RNU Cork

RNU Remembers

Óglach Ruairí Ó Brádaigh,

October 1932 – 5 June 2013

Ruairí was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1958 to 1959 and again from 1960 to 1962

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, born Peter Roger Casement Brady, was born into a middle-class republican family in Longford that lived in a duplex home on Battery Road. His father, Matt Brady, was an IRA volunteer who was severely wounded during an attack with the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1919.

His mother, May Caffrey, was a Cumann na mBan volunteer and graduate of University College Dublin, class of 1922, with a degree in commerce.

His maternal grandmother was a French-speaking Swiss Lutheran.
His father died when he was ten, and was given a paramilitary funeral led by his former IRA colleagues.

His mother, prominent as the Secretary for the County Longford Board of Health, lived until 1974.

Ruairí was educated at Melview National School at primary level and attended secondary school at St. Mel's College, leaving in 1950.

In 1954, he graduated from University College Dublin with a commerce degree like his mother, and certification in the teaching of the Irish language. That year he took a job teaching Irish at Roscommon Vocational School in Roscommon.

He joined Sinn Féin in 1950. While at university and in 1951, he joined the Irish Republican Army

He opposed the decision of the IRA and Sinn Féin to drop abstentionism and to recognise the Westminster parliament in London, the Stormont parliament in Belfast and the Leinster House parliament.

Along with Seán Mac Stíofáin, he led the walkout from the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis (party convention) after the majority voted to end the policy of abstentionism

After suffering a period of ill-health, Ruairi Ó Brádaigh died on 5 June 2013 at Roscommon County Hospital.

Yesterday evening members of Cork R.N.U pasted the names, ages and faces of children slaughtered by "Israel" on the office fronts of Free State politicians from Fianna Gael & Fianna Fail who voted against the bill to sanction "Israel". This was done to expose these political figures from within their local areas as they continue to feign sympathy in public while voting in tandem with the party line when in Dublin, itself voting in line with the agenda of pro western hegemony that the Free State is subserviant to via the EU / NATO power bloc of which they are little more than a vassal state.

R.N.U has challenged these same political figures previously in relation to a vote they helped pass which led to the removal of a block on evictions which directly resulted in hundreds of additional famillies facing homelessness while simultaneously meeting people in these offices on a daily basis, who are distraught at the prospect of them and their children being made homeless.

It is clear these politicians represent a decrepit State that has delivered nothing but economic inequality, privatization and corruption on a national and international basis.

R.N.U will continue to challenge the policies and positions taken by these Free State politicians.

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month

This June, the Republican Network for Unity (RNU) stands in solidarity with men and boys across Ireland and supports Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental health affects every family, every community, and every county on this island. Too often, men suffer in silence, feeling unable to speak about their struggles or seek support. We must challenge the stigma that still surrounds men’s mental health and ensure that support is available and accessible to all.

The statistics are stark:

🔹 In the North of Ireland, 230 of the 290 su***des registered in 2024 were men (79.3%). Su***de remains the leading cause of death for males under 50, accounting for almost 22% of all male deaths under 50 years of age.

🔹 In the North, 171 of the 221 su***des registered in 2023 were male (77.4%).

🔹 In the South of Ireland, 77.8% of all su***des in 2022 were men, with the male su***de rate standing at 15.2 per 100,000 population, compared with 4.2 for women.

🔹 In 2021, approximately 8 out of every 10 deaths by su***de in Ireland were male.

These figures are not just numbers. They represent fathers, sons, brothers, friends, neighbours and comrades whose lives were cut short.

As an all-Ireland political movement, RNU recognises that mental health does not stop at any border. The challenges faced by men in Belfast, Derry, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Armagh or Kerry are often the same: isolation, financial pressure, family difficulties, trauma, addiction, and a reluctance to ask for help.

This month, we encourage all men to talk openly, check in on friends and family, and seek support when needed. There is strength in speaking up.

No man should feel that he has to face his struggles alone.

RNU - A 32 county Socialist Republican Movement RNU is a socialist republican movement driving grassroots political change to achieve a united, democratic Irish republic for the people.