After a chaotic week of u-turns and narrow votes at the Westminster
parliament, the British Prime Minister has denounced a previously agreed
‘backstop’ plan to ensure no border checks are introduced across the
island of Ireland.
The Tory leader spent two days in the north of Ireland this week in a
visit which Sinn Fein described as being about Mrs May “coming to pick a
fight with Ireland and to pick a fight with the European Union”.
In her address at the Waterfront Hall, May claimed the EU’s backstop
proposal to prevent a hard border would “dislocate” the north of Ireland
from Britain.
Although the north of Ireland voted against Brexit, Mrs May cited the
consent principle of the Good Friday Agreement, “that it will always be
for the people of Northern Ireland to decide ‘without external
impediment’ what their constitutional future should be”.
She said a “customs border within our own country [sic] is something I
will never accept and I believe no British prime minister could ever
accept. And as they made clear this week, it is not something the House
of Commons will accept either.”
Her intransigent address repeated other unionist themes and offered no
solutions to the Brexit crisis.
Speaking after meeting the Tory leader, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald
said Mrs May had “set aside” an agreement made with the EU in December
by rejecting the backstop.
“We were told that the British prime minister came to Ireland to listen
and to reassure – it is clear that she is not listening to community and
business interests and seeks only to reassure the DUP.”
“Theresa May claims to want to avoid a hard border in Ireland, while
pursuing a policy that will deliver a hard border,” she added.
May’s visit appeared to have been organised by the DUP, on whom she is
critically dependent at Westminster. Her sole engagement outside Belfast
was in the DUP leader’s constituency, and had dinner with DUP figures
while only allowing brief access to the other main parties.
Following a rebellion by hard-right Tories, May allowed her white paper
on Brexit to be heavily amended, including one measure that would
prevent any customs checks for goods traded between Britain and the
north of Ireland. That move alone could ensure a hard border across
Ireland.
The 26 County Tanaiste Simon Coveney has revealed contingency plans to
recruit more than 500 customs and veterinary inspectors in preparation
for a hard Brexit.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Coveney said some elements of Downing Street’s
white paper would be the basis of agreement but others “might not be
workable”.
“We want to de-dramatise some of these things, which are the basis of
exaggeration and headlines across media outlets, and get down to a
focused negotiation to try to work out what in the white paper can be
accommodated and can be the basis of agreement and in what areas do we
need new thinking to ensure that the EU’s interests are protected while
also negotiating a fair deal for Britain,” he said.
However, Sinn Fein expressed concern after the Dublin government said it
was open to the possibility of a new deal on the border.
A comment by the 26 County Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, that
Dublin will consider a new plan if it is better than the one on the
table, appeared to move away from the so-called ‘bulletproof’ agreement
touted by 26 County Taoiseach back in December.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Taoiseach last week
“equivocated and failed to stand over” the backstop as agreed.
“Since then, we have seen further chaos in Britain with emboldened
Brexiteers seeking to abandon the December backstop altogether,” she
said.
“Our citizens, our economy, and our businesses require certainty. There
have been reports that the EU is preparing to amend the backstop
arrangements. We need clarity on this point.
“The Taoiseach is outlining plans for failure, but has yet to outline
his plan for success.
“He needs to make clear, with our EU partners, that they still stand
over the backstop as agreed, that will make good on the agreement made
in December, and how they intend to bring legal clarity and certainty in
advance of the withdrawal agreement.”
In a major incident of potential collusion, elements within the PSNI have
passed on to loyalist paramilitaries the details and electronic data of
hundreds of people who they have been spying on.
A pen drive containing the database was inserted into a device which had
been removed for investigation and subsequently returned to the
paramilitaries. Among those whose details are now in the hands of the
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) are political and business figures.
Loyalists have been bragging about the data trove to the media. “The IRA
had to go to the trouble of breaking into Castlereagh, we’ve been handed
this information without having to leave the house,” one told the Irish
News. “It raises the question what are the PSNI doing with this kind of
information in the first place.”
One west Belfast business owner has said he had been “traumatised” by
the news that his company’s private security information was given to
the UVF. Others who have previously been targeted by loyalist gangs
fear they have access to their personal information and communications.
Human rights lawyer Niall Murphy, a partner with of KRW Law, said he
would be preparing an action for a number of clients. He expected they
would shortly be contacted by the PSNI.
“We have been inundated with instructions from people who fear that
their details may have been leaked to loyalist paramilitaries,” Mr
Murphy said. “These range from a variety of concerned sources, including
individuals who have pursued previous litigation in respect of their
personal details having been previously disclosed to loyalist
paramilitaries.”
He said they had also received instructions from organisations concerned
that their private business communications had been accessed without a
search warrant.
Public concern over renewed PSNI collusion with the UVF comes after a
wave of unchecked UVF violence linked to the removal of two
controversial bonfires ten days ago.
Significantly, the PSNI has not made any arrests or searched a single
property in connection with the disturbances. The force was accused of
facilitating the UVF actions by closing roads and railway lines with
little justification – one hoax device consisted only of a section of
wire taped loosely to an empty gas cylinder.
Sinn Fein’s Linda Dillon said she was seeking an urgent meeting with the
PSNI.
“This scale and nature of this breach is shocking and will cause huge
concern to those affected,” she said.
“I will be demanding a rigorous investigation into this scandal. People
deserve answers and they need to know that measures will be taken to
ensure this never happens again.
“Those affected also need reassurance that whatever steps are required
to ensure their safety are put in place.”
John Manley. Irish News. Belfast. Saturday, July 21, 2018
THERESA May yesterday reminded her Belfast audience that when she became prime minister just over two years ago she was keen to highlight how the full name of her party was “the Conservative and Unionist Party”.
It would perhaps be more appropriate if the Tory leader no wre-christened it the Conservative and Democratic Unionist Party, as this would more accurately reflect the expedient alliance that has evolved over the past year since Mrs. May’s decision to call a snap election backfired and she was forced to strike a confidence and supply deal with Arlene Foster’s MPs.
The tie-up is a nice fit in some ways. The DUP bask in any patriotic references that reaffirm an affinity and shared history between this part of Ireland and Britain.
The prime minister yesterday quoted Winston Churchill’s post-Second World War tribute to the loyal sons of Ulster, without whose help “the light which now shines so strongly throughout the world would have been quenched”.
Mrs Foster and her DUP colleague Emma Little-Pengelly, seated in the front row, beamed accordingly.
Mrs May’s speech was also peppered with references to “our union” – one based on the “principle of pooling and sharing our resources” – as opposed to the European Union, which she once strongly advocated membership of but due to circumstances is now forced to malign.
Her address at the Waterfront Hall was clearly crafted with the DUP in mind, and more than just Sinn Féin remarked that it could easily have been penned by Mrs Foster’s own speech writer.
However, beyond bigging up their mutual allegiances and attempting to shift responsibility for resolving the Brexit mess further onto the EU, there was nothing remarkable or especially interesting in the British prime minister’s words.
If Mrs May managed to hear the genuine deep concern of Border communities about the impact of Brexit on their lives and businesses during the previous day’s visit to Fermanagh, then it must have come too late for inclusion in her speech, which merely parroted the ‘no border in the Irish Sea’ line that appears to ignore present arrangements which see livestock and plants coming from Britain checked by officials at ports and airports.
Some even suggested that like Thursday’s meetings in Fermanagh, the invited audience in Belfast must have been skewed towards Brexiteers, ensuring a largely positive reception to the prime minister’s speech.
Even the questions the Tory leader faced from the media – including the one she invited from a ‘John Mansey’ [the writer, John Manley] from The Irish News – were answered in a scripted manner that more often than not ignored the thrust of what was asked.
While ostensibly Mrs. May appeared to be more engaging during her latest visit to The North than on previous occasions, there’s a sense that everything she heard – with the exception of the meetings with the other Stormont parties – was benign and upbeat.
Essentially, a complete misreading of what most people in Northern Ireland really think will happen when the UK breaks ties with the EU.
RADIO FREE EIREANN will broadcast this Saturday July 21st on WBAI Radio 99.5FM or WBAI.ORG at 12 noon-1pm New York time or 5pm-6pm in Ireland or anytime after the program on WBAI.ORG – Archives (scroll back to 12 noon Saturday)
Radio Free Eireann, will interview JOE BARR of Saoradh in Derry about the recent upsurge in violence in Derry and Belfast , Saoradh’s condemnation of last week’s attacks on the homes of former Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and party member Bobby Storey or of any Republicans, and his party’s reaction to requests for dialogue.
On the 215th anniversary, of Robert Emmet’s 1803 rebellion,JAMES MCGLASHIN will talk about a re-dedication of the Emmet family graves on Sunday July 22nd at 3pm in Beechwoods Cemetery New Rochelle,the legacy of Robert Emmet and of the Emmet family in Ireland and America.
They will never feel the profound sadness that we do as a result of seeing too much
Jul 17, 2016
By Michael Morse
We know what we see is real. We know how it feels. We live with the memories, and know that more will come.
We are tuned in to every aspect of the firefighting life. We know when a brother or sister is lost, and we mourn in our own way, no matter how far away the incident was that took them from us. We don’t have to know the name of the deceased, or their story, because we are the people who make the ultimate sacrifice. Inside every one of us lives a small part of the rest, and we feel the loss more profoundly than people could imagine.
(Photo/City of Olympia)
The truth is, this is not the easy life that the general public wants to think it is. This is far more than shopping for lunch, parades, Dalmatians, and Fire Prevention Week. This is life, and loss, and tragedy. This is insomnia, and injury, and depression. None of us gets through it unscathed. None of us expect to. Some of us will not get out alive, and we know all too well that the someone could be us.
So we protect the public from whatever misfortune comes their way, and put out their fires, and tend their wounded, and keep them as safe as we can. We pull the dead from the car wrecks, and cover the bodies at fire scenes so the news cameras won‘t bring the horror into the nation‘s living rooms. We protect our people from more than just the physical; we keep them from knowing the truth.
The truth is ugly, and devastating. People will tell us that they can imagine how horrific it was for us, but they will never, in a million years, really imagine the depth of that horror.
They will never have to deal with the guilt — the constant mental playback, wondering if only I were a little bit faster, a little bit better, a little more poised, a little more heroic. They will never feel the profound sadness that we do as a result of seeing too much. They will never breathe in the smell of death as it lingers on the recently deceased, before the undertaker does his work. They will never wonder how they will even make it home, and get on with things after what they’ve witnessed.
They don’t have to know about any of it. We let them imagine how bad it can be, and allow them the luxury of thinking that they have imagined it right. They don’t have to bear the burden of life at its most raw and powerful. They have the luxury of watching the world go by through their screens — screens that don’t scream, screens that don’t burn, or bleed.
We let them think that life is fair, with an occasional aberration. We allow them the luxury of the illusion of safety and fairness as life barrels along. They do not need to know how often things veer out of control. They don’t have to know what we know. We remember how it felt to be innocent. We know exactly how good it feels to not see the brutal realities that linger just out of sight. We don‘t want them to know about any of it.
All we want is to keep the people who depend on us far away from the things we dread … and we want to survive this career with our hope, health and sanity intact.
