Posted by Jim on December 10, 2018
Anglo-Irish relations are at their worst in decades after a senior
British Tory MP suggested using the possibility of food shortages in
Ireland to coerce negotiators into dropping their opposition to the
remilitarisation of the border area after Brexit.
A leaked British government report indicated that the economic impact on
Ireland of a crash Brexit could be worse than in Britain, and that food
supplies to Ireland would be heavily impacted.
More than half of the total food imported to the 26 Counties comes from
Britain or the north of Ireland, and this could be cut off, it was
suggested, if new trade rules are not agreed.
The threat of a food embargo, voiced by former Tory Cabinet Minister
Priti Patel, recalled memories of the Great Hunger, when a million Irish
people starved to death when food was withheld by the British government
to fuel their industrial revolution despite the failure of the potato
crop.
Patel, who has an Indian background and a reputation as a Thatcherite,
urged the British government to exploit what she saw as “leverage”.
The comments brought a tsunami of outrage on social media.
“This proposal from Priti Patel really exposes the Brexiteer attitude to
Ireland as nothing more than a colonial irritant whose rights really
shouldn’t be taken into account,” Sinn Fein’s Chris Hazzard said.
“They know the history of the Irish famine and Britain’s role in it and
the very fact that they would seek to inject that into the Brexit debate
is crass and offensive.
“The Tories couldn’t care less about the impact of their reckless Brexit
agenda on the people and economy of Ireland. We are simply collateral
damage.”
Hard-right British MPs are demanding a renegotiation of the Withdrawal
Agreement reached by the EU and the British government last month.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing an uphill battle to win the
support of the Westminster Parliament for the deal. A vote on Tuesday
has little prospect of success, despite efforts in recent days to
unilaterally water down the ‘backstop’ to appeal to unionists and the
hard right.
Few have attempted to predict what the next steps will be, and the odds
of a chaotic crash Brexit, or no Brexit at all have both increased, as
have the chances of May’s resignation or a general election.
But Patel saw an opportunity in the scenario of mutually assured
destruction after an official report for the British government found
that a chaotic Brexit would see Ireland suffer a 7 per cent drop in
economic activity, even greater than the predicted 5 per cent hit for
Britain.
Some 80 per cent of goods transported from Ireland to the EU via road
passes through Britain, according to the report, meaning a hard Brexit
would cause “political and social damage” to Ireland.
Ms Patel said the British government should exploit the possibility as a
tactic during negotiations with the EU.
She said: “This paper appears to show the government were well aware
Ireland will face significant issues in a no-deal scenario. Why hasn’t
this point been pressed home during the negotiations? There is still
time to go back to Brussels and get a better deal.”
Her comments were condemned by Westminster MPs, particularly the threat
to food supplies.
Labour’s Lisa Nandy said: “Threatening Ireland in this way is as morally
reprehensible as it is futile.
“Britain should be showing itself to be a dependable neighbour and
friend in the future, and it is frightening that Brexiteers are even
contemplating a move which could see stopping trade, including food
supplies, being weaponised in this way, particularly given the
uncomfortable historical echoes.”
SNP MP Stewart McDonald said: “It’s a particularly cruel and
historically illiterate type that would think to threaten a friendly
neighbouring country that saw 1 million of its citizens die as a result
of famine – and a further 1 million to emigrate – with modern day food
shortages.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the statement showed the
“sheer moral bankruptcy of the Tory Brexiteers”.
Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada said the comments were “despicable” and
“reek of desperation”
“It’s a despicable comment to make and indicative of how desperate the
Tories are getting as their aimless Brexit blundering continues to
implode,” she said.
“The mask has well and truly slipped here. We’re all used to hearing
Theresa May’s contrived over-earnestness as she stresses over and over
how she doesn’t want to see a hard border but this is exactly what they
think of Ireland.
“The government and the EU would do well to remember that when dealing
with the Tories on Brexit.”
There have been concerns in Ireland over the lack of preparation for a
crash Brexit. While Ireland, unlike Britain, could expect an immediate
increase in direct trade with other EU nations, problems could across
due to the lengthy sea voyage to France and Spain. Ironically, another
issue which has been raised is the reliance of the 26 County state on
potatoes grown in Britain.
But Ireland’s EU commissioner for agriculture, Phil Hogan, turned the
tables when he suggested a food trade war could lead to severe shortages
across the sea. He pointed out that 43 per cent of the food consumed by
the British comes from the 26 County state.
“So if she [Patel] wants to advocate a policy that brings about
starvation of the British people this is a good way of going about it,”
he declared.
Posted by Jim on December 7, 2018
The Voice of the Irish in America
FREEDOM for ALL IRELAND BULLETIN
December 2018
A chairde:
FFAI ISSUES UPDATE
A- Ballymurphy Massacre Inquest opens-Forty-seven years after the Ballymurphy Massacre, new Inquests opened in Belfast, as family members of the 11 victims, many holding hands, witnessed the proceedings. The Inquest was technically limited to the 10 victims shot dead by British troopers between August 9th-11th,1971 in the Ballymurphy section of Belfast. However, as the Coroner’s representative, it also covered the killing of Paddy McCarthy, who died of a heart attack after being subjected to a mock execution.
The Inquest began with statements by relatives of Catholic priest Fr. Hugh Mullan, and nineteen year old Francis Quinn, who were the first to die. Family statements from relatives of Joan Connolly, shot while helping wounded victims, along with Daniel Teggart, shot 14 times, and Noel Philips were linked as part of a second incident. Joseph Murphy was wounded, taken into custody and shot again while in the barracks. Edward Doherty, John Laverty, Joseph Corr and John McKerr were killed over the next two days. British Military Police then claimed the dead were gunmen to justify the murder. The families are fighting to get the truth and exonerate their loved ones.
Already there have been a number of shocking revelations. The head of a British veterans group, Alan Barry suborned perjury by instructing troopers to ignore subpoenas or pretend complete memory loss in answering questions. British technical experts reported that victims’ hands had been swabbed for gunshot residue. Nothing was found, meaning none had handled or fired
weapons. However that was ignored by the British. An autopsy confirmed that Joseph Murphy was shot a second time while in the barracks. British troopers boasted to family members and witnesses about “having no time for arrests only killings” as they threw “dead bodies onto a truck like animals”. Families received threatening hate mail mocking the dead. The Inquest continues.
B-Crucial Brexit Vote looms at Westminster December 11th- The European Union agreed terms with British negotiators to avoid a disastrous hard border across Ireland with British withdrawal from the EU set for March 29,2019. That deal is in danger of being vetoed by the British Parliament in a vote scheduled for December 11th. Hard line Brexiteers within Prime Minister Theresa May’s Tory Party, joining with the DUP, and Labour can vote the deal down. They complain about the proposed backstop or safety net that would only come into play if a full trade agreement is not otherwise reached. No agreement would make the six counties Europe’s border with Britain, with customs, tariff and immigration checks. The EU and Ireland offered to permit the north to remain in the customs union, with customs, immigration controls etc beginning in the Irish sea, meaning at entry points into England, Scotland or Wales. This would benefit the north. However the DUP bitterly condemned even this deal, denouncing preferences for the north as a slippery slope towards a united Ireland. The November 14th deal would require goods coming into the north to meet EU standards and keep Britain in the Customs Union until there was a new agreement. These terms have been called a betrayal by both hard-line Brexiteers and the DUP. Theresa May is now besieged by Tory hardliners, led by Boris Johnson, calling for a hard Brexit and the DUP’s “blood red lines” against preferential terms for the north. The vote on December 11th threatens this new deal and also threatens May’s position as Prime Minister.
C–AOH Tour boosts Ballymurphy Massacre Campaign Families–
An Irish Embassy reception, Congressional meetings, and major public events in Albany, Cleveland, Philadelphia, the Bronx, New Jersey, Manhattan and Long Island heard Carmel Quinn’s call to “stand with us” in the fight for Ballymurphy justice.
Ms Quinn was hosted by the Irish Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Lonergan. She met Senator Schumer who issued a public statement, and key Congressional leaders Congressmen Eliot Engel, Joe Crowley, Richard Neal, Mike Doyle, and aides for Congressmen Chris Smith, Brendan Boyle, Peter King, and Conor Lamb. Pennsylvania State Legislators Michael Driscoll, and Kevin Boyle, joined Ms. Quinn on the stage in Philadelphia to present a House of Representatives Citation, to the Ballymurphy Campaign for “their unrelenting pursuit of justice… for all those killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre.” City Councilman Bobby Henon presented a Philadelphia City Council Resolution honoring Ms. Quinn and the Ballymurphy Campaign.
Ms. Quinn spoke in New Jersey, Cleveland, Long Island, Albany at the prestigious Fr. Murphy Awards event, was honored by Bronx County AOH along with Congressman Crowley and IRISH ECHO Editor Ray O’Hanlon, and concluded the week in midtown Manhattan hosted by New York State Board AOH with a presentation by State President Vic Vogel. AOH members from across Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan traveled long distances to attend the Cleveland event. Proclamations were presented from Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kapture ,Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and City Council President Kevin Kelley. This event was videotaped at the request of AOH Boards around the country, who can now hear and see Ballymurphy’s appeal via Facebook or the National AOH Website. AOH support was highlighted in the main Belfast paper, the IRISH NEWS as well as the Irish-American papers.
D-Tony Taylor released after 994 days Internment by License-
Derry political activist Tony Taylor was released from Maghaberry Prison after spending almost 3 years imprisoned under draconian procedures likened to Internment by License. Mr. Taylor had served a sentence on Republican charges and was released. Then while shopping with his family he was arrested and told he had violated his license or parole, but that neither he nor his attorney would be informed of how. He later got a legal hearing where he, his own political and legal counsel were put out of the room so they could not hear much less put up a defense to the accusations. He was released under severe censorship restrictions and cannot speak about his unjust imprisonment. Internment by License is being used to intimidate other prominent Republicans who were released early for political offenses.
CHRISTMAS APPEAL
You have received the AOH Christmas Appeal mailing. Britain’s actions, imposing Brexit, denying an Irish Language Act, calling legacy justice investigations like Ballymurphy witch-hunts, all show they want to shut the door on Irish freedom forever. We can donate to groups supporting Freedom for all Ireland but only if you members who I know care so much, make donations happen. Please ask your State Board, County Board or Division to respond to the FFAI mailing at your meeting and give to the Christmas Appeal for Freedom for all Ireland. AOH donations to carefully chosen charities through monies raised by the FFAI Annual Christmas Appeal, alongside our political and educational campaigns, are the cornerstone of our FFAI initiative. Our National Officers have asked for a commitment from everyone to participate and support FFAI with a donation or fundraising event. Help make Freedom for all Ireland, not an aspiration or endeavor but the reality for those Irish people still denied it! America can make a difference, but only if the AOH and LAOH, as the voice of the Irish in America, lead the way.
CONGRESSIONAL CALL TO ACTION
Last April sixteen Members of Congress joined a breakthrough bipartisan letter sponsored by the AOH to the British Ambassador about legacy truth. Both the British Ambassador and colonial British Secretary Karen Bradley had to reply. Attached is a draft letter Congressional letter to the British Ambassador about the Ballymurphy Inquest. Congressman Engel who met Carmel Quinn twice, became the first to send a letter to the British Ambassador that America is watching the Ballymurphy Inquest. FFAI is calling upon AOH members across the country to contact your local Senators and Congressmen, and ask them to send a letter to the British Ambassador. Send me a copy of any letters that go out so that we can publicize here in the US and in Ireland.
IRELAND’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
During our National Convention, a resolution was passed to commemorate the centenary of Ireland’s Declaration of Independence. On January 21,1919, representatives elected in the 32 county election of 1918, assembled as a National Parliament, and voted Ireland’s Declaration of Independence. Like the signers of America’s Declaration of Independence, Irish patriots risked imprisonment or death at the hands of the colonial British government. We want to promote this proud event with state, city and local proclamations of Ireland’s Independence
Day.
FFAI TOUR
We are now planning on a weeklong AOH FFAI Tour visiting Belfast, Derry and Tyrone beginning around February 10th.Please check the AOH web page and watch for furtherdetails.
FFAI MONTHLY BULLETIN
Please check for the monthly FFAI Bulletin on the New York State and National AOH web sites. We want to give you monthly updates on key events in the north with short analysis and explanation.
NOLLAIG SHONA DAOIBH!
Merry Christmas
Please contact me at MGALVINESQ@AOL.COM.
Slan
Martin Galvin
Posted by Jim on December 5, 2018
Sean Bresnahan thinks there are similarities between protests in France and oppositional currents in Ireland.
The ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protests ongoing in Paris are symptomatic of working class discontent — not only in France and with the Élysée Palace but with governments and states across the West.
But for the emerging movement in France to succeed it must establish a political direction. The manifesto commitment of Jen-Luc Melenchon — to mount a constituent assembly upon a ‘Fifth French Republic’ — is the direction it hopefully travels.
This, too, is where we should aim towards in Ireland.
The core objective for a movement as this, here, must be to restore the sovereignty and unity of the Irish Republic. For ourselves, the battle with capitalism unfolding on the Champs Élysées lies there — in establishing anew that Republic.
The French, too, should do likewise, by bringing forward the assembly proposed by Melenchon at the last election — giving, thus, power to the people to determine their affairs and their destiny.
We are dealing, in the now, with a rigged system — one designed by the already powerful to preserve their position over that of working people. We need, then, to design a new system and that is what a constituent assembly can give onto.
In the times of flux before us, born of Brexit and new demographic realities, we must ensure that when we arrive at a nationalist majority — triggering thus political change — that we move not to a revision of the standing order but instead to a new beginning.
Asserting Irish sovereignty and independence will be key in that event; building a movement capable of doing so the necessary precursor and the task now to hand — a popular extra-constitutional movement that upholds the Republican object.
People in France, likewise, must have a clear programme and a clear idea as to what and where they intend, if their discontent is not to be hijacked in the event it succeeds toward change.
Through such endeavour, we can arrive together at our shared objective — the free association of free nations envisaged by the great James Connolly. Whether in France or in Ireland, his timeless vision is now where our efforts must set toward.
