Mairéad Farrell main speaker at National Hunger Strike Commemoration back in Derry for first time in 16 years
Mairéad Farrell, the Galway TD and niece of former hunger striker Mairéad Farrell, will be the main speaker at the National Hunger Strike Commemoration at the weekend.
Thousands are expected to attend the memorial event which will take place in Derry for the first time in 16 years.
Ms. Farrell said: “It’s an honour to be asked to address the National Hunger Strike Commemoration in Derry City this weekend as we gather to remember Ireland’s 22 hunger strikers.
“We will also mark the 43rd anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, including the deaths of five men from County Derry."
Patsy O’Hara and Mickey Devine from Derry City, Kevin Lynch from Dungiven, and Francis Hughes and Thomas McElwee from Bellaghy, were among the ten men who died on the IRA/INLA protest in 1981.
Ms. Farrell said: “It is an extra special occasion as it will be the first time this event has been held in Derry City since 2008 after being moved online in 2021 due to the pandemic.
“We are expecting to be joined by thousands of people and many bands from right across the island and further afield.
“There is a packed programme of events taking place over the weekend, which includes political discussion, music, commemorative walks and runs, concluding with the main commemoration which will leave Central Drive at 2pm.”
Ms. Farrell’s aunt and namesake was one of three women – Mairéad Nugent and Mary Doyle the others – who took part in the 1980 hunger strike in Armagh jail.
She was shot dead by the SAS alongside two other members of an IRA active service unit, Sean Savage and Daniel McCann, in Gibraltar on March 6, 1988.
The IRA members had been planning an attack on the Royal Anglian Regiment but were unarmed when they were shot dead.
In 1995 the European Court of Human Rights ruled by 10 votes to nine that there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention, which stipulates that the lives of citizens in signatory countries must be protected under law.
Her niece has been a Sinn Féin TD since the 2020 General Election.
The main speaker at this weekend’s event is also the party’s spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Innovation and Science.
She previously served five years on Galway City Council and is a graduate of NUI Galway in History and Economics and has a Masters Degree in Finance from Queen’s.
A full itinerary of events for the National Hunger Strike Commemoration:
Tuesday, August 20, 6pm, Rathkeele Way, Creggan
Mickey Devine 3/5km Walk & 5/10km Run
Followed by memories shared by comrades & refreshments.
Organised by Cú Chulainn Running Club
Saturday, August 24, 12pm, Gasyard
Their Legacy Lives On – A discussion on the impact of the Hunger Strikers in Ireland and across the world with Raymond McCartney, Séanna Walsh, Síle Darragh and Mairéad Farrell.
*Note time change to maximise turnout at Foyle Pride.
Saturday, August 24, 3pm, City Cemetery
Tour of Republican Graves with historian and former prisoner Mickey Kinsella, starting at the top entrance of City Cemetery
Sunday, August 25, 10am, Shantallow Monument
Óglach Bronco Bradley 3/5km Walk & 5/10km Run
Organised by Cú Chulainn Running Club
Sunday, August 25, Assemble 2pm, Central Drive.
National Hunger Strike Commemoration March