Posted by Jim on December 14, 2018
These two articles give dramatic indication of how messed up the whole Brexit issue is when it appears that Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the British Labor Party, is rejecting the “Backstop” (the means for stopping a hard Border). Not only that, but Mr. Corbyn —a famed United Irelander—appears to be embracing the DUP, which has always expressed contempt for Corbyn! God save poor Ireland.”
—Fr. Sean McManus
A Corbyn-DUP alliance is unlikely but in this uncertain political era anything is possible
John Manley. Irish News. Belfast. Friday, December 14, 2018
IN recent years old certainties have evaporated. In the United Sates, in the Republic, in Britain, and across much of the developed world, traditional class and ideological allegiances no longer apply and have been replaced by a mismatch, à la carte approach to politics.
In keeping with this trend, the EU referendum provided some common ground on which left and right could unite; strange bedfellows advocating a Leave vote but for entirely different reasons.
In 2016, Jeremy Corbyn campaigned to remain in the EU, despite a history of strong euro-scepticism. Unlike his counterparts in the Tory ranks, the Labour leader’s aversion to Brussels had been based largely on its free market philosophy. Historically, Sinn Féin held a similar view, only quietly converting to supporting the EU over the past decade.
Mr Corbyn has enjoyed a long and close relationship with Irish republicans, one that has been cemented further since he became Labour leader.
But in recent weeks, the relationship has been strained, as Mr Corbyn appeared to woo the DUP and criticize the Backstop element of the Withdrawal Agreement, a guarantee for a frictionless Border that has unanimous support among Irish nationalists north and south.
The Labour leadership has faced criticism from within its own ranks for its rejection of the backstop and what south Armagh-born MP Conor McGinn called Mr Corbyn’s “invocation of The Union”.
Sinn Féin has been restrained in its criticism of its long-held Labour ally, who many believe is prioritizing political opportunism over securing an open Border.
Responding to reports of the Labor leader’s overtures to the DUP, Mary Lou McDonald said Mr. Corbyn was doing what British politicians do by “pursuing what they understand and believe to be British national interest”. That’s what Westminster does.
That’s what British politicians do.
“I have said to Jeremy before – we disagree and we differ dramatically on the issue of Brexit,” she said.
An alliance between the DUP and Jeremy Corbyn would be uncomfortable for both and in all likelihood short-lived. Watching the current arms length courtship, creates a sense that it’s more about putting pressure on Theresa May than forging a long-term partnership. But in an era where old certainties have evaporated, anything is possible.
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Fianna Fáil tells Sinn Féin to convince Corbyn on merits of May border deal
Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has rejected the backstop
John Manley. Irish News. Belfast. Friday, December 14, 2018
Micheál Martin has urged Sinn Féin to use its “special relationship” with Jeremy Corbyn to convince the Labor leader about the merits of the Backstop.
The Fianna Fáil leader was commenting amid growing nationalist concern over Mr Corbyn’s rejection of the EU’s guarantee to maintain a soft Border.
The Labor leader has said the Backstop would not feature in any withdrawal deal negotiated by a Labor government.
Mr. Corbyn has also faced criticism from south Armagh-born Labour MP Conor McGinn for his “invocation of the union” when opposing the withdrawal agreement.
Strains in relations between the DUP and Theresa May over the Backstop have led to speculation that Labor may align itself with Arlene Foster’s party in an effort to oust the Tories.
But DUP MP Sammy Wilson said yesterday that the party was not in talks with Labor over a potential no-confidence vote.
“We don’t need to be in talks with Labor,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We have made it quite clear that if the prime minister continues to pursue the policy and gets the ability to implement that policy, then we will vote against the government in a vote of no confidence. However she has got to get over the first hurdle, and that is to get this agreement accepted by parliament – I don’t believe she is ever going to get over that hurdle.”
Mr Corbyn’s rejection of the Backstop and his recent overtures to the DUP have dismayed many nationalists.
Mr McGinn, the MP for St. Helens North, told The Irish News earlier this week that the Labor leader risked alienating nationalists and was jeopardizing his party’s reputation as “protectors of the Good Friday Agreement”.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he was “bewildered” by Mr Corbyn’s remarks on the backstop, while the Labour Party Irish Society has written to the party’s 257 MPs voicing concern about its leadership’s stance.
Last night— following a request from The Irish News for Sinn Féin’s response to the Labour leader’s remarks— a party spokesman echoed sentiments aired by Mary Lou McDonald earlier this week.
“Regardless of who leads the British government, they will always prioritize British interests first,” the spokesman said.
“The catastrophe facing Ireland is a result of a Brexit which originated in Westminster.”
The spokesman said Sinn Féin was focused on working with the Dublin government and the EU27.
“We cannot allow Ireland or Irish interests to become collateral damage of infighting in a British parliament that cares nothing for our economy or our citizens,” the spokesman said.
“We must protect the Good Friday Agreement and protect the Backstop as our only insurance policy against a hard Border in Ireland and the economic catastrophe that would bring.”
But the Fianna Fáil leader called on Sinn Féin to use its influence with Mr Corbyn to change his mind.
“One disappointing aspect of the Brexit debate in Britain has been the failure of the main opposition party to recognize the role and value of the Backstop, particularly in regard to the protection and potential it offers to Northern Ireland,” Mr. Martin told The Irish News.
“Sinn Féin has made much of its special relationship with Mr. Corbyn since he was elected – I think it’s fair to ask why they are not using that influence in defense of the backstop and the effort to protect the north from a hard Brexit.”
Posted by Jim on December 12, 2018
“Intrepid foe of Brexit-nonsense columnist Brian Feeney dishes out home truths to Little Englanders and others. Important reading for Members of Congress concerned about justice, solidarity and peace on the island of Ireland:’Peace is the fruit of solidarity’ (Saint Pope John Paul II).”—Fr. Sean Mc Jean Mc Manus
Customs union and single market are real issues, not Brexit backstop
Theresa May is going back to Brussels in the hope of squeezing a concession on the backstop – but any new assurances she returns with will be meaningless
Brian Feeney. Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, December 12, 2018
ALMOST no political arguments revolve around the nub of the matter.
Instead, political leaders find an emotional or ideological peg to hang the argument on and keep hammering away at the peg, pretending that hitting it is the most important objective.
Political leaders adopt this stratagem because the nub of the matter that is exercising them is usually impossible to defend completely successfully. Compromise is necessary.
Brexit, as we’ve seen, is the worst example of this intellectual dishonesty in living memory.
The peg that Conservative MPs, the DUP, and recently, most disgracefully, Jeremy Corbyn have been hammering at is the backstop.
They all agree it has to go or be given an end date, ignoring the simple truth that, by definition, a backstop isn’t a backstop if it has an end date, or if Britain can walk away from it.
None of that matters in the chorus of cries to abolish it or modify it. The people demanding its abolition or alteration have long ago ceased to discuss what the reason for the backstop is.
The truth is they never even bothered to try to understand why it’s there. Being politicians they avoid the nub of the matter. Instead, they invented pegs to hit.
The main peg is that it has constitutional implications. Rubbish.
Sadly no TV or radio interviewers in Britain have bothered to read the Withdrawal Agreement where it states explicitly that The North’s constitutional position is guaranteed by the Good Friday Agreement which the Withdrawal Agreement supports “in all its parts”.
Another peg is breaching British sovereignty. Nonsense.
It’s a pity there’s no truth about any of the pegs, and that the backstop did lead to the long overdue collapse of the UK, but unfortunately not yet.
Anyway, those are all bogus arguments, typical of ignorant, unscrupulous politicians who prefer to major on emotional matters like nationalism, sovereignty or territorial integrity rather than face the nub of the matter.
The real issue is this: the Customs Union and Single Market.
English MPs have suddenly woken up to the fact that Theresa May brought home a deal which keeps the UK in the customs union and by 2020 might even develop as near as dammit to frictionless trade.
That means that the chances of making separate deals with the US or China are zero.
That’s the last outcome the Brexiteers want. For them, that’s not Brexit.
Too late, they realize that if there has to be a backstop there’s no way out of the Customs Union.
The only route to their shimmering Shangri-La fantasy of global free trading Britain is to get rid of the backstop.
Every technical, economic, and financial delusion having failed, the Brexiteer charlatans and Little Englanders turned to Dr Johnson’s last refuge of the scoundrel—patriotism.
The nasty EU is forcing the UK to accept the break up of the UK – shock, horror.
Dominic Raab, short-lived Brexit secretary, the man who resigned, bizarrely because he opposed the deal he negotiated, falsely claimed the EU said losing The North is the UK’s price for Brexit.
No. In fact it was the exact opposite. It was Theresa May who went to Michel Barnier last summer and wheedled and pleaded for the whole UK to be in a temporary customs arrangement until she could think of some way out of it; an arrangement the EU was very reluctant to contemplate.
It was a request designed to keep the DUP and vociferous, newly-zealous patriots in her own party onside.
She got what she wanted, but the irony is her own stupid, inherently contradictory red line of leaving the customs union has come back to bite her. It’s evident she’s not leaving.
Even the incoherent, obviously bewildered Jeremy Corbyn has now jumped on the patriotic bandwagon offering the DUP and Rees-Mogg’s fantasy football team, the misbegotten European Research Group, a deal to get rid of the backstop if they will support him in a no confidence vote.
Naked opportunism; anything to get into government. It’s unlikely he’ll be a guest at this year’s Féile an Phobail, or indeed any year in future.
Too late, the majority in Westminster will only begin to face reality when May returns from Brussels empty handed with a meaningless ‘assurance’.
Posted by Jim on
FDNY FAMILY FIGHTS CANCER “#TEAMSAUNDERS18”
Please keep the family of Thomas Saunders of E295/L144 in your prayers. His wife Debbie has been diagnosed with metastatic stage 4 lung cancer with 9 brain tumors and swollen lymph nodes. She is 38 years old, a nonsmoker, and the mother of 4 young children between the ages of 5 and 15. If you would like to support the family during this time, you can find more information on Facebook.com/WhitestoneEagles.
FoF TO HONOR FDNY DIVISIONS AT MONTHLY ON THE ARM BREAKFAST
Friends of Firefighters is excited to announce that beginning January 9, 2019, their On the Arm Breakfasts will now honor FDNY Divisions. Breakfasts are held from 8-11 am on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, unless otherwise noted, and are free for active and retired FDNY firefighters and their families. Drop by in the new year for a simple cup of coffee with a doughnut or sit down to a made-to-order firefighter-prepared breakfast that surely rivals the best brunch joints in Brooklyn. To view the Division schedule, click here, or visit the blog section of their website https://friendsoffirefighters.org/blog/. The last breakfast of 2018 will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 12/12. For more information, call our office at 718-643-0980 or email info@friendsoffirefighters.org.
ST. GEORGE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP EXAM
The St. George Association Annual Scholarship Exam will take place at 10 am on Saturday, December 29, 2018, at the American Legion Post 301, 80-45 Winchester Blvd., Queens Village, NY. For further information, contact James Hayhurst at 516-623-1835.
FDNY HOCKEY TEAM 2019 KING OF THE ICE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
The 2019 King of the Ice Hockey Tournament will be held at the Freeport Rec Center Rink in Freeport, NY, from March 6 through April 4. Registration will be available on January 4th at www.FDNYhockey.org. Space is limited to the first 96 teams, no exceptions. Any questions email Frank Heal at frankFDNYhockey@gmail.com.
Posted by Jim on
Twas the night before Yuletide and all through the glen
Not a creature was stirring, not a fox, not a hen.
A mantle of snow shone brightly that night
As it lay on the ground, reflecting moonlight.
The faeries were nestled all snug in their trees,
Unmindful of flurries and a chilly north breeze.
The elves and the gnomes were down in their burrows,
Sleeping like babes in their soft earthen furrows.
When low! The earth moved with a thunderous quake,
Causing chairs to fall over and dishes to break.
The Little Folk scrambled to get on their feet
Then raced to the river where they usually meet.
“What happened?” they wondered, they questioned, they probed,
As they shivered in night clothes, some bare-armed, some robed.
“What caused the earth’s shudder? What caused her to shiver?”
They all spoke at once as they stood by the river.
Then what to their wondering eyes should appear
But a shining gold light in the shape of a sphere.
It blinked and it twinkled, it winked like an eye,
Then it flew straight up and was lost in the sky.
Before they could murmur, before they could bustle,
There emerged from the crowd, with a swish and a rustle,
A stately old crone with her hand on a cane,
Resplendent in green with a flowing white mane.
As she passed by them the old crone’s perfume,
Smelling of meadows and flowers abloom,
Made each of the fey folk think of the spring
When the earth wakes from slumber and the birds start to sing.
“My name is Gaia,” the old crone proclaimed
in a voice that at once was both wild and tamed,
“I’ve come to remind you, for you seem to forget,
that Yule is the time of re-birth, and yet…”
“I see no hearth fires, hear no music, no bells,
The air isn’t filled with rich fragrant smells
Of baking and roasting, and simmering stews,
Of cider that’s mulled or other hot brews.”
“There aren’t any children at play in the snow,
Or houses lit up by candles’ glow.
Have you forgotten, my children, the fun
Of celebrating the rebirth of the sun?”
She looked at the fey folk, her eyes going round,
As they shuffled their feet and stared at the ground.
Then she smiled the smile that brings light to the day,
“Come, my children,” she said, “Let’s play.”
They gathered the mistletoe, gathered the holly,
Threw off the drab and drew on the jolly.
They lit a big bonfire, and they danced and they sang.
They brought out the bells and clapped when they rang.
They strung lights on the trees, and bows, oh so merry,
In colors of cranberry, bayberry, cherry.
They built giant snowmen and adorned them with hats,
Then surrounded them with snow birds, and snow cats and bats.
Then just before dawn, at the end of their fest,
Before they went homeward to seek out their rest,
The fey folk they gathered ‘round their favorite oak tree
And welcomed the sun ‘neath the tree’s finery.
They were just reaching home when it suddenly came,
The gold light returned like an arrow-shot flame.
It lit on the tree top where they could see from afar
The golden-like sphere turned into a star.
The old crone just smiled at the beautiful sight,
“Happy Yuletide, my children,” she whispered. “Good night.”
Poem author C.C. Williford