Bernard Fox, ex hunger striker IRA, parlerà ad evento éirígí

Former IRA hunger striker to speak at Eirigi 1916 event

A FORMER IRA hunger striker will give the oration at the main Eirigi commemoration to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

Belfast republican Bernard Fox spent 33 days on hunger strike in 1981and served a total of 22 years as an IRA prisoner during the Troubles.

Previously he spoke at an Eirigi commemoration in 2007 to mark the 90th anniversary of the death of hunger striker Thomas Ashe.

In 2013 a court ruled that the use of some of ‘stop and search’ powers on Mr Fox by the PSNI was unlawful.

The parade will also be addressed by former republican prisoner Liam McCotter.

South Derry native Sharon Pickering is also expected to speak at the event which will be held on Easter Monday.

Organised by the Irish Republican Commemoration Committee, the parade will start close to the former Falls Road home of 1916 leader James Connolly in Belfast before making its way to Milltown cemetery where the main commemoration will be held at the Harbinson plot.

A spokesman for the Irish Republican Commemoration Committee said: “One hundred years after 1916, it is a stark but inescapable reality that the vision, aspirations and objectives of those who gave their lives have still to be achieved.”