Jim Connell commemoration this weekend

The Jim Connell Society is hosting its 18th Annual Jim Connell Weekend starting on Friday April 29th and running until Sunday 1st May.  
Jim Connell, the author of the international Trade Union anthem, The Red Flag, was born in Rathniska, Kilskyre in 1852 and is commemorated each Mayday weekend in Kells and Crossakiel.  
The Chairperson of the Organising Committee, Brian Collins extended the sympathies of the Jim Connell Society to the family of Tommy Grimes, on his passing in March.
“We are obviously all preparing for this weekend in the shadow of sadness having lost our comrade, founder and friend, Tommy Grimes.  
“The organising committee and the wider Jim Connell network are devastated at the loss of such a good man, true friend and source of such commitment. Tommy was an inspiration, he always kept us moving forward and was the key figure in delivering seventeen Jim Connell weekends starting in 1998,” said Mr Collins.
“Many of Tommy’s comrades are still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer with us.  However, Tommy always quoted Joe Hill – ‘don’t mourn, organise!’  He would want us to ensure a successful weekend for all our guests coming from across Ireland and particularly from overseas.  We hope that as many people as possible extend a welcoming hand to our guests and can come along to our events in remembrance of Tommy.”
The weekend kicks off on Friday at 8pm in the Headfort Arms with representatives of British Unions such as the  Rail, Maritime and Transport Union , the  General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union and the Public and Commercial Services Union, joining with Irish trade unionists in starting the weekend off.  
“These British Unions are huge and represent millions of workers and we are again honoured to have such senior people from them with us this year.  Tommy was instrumental in forging these bonds of friendship and long may they last. We are also delighted to again have friends travelling from the Durham Miners Association and the Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council.”
On the Saturday the programme begins at 10.30am in the Headfort Arms and with a variety of speakers on different issues, including Annie Pike speaking on John Burns MP, who resigned from the British Cabinet in 1914 in opposition to the First World War.  
Mick Halpenny of SIPTU will deliver a lecture on the Easter Rising 1916.  
The inaugural Tommy Grimes Lecture will be given by renowned author and historian, Rachel Holmes, on ‘The life of Eleanor Marx.’
The annual commemoration and march will take place on Sunday 1st May in Crossakiel at 3pm.  
“We would like to invite all trade unions and their members to come along and participate and to remember to bring their banners. We want to see as many people as possible in Crossakiel not only remembering and commemorating Jim Connell; not only our friend and comrade, Tommy Grimes; not only those who fell in 1916, but all of our comrades who worked and fought for us, so that we could have a better life. That is what May Day is about,” Mr Collins concluded.