Provisional Sinn Féin’s president candidate Liadh Ní Riada has stated she would wear a poppy if elected.
Every year there is a debate on the poppy. What does it represent and who does it remember. It’s made clear by the Royal British Legion, who are responsible for the appeal, that the poppy remembers every single British soldier that has died since WW1. It is often a common misconception that it is used just to remember Brits who died in the first world war. The poppy honours the very Brits who carried out war crimes in 1916, the Black & Tans, those who shot 14 innocent men dead on Bloody Sunday and the many more in the decades that followed in the six counties. We all know this including those within the ranks of Provisional Sinn Féin. But it comes as no surprise that the presidential candidate for the sinners would be willing to pin on a poppy.
Ever since a revisionist grouping got control of Sinn Féin in 1986, a slippery slope has followed. They fractured the movement with the acceptance of Leinster House. Just over a decade later they would enter Stormont. In 2005 they surrendered arms to the enemy. Up until 1986 the object of the Provisionals was the defence of the 32 county Irish Republic. Today they recognise English crown law in Ireland as legitimate and uphold British rule in the north of Ireland. Over the years they have called on the Irish people to become British informers and collaborators. They have called for a unilateral ceasefire, accepted partition, accepted the unionist veto and endorsed the colonial RUC. These are hard truths to swallow for shinners who have time after time excused each and every one of these actions. And already some are defending the wearing of the poppy.
For a colonised people to pay tribute to their colonisers is nothing short of treachery. It is a spit in the face of IRA volunteers who gave their lives fighting the British Army. The reality is Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada would be paying tribute to men who pulled the trigger on Irish Republicans.
The poppy is a symbol of British imperialism.
