'Nobody has the right to claim Free Derry Wall' - Eamonn McCann

Derry Civil Rights activist, Eamonn McCann, has said nobody has the right to claim Free Derry wall for their political group or ideology.

He called for what he described as “the thicket of placards and advertisements around the Wall” to be removed as a matter of respect.

Mr McCann added that some of the placards and slogans around Free Derry Wall misrepresent the message which the Wall was intended to convey.

“The slogan “You Are Now Entering Free Derry” was inscribed early in the morning of January 5, 1969, following the arrival in Derry of the civil rights march from Belfast now generally known as the “Burntollet March,” he said.

“The slogan had been adapted from the civil rights movement in the United States. It wasn’t a nationalist declaration but an expression of the international dimension of the fight for civil rights.

“The same struggle continues across the world today.

“Nobody has a right to claim Free Derry Wall for his or her political group or ideology.”

Mr McCann said Free Derry Wall stood on its own.

“The green sward to the front of it should be left pristine, to highlight the civil rights message rather than confuse or obscure it.    

“Before its removal, the most recent addition had been bolted onto the Wall by the Saoradh group. It commemorated the death in Dublin in 2012 of Alan Ryan, a member of the Real IRA, murdered, apparently by a drugs gang. Alan Ryan's death was as deplorable as any of the killings which litter our history. 

“These include the death of journalist Lyra McKee in Creggan in April 2019 at the hand of a gunman associated with the RIRA. The implication of the latest addition to the Wall of an association between civil rights campaigning in 50 years ago and paramilitary activity today has no basis in history or in common sense. The Wall as it stood insulted Lyra's memory. 

“Down through the years, Free Derry Wall has been used to express solidarity with struggles for civil rights elsewhere, in Palestine, Yemen, Kurdistan, as well as among women, the gay community, people of colour, transgender people. 

 “The Wall doesn't belong to or express the views of any paramilitary or political faction. It belongs to everybody, particularly to the people of Derry who have struggled and continue to struggle for civil rights for all,” said Eamonn McCann.