Posted by admin on September 3, 2012
A commemoration for the Protestant republican Henry Joy McCracken, the founder of the United Irishmen, was attacked by a loyalist mob this evening, triggering a wave of rioting in north Belfast.
It was the second time the annual event, organised by the Republican Network for Unity (RNU) has been held.
Last weekend, the PSNI police ignored a decision of the Parades Commission ordering loyalist bands not to engaging in sectarian provocation outside the Catholic St Patrick’s church, near the nationalist Carrickhill area. A protest by nationalist residents was attacked by loyalists amid ugly scenes which have fuelled tensions throughout the week.
The commemoration this evening passed through the nationalist New Lodge and North Queen Street areas, before continuing past Carrickhill to Clifton Street cemetery, where the Irish patriot is buried.
While walking to the cemetery, participants came under a sustained attack from loyalists, including well known figures from within the paramilitary UVF, who had gathered from early morning.
Marchers were showered with a barrage of bricks, stones, golf balls and bottles. Several were badly injured, including children.
Inexplicably, the PSNI had allowed the loyalist mob to gather within metres of the agreed route, ensuring that an outbreak of violence was inevitable.
The RNU said only the efforts of its stewards prevented large-scale hand-to-hand fighting after the mob were able to enter an apartment complex beside the Clifton Street cemetery. Throughout the ceremony, loyalists continued to attack those gathered and at one stage managed to scale the walls. At one point, a small child who was carrying a wreath was injured by a missile.
The RNU blamed DUP Minister Nelson McCausland for bringing negative publicity to the McCracken commemoration in comments he posted on the internet during the week.
“It is our opinion that this is what has motivated elements within the Shankill UVF to organise today’s planned attack,” the group said. “By contrast, last year’s parade passed off without incident.”
“RNU state categorically that we were not to blame for today’s trouble; we are an anti-sectarian organisation and were on our way to honour a fine protestant Republican when we were attacked.
“It is unfortunate that today’s trouble took place at all. We will do all that we can to help ease any tensions in the area.”
Local nationalist youths became involved in sporadic clashes which have deteriorated into full-scale rioting tonight. Trouble is continuing at the Carlisle Circus and Clifton St areas.
The PSNI has deployed water-cannon to the area, but notably did not manage to prevent loyalists attacking a nursing home for old age pensioners at Carlisle Circus.
Sinn Fein Assembly member Fra McCann said a petrol-bomb attack on the home of a Catholic family earlier this evening was also linked to the trouble.
He said: “Only that the Housing Executive have put in place reinforced glass, this attack would have been even worse. There are five children who live in this house and this can only be described as attempted murder by those responsible.”
An Orange Hall in north Belfast was also reported to have been vandalised during the disturbances.
Posted by Jim on September 2, 2012
A row has developed between Protestant church leaders and the anti-Catholic loyal orders following Saturday’s Royal Black Institution march in Belfast.
Two senior Protestant clergymen branded the actions of loyalist bands outside a Catholic Church during the march by the Orange Order’s senior organisation as “blatantly sectarian”.
Their statements mark a significant break between the Protestant churches and the loyal orders over sectarian parades in the north of Ireland.
Fighting broke out and a full-scale riot was narrowly averted when loyalist marchers and the PSNI police jointly ignored a ruling of the Parades Commission through north central Belfast last weekend.
The PSNI made no effort to prevent the highly controversial Young Conway Volunteers (YCV) flute band from parading past St. Patrick’s Catholic church at the corner of Carrick Hill and Donegall Street — contrary to the determination of the Commission, which is supposed to be legally binding.
The YCV and other bands engaged in a number of deliberately offensive and sectarian acts outside the church, to cheers from thousands of loyalists who had gathered nearby. Members of the bands and their supporters roared sectarian abuse at the church and local Catholics.
Bandsmen not only defied the Parades Commission ruling to play only a single drum beat passing the church, but instead played even louder with several playing ‘The Sash’ at the doors of St Patrick’s.
The Shankill Road band had previously signalled its intention to ignore the determination, issuing messages that they would “walk and play”.
It had been banned from walking down part of Clifton Street and Donegall Street after it played the sectarian Famine Song (while marching in circles outside St Patrick’s Church) during the Twelfth of July events.
Nationalist residents from Carrick Hill had a banner calling on the loyalists to ‘Respect St Patrick’s’ ripped out of their hands, before the loyalist mob surged forward and hand-to-hand fighting broke out.
Presbyterian moderator, the Rev Roy Patton and Church ofIreland primate ArchbishopAlan Harper described the behaviour of some of those involved in the parade as “unacceptable”.
“I think we would be very clear as a Church that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and is not in keeping with the values that the loyal orders espouse,” Mr Patton said.
“As a Church we deem such behaviour to be unacceptable.
“How can you expect your own cultural and religious beliefs to be respected if you don’t respect those of others?”
Archbishop Harper saidthere was “no defence” for the actions.
“We recognise that people have particular issues, perhaps with the Parades Commission, but this is not the way to deal with them andsuch behaviour is inconsistent with any profession of Christian faith,” he said.
Whether or not the action were in defiance of the Parades Commission, the outcome was “blatantly sectarian”, he said.
“We’ve spent a long time examining sectarianism within our own Church and we are very clear that sort of thing is not acceptable and is no way to build a harmonious society.
“That is wholly unacceptable to me and to the Church of Ireland.”
Ultra hardliner unionist Jim Allister of the TUV launched a stinging attack on the two churchmen. They should not “attack the Loyal Orders for doing something which they have done for generations without any problems arising,” he said.
But the SDLP’s Alban Maginness welcomed the leadership shown by the Protestant church leaders.
He said: “Hopefully people will listen carefully to the advice of these pastors, and those unionist politicians who have refused to condemn the blatant acts of sectarianism outside St Patrick’s will now reassess their position and show some leadership.”
PSNI ‘MUST EXPLAIN’
As reaction continued to Saturday’s events, the Catholic bishop Noel Treanor this week called on the PSNI to explain why “no visible effort”
was made to prevent loyalist bands from defying Parades Commission rulings during Saturday’s Royal Black Institution parade.
Dr Treanor, the Bishop of Down and Connor, said he was “appalled by the provocative sectarianism and insulting behaviour of some participants in the parade directly in front of St Patrick’s Church.”
He added: “That no visible effort appears to have been made to enforce the lawful restrictions imposed on Saturday’s march will have caused great surprise and concern to many and deserves to be explained by the PSNI.”
He also criticised an open letter signed by several high-profile unionists, including First Minister Peter Robinson, which warned of trouble ahead of the parade and called for the scrapping of the Parades Commission.
Meanwhile, Carrick Hill residents were praised for standing up to the sectarian actions of the loyalist bandsmen by their parish priest, FrMichael Sheehan of St. Patrick’s.
He spoke of his shock at the bandsmen’s behaviour but said he was “proud, elated and encouraged” by those “who stood tall in the midst of such dreadful sectarian hatred and venom”.
Posted by admin on August 29, 2012
Gerry McGeough sends his congratulations to the organizers of the Tyrone Civil Rights March that took place Sunday, August 26, 2012. Gerry said we must all continue to stand up for justice and democracy and there is no welcome in Ireland for the English establishment and they should slither back to their own swamp of a country. All the English empire has brought to Ireland, and other countries, is misery, conflict and evil. The sooner the English empire becomes ancient history, the better for the world. Long live democracy!
Posted by Jim on August 24, 2012
What is it about the British? They throw a wonderful Olympic party, for which we all can be grateful Prince Harry kept his clothes on. No doubt Her Majesty’s Government gave VIP treatment and freebies to hundreds of U. S. government employees for their loyalty to the Crown. Such amenities are the mother’s milk of the ‘special relationship.’ What’s not to like? Alas British hospitality comes with a price.
Last week it was revealed that a British bank, Standard Chartered, whose Board has at least 4 Directors with ties to the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense, admitted ignoring U. S. and U. N. sanctions against Iran and laundered oil transactions to the tune of $200 billion dollars. As the late Sen. Everett Dirksen once said: “Pretty soon you are talking serious money!” That is only the amount admitted in an indictment to which the bank recently plead guilty in the State of New York. All this lawlessness was going on even as President Obama was signing a law to increase and strengthen the sanctions. Talk about dissing a President and the members of Congress who supported the measure like the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
But save your sympathy for Ireland. The coalition government there rolled out the green carpet and spent money it could ill afford for a Queen who praised the new atmosphere of cooperation all the while her Government was working feverishly to unravel the Irish peace process and escape accountability for decades of murder, corruption and human rights violations. Do not believe me? Just thumb through the reports submitted by the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Relatives for Justice, British-Irish Rights Watch recently submitted to Congressman Chris Smith and Senator Ben Cardin, Co-Chairs of the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
So is it their bullying arrogance, their rank hypocrisy or mischievous meddling which is more obnoxious? Some say it is the insufferable hypocrisy of the UK criticizing China for its persecution of attorney Cheng Guangcheng. Just months before
Britain admitted colluding in the murder of Irish human rights attorney Patrick Finucane. This collusion came as a surprise to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who recently held a press conference in Washington with Cheng. Others believe it is their bullying arrogance as typified by the phone hacking engaged in by British-owned News Corp. Senator Rockefeller intends to use the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should there be evidence of hacking in America. The smart money is on boodles of hacking Stateside. Or for that matter what better display of arrogance than the imperial dismissal of the Irish governments request for British Army documents related to the largest act of slaughter of the conflict, the no-warning car bombing of Dublin & Monaghan shopping centers. The cars were delivered and bombs were primed by British Army members and handlers. As the song goes “..and they dare to call me a terrorist….” But my personal favorite is their obnoxious meddling in the affairs of another country, something they always complained about when countries objected to their crushing of the civil rights movement, their corruption of the rule of law, media censorship or their destruction of democracy with political assassinations. Fearful of a political party’s success in Ireland Britain has chosen to meddle in America by using Attorney General Holder to subpoena tapes held in the Irish archives of Boston College. This could be a win-win for Britain. They might get the tapes and spin them to try and influence Ireland’s politics. That surrender by the Obama administration could offend constituencies in key States and thereby insure that Britain will get a chance to put that second bust of Winston Churchill back in the White House.
If this subpoena is enforced and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) is abused, it will be the most spectacular insult to a President and Congress since the 1812 burning of the White House. Consider. Attorney General Holder initiated the subpoena prompted by an ex-Royal Ulster Constabulary member of the much maligned Special Branch based upon an interview of Marian Price, who is opposed to the Irish peace process. Her claim being that a now Sinn Fein leader had something to do with a killing 40 years earlier at the height of civil unrest in N. I. The 1998 Belfast peace treaty addressed all that or so believes the Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator John Kerry. The insult to the intelligence to every sitting member of Congress and the Obama administration can be found in these facts:
· From 1971-1973 in N. I 183 people were killed by the British Army. Not one soldier was prosecuted.
· 1984 Sir Patrick Mayhew says evidence of wrongdoing by 11 RUC officers in a dozen murders but states “not in interest of State to prosecute.
· Stevens Report is so damaging it cannot be released in full. A released summary states that “..many innocent people were murdered.”
· 5 elected Sinn Fein officials murdered by collusion. Nothing to compare in any modern democracy. No investigation or prosecution.
· Over 800 Catholic murders were to be re-examined per the Belfast Treaty because there were no arrests or prosecutions.
Now the British government would have the Attorney Generaland others believe a bona fide criminal investigation is underway in this singular case.
Who will hold Britain accountable for this mockery of justice, democracy and the rule of law? Will it be Representatives Sherman, Deutch, Berman and Senator Kirk who claimed that those ignoring sanctions on Iran and Syria will “..face serious consequences?” Let no one think for a minute the British government was surprised by the 5 year Project Gazelle of Standard Chartered bank. Perhaps President Obama will overrule Attorney General Holder or he will issue an MLAT request to prosecute the real crimes of Standard Chartered. Or Secretary of State Clinton may bail him out by assessing the threat to the Irish peace process. Maybe Senator Kerry will seek a delay on delivering anything to the British until a full Senate hearing is held to determine the validity of not only the request but the worthiness of the requestor. Stay tuned.
Michael J. Cummings, Member
National Board
Posted by Jim on
By Joseph Vincent McNulty
It has been 44 years since the first historical civil rights march from
Coalisland to Dungannon demanding civil and human rights. I was proud to
walk that walk as a young man. It is beyond belief that nearly all the
injustices and denial of people’s rights still exist today in 2012 and
that we have to march again for the same rights.
The housing waiting list in the Dungannon area is more severe than 1968.
The Irish Language Act has been binned with no consultation with
interested parties.
Unemployment is at record levels with immigration ri e among young
people. Swingeing cuts of #4 billion have been implemented by the
British government and meekly rubber stamped by a ser vile Stormont
administration. Sickness benefit, disability living allowance, housing
benefit to be slashed (under 25s to get no housing benefit at all)
affecting the most vulnerable in society. Schools have been closed
without consultation.
Internment without trial has raised its ugly head again in the case of
Marian Price. No jury Diplock courts; 28-day detention orders (it used
to be seven days); brutality and strip searching of prisoners with a
number still on a dirt protest. No inquests after 20 years for families.
Supergrass trials are also given the green light again, which is
totally wrong.
There is not one acute hospital in the county of Tyrone and health cuts
are taking place all over the nor th of Ireland. What are the MLAs from
every party doing about all these abuses? Nothing it seems. House
repossessions are also on the increase.
A civil rights march will take place from Coalisland to Dungannon this
Sunday at 2.30pm to highlight all of the above abuses of Br it ish
government and Stormont neglect of t he ordinary citizen.
We need to demonst rate that this will not be tolerated any longer. This
march is non-party political and people from all religions and none are
very welcome to attend. If you care, you will be there.