THOUSANDS MARCH FOR INDEPENDENCE
Football legend’s rallying cry:
T HOUSANDS gathered yesterday in Merthyr Tydfil to march for an independent Wales. The third march organised by independence campaign group All Under One Banner (AUOB) Cymru brought thousands to the town.
Organisers confirmed after the rally that more than 5,000 people turned up for the event.
Previous marches in Cardiff and Caernarfon in May and July are thought to have attracted 3,000 and 10,000 participants respectively, according to organisers.
Demonstrators gathered at Penderyn Square yesterday morning, before setting off on a 1.2-mile march around the town.
Speakers at the event were former international footballer Neville Southall, sports commentator and former Wales rugby international Eddie Butler, poet and playwright Patrick Jones and singers Kizzy and Eadyth Crawford.
Southall told the crowd: “This is the greatest country in the world, but it’s no good having a dragon if the dragon cannot roar.”
“And at the moment we cannot roar because we don’t have any money. We need to build a country that looks after the lowest of the low. We need to take everybody and treat them the same.
“There should be no class system in Wales. Everyone should be the same.”
Ahead of the march a large crowd had formed in front of the Redhouse, with Welsh flags and YesCymru banners flying high.
Trains to Merthyr from Cardiff were so full yesterday morning they were having to leave platforms full of passengers behind.
AUOB Cymru spokesperson Llywelyn ap Gwilym said: “The marches in Cardiff and Caernarfon have been excellent.
“They’ve drawn in large numbers of people, have created a buzz on social media and on TV and in print, and have really helped further the cause of independence for our country.
“With the anti-democratic mess that is currently happening in Westminster, it is more important than ever for Wales to make its voice heard, and for the people of Wales to realise that there is a viable alternative: independence.”
Former Wales rugby international Eddie Butler said: “This today is not entirely political – not yet.
“We are here simply to be together on the road that may be long but there is a political question to ask.
“Out of Westminster nothing good will come for Wales.
“But nothing is good. Nothing is a
blank canvas.
“Every nation that cast itself free from a neighbour, however mighty, has started with a blank canvas.”
Hayley Jones, 46, held up a photograph of her father Tony Jones as the march passed by her living room window.
Tony was a decorated commando in the Royal Marines, later a Captain for the Army Cadet Force and worked for the community mental health team. A strong supporter for Welsh independence, he died at the age of 66 about three years ago. “I believe that he would have wanted to be part of this,” Hayley said. “And this is a way of showing it. He would have wanted me to do it.
“He was a strong supporter of an independent Wales and he was a well liked person in Merthyr.”
John Sowerby, 65, and his dog Blodwen had travelled to Merthyr from Porthmadog.
“I’m very much in support of independence for Wales,” John said. “I think Wales will be far better off if it were self governed.
“Policies that are right for Wales and not the rest of the UK. I have long held that view.
“It’s really taken off since December. There’s been an upsurge and I think it’s because of Brexit. People are waking up to how bad a deal it would be for Wales – particularly Welsh farming.”
Robert Smith, 50, travelled to Merthyr from Pontardawe to March with Rob Mimpriss, 48, from Bangor, whom he met on the Plaid Cymru website. This is the first time they have met in person.
Rob added: “I have been a nationalist in support of Welsh independence for a long time – for 30 years almost – and finally something is stirring. I think the possibility for Welsh freedom is within reach.”