Posted by Jim on July 4, 2015
The election of a first-ever Sinn Fein mayor in Dublin has underlined
the party’s progress in city councils across the island ahead of the
centennial commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Long-standing Dublin councillor Criona Ni Dhalaigh was elected mayor
with 41 votes from the 63 member city council — despite a last minute
effort by the right-wing parties to wreck a deal which should have
guaranteed Sinn Fein the post.
Ms Ni Dhalaigh is the 346th mayor of the city, but only the eighth woman
to hold the office.
Sinn Fein became the largest party on the council at last year’s local
elections, taking 16 out of the council’s seats.
A voting pact agreed last June between Sinn Fein, Labour, the Green
Party and some Independents saw Christy Burke, an Independent who was
formerly a Sinn Fein councillor, elected mayor, with the condition that
Sinn Fein would hold the position from June 2015 until June 2016.
As first citizen, Ms Ni Dhalaigh will preside over the 1916 Rising
centenary commemorations in the capital alongside the President and the
Taoiseach. Protocol stipulates that the mayor comes second only to the
President at official ceremonies in the city.
Popular with fellow councillors from all parties, Ms Ni Dhalaigh joined
the council in 2006, representing the Crumlin-Kimmage ward.
Speaking after her election, Ms Ni Dhalaigh said the Proclamation of the
Irish Republic “speaks to us today more urgently than ever.”
“The Proclamation’s commitment to “equal rights and equal opportunities”
for all our people has yet to be fulfilled. We do not yet live in an
equal city, or an equal country.”
Ms Ni Dhalaigh also said that housing families would be the priority
during her mayoralty, and that that she intended to introduce herself
with the Irish language form ‘Ardmheara’ in place of “Lord Mayor”, as
the term was gender free and she was uncomfortable with being described
as a “lord”.
Fianna Fail’s Jim O’Callaghan said he has opposed Ms Ni Dhalaigh because
he was afraid that Sinn Fein would “hijack this important year of
commemoration to justify the 30 year pointless and counterproductive
campaign by the Provisional IRA.”
Sinn Fein’s leader on the council, Seamas McGrattan, admitted his party
pushed to hold the position in 2016, saying it “is an important year for
us”, but he added: “We’re not seeking to hijack anything.”
Congratulating Ms Ni Dhalaigh, Sinn Fein mayor of Belfast, Arder Carson
pointed to the council votes recently which saw Cork elect its first
(Provisonial) Sinn Fein mayor in the person of Chris O’Leary, and South
Dublin County Council elect Sinn Fein’s Sarah Holland to the top post.
“The election of another Sinn Fein mayor highlights the growing support
for republicanism right across the island,” he said.
“As we approach the centenary of the Easter Rising Sinn Fein mayors will
be in place in the four major cities on the island; Dublin, Belfast,
Derry and Cork.”
Posted by Jim on
Loyalists’ use of confederate flags as a statement of racist hate has
reinforced concerns over their use of flags to spread fear and
intimidation over the marching season.
One confederate flag, erected on a lamp post in east Belfast, was
described by the PSNI as a “hate incident”. The flag had been tied to a
lamppost outside the home of a black family.
It was removed by the coach of a local football team after it was
pointed out that a teenage member of the targeted family played for the
club. Club members said they were were “disgusted” after the flag
appeared outside the home of the 13-year-old in the Dee Street area of
the city.
Confederate and loyalist flags have also been displayed by the Orange
Order over the marching season.
And scores of loyalist and unionist flags intended to intimidate
nationalists have been raised in interface areas, with the apparent
support of the police.
Last summer, the PSNI said it would treat the erection of flags in the
Ormeau Road area of south Belfast as a breach of the peace, but this
year it entirely washed its hands of the issue.
The PSNI said flag removal was not a PSNI responsibility and they would
‘only act to remove flags where there are substantial risks to public
safety’.
Loyalists claimed Union Jacks and “Ulster flags” erected in the mixed
areas of south Belfast were placed there with the consent of the police.
South Belfast MLA Mairtin O Muilleoir accused the PSNI of colluding with
loyalists to intimidate.
He said the public commitment to stop the flags being raised was
repeated by the PSNI in private engagements with residents and Sinn Fein
representatives.
“However, when residents on the Ormeau Road contacted police (last
night) when a large group of up to 20 people were erecting flags, the
PSNI arrived and took no action other than to facilitate this act.
“The Ormeau Road is a vibrant, multicultural community which in many
ways sets an example for the city. No one has the right to mark out
territory in this intimidatory fashion.”
MEMORIAL DEFACED
Meanwhile, the socialist republican party eirigi have strongly condemned
those who defaced a republican memorial in Newry. Sinn Fein’s Newry and
Armagh MP Mickey Brady also condemned what he said was “an act of
vandalism and sectarian hate”.
The memorial, situated at the site of the iconic Egyptian Arch ambush,
was erected by eirigi to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the War of
Independence operation which saw three IRA volunteers lose their lives.
The initials of the unionist paramilitary UVF were sprayed across the
memorial early on Tuesday morning.
eirigi’s Newry spokesperson Stephen Murney condemned the incident.
“The sectarian bigots responsible are only interested in stoking
tension, particularly at this time of year,” he said.
“This memorial is in memory of three republican revolutionaries who were
killed as a result of the ambush against the British forces of
occupation at this location. The same occupation continues to this day.”
Posted by Jim on
A nationalist community in Belfast has been subjected to a nightly
onslaught of bottles, nuts, bolts, golf balls, bricks and paintballs
before being hemmed in by a wall of steel on Wednesday evening to allow
a loyalist parade by the anti-Catholic Orange Order pass by.
The Short Strand is a tiny nationalist area almost completely surrounded
by loyalist districts in east Belfast. The Orange Order’s ‘Mini Twelfth’
parade took place this week in the adjoining streets following a
military-style operation to erect a solid steel barricade around the
Catholic enclave.
Among the bands taking part in the parade were the YCV and Pride of
Ardoyne flute bands, both of which have engaged in multiple sectarian
provocations over recent years.
Steel security barriers used to fence off the Short Strand have been
deployed during the parade since 2013. Water cannon were also on
standby this year, but in the end the parade passed off without major
violence.
Sinn Fein councillor Niall O Donnghaile said that while “by and large”
the parade had passed off peacefully the security operation was “not a
good policing experience for the people of this area”.
ATTACKS
Sectarian attacks on Catholic homes in Bryson street have been incessant
for over a year now, and there have been several orchestrated attacks at
the interface over the last month.
Bricks and bottles were thrown into Bryson Street at around 2.30am on
Sunday. This followed after a paint bomb attack on homes on the same
street, at around midnight, again from the loyalist Thistle Court area.
Flares and other missiles were also hurled at Catholic-owned homes in
the Bryson Street and Bryson Gardens area of Short Strand in recent
days.
In the latest incident on Monday night, PSNI seized petrol bombs
following attacks on nationalist homes.
Earlier in the week, sectarian graffiti warning Catholics to stay out of
‘our roads’ also appeared on walls on the Ravenhill and Woodstock Roads.
A slogan written on a wall at Woodstock Road includes the warning: “No
S/S (Short Strand) Taigs [Catholics] on our roads”. Residents from the
Short Strand area would regularly use shops in the area.
In a statement, Republican Sinn Fein said a serious situation was being
ignored by the PSNI.
“Once again the Crown police forces have shown their true colours. So
much for the ‘reformed police’ we have heard so much of,” they said.
“These sectarian attacks have been happening all too often and show that
for many in the Occupied Six Counties life has changed little over these
past few years, there has been no ‘peace benefit’.”
The Republican Network for Unity also urged solidarity with the besieged
residents of the Short Strand.
“The continuing sectarian attacks on the people of the Short Strand
illustrates the unchanging reality of life for large sections of the
nationalist community in Belfast and throughout the North of Ireland,”
they said.
Posted by Jim on July 1, 2015
The family of murdered Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane have said
they will not give up despite the rejection of their legal challenge
against the British government’s refusal to hold a public inquiry.
His son John Finucane said they had not yet decided whether to appeal a
judgment which upheld David Cameron’s controversial 2011 decision to
renege on the British government’s previous agreements to hold an
inquiry.
Delivering his reserved judgment to the High Court in Belfast, Justice
Stephens rejected the family’s judicial review application, saying a
statutory inquiry would be costly and protracted and could not be
confined to narrow issues surrounding the loyalist shooting over 20
years ago.
Mr Finucane was shot dead in front of his wife and three children at
their north Belfast home in February 1989 by a loyalist death squad
believed to be operating under the direction of British military
intelligence.
The high-profile case, which was heard last month, was taken by Mr
Finucane’s widow Geraldine, who said the family had a legitimate
expectation that a statutory inquiry would be held.
John Finucane said: “What is clear and what the court has found is that
there was a clear, unequivocal promise made to my mother; made to my
family as a result of Weston Park.
“The court has felt restricted and limited in interfering in what was a
political decision but I think the public can make their own minds up
that when an unequivocal promise is made to our family by the government
and that is changed quite cruelly – I think they can decide for
themselves what lies behind that.”
Mr Finucane said the family’s campaign had continued for 26 years with
“numerous setbacks and numerous successes” along the way.
“We see today not as a setback which would end our campaign once and for
all. There are certainly comments and material within that judgement,
even with an initial viewing, that would cause us hope.”
The 26-County government has also pledged to continue the push for a
full public inquiry for Mr Finucane.
Sinn Fein spokesperson on Justice and Equality, Padraig Mac Lochlainn
said the British government could no longer deny that collusion with
unionist paramilitaries was a systemic and deliberate policy. He said
it was used as a method of killing Irish citizens “or, indeed, anyone
who got in their way, including Human Rights lawyer, Pat Finucane.”
CORONER URGES INQUIRY
Meanwhile, the children of a murdered couple have called for a public
inquiry after a coroner admitted he did not have enough resources to
conduct a collusion probe.
The double murder is part of “a cesspit of collusion” between the state
and loyalist paramilitaries in Mid-Ulster, the court heard. Charlie and
Tess Fox were shot dead by the UVF at their home in Moy, County Tyrone,
in 1992. The killings have been linked to 28 other murders and attempted
murders by the UVF’s Mid-Ulster gang.
Peter Corrigan, who is acting for relatives of Mr and Mrs Fox, said
false information had been used to sabotage the investigation into their
deaths.
He said key suspects — including then UVF leader in Mid-Ulster, Billy
Wright, and Mark ‘Swinger’ Fulton — were never interviewed, and and
questioned whether Wright and Fulton were working for the state at the
time.
Mr Corrigan recalled a conversation with what he described as a senior
member of the now-defunct police Historical Enquiries Team.
“He said clearly and unequivocally that the murders in Mid-Ulster amount
to a cesspit of collusion, involving the security services, security
forces, UDR, state agents, [which] is rotten to the core,” the lawyer
added.
“The families want a public inquiry – they want the truth,” Mr Corrigan
added.
The hearing was told a public inquiry, funded by the British government,
may be the family’s best hope of a full examination of the case.
Relatives believe an over-arching probe examining the other 28 crimes is
the only way they can get to the truth.
Senior coroner John Leckey said the Coroners’ Service did not have the
resources to conduct such a major investigation.
Outside court, Mr and Mrs Fox’s son Anthony welcomed the coroner’s
remarks. “There should be a public inquiry,” he said. “That is what is
needed with the mid-Ulster UVF.”
DONEGAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
Separately, the family of a County Donegal teenager murdered by
loyalists is to take legal action against the British Ministry of
Defence.
Sixteen-year-old Henry Cunningham from Carndonagh, was killed in August
1973 when UVF gunmen ambushed the van he was travelling home from work
in. Henry’s brothers were also in the van but were not seriously hurt.
In 2008, an Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report said that one of the
guns used was stolen from a base of the British Army’s Ulster Defence
Regiment.
It is thought the killers mistakenly identified the brothers as
Catholics. Speaking to BBC Radio this week, Herbert Cunningham described
the moment when they were attacked.
“I saw the three boys on the flyover. I can still see them yet. They
were sitting up on the railing of the flyover firing at me.
“I didn’t know what it was. They burst tyres and I was shouting to the
boys in the van, I thought they were all dead.”
Herbert said that by the time he realised his brother had been shot, it
was too late to seek help.
“Henry says to me “I’m hit” and he just slumped over. That’s all he
said. I went on almost three miles with busted wheels until I couldn’t
go no further.
“We were afraid they were coming after us. We didn’t know what was
happening.”
Robert Cunningham said their case against is about justice. “This is not
about money, this is justice we’re looking for and we know we didn’t get
it at the time.”
Posted by Jim on
Debbie McGoldrick
John Dunleavy: Parade officers and board end 22-year reign as chairman. Photo by: QueensCountyParade.org
John Dunleavy is out as chairman of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade, sources have told the Irish Voice and IrishCentral.
A meeting of the parade officers and board members on Tuesday afternoon resulted in the ouster of Dunleavy, 76, in a move expected after the Irish Voice reported last month that Dunleavy said gay groups would “have a problem” marching in next year’s event. It is not yet known who will replace Dunleavy as chairman.
Dunleavy was also offering the TV rights to the march to other local networks, in retaliation at NBC for being part of a compromise that allowed OUT@NBCUniversal to march behind its own banner this year. OUT is the network’s LGBT support group, and their participation marked the first time that a gay group marched up Fifth Avenue under its own banner.
In April, Dunleavy said that he planned on seeking another term as parade chairman, but his position became untenable because of his fierce opposition to allowing gay groups to march. Dr. John Lahey, the parade’s vice chairman and president of Quinnipiac University, was prepared to resign his position as chairman of the parade’s media deals if Dunleavy and his allies mustered enough support to prevent gay groups from taking part in next year’s event.
“As we discussed at our recent meeting, I made some decisions with our advertisers’ input for the 2015 parade broadcast with which you and some other directors strongly disagree,” Lahey wrote in a May letter to Dunleavy obtained by the Irish Voice.
“I don’t think it is a good thing for us to repeat this inconsistency in 2016, and whoever is chairman of TV and media for the 2016 parade needs the full support and clear direction from the Board of Directors.”
Lahey also stated his wish to see a second gay group take part in next year’s march. Many politicians boycotted the 2015 parade because of the continued exclusion of Irish gay groups.
“I have very clear beliefs…on the need to add one more group in the 2016 parade. As chairman of TV and media, I would be happy to lead any discussions with our advertisers with respect to an appropriate second group if the Board of Directors so authorizes me,” Lahey wrote.
The emergence of an interview video on the parade’s official Facebook page clearly showed Dunleavy’s resistance to having gay groups in the line of march. The video, after its existence was reported in the Irish Voice, was removed from the Facebook page.
“There is going to be some changes,” Dunleavy said when asked about next year’s march by the interviewer at a lunch for parade volunteers held at Antun’s in Queens in April.
“No major changes but there is going to be changes. I am going to run for another term and [at] that time we will put certain items into the changes that we need.”
Clearly commenting on the inclusion of gay groups in next year’s march, Dunleavy warned, “The parade itself is not there to promote anybody’s particular agenda in any way, shape or form. The parade represents our faith, our heritage and our culture, nothing more and nothing less. So we’re going to keep to that, and anybody who wants to mix that up is going to have a problem next year.”