DUP LOOKS TO LONDON

Posted by Jim on March 10, 2018

Sinn Fein has warned that the DUP has “checked out” of any attempt to
restore the powersharing institutions in Belfast as the Tory government
in London introduced an effective Direct Rule budget for the North of
Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has signalled that the day-to-day
administration of the north of Ireland should remain in the hands of the
London government for the foreseeable future.

As the budget was being published, she told the British Chambers of
Commerce annual conference in London on Thursday that she saw “little
prospect” of a Stormont executive being formed “in the coming weeks or
months”.

The former First Minister in the Six Counties claimed her party wanted
devolution but that it was “having decisions made through Westminster”,
where it currently has a pact with the minority Tory government.

Her remarks came after former DUP Stormont minister Simon Hamilton
admitted on Wednesday that devolved government would not be reinstated
“this year and perhaps even beyond”.

Mr Hamilton claimed media reports suggesting that a draft talks deal had
been done to restore devolution, and that DUP leader Arlene Foster
handed over a hard copy to Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, were the result
of “mischief making” and “selective leaking” by republicans.

Mr Hamilton claimed factors preventing a restoration of devolution
included Sinn Fein “intransigence” and the party’s continued
“eulogising” of the IRA.

“Their behaviour in recent days and their behaviour in recent weeks
suggest to me that they are not serious about getting devolution back,”
he said.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson denied that published details of extensive exchanges
between the parties last month were true.

“Sinn Fein, when it has suited them in the past, have lied about
everything and what irks us is the credibility which is given to the
lies they tell, rather than the explanations that we give,” he said in
media interviews. He said there would be further talks between Sinn Fein
and the DUP, insisting “Sinn Fein are not fit to be in government”.

The remarks showed the DUP had “checked out of the power-sharing
institutions or any renewed effort to restore them”, said Sinn Fein
negotiator Conor Murphy.

“This follows their decision to renege on the draft agreement and to
crash the talks process in the face of opposition from their own most
right-wing, anti-agreement elements,” he said.

“But our public services and the rights of citizens cannot be held to
ransom by the DUP’s refusal to close on an agreement which they
negotiated over 14 months.”

Mr Murphy called on the Dublin and London governments to convene the
British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference “to implement previous
agreements”, including a commitment to an Irish language act and the
release of funds for legacy inquests.

Meanwhile, the DUP expressed delight that almost half of their promised
#1bn funding package as part of their deal to prop up the Tories was
included in the Six County budget, announced in a written statement by
the British Direct Ruler, Karen Bradley.

Former Sinn Fein finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir denied the budget
amounted to the return of full Direct Rule. He said it was part of the
British government’s “austerity agenda”, and noted there was no money
for legacy inquests.

SDLP finance spokeswoman Claire Hanna insisted Bradley’s spending plan
as a “direct rule budget from London directed by the DUP”.

“This budget presents more questions than answers – primarily, how can
it be acceptable that the DUP confidence and supply is allocated to
departments without any political accountability?” she said.

Ms Hanna said the relationship between the Conservatives and the DUP was
not a solution. “It undermines the very fabric of our politics and the
spirit of power sharing that underpins it,” she said.

Eamon de Valera

Posted by Jim on March 9, 2018

Left to right: Harry Boland, Michael Collins, and Eamon de Valera

AOINE — On March 9, 1932 Eamon de Valera formed his first Free State government. Eamon was born on October 14, 1882 in New York City, of an Irish mother from Country Limberic and a Spanish father. When his father died in 1885 his mother sent Eamon back to Bruree, County Limerick to be raised as an Irishman from the age of three by his grandmother, Elizabeth Coll.

Following his graduation from college he taught mathematics at several different colleges. His political activism began through an interest in the Irish language which cause him to join the Gaelic League in 1908, where he also met his future wife, Sinèad Flanagan. De Valera joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and rose to become commandant of the 3rd Battalion and adjutant of the Dublin Brigade as well as becoming a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret organization that controlled the Irish Volunteers. During the Easter Rising in 1916 he commanded the 3rd Battalion at Boland’s Mills and was the last commander in the city to surrender. Though he was sentenced to death, his US birth probably saved his life, as his sentence was commuted to life in prison.

When he was released under a general amnesty in June 1917 he was elected as the Sinn Fein candidate for MP from East Clare, a post he would hold until 1959. De Valera became president of Sinn Fein in October and led Sinn Fein to a huge victory in the 1918 elections. He was arrested by the British as part of their bogus “German Plot” in May 1918 and was in prison when Sinn Fein MPs meet in Dublin and declared themselves an Irish parliament, known as Dàil Éireann. De Valera was broken out of prison by Harry Boland and Michael Collins in February 1919

A trip to the US following his escape designed to help raise funds for the Irish cause from the Irish American community did not go well, as his relations with several US leaders was strained, but money did flow from the US for the Irish cause in spite of his problems. Following the truce that ended the Irish War of Independence in 1921 de Valera made a controversial decision not to be on the committee negotiating the Anglo-Irish Treaty. His opposition to that treaty led to the tragic Irish Civil War.

Following the defeat of the anti-treaty forces in the Civil War de Valera founded a new party, Fianna Fáil (The Warriors of Destiny), in March 1926. It would become the dominant Irish Party of the 20th century. In 1932 the party won a majority in the Dáil and formed a government with the Labour Party, putting de Valera in charge. He immediately began a campaign to remove all visible and eventually all actual connections to Great Britain and would continue that process as his party held power through the next 16 years. He would keep Ireland neutral during WWII, and controversially offer condolences to the German Ambassador following Hitler’s suicide in 1945.

The process of totally ending Ireland’s connections to Great Britain would culminate on April 18, 1949 when Ireland was declared a republic, though not by de Valera, but his successor Taoiseach John Costello after de Valera was voted out of power in 1947. De Valera would be voted back into power in 1951, out in 1954 and in again in 1957 and then would be elected President of Ireland in 1959. He would hold the post until 1973, when he retired. He would pass away on August 29, 1975.

Eamon de Valera was a controversial figure in Irish history, but whether for good or ill, there is no question that he was the towering figure of 20th century Ireland.

Official Communication from the UFA

Posted by Jim on

 March 9^th 

EU freezes Brexit talks until Britain produces ‘realistic’ Irish border solution

Posted by Jim on

EU freezes Brexit talks until Britain produces ‘realistic’ Irish border solution

Donald Tusk says negotiations on other issues will not progress until the Ireland question has been dealt with….“If in London someone assumes that the negotiations will deal with other issues first before the Irish issue, my response would be: Ireland first.”
Jon Stone. Independent. England. Friday, March 9, 2018

The EU has thrown down an ultimatum to Theresa May in Brexit talks, warning that it will not open discussions about trade or other issues until the Irish border question is solved.

Speaking in Dublin alongside the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, European Council President Donald Tusk said talks would be a case of “Ireland first” and that “the risk of destabilising the fragile peace process must be avoided at all costs”.

“We know today that the UK Government rejects a customs and regulatory border down the Irish Sea, the EU single market, and the customs union,” the Mr Tusk said.

“While we must respect this position, we also expect the UK to propose a specific and realistic solution to avoid a hard border.

“As long as the UK doesn’t present such a solution, it is very difficult to imagine substantive progress in Brexit negotiations.

“If in London someone assumes that the negotiations will deal with other issues first before the Irish issue, my response would be: Ireland first.”

British negotiators have long been keen to move to discussions about trade and had hoped to do so after the March meeting of the European Council in two weeks, but Mr Tusk’s latest ultimatum suggests further delays could be in store. The EU says a withdrawal agreement must be negotiated by October to give it time to ratify the deal before the UK falls out of the bloc in March 2019.

Mr Tusk recalled that the Good Friday Agreement, whose 20th anniversary is next month, had been “ratified by huge majorities north and south of the border”.

McCord on Court ruling that Foster’s decision was unlawful

Posted by Jim on March 8, 2018

McCord on Court ruling that Foster’s decision was unlawful