Posted by Jim on October 9, 2015
Eamon Sweeney. Derry Journal. Thursday, October 8, 2015 eamon.sweeney@jpress.co.uk
The head of a highly influential Irish-American lobby group has said he will ask the United States Congress to hold a hearing over concerns surrounding the proposed legislation on dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.
Fr. Sean McManus, President of the Irish National Caucus last month briefed members of the U.S. Congress over concerns that had been raised to him by relatives of some people killed during the ‘Troubles’.
The cleric is a native of County Fermanagh and is known for his forthright views on the actions of the British Government in Ireland and has high -level access to Washington politicians on Capitol Hill.
Fr. McManus formed the Irish National Caucus in [1974] . It is a human rights organization dedicated to getting the United States to stand up for justice and peace in Ireland. He was forwarded a copy of the draft version of the Stormont House Agreement published on the Northern Ireland Office website on September 23.
Some relatives of people shot dead in Derry [ on Bloddy Sunday, 1972] had long held suspicions that a deal allowing perpetrators of killings to make a confession and walk away with assurances of immunity from prosecution. These fears were confirmed this week when the ‘Derry Journal’ obtained and published a copy of the legislation. The proposed legislation it is understood, will be presented at Westminster next week on October 12.
The document asserts that perpetrators of killings would be able to confess their crimes to the newly established Historical Inquiries Unit (HIU) and then walk away without fear of prosecution. Relatives of those killed will also not be told if any disclosure had been made in relation to the deaths of their loved ones.
The legislation does allow scope for prosecutions if new evidence comes to light and the manner in which disclosed information will be evaluated makes it unlikely that a wide range of prosecutions will ever take place.
The HIU is set to replace the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) and unlike the HET will have full policing powers and access to State documents.
Yet relatives have highlighted their fear the HIU will not contain the promised level of investigative independence hoped for.
The new director of the HIU will be appointed by First and Deputy First Ministers, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness and they will also have the power to sack the director. Members of the British Army and police — both former RUC, PSNI and serving members of those organizations, will be eligible to take up posts as ‘independent investigators’,
The establishment of the HIU is set to cost £150 million and its remit is set to last five years.
The Secretary of State will have the ultimate say, however, with the power to shut the entire operation down.
And, cross-border evidence from the Gardai [Irish police] in relation to ‘Troubles’ related murders will not be admissible in Northern Ireland as the legislation contends it may be detrimental to international relations between Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Speaking to the ‘Journal’ this afternoon, Fr. McManus said the revelations of the last few days had caused him concern.
“The first concern that has struck me is whether or not this represents an amnesty. If the British refuse to disclose information using the guise that it will compromise national security they will simply be reverting back to their old fall -back position. And, if this is the case then how do you get around this, because it will not be changed. If MI5 and other state agencies come in and say they are taking over, then the police will not matter.
“This has been one of my main concerns throughout the peace process, which I have supported wholeheartedly. I am also concerned therefore that we may be brought back to square one and the British are acting in their own interests with this proposed legislation to protect their own high powered people.
“What will then become of investigations into collusion? In fact, if this represent an amnesty for the British forces then I am profoundly concerned that a legitimate course cannot be charted for the guidance of all victims families.
“If all the talk and promises and pledges about justice are empty, this will simply compound the grief of all the families concerned. And, because of these concerns, I will be asking the U.S. Congress in a very short space of time to conduct a hearing into this– into the cover-ups, the collusion, about MI5 and the police.
“We have maintained the drum beat about collusion throughout the years and it will
continue to be our theme because this to me has raised the controversy all over again. I am hopeful that a hearing can take place very early next year because this is an urgent matter,” said Fr. McManus.
“I am personally, very disheartened by this,” continued Fr. McManus.
“If it’s reverting back to the bad old days of the British Government, then it shows that the top people are still pulling the strings. The Irish National Caucus is very aware of this issue and will be remaining on top of it and we will push very hard in Congress. We are less concerned with which individuals were responsible for atrocities and more concerned with the powerful people who sent them out to commit them, who knew all about this and who continue to try and cover it up. If that remains the case, then the truth will never come out and justice will never be achieved.
“I want what the victims want: what the Finucane family wants, what Raymond Mc Cord wants, what the Bloody Sunday families want, what the Ballymurphy familes want— all the victims, Protestants as well as Catholics. For over forty years I have helped to give victims, Protestants and Catholics, a voice in the US Congress.
“Without justice all else is empty. Only justice can give full meaning to victims, enabling them to move on to a shared life from a shared tragedy.”
Posted by Jim on October 8, 2015
by Frances Mulraney (Irish Central)
Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny this week revealed his concerns that the J-1 visa could be drastically affected if US authorities decide to tighten the rules surrounding the work and travel exchange program, with a potental reduction in the number of Irish students taking of up to 60% – 80%.
When questioned by TD Denis Naughten in the Dáil (Irish parliament) on Monday, Kenny declared that “issues have arisen” that could change the way in which the program currently works.
The J-1 Summer Work Travel Program has long been a rite of passage for Irish college students who travel to the US during the summer months to work, mainly, in the retail and hospitality industries.
Of the 300,000 worldwide participants on the program in 2014, 8,000 were Irish students and more than 150,000 have traveled from Ireland over the past 50 years.
Students are not currently required to have a guaranteed job before traveling to the US, but this could change in the future, drastically affecting the manner in which the program works and creating further difficulties for Irish students wishing to travel to America to work for the summer.
“Because of a series of issues that have arisen, the authorities that issue J-1 visas seem to be bent on introducing a requirement for pre-employment for young people before they go,” Kenny said, something he feels would lead to “an abrupt ending to the J-1 system as we know it.”
It is unclear what “series of issues” Kenny was referring to, but it is believed to be a reference to a number of high-profile cases in which Irish students are said to have damaged property while staying in the US.
Irish students participating in the program have been the subject of a number of negative stories in the American media in recent years. One such story was the New York Times article following the Berkeley balcony collapse tragedy that suggested Irish students had become an embarrassment to their country while in the US, for which the newspaper later apologized.
The Taoiseach believes that a move by American authorities to require students to have an offer of employment before leaving Ireland could result in a 60%-80% drop in the number of Irish students traveling on the J-1. This would serve to encourage those wishing to work in America for the summer to do so illegally on a three-month holiday visa.
Posted by Jim on October 6, 2015
British and Irish Governments need to live up to Responsibilities -Murphy
Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy has said the British and Irish governments need to live up to their responsibilities during the current negotiations at Stormont.
Mr Murphy said; “The British government need to accept they have created the current political difficulties with their austerity cuts agenda.
“They cannot evade that responsibility and present themselves as some sort of honest broker between the parties. They are clearly a player in this process.
“The Irish government too has a role to play as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.
“It is now time for both governments to step and work to ensure that the Executive has a workable and sustainable budget.
“The reality is that Tory austerity remains the biggest threat to the political institutions and we need a united voice from all political parties and wider civic society challenging that agenda.”
Posted by Jim on October 3, 2015
The sister of a Catholic woman murdered by the Glennane Gang has spoken
out in search of justice for Peggy Hale, 40 years after her death.
The mother of five was just 32 when she died 18 days after two gunmen
stormed the pub in which she was sitting with family near Loughgall –
before throwing a bomb through the door on September 4, 1975.
Peggy was just 32 when she died as a result of injuries from a loyalist
attack against a Loughgall bar. Left with serious internal injuries,
Peggy never returned to consciousness before passing away on September
22.
She was visiting from her home in England, where she moved with her
Protestant husband Walter in 1964.
Describing the events of that fateful night, Kathy said: “The door was
kicked open and two gunmen came in. They finally finished shooting, but
then one came back and threw a green duffle bag in… [and] the bomb
went off.
“There was 12 taken to hospital that night… and seemly whenever they
were in Craigavon Hospital, Craigavon is supposed to have had a call to
find out ‘how many Fenians did we get?’
“When we realised that this was the Glennane Gang, nothing was
off-limits.”
The gang, the deadliest in the conflict, united members of the British
Army, RUC police, and loyalist paramilitaries in a long series of
sectarian and political killings.
To this day no-one has ever been held to account for the murder of Peggy
Hale – although the family is hopeful of answers.
“We were told a short time afterwards that it was this Glennane Gang
that murdered her,” her sister Kathy told this paper, “but we were
afraid to talk about it.
“The thing that sickened us more was that these were people that were
paid, that wore uniforms, to protect us.
“My father was a Scotsman and he was in British Army,” Kathy added, “but
the way we were brought up everybody was the same and religion was never
talked about at home.
“It’s the collusion part that I am so angry about. Whenever we got the
HET report there was no evidence – the people you thought protected
everyone had blood on their hands.
“Your only crime is that you’re Catholic.”
Posted by Jim on
Brian Friel, who has died aged 86, was the best-known Irish playwright
of his generation. Translations, about the low-level repression of Irish
culture in the 19th century, remains his most celebrated, while Dancing
at Lughnasa was his most successful, winning three Tony Awards in 1992.
Friel was also an accomplished short-story writer and in 1980 was a
founder of Field Day Theatre Company.
Born in County Tyrone, in January 1929, ten years later he moved with
his family to Derry. Trained as a teacher at St Joseph’s College,
Belfast, he began teaching in 1950.
In all Friel wrote 24 published plays, many dealing with the erratic
workings of memory, and with the family, using Ballybeg, the archetypal
small town, as a backdrop.
Three of his most critically acclaimed plays were premiered over a
period of 18 months, beginning in 1979.
Aristocrats chronicles the disintegration of a once wealthy Irish
family. Faith Healer, from 1979, emphasises the uncertainty of personal
history.
Translations, which followed in 1980, is about the mapping of Ireland by
the British Ordnance Survey in the 1830s. Focusing on the translation of
Irish place names into English, thereby providing a dramatic metaphor
for imperialism, it fuelled debates about the identity confusion and
historical revisionism that remains a feature of Irish culture. Praising
its depiction of colonialism, the critic James Fenton welcomed it as a
“vigorous example of corrective propaganda”.
Friel insisted he had not written a play only about the Irish people
being suppressed by English soldiers. “The play has to do with language
and only language. And if it becomes overwhelmed by that political
element, it is lost.”
A former member of the now-defunct Nationalist Party in Northern
Ireland, Friel maintained a nationalist outlook throughout his life. “I
do think that the problem will always be exacerbated as long as England
is in the country,” he said in 1991. “But if England were to go tomorrow
morning, that wouldn’t solve it. We still have got to find a modus
vivendi for ourselves within the country.”
Aosdána, an Irish association of artists, said Friel probed the great
national, political and cultural dilemmas of our time with “intense
passion” and tenderness.
“His colleagues in Aosdána recognised his stature as a giant of Irish
literature by electing him to be a Saoi in 2006, an honour limited to
only seven artists in the country,” it said.
“His legacy to the Irish people is immense,” said the President, adding
that Friel would be remembered as a great Irishman.
“His is a body of work that will endure. He was familiar to generations
of Irish people and others across the globe,” said President Higgins.
“After Brian Friel’s work, no one could offer amnesia as an alternative
to history. In great works like Translations with Field Day [theatre
company] and The Great O’Neill [in Making History] he addressed the
major contradictions in Irish identity and history.”
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams said much of Friel’s work “dealt with societal
change in Ireland, culture, language and Irish identity.
“A humble man, he was also a national treasure and a truly unique
individual. Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.”