IRSN: Final Salute to Brendan Hughes and a Republican Socialist Martyr Remembered
19 February 2008
Brendan Hughes was a major figure in the struggle of Irish Republican Prisoners of War, whose passing is marked by the International Republican Socialist Network's comrades with great sadness. Hughes died Saturday night, 16 February 2008 at the age of 59.
As the Officer Commanding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Long Kesh, he ordered the commencement of the 'dirty protest' and was a leader of the 1980 hunger strike. He also called an end to that strike, after 53 days, as Sean McKenna was near death and the prisoners believed they had won an
agreement with the British government.
With Tommy McKearney and others, Hughes was a member of the League of Communist Republicans in the late 1980s, who published the periodical 'Congress 86'. Hughes became a major critic of Provisional Sinn Fein policies, call the Adams leadership, "the Armani suit brigade". He later went on to found the periodical, 'The Blanket'.
He underwent surgery two years ago to save his sight due to lingering physical problems orignating in the 1980 hunger strike and his death at only 59 may also have been contributed to by the physical toll of the hunger strike.
Though not an Irish National Liberation Army volunteer, the comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network mourn the passing of Brendan Hughes and applaud the contributions he made throughout his life to the struggle for
national libertion in Ireland.
As the anniversary of his death, on the 20th of February, swiftly approaches, comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network also join in remembering INLA volunteer Hugh Ferguson with pride. Comrade Ferguson was the first martyr of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, killed by reactionaries within the Official Irish Republican Army as retribution for the split from their ranks that led to the founding of the IRSM, and, as such, reminds us of the history of profound repression that the IRSM was forced to endure in its struggle to represent the highest consciousness of the Irish working class.
The IRSM erected a memorial to Hugh Ferguson in the Whiterock area of West Belfast, on 23 February 2003, which comrades of the IRSN are proud to have helped support.
The baptism or blood and fire endured by the IRSM helped to ensure the movement's commitment to revolutionary politics and we continue to draw inspiration from the movement's martyrs.
Mindful of the sacrifice of comrade Ferguson and other martyrs of the IRSM, the comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network remain determined to do everything in our power to combat the drive towards reformism being fostered by the present leadership of the IRSP and to promote the revolutionary, traditional republican socialist analyasis that guided the IRSM through its first three decades. The sacrifice made by Hugh Ferguson and other fallen comrades of the IRSM cannot be permitted to have been in vain.
Peter Urban
Comrade, International Republican Socialist Network
Brendan Hughes was a major figure in the struggle of Irish Republican Prisoners of War, whose passing is marked by the International Republican Socialist Network's comrades with great sadness. Hughes died Saturday night, 16 February 2008 at the age of 59.
As the Officer Commanding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners in Long Kesh, he ordered the commencement of the 'dirty protest' and was a leader of the 1980 hunger strike. He also called an end to that strike, after 53 days, as Sean McKenna was near death and the prisoners believed they had won an
agreement with the British government.
With Tommy McKearney and others, Hughes was a member of the League of Communist Republicans in the late 1980s, who published the periodical 'Congress 86'. Hughes became a major critic of Provisional Sinn Fein policies, call the Adams leadership, "the Armani suit brigade". He later went on to found the periodical, 'The Blanket'.
He underwent surgery two years ago to save his sight due to lingering physical problems orignating in the 1980 hunger strike and his death at only 59 may also have been contributed to by the physical toll of the hunger strike.
Though not an Irish National Liberation Army volunteer, the comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network mourn the passing of Brendan Hughes and applaud the contributions he made throughout his life to the struggle for
national libertion in Ireland.
As the anniversary of his death, on the 20th of February, swiftly approaches, comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network also join in remembering INLA volunteer Hugh Ferguson with pride. Comrade Ferguson was the first martyr of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, killed by reactionaries within the Official Irish Republican Army as retribution for the split from their ranks that led to the founding of the IRSM, and, as such, reminds us of the history of profound repression that the IRSM was forced to endure in its struggle to represent the highest consciousness of the Irish working class.
The IRSM erected a memorial to Hugh Ferguson in the Whiterock area of West Belfast, on 23 February 2003, which comrades of the IRSN are proud to have helped support.
The baptism or blood and fire endured by the IRSM helped to ensure the movement's commitment to revolutionary politics and we continue to draw inspiration from the movement's martyrs.
Mindful of the sacrifice of comrade Ferguson and other martyrs of the IRSM, the comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network remain determined to do everything in our power to combat the drive towards reformism being fostered by the present leadership of the IRSP and to promote the revolutionary, traditional republican socialist analyasis that guided the IRSM through its first three decades. The sacrifice made by Hugh Ferguson and other fallen comrades of the IRSM cannot be permitted to have been in vain.
Peter Urban
Comrade, International Republican Socialist Network
