friends and liberators of the Irish people". Readers were informed that Germany desired neither "territory nor...economic penetration" in Ireland but simply wanted Ireland to play its part in the "reconstruction" of a "free and progressive Europe". The Third Reich was also praised as the "energising force" of European politics and the "guardian" of national freedom. Historian Caoimhe Nic Dhaibheid states that Russell's motivation was to obtain arms and money from Germany to further Irish republican aims. Historian Brian Hanley has opined that "Sean Russell was not a Nazi, but he was politically blind to the realities and to what it meant to collaborate with the Nazis", a view echoed by historian Gerard Shannon who has described Russell as politically naïve, and also by the one-time editor of An Phoblacht Mícheál Mac Donncha who has called Russell "extremely naïve" and "narrow-minded in his approach" but also "courageous and selfless". The National Graves Association has defended Russell from accusations of fascism saying "He went to Germany, the Soviet Union and the US seeking arms. If people want to call him a fascist they would also have to claim he was a communist." In September 2003 Mary Lou McDonald spoke at a rally to commemorate Russell held at the memorial site. The same rally was also addressed by then Provisional IRA Army Council member Brian Keenan who said: In 2020, McDonald was retroactively criticised for her attendance at the rally by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who stated "The idea someone was working with the Nazis to undermine Britain when Europe was in great peril and [that] he should be commemorated is something that Sinn Féin need a wake-up call on" as well as adding that he thought Russell was "wrong" and that "collaborating with the Nazis should not be condoned in any way". MacDonald stated that Russell was "misguided" but said she did not regret her attendance at the rally and stated that Russell was a "militarist" but not a "Nazi collaborator". In 2022, politician and journalist Shane Ross condemned Russell as one of "the most unsavoury supporters of terrorism in the history of the republican movement". Attacks on memorial to Russell A statue commemorating Russell was elected by republicans in Fairview Park, Dublin on 9 September 1951. It is reported 1,000 Irish republicans attended the unveiling of the statue, including future IRA Chiefs of Staff Cathal Goulding and Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, as well