embraced democracy and married it to our republicanism. We have not cocooned ourselves within restrictive rules or dogmatic history. We took the strength of our argument and brought it to the national and international stage. A liberated republicanism is the proper vehicle for change. A unified republicanism is the most potent mechanism to achieve that change.

Republican unity is not going to go away. All that stands in its way is an unwillingness to engage with it. There is no ideological or political argument against it for if there were we would have heard it by now. It is not a case of the sovereignty movement calling for unity but the goals for which we struggle demanding it. We have no right to stand at the graves of our patriot dead and preach factionalism. We have no right to stand at the monuments of our great thinkers and invoke their words to justify isolationism. And we have no right to stand before our people and in their name give less than the sum total of our parts.

For our part we concentrated on the issue of national sovereignty. We did so because there is armed conflict in our country. As republicans we saw it as our duty to address the causes of this conflict in a clear and defined manner. Ending the armed conflict does not end the struggle for republican ideals. Squabbling over what those ideals should be will not end the armed conflict. War demands from us all an immediacy in our strategic thinking to find ways to resolve it.

We again put forward the view that a coming together of Irish republicans to fashion a course to remove the cause of armed conflict is essential if any of our ideals are to flourish in a unitary state. The sovereignty movement remains committed to this task. We have taken the view that republican unity is more than the coming together of republican organisations. The path the so called peace process has taken has left large numbers of disillusioned republicans searching for direction and new ideas. We are committed to providing these ideas by engaging directly with these republicans. Their contribution to this struggle has been immense and has earned them the right to determine where now they wish to continue it. We want their ideas, we want their commitment, we want their contributions; but we have to earn it. We have to demonstrate to them that our activism looks forward and not back: that our ideas are inclusive and adaptable and not insular and reactionary.

I say to all our activists here that the coming year will require you all to reach out and engage with this constituency. As ambassadors for the sovereignty movement you will need to be fully acquainted with our policies and strategy documents. Read them, and read them again. Discuss them regularly at cumann level but above all spread the thinking behind them. Knowledge of our policies must be the cornerstone of our activism.

There is always healthy debate in the sovereignty movement. It is one of our great strengths. Prominent in these discussions is the issue of policy formation on social matters and the various aspects of governance in a future unitary state. The number and depth of motions before us here today reflects this. I wish to address two points concerning policy and policy formation; firstly the context of our policies and secondly the cause of labour. From the outset I want to commend our activists throughout Ireland for their sterling work in their respective communities. Your innovation and commitment are a lesson for all those seeking social change and justice.

Because we are constituted to campaign on the singular issue of our national sovereignty all our policies must be geared toward this end. Sovereignty is not a narrow nationalist agenda but an agenda for real change and a precursor to Irish society taking charge of its own destiny. Sovereignty is not simply a Brits Out slogan but a charter for ownership returning to the people. It is within this context that our policies must be forged. We cannot adopt policy for policy sake or direct our limited resources away from our central goal. Our policies must satisfy a strategic objective. And because we are engaged in a national struggle how we adopt our policies is just as important as the content of those policies. This is why we campaigned vigorously for republicans to forge policy together so that the very act of unity advances their content. I reiterate to our members; when you sit down to think, and rise to act, be at all times focussed on where we need to go. Be pragmatic, be realistic, do not be distracted nor blindly influenced. Bring your ideas to your comrades so that your comrades can prepare those ideas for our struggle.

James Connolly told us; “The Cause of Ireland is the cause of Labour, The cause of Labour is the cause of Ireland.” The current economic crisis both in Ireland and throughout the world has brought the issue of labour to everyone’s door. We are no different. The question for the sovereignty movement is this; not whether labour must wait but in what capacity must labour act? As it stands the cause of the labour movement is not the cause of Ireland. As it stands the cause of labour is to forge an arrangement with capitalism with labour as the junior partner. The fallout from the economic crisis demonstrates this. Is there any point in marching with the labour movement if the cause of Ireland is left behind? Is socialism served by campaigning with the labour movement for better scraps from the capitalist table? Has not this very same approach on the national question led to the grotesque spectacle at Stormont? Is this a road we truly want to go down just so that we can say we are aligned to labour?

The struggle for sovereignty and the struggle for labour must be synonymous. Republican policy and activism must reflect this. A veneer of mutual association is not enough. At the recent Student demonstrations in Dublin both the veneer and the true alliance were evident. Labour is not a pedestrian stroll, politely shouting slogans for change. Labour must be at the coalface fighting for that change. Labour must be indifferent to the howls of establishment condemnations whenever labour chooses to act. I salute our activists present here today who acted in labour’s best interests. I quote the insightful Irish republican socialist Ta Power when he says ‘there is no parliamentary path to socialism’. Equally there is no waiting for the so called ‘right time to strike’. For revolutionaries it is always the right time to act. Partition and capitalism never postpone their activities and neither should we.

To other republicans and socialists we say this: for the cause of labour to be the cause of Ireland we must rebuild the labour movement by making the cause of Ireland the cause of labour. Connolly sought to do this by working with the national and cultural movements in his day. If we wish to move beyond rhetoric then we must come together to put the bones of this movement in place. If you cannot commit to this, if working together is beyond you then both the cause of labour and of Ireland is beyond you also.

On behalf of us all I wish to send solidarity greetings to Irish republican prisoners of war where ever they may be. We salute your courage and commitment. We send greetings to your families and loved ones and pledge to do everything in our power to be of assistance to you. I also wish to thank the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association for their diligent work on behalf of prisoners and their families.

The past year has seen our prisoners to the fore in our struggle. Once again Westminster has chosen this venue to try and undermine the republican struggle. And as before they will fail. The despicable use of degrading strip searches as a means of punishment has hardened our resolve. On this issue we did have republican unity and the benefits of it were clear for all to see. This needs to continue because perfidious albion is beginning to resort to form. The agreement reached between the prisoners and the prison authorities is steadily being undone. There is an undoubted political agenda behind this. It is not a case of rogue prison officers but a deliberate policy being overseen by their political masters.

During the year we marched in great numbers to protest. Our protest could not go unnoticed so they had to engage. And if needs be we must protest again, in greater numbers and with greater regularity. Every county must get the message. The plight of our prisoners must be to the fore in our activism. We must place this issue onto the national agenda and keep it there until such time that it is addressed. We can do no less when the prisoners themselves are doing so much.

The National Army continues to engage the enemy. Our right to national self determination will be protected and fought for. War is an inevitable consequence of the presence of the British government in our country. There are those who say that now is not the right time for armed struggle; that alternative strategies must be pursued. But it must be grasped that armed struggle is an inevitable reality and any strategy hoping to be viable must recognise this. Armed struggle cannot be wished away no more than it can be stored neatly in a box so that a political initiative can be aired in public. Avoiding reality cannot be a precondition for any strategy.


Comrades I wish to conclude with an impassioned plea to you all, at every level in our organisation, to both experienced and novice activists, make the coming year one of sustained activism within your communities. Bring the issue of national liberation with you. Demonstrate that there is an alternative and that they have it within their power to realise change.

New Years Day Sponsored Swim.(Galway Bay)

Galway 32CSM will be holding a New Years Day sponsored swim,in aid of the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association.

Anyone wishing to participate or sponsor an activist contact directly.
32csmgaillimh@gmail.com


Venue and Time

12 noon New Years Day

Diving Board,Galway Bay

Salthill,Galway City.

www.irpwa.blogspot.com

Sligo 32CSM Noble Six Commemoration

32CSM Sligo - Noble Six Commemeration

Sligo 32 CSM will be holding a commemeration for the Noble Six, six IRA volunteers murdered by Free State forces on Benbulben in 1922.

The commemeration will assemble at Mc Sharry Park on Sunday September 19th at 1pm and march to the republican plot at Sligo Cemetery for speeches.

This will be followed by a fundraiser that night for the IRPWA,get in contact for details.

Everyone is invited to attend to remember the ultimate sacrifice given by these volunteers.

Beir Bua.

32CSM Sligo - Anti Social Incidents Must Stop

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Sligo has been alarmed by the increasing number of anti social incidents occurring in Sligo town in the past few weeks. These include a man being beaten to death in his own home, a woman being mugged on the way to work, and another elderly man being robbed by masked men. These types of incidents are unfortunately an ever more regular occurrence and we believe this activity must cease.

We regard the current level of such incidents to be intolerable and the inability of the Gardai to deal with them to be inexcusable. We are calling on any concerned residents to contact the 32CSM in the Sligo region if they feel that they are being ignored or let down by the Gardai. The 32CSM has had considerable success in tackling anti social behaviour in many areas and we find that a unified community is usually more than enough to deter such activities.

We also call on any individuals engaging in these crimes against our community to consider carefully the consequences of their actions both for themselves and for their neighbours who they treat with such disdain. We can be contacted through our local email address or talking to a known member, complete confidentiality is guaranteed.

Sligo 32CSM Condemn Politically Motivated Charge

22/08/2010

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Sligo would like to unequivocally condemn the continuing harassment of Gary Donnelly by the PSNI/RUC. Having failed to secure his imprisonment in the 26 counties along with the other members of the Derry 4 on trumped up charges they resorted to effective internment. They assaulted Gary earlier this year and then jailed him for 7 months when he refused to pay the British government for being attacked by their proxies.

When Gary's internment helped catalyse support for the plight of the men in Maghaberry their plan backfired spectacularly! Upon his release Gary returned to his work with the many issues the 32CSM are addressing in republican communities in Derry. Hoping to stop the continuing spread of republican principles and seeking to deprive the movement of a dedicated activist the PSNI/RUC have this week tried to charge him with phoning in bomb warnings over a year ago. This is despite the fact that the journalist involved has already stated it was not Gary who contacted him.

The harassment of media figures involved in republican related stories seems to now be a standard tactic despite the embarrassing failure of their attempts to prosecute Suzanne Breen for her integrity. We have no doubt that this show trial will prove to be both an indictment of British policy in the six counties and another victory for press freedom in a supposed democracy.

Sligo 32 County Sovereignty Movement: Reroute The Marches

13/7/2010

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Sligo would like to take this opportunity, in the wake of the rioting that engulfed North Belfast and elsewhere, to condemn the Parades Commission and the British government for their facilitating of contentious orange parades.

Each year nationalist residents are subjected to police swarming into their communities to allow Orange Order marchers to swagger through. The history of the Order, its blatantly sectarian purpose and its triumphant behavioral patterns, make these marches unwanted and unacceptable. In light of this it is unsurprising to see locals clashing with the police sent to protect the marchers. The intensity of the response to the marches is merely an indicator of the strength of feeling about the issue.

Even the Parades Commission were forced to admit that the Order refused to engage with the local community rendering the talk about inclusiveness emanating from unionist politicians as hollow and meaningless.

Provisional Sinn Fein were forced to trot out the usual lies about “dissidents” bussing in rioters. Perhaps it has been so long since they’ve set foot in working class areas they are unable to recognize their own constituents. The Greater Ardoyne Residents Committee is also a body made up entirely of locals and so it is unfathomable to think that it is outsiders objecting to the parade.

We stand in solidarity with the beleaguered residents and urge all republicans to support them in their efforts.

Room For The Night? Help the Homeless, Help The Country.

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement in Sligo would like to state our concern in light of the current housing situation in the region.

Sligo and indeed the north west in general suffers from a deficit of social housing. Waiting lists are long and the accommodation that is eventually provided is frequently sub standard or unsuitable to the needs of the family or individual that requires it. This is unacceptable in our opinion. Waiting lists should not extend into months let alone years, yet we are expected to accept this state of affairs as the natural state of affairs. We contend that no Person should have to wait for years for assistance when the banks did not have to wait even for days with their begging bowl at the door of Brian Lenihan and his cohorts in the Department of Finance.

The frequent refrain from local authorities is that there simply isn’t the money to fix the problem. Given the innumerable junkets taken by these same people for years at our expense we say that not only do we believe that there is sufficient money but that perhaps the councillors and TDs themselves could take a pay cut to facilitate the relief of their constituents! I wonder how many county councillors are currently on the waiting list for social housing? Homelessness is a blight on the collective conscience of this country’s government. For years they have wasted and wanted for nothing. Now they tell us the money is gone. But not apparently all of it. No, it would seem there are still countless billions to be thrown into the gaping financial hole that is NAMA. Not only does this project defy all known economic logic but it also takes priority over the needs of ordinary Irish people. Despite being bailed out to the tune of 22 Billion euros the Banks still want more. Is it too much then to raise our collective voices and demand that we too want more, that we want more money for our communities, towns and villages?

The 32CSM does not think so. We regard the problem of homelessness to be a problem that is eminently solvable through a combination of social housing and proactive initiatives at a local level. Whilst there is an undersupply of social housing we simultaneously have “ghost estates” covering the North West. Is it too much to ask of the thinking ability of our representatives to put two and two together and to use these empty houses for the logical use? In reality there doesn’t need to be any person in this country waiting for a house when we have 300,000 empty ones, the majority of which are now owned by the people through NAMA anyways.

Many of these estates now lie half completed, likewise the construction industry is in free fall. Why not put some of the thousands of unemployed tradesmen to work establishing facilities and amenities and completing these estates. Social programmes in times of economic crisis are not a radical idea, the reforms introduced by the Roosevelt administration in the great depression helped to alleviate much of the suffering of the people. Why are we content to sit back and watch as perfectly good houses are knocked down whilst people sleep on our streets.

We call on the government, for once in its term to use some common sense. It is not an irrational proposal to address the needs of society’s vulnerable. The issue cannot become a rallying cry when the time for action has passed. It will not be enough in years to come, to reflect on opportunities missed and communities betrayed. The legacy of a era is more often visible in the people left behind by it than those that scaled the heights of the social ladder, trampling others in their wake.

For once think of the people, rather than the paycheque. If it is too much to ask that the people in power to help us then perhaps it is time to reconsider the people we put into power!

Invest in the people, not the powerful

Sligo 32 CSM - Paedophile Laws Too Lenient

Sligo 32 County Sovereignty Movement express their dismay at the latest revelations in relation to serial paedophile Joseph McColgan and his activities.

This pathetic excuse of a human individual is a perfect example of the Free State’s laws failing the ordinary people of Ireland and, more importantly, the victims of these heinous crimes. Although on no comparable scale, the laws in place presently in relation to every aspect of the legal system are skewered to protect any of those in the position of power- the bank man, the developer, the priest, the abuser.
 

McColgan’s case history and the actions he carried out are nothing short of disgusting and the incapability of the accountable services to highlight and stop the abuse was neglect of the highest order in their supposed duty.

After years of systematically raping, beating and psychically abusing his children from his isolated den McColgan was given a 238 year sentence, he only served 9 years of this. This figure alone is a stark indication that there is something seriously wrong either with the legal system or those who administer it.
 
McColgan did not participate in any rehabilitation programs, show any remorse or seem to accept the wrong of his behaviour during his imprisonment in Ireland. On these actions alone his sentence should have been indefinite until an improvement or change was shown. Once released McColgan moved to England, and given recent news stories revealing his continuing involvement in child pornography and his ability to leave England without notifying the authorities with ease, who is to know if he continued his sick obsessions and actions over there on innocent individuals?
 
Sligo 32CSM are also alarmed at the fact that McColgan could so easily and callously return to the very location and area where he committed all of his crimes, this itself shows absolutely no level of remorse or comprehension of what pain he has left behind and is another clear marker to indicate that he should never be released to put the public of any country in danger again.

We would call on the system of Megans Law as exhibited in the United States to be implemented here with immediate effect. Parents and communities have the undeniable right to know if there is an individual in their community that may put them or their children in danger. Any argument for the right of anonymity to protect the abuser is farcical, that right evaporated as soon as their first crime was committed.

Sligo 32CSM also call on the rehabilitation system within jails to be closely looked at and made compulsory for abusers to become active in, if they refuse this their sentence should be made indefinite. Tags currently used to locate individuals on bail should also be made compulsory on offenders once released coupled with the introduction of a more regular signing on period of twice daily to ensure these evil paedophiles cannot so easily escape the net to try and ply their trade elsewhere as has been shown in McColgan’s case.

These individuals have been and always will be a danger to society with their sick and perverted intentions. The safety of the public is paramount and all measures should be put in place to ensure that men like McColgan are never released to prey again.

Sligo 32CSM call for this system, which lets these offenders ruin so many lives after serving shamefully short sentences, to be reviewed and changed with immediate effect. We stand with residents of communities to have the right to self determination to expel dangers that may lie in their area by introducing a Megan’s Law system to ensure our children's safety and to minimise the risk from paedophiles and rapists.
 
This safety of the innocent and vulnerable in our society is an issue we feel particularly strongly on and will continue to highlight to ensure enhanced protection for the future for the people of this island.

32CSM Sligo Radio Interview

On Friday the 2nd of July 2010, Sligo 32CSM member Sean Keogh spoke on Ocean FM in relation to sectarian Orange marches being forcibly pushed through nationalist areas. A contentious parade in Newtownbutler was being held later that day against the wishes of the 98% nationalist population.