Posted by Jim on March 3, 2018
EU trade plan ‘could end the United Kingdom’ – May
The British Prime Minister has claimed an EU proposal for a ‘common
regulatory area’ between the EU and the North of Ireland would “threaten
the constitutional integrity of the UK”.
Released in Brussels on Wednesday by the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator
Michel Barnier, the text puts into legal terms a joint report agreed by
Britain with the EU in December. It effectively codifies a proposal for
the North of Ireland to have special status with the EU as the default
measure to ensure that no ‘hard border’ across Ireland will result from
the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
On the crucial issue of the Irish border, the draft text spells out in
detail how the principle of “regulatory alignment” agreed in December
would be implemented if Britain fails to find technological or
diplomatic solutions to keeping the border open.
The EU text states that if no technological or diplomatic solutions are
found to keeping the border open, the fallback framework is that “the
territory of Northern Ireland, excluding the territorial waters of the
United Kingdom … shall be considered to be part of the customs
territory of the Union”.
It suggests that EU and British customs authorities should jointly
oversee movements between Ireland and Britain, while Europe would remain
involved in aspects of taxation and state aid in both parts of Ireland.
However, there was a strong reaction in London.
“No UK prime minster could ever agree to it,” Mrs May told MPs.
Answering questions in parliament shortly after the publication of the
text, she said: “The draft legal text the Commission have published
would, if implemented, undermine the UK common market and threaten the
constitutional integrity of the UK by creating a customs and regulatory
border down the Irish Sea.”
There was also a sharp reaction from unionists.
The proposals sparked anger from the DUP, with leader Arlene Foster
calling it “constitutionally unacceptable.” She said the North of
Ireland must have “unfettered access” to the British market.
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds claimed the EU was using the peace process
as an excuse to “thwart” Britain’s departure from the European Union.
Despite the majority vote two years ago by the people of the North of
Ireland to remain within the European Union, North Antrim MP Ian Paisley
hit out at what he saw as EU efforts to “annex” the area, while the
Ulster Unionist Party ironically claimed there was an attempt to
override the principle of consent of the Good Friday Agreement.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald condemned the reaction from the
British government and the DUP to the EU legal text.
Speaking in the Dail, she said: “The Tory-DUP axis is satisfied to treat
the welfare of the people of this island as collateral damage so long as
they achieve their ‘little Englander’ vision for Brexit.
“The position of the Tory-DUP Brexiteers is that they will have their
Brexit at any cost. Except it won’t be them who foots the bill. It will
be the ordinary people of this island both north and south.
“That can’t be allowed to happen. The Tory-DUP wrecking agenda cannot
prevail.”
In a high-profile speech at London’s Mansion House on Friday, the
British prime minister subseuqently set out five “foundations” for
Britain’s negotiators, but provided scant details on the issue of the
border.
She said she believed that the border should be “as frictionless as
possible” through a “customs arrangement” and by ensuring that British
regulatory standards “remain at least as high” as those of the EU.
She also hinted at proposals to reduce delays at border crossings by
recognising “trusted traders” and by “drawing on the most advanced IT
solutions so that vehicles do not need to stop at the border”.
Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carthy said May’s response was “riddled with
contradictions” and failed to deal with the problems Brexit presents to
Ireland.
“Theresa May has failed to deal with the fact that dragging the North of
Ireland out of the European Union, against the wishes of its
inhabitants, is undemocratic.
“She has failed also to deal with the fact that the North leaving the
customs union is incompatible with avoiding a hard border in Ireland.
“Theresa May and her government are still steering a course which
undermines the Good Friday Agreement and is injurious to the political,
economic and social interests of the people of Ireland, North and
South.”
He said the only workable and democratic solution was for the North of
Ireland to be granted Special Designated Status within the European
Union and the Customs Union.
“The rights of all the people of Ireland to European citizenship must be
upheld,” he said. “The EU and the Irish Government must now stand firm
in the face of British obduracy and defend the interests of Ireland and
the Irish people.”
Posted by Jim on March 2, 2018
Almost 24,000 homes and businesses across Ireland are without power amid
one of the worst winter storms the country has experienced for decades.
Much of the country heeded warnings to stay indoors amid extreme weather
conditions overnight.
Sub-zero temperatures led to extremely dangerous road conditions and
virtually all public transport was cancelled, with flights at Dublin
Airport suspended until Saturday. All Dublin Bus, Luas and Irish Rail
services are suspended.
Dublin fire brigade reported trees being down, a roof collapse and poor
conditions on the roads, with their own vehicles struggling to get
through the snow drifts.
A Status Red alert will remain in place in Leinster, Munster and Galway
until 6pm today. However, a public safety notice for people around the
country to stay indoors has been withdrawn this morning.
“As expected [the storm] moved up across country and brought and is
continue to bring strong easterly winds,” Gerry Murphy of Met Eireann
told RTE radio.
“As well as that as it met the cold air it brought snow up over parts of
Leinster and Ulster.”
Cold air from the east clashed with warmer collided with strong winds
from the south east to produce snow of up to 60cm in depth, although a
meter of snow could yet fall on the country, according to forecasts.
“There will be continuation of that snowfall as we go through the day.
Leinster and Munster will continue get the bulk of that snow,” Mr Murphy
said. “The winds will continue quite strong along the coast”.
A number of people became stuck in their cars overnight when blizzards
hit making roads impassable and visibility was reduced to zero. People
remained stuck in their vehicles across Dublin.
“It seems some people may have left the city late in the day yesterday,
and judged local conditions in town as being manageable, but as they got
out of the city to where conditions were worse they got stuck,” said a
garda spokesman.
Last night a total of 115 homeless people were allocated beds in the
Extreme Cold Weather Accommodation in the sports centre in Dublin’s
South Inner City according to the Peter McVerry Trust.
Some 21 people were found to be sleeping rough despite the extreme
conditions. The team managed to persuade six to use the emergency
shelter.
Posted by Jim on March 1, 2018
February 28th
PLAQUE DEDICATION
On Monday, March 12, 2018 at 1100 hours, a Plaque Dedication will be held honoring the memory of Lt Steven Sorger, E-6, who died on March 11, 2017. The dedication will take place in the quarters of E-6, located at 49 Beekman Street, New York, NY. All off-duty members and their families are invited to attend. Members are requested to attend in dress uniform.
NEVER FORGET FOUNDATION 9/11 MEMORIAL
Gene Lynch, President of the Never Forget Foundation, former member 38/51/D7, announces the unveiling and blessing of the 9/11 Memorial on Saturday, April 7, 2018. The memorial consists of a 3’ black granite stone with World Trade Center steel on top. The black granite is engraved with FDNY, NYPD, PAPD, airlines and civilian casualties numbers. The Twin Towers are also etched into the stone. Coffee will be served at 9am followed by a ceremony and blessing at 11am. The ceremony will take place at the Redwood Club, 2680 Schurz Ave., Bronx, NY 10465. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
RAY PFEIFER FOUNDATION
The Ray Pfeifer Foundation, a 501c3 charitable organization, is dedicated to assisting September 11th first responders, firefighters and police with medical needs not covered by insurance. Many people do not realize the attacks of 9/11 are still affecting the first responders who spent months digging through debris to find the victims in hopes of giving families closure. According to the FDNY WTC Health Program, there are over 2,000 active and retired firefighters currently battling 9/11 cancers, and thousands have been diagnosed with other illnesses. With the imminent threat of mesothelioma diagnoses, a cancer which takes roughly 20 years to develop, the number of people who will need help will only continue to grow. While Zadroga covers much of their health care needs, there are gaps, as with any insurance. The RPF aims to fill those gaps for our heroes who have sacrificed so much. They purchase motorized scooters, lift systems to get out of bed, provide daily home health care aides when insurance has limits, and so much more. They are raising funds by participating in shows and events, through the support of other foundations, and by hosting their own RPF events.
Posted by Jim on
New York’s Great Hunger Memorial Battery Park
New York’s Irish Hunger Memorial is open again after renovations!
The $5.3 million renovations and waterproofing of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park in Manhattan is finally completed and the memorial is now ready for visitors. The Great Hunger Memorial depicts a ruined cottage in a rural Mayo setting smack in the middle of downtown Manhattan.
The project restored the monument to its former magnificence, while rendering it significantly less susceptible to damage from weather for years to come. It has been closed for close to two years. It opened briefly last year but other problems arose.
According to the Tribeca Trib newspaper, the renovation process was especially difficult because the landscaping, reproduced from Ireland, had to be re-assembled just as it was.
All of the stones on the memorial, which sits on a half-acre at Vesey Street and North End Avenue, “had to be removed, taken down and catalogued, and soil was removed and in some cases brought back,” Gwen Dawson of the Battery Park City Authority said.
“All of those stones got put back in the right place. Our contractor has done a spectacular job.”
The memorial, according to its official description, “represents a rural Irish landscape with an abandoned stone cottage, stone walls, fallow potato fields and the flora on the north Connacht wetlands. It is both a metaphor for the Great Irish Famine and a reminder that hunger today is often the result of lack of access to land.”
The restoration project at the 15-year old memorial located in Battery Park City, overlooking the Hudson River, commenced after the site was closed waterproofing and drainage issues — some of which were related to Hurricane Sandy in 2012 — which caused significant decay to the tourist attraction.
The Memorial, designed by internationally renowned sculptor and public artist Brian Tolle, originally opened in 2002. It is a contemplative space devoted to honor the Great Irish Hunger and Migration of 1845-1852, while encouraging viewers to contemplate present-day hunger worldwide. Over the years, it had succumbed to water infiltration from above and subsequent water damage
The half-acre site on the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue, in the Battery Park City section of downtown Manhattan, overlooks the Hudson River. Visitors to the 96′ x 170′ Memorial wind through a rural Irish landscape, with paths carved into a hill thickly lined with native Irish plants and stones imported from each of Ireland’s 32 counties.
The paths lead to a breathtaking viewing point 25 feet above street level, which boasts views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Located centrally along the pathways is an authentic Irish Famine-era stone cottage that was donated to the Memorial by Tolle’s extended family, the Slacks of Attymass, County Mayo. It was disassembled and brought over from Ireland and reconstructed on-site, within the green “hillside” of the Memorial.
“The Irish Hunger Memorial was first dedicated over 15 years ago; it has now re-opened to stand for coming generations as a place of reflection and remembrance. And just as America has long welcomed immigrants from Ireland and beyond, we’re pleased to once again welcome Battery Park City visitors to experience this poignant tribute to the unbreakable human spirit,” said a statement from the Battery Park City Authority.
The cottage, pathways, and plant-filled meadows are cantilevered over a layered base of glass and polished fossil-bed limestone from County Kilkenny, Ireland. Shadowy text that relates to both the Famine and reports of contemporary hunger form upon the frosted glass panels, wrapping around the exterior of the Memorial and into the passageway leading to the cottage.
This project held vital significance for CTA. According to principal Daniel J. Allen, AIA, “Many of us on the project have strong ties to Ireland, making this much more than basic renovation work to us. We were painstaking in our repairs in order to keep the artist’s vision intact.” Similarly, CTA’s project manager for the Memorial, Frank Scanlon, AIA, grew up in County Roscommon and in County Mayo. “We were thrilled to be able to provide a solution to keep the Memorial open year-round for years to come,” he said.
The project team also included The LiRoconstruction group, landscape consultant and architect SiteWorks; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (M/E/P) engineer Collado Engineering, P.C.; and structural engineer GACE Consulting Engineers.
Soon after the Memorial was first opened to the public, Battery Park authorities noticed cracking and a leak from the cantilevered slab where the monument’s landscaping and cottage were located. Despite a temporary fix the problem continued but it has now been completely dealt with.
The New York Times raved about the memorial when it opened in 2002. Critic Roberta Smith said it struck a “deep emotional chord” and expanded “the understanding of what a public memorial can be.”
The memorial’s cultural liaison was Adrian Flannelly, the long-time Irish radio show host. Flannelly was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the memorial, which is open every day from 11 am until 6:30 pm and is free of charge.
Posted by Jim on February 28, 2018
Stormont on hold as EU draft includes North in trade zone
The European Union has published its fallback plan to effectively keep
the north of Ireland in the single market and customs union after
Brexit, in a 120-page draft withdrawal agreement.
The Six Counties would be considered part of the EU’s customs territory
after Brexit, with checks required on goods coming in from Britain,
under the text produced by the European Commission.
Other trade legislation will also apply to ensure the North stays
aligned with the 26 Counties and the rest of the EU.
“A common regulatory area comprising the Union and the United Kingdom in
respect of Northern Ireland is hereby established,” the draft says. “The
common regulatory area shall constitute an area without internal borders
in which the free movement of goods is ensured and North-South
cooperation protected.”
At a press conference in Brussels, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator
Michel Barnier said nothing in the text should be a surprise given what
was agreed between in December between the EU and the British
government.
The draft text gives legal effect to the pre-Christmas deal on the
issues of citizens’ rights post Brexit, the financial settlement between
the EU and UK, and issues specific to the island of Ireland.
It has been agreed among the remaining 27 EU members but is still
subject to negotiation with London The DUP, which supports Ms May in a
confidence and supply agreement in Westminster, has already objected to
the contents of the text.
There is no mention in the paper of Britain’s promise in the initial
negotiations in December to maintain regulatory harmony between the
north of Ireland and the island of Britain. Brussels regards that as a
domestic deal brokered by the London government with the DUP.
Mr Barnier said discussions on other options — including British ideas
for a ‘frictionless’ border or an overall trade deal — could continue
in parallel.
“My attitude is and always will be: key calm and be pragmatic,” he said,
adding that he would meet Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein and Arlene
Foster of the DUP next week.
He insisted “daily life around the border should continue as before…
we stand by our commitment to discuss all three options.”
Welcoming the text, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon
Coveney, said the protocol gives legal effect to the firm commitments
made in December, but added it is “very much a default and would only
apply should it prove necessary”.
He said: “We have always been clear that our preference is to avoid a
hard border through a wider future relationship agreement between the EU
and the UK, a view we share with the British government.”
A new ‘hard border’ across Ireland would likely involve the return of
militarised customs posts and/or border patrols and could fuel demands
for a united Ireland.
JOHNSON’S BORDER
Earlier this week, a letter from British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
was leaked in which he indicated the British government was still
considering such a border, despite its repeated denials.
Johnson claimed that if there was a hard border, 95% of traffic would
still pass unchecked. But in a subsequent radio interview, Johnson
bizarrely compared such a border with the introduction of the traffic
congestion charge in London, for which vehicle details are recorded by
camera.
Following the letter’s emergence, the British Labour Party called for Mr
Johnson to be dismissed “before he can do any more damage”. “This man’s
ego, and his ‘Brexit at any cost’ strategy cannot be allowed to
jeopardise peace,” said Labour’s spokesperson on the North of Ireland,
Owen Smith.
The British government distanced itself from Johnson’s statement and
denied it was still making plans for a hard border.
In a related development, the Dublin and London governments have asked
the parties in the North to put the Stormont talks on hold while
intensive discussions on Brexit take place.
Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the Brexit negotiations were
going to enter a very intense phase over the next couple of weeks. He
told parliament that the two governments “have asked the parties to
pause for reflection. We think that is advisable at this stage.”
‘WRECKING AGENDA’
Speaking following the publication of the EU’s draft Brexit withdrawal
treaty today, Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald TD has said “the
Tory-DUP wrecking agenda cannot prevail”.
She welcomed the recognition, contained within the EU draft agreement,
of the need for special arrangements for the North, including remaining
within the Customs Union.
Speaking at Leaders’ Questions in the Dublin parliament, Ms McDonald
said the British government and the ‘Brexiteers’ had “zero regard” for
the impact on Ireland.
“No concern for our economy. No concern for the rights of our people. No
concern for the peace process,” she said.
“Now, they want to conclude their debate, and make their exit, by
putting the Good Friday Agreement through the shredder.
“The Tory-DUP axis is satisfied to treat the welfare of the people of
this island as collateral damage so long as they achieve their ‘little
Englander’ vision for Brexit.
“Their arrogance is best highlighted by their rejection of vote of the
people of the North to remain in European Union and most recently
crystallised by Boris Johnson’s juvenile and dangerous commentary.
“The DUP has hitched itself to the Tory wagon. They have put narrow
political interests ahead of the good of the people of the North from
all communities, ahead of our economic well-being and a head of the
political process.
“The position of the Tory-DUP Brexiteers is that they will have their
Brexit at any cost. Except it won’t be them who foots the bill. It will
be the ordinary people of this island both north and south.
“That can’t be allowed to happen. The Tory-DUP wrecking agenda cannot
prevail.
“Taoiseach, it is your job and that of government to ensure that this
doesn’t happen. There is no doubt that the British government will
attempt to undermine the text of this agreement in the time ahead.
“In the context of the DUP’s collapsing of the talks in the North, I
asked you to convene the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
This development clearly adds weight to the need for that to happen.”
