Posted by Jim on August 7, 2017
History shows, however, that while the British have an excellent record in partitioning other countries, they have never introduced the idea into their own. Even the Scots recently failed to partition Britain. … In any case, the Good Friday Agreement clearly states that the existing Border can only be removed not by the will of the Irish people, but by the consent of those in The North alone.
Patrick Murphy.Irish News.Belfast. Saturday. August 5, 2017
If Brexit means Brexit, then The Border means The Border. The Dublin government and northern Nationalists can complain all they want, but in accepting the legitimacy of political partition, they must now accept that Brexit means economic partition.
A rather harsh view, you say, and you have a point. But in addressing the reality of the post-Brexit border, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that some form of economic partition now appears inevitable.
We have had three broad proposals on how to manage that inevitability: the DUP’s “frictionless” border, the Dublin government’s idea of the Irish Sea becoming the new border between Britain and all of Ireland, and the SDLP’s concept of special status for The North (which was later adopted by Sinn Féin and, just this week, by the Joint Dáil/Seanad Committee on Brexit).
Someone once said that the only true science is physics – everything else is just stamp collecting. In political terms, all three proposals are stamp collecting in that they largely fail to address political partition.
No one, least of all the DUP, appears to know what a frictionless border would look like. Cross-border movement of goods could be speeded up by computer tracking, but how will the frictionless border affect people? Will cross-border commuters be stopped and searched and will Irish News sports journalists now take a full day to reach Clones?
Will the frictionless border also apply to what used to be called unapproved roads, which are minor roads without customs posts? (The bit I liked about unapproved roads in the past was that many of them had signposts pointing out where they were. I could never work out why.) Will unapproved roads be monitored? If so, how?
The Dublin government’s idea of having the Irish Sea as the new border is rather clever, in that it proposes to economically partition Britain rather than Ireland. History shows, however, that while the British have an excellent record in partitioning other countries, they have never introduced the idea into their own. Even the Scots recently failed to partition Britain.
In any case, the Good Friday Agreement clearly states that the existing Border can only be removed not by the will of the Irish people, but by the consent of those in The North alone. Presumably that same rule applies to its economic re-location.
Undeterred, the Irish government has more recently moved their proposal up a gear by hoping that Britain will change its mind on Brexit – a wonderful example of imagination working faster than the brain.
That just leaves the third proposal – the SDLP’s concept of special status for The North. It is a priceless idea in that the only person who could possibly disagree with it would be someone who knows what it means.
It appears to suggest that The North should somehow remain within the EU, while the rest of the UK remains outside it. So would The North be subject to EU law or UK law?
Would farmers receive UK subsidies or EU subsidies? (Both would be nice.) The concept of special status suggests that the economy can be somehow divorced from government – a theory which tends to overlook the small matter of taxation.
In supporting the proposal this week, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Brexit did not add much clarity to the idea. In fairness, the Committee did at least identify the issue of partition, but in suggesting that the way ahead was another New Ireland Forum, it appears to have been more a gesture than a serious attempt to address nationalism’s acceptance of partition.
Oddly the report also placed significant emphasis on the re-unification of Germany as a possible model for Irish unity. German unity came about through the collapse of communism. Are the Report’s authors seriously suggesting that Unionism is also about to collapse and that thousands of unionists will come streaming through the peace walls looking for a new society?
If Ireland wants to avoid economic partition, the only reasonable solution would appear to be an end to political partition. The problem is that, having opposed it for 75 years, nationalists agreed to political partition a mere 19 years ago. Of course they did not foresee Brexit, but history might have taught them that Britain has a long record of regarding treaties as temporary.
Now northern nationalists and the Dublin government appear to be saying that political partition is good, but economic partition is bad. Well, Brexit means that if you support the first one, you get the second. Who in nationalist Ireland will take the lead in addressing that point?
Posted by Jim on
High Court ruled that the PSNI halted an investigation by the Historic Enquiries Team
The High Court in Belfast has ruled in favour of relatives of a Catholic teenager killed by loyalist paramilitaries who alleged that the PSNI had failed to properly investigate the UVF gang suspected of carrying out more than 100 murders.
The judge ruled that the failure of the PSNI to conduct an overarching examination of alleged State collusion with the loyalist gang was inconsistent with its human rights obligations.
The independent Historic Enquiries Team (HET) had partially completed its probe into the activities of the UVF’s Glenannne gang, which was linked to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, before its work was halted by the PSNI.
The PSNI’s decision was challenged by way of a judicial review by the family of 13-year-old Patrick Barnard who was one of four people killed in loyalist bomb attack on the Hillcrest pub in Dungannon, Co Tyrone on St Patrick’s Day in 1976.
The Glenanne gang was a unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force that counted rogue security force personnel among its members.
Operating mostly in Co Tyrone and Co Armagh, the gang has been blamed for around 130 murders during the 1970s and 1980s.
The court was packed with relatives who lost loved ones at the hands of the murderous gang.
Patrick’s brother, Edward, who took the judicial review, said he had not expected the outcome.
“I am shocked. I did not think we would get the victory today that we have got,” he said.
“We have proved collusion, we have proved that the police halted the report, they stopped the HET from fulfilling their part.”
Eugene Reavey, whose three brothers were murdered by the gang in 1976, described the alleged collusion as a “war crime”.
“The judge repeated collusion, collusion, collusion all day,” he said.
“This was a war crime – there were 135 people dead. This was murder by the state and its agents.
“There is no other word for it than a war crime – that’s how big it is.
“I am delighted for everybody here for the perseverance they have shown over the years. We have been humiliated, we have been abused by everybody in every part of the journey but today we have been vindicated.”
Delivering judgment at Belfast High Court, Judge Seamus Treacy found that changes made by the PSNI to how it investigated historic cases were “fundamentally inconsistent” with its obligations in the European Convention on Human Rights.
He also questioned the state’s commitment to investigating cases that involved alleged collusion.
He was particularly critical of decisions taken by former PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott.
The judge said the Barnard family had a “legitimate expectation” that a thematic probe into collusion would have been completed.
He said the police’s treatment of them had been “unfair” in the “extreme”.
“It has completely undermined the confidence of the families whose concerns are not only still unresolved but compounded by the effects of the decisions taken by the then chief constable (Mr Baggott),” he said.
Justice Treacy added: “There is a real risk that this will fuel in the minds of the families the fear that the state has resiled from its public commitments because it is not genuinely committed to addressing the unresolved concerns that the families have of state involvement.”
The judge placed the onus on the PSNI to offer an “appropriate form of relief” that would address the family’s concerns.
In response to the judgment, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, who heads up the service’s Legacy & Justice Branch, said: “The PSNI notes the comments made in court today by Mr Justice Treacy in relation to the Judicial Review taken by the family of Patrick Barnard.”
Judge Treacy’s full written judgment has not been published yet, due to issues around the need to redact some names.
Mr Hamilton added: “We understand that Mr Justice Treacy has not publicly released his judgment but will do so within the next few weeks.
“Once we receive the judgment we will consider it carefully.”
Posted by Jim on August 4, 2017
Sewage Treatment Worker
DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION – New York, NY
$41.76 an hour
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) protects public health and the environment by supplying clean drinking water, collecting and treating wastewater, and reducing air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution. DEP is the largest combined municipal water and wastewater utility in the country, with nearly 6,000 employees. We deliver 1.1 billion gallons of high quality drinking water per day to 8.5 million New York City residents and more than 1 million people in Upstate New York, and we collect and treat an average of 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater per day.
The Bureau of Wastewater Treatment is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all facilities related to the treatment of sewage, including wastewater treatment plants, collections facilities (pumping stations, combined sewer overflow retention facilities, regulators, tide gates), wastewater laboratories, harbor vessels and sludge dewatering facilities.
For more information on requirements and qualifications to apply:
https://a127-jobs.nyc.gov/psc/nycjobs/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_APP_SCHJOB.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=1&JobOpeningId=292182&PostingSeq=1&&
Posted by Jim on August 3, 2017
Come join us for the
16th Anniversary Tribute Walk for
FDNY Chaplain, Father Mychal F. Judge
and
343 FDNY, 37 PAPD, 23 NYPD,
3 NYS Court Officers,
1 NYS Trooper
2 FBI, 1 Secret Service,
125 dedicated personnel at the Pentagon,
40 brave souls at Shanksville,
2, 330 defenseless civilians at the WTC
And those who continue to die…
We begin at St. Francis of Assisi Church
(135 West 31st St.-between 6th & 7th Ave[near Penn Station])
at 9:00am on SUNDAY September 10th, 2017
The Rosary (9:00am) will be followed by a Catholic Mass (9:30am), with the “Walk” to follow at 10:30am…
As we make our way downtown we will stop at
Firehouses and Police Precincts and read from Scripture.
For further information, contact:
FDNY Firefighter Jack Cook (516) 263-4685
John Bates (516) 238-0952
FDNY Retired Lt. Bill Schillinger (917) 902-6689
Posted by Jim on
Let the kids have a blast while we share delicious food and drink, enjoy exceptional live entertainment and maybe leave with an item from our huge Chinese auction.
Join us at a great venue to honor a good man.
Saturday September 16, 2017
Hillside Swim Club
151 Signs Rd. SI, NY 10314
12 – 6 PM (Rain or Shine)
All American Barbeque
Beer, Wine & Soda
50/50
Chinese Auction
Live Music
Rides & Attractions
Adults- $50.00 Children (13-20)- $20.00
12 & Under- Free Make Checks Payable to: Lt. John Martinson Memorial Foundation 244 Winchester Ave. SI, NY 10312
Tickets Available at the Gate
A Celebration of His Life and
Recognition of His Sacrifice
Lt. John Martinson Memorial Foundation
244 Winchester Ave. SI, NY 10312
718-989-9316
WWW.JohnMartinsonMemorialFoundation.org