A US Congressional delegation visiting Ireland has vowed to use its influence to stop Brexit from undermining the Good Friday Agreement.
The group, led by House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and including leading Irish-Americans Richard Neal and Brendan Boyle, marked 21 years since the signing of the treaty.
At a press conference at Stormont, Congressman Neal said the visit had been useful. “The one position that we all hold is that no wants a return of a hard [remilitarised] border – we’ve made that as clear as we can,” he said.
He said the US was a guarantor of the 1998 accord and that he and his colleagues did want to see the agreement “compromised in any sense or term”.
Mr Neal said the previous night’s events in Derry, in which journalist Lyra McKee was killed by a bullet fired during a riot, highlighted “how fragile the peace can be”.
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, made similar remarks in a speech in the Dáil yesterday as part of centenary commemorations.
She added that politicians in the US stand with Ireland as it faces challenges posed by Brexit – and issued a warning to the UK of future trade deals.
“We must ensure nothing happens in the Brexit discussion that threatens the Good Friday accord,” she said. “If the Brexit deal undermines the accord there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement.”
Ms Pelosi said two decades of peace cannot be jeopardised by the Brexit process.
“We treasure the Good Friday accord because it is not just a treaty, it is an ethic, it is a value, it is an article of faith for us, it is a beacon to the world,” she said.
In a separate address at Iveagh House at the Department of Foreign Affairs, the US politician, the third most powerful in the US after the president and vice-president, told “our friends in the UK” that a trade deal between Britain and the US is “just not on the cards” in the event of a breach of the Good Friday Agreement. “Don’t even think about it,” she said.
The delegation also visited the border between Derry and Donegal, where they symbolically walked from British jurisdiction into the 26 Counties.
Speaking to the media, Congressman Neal recalled a previous border crossing with a former Speaker. “I was on a bus here 30 years ago with the Speaker of the House, Tom Foley. The bus was stopped and British soldiers mounted the bus with full night-vision and armament and they searched the bus.
“Here we are 30 years later with Speaker Pelosi and we accept the result of the Good Friday Agreement that eliminated the border and we walk back and forth. At that time you were searched; today your phone pings,” he said.
An Irish woman in Paris takes her hat off to the Parisian firefighters who salvaged what they could of the iconic church Notre Dame and who have been a support to Parisian community life for decadesParis – The towers and structure of Notre Dame, Quasimodo’s bells, the sacred Crown of Thorns, the interior cross, the world-famous rose window, the organs, and many other relics and artifacts have been saved by the Paris firefighters, one of whom was seriously injured during the operation.
Thankfully none of the 400+ men and women, who fought the fire from 5:50pm on Monday (April 15), till Parisians awoke to go to work, lost their lives. Apparently, the fact that they fearlessly entered the gothic edifice, during the apocalyptic blaze, led to the success of the operation. This was a ‘manpower’ operation. Even if Paris had firefighting planes on hand, they wouldn’t have been able to use them as dumping tons of water on Notre Dame, (although an easier way to fight the fire than hand to hand combat), could have been completely destroyed the structure of the building.
Paris firefighters leaving Notre Dame and crews continue to quash the fire.
All my Irish family and friends who visited me in Paris over the years adored Notre Dame. Even my brother in law who was fed up of being dragged around old churches and monuments had a nice memory of it.
One of my Irish friends got vertigo as we trudged up the windy stairs to visit the top of one of the towers. However, having started, there was no going back on our French guide’s watch, and we just had to keep going. She gasped Parisian air through narrow stone windows with gargoyles frowning at her as she attempted to lean out. How to affront vertigo, head on, being judged by a French guide and a gargoyle!
Many Irish people at home and around the world have indelible memories and their own stories about the fabulous gothic building.
The stunning Notre Dame, Paris.
When visiting Paris, you may have seen the fire men’s campaign posters in the subway and at other sites around Paris. It mentions that every year “one in five persons call on the French fire brigade to rescue them, but only one in a thousand ever donates to the fund for the orphans of deceased firemen”. Since the beginning of this year, four French firemen have died in the line of duty. In January 27-year-old Nathanaël Josselin lost his life in an explosion while responding to a gas leak at 6 rue de Trévise, in Paris 75009. He left behind his young widow and his four-year-old son.
“One in five people call on the fire brigade every year?” You might wonder if apart from last night, is there is a community of resident pyromaniacs in Paris.
All over the world, it seems that firefighters are devoted people motivated by helping others rather than by hefty salaries. However, in France, their ‘help’ extends above and beyond their excellent and fearless firefighting skills.
In France you call the fire brigade when you’re locked out and don’t want to get ripped off by an emergency locksmith, when a pregnant lady faints, when your cat is stuck up a tree, when you fall down with a heart attack or when you feel that Parisian life has just gotten too much and you can’t go on…
Every French man, woman, and child knows the firemen’s telephone number, “18”, and many a life has been saved by dialing the two-digit number.
Parisians get to dance with their hunky firemen and delightful fire ladies. The firemen’s balls, (as in a dance), on and around Bastille Day on July 14, held in their caserns all around Paris, are a fun tradition. The firemen’s charity calendar sells as quickly as it’s printed. Who can resist an altruistic hunk? The French people adore them and even before quenching Notre Dame’s blaze the firefighters were already the most or one of the most respected professions in Paris.
On July 16, 1942, just two days after Bastille day, in Nazi-occupied Paris, the French police force rounded up Jews in an operation called “Spring Breeze.” Over 13,000 Jews (31% of them children) were herded into, and incarcerated in a bicycle racing stadium, and held in appalling conditions. There was no food, water or sanitary conditions and they were kept there until they were transported to the camps. (Some people were secretly warned by the French Resistance or hidden by neighbors and escaped being rounded up).
A photo during the liberation of Paris, in World War II, with Notre Dame in the background.
Seeing the people begging for water, and going completely against the Nazi’s and the French police orders, the fire chief and his firemen used hoses to give the thirsty incarcerated Jews water. How many groups in the world openly defied the Nazis, who must have been so shocked at being told ‘NO spells no’, that the firemen miraculously got away with a little humanity in the face of gross inhumanity.
I know many Irish people, from all over the world have already donated and will donate, to the restoration of Notre Dame. As I live in Paris, my first donation will go to the men and women who saved Notre Dame; real-life superheroes who are unanimously revered by all the French. A rare occurrence, the only possible competition being the French team on the days they came home with the world cup trophy.
The roof and spire of Notre Dame collapsed during the massive blaze.
The firefighters were given a standing ovation by Parisians and tourists as they wearily left the quenched fire scene this morning. I wasn’t at Notre Dame to clap, but like so many people in Paris, in France, and around the world, I take off my cap to their generosity, bravery, and professionalism which kept the towers of Notre Dame standing.
Many people shed tears between last night and this morning, but words can bring comfort. I was consoled by “Paris” a poem, written by the American poetess Willa Carther in 1923, which a friend posted on Facebook last night.
“Paris”
by Willa Cather, 1873 – 1947.
Behind the arch of glory sets the day;
The river lies in curves of silver light,
The Fields Elysian glitter in a spray
Of golden dust; the gilded dome is bright,
The towers of Notre Dame cut clean and gray
The evening sky, and pale from left to right
A hundred bridges leap from either quay.
Pillared with pride, the city of delight
Sits like an empress by her silver Seine,
Heavy with jewels, all her splendid dower
Flashing upon her, won from shore and main
By shock of combat, sacked from town and tower.
Wherever men have builded hall or fane
Red war hath gleaned for her and men have slain
To deck her loveliness. I feel again
That joy which brings her art to faultless flower,
Ronald Hawthorn pictured helping to put up election posters
Aidan O’Toole, who was injured in the Loughinisland massacre
A man who narrowly escaped death in the Loughinisland massacre has asked to meet with a UUP council candidate after a suspect in the loyalist atrocity was pictured helping put up his election posters.
Ulster Unionist Alan Lewis said he did “not wish to comment” on the photograph of Ronnie Hawthorn, who was named by a major documentary in connection with the 1994 attack, erecting his posters close to the south Down village.
A former member of Ukip, Mr Lewis is running as a candidate in the Slieve Croob area of Newry, Mourne and Down council in next month’s local government elections.
Hawthorn was named in No Stone Unturned as a suspected member of the UVF gang said to have been responsible for the attack on the Heights Bar in Loughinisland, when six men were shot dead while watching a World Cup match.
He has described the allegations in the film as “unfounded” and said it represented “a speculative, reckless, and irresponsible attempt at an expose, which now is the subject of a police investigation”.
Hawthorn was pictured erecting posters in support of Mr Lewis in a move described as a “distressing and hurtful” by one of the survivors of the Loughinisland attack.
Aidan O’Toole, who was seriously injured while working behind the bar, said he was “saddened” when he heard the news.
“This is such a small community and when something like this happens news gets around very quickly. I’ve spoken to other victims’ families who are just as devastated as I am by this news,” he said.
“Does Alan Lewis realise how insensitive this is and how retraumatising it is for us as victims?
“I still have my good days and bad days – things like this can be a real set back for us all.
“I wonder has Mr Lewis even bothered to watch No Stone Unturned, and would he maybe like to take the time to meet the families so we can explain to him at first hand the hurt his association with Hawthorn is causing us all.”
When contacted by The Irish News, Mr Lewis – who describes himself as a ‘Victims Advocacy Officer’ – said he had put his own posters up along with his wife, before saying he “didn’t want to comment”.
The Irish News also contacted Ronnie Hawthorn and the UUP for comment but they did not respond.
A journalist has been killed amid heavy rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on Thursday night as Crown Force police raided the nationalist area of the city ahead of republican Easter commemorative events.
Petrol bombs, fireworks and other missiles were thrown by rioters at the PSNI police, while a gunman was at one point seen firing towards a PSNI vehicle.
The victim, who has been named locally as 29 year-old Lyra McKee, from north Belfast, is understood to have been walking past or standing beside a police vehicle when she was tragically struck by a bullet.
In one of the her last acts, Ms McKee tweeted a picture of police vehicles which had pulled up beside groups of civilian onlookers, with a burning barricade in the background. She added the caption ‘Derry tonight. Absolute madness.’
The clashes began on Wednesday night, when an unmarked PSNI vehicle involved in the initial stages of the police operation was struck by a petrol bomb.
Trouble has erupted every Easter in recent years as the PSNI intervene to prevent commemorative parades involving republicans marching in military-style clothing and formation.
Following the death of Ms McKee, the PSNI called for ‘calm’ but did not announce a suspension of their raids in the Creggan.
The border city of Derry has seen increasing activity by republican armed groups. In January, a large car bomb was detonated outside the city’s courthouse in an action claimed by the ‘New IRA’. No organisation has yet claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Politicians have condemned the killing, and denied it is related to the current political crisis over Brexit.
Sinn Fein’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, said it was a “senseless loss of life” and called for “so-called dissidents” to disband.
“Those responsible should listen to the people, they should disband immediately and end their pointless actions against the community which has tragically claimed the life of a young woman,” she said.
Ms McKee is best known for a blog post written at the age of 24, called “Letter to my 14-year-old self”, in which she spoke about the struggle of growing up gay in Belfast.
NUJ assistant general secretary Seamus Dooley described Ms McKee as a “journalist of courage, style and integrity. She was a woman of great commitment and passion.”
Mr Dooley said her death “serves as a reminder of the ongoing instability in Northern Ireland and must serve as a reminder to those in positions of political leadership to end the political deadlock.”
PLAQUE DEDICATION
On Monday, April 29, 2019, at 1100 hours, a WTC Plaque Dedication Ceremony will be held honoring the memory of EMS Deputy Chief Joeddy E. Friszell. The dedication will take place in the quarters of EMS Division 3, 420 East 83rd Street, Brooklyn, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
The Ner Tamid Society and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are hosting an event on Tuesday, April 30, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM, at FDNY Headquarters Auditorium for Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance Day. They will come together to honor the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pay homage to the memory of those lost in the Holocaust; and take a stand against all forms of oppression. Refreshments will be served following the event. Please RSVP to diversity.inclusion@fdny.nyc.gov with subject line: “Holocaust Remembrance.”
CAPTAIN JOHN S. MOSCHELLA STREET NAMING CEREMONY
On Saturday, May 4, at 1:00 PM, a Street Naming Ceremony will be held honoring the memory of Retired Captain John S. Moschella, Engine 26. The ceremony will be held at 10 Rita Place, Farmingdale, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
20 YEAR REUNION
A 20 year reunion for members in the May 9, 1999 probationary firefighter class will be held on May 9, 2019. For information, please contact Joe Farinacci at joefarinacci@yahoo.com.
FDNY VS NYPD RUGBY FDNY Rugby vs. NYPD Rugby will be the Opening Match for Major League Rugby Pro Club Rugby United New York on Saturday, May 11, at 2:30 PM at MCU Park in Coney Island. Tickets cost $30.00 and can be purchased by visiting https://www.rugbyunitedny.com/tickets/. Purchase tix for Rugby United NY vs. Seattle on 5/11. Ticket price includes Pro Major League Rugby Match to follow at 4:30. Be sure to use the FDNY ticket discount code. Rugby United New York will DONATE a portion of all ticket sales purchased with code FDNY to the FDNY Foundation‘s Jolly 51 Fund. The Jolly 51 Fund was set-up to help support the families of those service members killed when their HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq in March 2018. Among those killed were Lt. Chris Raguso and Fire Marshal Chris “Trip” Zanetis. For any questions, email FDNY.Rugby@gmail.
