News about the Irish & Irish American culture, music, news, sports. This is hosted by the Irish Aires radio show on KPFT-FM 90.1 in Houston, Texas (a Pacifica community radio station)

May 06, 2009

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My Favorite Goggle Searches

Sinn Fein (Blogs) (From US Sources Only) (From Irish Sources Only) (From UK Sources Only)
Loyalists (Blogs) (yahoo) (msn)
RUC
Irish Republican Army (For US Sources Only) (For Irish Sources Only) (yahoo) (msn)
Bloody Sunday (yahoo) (msn)
Holy Cross School Belfast - Short Strand (msn)
Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (Blog)
Irish Northern Aid (Noraid) or Irish American Unity Conference (Blog)
Ciaran Ferry OR Pat Finucane OR Rosemary Nelson OR Robert Hamill
Malachy McAllister or Peter McBride OR Pol Brennan OR Pearse Jordan (Blogs)
Sectarianism in Ireland
Martin McGuinness or Gerry Adams or Mark Durkin
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Fr Sean Mc Manus
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Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH or LAOH)
Orange Order or Apprentice Boys
Irish America (Blog) (yahoo) (msn)
Dublin or Cork or Galway or Belfast or Derry (From US Sources Only)
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US UK Extradition Treaty
Houston Irish Celtic
KPFT Jay Dooling O’Flaherty (Blog) (yahoo) (msn)
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My Favorite News Sources

An Ploblacht - 04/11/09
BBC - Northern Ireland - 07/21/02
BBC Radio News
Belfast Media - 4/10/09
Belfast Telegraph - 8/3/97
C-SPAN Networks - 10/13/97
Daily Ireland - 03/23/05
Democracy Now -Search of Ireland - 12/17/04
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)
Derry Journal - 11/17/04
The Epoch Times - Irish Edition - 01/10/06
Guardian - Northern Ireland Report - 01/06/02
Ireland On-Line Breaking News - 11/09/02
IrelandClick.com -$$- (Link Updated 5/26/00, 08/25/01)
Irish News
The Irish People (Link updated 9/16/97, 08/26/01, 11/04/04)
Irish Times on the Web (Link updated 03/03/09)
News Letter - 11/07/04
NPR (National Public Radio) Search for Irish News - 12/05/04
RTE TV News - 12/11/04
RTE Radio News - 12/11/04
SDLP News
Sinn Fein News Room - 08/03/03
Sunday Business Post - 10/03/04
Sunday Life
Sunday Tribune
Ulster Herald - 07/02/05
Ulster TV (UTV) - 11/15/08
Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)
The Universe - 08/20/05
Newshound: Links to daily newspaper articles about Northern Ireland - 7/27/97

All The Searches & Sources
Google Searches for Latest News on Irish Subjects

Sinn Fein
Democratic Unionist Party or Ulster Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party or Social Democratic & Labour Party
Alliance Party or Irish Republican Socialist Party
Fianna Fail or Fine Gael or Progressive Democrats
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Martin McGuinness or Gerry Adams or Mark Durkin
David Trimble or Ian Paisley

Sports

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Other Irish Sports

Specific Subjects

Loyalists
Irish Republican Army
IRA Members
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Holy Cross School Belfast - Short Strand
Bloody Sunday
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Orange Order or Apprentice Boys
Hostages: Annetta Flanigan OR Margaret Hassan
Ciaran Ferry or Pat Finucane or Rosemary Nelson or John McNicholl or Robert Hammill
Malachy McAllister or Peter McBride OR Pearse Jordan
Colombia 3
Eamon de Velera or Michael Collins or Patrick Pearse or Constance Markievicz
Jack Yeats or WB Yeats or Connemara or Book of Kells or James Joyce
Jim Larkin or James Connolly or Samuel Beckett or Patrick Kavanagh or Brendan Behan
Bobby Sands or Hunger Strikers

Broad Searches

Ireland or Irish
Northern Ireland
Ulster
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Irish America
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Public News Sources

BBC - Northern Ireland - 07/21/02
Belfast Telegraph - 8/3/97
Galway Advertiser - Local News
Irish Examiner - 09/01/01
Democracy Now -Search of Ireland - 12/17/04
Derry Journal - 11/17/04
Free Speech Radio News - 12/26/04
Guardian - Northern Ireland Report - 01/06/02
Ireland On-Line Breaking News - 11/09/02
IrelandClick.com -$$- (Link Updated 5/26/00, 08/25/01)
Irish Independent Online - 10/08/97 (Link Working 02/09/02)
Irish Republican Media - $$ - 08/30/03 (Link Updated 11/26/03)
Irish Times on the Web -$$- (Link updated 12/25/97)
News Letter - 11/07/04
RTE Irish News - 08/11/04
Sinn Fein News Room - 08/03/03
Sunday Business Post - 10/03/04

Ulster TV (UTV) - 09/01/01
The Universe - 08/20/05

News Services

Irish-American Information Service - 9/17/97
Newshound: Links to daily newspaper articles about Northern Ireland - 7/27/97

Other Sources of News

24 Hr. Irish News TV on the Net - 02/22/02
Tartan TV - 11/29/02
Ireland on Sunday (Link not working 08/03/03) - 8/25/01
Aertel- Teletext Page - Breaking Irish News - 5/18/97
Foinse -The Irish National Newspaper - 4/26/98
Irish News - $$ - 8/18/99
Sunday Business Post Online - 01/06/02
Irish Medical News - 09/30/01
Independent Media Centre - Ireland - (Link not working 08/03/03) - 11/24/02
icNorthernIreland.co.uk - 08/03/03
Irish Farmer's Journal - 01/06/02
Ireland Today - Yahoo - 8/15/99 (Link Updated 2/21/00)

Yahoo! - Northern Ireland Peace Process -10/05/97 (Link Updated 8/18/99)
Irish Emigrant Ltd, Galway (Link updated 10/04/97)
Talk Ireland - The Irish Connection - 09/05/02
PA NewsCentre - 5/4/97
NPR (National Public Radio) Search for Irish News - 12/05/04
Electronic Telegraph - UK News Index 12/29/96
BBC News - 11/27/97
The Scotsman - 11/10/02
Irish Voice Online Homepage (Link Updated 11/30/97, 01/02/02)
Irish Echo - 4/2/00
Irish America Magazine - 12/29/96 (Link Updated 11/30/97)
Hornpipe - Irish Dance, Music & Culture in North America - 03/29/02
The Irish People (Link updated 9/16/97, 08/26/01, 11/04/04)
AP/RN News (Link Updated 8/18/99, 08/03/03)
RM_Distribution Home Page - 3/14/97
4NI - N. Ireland on the Intenet - News - 11/24/02
Irish Anarchist Publications 3/23/97 (Link Updated 8/19/99)
Fourth Write - for an Irish Socialist Republic - 08/13/02
Ireland's Eye Magazine 3/23/97
Irish Eyes Online Newspaper - 4/2/00
Irish American Magazine - 0915/04
Scandals In Justice Magazine - British Edition 3/15/97 (Link Updated 9/22/99)
C-SPAN Networks - 10/13/97
Roizine (Teenage Magazine) - 10/02/97 (Link Updated 1/2/02)

Scroll Magazine - (Link Not Working 008/03/03) - 09/23/01
The Irish Democrat - 12/01/01
The Irish Post (Voice of the Irish in Briton) (Link Not Workig 08/03/03) - 10/06/97
The Irish American Post - 12/01/01
The Irish World Newspaper - 10/06/97
Out There News explores peace -10/07/97
Lib. of Congress Newspapers Online - 4/6/97 (Link Updated 8/18/99)
IRA Truce Interactive Time Line (MSNBC) -10/13/97
Irish Internet Weather Center - 12/16/01
Irish News Media Watch - 11/16/02

Local Irish News

Irish Regional Newspapers Online (9/26/99)
Irish Emigrant Ltd - Around the 32 Counties - 12/29/96 (Link updated 2/4/01, 07/04/02)
Carlow Nationalist - 10/20/01
Cavan Connection - (Link Updated 8/19/99)
Clare Champion, Ennis, Co. Clare - Local News
Connaught Telegraph Stories 2/96 - 3/99 - 11/27/97
Derry Journal - (Link Updated 08/03/03) - 07/20/02
Derry People & Donegal News On The Internet - 8/05/97 (Link Updated 8/19/99)
Kildare Nationalist - 10/20/01
Laois Nationalist - 10/20/01
Limerick Leader - 2/18/01
Limerick Post Newspaper (Link Updated 8/19/99)
Munster Express Online - Local News
Newry Democrat - 10/20/01
NorthWest Connect! - Western People - 12/29/96 (Link Updated 5/26/00)
Westmeath Examiner Home Page. 4/26/97 (Link Updataed 01/30/01)

Sport

Athletics Ireland - 05/07/03
Irish Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources - Discuss TV Football - 08/01/02
GAA - Official Site - 01/06/02
GAA Unplugged - 01/06/02
European GAA - 02/13/02
Irish Handball - 08/31/03
Rounders Association of Ireland (Comhairle Cluiche Corr na hEireann) - 08/31/03
Ladies Gaelic Football - 08/31/03
The Hogan Stand - 01/06/02
Setanta (Failte Sports) - 8/18/99 (Link Updated 2/22/00)
ok2boo: a non-sectarian, non-racist organisation formed to protect the good name of Celtic and Ireland soccer supporters - 08/16/03
Official Home of Dublin GAA - Hill16.ie - 09/17/02
Croke Park - The Finest Stadium in Ireland - (Link Not Working 08/21/03) - 11/24/02
Australian Ladies Gaelic Football - 09/17/02
Saint John's G.A.C. - Belfast - (Link Updated 08/21/03) - 09/17/02
Belfast Celtic Football Club (1891-1949) - 06/28/02
FAI Website - 01/09/02
Irish Rugby - 01/06/02
London Irish Rugby - 07/09/02
Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby - 07/09/02
Ballymacelligott Handball Club - 01/06/02
Houston Bobby Lennox Celtic Supporters Club - 11/07/01
World Soccer Weekly - 01/07/03
Irish Curling Association - 02/08/02
Special Olympics World Summer Games - 07/24/02
Olympic Irish News - 02/08/02 (Link Updated 08/04/04)
Olympic Coverage by RTE
Wind Surf Ireland - 02/09/02 (Link Updated 07/04/02)
Shinty Governing Board - Scottish Stick Sport - 01/07/04

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Posted by: Jay / 12:00 PM 0 comments

April 21, 2009

Topper Thomas Memorial (click image to enlarge)

A number of contributing factors relating to the murder exist in which culpability is jointly established by various agencies under the control of the British gov as part of the wider policy of collusion:


In concluding RFJ would call on everyone throughout the community to attend the commemoration next Monday evening remembering Paul. We particularly call on families also affected by the policy of collusion to attend and show their support and solidarity with the Thompson family in their ongoing struggle for justice. In particular we would also on this occasion like to remember and pay tribute to Paul's mother Margaret Thompson whose untimely and premature death just a few years ago was as a direct consequence of the loss of Paul. Margaret was a valued member of RFJ and was a persistent campaigner for the truth concerning the collusion surrounding Paul's murder.
Posted by: Jay / 1:00 PM 0 comments

April 10, 2009

United Ireland Forum - NY June 13; SF June 27 (click to enlarge)



Posted by: Jay / 12:02 PM 0 comments

February 27, 2009

Michael Breen & Top 40 Under 40


Posted by: Jay / 12:39 PM 1 comments

February 22, 2009

Branegan's Irish Pub Fund Raiser


Posted by: Jay / 1:11 AM 0 comments

February 16, 2009

Judge Cory Stresses Need For Pubic Inquiry

Judge Cory stresses need for public inquiry
Pat Finucane's widow marks anniversary of his murder
Funeral of playwright Hugh Leonard & Related Stories

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0216/1233867938430.html

Judge stresses need for public inquiry

CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor
Mon, Feb 16, 2009

A PUBLIC INQUIRY enabled people to be told what had gone wrong and make recommendations to ensure it did not happen again, Mr Justice Peter Cory told the conference.

The former Canadian Supreme Court judge was asked by the British government to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the solicitor’s murder after the Weston Park agreement in 2001, and his report led to an announcement that there would be an inquiry.

Referring to his inquiry, he said he examined thousands of documents from the Northern Ireland Office and the security services. It took 23 months and he then delivered his report to the two governments. “They disclosed sufficient evidence of collusion to indicate that there should be a public inquiry,” he said.

Mr Justice Cory said he could not reveal what was in this report, except that sufficient issues were raised in his mind to lead to the recommendation of a public inquiry. This would have powers of investigation, and wide powers of subpoena, along with power to retain counsel.

Time and cost were always a concern in such inquiries, he said, but these could be contained.

“The point is to say to the public this is what happened, and then to make recommendations, the whole point is to state what went wrong and make recommendations that it does not happen again.”

Dato Param Curaraswamy, former UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers who visited Northern Ireland in 1995, told the conference that he was convinced during that visit that defence lawyers were systematically harassed by the police.

Referring to a statement from former chief constable Ronnie Flanagan that he was unaware of any complaints, he said: “In the face of statements from local and international NGOs this statement is unsustainable. There was a lack of protection for defence lawyers.

“Pat Finucane was targeted by enemies of the rule of law. His murder had a chilling effect on the profession. It undermined the rule of law. People thought of giving up criminal practice. It undermined the rule of law in Northern Ireland.”

He said it was a matter of concern that there was no judicial inquiry despite assurances given to him by then prime minister Tony Blair.

The experience of the families of Stephen Lawrence and Jean Charles de Menezes showed that the authorities could be forced to respond to the need for the truth about what happened to their sons, according to leading English barrister Michael Mansfield.

© 2009 The Irish Times

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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0216/1233867938438.html

Pat Finucane's widow marks anniversary of his murder

CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor
Mon, Feb 16, 2009

THE 20TH anniversary of the murder of Pat Finucane reminds us that the residue of our unresolved past continues to cast a shadow over our society, his widow, Geraldine, told a conference on his life and legacy in Trinity College at the weekend.

Referring to the family’s campaign for an inquiry into his murder, she said: “I believe that the inquiry we seek, which is the only mechanism capable of getting to the truth in this case, will help society understand its past, learn from it and eventually move beyond it with confidence and free from fear.” She recalled meeting Pat Finucane when both were students in Trinity 40 years ago, she as a middle-class Presbyterian girl from east Belfast and he a working-class Catholic boy from west Belfast. They married in 1972.

“Our perspectives had been shaped by very different experiences, even at that early stage of our lives,” she said. “When I finished my first year in Trinity, I went travelling in Europe with friends. Pat went home to Belfast, to help family, friends and neighbours pack whatever they could carry into whatever they could push, pull or wheel away from the hordes of people burning houses and attacking the occupants, as violence exploded all over Belfast, and especially so on the Falls Road.” She described his setting up a legal practice with his friend Peter Madden, and finding innovative ways to fight for his clients through the courts.

“He used the making of wills to allow him to see persons in custody. He brought civil claims for compensation on behalf of people subject to arbitrary arrest and detention. He challenged norms of practice in areas such as policing and inquests by way of judicial review and developed the application of the mechanism beyond anything that had been tried before,” she said.

“In his short life, Pat was not prepared to sit by and do nothing. He wanted to participate in the world he lived, to be in it, and not merely on it. He was curious and he was imaginative and he was brave. It is for these reasons that we come here today, 20 years on, to remember him and to celebrate his most remarkable life,” she said.

She pointed out that the Lord Stevens inquiry into collusion had said Pat Finucane’s murder “could have been prevented” and that “there was collusion” in the murder and the circumstances surrounding it. He also found that “the RUC investigation of Patrick Finucane’s murder should have resulted in the early arrest and detection of his killers”, she said.

Following the Weston Park accord between the British and Irish governments, Mr Justice Peter Cory of the Canadian Supreme Court was appointed by the British government to examine the matter further. As a result of his report, the British government in September 2004 “concluded that steps should now be taken to enable the establishment of an inquiry into the death of Patrick Finucane”, she said. Yet this had not yet taken place.

Peter Madden told the conference that on the eve of the conference the campaign had received a letter from the Northern Ireland Office stating that it was working on a “draft restriction notice” for use in an inquiry under the 2005 Inquires Act, set up for this purpose. This would enable restrictions to be placed on the inquiry, so that some of it would not be in public.

It also referred to the consultative group on the past and its recommendations about dealing with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland. It concluded: “All these matters, like the outcome of discussions with the Finucane family or their legal representatives about the form of any inquiry will, of course, be relevant factors for Ministers in deciding whether it remains in the public interest to proceed with an inquiry.”

“Now the whole question of a public inquiry is up in the air,” Mr Madden said. He pointed out that the kind of legacy commission proposed would have no provision for the cross-examination of people by legal representatives of those affected, and would avoid circulating documents. “We will find out who killed Pat Finucane, and, especially, who ordered it, who is accountable,” he said.

© 2009 The Irish Times

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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0216/breaking10.htm

Funeral of playwright Hugh Leonard takes place in Dublin

IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
Mon, Feb 16, 2009

The funeral of playwright Hugh Leonard in the Church of the Assumption in Dalkey has taken place.

Leonard died in hospital on Thursday. He was 82 years of age. Born in 1926, the prolific playwright had been ill for some time.

Hugh Leonard was the pseudonym of John (Jack) Keyes Byrne, who was raised in Dalkey, Co Dublin.

He adopted the name in the 1950s while working in the Civil service fearing his employers would frown upon his writing.

His plays included T he Big Birthday , A Leap in the Dark, Stephen D , The Poker Session , The Patrick Pearse Motel , The Au Pair Manand Da.

Daran for nearly two years on Broadway and earned Leonard a Tony Award in 1977. It was later turned into a film starring Martin Sheen.

He published two hugely popular volumes of autobiography, Home Before Night(1979) and Out After Dark(1989). He also adapted a number of classic novels for British television, including Nicholas Nickleby and Wuthering Heights, and until recently penned The Curmudgeon column for the Sunday Independent.

Mourners gathered at the Church of the Assumption for Leonard's removal on Saturday were told that he was "a Dalkey monument" who had "nurtured and expressed" his gift.

© 2009 irishtimes.com

Related Stories:
Mourners told Leonard nurtured his gift
Removal service held for writer Hugh Leonard
Playwright with full mastery of his craft

Top of Page
Posted by: Jay / 1:36 PM 0 comments

December 10, 2008

Brian Keenan Booklet Launched & Video


http://www.belfastmedia.com/news_article.php?ID=2442

Brian Keenan booklet launched

Andersonstown News Monday

The Roddy McCorley Club on the Glen Road was packed last Wednesday
evening for the launch of ‘Brian Keenan – A Republican Legend’.
Read Full Story
Posted by: Jay / 11:20 AM 0 comments

Irish Pork & Beef Woes

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1210/1228849742633.html?via=rel


Battle to maintain confidence in Irish beef produce abroad

Arthur Beesley, Senior Business Correspondent
Wed, Dec 10, 2008

DAMAGE LIMITATION:THE DISCOVERY of potentially dangerous contaminants in a very small section of the national cattle herd presents a formidable challenge to the beef industry as it threatens to erode confidence in the safety of all Irish beef products.
This is something of a nightmare scenario for the wider food industry, whose international success rests on Ireland’s reputation as a reliable and safe source of quality product.

Already reeling from the recall of all pork products and the loss of 1,800 jobs within two days, the sector now faces a battle on a second front to maintain confidence in Irish beef at home and abroad.

Although cattle in about 45 farms may have been exposed to the same contaminated meal that sparked the crisis in the pork industry, tests on three of the 11 beef farms examined so far show that the level of potentially dangerous dioxins exceeds the proposed maximum legal limit.

Both the Government and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland have stressed that the contamination levels were “significantly lower” than in the pork sector and represent an “extremely low risk” to public health.

Animals from affected farms will not be released to the market, but there is no recall of Irish beef.

Accordingly, there is considerable relief within the beef industry and the farming community.

Yet if public health and the viability of the food industry at large rest on the safety of food supplies, the perception of safety is equally important.

Doubly so in the case of the Irish beef industry which exports more than 85 per cent of total annual production and which commands high prices in the prosperous European markets it targets.

In the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s announcement by Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, beef producers and the agencies that support them snapped into action in an effort to reassure their wholesale customers throughout Britain and on the Continent about the quality of the product.

They must still await the verdict of consumers.

Nevertheless, the fact that there is no recall is likely to dim the impact of the contamination story, at least for the moment.

Chief of Bord Bia Aidan Cotter said yesterday that there had been no adverse response to the discovery of beef contamination from any of the 70 major supermarket groups in the network of retailers with which it engages in promotional activity.

He said a reduction in the price that Irish beef could realise was possible, depending on the level and tone of media coverage and consumer response to it.

The irony here is that the price of Irish beef has risen 18 per cent this year in international markets, thanks in the main to the partial EU ban on Brazilian imports.
That the EU ban followed a campaign by the Irish Farmers’ Association neatly shows how food producers in foreign markets can exploit any difficulty faced by their rivals.

And consumers respond to food scares. It it widely accepted that almost 10 years passed after the British BSE outbreak in 1996 before beef consumption fully recovered.

While the foot-and-mouth (FMD) epidemic and a European BSE crisis of 2001 damaged consumer confidence in beef in the interim, Ireland’s industry actually became a beneficiary of the FMD crisis.

Heavily dependent in previous times on export refund trade with Middle Eastern states and Russia, the sector thrived as the British industry went into meltdown and it redoubled efforts to win business in the profitable markets of Britain, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

Needless to say, rival beef industries would not stand by while Ireland sought to put its house in order if the contamination uncovered yesterday erupted into something bigger.
Hence the immediate efforts yesterday to contain the problem.

There was no comment from Larry Goodman’s Irish Food Processors on the fight to maintain confidence in Irish beef.

As the largest processor in Ireland – and indeed Europe – the company is likely to be moving quickly to ensure that there is no erosion to its business.

The same must be true of Dawn Meats and Kepak, who, with Mr Goodman’s company, command more than half the Irish beef market.

Even if there is no further deterioration in the situation, the stakes are pretty high.

Beef output at producer prices was last year valued by the Central Statistics Office at €1.5 billion. Annual retail sales of beef in Ireland were valued at €463 million at consumer prices; and Irish beef exports were valued at €1.57 billion in 2007 at factory and manufacturers’ prices.

Some 113,000 farmers have cattle, of which 69,000 are classified as specialist beef producers.

An additional 7,000 people are employed directly in the beef processing sector and a similar number are employed indirectly in associated industries.

In a shrinking economy, any threat to the industry could have dire consequences.
With the pigmeat industry already on its knees due to contamination from one meal plant, the sales pitch is more difficult now.

© 2008 The Irish Times
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1210/1228849742612.html

Fears grow for 400 jobs at three pigmeat factories

Ronan McGreevy and Jennifer Long in Waterford
Wed, Dec 10, 2008

JOBS CRISIS:FEARS ARE growing for 400 jobs in three pigmeat-producing factories beside each other on the Waterford/Kilkenny border.

Dawn Pork and Bacon and Kiely Meats based in Grannagh, Co Kilkenny, just outside Waterford city, have temporarily closed with the loss of 370 jobs, while workers at the adjacent Countrystyle Foods plant are being employed taking in recalled pork and may be laid off in the coming days.

Siptu now estimates 1,800 workers have been laid off as a result of the crisis as talks between the producers and the Government over a compensation package continue without agreement.

Dawn, which is the biggest of the three plants in Co Kilkenny, employs 300 workers at its slaughtering facility.

There were long queues outside the social welfare offices yesterday in Waterford city as about 200 workers from the affected plants signed on.

One worker, who has been with Dawn Pork and Bacon for more than 15 years, said the hardest thing for employees to face was the lack of certainty about their future.

"We haven't a clue if we'll be called back in days, weeks or longer," he said.

"Everybody is waiting on phone calls but the reality for management is that they don't even know."

Dawn supplies Kiely Meats which is involved in processed pork products such as sausages, bacon and black and white pudding.

Kiely employs 68 workers, while Countrystyle Foods, which markets and distributes Kiely Meats products, has a workforce of about 30.

"All of our sales people are out with empty vans and a letter of comfort explaining the situation, and they are in the process of bringing volumes of stuff back," said Countrystyle sales manager Pat Lawless.

"We've kept everybody busy doing necessary but unproductive work over the last two days, but we're reviewing the situation on a day-to-day basis.

"I think it is morally wrong to dump this stuff."

Along with the jobs in Co Kilkenny, 230 staff at the Olhausen plants at Coolock, Blanchardstown, Monaghan, Cork and Galway were let go yesterday.

A statement from the company said it had taken the decision with "great regret", and hoped it was only a short-term measure.

"The talks at Government level to resolve the current issue are progressing, and Olhausen management are hopeful that operations can resume upon successful conclusion of those talks," the company said.

Another 115 jobs went at Granby Ltd in Dublin, Drover Foods Ltd in Wexford, and Oakpark Foods in Cahir, Tipperary.

On Monday more than 1,000 workers were put on protective notice, including 850 at the Co Offaly-based pork producer Rosderra. Workers at the company headquarters in Edenderry held a meeting yesterday morning.

Sitpu official Frank Jones said: "There are a lot of Hungarian and Polish workers who did not understand the situation yesterday, but understand it now.

"Our plea is now to the Government to come in and offer us an assistance package to get us back to work.

"We have no word on how the talks are doing. If the producers are not compensated they will close down. They simply can't take the heat on this one."

Sitpu national industrial secretary Gerry McCormack expressed some relief that there would be no similar layoffs in the beef industry following the announcement that only a small number of herds were affected by contaminated feed and there would be no general recall of beef products.

"It should be possible to protect public health fully and maintain consumer confidence without resorting to the sort of indiscriminate measures used in the case of the pig industry," he said.

© 2008 The Irish Times
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1210/breaking11.htm

Carlow firm insists it bought oil in Republic

Irish Times Reporters
Wed, Dec 10, 2008

The food recycling facility at the centre of the pigmeat recall said today that it had only every purchased oil from "legitimate suppliers in the Republic".

The statement by Millstream Recycling this morning comes after reports that the investigation into the dioxins scare is looking at a business operation in Tyrone.

A report in today's Irish Timesindicates that used oil from electricity transformers originating in Northern Ireland is now thought to be the source of dioxin contamination of animal feed which has led to a food scare surrounding Irish pork and beef.

A Department of Agriculture/Food Safety Authority of Ireland press briefing in Dublin on Monday was told that "inappropriate" oil was used in a burner used in the heating process of waste food at Millstream Recycling in Co Carlow, which was used on 10 pig and 45 beef farms in the Republic.

The PSNI is involved with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Garda Síochána in an investigation into the source of the oil used at the plant where the contamination originated.

The Irish Timesunderstands they are looking at a business operation in Co Tyrone where it is believed waste oil from electricity transformers, which should have been stored or incinerated under licence, may be involved.

Members of the Garda's National Bureau of Criminal Investigation are also investigating the origins of the oil and confirmed they had spoken to a number of people from the Carlow plant. It is understood they have told the officers they bought the oil legally and believed it was of a quality required for the processing of the animal feed.

The gardaí involved in the investigation have indicated their inquiries have not formally become a criminal matter and they are closely liaising with the PSNI to compare the version of accounts given by those in the Carlow plant with the version given by the suppliers in the North.

In a statement from the plant issued today, the company at the centre of the food scare said: "Millstream Recycling wishes to state that the company has only ever purchased the oil from a legitimate supplier in the Republic of Ireland supplier."

Millstream added that it would be inappropriate to make any further comments on the matter while the investigation is ongoing.

© 2008 irishtimes.com
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Posted by: Jay / 9:21 AM 1 comments

December 02, 2008

Ministers Meet Bush in Washington


http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7761313.stm

Ministers Meet Bush in Washington

The first and deputy ministers met President George W Bush in Washington on Tuesday.
President Bush congratulated Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness on the role they played in re-establishing the political institutions at Stormont.

Mr Robinson wished the president well in the future.

While Mr McGuinness said the meeting confirmed that "despite many competing demands they enjoy access at the highest level in the USA".

They have now travelled to New York where they will meet with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City Comptroller General William Thompson, New York State Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli and Chief Executive of the New York Stock Exchange, Duncan Niederauer.

The first minister said they hoped to secure the economic future of Northern Ireland.
"Over the coming days we will meet with some of the most powerful men in the United States. Never before have we had access to such vast pools of potential investment," Mr Robinson said.

Mr McGuinness said the trip showed Northern Ireland was "very attractive to potential investors".

"The fact that some of the world's biggest funds and indeed the world's biggest stock exchange are keen to meet with us, even in this gloomy economic climate, sends out a very clear signal," he said.

On Monday, the first and deputy first ministers spoke to some of the largest and most profitable companies in the US at a Fortune 500 dinner.

Story from BBC NEWS

Published: 2008/12/02 15:53:36 GMT

© BBC MMVIII
Return to Headlines
Posted by: Jay / 12:04 PM 0 comments

November 07, 2008

Adams Congratulates Obama on Election Victory



http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/36081

Adams Congratulates President Elect Obama on Election Victory





Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP MLA has expressed his congratulations to Senator Barack Obama on winning the US Presidential election. Adams said:

“I want to congratulate President elect Obama on his successful election. I extend best wishes to him in meeting the many difficult challenges facing the new administration.

“President elect Obama has committed to continue US support for the Irish peace process. He also outlined his support for a comprehensive truth recovery process that would tackle the issue of state collusion and in particular endorsed the call for an independent, public inquiry into the murder of Human Rights lawyer Pat Finucane. I also welcome his comments on trade and investment, and his acknowledgement of the need for immigration reform. President elect Obama’s adoption of these policy positions is vital as we strive to overcome difficulties.

“Barack Obama’s election shows in politics that change is possible, and people everywhere will be mindful of the long history of African Americans and of all those who struggled for justice and fairness.”
***********************************************


“This time must be different” says Obama, but can he deliver?
Obama victory raises huge expectations

By Robbie Smyth

There were so many firsts and thresholds crossed in the epic election that selected Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. It was the longest campaign with Obama officially entering the race in February 2007, while John McCain announced his candidacy in March 2007.

It had the most money spent by the candidates culminating in the half hour Obamercial aired last week simultaneously on five major US TV networks racking up not just the most expensive political commercial ever but gathering the largest TV audience in the USA this year.

There was a record voter turn out, a record number of new voters registered; the poll held the possibility of electing the oldest ever US president but delivered instead the first African American.

So now as the dust settles, the focus turns to the practicalities and strategies of the Barack Obama administration. On the practical issues the question will be who will hold the key posts in the Obama administration, particularly Secretary of State.

Bill Clinton surprised many by his choice of Madeline Albright as Secretary of State for his second term of office. She was the first woman to hold the post. Condoleeza Rice was the second.

Expectations are high that Obama’s cabinet will be more diverse, more inclusive than any preceding president.

Then there are the strategic questions of how Obama will actually deliver on his campaign pledge of “hope you can believe in”. Repeatedly in his election acceptance speech to over 70,000 people in Chicago’s Grant Park, Obama told us that “Yes we can” and now many in Europe will want to see the ‘how we can’.

Assuming the presidency now, in a time of global economic turmoil and an international banking crisis means there are an increasing number of entries on Obama’s to-do list.
Two increasingly futile wars, eight years of foot dragging on tackling climate changes, a wholesale breakdown of international relations in the Middle East and progressively more entrenched conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority must be priorities for the new president. Real change must mean the end of the Bush Doctrine of endless war, jingoistic threats and futile military adventures that have yielded nothing but needless death and destruction.

The early closure of Guantanamo Bay detention centre must also be a priority as well the ending of torture and ‘extraordinary rendition’ flights. Positive changes like this will have significant echoes in the governments of Europe and beyond.

In Europe there is a groundswell of public support that wants to see an end to the war in Iraq and a date set for withdrawing from Afghanistan. The 200,000 plus people who turned out to see Obama in Berlin during the summer were testament to the support and expectation surrounding Barack Obama’s campaign.

Now Europeans want to see the resumption of proper diplomatic relations with Iran and the question of Palestinian rights to self-determination dealt with speedily. The daily chaos that is life in the Gaza Strip must be ended. The White House rose garden handshakes between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin brokered by Bill Clinton seem a world away. Can Obama show that he has both vision and ability?

In places like the New Orleans Ninth district, where whole neighbourhoods are still dispossessed and homeless the expectations are high.

Obama himself has set the bar high and fuelled these expectations not the least in his acceptance speech in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Obama said: “To those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”

For now it is time for Obama to enjoy his historic accomplishments and find time to grieve the death of his grandmother. Come 20 January 2009, the clock will be running.

Articles may not be reproduced without the consent of An Phoblacht. For further information, please contact editor@anphoblacht.com
Posted by: Jay / 9:04 AM 0 comments

November 04, 2008

R.I.R. March of Shame - 11/02/2008


Posted by: Jay / 11:00 PM 0 comments

July 20, 2008

Pol Brennan's Plight

Brennan's Plight Rooted In '96 As Much As 9/11

By Jim Dee letters@irishecho.com

June 25, 2008 Sitting 20 miles inland from the Gulf of
Mexico, tiny Turcotte, Texas has seen its share of
hurricanes. However, an unlucky Irishman passing through
the area five months ago encountered a different maelstrom:
new U.S. immigration and Homeland Security realities that
have him jailed at time when his native Northern Ireland is
at peace, and Washington hails some of his former IRA
comrades as statesman.

Maze escapee Pol Brennan has been cooling his heels in a
Texas immigration jail since being detained at a U.S.
immigration checkpoint north of Turcotte on January 27 –
this for having a lapsed U.S. work permit.

The fact that Brennan had filed the renewal form on time,
and that U.S. authorities simply hadn't updated it at the
time he was stopped, was deemed irrelevant.

So too was Britain's 2000 decision to drop its efforts to
extradite Brennan back to Northern Ireland for being one of
38 IRA men who escaped the Maze prison in September 1983.

And Homeland Security prosecutors haven't been moved by the
fact that federal officials had earlier authorized Brennan
to live freely in the San Francisco Bay area for years
while awaiting the outcome of his political asylum
application.

America is far different place today than when Brennan was
first arrested in 1993. The U.S. has been waging a "war on
terror" since 9/11, and a bourgeoning security apparatus
headed by the Department of Homeland Security looks more
harshly than before at anyone with even the remotest
connection to terrorism.

But "war on terror" realities aren't the chief reason that
Brennan now faces the toughest battle of his 15 year
struggle remain in the United States and with his American
citizen wife.

Far more pertinent is the fact that his current deportation
case is being framed by tough 1996 immigration reforms that
scorn most circumstantial considerations and discourage any
nuanced interpretations of individual cases by judges.

Like the 'three-strikes-and-your-out' criminal laws so
popular nationwide in the 1990s, the 1996 immigration
reforms mandate black-and-white remedies to deal with
undocumented immigrants whose circumstances are can often
complicated and mitigating factors.

On the surface, the case against Brennan seems pretty open-
and-shut. He has a 1995 felony gun conviction that appears
to disqualify him from staying in the U.S. under any
circumstance under the rules contained in the 1996
legislation.

He bought the gun from a licensed dealer in the early
1990s. However, by using an alias when buying it, he
committed a felony.

Given the clichéd depictions of "hardened terrorists"
prevalent in pop culture today, it might be presumed that
the IRA fugitive was "packing" in preparation of shooting
his way out if the feds ever swooped. But Brennan's reality
was much more mundane.

For starters, when the FBI arrested him in January 1993, he
didn't even own the gun anymore. He'd sold it to finance
his new hobby: astronomy, which he'd taken up after his
wife bought him a telescopic viewer in the hopes of weaning
him off the target-shooting hobby that she feared would
cause problems.

"I obtained a pistol for the purpose of target shooting in
the early '90s," Brennan told the Irish Echo, during a
phone interview from the Port Isabel Detention Center in
Los Fresnos, Texas.

"After the initial fascination wore off, I resold the
pistol and bought my first telescope, as my interest in
astronomy grew and the opportunity to buy some real
observational equipment meant that I could put my spare
time to better use increasing my knowledge of the night
sky, instead of just punching holes in paper targets," said
Brennan.

But what possessed him to risk buying a gun in the first
place?

Brennan told the Echo that, having grown up in Belfast's
Ballymurphy area - an IRA stronghold that saw daily gun
battles in the early 1970s - he'd grown up viewing guns
differently than someone reared in a place like Westchester
County, New York or Palm Springs, California.

"It's not unusual for people who grow up around guns to
retain an interest in them after their initial exposure,"
said Brennan.

"Coming from an unstable situation in my own country where
I was exposed to an underground gun culture that arose in
defense of neighborhoods that I grew up in, and being
mechanically-minded, I was drawn to the unique mechanical
systems of guns."
Brennan knows that he made a major mistake in buying the
pistol. But he stressed that he believed that he'd already
paid his debt to society for the offense.

"When I was fighting my extradition case back in the mid-
90s, this gun charge was dealt with by (U.S. District
Court) Judge Charles Legge, who found that I had only
obtained the said pistol for sporting purposes," said
Brennan. "He gave me six months, time-served, for the
offense. That's where I thought it ended. Apparently not."

The gun issue might have faded away had it not been for the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
(IIRIRA) of 1996.

Passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into
law by President Bill Clinton, the IIRIRA dramatically
increased spending on border enforcement. Outlays for
detention and deportation of illegal immigrants have risen
in the intervening years by 750 percent.
A central plank of the IIRIRA was its virtually elimination
of any hope of judicial relief from deportation for any
undocumented immigrant who commits a crime in the U.S.

"Since the 1996 immigration reforms, the big crackdown has
been on criminal aliens," said Kevin Johnson, a law
professor at the University of California at Davis who
specializes in how the "war on terror" has impacted civil
liberties and racial profiling.

Johnson said that post-9/11 deportations have risen
dramatically.

"Every year we're setting records for the number of people
deported. The last couple of years it's been around 200,000
a year," he said.

Professor Johnson said that America has a long history of
enacting

legislation to deal with a perceived threat from
immigrants, from the Chinese Exclusion Laws of 1882, to
Cold War provisions that allowed for the deportation of
communists and political dissidents.

"And, in some ways, the fear of terrorism, the fear of
criminal aliens, fits in nicely with the long history of
our response, some would say over-response, to the
perceived immigration threat of the day," he said.

Johnson said that the current focus of immigration
enforcement policies is "immigrants who are in the country
who have committed crimes. And the laws have become harsher
and harsher, tougher and tougher."

"If you've got one conviction, maybe you can avoid
deportation. If you've got two convictions, it's harder,"
he added. "And if you've got a firearms conviction, it's
going to be very, very tough to stay."

Northern Ireland now has an historic DUP-Sinn Fein power
sharing government. As one of its leaders, former IRA man
Martin McGuinness has been warmly welcomed in the White
House. Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly, who escaped the Maze
alongside Brennan, has also traveled freely to and from the
U.S. several times in recent years.

Both men have said that tumultuous events on the ground in
Northern Ireland three decades ago heavily influenced their
decisions to join the republican movement. And clearly
their life choices in leaving armed struggle behind in
favor of politics have impressed U.S. officials at the
highest levels.

Supporters of Pól Brennan - and one politician now arguing
in favor of bail is Congressman Peter King, no soft touch
when it comes to border security - contend that key events
in his life, including his 1977 conviction for ferrying
explosives through Belfast, his participation in the
grueling blanket, no-wash and hunger strike protests inside
the Maze, and his subsequent escape, were also shaped by
the troubles.

However, Brennan's war ended when he escaped the Maze
prison nearly a quarter of a century ago.

At 56, he has spent nearly half his time on earth, and the
overwhelming majority of his adult life, living in America.
He has been married to an American woman, Joanna Volz, for
19 years.

Brennan recently put himself through community college and
later passed a test to become a certified California
building inspector. He has also taken his passion for
astronomy to a higher level by becoming a volunteer at
Oakland's Chabot observatory, the staff of which sent a
glowing character reference letter to judge in his current
deportation case.

"I was living quite normally, and moving forward, before
all this happened in January," Brennan told the Echo.

"I feel that, in the circumstances that I'm in now, the gun
issue is being used in a more punitive way than in other
ways it would have been," he added. "I feel that people
have moved on over in Ireland. But, in this respect, I've
not been allowed to. It's like being in a time warp."

This story appeared in the issue of June 25-July 2, 2008
Posted by: Jay / 8:00 PM 0 comments

July 15, 2008

IAUC Sponsors Féile An Phobail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IAUC Sponsors Féile An Phobail

Contact: Kate McCabe, IAUC National President,
734.657.2436; Sean Paul O'Hare, Director, Féile an Phobail,
+44 28 9031 3440

July 15, 2008—The Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) is
delighted to announce its sponsorship of West Belfast's
20th Anniversary Féile an Phobail, which will take place
this August 3rd through 10th, 2008, in West Belfast,
Ireland.

The community festival was first established in 1988 as a
direct response to the conflict in the north of Ireland,
and showcases the enormous amount of ingenuity, innovation,
energy and passion for positive community development
throughout West Belfast. The IAUC is the first
International Sponsor of Féile an Phobail.

Féile Director Sean Paul O'Hare commented on the
significance of the IAUC's support: "We welcome the IAUC as
official sponsors for our August Féile and we value their
involvement in this year's festival. This year has been
particularly difficult with massive cuts to our funding.
However we have come through many years of hardship and yet
we always managed to not only survive but also thrive. This
year is no exception."

2008 also marks the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday
Agreement and the 25th anniversary of the IAUC. According
the McCabe, though the IAUC will be celebrating the
achievements of the past throughout the year, the current
goals and campaigns of the organization reflect the need
for a new vision of international support for peace with
justice as defined by local communities.

Sponsorship of this year's festival is part of the IAUC's
Fair Investment campaign, which was kicked off at Forbairt
Feirste's Cultural Economy Conference in West Belfast in
May. "We wanted to showcase this community initiative, and
to recognize the important role the Féile has played in
promoting peace building and intergenerational
participation at the local level for the past twenty
years," said IAUC National President Kate McCabe.

"We are hoping that through our involvement with the
festival, and our recognition of local efforts in the north
of Ireland, we might strengthen the ties between Irish
Americans and Irish communities—particularly those who are
moving the peace process on the ground forward daily in
historically marginalized areas. It is in these areas
where the foundations for a secure and lasting peace will
be built." McCabe said.

O'Hare added, "We hope to expand our programme in the
coming years and we especially want to welcome more of our
friends from the U.S.A. The festival has been to the fore
in relation to developing positive relations during the
peace process. We create events where all the communities
of Ireland can come together and debate our differences and
then celebrate our cultures in a positive and productive
fashion. So with the support of the IAUC, we will have a
very successful festival. We would also love to welcome
even more U.S visitors to our great community arts party in
August."

http://iauc.org
http://feilebelfast.com

ENDS
###
Posted by: Jay / 1:39 PM 0 comments

June 03, 2008

Deportation of Priest

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802933.htm

WASHINGTON LETTER May-30-2008 (920 words)

The Border Is In South Dakota For Irish Priest With
Immigration Woes

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Father Cathal Gallagher is bringing his
parishioners in rural South Dakota an unwelcome lesson in
the fine details of U.S. immigration law as they try to
help him fight his pending deportation.

Father Gallagher, 58, a Columban missionary, went to the
state a decade ago at the invitation of Bishop Robert J.
Carlson, then-head of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. The
Irish priest currently is pastor of parishes in three
prairie towns, the largest of which is St. Thomas Aquinas
in DeSmet, population just over 1,000.

After spending 22 years working in Japan, Father Gallagher
was surprised by how taken he was with South Dakota, he
told Catholic News Service in a May 29 phone interview.

"I liked this place, the prairies, the people," he said,
and as soon as he was eligible, he applied for permanent
U.S. residency. He came as close as being told five years
ago that his "green card" was approved and would arrive
within two weeks, only to learn much later that his
application was actually denied.

Now, unless the Department of Homeland Security office of
Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS, can be
persuaded to reverse its denial of his application, Father
Gallagher will have to head back to Ireland by July 1.

After spending most of his priesthood in Japanese missions,
the native of Donegal, Ireland, came to the United States
in 1996 to participate in an alcohol treatment program at
Guest House in Rochester, Minn., he explained. He stayed on
for a year afterward, during which he became acquainted
with Bishop Carlson, who was undergoing cancer treatment at
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. (Bishop Carlson is now head
of the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich.)

At the bishop's urging, he decided to give ministry in
rural South Dakota a try. At first, Father Gallagher held a
religious worker's visa. But in 2001 he submitted the
paperwork for permanent U.S. residency.

"I kind of had my heart set, " he said. "Yes, this is where
I'd like to spend the rest of my career."

What followed has become a seven-year adventure in the U.S.
immigration system, with help throughout the process from
the Sioux Falls Diocese and a Washington-based attorney
with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as
CLINIC. Despite that expertise, Father Gallagher said he
only recently learned that his application had been denied
because CIS concluded he had fallen "out of status" for a
matter of weeks.

Anne Marie Gibbons, director of CLINIC's program for
religious worker visas, did not work on Father Gallagher's
case. However, explaining some of the general problems she
and her staff encounter, she said it's common for someone's
visa that authorizes him to live and work in the U.S. to
expire while he's waiting to hear the results of an
application for another visa or for permanent residency.

Gibbons said religious workers are especially prone to out-
of-status problems because, unlike other categories of
workers or family-visa holders, they are not permitted to
submit simultaneous applications that might protect them
from a lapse in coverage. It can take years for some kinds
of visa applications to be processed. Recently, backlogged
fingerprint checks alone have bogged down cases for as long
as four or five years.

The problem is one of a variety of issues with religious
worker visas that CLINIC has been trying to get the federal
government to address as it reworks regulations for the
visas. They were outlined in a May 15 letter to U.S.
bishops from the chairman of their migration committee,
Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, and Coadjutor
Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Calif., who is chairman of
the CLINIC board of directors.

Father Gallagher recognizes that as a missionary priest he
perhaps is being called to minister somewhere else in the
world. But at the same time he hopes he will get to stay --
he hasn't started packing yet -- and is pursuing whatever
threads of possibilities he's given.

Patti Ward, a St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner, hosted a
meeting at her house May 29 with Father Gallagher and staff
members of Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who are trying to
persuade CIS to reopen the case. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.,
also phoned Father Gallagher, offering to ask the White
House to intervene.

"We're keeping hopeful that something can be done," Ward
said. "But we can see the writing on the wall."

The same day, a prayer service at St. Thomas Aquinas drew
hundreds of people, she said, packing the church with
Catholics from the four parishes Father Gallagher has
served, as well as ministers from local churches and others
from the area.

Both Ward and Father Gallagher said his immigration
problems have been eye-opening for the community.

"None of us has ever been involved in immigration
problems," Ward said. "Some people don't want to
understand. They're just mad."

Not only are they angry that their beloved pastor may have
to leave, but some see the Latino immigrant workers at
nearby dairy farms and factories and make comparisons, said
Ward.

"They don't understand how (the Latinos) can be in the U.S.
and Father can't," she said.

Father Gallagher, however, said that "here in the Dakotas'
people's eyes have been opened that No. 1, you don't have
to have a Hispanic face or speak Spanish to have
immigration problems, and No. 2, the government system
isn't working as it should."

END
Posted by: Jay / 7:27 PM 1 comments

May 31, 2008

IAUC Responds To Consultative Group on the Past

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kate McCabe, 734.657.2436

IAUC President Responds To Statement Of Consultative Group
On The Past

May 31, 2008 — On Friday, May 23rd, Irish American Unity
Conference (IAUC) president Kate McCabe met with Denis
Bradley of the Consultative Group on the Past in Derry,
Ireland to discuss the IAUC's position on truth recovery.
In light of Thursday's announcement by the Consultative
Group on the Past, the IAUC would like to take this
opportunity to respond publicly and to reiterate its
position on how best to deal with the legacy of the past.
The following is a statement from Kate McCabe on behalf of
the IAUC:

"At our meeting in Derry, I discussed the IAUC's support
for the victims groups' call for the establishment of an
international, independent truth commission as the only way
forward.

The IAUC disagrees with Mr. Bradley's belief that this is
the wrong time to be dealing with the legacy of the past,
that the timing of this process is much too soon. That
such a process would be better undertaken 80 years from
now, as Bradley believes, does not make sense. Truth
commissions are normally established on the momentum of a
regime change, and the more time that goes by with a change
in government, the less likely it is for such a commission
to be successful in terms of gathering support as well as
evidence. The importance of timing is crucial, and this is
surely a factor with which the Consultative Group is
familiar.

The purported purpose of Thursday's speech was to "define
the problem" as the CGP sees it, in an attempt to further
the discussion over these next few months before their
recommendations are made. We are concerned with what we
believe to be a cursory attempt to reframe the debate, and
we take issue with several points.

First, it is simply not historically accurate to say that
the British government sought to be an 'honest broker'
during the conflict. Rather, the British government was a
principal actor in the last 40 years of struggle. The
British government has long attempted to characterize
itself as a neutral intermediary or a middleman attempting
to keep the peace between fighting factions in the north of
Ireland, and this is simply untrue.

For the Consultative Group—a panel set up by the British
government—to support this claim belies their position as
an independent body or a group of well-meaning individuals
tasked with the difficult responsibility of leading all the
people of the north forward towards reconciliation. To
decontextualize history is to reconfigure reality, to imply
that there is equal culpability when there is not.

It is important to recognize that nationalists and
republicans did not "find themselves" in an alien state or
"feel" as though they were being treated as second-class
citizens. The entire political, economic and social
structure of the northern state was designed to perpetuate
discrimination towards the minority Catholic community.
This fact alone shows that there was not equal culpability,
and to imply otherwise is not logical and certainly is not
useful towards furthering the debate on truth.

The State must be held to a higher standard due to its very
nature as a sovereign government involved in targeting its
own citizens. The State's involvement in collusion, shoot-
to-kill, and state violence necessitate full disclosure—
especially because their victims cut across all sectors of
society. This conflict was fought through people. The
State was in charge, and it gave certain people impunity
for their actions. The appeal to sentimentality induced by
the image of an elderly mother learning of her son's role
as an informer is both diversionary and disingenuous.

Though we recognize the pain and trauma experienced by all
sectors of society, and believe that all victims have a
right to know the truth about what happened to their loved
ones, we believe the onus must be placed on the British
government to come clean about the extent of their
involvement in the 'dirty war' of the past few decades.

A failure to uncover the truth in these areas undermines
the British government's commitment to basic democratic
principles and human rights, while giving credence to the
widespread perception that members of the security forces
and others in the north of Ireland have been able to
operate outside the law with impunity.

As a sovereign government and a central party to the
conflict, the state has a responsibility to do more than
just acknowledge and apologize for its involvement in
criminality, and in particular its use of informers. An
apology is not a substitute for a proper investigation, and
as such can only come after the truth recovery and
examination process is completed. There must be official
recognition of past harms and abuses, and that recognition
must go on the public record. In order to ensure
independence and public confidence, it is necessary that
all actors involved in a truth commission were not active
participants in or parties to the conflict.

In order to have the support of Irish America behind the
recommendations of the CGP, the issues of collusion, shoot-
to-kill, and state violence must be addressed to the
fullest extent. All parties to or victims of the conflict
must be given a platform to share their experiences. Such
a process is necessary for sustainable peace, cross-
community cooperation, and the future economic regeneration
of historically marginalized areas. There can be no lines
drawn under the past if there is to be confidence in the
future."

McCabe also discussed the newly formed Thar Saile and the
IAUC's campaign to seek a final resolution to the plight of
former IRA prisoners living in the United States. McCabe's
remarks on this issue were positively received.

ENDS
##
Posted by: Jay / 3:56 PM 0 comments

May 30, 2008

US IRA Men Call For Legal Status

http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irish-voice/news/Articles/us-ira-men290508.aspx

U.S. IRA Men Call for Legal Status

May 29, 2008

By Cahir O’Doherty

A GROUP of former IRA prisoners living in the U.S. has
launched a campaign to secure their legal status here.

The organization, Thar Saile (Irish for “overseas”), is
made up of former prisoners, many of whom have faced
deportation while living, working and raising families in
the U.S. for decades. Many are married to American wives
and are the fathers of American-born children.

In 2000, President Bill Clinton announced that deportation
proceedings against the former IRA prisoners would be
halted and they would move into “deferred action” status.
Although the action was hailed at the time as tangible
result of the peace process in Northern Ireland, the men’s
legal status in the U.S. has yet to be finally resolved.

Currently the former prisoners cannot travel to Ireland to
visit family. They must also constantly renew their work
permits over a period of months on an ongoing basis,
frequently jeopardizing their employment in the process.

Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) president Kate
McCabe told the Irish Voice, “The position of our
organization is that the U.S. government’s position toward
this group of people is out of step with its entire policy
toward the Irish peace process. Martin McGuinness has been
to the White House on a number of occasions to meet with
President Bush, so it doesn’t make sense that they’re
targeting this group of men.”

Last week the IAUC released a document entitled “Prisoners
of Peace,” making the case that the reintegration of former
prisoners is a first and critical step in any peace
process. In Northern Ireland, they point out, former
prisoners are holding elected office and working together
to build a new society. Only in the U.S. is their status
still unresolved.

“It’s anachronistic that these men are being targeted.
Although no formal deportation orders have been filed
against them — with the exception of Pól Brennan who is
currently jailed in Texas — most of these men have to renew
their work permits every 60 to 90 days, which then takes a
further month to process,” McCabe said.

“Trying to keep a secure job is made difficult when you
know you have to renew your work permit constantly like
this. We feel it’s harassment.”

The objective of Thar Saile is to end the uncertainty for
the former IRA prisoners and their families by providing
them with a permanent legal status and the right to live,
work and travel here and abroad unencumbered.

This week Thar Saile has promised to launch a broad-based
education and communication campaign around this issue,
working with their supporters around the U.S. to bring this
issue to the attention of all major political candidates.
Posted by: Jay / 3:03 PM 1 comments

May 28, 2008

New Groups Aims To Resolve Status

http://irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=18732

New Group Aims To Resolve Status

May 28, 2008 A group of former IRA prisoners now living in the
United States is launching a campaign to bring a permanent
resolution to their legal status.

Irish American Unity Conference president Kate McCabe, Ancient
Order of Hibernians president Jack Meehan, and Irish Northern Aid
president Paul Doris declared in a statement their "enthusiastic
support" for the newly formed group, "Thar Saile," which means
"overseas" in Irish.

Paul Harkin, vice president of the IAUC and a former prisoner,
announced the formation of Thar Saile late last week.

The group is made up of former prisoners, many of who have faced
deportation but who have otherwise been living, working, and
raising families in the U.S. within the parameters of the law for
decades.

Some are married to American wives and are the fathers of
American born children.

"In one of his last acts before leaving office in 2000, President
Clinton announced that deportation proceedings against these men
would be halted and they would move into 'deferred action'
status," the group said in its statement.

"This action was hailed both as a victory for the Irish American
community and as a part of the peace dividend for those
courageously working to end the ongoing conflict in the north of
Ireland. It has become clear, however, that this remains
unfinished business," the statement added

"The status of these men is unclear and ambiguous," said Harkin.

"We cannot travel back to Ireland to visit family; work permit
renewals are an ongoing problem, frequently jeopardizing
employment; and the deferred action umbrella did not cover all of
the former prisoners in the U.S., some of whom are still living
in the shadows."

In conjunction with the formation of Thar Saile, The IAUC has
released a document entitled "Prisoners of Peace."

This document makes the case that reintegration of former
prisoners is a first and critical step in any peace process.

"Ironically, in the north of Ireland, former prisoners are
holding elected office and working together to build a new
society. Only in the U.S. is their status still unresolved," the
Thar Saile statement said.

It added that the objective of Thar Saile was to end the
uncertainty for the men and their families by providing them with
a permanent legal status and the right to live, work, and travel
unencumbered.

"Thar Saile will launch a broad-based education and communication
campaign around this issue and will work with their supporters
around the U.S. to bring this issue to the attention of all major
political candidates." The statement concluded.

This story appeared in the issue of May 28-June 3, 2008
Posted by: Jay / 12:16 PM 0 comments

April 29, 2008

Garvaghy & Lower Ormeau Press Release

Lower Ormeau Concerned Community
97, Balfour Avenue
Belfast
County Antrim, Ireland

Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition
3, Ashgrove Road
Portadown
County Armagh, Ireland

PRESS RELEASE

As the Strategic Review Body on Parading formally launches its consultative report, two key
residents’ groups - the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community in Belfast and the Garvaghy Road
Residents Coalition in Portadown – whose communities were at the very heart of the turmoil
and conflict over contentious marches in the 1990’s have jointly published their views and
concerns.

In summary, these two key residents’ associations state that they believe the Report to be
unnecessary and largely unhelpful.

They are concerned that the Strategic Review Body’s recommendations will politicise, rather
than de-politicise, the marching issue.

The Review Body itself has linked the marching issue to outstanding and unresolved political
matters. It links the marching issue to locally elected political institutions, including
local councils – a number of which have proven track records of discrimination.

The two residents’ bodies say the Review Body has opened a doorway for those who wish to
turn the marching issue into a major political football - where political expediency will
take precedence over valid human rights concerns.

Both LOCC and GRRC do not believe that this Report has brought forward any suitable or
viable alternative to the concept of an independent Parades Commission.

Instead, they see only potential for political interference and manipulation within each of
the various strands of bureaucracy it proposes and they fear that the majority of proposals
will lead to a pre-1998 situation, re-ignite past tensions and create future inter-communal
unrest during the “marching season”.

For further information contact:

LOCC - Gerard Rice - 028 90 312377 or 077 422 839 06
(grice@lorag.org)

OR

GRRC - Breandán Mac Cionnaith – 078 178 685 91
(breandanmac@hotmail.co.uk)

Since the 1990s, both the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and the Lower Ormeau
Concerned Community have campaigned for change in the way contentious marches are
governed.

It is our view that the creation of the Strategic Review Body on Parading was not motivated
by any genuine desire to improve the effectiveness of the Parades Commission or current
processes for dealing with contentious parades. Instead, its genesis in 2006 was as a
political concession to unionist parties opposed to any restrictions on the relatively small
number of contentious loyal order marches.

We are very mindful of the injustices inflicted upon our communities as a result of parades,
particularly during the 1990s.

All that our communities had sought was the re-routing of a small number of contentious
marches. We had argued for the right to live in peace without the deep sense of fear,
outrage and humiliation that consistently marked these sectarian parades through our
neighbourhoods.

Instead, due to political expediency, unwanted sectarian marches were imposed upon our
communities through the use of threats and violence by unionism and force from both the
police and the British Army. The indiscriminate use of plastic bullets, brutal assaults upon
residents, illegal curfews and massive restrictions on the movement of people within our
communities were a harsh reality.

We welcomed the Independent Review on Parades and Marches (the North Review) established
in 1996 in response to events in Portadown and the Ormeau Road. We expressed some
scepticism about the need for a Parades Commission. It was our belief that Government was
abdicating its responsibility to protect minority communities from fear and the threat of
violence.

Nevertheless, in our view, the Parades Commission concept did succeed in introducing a
degree of autonomy into decisions about contentious parades that was noticeably absent when
such decisions were previously taken by the police, politicians or the courts. While we
have not agreed with all determinations on contentious marches, there is no doubt that the
first and second Parades Commissions did eventually succeed in changing the climate around
such contentious marches.

Since the start of this millennium, the re-routing of sectarian marches away from the
Garvaghy and Ormeau Roads by the Commission has meant that our communities – and the wider
community – have enjoyed successive peaceful summers.

The clouds of fear, tension and violence, and the physical sieges of our two communities
that accompanied those sectarian marches, have also disappeared. Residents in our
neighbourhoods now enjoy family and community life in relative peace and tranquillity.

It is against this background that we believe this present Report to be unnecessary and
largely unhelpful.

We are concerned that the Strategic Review Body’s recommendations will politicise, rather
than de-politicise, the marching issue.

The Review Body itself has linked the marching issue to outstanding and unresolved political
matters.

It links the marching issue to locally elected political institutions, including local
councils – a number of which have proven track records of discrimination.

By making these linkages, the Review Body has opened a doorway for those who wish to turn
the marching issue into a major political football - where political expediency will take
precedence over valid human rights concerns.

There is also concern at the Review Body’s attempt to downgrade “the right to freedom from
sectarian harassment”.

We do not believe that this Report has brought forward any suitable or viable alternative to
the concept of an independent Parades Commission.

Instead, we see only potential for political interference and manipulation within each of
the various strands of bureaucracy it proposes.

We fear that the majority of proposals will lead to a pre-1998 situation, re-ignite past
tensions and create future inter-communal unrest during the “marching season”.

As for the current Parades Commission (which is the third such body), it is obvious that
political manipulation lies at the core of its present difficulties. The corruption by Peter
Hain and the NIO of the appointments process led to a two-year legal battle which culminated
in the House of Lords earlier this year upholding the residents’ case that those
appointments were indeed biased and unlawful.

Questions still remain over the integrity of this Commission’s own internal processes which
for two years failed to recognise or properly handle the resultant major conflicts of
interests.

Leaving those facts aside, we wish to make it clear that we fully support the concept of a
Parades Commission – but it must be a Commission which is completely independent and free
from political interference at all levels, commencing with the appointments process itself;
one that is open and transparent in its dealings with everyone; and one which does not
second its staff from government departments, including the NIO.

Obviously, this Review did not start from the same premise of seeking to enhance the
Commission’s independence, to free it from political manipulation or improve its
effectiveness.

Seven years ago, the Quigley Review of parades was created following a side-deal at Weston
Park between the British government and unionists opposed to restrictions on loyal order
marches. The report and recommendations from that Review now gather dust on some shelf
within the NIO.

The report from this Strategic Review Body should be consigned to a similar fate without
delay.
Posted by: Jay / 8:53 AM 0 comments

April 20, 2008

Irish Unity High On Irish Northern Aid's Agenda

IRISH UNITY HIGH ON AGENDA AT NORAID CONVENTION

By Graydon Wilson
Special to Irish Echo

"The war in Ireland is over," Paul Doris began. "The next step is the push
for a united Ireland ." National Chair of Irish Northern Aid, the American
organization formed thirty-seven years ago to support the families of
republican prisoners in Ireland , Doris was speaking at the group's Annual
General Meeting, held in Boston this past Saturday, April 12, 2008.

Emphasizing the strictly political nature of the struggle for independence
from Britain as well as the push for unity, INA brought over two Sinn Féin
members to speak to the gathering -- Seamus Morris, from County Tipperary, in
the Republic of Ireland, and Daithi McKay, from County Antrim in the north.

Morris, a member of the Nenagh Town Council in addition to his full-time job
as a postman, related some of his own family history as an example of
politics being able to accomplish goals in Ireland . He said that both his
father and his brother "left politics" in 1986, joining the dissident group,
Republican Sinn Féin. "They couldn't believe that Ian Paisley could be
brought across the threshold," Morris said. "But that is exactly what
happened last year." Acknowledging Noraid's support over all the years, he
thanked the group "for keeping it going. But it's not done yet. There's a
massive job to do. We need to drive this over the line. We need to drive
the all-Ireland agenda."

Perhaps more than anyone, McKay represented the face of the future. At just
26 years of age, he's a member of the Ballymoney Borough Council, a Member of
the Legislative Assembly and a member of the Police Board. He echoed
Morris's praise for INA. "Without Noraid's support, we wouldn't be where we
are today -- and where we are is closer to a united Ireland ," which he said
was the only guarantee to a lasting peace.

McKay predicted that Sinn Féin will become the largest political party in the
north. He said that the party is looking at areas where unionism is failing
its electorate. "There's a massive working class deficit in terms of
representation," McKay explained. "That's an opportunity for Sinn Féin.
Protestant workers are coming to Sinn Féin, looking for support."

He also criticized Britain 's control of the police as undemocratic. "Police
oversight needs to be taken away from the British and given to the local
politicians," McKay said. "I believe that could happen within the next
year."

Answering questions from the floor, Morris said that the greatest potential
roadblock to unification was apathy. "If we think the job is done, we're in
trouble, " said Morris. "We have to work ten times harder. Noraid has been
there for thirty-seven years and it will be there when the job gets done."

McKay agreed. "There's a danger that we might take all of this for granted
simply because the war is over," he said. "We can't let that happen. We
need to tackle apathy. We must re-motivate those who were there for Ireland.
We need to re-engage Ireland 's supporters." Looking at the tasks ahead,
McKay said that organizing was "the road map to Irish unity, just as Gerry
Adams said at the Ard Fheis in February." He added that Irish Northern Aid
was already playing a role and urged the group to "get stronger."

Rich Lawlor, INA's Regional Director for New England , picked up on the
forward-looking theme expressed by Morris and McKay. " America has always
played a role in Irish freedom," Lawler said. "We need the next generation."
He said that he would like to see Sinn Féin sending young people over to meet
with young people in America and on college campuses. "Get them engaged,
bring in the next generation," Lawler said.

Members attending the AGM hailed from locations all across America ; San
Diego , Chicago , Detroit , Kansas City and Houston ; Boston , Hartford ,
New York City, Cleveland , Washington , D.C. and Vermont . The location
for next year's AGM was discussed but not decided. Venues under consideration
are New York , Philadelphia and Tampa , Florida .
Posted by: Jay / 9:01 PM 1 comments

April 18, 2008

Current Events

What's New?
04/19/08 – Bill & Emily Host the Irish Aires show.
05/02/08 - 2008 Huntsville: General Sam Houston Folk Festival (updated info)
----

To see our playlist as we play it, go to:
http://www.kpft.org/studio/playlist.php

Archived shows WITH Playlists

KPFT Archived Programs Sorted By Name

Irish Aires 04/12/08 (Available thru 06/12/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 04/05/08 (Available thru 06/08/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 03/29/08 (Available thru 05/29/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 03/22/08 (Available thru 05/22/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 03/15/08 (Available thru 05/15/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 03/08/08 (Available thru 05/08/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 03/01/08 (Available thru 05/01/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 02/23/08 (Available thru 04/23/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 02/16/08 (Available thru 04/16/08) Play Download Playlist
Irish Aires 02/09/08 (Available thru 04/09/08) Play Download Playlist
----

04/18/08 – The Blaggards at R&R Sports Bar & Grill
10pm
Friendswood, TX
3338 FM 528
Friendswood, TX 77546
281.996.8300

*************************

04/18/08 - 2008 Scottish Festival 8 p.m., Friday, April 18
Five time Juvenile World Champions this year's theme "Legend of the Glen."
Toyota Center 1510 Polk Street Houston , TX 77002 P: (713) 758-7577

*************************

04/21-22/2008 - Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance Jones Hall
5 Lord of the Dance (With Taps) Ronan Hardiman Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance 4:48 1997

*************************

05/02/08 - 2008 Huntsville: General Sam Houston Folk Festival
Performers Will Include: The Gaelic Chorus Of Texas, Jed Marum, Sia Beaton, Constant
Billy, Dave Hutton, Hugh Morrison, Kendall Rogers & Jonathan Chamrad, Jalapeno
Honey,Celtic Chorus Of Houston, Good Time Scottish Dancers. Hugh Morrison, Kendall
Rogers & Jonathan Chamrad Plan To Play. Celtic Menagerie Dance Group from Corpus will be
there on Sat / Sun. Some Gigs In Huntsville Thursday And Friday
Evenings; Dianna Shipman, 713 522 1212 Diannashipman@Att.Net

********************

05/07/08 - 2008 Houston: Houston Highland Games & Celtic Festival

*************************

05/08/08 – Clandestine at the Mucky Duck 7:30PM $15

*************************

05/16-18/2008 - 2008 Houston: Houston Highland Games & Celtic Festival
Main Stage: Ed Miller, Needfire, Jiggernaut and Loescher + Kenneth
Ceilidh Stage: Houston Highlanders, RSCDancers, Celtaire String Band, Gaelic Chorus, Kristen
Jensen, Sia Beaton, Fish & Chips, Celtic Chorus of Houston, KIDS Dancers, Simply Scottish, Fair
& Forty, Comhlan Oganta, Rovers Return, Ed Miller/Cliff Wigginton-piper, Hugh Morrison, Good
Time SCDancers, David Sparks

*************************

05/23-24/08 – Blaggards at Downtown Molly’s Grand Opening

Friday, May 23 & Saturday, May 24

Molly's Pub Downtown, 10pm
Houston, TX

GRAND OPENING!
509 Main St
Houston, TX 77002

*************************

06/05/08 – Seven Nations at the Mucky Duck

*************************

06/06-08/08 - Arlington: Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games
This year’s entertainment schedule has not been posted yet but performers in the past have
included: Alasdair Fraser, John Taylor, Smithfield Fair, Quebe Sisters Band

*************************

07/31/08 – Author Tana French at Murder by the Book

2008 Edgar Award nominee Tana French will be here, Thursday, July 31, 6:30 p.m., to sign her new thriller, The Likeness. Tana French grew up in Ireland, Italy, the U.S. and Malawi, and has lived in Dublin since 1990. She trained as a professional actress at Trinity College, Dublin, and has worked in theatre, film and voiceover. Her first novel, In the Woods, has been nominated for the 2008 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Visit her website here: http://www.tanafrench.com/

*************************

10/05/08 - 2008 Celtic Festival & Gathering Of The Celts
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Heights, Houston, Texas

*************************

11/14/08 - 2008 Annual Irish Gala
When: Silent Auction and Reception: 6:30 p.m.
Dinner: 8 p.m.
Where: Houston Hotel, 111 North Post Oak Lane, Houston
Honorees: Honorary Consul of Ireland John B. Kane and Alayne Kane

******************************************

ON GOING Events:

Note: Irish Aires can now be HEARD of DOWNLOADED from the Internet. ALSO,
there is a new link to hear KPFT Live

Internet listening (live) is available through our MP3 streams.

If you have Winamp, Media Player or iTunes installed on your
computer, you can connect HERE or
http://stream.kpft.org/streamkpft.m3u

Free Player Downloads:
Winamp
Windows Media Player
iTunes
----

Irish Aires is also podcast at:
http://archive.kpft.org/xml/eire.xml

Internet listening (live) is available through our MP3 streams.

If you have Winamp, Media Player or iTunes installed on your computer, you
can connect HERE or
http://stream.kpft.org/streamkpft.m3u

Free Player Downloads: Winamp
Windows Media Player
iTunes

----

Ireland 2007 Pictures

Part 1 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007
Part 2 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part2
Part 3 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part3
Part 4 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part4
Part 5 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part5
Part 6 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part6
Part 7 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part7
Part 8 - http://picasaweb.google.com/JayDooling/Ireland2007Part8ProbablyFinalUpload

New – A Compilation of All my 2007 Irish Pics with music & videos.
See instructions on how to see at Irish Aires Blog.

*********************

Paisley Close Press Release
Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 20:28:16 -0600

Over the past few years, I have been asked time and again
"Why Paisley Close"? Like every tale you must start at the
beginning to get to the end. On November 24th 1861, at a
spot along High Street in Edinburgh 's Royal Mile, two
overcrowded and decrepit tenements collapsed. According to
legend, workers were clearing the debris away when they
heard a voice shout out "Heave awa' lads, I'm no deid yet!"
As a memorial, Paisley Close (the cul-de-sac) was built in
place of the collapsed buildings. Paisley Close (the
band) was built by resurrecting former bands-mates.
Paisley Close (the band) felt that the young man's luck,
tenacity and symbolism was a fitting name.

Now with a heavy heart I must announce the passing of this
great band. Paisley Close is going through a major
transitional period and collectively they have decided to
put the band on an indefinite hiatus. The members of
Paisley Close remain friends but personal commitments have
forced them to make this difficult decision. Through the
last three years they have had the opportunity to play on
some amazing stages at some of the best festival in the
county and for this they are extremely grateful. Even
more outstanding has been the people they have met and the
friendships forged. That is the biggest aspect that I will
personally miss the most. As the bands booking agent I
have had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing
directors, coordinator and volunteers; who without you, the
show would literally not go on. Thank you for allowing us
the opportunity to grace your stages and share a pint or
two!

I speak for the entire band (Cidnie MacNamee, Bernard
Schreiber, Amy Price and Rabbit Boyett) in saying that it
has been an honor and a privilege!

Although this chapter may be over we raise our glasses to
everyone "were not dead yet!"

We wish you peace and joy and hopefully will see you all
sometime down the road.

Sláinte - Cheers,

Hopie Lopez-Boyett
Booking Agent
----

*************************

Spring Irish Studies Courses - University of St Thomas
University of St. Thomas Spring 2008 Irish Studies Courses

Dia duit! We have some wonderful Irish Studies Courses
available for Spring 2008.

Open to audit and credit students, with first priority
given to credit students

Credit students: Sign up to reserve your places!

Audit students must submit a signed written form to the
Registrar, first-come, first-served. No payment is required
from audit students until the Registrar notifies audit
students that they have a place in the class.
----

Irish Language Courses

Irish I, Mondays, Wednesdays, 3:10 to 4:25 p.m.
Catalog No.: 1331; IRST Class No. 1854, Section A; MACL
Class No. 1875, Section A

Irish II, Tuesdays, Thursdays, 3:35 to 4:50 p.m.
Catalog No.: 1332; IRST 1855, Section A; MACL Class No.
1876, Section A

Intermediate Irish, Tuesdays, 5:30 to 8:15 p.m.
Catalog No.: 4393; IRST Class No. 1856, Section N; MACL:
Class Number 1877, Section A

All Irish Language Classes taught by Prof. Maeve McInerney
from University College Cork

Cross-listed with Modern and Classical Languages and Irish
Studies - Fulfill Language Requirements

Scholarships available for first fifteen (15) students to
sign up for Irish I and fulfill scholarship application
requirements.

Contact me for a scholarship application form or an audit
form!

Contemporary Irish Political and Social Issues

Dr. John F. Burke, Political Science
Mondays, Wednesdays, 1:40 to 2:55 p.m.

Catalog No.: 4393; IRST Class No: 1857, Section A; INST
Class No. 1848, Section B; POSC Class No. 2107, Section B;
WCS Class No. 2133, Section G; MLA Class No.: 1603, Section
A

Cross-listed with Irish Studies, International Studies,
Political Science, Women, Culture and Society and MLA.

Medieval Celtic Literature

Dr. Kerry MacArthur
Tuesdays, Thursdays, 2:10 to 3:25 p.m.

Catalog No.: 4393; IRST Class No. 1858, Section B; ENGL
Class No. 1788, Section A; MLA Class No. 1604, Section B

Cross-listed with Irish Studies, English and MLA.

We look forward to seeing you in our Irish Studies courses!

Best regards and happy holidays,
Lori

Lori M. Gallagher, J.D.
Director, Center for Irish Studies
University of St. Thomas
3800 Montrose Blvd.
Houston, TX 77006
713-525-3592
Fax: 713-525-3866
irishstudies@stthom.edu
www.stthom.edu/irishstudies
----

Wednesday Nights at 8ish PM. The Mucky Duck continues a
twenty-five year tradition, hosting Houston's Irish
Session. The Mucky Duck incarnation of the Session, if for
no other reason than the frequent participation of younger
musicians, gives a very real sense of tradition passed on
and history handed down. The most visible Celtic-influenced
traditional bands around Houston -- make participating in
the Session a regular, energy-charging part of their
regular routine.

What is celebrated is the whole of Celtic culture, and a
musical tradition that, over the centuries, has become as
much American roots music as bottleneck guitar. The drums
of western Africa are what gave American music its rhythm;
more often than not, though, the melody is Celtic. The
popularity of Celtic folk music is either a testament to
the timeless appeal of these sometimes haunting, sometimes
hilarious, sometimes jig-inspiring tunes, or perhaps an
argument in favor of the nebulous theory of racial memory.

Celtic blood-ties real, suspected and imagined have given
many the impetus to learn the folk-arts of the ancient
tribes; that's just one reason why the Wednesday night
Session at the ` is as much a school and tribal
gathering as a musical event. This is a great way to
explore Irish music and tradition.

Music starts at 8pm, and there is no cover charge.2425
Norfolk Houston, TX 77098 713.528.5999 Phone

Be sure to check our calendar in case we have booked a
special show that might preempt our regular Irish Session
----

Ar mhaith leat Gaeilge a labhairt?
Would you like to speak Irish?

Beginning Irish Conversation

Jason’s Deli
Westheimer & Shepherd
2611 S Shepherd Dr Houston, TX 77098-1561

If you are interested in learning a little Irish then come
join us at Jason’s Deli on Wednesday evenings at 7:00
P.M.

This Irish class is tailored to the beginning student who
has had no prior exposure to Irish. You will learn basic
conversational greetings, helpful phrases, informative tips
for traveling through the Gaeltacht such as common signage,
asking directions and most important of all how to
pronounce those mystical Irish words.

Pocket phrase books do the tourist no good unless they know
how to pronounce what they are reading! This course
provides the beginning student with phonetically spelled
out Irish words, something most beginning tape and book
courses fail to offer.

If you have any questions please contact Tim Theisen
(tyson) at Jeaniebotl@aol.com or phone me at (713) 263-9691

If you are interested please come join us on Wednesday
evenings at 7:00 P.M.

There is a $5.00 donation to cover cost of the handouts.

Labhraímis Gaeilge is linne í !
Speaking Irish is cool!
----

Learn Irish Gaelic! (Katy Class)

SATURDAY - Beginning Conversational Irish (and every
Saturday for the next few months) Katy, TX 10 AM - Noon
Self-Study Group

Using Interactive CDs, Books, Tapes, and other materials
for spoken and written Irish.

Class moderated by an advanced American student of the
language.

$7 per class to cover costs.
$5 for Irish American Heritage Association members.

Call Pat McMahon at 713-271-0784 for location and
directions, or e-mail patpmcmahon@aol.com location: The
Carriage Inn, 1400 Katy- Flewellen Road in the Computer
Room
----

Wednesdays, 7-10 pm

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING AND MORE
http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/SCDM.htm

New Dancers Welcome - Families Welcome
(children must be accompanied by parent / guardian).
$5 for those 14 and over; $2.50 those under 14
($15 maximum per family) - fourth consecutive Wednesday
free.

1st Wednesdays: FREE at
Churchill Room, Black Labrador Pub
4100 Montrose Blvd. Map
(Montrose near Richmond)

2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Wednesday
Location: Oddfellows Hall, 115 E. 14th St. (Heights),
Houston, Texas (3rd building on left traveling east from
Heights Blvd. - 2 story red brick - entrance recessed about
15 feet from street - dancing upstairs).

LINKS ON WEBSITE with map & photo (Map)
http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/MapOddfellows.gif
PHOTO OF HALL:
http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/OddfellowsHall.jpg
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The Irish American Heritage Association of Katy, Texas. We
meet the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm at the
Municipal Utility District Building on Cimmaron Pkwy at
Hidden Canyon Rd (just west of S Mason Rd) in Katy, Texas
to enjoy speakers, performances, and presentations on
Ireland and the Irish. We also publish a monthly
newsletter,

The Irish Heritage News.

For more information or directions, please call:
Bridget Connelly . . 281-492-8780
Mike Long . . . . . . 281-395-3038
Dennis Donlan . . . 281-392-0894

OR
www.texirish.org
E-mail us at:
info@texirish.org
----

Thurs Night Irish Session @ Coffee Oasis on NASA Rd One
Session starts about 7:30PM every Thurs night
4650 NASA Road 1
Seabrook, TX 77586
281.532.1439

You are likely to see Laura (of Echoes of Ireland) or Tom
(of http://www.texasbagpipes.com/)

http://www.texasbagpipes.com/
http://www.bayoucitypipesanddrums.com/
----

CELTIC CHORUS OF HOUSTON

Do you like to hum or sing along with the music played on
Irish Aires or The Three Irish Tenors? Then join us every
Thursday night at Black Labrador Pub, 4100 Montrose Blvd.
(Montrose near Richmond)
NEW TIME: 7:00 - 9:00 P.M.

We will join together in a sing-a-long session and then
later those who wish to learn four part music may stay and
learn choral music of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. If you
need more information contact Richard McGinty 713-943-9600
or e-mail r.e.hourich@excite.com

The mission statement reads in part: "to provide a
community meeting place for those interested in the Celtic
heritages." The first half of the evening focuses on
singalong songs and the second half on choral arrangements.
The singalong songs: Will You Go Lassie Go The Minstrel Boy
Sally Gardens Molly Malone (In Dublin's Fair City)
Finnegan's Wake The Foggy Dew Black Velvet Band Mcnamara's
Band Danny Boy When Irish Eyes Are Smiling The Unicorn Song
I'm Lookin' Over A Four Leaf Clover Whiskey In The
Jar The Wild Rover The Bard Of Armagh Choral Arrangements:
Danny Boy The Minstrel Boy An Irish Blessing My Wild Irish
Rose
----

New Galveston Session Starting: Poor Michael's Pub in Galveston (2007 Strand)
wants to start a regular session at their establishment. All levels of musical
expertise (including those who just like to listen) will be welcome! Contact
Michael at galvston@yahoo.com or call him at 409-762-1967 to get more details.
Also, Poor Michael's has some employment opportunity for bartenders.
----

"One hundred thousand welcomes!" This age-old Gaelic
greeting is a timeless _expression of Scottish hospitality
and goodwill. We can't think of a better way to welcome you
than to invite you to Houston's Heather and Thistle Society
(H&T). The Heather and Thistle Society was founded in 1953
by Scots living in Houston who wished to "cultivate an
interest in and fond recollections of Scotland, its history
and traditions, its literature and ideals, its minstrelsy
and song, its customs and amusements; and to provide
opportunities for good fellowship and social contact
through typically Scottish functions, so that the blessing
of our Scottish culture may never die in our new homeland".
The Heather and Thistle Society meets 10 times a year,
September through June. Programs include "ceilidhs",
lively lectures, slide shows and movies about Scotland. We
are an organization that promotes our Scottish heritage in
various ways.

Membership in the Heather and Thistle Society is open to
all with an interest in Scottish Heritage and Culture.
Annual Dues are $10.00 for an individual and $15.00 for a
family.

H&T meets the fourth (4th) Monday of each month, September
thru June, at 7:30 P.M. Current meeting location:
Auditorium of St.Thomas Episcopal School, 4900 Jackwood,
Houston, TX 77096 http://www.stes.org/contact.htm
----

Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Dancing

General Class Mondays - 7:30-9:30 p.m In progress Classical
Arts Dance Studio, 530 N Illinois, League City - Contact
Moon Weiss, 713-465-9650, mland121@aol.com

Basic Class Tuesdays - 7:30-9:30 p.m. In progress DewAnn
Cotton Dance Studio, 9423 Glenfield Court (By S.
Braeswood/Hillcroft) South West Houston For info: Carol
Palmer, 713-776-8531, carolhpalmer@hotmail.com

General Class Thursdays - 7:30-9:30 p.m In progress DewAnn
Cotton Dance Studio, 9423 Glenfield Court (By S.
Braeswood/Hillcroft), South West Houston Teacher: Bill
Zobel, For info: Carol Palmer, 713-776-8531,
carolhpalmer@hotmail.com
----

Stepdancing & Ceili classes
O'Maoileidigh School of Irish Dance
Houston, TX
Sundays starting at 9:30 AM
For more information contact newmembers@omaoileidigh.com
http://www.omaoileidigh.com/
----

Step Dancing Lessons

Stepdancing Lessons
McTeggart Irish Dancers
The Woodlands, Texas
More info@
http://www.irishdancehouston.com/
936-321-6583

*With over 60 dancers and 21 Championship dancers McTeggart
Irish Dancers of South Texas have a lot to be proud of.

*Last year they had 6 dancers travel to Killarney Ireland
for the World's Championship in Irish Dancing. These
dancers faced up to 150 of the world's top dancers in their
age groups. Two of the dancers did very well: Zane
Glotzbach placed 24th and was 5th out of all the U.S.
competitors and Annelise Rubbo placed 33rd overall.

*Last year they had 21 dancers travel to Norfolk, Virginia
for the Southern Region Championships, also known as
"Oireachtas". Most of these dancers placed high in their
age groups, with 3 receiving first place: Annelise Rubbo,
Zane Glotzbach and Shannon Powell.

From this competition a dancer qualifies for the World's
Championship and Annelise Rubbo, Jaclyn Rubbo and Zane
Glotzbach achieved this accomplishment.

*Another well-known International competition is the All-
Irelands. Later in January 2004, Annelise Rubbo and Jenna
Pace will be traveling to Ennis, Ireland to compete.

*Also in 2004 several dancers are heading to Philadelphia
for the North American Nationals Competition, held each
July. In addition, McTeggart Irish Dancers of South Texas
hopes to have over 25 dancers travel to North Carolina for
the next Southern Region Championship.

*A new beginner class started Sunday, Jan. 11.For
information on classes or performances, go to
http://www.irishdancehouston.com/
or call 936-321-6583
----

"The Maguire Academy of Irish Dance"

Come join us at our first weekly class for our new school starting this Sunday
(12/16/07) Classes will be every Sunday from 4PM To 5:30PM at
Amy Blakes Academy Of Dance Located At The Intersection Of Thor St And Bay Area
Blvd. On January 13, 2008, there will be a Master Class from 1PM to 4PM (The
workshop cost is $40 for a 4 hour masterclass).

We are opening up in the Clear Lake area and would love to have all interested
in learning Irish dance, come and join our school.

About us:
Darren Maguire is a former lead male dancer in Riverdance the Show, world
champion level dancer, and fully accredited TCRG/ADCRG with the Irish dance
commission in Dublin, Ireland.

Richard Tew is a national, and regional champion level dancer, and regional
senior men's champion in 2003. Richard is also a TCRG candidate having already
taken and passed most of his requirements.

Amy Blake's Academy of Dance" located at:
2150 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston, TX 77058

Our weekly classes are being planned right now, and will be at the same location
as the workshops.

Please either email: rttew@yahoo.com or call 281-989-3575

Thanks,
Richard Tew

******************************************

Community Annoucements:

Wedding Announcement

Bill Galbraith & Emily Standish Have Announced Their MARRIAGE!

Bill and Emily play Celtic music as CONSTANT BILLY.
----
Support The Pat Finucane Centre Today!
(Poster's Note: This organization really needs the support
of all Irish & Irish Americans. The family has suffered so
much and the PFC has done so MUCH for MANY Irish causes.

TODAY, please write a check OR even better, go to their web
site: http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/

You can make a donation with PayPal online & it will only
take a minute. We should all try to make AT LEAST a $20
contribution (a $100 would be better. Jay)

******************************************

SUPPORT THE PAT FINUCANE CENTRE

From: "Pat Finucane Centre" info@patfinucanecentre.org
Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2005 15:36:49 +0100
Subject: Urgent Appeal To Friends & Supporters.

An Urgent Appeal To All Friends And Supporters Of The Pat
Finucane Centre.

Dear Friend of the PFC,

This is an urgent appeal for donations! We are in the red!

The Pat Finucane Centre, though Derry based, has had an
impact far beyond the north west of Ireland. Earlier this
year a reception was held at the Guildhall in Derry to
honour the work of the Centre. Families and individuals
travelled from 11 of the 32 counties in Ireland, and from
Scotland and England, in itself ample testament to the
respect felt in the wider community.

The work of the centre over the last year has included;

-organising public meetings with the Mayor of London on the
End Impunity Campaign,

- research on collusion that has resulted in a number of
cases currently being heard before the European Court of
Human Rights at Strasbourg,

-participating in the Advisory Group on the Sean Brown
murder investigation,

-logging all sectarian /racist incidents from June 2005 to
September 2005 (the log will be available soon)

-giving evidence to Committees of both the Irish and
British parliaments,

-initiating a number of investigations into conflict
related deaths by the Police Ombudsman's office,

-reenacting closed meetings of the Policing Board as street
theatre and

--applying to the Guinness Book of Records to have
Rosemount PSNI barracks logged as the least used police
station in the world!

The ongoing day-to-day advocacy on behalf of families is
largely confidential and hidden from view but the Centre
works with over 120 families who have lost relatives in the
conflict. In addition individuals approach the Centre with
complaints and are referred to solicitors and/or to the
Police Ombudsman.

Against this background it will come as no surprise to
realise that the centre deliberately steers away from
official funding that is linked to the NIO. Stubbornly
independent as it is the Centre is largely dependent on
individual donors. The Pat Finucane Centre website carries
the following quote from Geraldine Finucane,

'If you believe in shaping stronger human rights protection
then invest in the Pat Finucane Centre and those who find
themselves in the frontline in their work to defend human
rights. '

The Centre urgently requires donations in order to continue
that work.

There is no money in the bank! Please respond this week!

Note. Donations can be made by cheque or online (today!)
through the secure Paypal system at

http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/

Postal address:

The Pat Finucane Centre,
1 West End Park,
Derry,
BT48 9JF
Ireland (North).

Telephone: +44 28 71 268846
Fax: +44 28 71 266453
Email: info@patfinucanecentre.org

******************************************

Ireland Photos

Pictures from Ireland in 2006
To See Irish pics, click the following:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/rdooling@swbell.net/album/1152921504621152084
----

:: Irish Aires Has A Brand New Blog!! (actually we have
two!)
http://irishairescurrentevents.blogspot.com/2005/01/irish-aires-has-brand-new-blog.html

Below are links to hear broadcasts & playlists. If you have
RealAudio, a soundcard & speakers on your computer, you
should have no problem listening to the shows, EXCEPT that
if too many people are trying to access the stations audio
files at once, you might get an error. Try back later.
----

:: Rory Oliver Miggins, RIP

http://www.legacy.com/houstonchronicle/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=99249818

Rory Oliver Miggins

RORY OLIVER MIGGINS, 52, entered into life everlasting on
December 7, 2007, in his parental home in the shadow of St.
Anne's Church, after a valiant 3-month battle with
melanoma.

Rory was born in Houston, Texas on September 11, 1955, the
first-born of 12 children of Kathleen and Larry Miggins,
who survive him.

Rory was a natural competitor. He had a distinguished
athletic career at St. Thomas High School in basketball,
baseball, and, particularly, football, garnering All-
District, All-State, and All-American honors as running
back. Rory graduated from St. Thomas High School in 1974.

He graduated from the University of Houston in 1979 with a
BBA in Finance.

He was a lifelong athlete, playing baseball for 16 years
with the Houston Men's Senior Baseball League, most recently
with the Colt 45's during the spring of 2007.

During his 29-year career as a marine manager with ILA
Local 1351, Rory rose to Class A rank and served on its
Executive Board.

It was through his work at the Port of Houston that Rory
developed a love of the waterfront, prompting him to form
the Waterfront Association that sponsored the Waterfront
Fishing Festival for many years dedicated to cleaning and
beautification of the environment.

Rory's love of music, fostered by his Irish heritage,
inspired him to create an East End legend, Local Charm, a
venue for regional blues, rockabilly, country, and zydeco
bands where he lived by the motto "You are a stranger here
but once." His eclectic music bar launched many new talents
in the 80's and 90's.

He was recognized for these efforts and was appointed the
2008 Honorary Chair of the Musician's Benevolent Society
that he co-founded in the 80's. An example of Rory's
originality and creativity is the first ever St. Patrick's
Day Snake Races held at Local Charm.

Always interested in Texas history, Rory joined the Texas
Army and achieved the rank of Colonel. He was also
recognized as a Knight of Texas for his work in connection
with the annual Greening of the Bayou for St. Patrick's
Day.

In addition to his parents, Rory is survived by his 11
grieving siblings, their spouses, and his 15 nieces and 16
nephews to whom he was a terrific uncle: Eileen Hohlt
(John), Mary, John, and Annie Hohlt; John (Debbie),
Christine, Julia, and Matthew Miggins; Larry (Sherl),
Thomas and Laura Miggins; Maureen Swanson (Pat), Fiona,
Patrick, Brian and Kenneth Swanson; Noreen Gottschalk
(Stephen), Robert and Daniel Gottschalk; Matthew
(Penelope), Gabriella, John, and Maria Miggins; Kathleen
Hibbler (Jim), Elizabeth, Conor, Bridie, and Rory; Neil
(Serena), Charlie, Jack, and Adelaide Miggins; Robert
(Julie), Lily, Carlo, and Patrick Miggins; Patrick (Nancy)
and James Miggins; and Michael (Abby), Molly, Cate and Lucy
Miggins. Rory's surviving aunts and uncles include John and
Helen Miggins of Tunxis Village, CT; Rita Miggins of Boca
Raton, FL; Eileen (Rory's godmother) and Jake Hoppenthal of
Artesia Springs, CA; Thomas and Margaret McMahon of
Chicago, IL; Andy and Ann McMahon of Melbourne, Australia;
and Bridie and Jimmy Morrissey of London, England. He has
countless cousins, world-wide, who survive him, many of
whom supported him with visits and phone calls during his
illness.

In addition to his activities noted above, Rory was a
member of many other families including St. Anne's parish,
the Houstonian Club, Art Car Parade Commission (founding
member), the Orange Show Commission, the Waterfront
Association, the Texas Army, Slippery Rock Booster Club,
Idylwood Civic Club, St. Patrick's Parade Commission,
Houston Blues Society (founding member), Dick Dowling Irish
Heritage Society (founding member), The Irish Society, The
Seaman's Center, and St. Thomas High School Alumni
Association.

Never was Rory's loyal and diverse network of friends more
evident than during his illness when they kept his spirits
high and ministered to his spiritual needs. Rory wanted to
express his appreciation to the doctors and nurses at MD
Anderson who did their best to arrest his cancer. Showing
his indomitable spirit, just last Monday, Rory said "I'm
your man" if a clinical trial became available.

Neither the Miggins family nor Rory could have faced the
challenge of this vicious disease without the loving
expertise of Rory's brother-in-law and Noreen's husband,
Dr. Stephen Gottschalk, who tirelessly trouble-shot on
Rory's behalf.

The family will receive friends at St. Anne's Catholic
Church, 2140 Westheimer (at Shepherd) on Monday, December
10 from 5 8 pm, with the rosary recitation at 7 o'clock.

The Funeral Mass will begin at 10:00 am on Tuesday,
December 11, with a light luncheon to follow in the parish
hall. Following the luncheon, Rory's remains will return to
his beloved East End for interment at Forest Park Lawndale.
Rory's pallbearers are his seven surviving brothers.

For those desiring, memorial contributions may be made in
Rory Miggins' name to:

· The Hole in the Wall Gang (a fund for crippled children)
c/o ILA 1351, 7524 Ave. N, Houston, TX 77012;

· St. Thomas High School, Rory Miggins Memorial Scholarship,
4500 Memorial, Houston, TX 77007;

· St. Anne School Foundation, 2120 Westheimer, Houston, Texas 77019;

· The St. Brendan Society, c/o Jeannie Kearns, 10220
Memorial Drive #131, Houston, TX 77024. "

Fare thee well, my child, forever. In this world we have
lost our joy. But in the next we will never sever. There
we'll find our darlin' boy."

Sign guest book at:
http://www.legacy.com/houstonchronicle/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=99249818

:: George F. Little, RIP (Pete Little’s Father)

September 2, 2006, of Depew, NY, husband of the late Muriel
C. Little; father of Mary Catherine (James) Spilman,
Michael (Ann), David (Elisabeth Alvarsdotter), John
(Barbara), Margaret (Kevin) Craig, Anne Militello, Stephen
(Maureen), Jeanne (Paul) Konetzny, Peter, Teresa, Maureen;
brother of Eleanor Rigdon, Catherine Little; grandfather of
20; great grandfather of 18. Memorial Mass to be announced.
Memorial contributions may be made to Rapid Response Home
Care Program at Millard Fillmore Hospital, Gates Circle.

Published in the Buffalo News on 9/7/2006.
----

:: AL CAMPBELL (Houston Highlanders Bagpiper )(1931- 2006)

It is with great sadness that we inform our membership that
our friend and piper, Al Campbell, passed away last
evening. Over the years, we could always count on Al to
support H&T with all our piping requests. He gave
generously of his time, and was a very special contributor
to our Society. In addition to his dignified performances,
Al had great humor which he occasionally added for fun and
laughter. We shall miss him.

Our special condolences to his wife, Betsy, his family and
close friends.
----

:: PHILLIP JAMES CONNELLY, of Katy, passed away on
Thursday, August 11, 2005 in a Houston hospital at the age
of 74 years.

Phillip James Connelly was born on September 14, 1930 in
Tulsa, Oklahoma to Paul and Peggy Connelly. He graduated
from Holy Family High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the
University of Oklahoma. He served his country during the
Korean War as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army based out of
Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

On April 4, 1964, he married his beloved wife, Bridget
Imelda Corr. He retired from General Electric's Lighting
Division after 30 years of service.

Phil was a founding member and former president of the
Irish American Heritage Association of Katy and a member of
the Irish Society in Houston, Texas. He was a member of the
Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church, in Katy, and a member
of the Knights of Columbus, 4th Degree, Assembly 2721. He
was also a friend of Bill Wilson.

He was a life long Democrat. Phil was an active participant
in the Forever Young Group in Epiphany, as well as many
other organizations.

He is survived by his wife, Bridget Imelda Connelly of
Katy; his sons, Mike Connelly of Keller, Texas, and Tim
Connelly and his wife Sylvia of Ardmore, Pennsylvania; and
his grandson, Sebastian Connelly. He was preceded in death
by his parents, Paul and Peggy Connelly; and by his
brother, Jack Connelly.

Those wishing to make memorial gifts may do so to the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 5005 Mitchelldale, Suite 115,
Houston, Texas 77092-7230 or to your favorite charity.
----

Other Irish Celtic Calendars & Sources:

Scottish Country Dancing & More:
http://home.att.net/~diannashipman/Calendar.htm

Houston Irish Development Assoc:
http://www.houstonirish.org/calendar/calendar.shtml

Texas Celtic Music Network Calendar
http://texcelt.org/Calendar.html

Southwest Celtic Music Association
http://www.scmatx.org/main.htm

Texas Scottish Heritage Society
http://www.txscot.com/

Houston Chronicle Search for World Music Local bands
http://www.chron.com/COMS/BandsPub/pub.mpl?actionfiltered=searchbands&nextview=bandsearch&submit1=&submit2=2&band_name=&genre=World

Houston Press World Music Listing
http://listings.houstonpress.com/gyrobase/Music/Results?genre=13765&keyword=&date=
Posted by: Jay / 3:33 PM 0 comments

April 13, 2008

Nelson Murder Inquiry to Begin

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0413/breaking65.htm

Nelson Murder Inquiry To Begin

Last Updated: 13/04/2008 08:18

British intelligence officers, police chiefs and top civil servants
will be questioned at a public inquiry into the murder of solicitor
Rosemary Nelson set to open in Belfast.

The public inquiry follows a 2004 report on her case by Canadian
judge Peter Cory
The public inquiry follows a 2004 report on her case by Canadian
judge Peter Cory

Nine years after the 40-year-old was killed in a loyalist car bomb
attack, the inquiry will begin its public hearings on Tuesday to
determine if the authorities had a role in her murder.

Today a former United Nations official who had warned of the dangers
facing the mother-of-three before her death, described her as a
fearless solicitor who took on controversial cases others were afraid
to touch.

Former UN investigator Param Cumaraswamy said: “I welcome the
inquiry. The perpetrators of that tragic brutal murder of Rosemary
Nelson on March 15th, 1999 must be identified and brought to justice.

“I trust that the process of this inquiry will leave no stones
unturned to seek the truth.”

The Public Inquiry opens on Tuesday and will be led by Sir Michael
Morland, a retired Judge of the High Court of England and Wales.

It can investigate the conduct of MI5, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC), the British army and the Northern Ireland Office.

But early estimates suggest its work could take at least two years as
it attempts to unravel a case with a long and troubled history.

In 1998 Param Cumaraswamy complained to the UN in Geneva and to the
British government having met Mrs Nelson and heard her claims of RUC
harassment.

Mrs Nelson made the same allegations at a special hearing in the
United States congress in Washington and there were fears her case
resembled that of solicitor Pat Finucane, shot dead by loyalists 10
years earlier in 1989.

Both lawyers represented republican suspects and both said they later
faced threats from the security forces and from loyalist
paramilitaries.

Ms Nelson ran her own small legal practice in Lurgan, Co Armagh, a
town divided along sectarian lines and based near Portadown, home of
the Drumcree parades flashpoint.

Most of her work involved routine legal business, but she also
accepted a number of controversial cases which put her under the
spotlight.

Ms Nelson represented leading republican Colin Duffy and overturned
his conviction for murdering a soldier after it emerged a crucial
police witness was a loyalist paramilitary.

She also represented the family of Robert Hamill - a Catholic kicked
to death by a loyalist mob while RUC officers were nearby.

But it was Ms Nelson’s role as solicitor to the Garvaghy Road
Residents’ Coalition against Orange Order parades that attracted most
attention.

By the late 1990s the local marching dispute at Drumcree had
escalated to become a focus for mass protest and murderous violence.

Ms Nelson told relatives and friends she received a catalogue of
threats, but she found it difficult to believe she would be killed
for doing her job.

The public inquiry follows a 2004 report on her case by Canadian
judge Peter Cory, which gave a chilling insight into Mrs Nelson’s
experiences.

Judge Cory wrote: “Rosemary Nelson’s 10-year-old son took a call at
home and when he gave the phone to his mother the caller said: You’re
dead, you’ll be shot.”

He added: “She had been shopping in a local food market when she
noticed that she was being followed around the store by a large man.

“At one point, when other shoppers were not in the vicinity, this man
came up to her and told her that ‘if she didn’t stop representing IRA
scum, she would be dead’.”

Judge Cory said 11 of Ms Nelson’s clients claimed RUC officers
threatened her.

One is alleged to have said: “You’re going to die when you get out.
And tell Rosemary she’s going to die.”

The police have always denied the claims, which they argue have been
investigated by the then RUC and the Metropolitan police.

On the day she was killed Mrs Nelson drove from her home at around
12.40pm. She braked at a junction opposite Tannaghmore Primary School
where her daughter was a pupil.

Police later said a mercury tilt switch in the bomb under her car
detonated the device. An explosion ripped through her silver BMW.

Friends and relatives ran to Ms Nelson’s aid and one of her sisters
held her hand as she lay fatally wounded in the wreckage.

In the outrage sparked by her murder, the authorities resisted calls
for the RUC to be frozen out of the subsequent investigation.

Four years later the murder hunt led by a senior officer from
England, but which included RUC officers, ended without charging
anyone over the killing.

Approximately ú15 million has been spent on the Nelson case so far.
Security chiefs and a number of senior politicians question the role
of expensive public inquiries, while other murders from the Troubles
remain unsolved.

But Param Cumaraswamy today argued no-one could put a price on
justice. “While I appreciate taxpayers’ apprehension of the high cost
of such a public inquiry, such cost should not be a barrier for the
pursuit of truth and justice which are priceless human values,” he
said.

“Otherwise impunity will flourish and erode the fabric of society.”

PA
⌐ 2008 ireland.com
Posted by: Jay / 6:08 AM 0 comments

March 31, 2008

Overall Table of Contents

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----

Rev Harold Wood, Methodist Minister from N Ireland (Part 1)
Rev Harold Wood, Methodist Minister from N Ireland (Part 2)

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Posted by: Jay / 11:59 PM 4 comments

March 11, 2008

Opin: Truth About Paisley Is Not Pleasant Reading

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/wholestory.aspx-qqqt=TOM+MCGURK-qqqs=commentandanalysis-qqqsectionid=3-qqqc=5.3.0.0-qqqn=1-qqqx=1.asp

Opin: The Truth About Paisley Does Not Make Pleasant Reading

Sunday, March 09, 2008 By Tom McGurk Sunday Business Post

I suspect that the proverbial visitor from Mars might be
somewhat confused reading last week’s eulogies to Ian
Paisley’s political career.

The political establishments in Dublin, London and Belfast
fell over themselves not to spoil the farewell party with
their effusive tributes. It’s almost as though some
delicate charade has to be kept up until, finally, the
door slams in May on the retirement home in Carrickfergus
and the key is firmly turned. Until then, the ancient and
dangerous elephant is still grinning at us from the corner
of the room. Some have been seeking refuge in speculating
on how history might judge him, which is something I think
we are required to do now, and not at some point in the
future.

The truth of it is that, over the past 40 years, Ian Kyle
Paisley was - more than any other single individual - a
primary cause and hugely responsible for the bloody and
murderous carnage that dominated life in Ireland.

The fact that, in the end, he led what was left of
unionism into a new and historic power-sharing deal with
nationalism was proof, not of his reformation, but of his
sheer political opportunism. Only one so utterly cynical
could continue to insist that what he had done was somehow
profoundly different to what David Trimble or Brian
Faulkner had done before him.

The 2007 St Andrew’s deal is essentially the 1973
Sunningdale Agreement with a few different bells on it,
but we have all had to keep our mouths shut for months
now. A wrong word in the wrong place, and the Big Man
might bolt again across the land of the dreary spires,
scattering courtiers and civil servants before him. The
truth is that the king (or First Minister) has had no
clothes for a long time now, but it suited us all to say
nothing.

There is a version of our - and his - history which must
not be forgotten, however sentimental the moment might be.
In the beginning, had he not destroyed Terence O’Neill and
those small progressive forces in unionism, the campaign
for full and equal civil rights within the United Kingdom
might not have turned into a bloody war for a united
Ireland. Had he not continuously and outrageously stoked
the fires of sectarianism, there is a real chance that the
events of August 1969 in West Belfast - which largely
created the Provisional IRA - might never have happened.

Had he not undermined unionism from the outside down all
the years, the Sunningdale Agreement could conceivably
have begun a healing process 34 years ago. Above all, he
publicly identified himself with a degree of naked
sectarianism that poisoned society in the North and went a
long way towards creating the physiological context for
the loyalist murder gangs. He never killed or shot anyone,
he may never have behaved illegally, but without the
climate he created in the 1960s and 1970s, could the
Shankill Butchers have felt justified?

In the end, age and ambition got him, shrinking him down
to become one half of the unlikeliest political couple
that the world has ever seen. Down the years, when the IRA
seemed to be running out of options, there was always
Paisley to rescue them with his bully-boy political
antics. And ironically, at the end of 30 years of war and
with republicans desperate to deliver some sort of result,
there was Paisley to rescue them yet again by propping up
a localised and devolved regional assembly.

Even now, one cannot see him in the mind’s eye without
speculating on what might have been, and what might not.
Perhaps, down the years, he has succeeded even in blinding
himself to the enormous damage he did to the province that
he claims to have loved so much. And as he forever extols
the pain and loss of those who died around him, does he
ever for a moment consider who made the stones for the
stone-throwers?

Nor might his ghost be vanquished yet. I suspect that
those who look forward to a flawless succession and power-
sharing business as usual might be in for a few surprises.
I believe that the DUP post Paisley will be an entirely
different political entity with an entirely different
political dynamic - and, sooner or later, that may affect
devolution.

Jim Allister and his nascent Traditional Unionist Voice
have only Paisley’s example to begin the now-familiar
process of undermining the new unionist establishment
created by the DUP.

They will, of course, copy the master by raising fears and
playing on prejudices and seeking to undermine any
unionist who attempts to treat any nationalist as an
equal. They are opposed to mandatory coalition, which is
merely another way of saying that they are opposed to
powersharing. And they are spouting some guff about
getting rid of the IRA’s Army Council.

Will some class of new Paisley come among us? Allister is
limited enough material to begin with, but he knows all
the old sell-out tunes. He’s dull and stolid, but
apparently he’s already mischief-making on the DUP
backbenches. Papa Doc and Baby Doc made enemies both in
terms of putting Sinn Fein in government and then by not
putting certain people in ministerial posts - and now
these people are circling. For example, the recent inside
information fed to the press about the methods employed by
the Paisley and Robinson families seemingly to employ
relatives on HMG’s payroll came from within the DUP
itself.

Now, as the old man limps off into the sunset, he leaves
behind, not a political party with ideological positions
and with tried and tested political structures, but a
political cabal forced together by various events - and
one that, I suspect, only he could ever hold together.

It remains to be seen if Paisleyism can survive without
Paisley.
Posted by: Jay / 8:14 PM 0 comments

March 10, 2008

GFA 10th Anniversary: Peace Without Justice

Northern Ireland: Peace Without Justice

It has been 10 years since the Belfast Agreement ended centuries of
armed Nationalist resistance to English rule in Ireland. The British
took their time implementing the demilitarization measures and the
elected Assembly and, in the mean time, loyalist militants would kill
over thirty Catholics. Despite the good intentions of Prime Minister
Blair, the Army and MI-5 have blocked all progress on the Agreement’s
call for independent inquires into security force collusion with
loyalist death squads and the corruption of law in the North.
America weighed in once before to bring about the peace. Will it do
the same now to see that justice is done?

The accord was immediately dubbed the “Good Friday Agreement,” with
its adoption in 1998. Civil rights activist and former Member of
Parliament Bernadette Devlin, who survived one assassination attempt
at the hands of the British Army, panned both the document and the
label by stating “I think they should have waited until Holy
Saturday.” In several respects she was right. The British were
anxious to reduce the violence to manageable levels. The period
leading up to the agreement from 1994 to 1996 included a surge of
loyalist slaughter including the butchering of 16 year old James
Morgan and the murder of dozens of others including Ben Hughes and
John Slane, two fathers who left 11 children behind. By the time the
second IRA cease-fire ended in 1996 with the Canary Wharf bombing,
the British people were weary of the failed Irish policies of the
Thatcher-Major era.

The peace pact was the result of a unique collaboration between,
President Clinton, who took his own counsel on N. I., and Prime
Minister Blair, the first Labor leader in living memory who didn’t
need loyalist votes to govern. Add to their patience and wisdom the
skill of the moderator, former Senator George Mitchell and a new era
was ushered into Irish history. Well almost. The ink was barely dry
when the loyalist and British backsliding began on both the letter
and spirit of the documents. The elected Assembly —without policing
and justice powers---has functioned only since 2005 and troop
withdrawals were regularly delayed. Although violence has subsided,
thirty-one Catholics have been killed since 1998 including Gerald
Lalor, Danny McColgan, Ciaran Cummings and most recently Michael
McIlveen aged 15. To appease militant loyalists two supplemental
understandings were adopted at Weston Park and St Andrew’s. However,
the ‘truth and justice’ sections, as they have come to be called,
have languished with negligible progress.

Just what are these justice issues?

• Unsolved killings—Sinn Fein and others including the Irish
government were apparently under the delusion that Britain would make
some effort to explain the failure to arrest, prosecute or convict in
over 1000 unsolved murders in the North. The victims were mostly
Catholic. The Director of Public Prosecution also failed to indict
even one person from the investigation of British Constable Stevens
who documented murders involving collusion with security forces.

• Bloody Sunday, Dublin/Monaghan & Omagh—Thirty-six years after that
fateful day in Derry Britain will not indicate when its report into
the Bloody Sunday massacre will be released.

The single largest atrocity of the conflict, the Dublin/Monaghan
bombings were carried out by a loyalist death squad and the British
Army. An investigation into that act of war, which for Ireland was on
the scale of a “9/11” attack, has been stonewalled by the British
Ministry of Defense.

Likewise the Omagh bombing will not be independently looked at because too many secrets of the security forces would be revealed.

• Pat Finucane & Rosemary Nelson---These two lawyers were assassinated
for their work challenging the corrupt justice apparatus Britain
established to prop up garrison rule. Security force involvement in
the assassination is certain. Britain is not cooperating with
investigators fearing disclosures will destroy the spin and expose the
deceit of their ‘upholding the rule of law.’

Can American leadership again be expected to bring some urgency to
getting answers to the justice issues? The chemistry of Clinton and
Blair is not likely to be repeated unless Senator Clinton were to
become President. The Department of State remains blinded by a World
War II ‘special relationship’ psyche. Their diplomacy with the U. K
is based on deals not justice. Britain’s delay and cover up on these
matters is understandable. Slowly a picture has emerged in Northern
Ireland of a violent 40 year criminal conspiracy by the governments
against the Catholic Nationalists. If America and Americans don’t
demand Britain live up to the justice issues of the Belfast Agreement,
there will be no accountability, no justice for the victims of their lawlessness and a history of the era built on lies.

Michael J. Cummings, Member
National Boards of the Irish American Unity Conference
and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and former National
Executive member of the Irish Northern Aid Committee
12 Marion Ave
Albany, New York 12203-1814
518-482-0349, 518-447-4802
saoirse64@hotmail.com
Posted by: Jay / 10:49 AM 0 comments

March 09, 2008

Paisley: I Smashed Sinn Fein

(Poster’s Note: What kind of LOYALIST/UNIONIST is Paisley? He agreed
to participate in ALL-IRELAND governmental bodies; he agreed to the
Good Friday Agreement which has the mechanism to UNITED the 32
counties into ONE country. His references to not shaking hands are
similar to Pontius Pilot who thought he could cleanse his soul by
washing his hands. Ian, you can’t make deals with “Sinn Fein/IRA” and
claim to be an innocent just because you don’t shake hands. These
comments show how UGLY his TWO faces are!! Jay)

PAISLEY -- I SMASHED SINN FEIN 03/09/08 11:37 EST

Northern Ireland's outgoing First Minister Ian Paisley today
provocatively asserted that Sinn Féin were no longer "true
republicans" because they had 'accepted' Britain's right to
govern in Northern Ireland.

Mr Paisley (81) who will retire as First Minister in May,
said he had achieved his aim and "smashed" Sinn Féin because
they were now involved in the political process.

"I did smash them, because I took away their main plank.
Their main plank was that the would not recognise the
British Government. Now they are in part of the British
Government."

He added: "They can't be true republicans when they now
accept the right of Britain to govern this country and to
take part in that government."

He also dismissed suggestions he had been forced out by an
internal Democratic Unionist Party coup. He said the reason
he stepped down was because it was time for a "new
generation" to shape the country's future.

"There's a new thinking in Ulster today, not only that there
is a new generation. There are people now coming out of
their teens, they didn't know the troubles. They were never
there - that's the sort of country they want to live in.
They should be given the opportunity to help to mould that
country and how they feel it should be run."

There has been speculation that Mr Paisley was forced to
quit after coming under pressure from his party over the
activities of his son, Ian Paisley Jnr.

But Mr Paisley said: "There's always people in every party
who, for reasons best known to themselves, will take
different attitudes. But that's politics and I think people
know that I wouldn't budge very easily if I didn't want to."

On his relationship with Mr McGuiness, Mr Paisley said
despite their good working relationship the pair had never
shaken hands as to do so would be a "farce".

Mr Paisley, who will remain as the MP and Assembly member
for North Antrim, described himself as a "sinner saved by
the grace of God".

He continued: "I have my faults, which are many, which I
lament. I want to do the best for my country and I want to
say that I believed that when I helped to get a settlement
of the Northern Ireland situation - and I was only a helper,
I don't deserve all the praise."
__________________________________________________________

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providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your
tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at 505 S East St, Culpeper VA
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You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org
Posted by: Jay / 10:42 PM 0 comments

February 21, 2008

News 02/21/08 - Day That A Door Opened Briefly Into 'The Dark'





http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/daily-features/article3453244.ece

Day That A Door Opened Briefly Into 'The Dark'

In the week that former hunger striker Brendan Hughes died,
JIM DEE - the Boston Herald's correspondent in Northern
Ireland from 1998-2004 - recalls how the ex-IRA man told
him how he was implored to kill the Queen

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Working in Belfast during forging of the Good Friday
agreement and the tense implementation years that followed,
making sense of the peace process often necessitated
talking to former paramilitaries on both sides.

So when Brendan Hughes, a revered IRA icon to many Irish-
Americans, went public with criticisms of Sinn Fein's peace
strategy in early 2000, I immediately sought an interview.

I'd read about the ruthless IRA operative, the mattress-
roll escapee and the 1980 republican hunger strike leader.
So I half expected a massive ego to greet me when I arrived
at former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre's Ballymurphy home
to interview him.

However, Hughes was totally without airs. He answered all
questions, including pointed queries as to the plausibility
of his alternatives to Sinn Fein's strategy.

He said that he'd long held reservations about the peace
process but had remained quiet out of "loyalty to the
republican leadership".

Hughes said that when he joined the Provisional IRA in the
early 70s, " there was a simplicity about it - that we
would fight the Brits and force them down Belfast Lough and
out."

When that didn't happen, he later became an ardent
supporter of the radicalisation of the republican movement
that evolved from mid-70s debates among Long Kesh
internees.

"Our whole philosophy within the prison was to bring about
a 32-county, democratic socialist republic," he said.

"And that's mainly my objection now, and my concerns with
the republican movement: that it is developing into a
purely middle-class movement, that it has dropped the 32-
county democratic socialist republican principles."

Hughes believed that most American supporters never grasped
the republican movement's late-70s leftward shift. After
being released from the Maze, he was sent on a fundraising
trip to US in the late 1980s, where he said he was shocked
at how conservative many supporters in groups like Irish
Northern Aid (NORAID) were.

"I remember sitting in a hotel room with a bunch of these
guys, and they were all pretty well-off," he said.

"There was a briefcase with the money in it on the table.
And they were banging the table. This guy, what did he call
himself - the 'OC of the Irish-American Republican Army' -
was banging the table demanding that I shoot the Queen,
that we shoot postmen, that we shoot anyone with the crown
on their caps."

Hughes believed the peace process back home had involved
similar republican efforts to court moderates and
conservatives, and that that strategy had taken the
movement into a cul-de-sac, and far from a united Ireland.

Of Gerry Adams, often pegged as a chief architect of that
strategy, he said: "Nobody works harder in this movement
than Gerry. And I have great admiration for him in that
regards. And he's my friend, my comrade."

But, he added, a flood of British peace money had left many
republicans " making a living out of politics here now, and
people who are in a position of power and influence. And it
becomes enjoyable ... (but) a lot of people are left
behind, a lot of the ordinary working republicans are left
behind."

Hughes insisted that only "open debate and open criticism"
could save republicanism.

"The leadership has to allow itself to be open to criticism
from people like me - not negative criticism, positive
criticism," he said.


Posted by: Jay / 11:33 AM 0 comments

February 12, 2008

PR From The McAllister Family Campaign For Justice

Press Release From The McAllister Family Campaign For Justice

12 February 2008

Mark James (“Jamie”) McAllister, second eldest to Malachy
McAllister, was deported to Dublin from Newark Airport on
Friday, February 8, 2008. He was arrested and taken into
detention the previous Thursday, during what he was led to
believe was a routine meeting with Department of Homeland
Security (“DHS”) officials. Malachy and Jamie have for the
last four years been obligated to check in personally with
the DHS on a monthly basis: Malachy, because he was denied
political asylum, and Jamie because of an indiscretion
committed during his teenage years.

Now in his late twenties, Jamie’s youthful mistake
condemned him to deportation to a country which he, as a
small boy, fled with his family under fire from loyalist
paramilitaries. Jamie has known no life other than that of
a typical American boy growing up in a New Jersey
neighborhood surrounded by his siblings, parents and
supportive Irish-American community. The major difference
is that he was undocumented. Even though he is married to
an American citizen, his fate was sealed.

He lived through the long legal battle his parents fought
to gain political asylum for the entire family. He knows
how hard they have worked to build lives in their adoptive
country, and he witnessed the terrible toll it took on his
young mother who died a few years ago from cancer.

The McAllister Family Campaign for Justice has always stood
firmly on the cornerstone of keeping together this close-
knit family that fled from Belfast’s violent past, taking
our cue from Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights: “The family is the natural and fundamental
group unit of society and is entitled to protection by
society and the State.” The determination of the Irish-
American community to keep the family intact became more
critical after Bernadette McAllister’s death.

Today the McAllister family must endure further tragedy, as
they are separated by an ocean from a son, brother and
husband to whom they were not permitted to say farewell. In
a stranger’s clothing, and with only $20.00 in his
possession, Jamie McAllister was chained, shackled and
escorted by U. S. Federal Marshalls from the country and
people he loves, and dumped unceremoniously in the country
he fled from 20 years ago.

In her decision lamenting the treatment of the McAllister
family under the current harsh and impersonal immigration
laws, U.S. Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry complained
that “we cannot be the country we should be if…we knee-jerk
remove decent men and women merely because they may have
erred at one point in their lives,” and pleaded that “we
should look a little closer; we should care a little more.”
Clearly, the DHS is moved little by any such humanitarian
concerns.

Contact: Carol Russell
P. O. Box 103,
Convent Station, NJ 07961-0103
Tel: 973-906-1034
tapestryhands@aol.com
Posted by: Jay / 8:29 PM 0 comments

January 30, 2008

'Irish Voice' Backs Hillary Clinton

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0130/breaking2.htm

Updated: 30/01/2008 01:23

'Irish Voice' backs Hillary Clinton

The Irish-American newspaper Irish Voice endorsed
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton today,
saying no other candidate matches her "sterling record" on
Irish issues.

The New York-based newspaper said the former First Lady,
whose main rival Barack Obama was endorsed by Senator Ted
Kennedy this week, supported the peace process and was a
strong advocate for immigration reform.

It also said it was a pity "that both come along in the
same election" as there were "many extraordinary attributes
in both candidates".

The endorsement read: "Her record on issues of importance
to the Irish American community is crystal clear.

"She was with her husband every step of the way during his
intervention in the Irish peace process, without which
there would never have been the successful resolution that
we're currently witnessing in Northern Ireland.

"In her own right she played a significant role, visiting
Ireland seven times and creating cross community goodwill
which lasted long after her trips were over.

"Clinton is also a clear advocate for immigration reform
and attended three different rallies held by the Irish
Lobby for Immigration Reform, and spoke passionately on the
subject."

It went on: "For his part Obama has obviously had far less
sustained contact with the activist Irish American
community and its issues, but there is little doubt he is
fully committed to immigration reform and would continue to
be so if elected to the White House.

"However, it would be impossible for him to match the
sterling record of Hillary Clinton on Irish issues. She has
our complete support and endorsement."
© 2008 ireland.com
Posted by: Jay / 8:39 AM 0 comments

January 21, 2008

DUP's Anti-Irish Language Policies Damage Economic Investment



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kate McCabe (734) 657.2436

DUP’S ANTI-IRISH LANGUAGE POLICIES WILL DAMAGE MOMENTUM OF
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT IN THE NEW NORTHERN IRELAND

January 21, 2008—The Irish American Unity Conference today
condemned the recent anti-Irish language actions of DUP
Minister Edwin Poots, emphasizing the potential of such
blatantly discriminatory decisions to overshadow recent
attempts to attract foreign investment and promote fair
employment in the “new Northern Ireland.” In October,
Poots blocked the Irish Language Act promised by the
British government at St. Andrew’s despite receiving
overwhelming support, citing the belief that the promotion
of the language could “undermine good relations” and
“entrench patterns of antipathy and suspicions.” Now, the
Minister’s office has removed the funding for the Irish
Language Broadcast Fund from the budget. Poots’ stated
position on the promotion of Irish as divisive calls into
question his department’s ability to foster dialogue and
serves only to polarize community relations.

The IAUC believes that such decisions are a blatant display
of the sectarianism of the past, and not only work against
the encouragement of foreign investment, but run the risk
of replicating the problems of the past regarding resource
allocation and investment—thereby undermining any attempt
to build a solid foundation for just and inclusive social,
economic, and political change.

IAUC President John Fogarty said, “Rights-based Irish
language legislation would provide many opportunities for
the growth of the language and for the provision of
services to current speakers.

“We fear that the lack of funding and support from the
government has the potential to choke economic renewal
opportunities in the growth of the tourism industry related
to the Irish language, as well as in other community-based
development initiatives such as Fobairt Feirste.

“During their recent visit to the States, First and Deputy
First Ministers Paisley and McGuinness told American
politicians and businesspeople alike that the best way to
determine whether Northern Ireland is good for business is
simply to look at the political developments taking place
there,” Fogarty pointed out. “Anti-Irish language policies
operate as a deterrent to prospective investors who many of
us are working hard to convince that the days of
sectarianism and bigotry are in the past.”

Unionist politicians who stand in the way of Irish language
legislation are abdicating their responsibility to the
Northern Ireland community by undermining prospects for
increased investment and lasting economic change. The IAUC
pledges its full support for a rights-based Irish language
act and will continue to act as a watchdog to ensure fair
and equitable investment and employment in Northern
Ireland. To this end, the IAUC will seek meetings with key
members of Congress and all contenders in the Presidential
race.

ENDS
###

Irish American Unity Conference
PO Box 78
Selma, Indiana 47383
Irish American Unity Conference (800) 947-4282
Posted by: Jay / 12:23 AM 1 comments

December 14, 2007

Troubles Past, Irish Republicans Move On

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/billmcclellan/story/92CDDFFED42994A7862573B10018FAD7?OpenDocument

Troubles Past, Irish Republicans Move On

By Bill McClellan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
12/14/2007

Johnny McGibbon is a member of Sinn Fein and serves on the
Craigavon Borough Council in County Armagh. He flew to St. Louis
on Wednesday morning. He is the future of Northern Ireland. He is
21 and does not remember the Troubles.

"My earliest memory of all of that is the cease-fire of '94," he
told me. By then, the real fury had wound down, but the official
end to the fighting came with the Good Friday Accords of 1998.

To understand the significance of somebody from Northern Ireland
not remembering the Troubles, you have to understand that the
conflict has been going on for almost 500 years, ever since King
Henry VIII of England embraced the Protestant reformation and
tried to pacify his Roman Catholic subjects in Ireland by
planting 150,000 Protestant Scots in the northern province of
Ulster.

When the Irish achieved independence in 1921, Ulster was split
off from the rest of the country. The Republican movement sought
to unify Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. The heart
of the movement was its military wing, the Irish Republican Army.
Its political wing was Sinn Fein.

The most recent fighting began in the late '60s when the
Catholics of Northern Ireland began demonstrating for civil
rights and their demonstrations were met with counter-
demonstrations. There were riots. In January 1972, British
soldiers shot 26 people during a march in Derry. Thirteen died on
what was called Bloody Sunday.

Irish-Americans funneled a lot of money to the Republican
movement. Much of the money was gathered by the Irish Northern
Aid Society. With the conflict over and a unity government in
place, the society has turned to education. It sponsored
McGibbon's trip to the states. He's been talking to groups about
the state of affairs in Northern Ireland today. I had lunch with
him at Seamus McDaniel's in Dogtown.

And what is the state of affairs? Very good, very positive, he
said. The Republican movement still favors eventual unification
and things are moving in that direction, McGibbon said. When do
you think it might happen? I wouldn't put a timetable on it, he
said, but it is happening.

I thought about another lunch at Seamus McDaniel's in 1999. Gerry
Kelly was in town. He was more IRA than Sinn Fein. He had been
arrested in London in 1973 for trying to bomb Scotland Yard. He
was given two life sentences but escaped from the prison after
serving 10 years and wound up in Holland. The Dutch agreed he was
a soldier rather than a criminal and agreed to extradite him only
when the British agreed to forget his original sentence and
charge him only with escape. So he did another five years.

When we had lunch eight years ago, Kelly had just been to South
Africa. He said that Nelson Mandela and the African National
Congress were the role models for the Republican movement. They
negotiated a transfer of power and they didn't seek vengeance on
their one-time oppressors, he explained.

I was in Northern Ireland a couple of months ago. I met with
Raymond McCartney in Derry. He is a Sinn Fein member of the new
national assembly. He is a former IRA man who did 15 years in
prison for two murders. His convictions were eventually
overturned. He was a hunger striker in prison, and there is a
large mural of him in Derry. He was just back from a conference
in South Africa when I saw him. The South African government is
up and running. Still a role model.

I saw Kelly at a party in Belfast. He is now second in command on
the Republican side in the new government.

Perhaps the most interesting man I met was a man in Derry who had
been high up in the IRA command structure. He was never arrested,
and he has remained largely anonymous. He could have come from
Central Casting.

"A lot of people died, and I'm sorry about that, but change comes
from a gun," he said. He talked about people he knew who were
"too decent." Yet Matt Morrison, a former IRA man who now lives
in St. Louis and who gave me introductions to his old colleagues,
told me that the man was one of the early proponents of a
political solution. When most IRA men were skeptical about Sinn
Fein, he promoted it. It's the future, he had said.

Now the future is here. The Republicans and Sinn Fein seem to
have history on their side. I asked McGibbon if he had heard of
the man from Derry. He looked blank for a minute, and then he
said, "It sort of rings a bell," but I had the idea he was just
being polite.
Posted by: Jay / 9:25 AM 2 comments

November 30, 2007

Table of Contents - 11/07

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Table of Contents 10/07
Table of Contents 09/07
Table of Contents 08/07

11/12/07 – Key Questions for UDA Chiefs
BT 11/12/07 Key Questions For UDA Chiefs
BT 11/12/07 The UDA's Killer Wing: Murder Goes By Any Name
BT 11/12/07 Prove To Us You're Serious
BT 11/12/07 Statement 'Meaningless', Says Murdered Postman's Mum
----

11/11/07 - Brits Concede That IRA Was Not Defeated
----

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