Posted by Jim on February 26, 2019
will take place on Sunday, March 3rd at 3 pm.
It will include a talk by Dr. Ruan O’Donnell of the University of Limerick and well-known author of numerous books on Irish history, including A Short History of Ireland’s Famine, Patrick Pearse: 16 Lives and Robert Emmet and the Rising of 1803. George McLaughlin, veteran activist and founder of the Fenian Memorial Committee of America will also speak. The title of Dr. O’Donnell’s talk will be “Without the Fenians…?” and will trace the development of the Fenians in Ireland and America and their influence on the struggle for Irish Independence, including the Easter Rising of 1916. Mr. McLaughlin will explain the work of the Fenian Memorial Committee of America, including its current campaign to erect a memorial stone at the grave of Father Patrick McCabe of, Arnaghan, Lough Gowna, Co. Cavan, who was instrumental in the escape of the great Fenian, John Boyle O’Reilly and six military Fenians from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia to America aboard the whaling vessel the Catalpa which sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts to rescue them and bring them to New York, before they dispersed to different parts of the U.S.
All funds raised will go towards the memorial for Father McCabe, who is buried in the hamlet of St. Mary, on the outskirts of Waseca, Minnesota, where he fled to from Australia—with the help of Archbishop John Ireland (from Burnchurch, County Kilkenny)—and being the parish priest for mainly Irish immigrant farmers. The unveiling of the memorial stone and commemoration will take place on May 18, 2019 at St. Mary, Waseca.The event is set for the O’Lunney’s Times Square Pub, 145 West 45th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues and will run from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 3rd.There is a suggested donation of $20. For details call George McLaughlin at (401) 688-2463 or email him at seoirse49@gmail.com Donations in checks made out to George McLaughlin can also be mailed to: Fenian Memorial Committee of America, att: George McLaughlin, 127 Sinclair Avenue, Providence, RI 02907 or via PayPal using fenianmca@gmail.com as the email address. Donors will receive a receipt from George McLaughlin.
Posted by Jim on
FIREHOUSE KITCHEN TALK WITH THE FDNY FIELD COMMUNICATIONS UNIT
Join Friends of Firefighters (199 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231) on Wednesday, February 27, from 6:00-9:00 PM, for a firefighter-prepared dinner followed by a presentation from Lt. John Acritani, Fire Dispatcher Bill Ladell, and Supervising Fire Dispatcher Kevin Trudden on the history of the FDNY Field Communications Unit, its function today and how its members work at multiple alarm fires. This event is free for active and retired FDNY members. No RSVP necessary. Come hungry!
CSU MARCH QUARTERLY GATHERING
The Counseling Service Unit of the FDNY will hold their March Quarterly Gathering on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, at 251 Lafayette Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10012. Coffee and bagels at 10:00 AM, 12 Step Meeting at 11:00 AM and Lunch at 12:00 PM. The event is sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. To RSVP, call 212-925-6671 and leave a message on Ext. 395. Bring a friend, all are welcome.
HOLY NAME SOCIETY HIGHER EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP DRAWING
The Holy Name Society (Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island) will hold a Higher Education Scholarship Drawing at their annual Communion Breakfast on Sunday, April 28. This Higher Education Scholarship shall consist of two $1,500 awards, gender neutral, payable to any college or trade school of the winner’s choice. Members must be in good standing and be PRESENT at the Breakfast to have their children eligible for the drawing. All sons and daughters, brothers and sisters and grandchildren of members in good standing of the Holy Name Society in their twelfth year of education (must be graduating from high school in June 2019) are eligible for the award. This also applies equally to deceased members who were in good standing at time of death. Applications can be obtained at fdnyholynamesociety.com or by emailing wm519@msn.com. Completed applications should be mailed to Scholarship Chairman William Meade, PO BOX 525, Maspeth, NY 11378. Applications must be submitted by April 21, 2019.
MSKCC MALE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH STUDY
With the recent publicity of a NYC localized cluster of patients diagnosed with male breast cancers, the breast cancer clinical team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has developed a research program for patients with male breast cancer, with an emphasis on identifying those patients who may have been exposed to Ground Zero at the World Trade Center. They are seeking patients to volunteer for their “Make-An-IMPACT” research initiative. By participating, you will be able to undergo cancer genomic testing for free. To participate, please visit the website below and their clinical team will contact you. Research into rare cancers is highly dependent on patients, so MSKCC thanks you for considering to participate! Sign Up: https://www.mskcc.org/research-programs/molecular-oncology/make-impact-volunteer-form. Contact Make-An-IMPACT Staff for questions and more: Bernadette Wolff, RN at 1-646-888-3886 or wolffb@mskcc.org.
Posted by Jim on
Connla Young. Irish News. Belfast. Tuesday, February 26, 2019
THE British government has been accused of sitting on cash for high profile Troubles inquests after it emerged a Stormont department approved a business plan.
Concerns have been raised about continued delays in releasing money.
The government previously said funding would not be released until agreement is reached on all legacy issues.
It also said it had it had not received a request “for funding for this in terms of the executive”.
The Conservative government has a supply and confidence agreement with the DUP – which in the past has failed to request inquest cash.
Following a judicial review in Belfast last year judge Sir Paul Girvan said former first minister Arlene Foster’s decision not to consider bidding was flawed and unlawful.
A £150 million pot was allocated to deal with inquests as part of the Stormont House Agreement.
There are more than 50 outstanding inquests with many involving people killed by the security forces and as a result of suspected collusion with loyalists.
It has now emerged that the Department of Finance approved a business case for legacy inquest funding last October.
Details emerged after British government officials made a recent submission to the Committee of Ministers in Europe.
In a statement to the committee it said: “In the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive, the UK Government and Department of Finance are working together on the NI budget for 2019-20.”
A new business case was developed by the Department for Justice in conjunction with other key organisations last year after the High Court ruled last March that legacy inquests should not be dependent on securing agreement on wider legacy issues.
The judicial review was taken by Brigid Hughes, whose husband Anthony was shot dead by the SAS at Loughgall, in Co Armagh, in May 1987.
She challenged the delay in providing funding, which she said was a breach of her human rights.
Daniel Holder, Deputy Director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, said: “It now turns out that they have been sitting on such a bid for months.
“Funding these inquests is an international human rights obligation and families have waited long enough, vague words about next year’s budget are not enough, the UK needs to act now.”
Sinn Féin legacy spokeswoman Linda Dillon said: “The funding is easy for them, all they have to do is give the money over.”
SDLP Policing spokeswoman Dolores Kelly said the continued lack of funding was “outrageous”.
Solicitor Darragh Mackin said: “We have taken steps on behalf of our clients to ensure that this order is complied with, and complied with in the near future.”
A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman last night said: “Management of the coronial inquest system is a devolved matter so it remains for NI departments to take decisions on how to allocate funding. The UK government continues to support reform to the legacy inquest system.”
Posted by Jim on February 25, 2019
Niall O’Dowd@niallodowd. Irish Central. Thursday, Feb 21, 2019
Britain, Brexit and Donald Trump beware – an Irish American battle-hardened veteran of Washington politics suddenly finds himself a master and commander
The new power brokers in Washington, D.C. are featured in the February issue of Vanity Fair in an article and sumptuous backlit photos like they were on a Hollywood set.
On the right-hand side in one of the pics stands a man familiar to every activist Irish American, Congressman Richie Neal, an “overnight” star in Washington after 26 years on the Ways and Means Committee he now chairs.
For Irish Americans, used to seeing Neal on the Irish border or meeting with Gerry Adams, the dissonance is obvious but very welcome. There has been no one else in Congress who has paid as much attention to the Irish issue.
To his Irish supporters’ delight, Neal now has real clout. His chairmanship means he’s the man who could stop funding for President Trump’s wall, and create massive problems for Brexit treaties.
Neal is strongly aided by the presence of Congressman Brendan Boyle from Pennsylvania, the rising star in Irish American politics who also sits on the Ways and Means Committee.
Ways and Means is a permanent committee of the House of Representatives, which makes recommendations to the House on
all bills for raising revenue. The committee is the principal source of legislation concerning issues such as taxation, customs duties, and international trade agreements.
When you also consider that Neal could severely damage President Trump’s re-election bid if he gets access to his tax returns which experts say he may be entitled to, then you realize that he is playing for very big stakes indeed.
Not that that will phase Neal, a battle-hardened veteran of Washington politics who suddenly finds himself a master and commander of every buck that the government is allowed to spend—including, many argue, on walls in Mexico.
Oh, and he gets to scrutinize every international treaty which could be very important if the British Brexiteers show up looking for new trade deals if they finally disengage from the EU. How they do that will be of paramount interest. Neal will be watching especially closely.
The Boston Globe described him as a “patient man in a hurry,” having spent 26 years on the Ways and Means Committee. He is now finally in charge at age 70 and in a hurry to fulfill his priorities.
His Democratic blue-collar roots in the gritty town of Worcester, Massachusetts are clear for all to see. He is an old
fashioned Democrat, one unafraid to speak his mind. Neal’s oft-quoted remark is, “The slogan of the modern Republican party is ‘We are rich, and we’re not going to take it anymore.’”
He is unbeatable in his home district, winning his primary 70-30 and having no opponent in the general. Civil rights in Northern Ireland and in America remains his passion.
His best friend in Congress is John Lewis, the legendary survivor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s movement who was at Selma and is now a member of the House.
Neal comes from a tough background. He and his two younger sisters were raised in Springfield by their mother, a housewife,
and their father, a custodian at MassMutual, Insurance and Financial Services. His maternal grandparents were from Northern Ireland, and his paternal grandparents were from Ireland.
Neal’s mother died of a heart attack when he was 13. He was attending Springfield Technical High School when his father, an alcoholic, died.
Neal and his sisters moved in with their grandmother, and later their aunt, and were forced to rely on Social Security checks as they grew up.
Now he is also one of the most important politicians in America. To no one’s surprise, he was also recently appointed the chair of the Friends of Ireland in Congress.
Britain and Brexiteers beware. We Irish are lucky to have him there.
Posted by Jim on February 23, 2019
A row has erupted over the future leadership of the PSNI (formerly RUC)
following revelations last week that collusion-related documents in
PSNI archives continue to be withheld from investigators.
Two decades after the reforms of the Patten Commission were meant to
transform the murderous RUC into a cross-community policing service,
the problem of ongoing collusion in the force dovetailed with new
statistics which show that just 10% of senior members of the PSNI are
Catholic.
Amid calls for the PSNI to be disbanded, a suggestion by Sinn Féin
leader Mary Lou McDonald that its next chief should be an external
candidate was greeted with outrage and calls for apologies by
unionists.
Ulster Unionist Alan Chambers called on Sinn Féin representatives on
the Policing Board to “publicly disassociate themselves from their
party leader’s comments”.
The DUP’s Mervyn Storey said he was seeking legal advice over its
inclusion of Sinn Féin members in the panel to select the next PSNI
chief.
“How can any Sinn Féin member sit on that panel and candidates from the
PSNI expect to get a fair hearing,” he demanded to know.
Ms McDonald’s comments came after she met bereaved families caught up
in the controversy involving the PSNI’s secret and undisclosed archive
of collusion documents.
“I cannot describe to you the level of distress of these families
because they were expecting a report from the Ombudsman and he
discovered by accident that critical information was withheld from
him,” she said.
“People are looking on aghast with the latest episode of this.
“Any comments that I have made are reflective of exasperation and real
upset from real people who live up the road. Any comments I will ever
make will be in the interests of delivering credible policing services
that people can support.”
It is understood some of the secret files are linked to a shipment of
loyalist weapons smuggled into the north in the late 1980s. Collusion
is suspected in many of the hundreds of murders involved.
The news that these files were withheld has caused nationalist
confidence in the PSNI to sink to “rock bottom”, Sinn Féin has warned.
Ms McDonald cited a meeting with the Police Ombudsman where she heard
details of information, specifically in relation to the Ormeau Road
massacre. The gun assault carried out by the UDA in 1992 left five
people dead.
Of the call for an outsider to take over the force, Ms McDonald said
“there’s nothing to apologise for”, dismissing criticism of her remarks
as “political huffing and puffing”.
The predecessor to the current PSNI chief George Hamilton, who is due
to retire in June, was Matt Baggott, an external appointment from an
English police force — as was Hugh Orde, the first permanent PSNI
chief.
“I was asked could I identify someone from the senior team who I
thought ought to be chief (constable) and the truth is I can’t,” Ms
McDonald said.
But DUP leader Arlene Foster said she believed Ms McDonald’s comments
had jeopardised the recruitment process.
“The leader of one of the political parties involved in the panel has
made her feelings quite clear and that of course interferes with due
process and the panel has now been compromised,” she declared.
There was also a bizarre intervention by Fianna Fáil’s Housing
Spokesperson Darragh O’Brien, apparently motivated by that party’s
recent alliance with Sinn Féin’s main political rivals in the North,
the SDLP.
He branded Ms McDonald’s as “wholly irresponsible” and “very dangerous”
and accused her of “undermining” the PSNI — despite a similar decision
having been taken and supported by Fianna Fáil in regard to the reform
of the Gardai in the 26 Counties.
The current chief of the Gardai, former RUC figure Drew Harris, was
also an external appointment. Ironically, he also now stands accused of
hiding collusion files from investigations which predate his
appointment as Garda Commissioner one year ago.