Posted by Jim on January 25, 2014
Former unionist firebrand Ian Paisley has publicly accused the current
leadership of the party he founded of betraying him and of suddenly, and
brutally, ousting him.
In the second part of a televised interview broadcast on British
television, Paisley also criticises his successor Peter Robinson for
losing the DUP Westminster seat in east Belfast, and contrasts it with
the performance of his son who had a “marvellous victory” in North
Antrim.
And in a spectacular assault on the current DUP leader’s family, Ian
Paisley’s wife Eileen branded the Robinsons as a source of “sleaze” — a
clear reference to Iris Robinson’s scandalous affair with a 19-year-old
youth.
Describing his ouster to journalist Eamonn Mallie, Paisley says he was
leaving for a meeting in Dublin in February 2008 when he was confronted
by Robinson, DUP MP Nigel Dodds, and his own special adviser Timothy
Johnston. He says Mr Dodds told him he was to be out of office by the
end of the week.
“He said: ‘We want you gone by Friday’.
“I just more or less smirked, and Peter said: ‘Oh no, no he needs to
stay in for another couple of months’.”
“One wanted two months to prepare the way for himself and the other
one… I don’t know what he wanted,” he said.
The man famous for shouting ‘Never’, and for denouncing decades of peace
talks, ultimately won the renegotiation of the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement and secured a triple-lock guarantee of unionist majority rule.
But he also found himself as First Minister at the Stormont Six-County
Assembly — alongside Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister, unionist hate
figure Martin McGuiness.
Amid upheaval in unionism and after coming intense pressure from
colleagues, Ian Paisley announced his resignation as first minister in
2008, just a year after Paisley signed the St Andrew’s Agreement.
Peter Robinson took over as both first minister and DUP leader, while
Ian Paisley’s son, Ian Paisley Jr, was sidelined. But Robinson was then
beset with difficulties when it emerged his wife Iris, then also a DUP
MP, had had an affair with a teenager.
The fall-out from the episode was one of the factors attributed to Mr
Robinson losing his East Belfast Westminster seat in the 2010 general
election.
Paisley said: “The man that they put in my position couldn’t keep his
own seat in Westminster, and my son who followed me had a marvellous
victory [easily winning his father’s Westminster seat in north Antrim]
“And for once we are seeing the true nature of the beast – that there
was a beast here who was prepared to go forward to the destruction of
the party, because losing seats in Northern Ireland is very serious and
for East Belfast not to be a unionist seat in the House of Commons is a
terrible blow.”
Commenting on accusations of corruption against her son, Ian Jr, Mrs
Paisley tells the documentary:
“Ian’s name was cleared by the authorities in Stormont, everything that
was said against him was proved to be false and he never brought any
sleaze. His wife didn’t do anything wrong, he didn’t do anything wrong.
“There was nothing morally wrong with his character or his life. And we
know eventually where the sleaze did come from.
“It came in the home of the man who is now leader himself, Peter
Robinson, it came from his family, not from the Paisley family.”
However, the shifting power dynamic has seen the Paisley family
increasingly marginalised by unionist hardliners, such as former DUP
founder Desmond Boal, and even the extremist anti-Catholic church they
helped to found.
In the documentary, Mr Paisley said he was forced to retire from the
Free Presbyterian Church in early 2012. A letter from elders in the
church requesting he step down precipitated the move.
His wife described the letter from the kirk as “absolutely shattering”.
“It was hurtful that was the way they thought they would treat us,” he
says.
Posted by Jim on January 18, 2014
By Gerry Adams (for Leargas)
The Good Friday Agreement marked a historic shift in politics on the
island of Ireland and put in place a firm foundation from which it is
possible to continue building the peace process. For the first time
since partition, almost 100 years ago, there is an international
agreement involving the Irish and British governments, as well as
nationalist, republican and unionist parties on a way forward. This
includes power sharing political institutions which have the support of
the overwhelming majority of citizens.
The GFA tackles constitutional issues, political and institutional
matters, policing, weapons, justice and equality, and more. Subsequent
agreements at St. Andrews and Hillsborough built on this progress.
However, not all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement have been
implemented and outstanding issues like flags and emblems; the legacy of
the past; parades; equality and the status of the Irish language, as
well as culture and identity issues have continued to bedevil the
process.
This time last year Belfast witnessed rioting as loyalists attacked the
PSNI, the nationalist Short Strand area; and held illegal demonstrations
demanding the right to fly the Union flag whenever and wherever they
wanted. This issue and protests over orange parades have placed a
significant strain at times on the political institutions.
For that reason and because all of these difficult issues are not going
to go away the First and Deputy First Ministers – Peter Robinson and
Martin McGuinness – invited U.S. diplomats Richard Haass and Meghan O
Sullivan to come to the north and to chair an All Party Group to
‘consider and make recommendations on matters including parades and
protests; flags, symbols, emblems and related matters; and the Past’.
Just before Christmas the negotiations entered an intense phase. The
Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle met on December 23rd and authorised our talk’s
team to conclude an agreement with the other parties to be considered by
a subsequent meeting of the Ard Chomhairle. In the last plenary
session, in the early hours of Christmas Eve morning, the Sinn Fein
negotiators told the other delegates that ‘we believe there is the basis
for an agreement on the mechanisms proposed to deal with the three
issues under consideration.’
But despite a succession of amended draft proposals from the two US
Diplomats the talks failed to reach agreement. There was a real sense
of public disappointment at that outcome, which Sinn Fein shared.
Progress had been made and the Sinn Fein negotiating team believed that
agreement could be reached.
Unionists indicated that they had serious problems with important parts
of the proposals.
However, Richard Haass and Meghan O Sullivan agreed to return for one
last push between Christmas and New Year. The negotiations recommenced
only to conclude after 5 am on December 31st without agreement. By that
stage we had reached the seventh draft of the Haass proposals. Some in
the media interpreted this as an abject failure. It wasn’t. The process
has not concluded.
The Haass proposals have now to be brought to each of the five party
leaderships by their negotiating teams. It is up to those leaderships to
decide whether the proposals offer another step forward and what should
happen next.
In my view significant progress was made and in particular on two of the
three issues – Parades, Select Commemorations and Protests; and
Contending with the Past and the proposals produced by Dr Haass and
Meghan O’Sullivan do provide the basis for an agreement.
Of course, like every negotiation the document that has been produced is
a compromise position. Sinn Fein would like to have seen some aspects
strengthened and improved further. However agreement on everything was
not possible. This is particularly the case on the Flags issue. Like
others we have little confidence that the proposed Commission on
Identity, Culture and Tradition will resolve these issues. We
nevertheless welcome the potential of this process for further
mainstreaming parity of esteem and equality.
I was also disappointed that issues like Acht Na Gaeilge and the
development at Maze/Long Kesh which were part of previous agreements,
were not advanced. They remain to be resolved in the time ahead. These
issues are not going away. Much more work is required on parity of
esteem, equality and respect for all cultures and identities.
Sinn Fein has consistently advocated direct meaningful dialogue as the
best means of resolving the few remaining parading disputes. In the
absence of dialogue or a failure to reach agreement over contentious
parades there is an obvious requirement for a robust regulatory body.
The proposals contained in the Haass paper meet that demand.
And over a decade ago Sinn Fein proposed the establishment of an
Independent International Truth Commission. In our view that remains the
best option. But a basis for compromise on this issue has been proposed.
That is what the majority of our people want. Closure for victims and
survivors is the real benchmark against which this proposition will in
time be judged.
It is a fact that the issues of parades, flags and emblems and the
legacy of the past cannot be ignored. They are too important. There is
an onus on the Irish and British governments and all of the parties to
maintain the momentum that was created in recent weeks and to build on
the progress achieved.
To this end I called for all of the parties not to fudge their response
to the Haass proposals. I called for clear statements of support.
Regrettably the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP have decided not to
support the proposals. The difference between these two parties is
purely tactical. The DUP said more work needed to be done to the
proposals and called for an all-party working group to be established
while the Ulster Unionist Party has rejected the Haass proposals as
neither ‘viable or acceptable’. Two slightly different ways of Ulster
Saying No! With Peter Robinson taking a slightly more nuanced position
than Michael Nesbitt. Beag an difir.
Irish Republicans have stretched ourselves in the negotiations and we
are up for the challenge the Haass proposals contain. The Sinn Fein Ard
Chomhairle of the Party will meet this Saturday to review the outcome of
the talks process, and agree our response.
This is a time for political leaders to lead. Unionist leaders are
failing their constituents and ignoring the clear desire by the vast
majority of citizens who want to see agreement on these outstanding
issues.
The Haass paper can aid this project. I would urge anyone interested in
the future to access it online, and read and consider the proposals it
contains.
* The proposals are online at http://northernireland.gov.uk/haass.pdf
Posted by Jim on
The Council of Europe has accused the Stormont administration of
blocking the growth and promotion of the Irish language in the north of
Ireland.
It said hostile attitudes by government officials were preventing its
use in the courts and in education, and warned that Stormont was also in
breach of a charter of rights because of delays and attempts to block
requests for bilingual street names.
One unionist councillor in county Fermanagh recently described the Irish
language as ‘foreign and gnomish’ and, in a leaked e-mail, vowed to
fight the “introduction” of Irish to Enniskillen — a town whose name
was anglicised in the 17th century from the Irish ‘Inis Ceithleann’.
The European review of minority languages also said the British
government has not been able to justify banning the use of Irish in the
courts, or allowing people to take citizenship tests through the
language.
The Council of Europe criticised attitudes to Irish in some official
circles and what it said is the Stormont Assembly’s “persisting hostile
climate”.
Caral Ni Chuilin, Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure who is
responsible for overall promotion of the language, said she hoped this
would change.
But she pointed out any change to policy on languages in the north of
Ireland requires the agreement of the Executive and Assembly, ands is
therefore subject to a unionist veto.
“I hope that all supporters of the Irish language will work together to
convince the Executive, the Assembly and all our people of the merits of
supporting an Irish Language Act,” she said.
The review team hit out at the lack of the long-awaited Irish Language
Act, originally agreed as part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement;
Irish-medium pre-schools; primary education in Irish; and free school
transport for Irish language schools, despite a recent judicial review
case against the Department of Education on the issue.
COMMISSIONER RESIGNS
Meanwhile, in the 26 Counties, a nationwide campaign to address the
Dublin government’s failure to provide ongoing support for the Irish
language is due to be launched in the coming weeks.
Over 200 people attended a public meeting in Dublin recently organised
by Conradh na Gaeilge in response to the resignation last month of an
Commisineir Teanga Sean O Cuirreain.
The meeting heard that Mr O Cuirreain quit his position in protest at
the failure by the Dublin government to implement legislation designed
to improve services to the public through Irish.
“Sean O Cuirreain’s resignation has really galvanised people – there is
a real sense of crisis that needs to be addressed,” said Conradh na
Gaeilge general secretary, Julian de Spainn.
ANTI-GAELIC RACISM
And in a bizarre development, a Glasgow private hire driver refused to
allow visitors to speak Irish Gaelic in his car — even though Gaelic is
also a native language in Scotland.
The man, who has not been named, reportedly threw the Donegal visitors
out at the side of the road at 2am after they objected to his demand
that they stop speaking in Irish.
Kathleen McAleer, a local mental health nurse, said her cousins were
talking to each other in Gaelic, which is their first language. “The
taxi driver turned around and said to them ‘Stop speaking in that
language’. We didn’t really know how to take it. He said: ‘When you are
in Britain, it is English you speak.’
“I said to the driver ‘Excuse me’, shocked that somebody would say that
to them. I said: ‘That is out of order’. He then said: ‘If they want to
speak in that language they can get out of my taxi.’ So we got out and
said we wouldn’t pay.”
The driver is currently under investigation under hate legislation.
Posted by Jim on
After almost four years in jail without charge, Irish prisoner of
conscience Martin Corey was released from custody on Wednesday — but
only on condition that he stay away from the media and his home town
or face being returned to jail.
Mr Corey was hidden from members of the press who had gathered outside
the Maghaberry jail on Wednesday night. He was taken out in a
blacked-out prison van directly to a train station where he was
released to his lawyer.
A British official said: “The Parole Commissioners have decided to
release Martin Corey on a licence that is subject to conditions which
are designed to manage the risk they assess him to pose.”
Two of those conditions are that Mr Corey is forbidden to give media
interviews and also that he must not live in or near his home in
Lurgan, County Armagh.
The 63-year-old has been in prison since he was ordered to be interned
by the then British Direct Ruler Shaun Woodward, in April 2010, on the
basis of “closed material”.
His lawyers had been preparing a challenge to his detention in the
European court on the basis that he was unable to defend himself against
‘secret’ allegations. The Parole Commission considered his case late
last year and had been due to reveal its decision before Christmas.
He has never been told why he was detained or what, if any, evidence
there was against him. It was reported the Lurgan man was only told on
Wednesday that he would be freed within hours.
Although still officially denied, his imprisonment is widely seen as a
an example of the modern use of internment without trial by the British
Crown forces.
Cait Trainor from the Release Martin Corey Campaign welcomed his release
but said the manner in which it took place spoke volumes.
“It is clear the continued imprisonment of Martin Corey was a political
embarrassment to the Northern Ireland Office and he was released in a
way that would ensure minimum publicity,” she said.
“The British government, secretary of state and all those involved in
the internment of Martin Corey showed contempt for human rights and were
involved in a despotic policy of ruling by decree.”
Other conditions believed to have been imposed on Mr Corey include
restrictions on his attendance at certain public and social events.
The Parole Commissioners are protected by legislation which ensures the
public are prevented from scrutinising the parole process. But Brian
Gormally, director for the Committee on the Administration of Justice,
said the commissioners should explain the process and make public their
reasons for imposing the release conditions.
The CAJ is awaiting the outcome of a judicial review, having challenged
the commissioners for refusing to allow its members to act as
independent observers during parole hearings.
“If indeed there has been a blanket ban on speaking to the media about
the determination that seems a clear infringement on the right to
freedom of expression,” Mr Gormally said.
Sinn Fein Assembly member for west Belfast, Jennifer McCann said the
case has jeopardised the public’s trust in the justice system.
“He was held without any due process, he has never been questioned from
being arrested about any specific incident and indeed his lawyers have
never been able to challenge any of the secret evidence that was bought
before the parole commissioners,” she said.
“I believe if they had anything to charge Martin Corey with that they
would have done it.”
She said Sinn Fein had consistently raised the issue, and she was glad
he was now free to return to his family.
“There are very clear lessons which present themselves to the British
government,” she said.
“The arrest and detention of people without any evidence being presented
cannot be justified in any terms.”
Posted by Jim on January 17, 2014
The loyalist body politic pretty much started off 2014 the way they have in 30 previous years. They rejected compromise. This time it was the one crafted by Richard Haass and Professor Meghan O’Sullivan to address the contentious issues of flag protocols, parades and how to address the legacy of murder and mayhem left by Britain in the North. Let us not despair but instead look at the actions which might be possible This list includes some wished for happenings in the North and, just as important, things that we hope and pray will NOT happen! Were all these things wished for come to past, I have no doubt that 2014 will be, as the Chairman of the Board crooned, “..a very good year!
1. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee announces that he will hold hearings on the implementation of the 1998 Belfast Agreement with a particular focus on the three ‘justice’ provisions of the Treaty which the United Kingdom has all but ignored or failed to implement.
2. The Irish government will bring the U. K. to the European Court of Human Rights and to the International Court of Justice for violations of the so-called Good Friday Agreement, an accord registered with the United Nations.
3. Her Majesty’s government announces that instead of complaining about the expense of investigating and prosecuting the killers of over 1000 Catholic civilians, select Crown jewels will be sold or otherwise used for collateral to raise the necessary funds.
4. PBS in America runs the BBS Panorama documentary titled BRITAIN’S SECRET TERROR FORCE and PBS Host Charlie Rose interviews Ms. Anne Cadwallader to discuss her latest book LETHAL ALLIES which depicts the pervasive and sinister nature of Britain’s collusion with loyalist murder gangs.
5. The U. S. Department of State will NOT continue to cover-up British trashing of the 1998 Belfast Agreement and its annual Human Rights Report will accurately reflect the United Kingdom’s attempt to get away with murder of more than 1000 Catholics, the mass murder of the no-warning bombings of Dublin and Monaghan and the murder of attorney Patrick Finucane.
6. The U. S. Joint Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) exposes the ongoing efforts of Britain to destabilize N. I. by corrupting law, justice and human rights and submits a report to the Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate recommending sanctions and rebuke for failure to abide by the ‘Good Friday’ Agreement .
7. Prime Minister David Cameron announces that Great Britain will no longer hide behind abuse of the 30 year document release requirement of the freedom of information statute which, for ‘security purposes’, exempts N. I. from the time limit stipulation. This has in the past been used to to deny victims truth and delay the day of justice.
8. Speaker of the U. S. House John Boehner and Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid announce that Britain’ admission to the murder of attorney Patrick Finucane means those who conspired to kill the human and civil rights advocate will be subject to the sanctions stipulated in the Sergei Magnitsky law named after the attorney murdered by the Russian government.
9. Taoiseach Enda Kenny acknowledges the irony between his opposition to amnesty for those responsible for murder in the N. I. conflict and his failure to demand British action on the Dublin-Monaghan bombing perpetrators and their British Army handlers.
10. The British government announces that it supports the Haass proposal for a Historical Investigations of Catholic murders which will have subpoena power and welcomes the contribution of $30 million from the U. S. for the cost of the investigations, the approximate amount of money the U. S. gave to the U. N. investigation into the murder of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri in 2005.
11. Journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards and Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan finally retire and call an end to their life long obsession opposing Irish unity and the political leaders who espouse it.
12. The Irish Attorney General Alan Shatter announces his opposition to any effort to end the hunt for and prosecution of Nazi’s for their crimes while defending his record of doing absolutely nothing to pursue those who conspired to commit the largest ever criminal act in the State and in the entire Anglo-Irish conflict, the no warning bombings of Dublin Monaghan Towns with a loss of 33 innocent civilians lives.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “America will exhaust all other possibilities before doing the right thing.” We wish, hope and pray that the United Kingdom, having exhausted every avenue to avoid accountability for its actions in Northern Ireland will, in 2014, do the right thing and will do so prompted by a new ‘special relationship’ between the Irish and American governments.
Michael J. Cummings, Member
Irish American Unity Conference