Chris Fogarty continues with his quest for truth regarding 1845-1850 Ireland.
When “Irish famine” promoters could no longer deny that a torrent of food was shipped out of Ireland during its 1845-1850 Holocaust (see attachments for Precedent Usage of “Holocaust” and when Christine Kinealy used to deny that Irish food was exported during the Holocaust.) they had to fabricate a new cover for the perpetrators; thus the brand new lie of “Irish landlords.”
My book names a great many of them; English lords with English estates also, all Church of Ireland (Anglicans). The evictor of my grand-uncles and grand-aunts was England-born Lord Ashbrrook (Castle Durrow, Co. Laois) whose current descendant lives on his Arley Hall, Cheshire estate. Also attached are photos of Holocaust mass graves monuments that merit attentive reading.
I am familiar with Strokestown, the old 26,980-acre Pakenham-Mahon estate, having been raised on the nearby old 24,410-acre Lord Mount-Sanford estate. Many of Ireland’s English landlords were British army officers. Pakenham was killed leading Britain’s January, 1815 attack on New Orleans. A few days earlier another such scion, of English Landlord Ross of Rostrevor, Co. Down, had burned the White House and was shot by a U.S. sniper as he, General Ross, led the attack on Baltimore (witnessed by Poet Francis Scott Key).
Another England-born British soldier of landlord connection was General Sir Edward Blakeney. His Uncle John Blakeney had been England’s High Sheriff of Co. Galway. General Blakeney was Commander-in-Chief of the 67 British army regiments deployed to Ireland in 1845-1850 to remove its abundant production of meats, livestock, flour, meal, and all other food crops. (Those 67 regiment were more than half of Britain’s 130 regiment army; more force than had conquered the Indian Subcontinent.) As Blakeney neared completion of his Holocaust, in 1849 Queen Victoria conferred on him the Order of the Bath (or Garter). Nearly a decade later she knighted William Wilde, making him Sir William.
Wilde played a key role in Ireland’s 1841 Census and was appointed Commissioner of the 1851 Census. His 1851 Census officially “established” that 1845-1850 starvation deaths totaled 21,770. To “explicate” the actual, mass death he cited celestial eclipses of a millennium earlier, and “mysterious visitations” of lethal pandemics to which “the Irish are uniquely susceptible.” He fancifully named them “the Barking Mania,’ “the King’s Cholera.” etc.
Thus Victoria knighted Wilde for concealing and minimizing what she had awarded Blakeney for perpetrating. Wilde’s honored falsification of the 1851 census has led to the continuing lie of “a million dead, a million fled.”
As to the Holocaust-era Irish on the Pakenham-Mahon estate, my book defends their memories from the smears heaped upon them ever since they were murdered or evicted. It does so by 1) exposing the U. of Illinois professor’s potato-famine promoting falsification of exhumed artifacts in Ballykilcline, and 2) by naming the locations of all of the grain-kilns and -mills, livestock pounds, and other abundant evidence of non-tuber edibles they produced.
Please help to reduce future genocides by promoting the truth regarding 1845-1850 Ireland.
The struggle for national liberation in the occupied six counties has undoubtedly led to a widespread radical politicisation of not just revolutionary activists but the oppressed people who realise that the fruits of our victory must be social and economic as well as the political freedom of national separation.
The term republicanism is something of a dirty word politically among some left-wing groups on the continent where it has right-wing connotations. But our republicanism is anti-imperialist and radical and we realise that if the connection is not made with the struggle of labour then there will be no realisation of socialism in Ireland, just as the labour movement if it ignores the national question is also scuttling the full potential of the working class.
To Connolly, the basic condition of socialist advance was the assertion and acceptance of Ireland’s right to self-government. His opponent in the debate was William Walker, a Belfast member of the Labour movement, whose conception of socialism was reformist, Walker pointed out with pride to the progress of ‘municipal socialism’ in Belfast. Did they not collectively own and control gasworks, waterworks, harbour works, markets, tramways, electricity, museums and art galleries? He even boasted that they had an RIC band! Connolly described Walker’s position as ‘’ gas and water ‘’ socialism and insisted that the Irish question was not merely an economic question, it was also a revolutionary question, a question of national independence.
The debate is also contemporary. The Northern Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions historically traded recognition by the old Stormont government in return that the constitution and politics of the occupied six counties, as other reformists have since done, would not be discussed by the trade union movement. By agreeing to the partition of Ireland the trade union movement and others who adopted this position have helped the British and Free-State governments to divide, weaken and conquer the Irish working class. This siding with the British colonialism continues to this very day. The reformist weakened labour movement is therefore in no position to effectively oppose the poverty, repression and inequality.
We have to reach this pessimistic conclusion. On neither its chosen ground of jobs and bread and butter issues, nor on the ground of increasingly repressive legalisation and practice do the trade unions convince the mass of Irish workers and unemployment that it will or can take on bourgeois government. By its abdication and failures, they leave the worker and the unemployed divided and frustrated, seeking elsewhere the organisations, campaigns and beliefs which promise an end to or a cure for the endemic poverty, inequality and repression.
And so it is increasingly that workers, the low-paid and the unemployed in the ghettos are turning to Saoradh for a lead not only in the fight against British colonialism but also in the struggle for social and economic justice. Saoradh is responding to this challenge. It has established party offices and advice centres in Belfast, Derry and Dungannon, with staff competent to handle routine problems and backed up by experts experienced personnel.
Only a British withdrawal can create the conditions for Irish workers and unemployed, urban and rural, Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter, women, men and all gender orientations, young and old to come together and construct the socialist republic in their own interests.
The twin demands of the right to self-determination and the right to work signposts the Irish road to socialism. The answer to the injustice, poverty and national dispossession in Ireland lies in the willingness of the people to struggle and make sacrifices.
That makes revolutionary republicans the greatest threat to the ruling class, both in the occupied six counties and the neo-colonial Free-State, and that’s what makes us the vanguard of the Irish revolution.
Davy Jordan is Saoradh National Chairperson and a former political prisoner based in East Tyrone
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald’s full address to the All-island civic dialogue event in Dundalk today:
Brexit casts a very long shadow across our Island. We in live everyday with the uncertainty of Brexit, the politics of Brexit and the Brexit negotiations.
It has become the overarching context in which we discuss our future north and south.
The debate on Brexit has become familiar and common place to us all.
My concern at this point is that familiarity often breeds complacency.
To become complacent would be a huge mistake.
That is why, even now at this late stage in game, the threat to our island cannot be underestimated or overstated
Let me remind us all. The people of the north voted to remain within the EU. There is no mandate for Brexit in the north. It’s imposition is fundamentally undemocratic.
There is no good brexit, however soft.
It is bad for our economy, for trade and for prosperity.
It is bad for civic society and for the rights and entitlements of citizens particularly in the North
It is bad for our peace agreements, and progress.
The north is an exceptional and a unique place. It is a contested space, that is now at peace.
That is why it is so important that the north to remain within the single market, the customs union and within the EU. This is not an issue of orange and green. It is a political and social necessity to protect all of our people for now and into the future.
In the lead up to the Brexit referendum, Ireland, north and south, was not a consideration. Our economy, and our agreements were to be collateral damage in the Tory Brexit debate. A Brexit at all costs.
We need to restate Ireland cannot be and will not be collateral damage in a Tory Brexit.
The EU fully recognises and supports our peace agreements and progress in Ireland. They recognise the potential impact of Brexit. They have made firm commitments to Ireland and we thank them for those and we say we wish to hold them to those commitments.
Irelands interests are shared EU interests.
The British government have taken a very cynical response. They have chosen to prevaricate and to delay. They are perhaps seeking to use Ireland and our unique arrangements as some negotiation leverage with the EU.
That is the most cynical and reprehensible approach to politics.
In December the framework for a backstop was agreed. Since then the British Government has refused to bring forward any workable proposals.
We were told that this would be in place by March. That didn’t happen.
We are told it must be in place by June. The British government are again pushing this date back to October and perhaps beyond.
If I had one thing to say to this debate. It must be clear. We need an answer now.
The British Government need to come forward with its proposals now.
All of us who live here, north and south, in business, in civic society, all with environmental concerns, need certainty.
The prevarication and delay must stop. The British Tories cannot decide or veto the progress of these talks. We need an answer and we need it now.
John Monaghan. Irish News. Belfast. Monday, April 30, 2018
THE EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has warned the UK government he will not sign any agreement that fails to tackle The Border issue.
Michel Barnier made the remarks ahead of a two-day trip to Ireland with visits to border regions including Newry and Derry.
The chief negotiator said there would need to be “substantial progress” on The Border by the next major meeting of EU leaders at a summit
in June.
Last week the UK’s Brexit secretary David Davis suggested the EU was trying to create an “artificial deadline” in June as a negotiating tactic.
Mr Barnier will address the fourth plenary session of the Irish government’s all-island civic dialogue on Brexit in Dundalk, Co Louth, today.
The EU’s chief negotiator will cross the border to hear from business and lobby groups about the potential impact of Brexit.
Mr Barnier will host a round-table discussion in Newry today and has a similar engagement in Derry tomorrow.
The former EU regional policy commissioner last visited Northern Ireland in 2000 but in his current role travelled to the border in Co Louth last May.
DUP MEP Diane Dodds has rejected “missing an opportunity” by not meeting Mr Barnier during his visit this week.
Mr.s Dodds said she has already committed to meetings in London and could not meet him.
“I have many, many opportunities to speak to Michel Barnier and I never miss opportunities,” she said.
Last week Mrs. Dodds and Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson issued a joint statement welcoming Mr Barnier’s visit but expressed disappointment that it was announced by Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion.
The Republic’s foreign minister and tánaiste Simon Coveney said he was looking forward to welcoming Mr Barnier and updating attendees on the state of play in the negotiations.
“Mr Barnier and his team have demonstrated a keen understanding of the unique circumstances of the island of Ireland and they have Ireland’s full support. We look forward to continued close cooperation with the taskforce,” he said.
“Catholic members on both sides are furious,” said the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, who has served as the House chaplain since 2011.CreditTom Williams/CQ Roll Call, via Associated Press
By Elizabeth Dias
The chaplain of the House said on Thursday that he was blindsided when Speaker Paul D. Ryan asked him to resign two weeks ago, a request that he complied with but was never given a reason for.
The sudden resignation of the chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, shocked members of both parties. He had served in the role since he was nominated in 2011 by Speaker John A. Boehner, a fellow Catholic. In an interview, Father Conroy was categorical: His departure was not voluntary.
“I was asked to resign, that is clear,” Father Conroy said. As for why, he added, “that is unclear.”
“I certainly wasn’t given anything in writing,” he said. “Catholic members on both sides are furious.”
Father Conroy said he received the news from Mr. Ryan’s chief of staff. “The speaker would like your resignation,” Father Conroy recalled being told. He complied.
“As you have requested, I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th chaplain of the United States House of Representatives,” Father Conroy wrote in a letter to Mr. Ryan several days later. “I wish all the best of the House of Representatives, and for your upcoming search for a worthy successor in the office of the chaplain.”
His final day will be May 24.
Father Conroy’s resignation is all the more contentious in Catholic circles because Mr. Ryan is a Catholic conservative, whereas Father Conroy is a Jesuit, a branch that is viewed by some as more liberal.
Asked whether differences in politics were a factor in his ouster, Father Conroy said: “I do not want to politicize this. I have thoughts about it, but I am not contributing to that.”
But, he said, Capitol Hill is an inherently political place. “There are Catholics who are Republicans and there are Catholics who are Democrats,” he said. “I don’t know if there is a religious divide; there certainly is a political one.”
Though Father Conroy said he did not know whether politics were behind his departure, he pointed to a prayer he had given on the House floor in November, when Congress was debating tax overhaul legislation.
“May all members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle,” he prayed. “May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”
About a week later, Father Conroy said, he heard from the speaker’s office. “A staffer came down and said, We are upset with this prayer; you are getting too political,” he said. “It suggests to me that there are members who have talked to him about being upset with that prayer.”
Shortly after, when he saw Mr. Ryan himself, Father Conroy said that the speaker told him, “Padre, you just got to stay out of politics.”
“That is what I have tried to do for seven years,” Father Conroy said. “It doesn’t sound political to me.”
“If you are hospital chaplain, you are going to pray about health,” he added. “If you are a chaplain of Congress, you are going to pray about what Congress is doing.”
Father Conroy said that was the only time anyone from the speaker’s office had ever chastised him for veering into the political realm. “I’ve never been talked to about being too political in seven years,” he said.
A congressional aide for Mr. Ryan said that no specific prayer had led to the decision.
Father Conroy said that his only communication with Mr. Ryan or his office since he was asked to resign came on Wednesday morning, when the speaker thanked him for his seven years of service before the House welcomed President Emmanuel Macron of France.
Father Conroy said he did not ask Mr. Ryan why he was asked to resign, and he does not plan to contest his departure. “I do not want to debate this,” he said. “My understanding going into this is that I serve at the prerogative of the speaker.”
But lawmakers from both parties are demanding answers.
Representatives Walter B. Jones, Republican of North Carolina, and Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, are circulating a letter for their colleagues to sign, asking Mr. Ryan for more information.
“I’m very upset,” Mr. Jones said. “If this is true about the prayer, and we have freedom of religion in America, how about freedom of religion on the floor of the House?”
“The members of the House vote for the chaplain,” he continued. “This is not a one-man decision. The House should have the facts of whatever the problem is.”
Mr. Connolly said he was worried about the precedent Mr. Ryan’s decision could set. The letter asks the speaker for a description of the process that was followed, and for a justification of the decision.
“We believe that, absent such details, questions will inevitably arise about the politicization of the process for hiring and dismissing a House chaplain,” the letter says. “Not revealing such details could also risk resurrecting prior questions of religious bias.”
“Pat is a fairly popular figure in the House,” Mr. Connolly said. “He’s counseled people and tended to their personal and spiritual needs. This is a personal and jarring decision that affects all of us in a big way.”
Because of the lack of clarity surrounding his resignation, Father Conroy said that he had been fielding calls from friends and House members, some inaccurately congratulating him on his retirement or worrying that he was sick.
“They asked me why I am leaving, why I am abandoning them, congratulations on your retirement, what is next,” he said. “To which I say, ‘I wasn’t looking for a job.’”
“For the most part, that information has been met by shock,” he continued. “That is the gratifying part.”
Father Conroy said that he had thoroughly enjoyed being the House chaplain, and that he had not politicized his work.
“I have found it myself to be personally liberating because I have not been allowed to engage in the politics of the day, which has been very healthy for me,” he said. “I’m grateful that that was my ministry.”
When Pope Francis visited the United States in 2015, Father Conroy gave him a personal blessing in Spanish. He has traveled with congressional delegations to Southeast Asia and to the Middle East. He has also acted as personal spiritual adviser to many members of both parties, and to their families.
“I’m going to miss that kind of stuff,” Father Conroy said. But, he added, “There will be another ministry.”
