The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.30           September 8, 1997 
 
 
Sinn Fein Leaders Speak In U.S. Cities  

BY JANE HARRIS
NEW YORK - Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, both members of the British Parliament, and Caoimhghin O'Caolain, a member of the Irish parliament will speak in the United States September 5-7. At the New York rally, which will be held at the Roseland Ballroom, the fighters for Irish independence will discuss the current issues in the struggle for self-determination. Adams, McGuinness, and O'Caolain, who were just recently granted visas by the State Department, are part of Sinn Fein's negotiating team for talks with Westminster scheduled to begin September 15.

McGuinness, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, will then fly on to a San Francisco rally on September 6, while O'Caolain will address a Chicago rally the same evening. The theme of these events will be "A New Opportunity for Peace... Talking about the Future of Ireland" (see ad on Page 16).

At a meeting held here August 2, Joe Cahill, Sinn Fein's treasurer, said that the Republican movement was anxious to speak with its American supporters. "The conflict is far from over, and we can't sit on our backsides," he said. "You are the vehicle," he said, reviewing the importance of international solidarity.

In a related development on August 16, Canadian customs officials seized copies of the recently published book Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, by Don Mullan, an author and human rights activist. Mullan was stopped as he arrived in Quebec to attend ceremonies commemorating the Irish famine of 1845-1848. When Mullan asked why he was stopped, customs officials replied that they were acting on instructions to be "on the alert for terrorists."

Not only did customs take the copies of the book, which is the author's account of the day British troops killed 14 unarmed civil rights fighters in a demonstration, but they also confiscated 160 copies of the Breglio Report and other items.

The Breglio Report alleges that British army snipers, using rifles with telescopic sights, shot at civil rights protesters from the walls of Derry, Ireland, on Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972. Mullen's book, as well as the Breglio Report contradict the "official" British Widgery Report of the incident.  
 
 
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