Posted by Jim on July 2, 2014
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Posted by Jim on
by Áine Ní Shionnaigh
as printed in “The Irish Echo”
Growing up in the West of Ireland, my exposure to the Fourth of July was limited to two iconic movies. As a young child, I remember watching the black and white grainy version of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” where the main star, George M. Cohan, was born on the Fourth of July, a fact which heightened the expectations about his destiny. This movie could not have contrasted more with Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July” where as a young adult, I was deeply struck by the contrast between the idea of war and the reality of war. The atmosphere at the Fourth of July parade before Kovic (Tom Cruise) joins the Marines coldly conflicts with the horrific conditions that Kovic finds himself in at the Veterans hospital where he is admitted on his return from Vietnam as a paralyzed veteran. There is a dramatic sense of despair, disillusionment and disappointment. The experience of actually becoming a hero is a serious let-down. Some of the content of this movie became a reality for me this year when I became involved with some veteran organizations to discuss traumatic brain injury issues in conjunction with the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation.
Nine years ago, when I moved to New York City from the West of Ireland, one of the biggest observations I continually made was the sense of patriotism in this great country. I am gradually coming to understand and still learning about the intensity of the relationship between the U.S. and its military. America’s military history is at the core of the formation of the American Republic as we know it today.
The independence celebrated on this July 4th weekend was fought for by many who paid the ultimate price so that Americans could enjoy all the privileges and freedom that come with it. We also celebrate the Irish who fought so valiantly with General George Washington to win the War of Independence. When the American Revolution broke out, both Scotch Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics could be found in every contingent of Washington’s army. According to James O’Boyle’s “Life of George Washington,” one of the most daring group of soldiers during the Revolutionary War were the Green Mountain Boys, led by, among others, two Irishmen named Marion and Pickens. Men lie these later became the pioneers who would venture outside the range of the original 13 colonies and head west. The Scotch Irish from Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were particularly prominent in the ranks of those Americans who took on and ultimately prevailed against the British. They had grown to love the country they had left, the northern parts of Ireland, and it was an affection that would see them bear arms in a bid to gain independence in their new adopted land. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. When things weren’t looking good for General Washington, he came out with a gem of a quote that showed the pride and trust he had in these sturdy men. “If defeated everywhere else, I will make my stand for liberty, among the Scots-Irish in my native Virginia.” But defeat was not something they had to worry about, and Washington would lead his army to victory and becomes the country’s first president.
In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies had weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. One of the signatories was an Irish Catholic whose grandfather was born in Aghtery, a townland in County Offaly, interestingly the same county President Barack Obama traced his Irish roots to and visited in 2011.
Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton to distinguish him from his similarly named relatives, was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic and the longest-lived (and last surviving) signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He died at the age of 95 at his city mansion in the neighborhood of Jonestown in Baltimore.
Carroll was not initially interested in politics and in any event Catholics had been barred from holding office in Maryland. But as the dispute between Great Britain and the colonies intensified, Carroll became a powerful voice for independence. He wrote in the Maryland Gazette under a pseudonym. He became a prominent spokesman against the governor’s proclamation increasing legal fees to state officers and Protestant clergy. Eventually, word spread of the true identity of the columnist and Carroll’s fame and notoriety began to grow. He became a leading opponent of British rule, and served on various committees of correspondence. He also played an important role in the burning in Annapolis harbor of the “Peggy Stewart,” a ship which had been carrying tea to Maryland, and was destroyed on October 19, 1774 as part of the tea party protests.
Charles Carroll was elected to the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and remained a delegate until 1778. He signed the official document that survives today.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once noted something that I think speaks of the Irish contribution to the kind of loud and colorful celebration that marks the fourth day of the seventh month.
He told James Cagney: “That’s one thing I’ve always admired about you Irish Americans, you carry your love of country like a flag, right out in the open. It’s a great quality.”
I also greatly admire the love of country that every American possesses.
I hope you all have a wonderful Fourth of July.
Posted by admin on July 1, 2014
MP Naomi Long condemns those who put up the flag off Island Street, accusing them of exacerbating racist tensions in the area.
A Ku Klux Klan flag has been placed in an area of Belfast at the centre of a recent surge in racist attacks in the city.
East Belfast MP Naomi Long has condemned those who put up the symbol of the KKK movement, accusing them of heightening racist tensions in her constituency.
There has been a spike in racist attacks in Belfast, with the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirming its officers are investigating up to three racist incidents every day. A large proportion of racist attacks and intimidation is taking place in the loyalist east.
The Alliance party MP said the appearance of a KKK flag off Island Street in the east of the city gives “an even more sinister edge” to xenophobic attacks in the area.
Long said: “Yet again we see those who wish to bully anyone different from them use flags and emblems to assert dominance and control over a community. To put up these flags in broad daylight shows just how brazen the culprits are.
“To use flags hailing a hate group such as the KKK is sickening and lends a further menacing element to recent events. It is essential that every right-thinking person unites against those who engage in racist, bigoted or otherwise intolerant behaviour and does so with consistency.”
The annual benchmark report on human rights and racial equality by the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities , released last month, said there were 982 racist incidents in 2013-14 compared with 750 such incidents during the previous year.
It noted that over the last five years 75% of all complaints to the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland about harassment in offices, shops or factories are related to racial abuse and intimidation.
Over the last year Northern Ireland has become one of the worst hot spots for racist crimes and race-hate-linked incidents in the UK, but the authors of the report say the region is home to only 1% of all the non-EU/EEA migrants who have come into the UK.
Sandy Boyer
Posted by admin on June 29, 2014
Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton are serving life in prison for
the killing of a police officer in the North of Ireland in 2009.
“No evidence exists linking the men to the killing; instead the
prosecution case hinged on the testimony of a paid perjurer who is
discredited by his own father and whose eyewitness testimony is
medically impossible.”
Both men were found guilty and convicted by a single judge without a
jury under special powers in a ‘Diplock Court’.
“Despite the original prosecution case being destroyed during a two-week
appeal hearing in October 2013, both men had their appeals dismissed on
29th May 2014.”
A high profile campaign calling for Justice for the Craigavon Two headed
by iconic miscarriage of justice victim Gerry Conlon of the Guildford 4
continues to campaign for this miscarriage of justice to be rectified.
We ask you to support Justice for the Craigavon Two by helping us end
this miscarriage of justice.
Please sign the petition and ask everyone you know to do likewise:
http://chn.ge/VvfPBd
———–
To:
Chris Grayling MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
David Ford MLA, Stormont Minister of Justice
End the miscarriage of justice of the ‘Craigavon Two’ Brendan McConville
and John Paul Wootton.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
————-
Please sign the petition and ask everyone you know to do likewise:
Posted by admin on
The Drumcree marching dispute in Portadown could be reignited after the
Parades Commission this week stunned nationalist residents by initially
permitting an Orange march on the lower end of the Garvaghy Road, the
scene of some of the North’s most intense parades violence, before
changing its mind.
While the decision was almost immediately rescinded amid an outcry, the
commission appeared to continue to vacillate. Local unionist MP David
Simpson said he was told at a meeting with the newly-appointed
commission that the march remains “under review”.
Nationalists living on the Garvaghy Road have called on the PSNI to
enforce the decision amid fears that an attempt to hold an inflammatory
sectarian march by the “back door” will go ahead regardless this
Saturday, June 28th.
Attempts by the anti-Catholic Orange Order to march through the Catholic
enclave every July in the late 1990s saw conflagrations which often
reached across the north of Ireland, and were linked to a number of
loyalist killings at that time. The tensions were only defused in 1998
when the parade from Drumcree church began to be consistently rerouted
away from the nationalist area.
Members of the Orange Order are now seeking to walk along a section of
the lower Garvaghy Road to mark the “dedication and unfurling” of a
refurbished ‘Orange Arch’, a structure constructed over the thoroughfare
and their largest official emblem of the marching season.
After initially being given the go-ahead, the Parades Commission did a
U-turn and eventually banned the sectarian display — but there are
fears the PSNI may still turn a blind eye, despite a recent court
judgment requiring them to enforce such parade decisions.
Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition spokesman Breandan MacCionnaith said
local people would be monitoring the situation.
“We said to people at a public meeting if the review decision stands
people should not go towards the interface area at all,” he said. “They
should go and watch the Armagh match on TV.
“A lot of it will boil down to how loyalists are policed by the cops.
The cops have a duty to enforce the determination and there should be
no-one associated with the parade or arch permitted near the Garvaghy
Road [this Saturday evening].”
Adding to local concerns is the fact that many foreign nationals live in
the interface area at the bottom of the Garvaghy Road known as Victoria
Terrace. Threats to foreign workers, particularly to the North’s largely
Catholic Polish community, have been a significant feature of this
year’s marching season.
Polish flags have appeared on loyalist bonfires and two Polish men
suffered a racist attack close to a loyalist bonfire site in Lisburn
last weekend. The bonfires are due to be set ablaze on July 11th, the
eve of the height of the marching season the ‘Twelfth’, which
commemorates a famous 17th century Protestant battle victory over
Catholics.
Loyalist flags glorifying the ultra-right British National Party and the
openly racist English MP Enoch Powell have also begun appearing in west
Belfast. One such flag, which carries the words “Enoch Powell was right”
was put up close to one bonfire site. The flag is understood to be a
reference to Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech warning of
racial conflict. Elsewhere, intimidatory flags have begun appearing
outside Catholic churches in County Antrim.
TALKS
Tensions are also building in north Belfast after a nationalist
residents group said it had been excluded from dialogue organised by
local churchmen to deal with loyalist demands for an Orange parade on
the Twelfth through the nationalist areas of Ardoyne, Mountainview and
The Dales.
Announcing multi-party talks due to begin at Stormont on Wednesday,
British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers said she was most concerned at the
situation in north Belfast which she said was “volatile”. She said the
ongoing loyalist ‘protest camp’ at the interface with the Twaddell Road
had made things “extremely difficult”.
All sides should accept the decision of the Parades Commission regarding
this year’s parade, she said: “The crucial thing is that whatever their
determination is that it is respected”.
Nationalist residents spokesman Dee Fennell said attempts to exclude his
more hardline Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) from talks to
resolve the dispute were “disappointing and unhelpful”.
Pointing to loyalist calls for all stakeholders to be included in the
talks, he said that it was not “appropriate to exclude a legitimate
residents’ group in the area from any process that would hopefully end
sectarian parades through this area”.