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30 May 2016

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Republican graves desecrated in loyalist attack as Sinn Féin leaders go to Somme battlefield


AS Sinn Féin leaders prepare to travel to Flanders’ fields and the Somme on Tuesday “in a spirit of reconciliation” and in recognition of the more than 30,000 Irishmen serving in the British Army who died during the First World War, unionist vandals have desecrated the Republican Plot at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast.

The attack happened on Sunday night. The Irish Proclamation at the memorial was spray-painted and headstones were attacked.

29 May 2013 Milltown desecration

Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey said it was an outrageous sectarian act.

“All graveyards are sacred places and should be respected,” he said.

He added:

“This attack is outrageous and does nothing other than cause distress to families whose loved ones are buried in the Republican Plot.”

The local MP commended members of the National Graves Association who tend to the Republican Plot and were already involved in a clean-up of the damage.

Ahead of the Sinn Féin leaders’ visit to the Somme and Flanders, Martin McGuinness said:

“World War One is an important part of Ireland’s multi-layered history during which tens of thousands Irish people lost their lives.

“If we are to build understanding and reconciliation on this island, we all need to recognise and accept the complexity of the historical events and differing political narratives that make us who we are as a community and as a people.

“It is in this spirit of reconciliation I will be visiting Flanders’ fields to learn more about the Battle of Messines which took place in June 1917.

“I will also visit the Somme to mark the terrible loss of life on all sides in that battle one hundred years ago.

“I am doing so in a sincere effort to recognise the human suffering and also the importance these events hold for the unionist section of our people.”

Sinn Féin Vice-President Mary Lou McDonald TD said while republicans were opposed to imperial wars and slaughter it was right to remember, in a respectful and inclusive manner, those who died. 

“Republicans opposed the imperialist First World War and the subsequent slaughter which claimed the lives of millions.However, the loss of tens of thousands of Irish and Ulster Volunteers left a huge mark on our society.

“In this decade of anniversaries it is right to remember those who died in Flanders and at the Somme in a respectful and inclusive fashion.”

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Contributions from key figures in the churches, academia and wider civic society as well as senior republican figures

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