The 50th anniversary of the death of a young Raheny man in the Northern conflict is to be marked at a ceremony in Balgriffin on Saturday, 18 July.
Patrick Cannon from Edenmore and Donegal man Peter McElchar, both IRA members, were killed in a premature explosion near the Donegal/Tyrone border in 1976.
The main speaker at the commemorative event will be Martina Anderson from Derry, a former MEP.
Welcoming people to attend the commemoration, Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha said “this is a very special anniversary, 50 years since Patrick Cannon lost his life in the conflict in our country.”
Like many young people at that time, he joined the IRA because he saw no alternative to end the sectarian state in the North and to re-unite Ireland. His family, friends and comrades have remembered him ever since and we gather this year on 18 July, five decades after Patrick and Peter lost their lives.”
The Donaghmede councillor said, “thanks to the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement and the political process which followed it, there is now a peaceful and democratic path to Irish Unity.”
“This year’s commemoration coincides with the stepping up of the campaign for Irish Unity, with Sinn Féin pressing the Irish government to prepare for the Unity referendum provided for in the Good Friday Agreement. Irish Unity has the potential to transform our country for the better and everyone can have a role in shaping it.”
The Patrick Cannon commemoration is on Saturday 18 July, meeting at 2pm in Balgriffin village and going to nearby Balgriffin Cemetery.