Friday, December 26, 2008

CABHAIR Christmas Swim , 25th December 2008 :



Nollaig Shona from Cabhair!



The 32nd Annual CABHAIR Christmas Swim was held yesterday at the 3rd Lough of the Grand Canal in Inchicore , Dublin , watched by a crowd of about 100 people.
Seven Special Branch men blocked both entries/exits and , between them , managed to deter at least another 100 people from attending , at one point threatening to arrest a 15-year-old boy and demanding that two adults hand-over their cameras until after the event . All three incidents were managed and dealth with by the CABHAIR representatives present. Apart from the State harassment , the day was a resounding success!
Six swimmers took to the waters of the freezing-cold Grand Canal between the hours of 10am and 1.30pm , with each of those brave souls diving-in at least twice , if not three times , each . As usual , CABHAIR had organised a mini-bonfire , food , drink , music and a raffle for the swimmers : both prizes in that raffle were won by two of the six lads , with one winner donating his prize , a wood-burn POW-made plaque , back to CABHAIR , asking that it be auctioned to the highest bidder and the money put in the kitty! So , between the swimming , the food and drink , the music and the craic , the crowd also had an auction to entertain them - and €35 was instantly added to the CABHAIR coffers !
The weather was kinder to us than we had expected - it was dry , a bit chilly
(even for those of us that kept our clothes on!) and overcast - cloudy , no sunshine , but no rain , frost or ice! So , no complaints there....
All-in-all , apart from the Special Branch harassment , it was a fantastic few hours spent , in a good Cause , on the banks of the Grand Canal on a Christmas Day: approximately 100 friends , all republican-minded ,sharing stories , exchanging presents , making arrangements around the fire , drink and mince-pie in hand , singing along with the Irish ballads ! CABHAIR are to be highly recommended for all their work in , once again, putting this event together , and the crowd recommended for ignoring and braving the pure thuggery of the State for again attempting to close this fund-raiser down . As one of those who helped the organisers said at the swim site in his speech -
" As long as the British military and political presence remains on this isle , there will be those who oppose it . And as long as there are those that oppose that presence there will , unfortunately , be POW's . But as long as there are POW's so , too, will there be Irish Republican organisations like Cabhair to assist those prisoners and their families..."

We publish some photographs of the 32nd CABHAIR Swim with this post , and more pics can be seen here and on these two 'Indymedia' threads. Go raibh maith agat agus slán go fóill anois!

'Support the prisoners' and 'Boycott Shell' posters.

Mini-Santa with some CABHAIR goodies!

Feeding the Canal Crew and Guests!

One of Santa's Reindeer !

"OH GOD ! What was I thinking...?"

"Hope this thing has a deep end..."

"Bring that wall over here , lads..."

(More pics on the above-mentioned links.)
Thanks, Sharon.






Wednesday, December 24, 2008

DON'T LET THIS...



...SPOIL YOUR CHRISTMAS !

Take yourself (and the shocked children!) to the CABHAIR Christmas Swim -



- 12 Noon , Christmas Day , Grand Canal , Inchicore , Dublin : opposite Kelly's 'Black Horse Inn' pub .

A CABHAIR Crew visited the site this morning (Christmas Eve) to check it over and sent us these two photographs -

Swim site , as seen from the end of the Naas Road....

...and as seen from the far side of the Lough.

- word is that two of the Cabhair Crew had to physically restrain their other two colleagues as they simply couldn't wait to jump in . So all four decided to cross the road to Kelly's Pub to 'quench their thirst' for sampling liquids....
MORE LATER - pic's and report to follow as soon as possible after the event .
Thanks!
Sharon.






Monday, December 22, 2008

UP THE REPUBLIC - OUR DAY WILL COME !

NOLLAIG SHONA DAR LEITHEOIRI !

Ar eagle an dearmaid ....

Ba bhrea an rud e siocháin bhuan bunaithe ar an gceart a bheith againn in Éireann . Is i an bronntanas is fearr a d'fheadfaimis a thabhairt duinn fein agus dar gclann .

Coinniodh an ceart agus an tsiocháin uainn le breis agus ocht gcead bliain , de bharr ionradh , forghabhail agus miriaradh na Sasanach. Socrú ar bith a dheantar in ainm mhuintir na hÉireann agus a ghlacann le riail Shasana agus a dhaingnionn an chriochdheighilt , ni thig leis an ceart na an tsiocháin bhuann a bhunu .

Ni dheanfaidh se ach la na siochána buaine a chur ar an mhear fhada agus an bhunfhadb a thabhairt do ghluin eile . Tharla se seo cheana nuair a siniodh Conradh 1921 agus cuireadh siar ar mhuintir na hÉireann e in ainm na siochána . Is mór ag Sinn Féin Poblachtach Éire a bheith saor agus daonlathach , an cuspoir ceanna a bhi i gceist ag Wolfe Tone agus ag na Poblachtaigh uile anuas go dti 1916 agus an la ata inniu ann .

Rinne a lan fear agus ban croga iobairti mora , thug a mbeatha fiu , ar son na cuise uaisle seo .


CEART . SAOIRSE. DAONLATHAS .

-----------------


A PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS TO OUR READERS !

Least we forget ....

A just and permanent peace in Ireland is most desirable . It is the greatest gift we could give to ourselves and our children . We have been denied justice and peace for more than eight centuries , because of English invasion , occupation and misrule of our country .

Any arrangement which , in the name of the Irish people , accepts English rule and copperfastens the Border , will not bring justice and lasting peace . It will only postpone the day of permanent peace , handing over the basic problem to another generation .

This happened before when the Treaty of 1921 was signed and was forced on the Irish people in the name of peace . Republican Sinn Féin cherishes the objective of a free , democratic Ireland , as envisaged by Wolfe Tone and all Republicans down to 1916 and our own day . Many brave men and women sacrificed a lot , even their lives , for this noble Cause .


JUSTICE . FREEDOM . DEMOCRACY .
(From the '1169...' Crew , December 2008. PLEASE NOTE : we are on a short break from normal posting , although we will post details of how the CABHAIR swim went and possibly a few other posts. We will return to 'normal' early in the New Year. Go raibh maith agat! Sharon.)