AOH Home of the Brooklyn Irish
Baile na nGael
Friday, July 31, 2026
Posted by Jim on July 16, 2019
WTC
Retired Firefighter Kevin J. Nolan Engine Company 79
WAKE Friday, July 19,
Coxe and Graziano Funeral Home
767 E. Boston Post Road Mamaroneck, NY 10543
FUNERAL Saturday, July 20,
910 Boston Post Road Rye, NY 10580
All Off-Duty Members should attend in Class A Uniform.
Posted by Jim on July 15, 2019
Tom Kelly 15 July, 2019 01:00
In the British Parliament last week political frustration drove the debates on marriage equality and abortion.
Much of that frustration is directed at MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party. And yes, there is also frustration that our democratic structures are simply not working and therefore create a democratic deficit.
That deficit does not mean we should remain ungoverned. Or that we should not have necessary legislation passed. Or that we should be ignored. Campaigners for reform deserved political support and Westminster was their last refuge.
Frequent visitors to the House of Commons can witness the behaviour of certain DUP MPs when Lady Sylvia Hermon speaks. It is a spectacle which is silly, senseless and sexist.
This is not an accusation against all DUP members of parliament but is a regular feature of some. Other MPs see and hear it. Female MPs from all parties detest it.
Last year I watched in bewilderment as Sammy Wilson effectively stunned the Commons with an unnecessarily aggressive anti-abortion speech just after Tory MP Heidi Allen gave a very emotional and personal testimony about her own experience of abortion. His actions reinforced the view of many parliamentarians that the DUP were antiquated and out of touch.
The DUP’s verbal assaults on the prime minister over the Withdrawal Agreement were not only at times offensive and rude but antagonistic. One Brexit supporting minister who resigned over the same Withdrawal Agreement told this columnist: ‘The DUP’s treatment of the prime minister was appalling and won’t be forgotten by members on these benches’.
So the votes taken last week were not all about caring for the people of Northern Ireland and rights denied. The scale of victories also reflected the frustration of all parties within the Commons towards the DUP. The DUP style doesn’t go down well with the decorum of the House.
One of the problematic issues about last week was the conflation of two different sets of issues – abortion and marriage equality. (Why the overdue compensation to victims of historical abuse couldn’t have been added on is also baffling).
Marriage equality should never have been denied in the first place. Some of those opposing it were hugely hypocritical. Faith based groups are entitled to proper safeguards against vexatious attempts to use their properties/services. After that, the maxim is live and let live.
Remarks from some evangelical quarters that next we would see marriages between siblings are typical of the nonsensical claims made against marriage equality. There was a clear majority in the last Assembly (and therefore the public who voted for them) in favour of marriage equality. That’s the will of the people.
Abortion is a completely different matter. It is more complex. A simple motion however well intentioned is not the way forward.
The case for abortion reform is well made and the medical profession need clear guidance. It is not a black and white issue – it’s an area with considerable grey. This writer is well aware that for some, men speaking on abortion is only acceptable if one supports pro-choice. I respectfully disagree.
But in the main for life to start it requires two individuals and where a relationship exists the decision to terminate should also require the input of two.
That said having an absolutist position on abortion is not the way forward either. Sensitivity and compassion should be the watch word on either side of the debate. Remember, those who for whatever reason opt for an abortion don’t do it casually. They certainly don’t use abortion as a contraceptive as some claim.
The Westminster motion passed on abortion is too general. It is clear that abortion on demand is not something people in Northern Ireland want. A majority in the Assembly were against it.
To put this into perspective, if the Westminster motion as proposed proceeds into law, it makes the abortion reforms of the Dail seem positively conservative. Change is good when crafted with compassion.
Posted by Jim on
Please Read, and forward. This will only take 1 minute to read! 28th Amendment, 35 States and Counting. It will take you less than a minute to read this. If you agree, please pass it on.
It’s an idea whose time has come to deal with this self-serving situation: OUR PRESENT
1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office. And, no more perks go with them.
2. Congress (past, present, & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress must purchase their own retirement plan, just as ALL Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people (i.e. NO MORE INSIDER TRADING!!!).
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts by and for themselves. Serving in Congress is an
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators should serve their term(s), then go home and go back to work … not get all kinds of freebies.
Posted by Jim on July 14, 2019
Sean Bresnahan responds to an Irish Times piece in which loyalists give their view on the possibility of a united Ireland.
In a recent interview with Simon Carswell of The Irish Times — speaking alongside fellow loyalists Winston Irvine, Jackie McDonald and Sammy Douglas — Rob Williamson, a coordinator with the Reach project in East Belfast, was quoted saying, ‘Sinn Féin and others who want a border poll in Northern Ireland on Irish unification haven’t told people what a united Ireland even entails’.
Williamson, for sure, is right that what a United Ireland entails needs determined — so everyone, including the Ulster Protestant minority on Ireland, know where they stand in the event of Irish Unity. The problem is that the 32-county forum it would require to map such out cannot be stood in advance and makes such a task, therefore, a practical impossibility.
For now, at least — likely until we’ve already arrived at Irish Unity and the ‘sovereign united Ireland’ the current ‘legal’ position (set out under the British-Irish Agreement) demands of an Irish Unity scenario — there is no political means for it to be stood as anything other than a consultative initiative of the Dublin Government, bound entire within its own legal sphere.
That is not to say that Dublin should not attempt towards such a forum but to unearth the reality that, absent political input from the Six Counties — absent a national conversation indeed — the impact of such an initiative, and its ability to forward a concrete proposal that can be authoritatively argued for as the national consensus, will have been undermined at its beginning.
The absence of an ability to map the form of a future United Ireland is not due to failings on the part of Dublin, or any other party on the Irish side, including Sinn Féin (explicitly cited by Williamson). It is the result of political constraints entrenched within the Good Friday Agreement, which upholds Britain’s claim to sovereignty in the North and ensures, thus, that what a United Ireland is to entail not only needn’t be discussed but that it won’t be discussed, with unionism simply refusing to discuss it for fear of undermining the status quo.
In this environment, interim to Irish Unity itself, the best that can be done on the part of Irish nationalism is not to make unionism’s argument for it, as is being foolishly attempted, but to uphold the position that any future United Ireland, while its governmental basis will need to be determined, must entail as its basic starting point that Ireland, as one, will be a sovereign independent state, free to determine her own affairs without external impediment.
If we cannot (outside our own private positions) offer Williamson and his community greater detail as to the form a United Ireland will assume, which they deserve, we can at least ensure that this much is understood and by all concerned — that Irish Unity involves, fundamentally, the end of the Union and the constitution of a sovereign united Ireland, as already set out under binding international treaty.
Posted by Jim on July 13, 2019
2019 NYC DISABILITY PRIDE PARADE
Join the FDNY in the 2019 NYC Disability Pride Parade on Sunday, July 14, 2019. Off-duty members and family are invited to assemble on E. 25 Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue at 10:00 AM. For more information, contact Fabricio Caro, Director of Community Affairs, fabricio.caro@fdny.nyc.gov.
FIREHOUSE KITCHEN TALK: EMERGING THREATS & OPPORTUNITIES: COOPERATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND FDNY
Join Friends of Firefighters at 199 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, on Wednesday, July 31, from 6:00 -9:00 PM for a firefighter-prepared dinner followed by a presentation from Battalion Chief Sean Newman and Retired Colonel Patrick J. Mahaney, U.S. Army Special Forces on post-9/11 cooperation between the Department of Defense and the FDNY. This event is free for active and retired FDNY members. No RSVP necessary.
FF PAUL GRECO FAMILY BENEFIT PICNIC
A benefit picnic will be held on August 18, 2019, from 1:00 – 6:00 PM at Chicopee Falls Moose Lodge, 244 Fuller Road in Chicopee, MA, for FF Paul Greco, a 20-year FDNY veteran suffering from 9/11-related health issues, and his family. Tickets are available for purchase and all proceeds will go to FF Paul Greco and family to help rebuild his accessible home that was damaged by a fire in April. There will be food, entertainment, music, dancing and raffles. Tickets cost $20.00 for adults, $10.00 for teens ages 13-17, children under 12 are free with adult ticket purchase, $50.00 for a family package, which includes 2 adults & 2 teens. For tickets and donation information, please contact MariaMidura@aol.com, BrendaMidura@aol.com or EarlineMid@aol.com.
HISPANIC SOCIETY SCHOLARSHIP AWARD AND DINNER DANCE
The FDNY Hispanic Society announces the FDNY Hispanic Society Scholarship Award Application for 2019. All the required information and the electronic application for continuing students that are interested in applying can be obtained via www.hispanicsocietyfdny.com. Eligibility requirements: Must be of Hispanic heritage; FDNY Hispanic Society member for a minimum of 2 years; minimum of 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) for high school students; minimum of 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) for undergraduate and graduate students; must be present to accept the Hispanic Society Scholarship Award. Award winners will be announced at the Hispanic Society Dinner Dance at Villa Barone Manor, 737 Throggs Neck Expressway, Bronx, NY, on October 4, 2019. Award Amount: An award range from $500 to $1,000 is given to the student/s selected. Essay: A required essay of approximately 500 words on how your academic studies will contribute to your personal & professional goals and have demonstrated involvement in and commitment to the Hispanic communities. Application deadline: September 8, 2019. For additional information, contact Lizzette Perez-Cruz, FDNY College Advisor, at (718) 281-8465.