Connections between the African National Congress and Sinn
Fein will be explored during a free lecture by Northumbria University academic Dr Connal Parr this week.
The talk focus on the links
between the two formerly militant political groups, particularly those which
have come to light following the death of South African lawyer Kader Asmal and
the subsequent publication of his of posthumous memoir.
A major player in the Irish
anti-Apartheid movement, Mr Asmal served as a minister in both Mandela and
Mbeki’s cabinets. In his book he revealed that the Provisional IRA had provided
secret training and assistance to the African National Congress’ armed wing,
Umkhonto we Size, to carry out the Sasol oil refinery bombing of June 1980.
Dr Parr said: “The links
between these two groupings have been memorized in Belfast murals and cemented
by the IRA’s nomination of the ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa as a weapons inspector
during the decommissioning process in 2000.
“Both Sinn Fein and the ANC
continue to navigate the tricky path between memory of the armed struggle of
the past, present electoral strategy, and an increasing political
neoliberalism.”
The lecture, entitled Not So
Hesitant Comrades: The African National Congress and Sinn Fein, takes place
from 7.30pm to 10pm on Thursday 25 January at the Tyneside Irish Centre. For
more information click here.
Dr Parr is Vice-Chancellor's
Research Fellow in Northumbria University’s Department of Humanities, which includes
the subject areas of History, English Literature, English Language and
Linguistics, Creative Writing and American Studies.
He has written articles for
numerous media and academic outlets and teaches Modern Irish and British
History and Politics. His first book, Inventing
the Myth: Political Passions and the Ulster Protestant Imagination, was published by Oxford University
Press in last year.
