Join us for a Reception Afterwards with Guest Speakers @1:30PM
Where: O’Lunney’s Times Square Pub
145 West 45th Street (Bway/6th Ave.)
On May 25, voters in the Republic of Ireland go to the polls in a referendum that could end the country’s ban on abortion. Voters will decide if they want to repeal the Eighth Amendment of Ireland’s constitution, which recognizes the equal right to life of both the mother and her unborn child. We urge Ireland to uphold the Eighth Amendment.
Contact: John Aidan Byrne E-mail: irishprolifeusa@yahoo.com
DUP leader Arlene Foster was speaking on BBC current affairs programme The Andrew Marr Show. Picture by Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire
SINN Féin backing the extension of Britain’s military covenant to Northern Ireland would show its commitment to a shared future extends beyond just gestures, Arlene Foster has claimed.
The DUP leader called for tangible actions as she was asked for her response to recent moves that have been interpreted as efforts to reach out to unionists, such as party president Mary Lou McDonald’s use of the word “Londonderry”.
Mrs Foster denied she had not reciprocated with conciliatory gestures to republicans.
She told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One: “Well, I don’t accept that we haven’t made any so-called gestures and I think it’s more important actually to find and to build a basis for a shared community in Northern Ireland, which is what we want to see – a real sharing and not just a gesture sharing.
“And wouldn’t it be good, for example, if Sinn Féin were to allow Northern Ireland’s government to sign up in full to the military covenant and to respect veterans regardless of where they live in the UK.
“I think that that is something that they could do to show respect for veterans that live in Northern Ireland.”
Implementation of the military covenant is among the issues that have blocked the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont.
The covenant, which has been implemented in Britain, encapsulates a series of policies that define the state’s obligations to its armed services.
Under its terms, members of the armed forces are entitled to some priority medical treatment and assistance with housing and school places for children.
The policies would potentially require amendments to robust equality laws that formed a central part of the Good Agreement.
The main dispute preventing the return of devolved government involves the Irish language.
Sinn Féin has made clear it will not go back into government without a stand-alone piece of legislation to protect speakers, while the DUP has said it will only support measures as part of broader laws that incorporate other cultures.
“I have said frequently that the Irish language is no threat to the United Kingdom, or indeed to the union,” Mrs Foster told the BBC.
“I respect people that speak the Irish language. But that’s not enough for Sinn Féin, they want to impose the Irish language on everyone in Northern Ireland and I think that that would be not only a retrograde step for Northern Ireland, but actually for the Irish language as well, because it actually politicises it.”
Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government for almost 16 months.
After the latest round of talks collapsed in acrimonious circumstances in February, Sinn Féin claimed Mrs Foster had signed off on a deal before backing out in the face of an internal party revolt – claims the DUP leader vehemently denied.
Amid the fallout, documents exchanged by the parties during negotiations were leaked to the media.
Mrs Foster has said trust between the parties has broken down as a consequence of the February row.
“We have to build up confidence between the parties again, because devolution is right for Northern Ireland and we want to see it return immediately.”
“What would Americans think if there were a campaign to stop the Pope from visiting the United States? Wouldn’t it be rightly regarded as a horrible expression of religious bigotry, which all decent people should condemn?
Yet—as the attached Link to the article from the News Letter of Belfast shows—there is a campaign to stop the Pope from visiting Northern Ireland in August. Now, some people might argue it is best to ignore such expressions of bigotry (as some also tried to tell the Blessed Martin Luther King, Jr.) but, for me, that question was settled long ago by Edmund Burke (1729-1797):’The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men/[women] to do nothing.’
The seriousness of Wallace Thompson’s remarks is compounded by the fact that he has served as a key adviser to Nigel Dodd’s, MP, the leader of the DUP Delegation in the British Parliament. … Imagine, if a top United States Senator had such an adviser, wouldn’t he have to publicly repudiate that adviser. Will Nigel Dodds repudiate Wallace Thompson?
Sinead McCool describes what it’s like to endure PSNI harassment and a
raid against your family’s home in 2018.
As a Republican of many years and a former prisoner I have become
accustomed to many forms of harassment and intimidation, in fact, I have
come to expect it. However, in recent months the RUC have escalated this
harassment by constantly following my son to and from school every day.
They have also begun stopping myself and my husband every time he takes
me to hospital. Something that is somewhat creepy and very distressing
is the fact they seem to have prior knowledge of my appointments and
purposely keep me late.
My oldest son is often approached by these thugs in uniform when he is
socialising in town and regularly called by his Christian name in an
attempt to intimidate him. Fortunately, he has strong friends who
understand and deplore these Crown Force tactics.
These forms of harassment are not exclusive to my family but have become
increasingly violent of late. In the last year alone we have been
attacked resulting in myself and my husband being hospitalised and we
have received death threats from British soldiers dressed in RUC
uniforms. These incidents, pale in significance when compared to
Tuesday’s attack on my home and my family.
I was in bed when the front door crashed open and what I can only
describe as a pack of baying animals stormed our home. My eldest son
helped me out of bed in time to see Kieran being attacked in the
downstairs hallway then arrested.
Once Kieran was removed from the house, what can only be described as a
nightmare for my family began. We were shouted at aggressively, verbally
abused and threatened with arrest by masked gunmen. We were forced into
one room and refused access to a toilet, food or water. I was denied my
medication and my twelve-year-old son was told he couldn’t go to school
as he was under house arrest. My entire family was searched in an
intimate manner of which I prefer not to go into detail; I will let you
use your own imagination.
My already traumatised son was threatened with arrest for mistakenly
giving his date of birth incorrectly. For anyone who doesn’t my
twelve-year-old son, he is a dote and on the autism spectrum. So I’m
sure you can imagine his reaction.
These actions were carried out with glee by the RUC who delighted in
telling us they were here to wreck the house and destroy our lives.
This is just a small insight into the behaviour of the RUC and a glimpse
into the life of a mother and a family hounded by Crown Forces and their
cheerleaders in Sinn Fein.
No matter what you think of my politics, no family should ever be
treated like this. If it was wrong in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s then
it’s wrong now. My family have feelings too and refuse to be treated as
lesser human beings because politicians say it’s acceptable. It’s not!
