Renowned Irish civil rights leader to deliver speech in Tipperary this month

Bernadette Devlin McAliskey will unveil a plaque in Ballina later this month

Civil Rights activist and former MP, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, will unveil a plaque and deliver the keynote address at a ceremony at Boher Cross, Ballina, in memory of nine local IRA volunteers who died during the War of Independence and the Civil War.

“Commemorating the Heroes of Arra”, is the culmination of a series of events to honour the volunteers from the area who lost their lives between 1916 and 1924.

It is organised by the North Tipperary Republican Monument Committee and the families of those men who died in that tragic period.

A large attendance is expected to gather at Boher Old School for the 2pm unveiling and address by the renowned Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, who was elected to Westminster for Mid-Ulster in 1969.

21 years-old at the time, she was a leading figure in the Civil Rights movement and became the youngest ever MP to be elected.

Her autobiography, The Price of My Soul - part memoir and part political critique of a deeply discriminatory Northern Ireland, was a best seller.

She and her husband Michael survived a UDA assassination attempt at their home in 1981, an attack conducted when their children were in the house.

To this day, Bernadette vigorously defends the marginalised and underprivileged and her political analysis of national and international affairs remains much sought-after.