Posted by Jim on September 13, 2017
Dominic McSherry.Letters to Editor. Irish News. Belfast.Wednesday, September 13, 2017
It is looking increasingly likely that the DUP, at least in the short-term, is focused on indirectly wielding power in Northern Ireland through the Tory Committee established to administer their supply and demand payoff. This conveniently circumvents the need to work with Nationalists/Republicans on an equal footing in Northern Ireland, something John Taylor recently remarked was not necessary while Unionism remained in the majority. In a sense this is old-style Unionism writ large, simply ignoring the wishes of the large minority in Northern Ireland, and in that sense is deeply disturbing. This harks back to the good old days of Ulster Unionism, when Nationalists knew their place, and everything was as it should be. But it wasn’t, and we’ve 30 years of violent political conflict to evidence that perspective.
The central problem historically for Northern nationalists has been about consent. They did not give their consent to be locked into a British state in 1921, with a predetermined Unionist majority that thwarted any possibility of political change, and which treated them, as John Taylor alluded to, as lesser than [equals]. They did not give their consent to be absented from representation in Dáil Éireann, and instead ruled by an Orange political elite, at the acquiescence of London. Effectively, they were being ruled against their wishes. This type of political sterility was fertile ground for a philosophy that sees the use of violence as the only means to resist political oppression. The emergent IRA saw this as the only solution, as did the ANC.
However, for Northern Ireland hope arrived in 1998 in the form of the Good Friday Agreement, that had at its core the principle of power sharing between Unionism and Nationalism, centered on equality and parity of esteem. This was voted on by the people of Ireland and for the first time in history a political architecture was consented to by Nationalism/Republicanism in The North. This consent is now absent again and this is very concerning.
They say that if you do not learn the lessons of history, then you risk repeating them. So, my advice to the British government and political Unionism is to be extremely careful at this juncture in our shared history. The failure to resurrect the political institutions and the return to some form of direct rule, will mean that hundreds of thousands of Nationalist/Republicans in Northern Ireland will be ruled against their wishes again.
In a sense Northern Ireland will simply revert to being a colony without its own political institutions and being ruled from a distance by the dominant power. This needs to be avoided at all costs, lest the stench of the cesspit starts to rise again.
Posted by Jim on
Huh 7thSeptember 13th
LT MICHAEL J. VECSI (LADDER 122) MEMORIAL MASS
On Thursday, September 14th at 0900 hours, a memorial mass will be held honoring the memory of Lieutenant Michael J. Vecsi, L-122, who died on September 14, 2014. The mass will take place at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 4055 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
AFRICAN AMERICAN DAY PARADE
On Sunday, September 17th , permission is granted for off-duty members to participate in the 2017 African American Day Parade. Participating members of the Department should assemble on W. 112th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and St. Nicholas Avenue, NY at 1200 hours. Dress uniform, including white gloves shall be worn. For further information call the FDNY Vulcan Society at 917-570-9017 or FDNY Office of Community Affairs at 718-999-8112.
FF JOHN P. HANNON 20TH ANNUAL MEMORIAL GAELIC FOOTBALL GAMES
Sunday, October 1st at 1pm. Paddy’s Field, Woodlawn, Bronx. For more info call Pete Hannon, Engine 95, 917-640-1032.
LT CRUZ ANTONIO FERNANDEZ (LADDER 111) PLAQUE DEDICATION
On Monday, October 2nd at 1130 hours, a plaque dedication will be held honoring the memory of
Lieutenant Cruz Antonio Fernandez, L-111, who died on July 14, 2006. The dedication will take place in the quarters of E-214 and L-111, 495 Hancock St., Brooklyn, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
FF JAMES M. DUNN (LADDER 114) PLAQUE DEDICATION
On Friday, October 6th at 1130 hours, a plaque dedication will be held honoring the memory of
Firefighter James M. Dunn, L-114, who died on September 6, 2016. The dedication will take place in the quarters of E-201/ L-114 and B-40, 5113 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
FDNY FIRE MUSEUM FUNDRAISING COOK-OFF
The NYC Fire Museum will once again be hosting the annual FDNY Cook-off Fundraiser. Members wishing to enter the contest with a signature dish that will be judged by three celebrity chefs should contact Noemi Bourdier at the NYC Fire Museum at nbourdier@nycfiremuseum.org (212) 691-1303 x11. The event is open to all Fire/EMS members and will be held on the evening of Thursday, November 2nd in the Museum at 278 Spring Street, Manhattan.
Posted by Jim on September 11, 2017
Allison Morris. Irish News. Belfast. September 11, 2017
The grand secretary of the Orange Order says loyalists considered building bonfires on ever street corner in response to the legal challenge to pyres on council land in July.
However, the Rev Mervyn Gibson says the decision not to proceed with the protest “reflected well” on his community.
Rev Gibson praised elements within loyalism who helped calm tensions around the July period following a Belfast City Council injunction against four bonfires in Belfast.
At first there were concerns that the injunctions, aimed at controlling bonfires being built on council land, would spark violence among hard line loyalists in the area.
However, the senior Orangeman said the way the situation was handled “reflected well” on the community.
“At one point there was talk of a bonfire on every street corner, that was considered, thankfully they didn’t do that but you can see how it could have ended up,” he said.
“It’s how the court order is interpreted next year that worries me, in that people will now be looking to bring this in across other parts of the province, if that happens they’ll not stop bonfires people will just move it off council property.
“We suggested a few years ago, and I think they’re looking at it now in a couple of places, about a green area making it a bonfire site that could be used at Christmas and other times of the year to hold community events.
“If it’s a site for community use and there were three or for other uses during the year I think that would work.
“I would never disown bonfires, I loved them when I was growing up and they meant as much to me personally then as they do to those young lads now.
“So, it could have easily turned nasty and it didn’t, that was a good thing and reflected well on that community”, Rev Gibson added.
Posted by Jim on September 9, 2017
By Gerry Adams (for Leargas)
In the cut and thrust of negotiations there is always the risk that
someone will say something that makes the process of achieving agreement
more difficult. Sometimes they do that deliberately. Sometimes they are
just stupid. Or tongue in cheek. During the negotiations leading to the
Good Friday Agreement in 1998 the Ulster Unionist politician John Taylor
famously dismissed proposals from Senator George Mitchel saying he
wouldn’t touch them with a ’40 foot barge pole’. Taylor was renowned for
such hyperbole.
Last week he was at it again claiming that nationalists in the North
‘are not equal’ to unionists. He wasn’t alone in making outrageous and
stupid comments. The morning after the DUP leader Arlene Foster made,
what some in the media described as a ‘new offer’ and a ‘compromise
proposal’ to Sinn Fein, her Westminster colleague Sammy Wilson was in
fine ‘Taylor mode’. He said: “They (Sinn Fein) are not a serious party…
we now have the spectacle of a party with seven MPs who don’t go to
their work and 27 MLAs who won’t go to their work – why on earth would
anyone vote for such a bunch of malingerers.”
That’s Sammy doing what he does best. Messing. His problem of course is
that more and more people in the North are voting for Sinn Fein, as
evident in the Assembly and Westminster elections earlier this year.
More crucially, Arlene Foster’s ‘new offer’ – her ‘compromise’ proposal
was nothing of the sort. It came during a period when Michelle O Neill
was exploring the potential of the next phase of talks with other
leaders, including Arlene and the two governments. The same proposal,
that Ministers be put back in place while negotiations continue in
parallel, was suggested by DUP negotiator Edwin Poots in June and raised
some weeks ago by his party colleague Simon Hamilton. It was rejected
then and Arlene Foster knew it would be rejected last week. It wasn’t a
serious effort to resolve the crisis.
And when you think about it why would Sinn Fein agree to go back into
power sharing with the DUP with no agreement in place? On the vague
possibility of possible legislation that may or may be agreed by a DUP
party which thus far has shown no real desire to agree. And if it
doesn’t work we pull the whole edifice down again. That’s not a recipe
for progress, but for disaster.
In addition, as it has tried to put the blame on Sinn Fein for the
current crisis the DUP, and elements of the media, have claimed that
Sinn Fein doesn’t really want to be in the power sharing institutions.
They accuse us of not wanting to have to manage the mess that Brexit is
already creating for the economy of the North, and in particular for our
rural and farming families, and for those living on both sides of the
border corridor. They also say that being in government in the North
undermines our political project in the South.
This is patent nonsense. From the time of the Good Friday Agreement Sinn
Fein’s political strategy has been built on the need for an Executive
and Assembly and all-Ireland institutions. For almost 20 years we have
worked to ensure that these are viable and effective. For ten years –
first with Ian Paisley, then with Peter Robinson and latterly with
Arlene Foster, Martin McGuinness stretched himself and our party to keep
the institutions in place through the most difficult of circumstances.
Martin’s decision in January was reluctantly taken.
It is also a fact that Sinn Fein’s electoral fortunes in the South are
assisted by an Executive and Assembly in place.
In the Oireachtas our political opponents, especially the Fianna Fail
leader Micheal Martin, cynically exploit the absence of the institutions
to attack Sinn Fein. Martin doesn’t care that the status quo continues
to discriminate against nationalists; or that Irish speakers are being
treated as second class citizens; or that commitments in Agreements,
which a Fianna Fail government of which he was part, have not been
implemented; or that LGBT citizens in a part of this island do not have
the right to marriage equality. Martin’s only interest in the current
crisis is to exploit it in his electoral battle with Sinn Fein in the
South.
So, let me be very clear. Sinn Fein is fully committed to the power
sharing institutions agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. However, the
institutions can only work if they are based on equality, respect and
integrity.
Last week’s proposal by the DUP Leader Arlene Foster for a parallel
process did contain a welcome acknowledgement that the Irish language
threatens no one. The crocodiles will be delighted to hear that. And she
did include a promise of legislation. This is welcome also. But more
than soft words are required. So, to ensure there is no misunderstanding
let me repeat what I said last week. There will be no return to the
Assembly or Executive without a stand-alone Irish Language Act and the
resolution of the other outstanding issues.
Posted by Jim on
——————————————————–
The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) has said it is supporting a
‘border poll’ on unity as part of a new campaign for a United Ireland
outside of the EU. The following is the first section of its new policy
document, ‘Britain out of Ireland – Ireland out of the EU’.
———————————————————
Demographics in the north of Ireland are changing.
Conceived by Britain in 1921 as a gerrymandered state with built in
Unionist majority; generational based political shifts in the six
counties have presented a scenario wherein for the first time ever,
progressive sentiment may tip the balance of public opinion in favour of
ending partition itself.
Since its inception, the Irish Republican Socialist Party have
challenged and rejected the right of the six-county state to exist in
any form, this remains our position today.
In 1998, we opposed the Good Friday Agreement, it’s so called ‘principle
of consent’ and the triple lock system which saw the sectarian state
known as ‘Northern Ireland’ consolidated as a quasi-legitimate entity.
Our outlook in this regard remains constant and standing on the platform
of anti-imperialism, we remain committed to the dismantling of the
British state in Ireland, be that by the utilisation of ‘constitutional
methods’ or outside the confines of the GFA if needs be.
THE CASE FOR A ‘BORDER POLL’
Central to the project of revolutionary change however lies a duty to
recognise political and social reality as it exists at every juncture of
historical development.
The IRSP have traditionally held a sceptical attitude towards electoral
solutions to the British imposed border in Ireland and unlike the
parties of mainstream nationalism, we do NOT recognise the Good Friday
Agreement’s ‘principle of consent’ which in reality amounts to a
reactionary veto on progress towards Irish National Liberation, nor do
we believe that there can be any parliamentary road to Socialism.
In the event of any failure to end partition via so called
‘constitutional’ means, Republican Socialists would be under no more
compulsion to recognise the Unionist Veto than we are today, holding
that it was founded upon the fraudulent coercion of the Irish people who
under a state of duress were compelled to accept the unconstitutional
division of Ireland in 1921.
Such a corrupt constitutional set up never has and never will receive
recognition from the Irish Republican Socialist Party.
However, the demographic and subsequent political shifts currently
being witnessed in the north are occurring at a pace unpredicted by any
political party when the Good Friday Agreement was conceived. It is our
belief that rising progressive sentiment (particularly amongst our
youth) which today seeks an end to partition in our lifetime can
conceivably be harnessed to significantly weaken, discredit and
eventually play a part in dismantling the sectarian northern state
itself.
The fact that this momentum may express itself via the Good Friday
Agreement1 (that is via a ‘border poll’ or unity referendum) presents no
ideological or principled difficulty for the IRSP. Progressive popular
opinion is of greater revolutionary importance than the past or current
programs of any political party and for Republican Socialists to ignore
the sentiments of a progressive section of the Irish working class would
represent no less than arrogant posturing on our behalf. We have no
intention of retreating into such an intellectual morass.
Since our inception ours has been a party that has rejected
abstentionism for its own sake, favouring critical engagement with
established political institutions, when and where to do so would weaken
the power of the state and advance the Irish revolutionary position.
Such were the teachings of our founding members James Connolly and
Seamus Costello in whose tradition we today stand.
It is the considered opinion of the IRSP that in the current
environment, there is more to be gained in actively calling for and
campaigning around a ‘border poll’ for an end to the sectarian state
than there is to be lost.
Similar initiatives in Scotland and Catalonia have introduced thousands
of previously apolitical youths to the concepts and merits of radical
politics there, bringing them onto the streets and into the ways of
progressive activism, arguably changing the political landscapes and
future fortunes of those nations forever.
Thus far, no movement on the left has added their weight to calls for a
border poll here, leaving centrist nationalist parties like the SDLP and
Sinn Fein free to promote their own concept of a United Ireland; united
under the flag of the European Union and so subsequently (and
unavoidably) bereft of Socialist principles or values. Such a setup is
anathema to Republican Socialism and or even basic principles of Irish
independence.
In such a dynamic, it is the duty of the left to intervene, not least to
point out the inherent contradictions in a pro-EU/pro-independence
position, but to harness and mobilise those who wish to challenge in a
non-violent fashion, the ongoing partition of Ireland, while rejecting
the constricted and pro-capitalist values of the EU.
The IRSP understand that the prospect of an immediate and successful
outcome in a border poll is not assured, however it is our belief that
the mobilising of significant numbers around such an initiative (along
with the popular public debate which will undoubtedly follow) may with
time set off a popular momentum for Irish unity which cannot be
reversed.
We feel that such a prospect, however remote in the immediate term, is
vastly more desirable and credible than a return to sporadic armed
actions, which in the current environment can offer nothing but a return
to suffering for Republicans and the Irish working class in general.
In recognition of the above principles, the IRSP takes this opportunity
to call for (at the earliest opportunity) a ‘border poll’ on the issue
of partition in Ireland, and declare our intention to campaign
pro-actively and from a revolutionary socialist platform for a
progressive result, namely an end to partition in Ireland.