Posted by Jim on March 16, 2018
“I am of Irish America”
This poem was written by one of the greatest Irish Women of our time – Mary Holt Moore.
I am a child of immigrants. I am of a people who for over eight hundred years have bent a knee to no king but the King of Heaven and bowed a head to no queen but the Queen of Heaven. …
I am of a dispersed people, sent in slavery to Barbados, In chains to Australia, In Famine to America. I am of a people who tore themselves from their Father’s trembling arms, kissed their tear stained mother’s face goodbye.
Traveled all over the world to keep a roof over beloved heads, and food on the hungry table.
I am of an empire on which no sun has set, for wherever you go in this whole wide world, Wherever a House of God has risen, where ever a house of learning founded, or a tree of liberty planted by loving hands, and watered by
the tears of an Irish exile, there you will find the Irish Empire.
I thank God for the blood of my Fathers. I thank God for the land of my birth. I pray that God will unite and save Ireland. I pray that God will continue to Bless America.
Posted by Jim on
“I thought it would be good for Members of Congress to see this Letter to the Editor, Irish News. It is not extraordinary, rather its merit is that it is the very ordinary expression of the vast, vast majority of people on the island of Ireland, the vox populi—while fully accepting the Good Friday Agreement. It is also good to see quoted the words of the famed English journalist Paul Johnson (hardly an Irish rebel).” — Fr. Sean McManus.
Britain’s biggest mistake was partitioning Ireland
James G Barry. Dublin. Letters to Editor. Irish News. Belfast. Friday, March 16, 2018
The UK prime minister’s recent Brexit speech was long, complex and clouded, encompassing all solutions and players and the issue of the Irish border. It was tinted with the centuries old British stance of divide and conquer. For centuries Britain has sought to conquer Ireland and treat it as a colony. There were various methods used and because of their overall strength and conniving they succeeded. Their biggest mistake was the partitioning of Ireland. This caused a split in the Irish republican movement, resulting in a civil war. But more so, it created a division of its people and a very possible threat of a civil war in the six north eastern counties of Ireland.
A new parliament was set up in Northern Ireland. Ordinary laws were done away with and a police state regime was installed to subdue the nationalist population. In the years following the British government turned a blind eye to the draconian system of discrimination based upon religious beliefs. As was inevitable a rising generation of young nationalists became dissatisfied and disillusioned and started a civil rights campaign which led to the multi-party negotiations of 1998.
To sum up the events of the British shameful involvement in Ireland Paul Johnson, a distinguished English journalist and an ardent supporter of Margaret Thatcher at the time, wrote in the New Statesman many years ago:
‘In Ireland over the centuries, we have tried every possible formula: direct rule, indirect rule, genocide, apartheid, puppet parliaments, real parliaments, martial law, civil law, colonization, partition.’ He concluded with: ‘Nothing has worked. The only solution we have not tried is absolute and unconditional withdrawal.’
Now with the addition of the [Good Frida] Agreement reached in the multi-party negotiations of 1998 the British and Irish governments have the mechanism to let the people of the whole island of Ireland vote on getting rid of the Border by reunification of a new Ireland.
So why not try it now. It will happen in any event.
Posted by Jim on March 14, 2018
March 14th
| 9/11 MEMORIAL STAIR CLIMB INSIDE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the UFA will join the NY Knicks on Saturday, March 31st, 2018, from 10 am – 12 pm, as they hold the first NY Knicks 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Participants will climb the equivalent of the 110 stories of the World Trade Center to honor the 343 FDNY Members who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001. The climb will begin on the court, wrap around the arena twice and end back on the court. Registration costs $50 and includes a 343 honor badge, a t-shirt and entrance for up to 3 guests. The event is only open to 343 participants, so be sure to register as soon as possible. To register, please visit http://events.firehero.org/nyknicks. The climb will benefit the UFA Widows and Children’s Fund, the FDNY Counseling Services Unit, and programs provided by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. There will be discounted tickets for the evening game, which is also First Responders Night. Tipoff will be at 5:30pm. For tickets call 212-631-4084 or email Michael.offen@msg.com. |
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Posted by Jim on
Noted columnist Brian Feeney provides important insights on how the Good Friday Agreement is not being fulfilled, which Members of Congress should pay attention to—especially as we approach the 20th Anniversary of the Agreement (April 10).
One example of his truth to power-statements :’The British government is required under its international commitments to conduct a timely investigation into state killings. Some of the relatives of those killed have been waiting 45 years.”—Fr. Sean Mc Manus
Theresa May continuing to ignore impartiality
Brian Feeney. Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, March14, 2018
“Up until then[2006-210] both governments had an identity of interest and objective. Since then they’ve drifted apart. They don’t meet. After they believed they’d completed devolution the Irish government walked away. Under [Taoiseach] Enda Kenny the North may as well have been on the dark side of the moon…. During those years while Kenny’s government sat on their hands, the DUP were able to block any progress here because the Conservative proconsuls backed them and let them away with it. … So the DUP got crumbs off the table which damaged society here, most notably the end to 50-50 recruitment to the PSNI.”
All the evidence of the last 35 years shows that when the two governments keep an eye on this place and its protagonists and meet regularly matters run more smoothly.
The last best example was the years 2006-7 when Blair and Ahern shoe-horned Sinn Féin and the DUP into an executive after giving them an absolute deadline of November 2006 to clinch a deal.
The last big occasion of London and Dublin acting together to strong-arm the parties was 2010 when Brown and Cowen pinioned the DUP at Hillsborough and compelled them to accept devolution of justice and policing.
Up until then both governments had an identity of interest and objective. Since then they’ve drifted apart. They don’t meet. After they believed they’d completed devolution the Irish government walked away. Under Enda Kenny the north may as well have been on the dark side of the moon.
For the British however the opposite was the case. The Conservatives hadn’t won an election since 1993, so in 2010 David Cameron, desperate for a win, interfered in The North’s politics to try to squeeze out a couple of extra seats.
He prevailed on the UUP to link up formally with the Conservatives in the embarrassing failure that was UCUNF.
However, in the process Cameron meddled disgracefully here.
He fielded candidates in all but two seats in the UK and those two seats were North Belfast and Fermanagh/South Tyrone to give unionists a free run against Sinn Féin. Typical of Cameron, cynical, careless of the consequences. So much for ‘no selfish interest’ in the north.
As soon as the UCUNF fiasco bombed and Cameron found himself in a coalition, he dropped the UUP and swung to the DUP favouring them in any way he could to gain their support in tight votes when the Lib Dems wouldn’t support him. So the DUP got crumbs off the table which damaged society here, most notably the end to 50-50 recruitment to the PSNI.
Cameron didn’t care as long as it helped his Commons arithmetic. During those years while Kenny’s government sat on their hands the DUP were able to block any progress here because the Conservative proconsuls backed them and let them away with it.
Theresa May continued Cameron’s bias towards one community in The North disregarding the Good Friday Agreement’s ‘rigorous impartiality’ requirement. But hey, this is the English government. They have form. When a Commons vote is at stake, what’s an international treaty?
The most egregious example of this process was exposed again last week when Lord Justice Girvan burst Arlene Foster’s puffed up self-importance and declared her block on allocating funds for legacy inquests unlawful. He correctly pointed out that there is an obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights which is not conditional on a political agreement to conduct a full, open, transparent inquiry into why public bodies have taken a life.
Now here’s the thing: That obligation applies to the British government which have been blocking funding at the behest of the DUP for at least three years until there’s a political agreement.
Why does the Irish government not step in and demand a British-Irish Inter-Governmental Conference (BIIGC) on that issue? Upholding Article 2 of the ECHR is not a devolved matter. It is the British government which signed the ECHR, not Stormont. It’s a matter for the sovereign government that can’t be devolved.
The British government is required under its international commitments to conduct a timely investigation into state killings. Some of the relatives of those killed have been waiting 45 years.
The British-Irish Agreement, part of the Good Friday Agreement, is to ‘deal with the totality of relationships’ between Britain and Ireland and ‘there will be regular and frequent meetings of the Conference concerned with non-devolved matters’ – like honouring Article 2 of the ECHR for example.
Why did Kenny’s government since 2013 allow legacy funding and indeed legacy matters as a whole to become unlawfully dependant on a political deal in the north?
Why did they not call a BIIGC – even to keep the British honest – when the British threw in the spoiler of national security which again cannot be devolved?
Fat chance now with Brexit poisoning any British-Irish cooperation
