Posted by Jim on December 28, 2018
MEMORIAL MASS
On Thursday, January 3, 2019, at 1230 hours, E-249/L-113 will host a memorial mass commemorating the
11th anniversary of Lieutenant John H. Martinson, E-249, who made the supreme sacrifice on January 3, 2008. The mass will be held at St. Clare’s Church, 110 Nelson Avenue, Staten Island, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
UFA RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR SPECIAL TICKET OFFER
Madison Square Garden is pleased to provide the UFA with discounted tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for selected show dates. There is one show remaining in this offer – Sunday, December 30 at 5:00 PM. $10 from each ticket purchased through the link https://www.fevo.com/discovery/UFA-Radio-City-Christmas-Spectacular-Special-Ticket-Offers-ZH8Ojwz3 will go towards the UFA Widows and Children’s Fund. For any questions, or for groups of 9 or more, please contact Evan Doyle at 212-465-3915 or evan.doyle@msg.com.
FDNY FIRE FAMILY TRANSPORT FOUNDATION 4th BI-ANNUAL DINNER EVENT
Come out to support a great cause on Friday, February 22, 2019, at the FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation’s 4th Bi-Annual Dinner Event at Russo’s on the Bay (162-45 Cross Bay Blvd., Howard Beach, NY 11414). Cocktail Hour begins at 7:00 PM with dinner to follow. Tickets are $125 per person – a tax-deductible contribution. Seating is limited to first 700 tickets sold. First come, first seated. 14 people per table, partial tables available as well. To purchase dinner tickets and 50/50 presale tickets, contact Retired Lt. Mike Moog, E280, at 646-641-1981, FF Pat Nash, L147, at 718-614-4262, or Retired FF Bob Fraumeni, L147, at 347-992-3739. New for 2019, payments can now be made electronically through Chase Quick Pay to donate@firefamilytransport.org. For journal ads and pricing info, contact Lt. Tim Mattison, D11, at 917-826-7158 or fftjournalads@gmail.com. For further info on the event or the Foundation, visit www.firefamilytransport.org.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION
On Thursday, January 24, 2019, from 1200 to 1400 hours, a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy will be held in the Auditorium at 9 Metrotech hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. This will be the first event of our 10-Talks series. The event will feature TED-style talks about Dr. King’s six principles of nonviolence. All are welcome to attend. Come celebrate with your fellow employees and enjoy great food. To RSVP, please email diversity.inclusion@fdny.nyc.gov by Friday, January 4, 2018.
Posted by Jim on
By Mark Thompson (Relatives for Justice)
Resilient is too inadequate a word to describe Sinead and Michael
Monaghan. Both have suffered immeasurably during the conflict. Sinead’s
father, Sean McParland, was gunned down in front of their children, his
grandchildren, while minding them. Michael had been the intended target.
The killers, Gary Haggarty and Mark Haddock, were assisted and protected
by the RUC. They were RUC special branch agents. The driver of the
getaway vehicle Terry Fairfield was also an RUC agent.
Michael’s siblings were targeted too and his brother Bobby was also
murdered by the same North Belfast based Mount Vernon UVF gang that
killed Sean.
Nuala O’Loan’s ground breaking report Operation Ballast detailed the
litany of murders, attempted murders, bombings, shootings, drug-dealing,
rackets and associated criminality these and other state agents within
that gang were involved in. It also detailed how tens of thousands of
pounds were paid to these killers from the public purse by their RUC
special branch handlers.
This morning Michael and Sinead sat in Belfast High Court as part of a
landmark civil action their lawyers, KRW Law, initiated some years back
on behalf of victims.
After endless campaigning, battling, the sham trial of Haggarty and
failure to hold to account his special branch handlers, and not without
an incalculable toll of trauma and associated illness, they remain
resolute in their efforts to have the truth revealed about the full
extent of collusion.
Standing on the steps of the high court Michael Monaghan said:
“Giving up is not an option for us. We’ve buried our loved ones. We
won’t let the truth be buried with them. We owe it to our families and
to our children who witnessed their grandfather being killed.”
They were in the High Court as part of their civil case against the
authorities.
Previously Justice Stephens demanded – ordered – the PSNI to handover
key documents related to Michael’s legal action yet the PSNI resisted
and clung on refusing. So much was the resistance by the PSNI to cling
to the darkest secrets of the RUC’s dirty war, that the matter was
heading towards an inevitable ‘secret closed hearing’ – something the
courts here wanted to avoid given the very negative connotations
associated.
Disclosures of the files were, as the court put it at the time, relevant
to arriving at a quantum for damages and thus an assessment of the full
extent of collusion was essential. The court wanted to see firsthand
what really went on. The PSNI fought tooth and nail!
Instead, a ‘gist’ was prepared from the material the PSNI refused to
handover.
The gist was provided in the related case of John Flynn also targeted by
this notorious gang – a lead applicant as part of the wider legal
strategy applied by KRW Law’s foremost figures Kevin Winters and Niall
Murphy.
In response to the BBC’s Vincent Kearney asking why the PSNI were
vigorously resisting a court order to hand over files the PSNI’s ACC
Mark Hamilton said: “We just thought that if we paid out money the
matter would simply go away.”
This was an extraordinary comment by the police chief who was put out
front on legacy. Whilst Mark Hamilton’s answer was, from his
perspective, honest, the reality was that another more senior police
chief, then PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris, was in the actual
driving seat.
The only logical conclusion is that the PSNI/MI5 objective is to conceal
material relevant to a series of murders and attempted murders which if
revealed would show the extent of collusion beyond that which is already
known. It is believed this too could well implicate former RUC special
branch agent-handlers. Noting that the Public Prosecution Service (PPS)
determined not to prosecute the handlers of the killers this might well
be material evidence relevant to a review of that decision. A review of
existing material, again instrumental by the actions of Michael and
Sinead challenging that initial decision not to prosecute, is now
underway by the PPS.
And what of – where is – the so-called new beginning to policing I hear
you ask?
Well, the wider cost of this constant shielding of special branch
wrongdoing casts a long, dark shadow over current policing when it comes
to legacy. A cost it appears that has no ceiling for the PSNI who are
prepared to pay time and time again in terms of trust and public
confidence rather than to hold to account former agent handlers who
facilitated and covered up multiple murders. It mirrors the psychology
of the most extreme Brexiteers.
And so as the battle for Michael and Sinead continues on with this civil
case and a review by the PPS it is hoped that 2019 might yield results
as the momentum of their long campaign pushes ever forward.
It’s the determination of people like Michael and Sinead Monaghan that
will inevitably bring and create change in this society despite the best
efforts of institutions and leading figures who seek to stand in their
way.
NB. Attending the court hearing this morning were Sinead & Michael,
Niall Murphy KRW Law and Eoin Murphy of Padraig O’Mhuirigh & Co
Solicitors on behalf of the Brady family, that also forms part of the
overall case. RFJ’s Mark Thompson was also in attendance. The next
hearing is scheduled for January 24th 2019.
Posted by Jim on December 24, 2018
VIGIANO BROTHERS BRAVEST & FINEST SKI EVENT
The Vigiano Brothers Foundation annual Ski Trip is January 6-10, 2019. Funds raised will be donated in Joe and John Vigiano’s memory to benefit the UFA Scholarship Fund and PBA Children’s Fund. To make reservations, contact Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont at 888-478-6938 and reference “2019 Vigiano Ski Event.” Rooms are $150 per person per night, $42.75 for every additional person over minimum occupancy. For more info or questions, call the Vigiano Foundation at 516-900-2057.
PUTNAM COUNTY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY BLOOD DRIVE
Please give a life-sustaining gift. Donate a pint of blood so others might have a chance. Unfortunately, because of the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday, the blood supply is very low and the demand is high. Please come join Putnam County members at the Daniel O’Brien VFW Hall, 32 Gleneida Ave, (Rt.52) Carmel, on Friday, December 28, from 2:00 – 8:00 pm. For information, please call Paul DeLeo at 347-408-6052, or Denis Hanrahan at 845-225-3048.
20 YEAR PROBIE REUNION
A 20 Year Probie Reunion for the February 16, 1999 class will be held on February 21, 2019, from 7:00-10:00 PM, at The Mason Jar, 43 E 30th Street, New York, NY. $80 cash at the door includes open bar and appetizer. For more information, please contact Eric Bischoff at ebischoff@ufanyc.org. Please RSVP and send old photos to nfeatherstone@ufanyc.org.
ANNUAL CITY HARVEST CANNED FOOD DRIVE
The Fire Department is proud to once again participate in the Annual City Harvest Canned Food Campaign. This is the Department’s 36th year supporting this very worthwhile food drive. The drive is currently running and will continue until January 19, 2019. Last year, New Yorkers donated over one million pounds of food to help feed the homeless, the elderly and the working poor. All Firehouses and EMS Stations have been designated as collection points for the public who wish to donate canned food. City Harvest will pick up all types of canned, dry packaged food. City Harvest does not accept food packaged in glass or perishable food, i.e., meat, fruit, dairy.