AOH Home of the Brooklyn Irish
Baile na nGael
Saturday, September 5, 2026
Posted by Jim on February 2, 2020
WTC
Retired Firefighter
Michael L. Feldman
Ladder Company 161
WAKE
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home
1380 New York Avenue
Huntington Station, NY 11746
MEMORIAL SERVICE
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
11:00 AM
A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home
1380 New York Avenue
Huntington Station, NY 11746
All Off-Duty Members should attend in Class A Uniform
Posted by Jim on February 1, 2020
The widow of murdered defence lawyer Pat Finucane has won permission at Belfast’s High Court to challenge the continuing failure of the British government to carry out an effective investigation. Geraldine Finucane was granted leave to seek a judicial review as part of her ongoing fight to secure a public inquiry into her husband’s assassination in 1989.
In February last year, the Supreme Court held that previous inquiries into the murder did not meet human rights standards.
Mrs Justice Keegan ruled on Friday that Mrs Finucane has established an arguable case that the British government’s delay in taking action since then is unlawful. Proceedings will now advance to a full hearing later this year.
The judge said: “This is not a guarantee of success, but it’s clear to me and fairly obvious that there’s already a passage of time… that will require to be explained in evidence.”
Mr Finucane was killed by loyalist paramilitaries in collusion with British military intelligence. He was shot dead in front of his wife and three children at their north Belfast home in February 1989. His family have campaigned ever since for a full examination of Crown Force force collusion with the killers.
Lawyers for British Direct Ruler Julian Smith insisted he is committed to making a decision on their demands for a public inquiry as soon as possible.
During the judicial review hearing, a barrister for the Finucane family said they are being treated with contempt. He said that the level of delay since the Supreme Court reached its decision “beggars belief”.
Last weekend, Mrs Finucane said she has been left “frustrated and disappointed” after her latest meeting with the British government was postponed.
The postponement was due to Smith’s diary commitments, an official letter said.
Mrs Finucane said: “The latest delay leads me to the conclusion that this administration will be no different than previous ones, when it comes to honouring its responsibilities concerning British State involvement in the murder of my husband.”
Posted by Jim on
January 31 2020 11:02 AM
The grand secretary of the Orange Order has said there is “a lot of frustration and anger from the community at large” over the New Decade, New Approach deal which brought about the restoration of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions.
Mervyn Gibson made the comments following a meeting of Orange Order members in Co Tyrone on Thursday night.
He said members strongly opposed Irish language legislation and certain legacy provisions contained in the agreement.
The agreement provides official recognition for the Irish language and will also see an Irish language commissioner appointed, as well as an Ulster Scots commissioner.
Sinn Fein described the comments as “unhelpful and contrary to the direction our society needs to travel”.
Mr Gibson said members feel more detail is needed on some aspects of the deal.
“We discussed various aspects of the deal, we reiterated our opposition to the Irish language legislation. We also said there was a lot of ambiguity around it – we indeed repeated our previous statement,” he told the BBC following the meeting.
“There was a lot of frustration and anger expressed from the community at large that has emerged about what happened, particularly the ambiguity.
“Of course nobody is going to condemn or say that it was wrong to give nurses pay parity or extra police officers – there are things in the deal that are good for the whole community – but there are things in the deal that aren’t explained yet or fully understood.
“There are legacy issues there that we would have problems with and we had a frank and open debate around that and we decided unanimously to continue to oppose the Irish language legislation in any way we can.”
The Orange Order chief said once the language is legislated for it can be judicially reviewed – and therefore alter the existing laws. Mr Gibson said that was an option some individuals have already said they would pursue.
He said the organisation fears the Irish language will “continue to be used as a weapon against the unionist community”.
On legacy issues, Mr Gibson said the Orange Order is opposed to the New Decade, New Approach deal’s commitment to bring forward Stormont House Agreement proposals.
“We would want to see, not only further discussions, but changes to that. We think their needs to be time given to that, people need to lobby and consult widely so as there is no difference in treatment for those in this part of the United Kingdom here in Northern Ireland and particularly those who maybe didn’t serve in the Crown Forces,” he said.
Mr Gibson said the Orange Order has had meetings with all the unionist parties to voice their concerns, and will continue to “seek clarity” on parts of the deal.
“All parties listen to what we say, how they act sometimes remains to be seen,” he added.
Stormont House legacy proposals, agreed in 2014, include the creation of an Historical Investigations Unit to examine unsolved murders committed during the Troubles and an Independent Commission on Information Retrieval for families to learn more about the fate of their loved ones.
Sinn Fein MLA John O’Dowd challenged the Orange Order to outline clearly if it sees itself as a cultural or political organisation.
He said the comments “undermine the basis on which the political institutions have been restored”.
“The Orange Order must decide whether its role is cultural or if it is a political organisation and, if so, it should, like the rest of us, submit itself to the electorate.”
Belfast Telegraph
