The Irish Republic Is The Republican Baseline

Posted by Jim on November 1, 2019

Sean Bresnahan asks for clarity from Sinn Fein on its calls for more cooperation from republican activists in pursuit of “uniting Ireland.”

In a recent public entreaty, carried in the letters column of the Irish News, Sinn Féin’s Jim McVeigh appealed for a cooperative effort among Irish Republicans towards what he describes as ‘uniting Ireland’.

But for Republicans to determine whether his approach should be considered there must first be solid details, and admission, as to the parameters of what actually constitutes a United Ireland.

At the baseline, Irish Republicanism seeks the unity of Ireland as a 32-county republic. While such a republic will always be a United Ireland it need not be so the other way around — for a United Ireland, of itself, is a more elastic concept than the more specific construct that would be a 32-county republic.

While a United Ireland could take the form of such a republic it could also be otherwise construed. Without the required specifics, here, concepts as Sinn Féin’s ‘new agreed Ireland’, while on the surface non-contentious and agreeable to all, could actually prove problematic.

Where this to manifest in a political configuration where a forward role for Britain is allowed for, into and under a supposed United Ireland, then this presents obvious issues for Republicans — likewise the possibility that Ireland could be united but under the British Commonwealth.

Republicans, then, require greater detail as to what is actually being set towards, politically, when others speak of political cooperation.

Absent this, particularly given the difficulties of the past — of the use of language to move people in one direction in the belief it was towards another — Republicans will naturally be wary of any initiative lacking such detail from the outset.

It is only in a context where all relevant specifics are on the table — for all to see — that Republicans can make an informed decision as to whether this appeal is to be engaged with.

While we are not averse to cooperating with others and recognise ultimately a need for same, if the Irish Republic is to be advanced, a fundamental concern remains: to where is the initiative spoken of intended in terms of the outcome it sets toward? Is it aimed towards the Irish Republic or instead to a revisionist compromise?

Without this information we would be operating in ignorance, negligent indeed to our duty.

Republicans seek, thus, a public correspondence to resolve this difficulty, which would serve the Republican interest all round. All concerned can through such be informed as to the nature of any venture to be entered into, being likewise able to determine, as they need to, if and whether it serves their requirements.

Last people on earth entitled to elucidate GFA are DUP MPs

Posted by Jim on October 31, 2019

Brian Feeney. Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, October 30, 2019

 The DUP are the authors of their own misfortune and, in the words of Steve Baker, hardline Brexiteer chair of the inappropriately named European Research Group, they’ll just have to ‘choke it down’.
 Slap it into them. Sadly, they dragged the rest of us into the current mess.
Instead of using their leverage in the balance of Westminster arithmetic to try to mitigate the dreadful impact of Brexit on The North, they stupidly (perhaps not surprisingly since we’re talking about DUP MPs) supported the most hardline Brexit which involved leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union.

Simultaneously they argued idiotically they didn’t want a Border in Ireland although leaving the Single Market and Customs Union required one. In order to get round that illogical position Jeffrey Donaldson and Sammy Wilson spent the last three years trying to persuade people in business to believe in magic. Indeed,  they argued that magic technologies existed. No good the EU chief expert Sabine Weyand examining every border in the world but unsurprisingly being unable to find any magic ones.

The latest piece of nonsense that the DUP has been insisting on is that Johnson’s new deal and the Irish Sea border, all together now, ‘drives a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement.’ It does not, because the Irish government and EU would not have allowed it to do so. The DUP, by repeating it ad nauseam to an ignorant Westminster audience, managed to convince some people who should know better that this is true. It emphatically is not true and it’s about time Sinn Féin and the Irish government expose it for the rubbish it is.

First, the last people on earth who are entitled to attempt to elucidate the GFA are the DUP MPs, all of whom opposed it tooth and nail. Secondly, the law is crystal clear. The GFA and the Northern Ireland Act (1998) say a change in the constitutional status of The North to opt for Irish unity requires a simple majority verdict in referendums north and south.

The new Irish protocol in Johnson’s deal does not (unfortunately) alter The North’s constitutional position in the UK and, therefore contrary to the DUP’s claim, does not require consent. Customs, VAT, EU single market regulations, etc. are not functions of the Assembly or Executive; they are reserved or ‘excepted’ matters not subject to cross-community consent or Assembly control.

Furthermore, the UK Supreme Court has found that altering the powers of devolved assemblies or parliaments by Westminster does not require the consent of those devolved bodies. The judgment declared that the so-called ‘Sewel Convention’ requiring Westminster to consult devolved bodies is indeed nothing more than a convention.

 Contrary to what Arlene Foster claimed in her conference speech, the DUP WAS demanding a DUP veto on reserved matters like customs, VAT and Single Market regulations, something neither the EU nor the Irish government could accept; nor indeed could Westminster. As a matter of fact, the only consistent position the DUP has held onto outrageously throughout the past three chaotic years is that they alone should have a veto on anything that befalls The North, even to the extent of denying the notion of consent, cross-community or otherwise, to the majority here who want to remain in the EU, never mind the Single Market.

 Why did they not demand cross-community consent in 2018 for leaving the Customs Union and Single Market? Why demand now, without any legal justification, consent on adhering to the Customs Union and Single Market? Answer: sheer hypocrisy.

 The DUP has been content to ignore the wishes of the majority of people here because of the hubris of the power they held over the wretched Theresa May, but now the boot is on the other foot they whine about a false legal fiction as preposterous as their magic frontiers which Johnson and the EU immediately laughed out of court. Consent, mar dhea [Yeah, right!]END

Official Communication from the UFA

Posted by Jim on

Active Firefighter

Matthew McDevitt Ladder Company 135

WAKE

Friday, November 1, 2019 4:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Our Lady of Grace Church

100-05 159th AvenueHoward Beach, NY 11414

FUNERAL

Saturday, November 2, 2019 10:00 AM

Our Lady of Grace Church

100-05 159th Avenue Howard Beach, NY 11414

All Off-Duty Members should attend in Class A Uniform.

Official Communication from the UFA

Posted by Jim on

FDNY VFW POST 12033 MILITARY MEMORIAL DEDICATION

On behalf of the FDNY VFW Post 12033, all active and retired members are cordially invited to attend a Military Memorial Dedication to honor the sacrifices of Lt Christopher Raguso, FM Christopher Zanetis and FF Christopher Slutman. Also, SSgt Dashan Briggs, 101st Rescue Squadron NY ANG will be Posthumously Sworn in as an Honorary Firefighter of the FDNY.

The Ceremony will take place on November 9, 2019 at 1100 at the Fire Training Academy Auditorium, Randall’s Island.

All FDNY/Military members are requested to attend in Class A uniform, Civilian dress is business casual.

Official Communication from the UFA

Posted by Jim on October 30, 2019