Speaking in Ballinamore to a packed hall on the legacy of John Joe McGirl John Joe McGirl – an unbreakable Fenian In the course of almost 60 years of activism I have been very lucky to meet many wonderful, committed, compassionate republicans. On Saturday, in Ballinamore in County Leitrim, Republicans from Leitrim and beyond will gather to celebrate the life of one of these – John Joe McGirl. The annual John Joe McGirl commemoration is one of the highlights of the Ballinamore Festival Week and the participants will walk from John McGahern Square to the monument to John Joe opposite Amharclann an Oileáin (the Island Theatre). The monument was designed by Robert Ballagh. For many of my generation John Joe was an inspiration – a legend. I first met him in the late 1960s. I was in my late teens. I had travelled by bus from Belfast to Enniskillen one Friday evening and then hitch-hiked to Ballinamore. I slept in a field in my trusty sleeping bag and I landed in Ballin