Posted by Jim on July 24, 2016
By JC Sullivan
Atlantic City — The AOH, men and ladies, kicked off the 2016 National Convention at Harrah’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
It was originally scheduled for the Taj Mahal Resort, but it was later discovered to be cash-strapped and about to face major labor trouble.
Hence the change of venue.
Outgoing AOH National President, Brendan Moore, opened proceedings by outlining convention procedures.
He reminded the assembly that national officer reports could be found in the packet they received when they registered, a smart move that allowed everyone to focus on matters on hand rather having to listen to these reports being read aloud.
Only the top four officers would read their reports.
President Moore also advised that the physical move of the National Secretary Office from Auburn, New York, to West Caldwell, New Jersey had been accomplished.
Tom McNabb, National Board Secretary for over thirty years, was repeatedly honored by voice for his thirty-plus years of service to the order.
Moore said: “I have counted on, sought and received encouragement and support, not only from our national officers and state presidents, but from many of you as well.
“Clearly I have been blessed in that you have been kind and generous in offering me your valuable ideas and advice. Please continue to be as helpful in assisting our new officers as they seek to serve us all.”
Judge James F. McKay from New Orleans, who was unopposed in standing for the national presidency, will now lead the order through the next two years.
As vice president, McKay coordinated the national day for Hibernian America to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising Centenary that culminated in Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
In his 2016 -2018 term of office, among other matters, President McKay will focus on addressing membership, new divisions and the economic stability of the order.
Supporting National President McKay will be Ohio’s Daniel O’Connell.
As the newly-elected National Vice President, O’Connell has been instrumental in moving the order into the 21st century with innovations such as improved communications via e-mail service, electronic checking, investment policy, real time accounting, and many other areas.
J.J. Kelly, chairman of the Veterans Committee, advised delegates that funds were being sought to improve the Medal of Honor Grove at Valley Forge, which is reportedly in deplorable condition.
The AOH maintains an obelisk there.
Coincidentally, Major General Patrick H. Brady, USA (Ret.), from San Antonio, Texas, was present to receive the order’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Gold Medallion.
A faithful and spiritually-centered man, General Brady is active in the Medal of Honor Society’s character building program wherein MOH recipients personally address the nation’s youth.
He is the former president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and author of “Dead Men Flying,” which chronicles his experiences with the origin and execution of Aero Medical evacuation in Vietnam.
Called “Dust Off,” it was the greatest battlefield lifesaver in history.
Accompanying General Brady to Atlantic City was his wife Nancy. They are parents of six children.
One of the order’s important offices is that of National Webmaster.
Jeff Nisler continues to streamline matters by striving to make aoh.com impervious to hackers and robo-attacks.
He has worked with others to develop on-line registration for the convention.
The Ladies AOH elected Illinois’ Patricia O’Connell as their National Board President.
Ohio’s Carol Sheyer was elected Vice President; Karen Keane, New York, Secretary, and Cleveland’s Marilyn Madigan, Treasurer.
Others elected were Dee Wallace, Irish Historian; Mary Ann Lubinsky, Missions and Charities and Colleen Bowers, Catholic Action.
As previously reported, New York’s Agnes O’Leary was the recipient of the 2016 St. Brigid of Ireland Humanitarian Award in recognition of her generous and extraordinary humanitarian works within the order and her local community.
Guest speaker, Irish Ambassador to the U.S. Anne Anderson, discussed the economic situation in Ireland while highlighting a most important figure, that being the steadily dropping unemployment rate, which is currently under nine percent.
“At the same time, we have absolutely no basis for complacency. The election results in February showed how bruised many people feel by the austerity of recent years.
“Serious questions are being asked: How fairly was the burden of sacrifice distributed and how evenly is the recovery being experienced? The challenges facing the new government are considerable, particularly given current uncertainties in the European and global environment,” Anderson said.
In 2018, the AOH and LAOH National Convention will return to Louisville, Kentucky, the week of July 11 -14.
The venue for the convention will be the Galt House, a 25 story, 1300 room hotel named after the original, where, in 1862, Union General Jefferson C. Davis shot and killed another Union General, William “Bull” Nelson.
Posted by Jim on
Comments by Varadkar bring ‘Methuselah’ jibe from DUP MP who tells Republic’s politicians to ‘butt out’ and instead concentrate on their own domestic difficulties
Rebecca Black. Belfast Telegraph. Saturday, July 21, 2016
A Fine Gael minister tipped to be the next Taoiseach has been told to butt out of Northern Ireland after he claimed he will see a united Ireland in his lifetime.
Dail Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar made the comment during an address to the MacGill Summer School in Donegal on Thursday.
It prompted a tonge-in-cheek query from DUP MP Gregory Campbell, who asked Mr Varadkar if he planned to live as long Methuselah in The Bible, who lasted 969 years.
Mr Varadkar said he expected to witness reunification in his lifetime, but did not know “at what point”.
“Fine Gael is a united Ireland party and that remains an objective,” he said.
However, he shied away from calling for a border poll, saying he did not feel it would be a good idea at this time. He added work needed to be done between the unionist and nationalist communities in the North before that could happen.
His remarks come after Taoiseach Enda Kenny qualified his recent comments about holding a border poll.
Speaking in the Dail, he said: “There will be no border poll now. There is no evidence of a majority wanting to join the Republic.”
The head of the European police agency Europol Rob Wainwright also spoke out in recent days, saying he did not believe there would be violence in the event of reunification.
Mr Campbell claimed the recent comments from the Irish Government were “simply an attempt to deflect attention from their own problems”.
“Leo Varadkar would be better to look at the problems in his party and those that Irish Government are faced with,” he said.
“We have no interest in becoming embroiled in domestic internal Irish politics, as Fine Gael try to respond to Fianna Fail.” He welcomed the fact that Mr Varadkar qualified his thoughts by saying that a border poll should not take place yet.
“He said it would be unsuccessful and that is because the reality is the majority of people in Northern Ireland want to remain in the UK,” Mr Campbell said.
“His reference to a united Ireland in his lifetime merely allows cynics to ask if he is planning to live as long as the biblical Methuselah. The EU referendum has taken place and the vote must be respected.
“The referendum was about whether the United Kingdom as a whole wanted to leave the EU – it was not on a united Ireland.
“The UK Government has made its position clear on a border poll – consistent with previous agreements.
“The new Prime Minister noted in her speech outside 10 Downing Street that she believed in the Union and now is the time for all to work constructively to get the best solution for everyone in Northern Ireland.”
Sinn Fein and the SDLP have both called for a border poll in the wake of the vote to leave the EU last month.
But an Ulster Unionist spokesperson slapped down the question of a border poll as a “red herring”.
“As Mr Varadkar himself acknowledged, it would be unsuccessful,” he said.
“We do acknowledge that the referendum result unsettled many of Northern Ireland’s Irish nationalists.
“It is up to others who supported Brexit to explain why they stirred the hornets’ nest, but the real issue is the shocking lack of planning from the Northern Ireland Executive.”
A spokesman for Mr Varadkar told the Belfast Telegraph yesterday that he was not available for further comment.
Posted by Jim on July 23, 2016
Former British PM David Cameron has been accused of hypocrisy over his
Bloody Sunday apology amid efforts to eulogise his legacy following his
departure from Downing Street.
People Before Profit Assembly meber Eamonn McCann hit out over gushing
political commentary about Cameron, many of which featured his
‘historic’ apology for the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972, in which 14
civil rights demonstrators were killed.
Mr McCann has accused Cameron of attempting to absolve senior British
army officers and politicians of culpability by allowing the ordinary
lance-corporals of the Parachute Regiment to shoulder all responsibility
for the killings.
“The usual suspect commentators and politicians have been falling over
themselves to heap praise on David Cameron for his apology for Bloody
Sunday,” said Mr McCann.
“In fact, the apology was predicated on no politician or senior military
man having been fingered by Lord Saville. Saville blamed one officer and
10 rank and file soldiers for all the killings and woundings,” he said.
Mr McCann said Mr Cameron, whose apology was beamed onto a big screen in
Guildhall Square from Westminster in 2010, gave General Michael Jackson,
Brigadier Frank Kitson, Major General Robert Ford, Brigadier Patrick
MacLellan, Edward Heath, Lord Carrington, Reginald Maudling, Alec
Douglas-Home, among other leading figures of the day, a clean bill of
health whilst “damning the men who had pulled the triggers”.
He added: “This was a perfect example of an official inquiry fulfilling
its true purpose – of finding small fry to shoulder all of the blame
while enabling the real villains to escape scot-free.”
He made controversial claims that some nationalists had facilitated the
manoeuvre.
“One of the main reasons Cameron’s ‘apology’ worked, at least for a
time, is that influential elements in Northern Nationalism had, in
effect, already ‘cleared’ his Commons statement. At least one member of
Sinn Fein had discussed the terms of the apology with British officials
in advance.
“The deal was that Cameron would acknowledge that all of the dead and
wounded had been innocent and would condemn the privates and corporals
involved in strong terms. But he wouldn’t have to say a bad word about
anybody that the ruling class cared about.
“In exchange, there would be no more Bloody Sunday marches – and no
attempt to push on for prosecutions. ‘This is as good as it gets,’ the
families were systematically told on their doorsteps in the days after
publication of the report..
“At this time, mid-2010, the British authorities were trying to put
together an overall deal by which the past would be put in the past and
we’d all ‘move on’.
“The stitch-up has unravelled, largely because some family members –
Kate and Linda Nash, Liam Wray, Bubbles Donaghey, Mickey Bridge and
others – weren’t prepared to accept the deal and opted instead to keep
on marching until the original demands of the Bloody Sunday campaign,
including prosecutions, had been met.
“Kate, Linda and the others were also conscious of the fact that calling
off their campaign would be a kick in the stomach for the bereaved
families of other atrocities – Ballymurphy, McGurk’s Bar, Kingsmills,
Enniskillen, Birmingham, Loughinisland, etc – who hadn’t yet reached the
stage achieved by the Derry campaign.
“The point to keep in mind as Cameron leaves Downing Street to spend
more time with his money is that, far from bravely telling the truth
about Derry, his Commons statement was just a new and more subtle phase
in the efforts of apologists for State violence to escape the verdict of
history.
“The proper response to Cameron’s departure is – good riddance.”
Some relatives have now issued a statement in which they deny they were
involved in negotiations around the Saville Inquiry. Tony Doherty, John
Kelly, Gerry Duddy and Jean Hegarty, who all lost relatives in the 1972
massacre, insisted that there had been no such deal or any discussion of
a deal.
“The Bloody Sunday march was never discussed with the NIO or Downing
Street. To suggest otherwise is fanciful. There was no discussion of the
issue of prosecutions. How could there be? None of us, Mr. McCann
included, knew at that time what was in the Saville Report.”
Posted by Jim on
In a potentially historic advance, the Irish Taoiseach and the leader
of the largest opposition party in the Dublin parliament have both said
they recognise the prospect of a referendum to bring about Irish
reunification.
Speaking at the MacGill summer school in the Glenties, County Donegal,
the two leaders separately stated that a united Ireland referendum
could take place in the near future arising from the fact that the Six
Counties of the north of Ireland voted to remain in the European Union,
while Britain voted to leave.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny called on the European Union to prepare for the
Six Counties seeking to reunite with the 26 Counties in a ‘border
poll’, as outlined in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Fine Gael
leader said such a referendum was now more likely in light of the
decision by Britain to leave the EU.
He likened it to Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the EU
supported West Germany in absorbing the East back into their country —
and the EU.
“The discussion and negotiations that take place over the next period
should take into account the possibility, however far out it might be,
that the clause in the Good Friday Agreement might be triggered,” he
said, “in that if there is a clear evidence of a majority of people
wishing to leave the United Kingdom and join the Republic, that should
be catered for in the discussions.”
He said a unity referendum was more likely to succeed due to recent
events: “It may be, in the eyes of some, a fanciful theory but who
knows what happens in 10, 20 years time?”
His comments were later said to be related to upcoming negotiations in
Europe on dealing with the implications of Britain leaving the EU, and
he drew on a surprising precedent.
“In the same way as East Germany was dealt with when the wall came
down, was able to be absorbed into West Germany and not to have to have
to go through a torturous and long process of applying for membership
of the European Union,” the Taoiseach said.
“So when Northern Ireland voted to stay (in the EU), who knows what
might happen in the time ahead? I am just making the point that these
are the kinds of things that should be looked at in the broadest of
ways in discussions that take place.
“People said it would be impossible that Britain would leave the
European Union; that has taken place now.”
The statement marks a historic shift in the stance of a party which has
always sought to avoid any discussion about the North which might
offend unionists or the British government.
Just 24 hours earlier, the leader of Ireland’s chief Opposition party
Micheal Martin said he hoped Brexit would move Ireland closer to
reunification.
The Fianna Fail leader, who is allied with Mr Kenny in support of his
minority coalition government, said a reunification referendum should
be called if it becomes clear a majority want to see an end to Irish
partition over the UK decision to pull out of the EU.
Mr Martin added that the North’s 56% majority vote to remain within the
bloc could be a defining moment for the region.
“It may very well be that the decision of Northern Ireland to oppose
the English-driven anti-EU UK majority is a defining moment in Northern
politics,” he said. “The Remain vote may show people the need to
rethink current arrangements. I hope it moves us towards majority
support for unification, and if it does we should trigger a
reunification referendum.”
Mr Martin, a former foreign affairs minister, said a move to further
divide the island with a customs and immigration frontier “would
potentially set us back decades”.
“The most urgent thing which is required is an immediate end to the
hands-off detachment of recent years,” he said. “Meeting the challenge
of Brexit is a moment to end this and also to begin rebuilding public
faith in politics.”
He also appeared to accept his own party’s previous failings in regard
to the North.
“It is a sad reality that our government and our media have tended to
ignore Northern Ireland except when there is a crisis. Meeting the
challenge of Brexit is a moment to end this and also to begin
rebuilding public faith in politics.”
He called for an all-island response to Brexit that reaches out “to
excluded groups, to show that a broader range of interests than those
articulated by the dominant political parties can be heard”.
He added: “I have in particular stressed our belief that civil society
must be included together with business, unions and professional
organisations.”
At the heart of political concerns is the 310-mile partition of Ireland
which is the only land border between British jurisdiction and the rest
of the EU. Militarised with checkpoints and road closures at the height
of conflict, their replacement with electronic surveillance systems
could be threatened by Brexit and physical controls once again placed
on the movement of people and goods.
Britain’s new governor in the north of Ireland, James Brokenshire, said
he did not think that the ‘conditions’ for a referendum in the Six
Counties (essentially, that it would pass) have been met. But on his
first day in Belfast, he accepted that the issue of a border was a
priority.
“We don’t want to see that hard border coming into place and I think
there is a real sense of commitment between the UK government and also
the Irish government to work together very closely so we don’t see that
returning,” he said.
Irish reunification is the “biggest and best idea around” and must now
be considered in light of Brexit, according to SDLP leader Colum
Eastwood. However, he pointed to the failure of Irish politicians to
advance their cause relative to Scottish leaders.
“Scottish independence campaigners produced a 670 page document
outlining the path to independent nationhood and how it would operate,”
he said. “It was credible and detailed. Irish nationalism now needs to
start on its page one.”
Almost 90 per cent of people polled in a survey for the Derry Journal
this week said they would vote for a United Ireland if a referendum was
held now. Another poll, for the unionist Belfast Telegraph ibn Belfast,
showed some 73% supported an immediate border poll with 70% saying they
would vote for the two parts of the island to be reunited.
On a visit to Scotland last week, the new British Prime Minister
Theresa May stressed the need for what she described as a “UK approach”
to be agreed before Brexit was triggered. As it appeared she had a
potential Scottish veto on Brexit, Scottish First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon said her country was now in a “very, very strong position”.
Sinn Fein’s deputy First Minister in Belfast Mr McGuinness referred to
the same comments as he spoke outside Stormont Castle in Belfast on
Monday.
“Theresa May said in the aftermath of the meeting with Nicola Sturgeon,
and Nicola quoted her over the course of the weekend, that she would
not trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty unless people in these
areas were content,” he said.
“Well I can tell Theresa May, and I did tell her when I spoke to her on
the telephone last week when she rang me, we are not content. The
people of Scotland have made their position clear, we have made our
position clear – that needs to be respected.”
Mr McGuinness also spoke of his fear that the troubled Six County
economy could suffer the absence of EU financial supports.
“The economic implications for us in a withdrawal from the European
Union are very profound, costing us over a period of ten years anything
in the region of 7 to 8 billion pounds and possibly even more,” Mr
McGuinness told a press conference. “There is alarm in the north of
Ireland among the business community, among the community and voluntary
sector, among our universities, among our agri-food industry.”
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the comments from both Mr Kenny and
Mr Martin mean a referendum on a united Ireland is now on the agenda —
and that a decision should be made within four years.
“The British decision to leave [the EU] could take two years to
negotiate out, and then another two years to negotiate an agreement
[between Britain and the EU], so there is a time frame there.
“I would like to see a border poll yesterday, but the Taoiseach’s
language was qualified in so far as he said it won’t happen for some
time, but he’s embraced the concept and will make that part of the
Brexit negotiations and that’s good,” Mr Adams said.
He said he does not know what is behind Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s
“change of heart” on the issue, but said he welcomed the move from
“outright rejection to embrace”.
Asked how a referendum could be brought forward when James Brokenshire
has already ruled it out, Mr Adams added: “Sometimes secretaries of
state on their first day can be very, very short sighted. That was
never going to be his or her decision, that is a decision for his and
her governments. It was always above the pay scale of the secretary of
state.”
Posted by Jim on July 22, 2016
Sean Bresnahan
A vote contested in two separate parts, where the outcome in one has primacy over the other, is not a #UnityRef as claimed by the Sinn Fein leadership but a gerrymandered border poll, where any vote cast outside the Six Counties cannot be counted until a majority for change is first realised there.
While I might not agree with them, I have no issue with those who argue Irish Unity should only come via such means and this route.
…
But to pretend your policy is otherwise, that it somehow advocates for self-determination when in fact it violates the very concept, is another matter entirely and is as cunning as it is deceiving as it is wrong – indeed wilfully so on the part of those concerned.
A border poll serves to deny the right of the Irish people to national self-determination, insisting instead on a separate right to self-determine, which it holds as legitimate, pertaining to the artificial gerrymander in the north of our country which many refer to as ‘Northern Ireland’.
That is the primary ‘raison d’être’ of the border poll – so it is not just a practical instrument but an ideological one also.
Sinn Fein quite obviously realise this and thus the obfuscation and attempts to bury their failed strategy behind a mountain of waffle.
They know full well that only a ‘One Ireland One Vote’ national referendum can allow the Irish people to freely determine their future – where all votes are of equal value, regardless whether they are cast in Dublin or Belfast, Kerry or Tyrone. They know this because it was at one time their own position.
All of this should likewise be obvious from the route they are now taking, from their attempts to hide reality behind carefully-scripted slogans that can mean two things at once – what Orwell described as ‘double speak’ and of which they are masters. Yet still they refuse to stand up and show the required leadership, they refuse to stand up and be counted. Their refusal to return to the correct position, which they abandoned on entry to the Multi-Party Talks, is the lynch-pin of current Crown strategy and the single-biggest reason why the campaign for Irish Unity has been reduced to a slogan and not an achievable object on their part.
It’s time for some honest soul-searching from those who peddle that a border poll is somehow a referendum and likewise that it is a pathway to Irish Freedom – when they know within their hearts it is neither…