Posted by Jim on December 25, 2018
By Mark Thompson (Relatives for Justice)
Resilient is too inadequate a word to describe Sinead and Michael
Monaghan. Both have suffered immeasurably during the conflict. Sinead’s
father, Sean McParland, was gunned down in front of their children, his
grandchildren, while minding them. Michael had been the intended target.
The killers, Gary Haggarty and Mark Haddock, were assisted and protected
by the RUC. They were RUC special branch agents. The driver of the
getaway vehicle Terry Fairfield was also an RUC agent.
Michael’s siblings were targeted too and his brother Bobby was also
murdered by the same North Belfast based Mount Vernon UVF gang that
killed Sean.
Nuala O’Loan’s ground breaking report Operation Ballast detailed the
litany of murders, attempted murders, bombings, shootings, drug-dealing,
rackets and associated criminality these and other state agents within
that gang were involved in. It also detailed how tens of thousands of
pounds were paid to these killers from the public purse by their RUC
special branch handlers.
This morning Michael and Sinead sat in Belfast High Court as part of a
landmark civil action their lawyers, KRW Law, initiated some years back
on behalf of victims.
After endless campaigning, battling, the sham trial of Haggarty and
failure to hold to account his special branch handlers, and not without
an incalculable toll of trauma and associated illness, they remain
resolute in their efforts to have the truth revealed about the full
extent of collusion.
Standing on the steps of the high court Michael Monaghan said:
“Giving up is not an option for us. We’ve buried our loved ones. We
won’t let the truth be buried with them. We owe it to our families and
to our children who witnessed their grandfather being killed.”
They were in the High Court as part of their civil case against the
authorities.
Previously Justice Stephens demanded – ordered – the PSNI to handover
key documents related to Michael’s legal action yet the PSNI resisted
and clung on refusing. So much was the resistance by the PSNI to cling
to the darkest secrets of the RUC’s dirty war, that the matter was
heading towards an inevitable ‘secret closed hearing’ – something the
courts here wanted to avoid given the very negative connotations
associated.
Disclosures of the files were, as the court put it at the time, relevant
to arriving at a quantum for damages and thus an assessment of the full
extent of collusion was essential. The court wanted to see firsthand
what really went on. The PSNI fought tooth and nail!
Instead, a ‘gist’ was prepared from the material the PSNI refused to
handover.
The gist was provided in the related case of John Flynn also targeted by
this notorious gang – a lead applicant as part of the wider legal
strategy applied by KRW Law’s foremost figures Kevin Winters and Niall
Murphy.
In response to the BBC’s Vincent Kearney asking why the PSNI were
vigorously resisting a court order to hand over files the PSNI’s ACC
Mark Hamilton said: “We just thought that if we paid out money the
matter would simply go away.”
This was an extraordinary comment by the police chief who was put out
front on legacy. Whilst Mark Hamilton’s answer was, from his
perspective, honest, the reality was that another more senior police
chief, then PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris, was in the actual
driving seat.
The only logical conclusion is that the PSNI/MI5 objective is to conceal
material relevant to a series of murders and attempted murders which if
revealed would show the extent of collusion beyond that which is already
known. It is believed this too could well implicate former RUC special
branch agent-handlers. Noting that the Public Prosecution Service (PPS)
determined not to prosecute the handlers of the killers this might well
be material evidence relevant to a review of that decision. A review of
existing material, again instrumental by the actions of Michael and
Sinead challenging that initial decision not to prosecute, is now
underway by the PPS.
And what of – where is – the so-called new beginning to policing I hear
you ask?
Well, the wider cost of this constant shielding of special branch
wrongdoing casts a long, dark shadow over current policing when it comes
to legacy. A cost it appears that has no ceiling for the PSNI who are
prepared to pay time and time again in terms of trust and public
confidence rather than to hold to account former agent handlers who
facilitated and covered up multiple murders. It mirrors the psychology
of the most extreme Brexiteers.
And so as the battle for Michael and Sinead continues on with this civil
case and a review by the PPS it is hoped that 2019 might yield results
as the momentum of their long campaign pushes ever forward.
It’s the determination of people like Michael and Sinead Monaghan that
will inevitably bring and create change in this society despite the best
efforts of institutions and leading figures who seek to stand in their
way.
NB. Attending the court hearing this morning were Sinead & Michael,
Niall Murphy KRW Law and Eoin Murphy of Padraig O’Mhuirigh & Co
Solicitors on behalf of the Brady family, that also forms part of the
overall case. RFJ’s Mark Thompson was also in attendance. The next
hearing is scheduled for January 24th 2019.
Posted by Jim on December 24, 2018
VIGIANO BROTHERS BRAVEST & FINEST SKI EVENT
The Vigiano Brothers Foundation annual Ski Trip is January 6-10, 2019. Funds raised will be donated in Joe and John Vigiano’s memory to benefit the UFA Scholarship Fund and PBA Children’s Fund. To make reservations, contact Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont at 888-478-6938 and reference “2019 Vigiano Ski Event.” Rooms are $150 per person per night, $42.75 for every additional person over minimum occupancy. For more info or questions, call the Vigiano Foundation at 516-900-2057.
PUTNAM COUNTY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY BLOOD DRIVE
Please give a life-sustaining gift. Donate a pint of blood so others might have a chance. Unfortunately, because of the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday, the blood supply is very low and the demand is high. Please come join Putnam County members at the Daniel O’Brien VFW Hall, 32 Gleneida Ave, (Rt.52) Carmel, on Friday, December 28, from 2:00 – 8:00 pm. For information, please call Paul DeLeo at 347-408-6052, or Denis Hanrahan at 845-225-3048.
20 YEAR PROBIE REUNION
A 20 Year Probie Reunion for the February 16, 1999 class will be held on February 21, 2019, from 7:00-10:00 PM, at The Mason Jar, 43 E 30th Street, New York, NY. $80 cash at the door includes open bar and appetizer. For more information, please contact Eric Bischoff at ebischoff@ufanyc.org. Please RSVP and send old photos to nfeatherstone@ufanyc.org.
ANNUAL CITY HARVEST CANNED FOOD DRIVE
The Fire Department is proud to once again participate in the Annual City Harvest Canned Food Campaign. This is the Department’s 36th year supporting this very worthwhile food drive. The drive is currently running and will continue until January 19, 2019. Last year, New Yorkers donated over one million pounds of food to help feed the homeless, the elderly and the working poor. All Firehouses and EMS Stations have been designated as collection points for the public who wish to donate canned food. City Harvest will pick up all types of canned, dry packaged food. City Harvest does not accept food packaged in glass or perishable food, i.e., meat, fruit, dairy.
Posted by Jim on
Brexiteers who reject the backstop are guilty of disrespecting the Good Friday Agreement.
Alban Maginess. Belfast Telegraph. Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Given the momentous event that was the 1918 general election in Ireland, it is strange that its commemoration is so low-key. But, as President Michael D Higgins has rightly said, the election was a “milestone in Irish history”.
As President Higgins also observed, the results of the election represented the greatest single shift in parliamentary representation and also foreshadowed divisions that would deepen on the island.
He darkly remarked: “The poignancy of the 1918 election was the failure to respect its mandate, which would result in the War of Independence and the tragic Civil War.”
This seminal event – the last all-Ireland general election – led to the formation of the Irish Free State and the setting up of Northern Ireland and thus the tragic partitioning of this island into two separate political entities for the past 97 wasted years.
The election was called just after the end of the First World War and was the first general election since 1910. Between 1910 and 1918, Ireland had undergone enormous upheavals, including the brutal upheaval of the Great War, the Easter Rising of 1916 and the shelving by the British Government of the Home Rule Act of 1914.
In addition, the election was held under a radically new electoral franchise, where all men over 21 could vote and some women over 30, who had property rights, were entitled to vote as well. The new, expanded electorate increased to almost two million people from 700,000.
The election was a test of electoral strength between the moderate Home Rule Irish Parliamentary Party and the new revolutionary Sinn Fein, with its aim of an Irish republic, independent of and separated from Great Britain and the British Crown.
The Irish Parliamentary Party had dominated Irish nationalist politics for the previous 40 years. Despite the split over Charles Stewart Parnell’s divorce, they had successfully reunited and became a formidable political machine. They maintained their political supremacy right up to the Easter Rising.
Against all the odds in 1914, they succeeded in winning Home Rule for Ireland from the British Government at Westminster with the passage of Home Rule Act, even though its implementation was delayed until the war was concluded.
Between 1917 and 1918, there had been a series of by-elections in which Sinn Fein leaders, such as Eamon De Valera, were successful in defeating candidates from the seemingly all-powerful Irish Parliamentary Party.
This was an ominous sign of some decline in its support. But, on the eve of the general election, it was still not clear which of the two parties would come out on top.
In the event, it was the republican Sinn Fein party that decisively humiliated the Irish Parliamentary Party, winning 73 out of the 105 seats in Ireland. The old Parliamentary Party were reduced to a mere six seats, with five of them in Ulster due, in the main, to a pact brokered by senior Catholic bishops between Sinn Fein and the Parliamentary Party.
This was done to prevent a split in the vote between the two nationalist parties that might have led to unionist candidates winning by default in certain seats. Nonetheless, unionists did well, coming in second overall and winning 29 seats, mostly in Ulster.
However, a victorious Sinn Fein rightly claimed that they had democratically won the right, through an overwhelming national mandate from the Irish electorate, to officially declare and establish an Irish Republic.
Today, many unionists and Conservatives emphasize the immutability of the Brexit mandate, which was determined by the consultative referendum on the European Union in 2016.Yet these same politicians – even today – are reluctant to recognize the clear national mandate given to Sinn Fein in 1918.
It was the failure by the British Government to respect the democratic mandate of the Irish people that led to the disastrous division of Ireland.
It was not until June 1998 that there was a similar national expression of political opinion in Ireland, north and south, in the referendums on the Good Friday Agreement. The agreement, crucially and importantly, received overwhelming support throughout Ireland and established a new basis for building an agreed and peaceful political future.
It is this important and binding national mandate that is often ignored, or bluntly disrespected, by Brexiteers in relation to the issue of the backstop. And, as Johnston McMaster shrewdly asks Unionists in his thoughtful new book, Reimagining the Future, what of the future? If the day came and the majority here voted for change, would Unionists ” … accept the democratic outcome with the same insistence that they apply to the UK vote as a whole to leave Europe?”
Hopefully, modern-day Unionists would not repeat the tragic mistake of 1918 and reject the clear and overwhelming democratic mandate of the Irish people.
Posted by Jim on December 20, 2018
General Mattis’ Resignation Letter to the President
I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our cintens and our ideals.
I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong US. global influence.
One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not he the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9/11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
Similarly, I believe we must he resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date of my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to he nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.
I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2,15 million Service Members and the 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department of all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people.
I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.