A NORTHERN IRELAND NEW YEAR WISH AND PRAYER LIST
Posted by Jim on January 17, 2014
The loyalist body politic pretty much started off 2014 the way they have in 30 previous years. They rejected compromise. This time it was the one crafted by Richard Haass and Professor Meghan O’Sullivan to address the contentious issues of flag protocols, parades and how to address the legacy of murder and mayhem left by Britain in the North. Let us not despair but instead look at the actions which might be possible This list includes some wished for happenings in the North and, just as important, things that we hope and pray will NOT happen! Were all these things wished for come to past, I have no doubt that 2014 will be, as the Chairman of the Board crooned, “..a very good year!
1. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee announces that he will hold hearings on the implementation of the 1998 Belfast Agreement with a particular focus on the three ‘justice’ provisions of the Treaty which the United Kingdom has all but ignored or failed to implement.
2. The Irish government will bring the U. K. to the European Court of Human Rights and to the International Court of Justice for violations of the so-called Good Friday Agreement, an accord registered with the United Nations.
3. Her Majesty’s government announces that instead of complaining about the expense of investigating and prosecuting the killers of over 1000 Catholic civilians, select Crown jewels will be sold or otherwise used for collateral to raise the necessary funds.
4. PBS in America runs the BBS Panorama documentary titled BRITAIN’S SECRET TERROR FORCE and PBS Host Charlie Rose interviews Ms. Anne Cadwallader to discuss her latest book LETHAL ALLIES which depicts the pervasive and sinister nature of Britain’s collusion with loyalist murder gangs.
5. The U. S. Department of State will NOT continue to cover-up British trashing of the 1998 Belfast Agreement and its annual Human Rights Report will accurately reflect the United Kingdom’s attempt to get away with murder of more than 1000 Catholics, the mass murder of the no-warning bombings of Dublin and Monaghan and the murder of attorney Patrick Finucane.
6. The U. S. Joint Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) exposes the ongoing efforts of Britain to destabilize N. I. by corrupting law, justice and human rights and submits a report to the Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate recommending sanctions and rebuke for failure to abide by the ‘Good Friday’ Agreement .
7. Prime Minister David Cameron announces that Great Britain will no longer hide behind abuse of the 30 year document release requirement of the freedom of information statute which, for ‘security purposes’, exempts N. I. from the time limit stipulation. This has in the past been used to to deny victims truth and delay the day of justice.
8. Speaker of the U. S. House John Boehner and Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid announce that Britain’ admission to the murder of attorney Patrick Finucane means those who conspired to kill the human and civil rights advocate will be subject to the sanctions stipulated in the Sergei Magnitsky law named after the attorney murdered by the Russian government.
9. Taoiseach Enda Kenny acknowledges the irony between his opposition to amnesty for those responsible for murder in the N. I. conflict and his failure to demand British action on the Dublin-Monaghan bombing perpetrators and their British Army handlers.
10. The British government announces that it supports the Haass proposal for a Historical Investigations of Catholic murders which will have subpoena power and welcomes the contribution of $30 million from the U. S. for the cost of the investigations, the approximate amount of money the U. S. gave to the U. N. investigation into the murder of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri in 2005.
11. Journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards and Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan finally retire and call an end to their life long obsession opposing Irish unity and the political leaders who espouse it.
12. The Irish Attorney General Alan Shatter announces his opposition to any effort to end the hunt for and prosecution of Nazi’s for their crimes while defending his record of doing absolutely nothing to pursue those who conspired to commit the largest ever criminal act in the State and in the entire Anglo-Irish conflict, the no warning bombings of Dublin Monaghan Towns with a loss of 33 innocent civilians lives.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “America will exhaust all other possibilities before doing the right thing.” We wish, hope and pray that the United Kingdom, having exhausted every avenue to avoid accountability for its actions in Northern Ireland will, in 2014, do the right thing and will do so prompted by a new ‘special relationship’ between the Irish and American governments.
Michael J. Cummings, Member
Irish American Unity Conference