Donegal Sinn Féin marked the 36th Anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands on Friday night with a moving vigil.
Bobby Sands was the first of 10 Republican Hunger Strikers to die in 1981 fighting for Political Status in the H Block’s of Long Kesh. Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike.
Friday night’s vigil was held at the Hunger Strike Memorial at the Eight Acres Park in Glencar.
Around fifty people attended the vigil.
The Hunger Strikers Roll of Honour was read by Paddy Mc Cafferty, followed by Ben Carron reciting the Bobby Sands Poem ‘Rhythm Of Time’.
Gary Mangan then played and sung a song about Bobby Sands, ‘The Peoples MP’, a reference to Bobby’s election whilst on Hunger Strike to represent the people of Fermanagh South Tyrone where he polled over 30,000 votes defeating the Unionist candidate Harry West.
Cllr Gerry Mc Monagle during his address drew parallels between the H Block Hunger Strike of 1981 with the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian Prisoners being held in Israeli Jails. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are in their twentieth day of a hunger strike for humane conditions within the jails.
Cllr Mc Monagle asked those present to do what they could to raise the plight of the Palestinian prisoners, to write to the Minister Of Foreign Affairs and demand that he take action and raise the conditions of the Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland. They should boycott Israeli goods and write to their TDs asking them to support the prisoners.
Cllr Mc Monagle concluded by sending solidarity greetings to the prisoners and calling on the Government to defend the right of the Palestinian people to self determination and to demand that Israel withdraws from the occupied territories and begin a process of returning lands they have stolen from the Palestinians to build illegal Israeli settlements.
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