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The year 1981 and the Hunger Strikes in particular, were undoubtedly one of the most traumatic periods of the entire conflict. Nationalist Belfast, along with many other areas exploded into levels of activity not seen since the early 1970's. The rioting and the day-to-day activity surrounding the hunger strikes introduced a whole new generation to the struggle and this manifested itself in many different formats One manifestation of the tide of support for the hunger strike campaign was the endless number of marches, parades and rallies, and from this stemmed the emergence of a new flute band in the Upper Springfield area of West Belfast initially known as “The Pride Of West Belfast”. Before long the Eire Nua Flute Band had established itself in the area although, members were drawn from throughout greater West Belfast. Since it's formation in early 1981, the band has remained a constant and reliable source, always at hand to lend its support to the many strands and facets which make up the republican movement. By the late 1980’s most of the band members had left and at this stage a new influx of members was attracted to the band now headed by Sean “Macky” McMahon who introduced a new military type uniform which was first paraded on St Patrick’s day 1989. When asked by the Brits or Peelers “who runs the band” we were actually telling the truth when we answered that “the band runs itself.”
A measure of Eire Nua’s strength at this stage was that we organised events on the 12th of July and packing out clubs when nationalists would have normally kept their heads down or left the city for a few days. As was often the case Eire Nua was helping to raise the morale of the community and although in many instances, it was unplanned, they brought people out onto the streets in a small but yet important way.
From supporting the numerous marches and rallies, be they election rallies, commemorations, and prisoner release functions. The anti-extradition Campaign, Saoirse rallies or even just marching around areas to lift spirits in the darker days of the struggle. The band has always impeccably represented the area from which it hails and has won numerous competitions from parades in places diverse as Ballymurphy to Bodenstown and Glasgow to Cleveland, Ohio, USA. As Bobby Sands wrote; “Everyone, republican or otherwise has their part to play, and no part is either too great or too small.". One thing stands clear from the history of the Eire Nua RFB and it is that they have certainly manifested the words of Bobby Sands.
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