Nineteen years and still going strong.

 

This year’s Inistioge George Brown Memorial Event commemorated the ninetieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Inistioge-born, whose parents came from Inistioge and Tullogher, grew up in Manchester where as a young man he became deeply involved in working -class activism as a member of the British Communist Party. Not surprisingly, he volunteered for service in the International Brigades in defence of Spain’s democratically elected government, giving his life in the fight against Fascism at the Battle of Brunete in July 1937. The Inistioge committee plan to mark in a fitting way the ninetieth anniversary of his death.

 

Gathering rain clouds failed to put a damper on this year’s commemoration held on Saturday, 27 June. As has been customary, a wreath-laying at the George Brown Plaque in St Colmcille’s Graveyard opened the event. This year Jimmy Kelly, a leading UNITE trade union official during his working live laid the wreath. Those in attendance gathered at the adjoining St Mary’s Church where they were addressed by respected Spanish Civil War commentator Harry Owens, President of the Friends of the International Brigades Ireland, and by Castlecomer-based member of the Oireachtas, Senator Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats. Nearby resplendent Woodstock Gardens provided the venue for later events, with all enjoying the Spanish Classical Guitar recital by Craig Ó Mathúna; a moving rendition by Amanda Richards of the ‘You Are Legend’ farewell address to the International Brigades by ‘La Pasionaria’ delivered in Barcelona 28 October, 1938; a gathering at the Olive grove in the Walled Garden remembering the four members of the International Brigades with Kilkenny connections: the aforementioned George Brown, his brother Michael, and two volunteers from Castlecomer – Seán Dowling and Michael Brennan. The visit to Woodstock culminated with the planting of a specimen tree by Senator Stephenson. Then it was back to Inistioge for a lively music session with popular local guitarist and vocalist Michael Holden.

 

The wide-ranging addresses of both speakers engaged the attention of those in attendance. As ever, Harry Owens did not disappoint with a refreshing take on history. He highlighted the decline of the once-powerful Spanish Empire in the late nineteenth century, expressing the view that ‘as empires decline, their old ruling military cliques often seem to have turned their guns on their own people and governments’. He saw the Spanish Civil War as a prime example of this, where a section of the military, with, he suggested, the connivance of the British M16, staged a coup against the Spanish Government. As the conflict spread, atrocities became the order of the day on all sides, resulting in the deaths, military and civilian, of between 600,000 and 800,000. This was a war without middle ground with each side defending their own version of events. Owens concluded by stating that in the post-war period the Spanish People were again betrayed by the British Government at a time when the Franco regime was isolated internationally. This failure to act led to the Spanish democrats and working class suffering years of repression until democracy again held sway from the early 1980s onwards.

 

Senator Stephenson addressed both current national and international issues, particularly increasing restrictions on civil society, repression of human rights defenders; wealth inequality; rising authoritarianism; public disillusionment and disinformation on a massive scale impacting on people’s ability to separate truth from fiction; and the undermining of international law by a number of powerful regimes and their acolytes.

 

Speaking passionately on the action taken by EU countries in the face of the Russian annexation of Crimea and the invasion of eastern parts of Ukraine – something she described as ‘utterly reprehensible’ – she stated that it is shameful that we have not seen the same EU action in the face of the genocide being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.

 

Regarding Ireland’s role, she argued that ‘the respect we have gained is due to our longstanding principle of neutrality. ‘It should not be seen as a retreat from responsibility, rather it is the foundation of our proactive peacebuilding. It allows us to act as an honest broker’.

 

In conclusion she stated the Social Democrats belief that one of the strongest defences against public disillusionment in Ireland is a true democratic State which ensures that everyone can live with dignity. ‘The Party are advocates for a more equal society, where there is a floor below which no one can fall, and where human rights are the core of policymaking both at home and abroad.’

 

Both speakers were presented with an exquisite, hand-painted framed tile, the work of the multi-talented Michael Holden. 

 

A collection taken up for Concern Worldwide – an Irish charity on the ground in a number of the world’s poorest countries – realised €330.