BY MARTIN HILL
LONDON - More than 250 people attended a rally here May 7 commemorating the lives of James Connolly, a leader of the fight for Irish self-determination in the early part of this century, and republican prisoner Bobby Sands. Many participants were longtime activists, but others were young people newly involved.

"Britain denies it has any political prisoners," said Mairead ni hAdhmaill, speaking for the Saoirse campaign to free the prisoners. Her husband is held at Full Sutton Prison. "But this begs the question why their treatment is different. Why are families visiting them harassed at the airport under the [Prevention of Terrorism Act]? Why is it that decisions about their treatment are taken at the highest political level?"

Statements were read out from Irish prisoners in jails in Britain.
Patricia Campbell talked about the difficulties experienced by the families of Irish prisoners in British jails. Some relatives have spent hundreds of dollars traveling to visit prisoners, only to have officials deny that a visit had been booked, or to find that their relative had been transferred without notice to a different prison.

Campbell contrasted the treatment of Lee Clegg, a British soldier jailed for shooting a young Irish woman. He was sent at once to a prison near his home in England. "I don't complain about that," she said. "I don't want another family to have to travel like we do. But there's a double standard. Republican prisoners should be transferred to Irish prisons."

Among messages read at the rally was a statement from the Communist League in Britain that said, "Today the fruits of 25 years of mass resistance are coming through. Westminster can no longer prevent the world from hearing the voice of Irish freedom. We pledge ourselves to double our efforts with you to take advantage of this historic breakthrough to campaign to remove British troops from Ireland, to release all political prisoners, and for self-determination for Ireland."

Earlier that day, more than 40 people joined a spirited picket at Downing Street - the British prime minister's official residence. Saoirse plans to hold regular pickets there. Saoirse has also begun a campaign of selling green ribbons as a symbol for the release of Irish political prisoners. A major rally in London is planned for August 31.
 

BY JENNY BENTON
CHICAGO - The Irish-American Student Organization (IASO) and Irish Northern Aid kicked off a week of activities with a May 5 march at the British Consulate here. About 50 people turned out for the action.

Tom Terranova, an organizer of the march and an IASO member, stated the demands for the march were three-fold: the British government immediately begin negotiations with Sinn Fein; the government set a reasonable deadline for the removal of British forces from Northern Ireland; and all Irish political prisoners be released.

When asked about London's pre-negotiation demand that the Irish Republican Army decommission its armed forces, Erin Maher, a member of IASO, replied, "It is just another tactic to stall talks with Sinn Fein. If they want to talk about decommissioning, they should decommission the British troops currently occupying Northern Ireland."

The demonstration also attracted members of other organizations. Jose Ruiz, a member of Guatemala en Lucha (Gua temala in Struggle), said he came to the march because, "The Irish struggle is a just one, and I support Irish self-deter mination." Members of the Young Socialists in Normal, Illinois, traveled to Chicago to attend the action.
 

BY SARA LOBMAN
LONG BRANCH, New Jersey-Fifty people from throughout northern New Jersey participated in a commemoration here of the death of Bobby Sands. The event was sponsored by the Irish Northern Aid Committee, which organizes support for the almost 800 Irish political prisoners and their families in Ireland, the United States, and elsewhere.

Eugene McElroy read a message to the gathering from Irish political prisoner Pól Brennan, who is currently being held at the Oakland, California, city jail while awaiting extradition hearings. He is one of 38 opponents of British rule in Ireland who escaped from the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in 1983.

"The legacy of the death of Bobby Sands and his nine comrades 14 years ago was a turning point," Brennan noted in his statement. "One hundred thousand people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands from all over the world, paying tribute to his courage, and this [helped] to launch a severely weakened resistance movement on a political revival."

Brennan noted that the current cease-fire and talks in Ireland have "afforded an opportunity for peace like no other in the past 25 years."
 

BY PETER THIERJUNG
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - About a dozen opponents of the British occupation of Northern Ireland picketed outside the Marriot Hotel here May 2. Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Britain, was slated to speak at the hotel along with Don Fites, the chairman of Caterpillar, Inc. Members of the Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) organized the protest.

"We believe her running around the United States denigrating Gerry Adams impedes the peace process," said Robert Linnon, national president of the IAUC, said. Thatcher has compared Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, to those accused of bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City.

During the picket, Raleigh resident Terri Jackson told of FBI and cop attempts to chill efforts by activists to speak out during Thatcher's visit. Jackson had called the president's office at Elon College to protest Thatcher speaking on that campus and publicized the event on the Internet, expressing her opinion that the former prime minister was the "world's worst violator of human rights."

Two FBI special agents came to Jackson's workplace April 26 and questioned her in the supervisor's office. They asked her if she was happy that Gerry Adams had received a visa to visit the United States.

A few days later Charlotte police called Linda Dyer Hart, an organizer of the picket at the Marriot. Inspectors from the Special Information Bureau asked her to come to their offices for questioning regarding the plans for the picket.

Billy Mulligan, who went with Hart to the police station, reported that the police inspectors claimed to have been called by Scotland Yard and were urged to investigate organizers of the protest.

"Don't let them in. Don't talk to them. They'll twist everything you say," said Linnon about the FBI. `'We have a long history of problems with FBI harassment."  
 
 
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