We are often asked why are we here? Why do we do this 85 years after the death of a man who none of us here have any family ties to? Why celebrate, remember and commemorate his life?
For me the answer is simple, it’s not for votes or notoriety in the area.
It’s because everything Peter stood for is as relevant today as it was 85 years ago.
Peter was an Anti-Imperialist, this was evident in his Republican activities and his rejection of the treaty.
Peter was a socialist, proven by the fact he left the IRA in the early 30s when they tried to remove socialism from their ideology and he went on to join the Republican Congress with so many other IRA men.
Peter was an antifascist demonstrated by the fact he answered the Cominterns call to join the International Brigades and to go fight fascism in Spain.
He always held true to his beliefs and therefore was on the right side of history.
So now that we have discussed the sanitised version of Peter, I want to briefly speak about the Peter Daly I’m here to remember. The version that NO political party of the establishment will acknowledge because there is no political gains to be made from it.
Peter was a TRUE REVOLUTIONARY. He done what needed to be done! Whether that was b0mbing, sh00ting or bank r0bberies for the IRA or go to Spain to k1ll fascists as a committed Communist.
Remembering Peter and all other Brigaders accurately is the least we can do.
Only yesterday members of the Peter Daly Society traveled to OMeath Co. Louth, to commemorate 7 young men from the border area who gave their lives in Spain.
We need to support all groups that want to remember brigader that came from their communities because everyone of them deserve to be celebrated.
The history of the Spanish fight against fascism in the 30s is the same as every struggle against oppression and imperialism around the world.
The revolutionary spirit that took Peter to Spain is the same spirt that leads workers around the world to strike and fight for better pay, that led the men and women of 1916 to take on an empire and what led the workers revolution of 1917 to topple a Tzar. It is what leads the indigenous people of the Americas and Australia to fight for their history to be told and it is what makes the Palestinian People to fight against apartheid and for their freedom daily.
Closer to home on this island that same revolutionary spirit is what spurs people on to stand up for their communities, whether that is the revolutionary housing league fighting for homes for those who need them or local groups fighting to keep hospitals open or provide meals on wheels for our elders. It’s in all the groups in the O6 fighting the status quo of stormount.
With that I will finish with the words of La Pasionaria.
You can go proudly,
You are history,
You are legend,
Long live the heroes of the International Brigade.
Sin é
Steve McCann