It is a cold night on December 24th 1971 as darkness has just fallen in Brooklyn. We are parked at Utica Ave and Ave N in what was up until three weeks ago a used car lot, but this night it is occupied by Christmas trees looking to be chosen to adorn some families living room. Mom is in the passenger seat of our Plymouth Station Wagon with baby Maryann on her lap( no car seat)after making her selection ,as my brother Michael and sister Eileen and myself are leaning against the fold down door in its rear. We stand there listening to Dad state his case as to why he was willing to pay $6 for a tree that was clearly marked $15. Money was especially tight this year in my house ,so Dad specifically waited til Christmas Eve to buy our tree because he knew that he would be able to haggle for a better price. My Dad handed the man $8 and then another $1 for the guy to wrap it and tie it onto the roof of the station wagon.
Dad is now on his back, down on the living room floor under the tree as Mom says just “a little bit to the right” (her very last comment was “a little bit to the left”) Ten minutes later after at least twenty “little bit here little bit there’s” Dad twists the three silver metal prongs as they piece the the trees stem and hold it into place and sturdy in the red and green metal tree stand. Two dinning room chairs immediately appear on each side of the tree and Michael and Eileen stand on them as they pass the tree light strands ( which took Dad 30 minutes to unravel from the year before and the things he said under his breath as he did it was not real Christmas like) to each other as Mom placed them just so. The bulbs were hung , the bunting (skirt)was placed under the tree and the Nativity scene was placed upon it . Michael places the Angel on top of the tree and Dad plugs in the lights. Now there is just one thing still missing…..the Tinsel! To me this was the best part of decorating our Christmas Tree. We would drape a handful in our left hand and throw the tinsel with our right hands , it seemed like 20 lbs of it would wind up covering our tree (the tinsel was lead based and had a very heavy feeling as you held it). The tree as always was magnificent as Moms eyes would tear up just a little bit as she looked it over
It is now just around 10 pm and there was another special happening that would soon be a part of this night. But before we get to that I ask Mom if it was alright if I could go down the block to my friend Eddie Corlonis house for a little bit because he was trying to explain to me something about him getting “seven fishes” for Christmas. Mom says ‘ OK but you better be back in this house by 11:15″ So being an Irish kid I am thinking he got a Fish Tank for Christmas and I was going to see his “seven fishes” swimming around in it. Boy was I surprised when I walked into his house and saw his whole family sitting around the house eating great plates of food . I looked at the fish tank which was already set up (Eddie really did get a tank for Christmas) and noticed it had only two fish in it. Mrs Corloni made me a plate and handed it to me and said welcome to “The Feast of the Seven Fishes”. Now everybody is eating fish and I see only two in the tank………I am a little nervous and to say the least, a little hesitant to eat whats on the plate! I whispered to Eddie “Are we eating the fish that was in your new fish tank?” Eddie bursts into to hysterical laughter and announces to everyone in the room my question which then they joined in the laughter as well. Mrs Corloni seeing me standing there confused ran over to me and hugged me as to shield me from the laughter as she yelled at everyone to stop laughing or get out of her house. Armando (Eddies Dad ) Sat me down and explained to me about The Feast of the Seven Fishes( I am pretty sure be bit a hole in his upper lip to keep from laughing as he did) as Mrs Corloni stood behind him scanning the room at her guests to make sure not one of them was laughing at me .God help them if they did!
It’s now 11:15 and run down the block back to my house. I can see that all the houses on my block have their Christmas Trees all lit up and decorated in the front window of thier homes,. Outside were strings of big yellow green red ., blue and orange bulbs strung around the windows. Pictures on plastic molds of Santas face along with Candy Canes and Dancing Reindeer were taped to the inside window . The inside doors wrapped in festive colors were all open and front storm doors were fogged from the heat inside the homes giving an almost frost like look to anyone passing by.
I come into my house and Mom says go upstairs and get dressed, and by the way ” There is a box on your bed you might as well open it tonight”
I fly up the stairs touching every third step I swing around the Bannister pole as I reach the top and enter my bedroom . Laid out on my bed was a Navy Doubled breasted sport coat ,a white turtle neck sweater and a tan pair of Bell Bottom slacks. On the floor was a box wrapped in shiny aluminum like paper , I tear it open …just what I wanted……all my friends had them……they were the coolest shoes ever………Chukka Boots.
I feel great because I know I look cool and Lori Cook Satriano will definitely notice me now (I had a crush on her ,she didn’t know) I was heading out to Midnight Mass. Yes I was 11 years old and I was leaving my house at 11:45 by myself (Michael and Eileen went with their own friends and Mom and Dad stayed home to prepare for Christmas morning) I am walking to Church as many of my neighbors doors are opening and they join in the procession at this late night hour. They are wearing new coats and scarfs and hats and feeling wonderful like I am in my Chukka Boots. . I can see the crowd gathered in front of Mary Queen of Heaven Church as I near and see all my friends and every kid from my neighborhood. All of stood in the back of the over packed Church and sung the hymns and celebrated the birth of Jesus. Lori did not see me nor did I see her .
Asd per Moms instructions I went right home after Mass . As I think back to that night ,I feel a sense of warmth . I enjoyed the Christmas Tree purchase and decorating, I learned that Italians make the best seafood on this planet from a loving family who lived down the block, I received a wonderful material gift (Chukka Boots) which proved to me that my Mom loved me ( the best gift ever)because she made sure that she got them for me and I got to join my neighborhood and stand in the back of a church watching some of the toughest guys I have ever known singing hymns about a child who was born in a manger.
Had Jesus been born in Brooklyn there would have been room for him in every home from Red Hook to Canarsie to Mill Basin to Bensonhurst to Midwood to Flatbush to Georgetown to Marine Park to Gravesend to Bergen Beach to Flatlands to Dyker Heights to Park Slope to Bedford Stuyvesant to Crown Heights …. he would not have been born in a Manger he would have been welcomed and loved and given whatever we had to make him comfortable. And if he was lucky enough to have been born in Mrs Corlonis house He would have loved the fish and would have been hugged with loving protecting arms of a woman who looked out for all children, Like all Booklyn Moms
Merry Christmas Brooklyn
I would just like to take a moment to thank each and every one who have read my stories and have written kind words and shared memories in return . It is my wish for you and yours to enjoy this wonderful Christmas Season and bask in the love that your families and friends offer you throughout the year. To all my Jewish friends I wish you all a Happy Chanukah and the same blessings
East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson has welcomed the Government’s plans to introduce protections for members of the Armed Forces against vexatious prosecutions.
Spokesman on Justice, Home Affairs and Human Rights.
Mr Robinson served on the Defence Select Committee and he said,
“The Government has previously talked about protections for members of our Armed Forces and this commitment in the Queen’s Speech is to be welcomed. There is an obvious need to see the details of exactly what will be brought forward. The Government will be able to draw on the work of the Defence Committee in the last Parliament which has examined many of the issues related to this.
Whatever is brought forward must apply across the United Kingdom as a whole. There is no difference made between soldiers who are serving depending on where they come from and, like the Armed Forces Covenant, there should be no difference in the implementation of such legislation across the UK.
There have been some who have attempted to suggest these proposals will impact upon the talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland. Such hyperbole is unnecessary and unhelpful. Both in the talks and in the investigation of the proposals to be brought forward by the Government what is needed is calm, rational and constructive engagement rather than knee-jerk reactions to grab a headline.”
A – Johnson has his Brexit majority – Boris Johnson picked up 47 seats and an overall majority more than 70 seats, which will empower him “to get Brexit done quickly.” Meanwhile wins by nationalists and republicans in the north and the Scottish National Party in Scotland, kept Irish unity and Scottish independence on the agenda. Johnson called the British General Election after a series of parliamentary defeats blocked him from moving forward with Brexit and his renegotiated withdrawal agreement out of the European Union. He banked on winning an outright Tory majority in the election, picking up enough MPs approve his deal. With the largest Tory majority in 30 years, he has his parliamentary backing to get out of the EU by 31 January. Johnson wants to complete a new trade deal with the bloc by December 2020 or go without any trade deal and terminate any interim agreements by the end of 2020. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbin will resign after the worst showing by Labour in 30 years. In the north the Democratic Unionist Party, went into the election with 10 seats and expected to pick up the seat vacated by the retiring Sylvia Hermon. Instead the DUP suffered a “Friday the 13th nightmare” defeat. Both deputy leader Nigel Dodds and Emma Little-Pengelly were ousted, while the vacated seat was taken by Alliance. The SDLP won seats in Derry and South Belfast, leaving the DUP and unionists with only 8 of the north’s 18 Westminster seats. It is the first time nationalist parties held more seats than unionists in the six counties. Nationalists swept all border communities and 3 of Belfast’s 4 seats. The DUP also lost all leverage at Westminster. The party’s 10 votes had been needed first by Theresa May and then Boris Johnson to become Prime Minister. However the DUP broke with Johnson over his Brexit plan, calling it a “betrayal agreement” because it allowed for checks and regulations on goods which crossed the Irish sea. Getting his Brexit deal done proved more important to Johnson than keeping his word to unionists about avoiding a line down the Irish Sea.DUP objections to Johnson’s deal will now be dismissed. The loss of Nigel Dodds, party leader at Westminster, and the seat he had held for 18 years to John Finucane, was a bitter blow for the party. Meanwhile the SNP swept 48 of Scotland 59 seats. Party leader Nicola Sturgeon called the result a “renewed, refreshed and strengthened” mandate for Scottish independence. Johnson said he will not allow Scotland a new referendum on independence but the calls for a new referendum continue and will be noted in Ireland.
B – Britain reneges on OTR letters for Republicans while moving amnesty for British troopers-Sixty-seven year old John Downey, is being held without bail in Maghaberry Prison, on IRA related charges from 1972,despite an OTR pledge by the British crown that he would not be prosecuted. Meanwhile Boris Johnson has pledged what amounts to a legal amnesty for British troopers, by changing the Human Rights Act, to cease applying to any acts by British forces that took place before 2000, including murders during the Troubles. This move would cut-off access to British courts for relatives of victims killed by British crown forces, and violate specific sections of the Good Friday Agreement where Britain pledged to put the European Convention of Human Rights into law for the north, with direct access to the courts.
John Downey had been arrested in 2013 and accused of involvement in an IRA attack in England.However those charges were dismissed because he had been granted immunity in an OTR “on the run” letter,which pledged he was not wanted for arrest, questioning or charge by the crown. Terms for the release of Republican prisoners and closure for those Republicans, who the crown wanted to make prisoners for pre-1998 actions, were high on the agenda in negotiations. Tony Blair, the British leader in these negotiations, said the OTR issue was “absolutely critical”, “fundamental” and talks could have “collapsed” without a satisfactory settlement. Negotiations on OTRs continued after the Good Friday Agreement and were amplified in the Weston Park Accord of 2001.The British, in Paragraph 20, pledged to take such steps necessary to insure that prosecutions for pre-April 1998 actions against members of organizations on ceasefire were “no longer pursued”. Administrative mechanisms were constructed to carry oral and later written immunity pledges. Senior staff were assigned to carry out this agreed process. Republicans who had lived years outside the north returned home and lived openly. Following the 2013 arrest and the 2014 dismissal of all charges, the British apparently decided to renege on these immunity grants and make an example of John Downey. Meanwhile the one-sided secretive scheme of undeclared immunity or impunity for members of the British Army or constabulary who committed or colluded in sanctioned murders is now about to be made British law.
C – Stormont agreement expected from new talks-After a nearly three year absence, talks are beginning this week which are expected to revive the Stormont Assembly. Past talks broke down, most notably in February 2018 when the DUP reneged on an agreement because supporters would not accept an Irish Language Act. However the election results put new pressure on both the DUP and Sinn Fein to make an agreement. The British General Election took away the DUP’s leverage at Westminster and cost it two seats while the Sinn Fein vote share was also reduced. British colonial secretary Julian Smith threatened to call new six county Assembly elections, if there is no deal by mid-January. Stormont collapsed in January 2017 when Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister over the DUP’s handling of the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. Other issues, such as an Irish Language Act, reform of the Petition of Concern and the legacy of the Troubles, have also come to the fore in successive rounds of failed talks aimed at restoring power-sharing.The talks will begin with individual meetings between Smith and the five largest Assembly parties, the DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance before moving to round table talks. The Irish government is also scheduled to join in the talks.
D – Veteran Republican Ivor Bell vindicated after 5 year ordeal-The five year prosecution of 82 year old prominent Irish Republican Ivor Bell, ended with his being cleared of all charges and a ruling that there was not any admissible evidence against him. Bell had been in his late 70s in 2014, when taken from his home and charged with soliciting the death and disappearance of an informer more than 40 years earlier. Ivor Bell had been one of a 5 member delegation flown to England to represent the IRA in negotiations with the British in 1972,as well as a former IRA Chief of staff and Belfast Commander. The controversial charges were based on statements allegedly made by him in an interview recorded on the Boston College tapes. Bell said he was not the man on the tapes, known as ‘Interviewee Z’ and that he had been living in County Louth at the time of the Belfast killing. The interviewee said only that he was opposed to disappearing or secretly burying any informers killed by the IRA. After 5 years of stringent bail restrictions and petty harassment, the tapes were ruled unreliable and could not be used as evidence against Mr Bell. The judge told jurors: “There is now no evidence which the prosecution can put before you in order to support the case.”My role now is to direct you to return a verdict of not guilty, because you simply cannot find him to have done the acts alleged.”Mr Bell’s solicitor, Peter Corrigan, said his client had been vindicated. The Boston tapes were an oral history project, commissioned by Boston College. Recordings were made of interviews with former combatants about their activities during the Troubles on the understanding these would not be made public until after their deaths. Ed Moloney, the journalist behind the Boston College project, said he welcomed Mr Bell’s acquittal.
CHRISTMAS APPEAL
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is no fiend of Ireland or Irish justice. His top issue is Brexit no matter what Brexit means for Ireland. He wants to deny truth and justice to the families of victims murdered by the crown or loyalist agents by laws that remove Human Rights Acts protections formally agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. He will continue austerity cuts in funding that will bring greater hardship in the six counties. At times like these, Irish people in the north look to America to stand behind them. We have already received more appeals for help than ever before. America can make a difference for them, at this crucial time but only if the AOH and LAOH, as the voice of the Irish in America, lead the way. Our donations to carefully chosen charities through monies raised by the FFAI Annual Christmas Appeal, alongside our political and educational campaigns, are the cornerstone of our FFAI initiative.
Don’t let them down!!!
AOH-LAOH FFAI CHRISTMAS APPEAL PO Box 904 Jefferson Valley, New York 10535
TIME TO MAKE McALLISTER’S VICTORY FINAL
It was a “Happy Thanksgiving” for Malachy McAllister, his supporters and for justice. After yet another six months of deep anxiety for himself and his family, the combined efforts by political leaders, Cardinal Dolan and the AOH succeeded in halting Malachy’s deportation for another six months. It is too important a victory to be hollowed out, or even lost, six months from now. One can only imagine what it is must be like for Malachy to face the real threat of deportation again and again. Few individuals could have earned the sympathy and backing of the range of supporters necessary to keep him here, given the current political climate. Senators Menendez, Schumer, Congressmen King, Engel, Smith and Pascrell were among those who personally intervened with the administration. Cardinal Dolan called the President. Many law enforcement and military officials publicly endorsed him. The Irish Embassy backed him. The AOH and other Irish organizations campaigned for him.
Malachy has multiple grounds which should have entitled him to full legal permanent residence under American law. He has lived in America for decades, is a father , successful businessman and, respected member of the Irish-American community. He should be allowed to live here without semi-annual battles against deportation hanging over his head, where the British and DHS as the expression goes “only have to get lucky once.” In 1997 the Irish political deportee cases were settled by the Clinton administration, upon formal request by Secretary of State Albright to Attorney General Reno.It was supposed to open the door for others. Malachy McAllister found the door had been shut. Malachy McAllister, was involved in a conflict which is long over. Clearly Cardinal Dolan, leading politicians, law enforcement and so many Irish Americans would not have backed a criminal. America must not continue to victimize him and his family at Britain’s behest! We cannot enjoy Malachy’s victory only to see him go through it again in 6 months.
FFAI MONTHLY BULLETIN Please read and distribute the monthly FFAI Bulletin. The is now available on AOH national email blasts, or on the New York State and National AOH web sites. We want to give you monthly updates on key events in the north with short analysis and explanation. Slan, MARTIN GALVIN
Retired FF Michael Millerin Need of Kidney Donation
Retired Firefighter and United States Marine veteran Michael J. Miller is in dire need of a kidney transplant. Michael, a 25 year member of the FDNY, is reaching out to the membership for help. Please take a moment to share the word on social media channels that a brother who has served his country and city is in need of a blood type O kidney donation. If anyone has any information regarding a possible donor, please contact the Stony Brook Transplant Department to speak with Stephen Knapik at 631-444-6944 or Lisa Etter at 631-444-8009. Thank you in advance. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
