Corbyn Pays Tribute To Sinn Fein Revolutionary

Jeremy Corbyn has risked courting controversy by announcing a memorial to a violent Sinn Fein revolutionary in his first conference speech.

The Labour leader paid tribute to Constance Markievicz, who was involved in one of the most bloody uprisings in Ireland's history.

He used his speech at the Labour Women's Conference to champion the work Countess Markievicz, the first woman ever to be elected to the House of Commons, had done for women's rights in politics.

Mr Corbyn, who has previously come under fire over his associations with Sinn Fein, said he had been working with colleagues for a plaque in the new Islington library so "all generations can understand the contribution that Connie Markievicz and so many others made".

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She was unable to take her seat in 1918 because she was in Holloway Prison at the time, which is in Mr Corbyn's Islington constituency.

He told the women's conference: "But I have been discussing this with women colleagues on Islington Council and when we rebuild our library next to the prison we are going to have a plaque, a memorial, up so that all the generations can understand the contribution that Connie Markievicz and so many others made."

However, despite her celebrated work for women's rights, she was also a violent revolutionary who signed up to the Irish Citizen's Army and trained teenagers to use firearms.

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In a speech to students in 1909 she advised: "Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels and gold wands in the bank, and buy a revolver."

She was second in command of the rebel forces during the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule – a bloody revolt that lasted five days and left 132 British soldiers and police dead.

The countess was sentenced to death for her part in the uprising but escaped the firing squad because she was a woman.

Mr Corbyn has already faced criticism over his association with Sinn Fein. In 1984, 14 days after the Brighton hotel bombing at the Conservative Party Conference he invited Gerry Adams to the House of Commons.

The Labour leader recently reiterated his support for a united Ireland.