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January 11, 2006

Immigrant Lobby Group Takes To The Road

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News About Ireland & The Irish

IE 01/11/06 Immigrant Lobby Group Takes To The Road
IO 01/11/06 Finucane Family In Plea Over Inquiry
DI 01/11/06 Maskey: Give Cash On Basis Of Need
SF 01/11/06 Gerry Adams Responds To OTR Announcement
IT 01/11/06 Fugitive Leg On Hold - Hain Scraps Bill
BT 01/11/06 Hain's OTR Statement To MP's
IT 01/11/06 Relieved Govt Relegates OTR To Back Burner
IT 01/11/06 Parties Unite In Celebrating Bill's Demise
AC 01/11/06 Sinn Fein Delegates Endorse Ó Caoláin
II 01/11/06 Gov Defies Bus Lobby Over US Extrad Treaty
BB 01/11/06 Army Defuse Bomb In Hotel Grounds
ET 01/11/06 Celtic Chief In Vow Over Video Claims
IO 01/11/06 Omagh Accusd Hires M Finucane As Solicitor
RT 01/11/06 Man Remanded Over M50 Bomb Find
GU 01/11/06 Opin: The Dustbin Of History
EX 01/11/06 Opin: O’Rourke Reveals Racist Here
IT 01/11/06 Yeats Family Treasures In New Exhibition
IT 01/12/06 Temple Bar Festival To Take The Trad Route
IT 01/12/06 Cork City 100 Yrs Ago Depicted In B & W
IE 01/11/06 Barry's Flag Is Hoisted Anew

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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=17663

Immigrant Lobby Group Takes To The Road

By Ray O'Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

ILIR is going hither. And will be going yon. The
recently formed immigration lobby group is planning a
series of public meetings starting with a gathering in
Yonkers before the end of the month. The Irish Lobby
for Immigration Reform was officially launched last
month at an event in New York.

The group's main thrust is to highlight the plight of
the undocumented Irish in the U.S. and to secure
passage of the McCain/Kennedy immigration reform bill
in Congress, a measure that allows for a path to
legalization for the undocumented.

"It's really important that people turn out for these
meetings as their presence sends a message that the
Irish American community is concerned about
immigration reform," Kelly Fincham, ILIR's executive
secretary, said this week in a statement.

Fincham said the public meetings would form a key part
of ILIR's lobbying effort.

The first in what will be a series of countrywide
meetings will be held in Rory Dolan's in Yonkers on
Friday, Jan. 27.

"This year is going to be do-or-die for the Irish. We
have to ensure that we're represented in Congress when
they set about tackling immigration reform. We've got
to make sure that the Irish don't get left behind,"
Fincham said.

"The meetings are a way of getting that message out
while also giving people a chance to support the ILIR
and learn what the issues are. We will also be showing
people how they can help us lobby Congress, she added.

ILIR estimates that there are as many as 40,000
undocumented Irish in the U.S. at present. The Irish
government estimates about 25,000 while some
opposition politicians in Ireland have pointed to a
figure as high as 50,000.

Meanwhile, the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers
has issued what it describes as "a strong warning to
immigrants" to be cautious of individuals charging
fees to file applications for green cards on behalf of
applicants who are not eligible.

"Immigration legislation is pending in Congress but
nothing has passed yet so there are no new visa
programs. If you were not eligible before and your
personal circumstances have not changed you should be
cautious of anyone who tells you that some new program
has come up. If you feel that you are the victim of a
scam call your local immigrant center for help," the
coalition said in a statement.

"We have heard from a number of individuals who were
charged thousands of dollars to file applications when
they are clearly not eligible to apply" said Siobhan
Dennehy, executive director of the Emerald Isle
Immigration Center in Queens.

The EIIC is particularly appealing to anyone who may
have been a client of Christine Owad, the New York
woman who has been charged with acts of fraud and
deception by the office Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer.

Deenehy said that the EIIC had sought and received
assurances from Spitzer that anyone who stepped
forward to assist in this action would not face any
unwarranted scrutiny from the Department of Homeland
Security.

"We are positive that the attorney general will
protect the confidences of any clients who wish to
pursue compensation, and we encourage everyone who has
been victimized to take up the attorney general's
offer," Dennehy said.

The Coalition of Immigration Centers believes that the
number of immigration scams is on the rise as
undocumented and illegal immigrants become more and
more desperate for relief in the face of more rigorous
enforcement of immigration law and closer scrutiny at
U.S. borders

In its statement, the coalition said that scams
appeared to be on the increase with reports from
Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Rhode Island.

Tom Conaghan, executive director of the Irish
Immigration and Pastoral Center in Philadelphia, said
that while some immigrants discover early that they
are not eligible for a visa, others have traveled to
their home country to pick them up.

"When they arrive at the embassy there will be no visa
waiting, and they may face a three or ten year bar
from re-entering the United States," Conaghan said.

He added that he had spoken to immigrants who had paid
$1,200 to apply for a supposed travel document, a
deception which, he said, played on the feelings of
people who are separated from family and friends.

Founded in 1996, the Coalition of Irish Immigration
Centers is an umbrella organization of Irish immigrant
advice centers around the U.S.

Its membership currently includes 15 centers in
California, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Illinois,
Washington, D.C., Maryland, New York, Massachusetts,
and Wisconsin.

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http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=168780596&p=y6878y3xz

Finucane Family In Plea Over Murder Inquiry

11/01/2006 - 14:14:55

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane
today repeated their call for the British government
to reveal the full truth about his death.

Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine and family members are
meeting with political party leaders in Dublin in
their campaign for an independent statutory inquiry
into the 1989 crime.

“We are meeting the party leaders to ask them to
persuade the Taoiseach [Bertie Ahern] to put pressure
on the British government to reveal full details of
Pat’s murder,” Mrs Finucane said.

The family is meeting Green Party leader Trevor
Sargent, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Tánaiste and
Progressive Democrat leader, Mary Harney this
afternoon.

The Finucanes are concerned that any inquiry into Mr
Finucane’s death under the Inquiries Act 2005 will gag
witnesses and restrict information.

“We don’t believe the truth will come out at all with
the Inquiries Act,” Mrs Finucane added.

Mrs Finucane and family members recently met Ulster
Unionist Party leader Reg Empey with Church of Ireland
Archbishop Robin Eames, as part of a series of
meetings across the political divide inside and
outside Northern Ireland.

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http://dailyireland.televisual.co.uk/home.tvt?_ticket=YESEAOWM4BEFURUSPVMAAQ4S7AKACK5IURXFJPPBBPUGAKLAFSMY7QRFL1OAERSEAOW4Z3RGUU4EIOTE9NTKJKLAFSA3L192E5&_scope=DailyIreland/Content/News&id=18134&opp=1

Maskey: Give Cash On Basis Of Need

Eamonn Houston
11/01/2006

British government money allocated to deprived areas
of the North must be allocated on the basis of need, a
senior Sinn Féin figure said last night.

South Belfast assembly member Alex Maskey made his
comments in the wake of an announcement by direct-rule
minister David Hanson.

The minister said each pound of government cash
funnelled into loyalist communities must be as
effective as cash spent in nationalist communities.

Mr Maskey warned the British government that
nationalist areas remained the most deprived in the
North.

He said: “The reality remains, despite much hype and
spin from the British direct-rule administration and
the various unionist political parties who have long
since abandoned Protestant working-class areas, that
on all of the indicators, levels of poverty and
deprivation remain higher within nationalist areas.
This reality needs to be addressed and tackled.”

Mr Hanson confirmed that plans to be launched in March
would focus on how the British government could
empower working-class Protestant communities to tackle
deprivation in their neighbourhoods.

Mr Hanson said yesterday he believed that loyalist
leaders wanted to help raise educational and housing
standards in their communities. He reminded them that
paramilitary groups needed to do their bit by ending
all criminal activity.

“I sense a debate going on within the loyalist groups
about how they can move away from criminality.

“What we now have to do is encourage confidence in the
political process and show that that type of activity
is actually holding back the community.

“We have to ensure the transformation takes place in
loyalism as I believe it is doing, slowly but surely,
within the IRA,” said Mr Hanson.

Mr Maskey said money “cannot be allocated for reasons
of political expediency or on the basis of
perception”.

“David Hanson has to be very careful that his crusade
in loyalist areas firstly achieves the aim of dealing
with deprivation and poverty but, equally importantly,
that central agencies do not take their eye off the
ball and ensure that all moneys are allocated fairly
and on the basis of equality,” he said.

The British government’s plans for deprived loyalist
areas will be officially launched in March.

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/12549

Gerry Adams Responds To OTR Announcement

Published: 11 January, 2006

Commenting on the statement today by the British
Secretary of State Peter Hain addressing the need for
political movement in the time ahead and the issue of
OTRs, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said:

Mr Adams said:

"Over recent days both the Taoiseach and the British
Secretary of State have said that urgent progress is
necessary in restoring the political institutions.
Sinn Fein has been pressing for early progress and we
will pursue this with the two governments over coming
weeks. In the interim the two governments should move
quickly on issues under their direct control. These
include the issue of political policing, the need for
an effective truth recovery process, including the
case of Pat Finucane and the issue of OTRs.

"Today's decision by Mr Hain on the OTR issue is a
recognition that the British government legislative
proposal was unacceptable. It was a major breach of
what was agreed at Weston Park and a serious act of
bad faith by the British government. I told the
British Prime Minister and the British Secretary of
State Peter Hain directly that if the British
government was not prepared to change the legislation
to remove the inclusion of British state forces then
the legislation should be withdrawn. They have now
done so.

"However the issue of OTRs must be resolved.
Responsibility for this rests with the British
government. This is an anomaly which affects only a
very small number of people who should be allowed to
return to their homes and their families.

"The issue of collusion and state violence is a much
more fundamental issue. Sinn Fein, our party
activists, families and friends were a primary target
for British controlled loyalist death squads. It is
critical that the recent focus on the issue of
collusion, particularly by those who ignored the issue
in the past, is maintained. The families must be
supported in their campaign for justice and the truth.
Sinn Fein will continue to confront the British
government on collusion, state violence and their on-
going efforts to hide the truth." ENDS

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2006/0112/2681248847HM1HAIN.html

Fugitive Legislation On Hold As Hain Scraps Bill

Dan Keenan and Mark Brennock

The Irish and British governments will not rush to
reconsider new legislation to deal with the so-called
"on-the-run" paramilitary fugitives.

Plans to address the OTRs question were put on hold in
Dublin yesterday following the scrapping of British
legislation at Westminster. Northern Secretary Peter
Hain sensationally announced the decision after
Northern Ireland Questions. MPs, many of whom were
expecting a statement outlining government amendments
to the Bill, greeted his surprise announcement with
cheers.

Dublin confirmed shortly afterwards that the
Government's plan for presidential pardons for a small
number of fugitives would be held in abeyance. No
moves to grant pardons will proceed unless parallel
measures are adopted in London, The Irish Times was
told.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said: "It
was just not politically feasible for [ the British
government] to proceed." The British Bill was already
facing a chorus of opposition in parliament from all
sides, including every Northern Ireland MP who had
taken a seat.

Under its terms, paramilitaries suspected of terrorist
offences before Good Friday 1998 would have been free
to return without fear of a prison sentence, thus
ending an anomaly whereby paramilitary prisoners had
been freed on licence but suspects were still wanted.

Under the same terms, the Bill would also have allowed
members of the British army and the police, also
suspected of crimes, to avoid a prison term. It was
the inclusion of this which, republicans say, caused
Sinn Féin to withdraw support.

Mr Hain admitted at Westminster that the loss of Sinn
Féin support for the measure last month and the
instruction that no republican should have anything to
do with it had forced his hand.

All Northern parties, victims' groups, police
officers' representatives and the Human Rights
Commission welcomed the announcement, but for starkly
different reasons.

The DUP and Ulster Unionists referred to the Bill as
"hideous" and "odious" while Sinn Féin president Gerry
Adams said the British government was in breach of its
commitments to deal with the issue. He said ministers
were guilty of a "serious act of bad faith by the
British government".

The SDLP, repeating claims to have forced Sinn Féin
into dropping its support for the Bill, also greeted
the move. Party leader Mark Durkan demanded "a proper
process for truth, recognition and remembrance".

The Police Federation said it had resented the
consideration of security forces members alongside
paramilitaries.

For the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Prof
Monica McWilliams said the Bill was "incompatible with
international human rights standards". The chief
commissioner said she was particularly worried about
what she called "a lack of clarity" in relation to the
victims of violence.

Relatives of both paramilitary and security forces
victims also welcomed the news. Represen-tatives of
nationalist and republican families were angry at the
inclusion of the security forces under the Bills.
Unionist victims' groups accused the government of
pandering to Sinn Féin concerns.

Government sources last night said there was little
chance of fresh moves to deal with the issue until
October. It was also suggested that greater
preparation was needed, especially in relation to
victims' concerns.

Mr Hain said last night the Bill would not be returned
to Parliament or "recycled".

He stood by the decision to include former security
forces members under the scope of the Bill. Exclusion
of them would have been illogical and indefensible.

"Closure on the past cannot be one-sided," he said.
"That was, and is, non-negotiable." Sinn Féin said
last night it would continue to press the British
government to honour its commitments on OTRs, claiming
that legislation was not necessary.

© The Irish Times
----

On-the-runs

The cases of up to 150 people wanted in connection
with crimes committed before 1998 remain to be
resolved. The "on-the-runs" include:

Rita O'Hare, 61, Sinn Féin's publicity director in the
US. She absconded on bail 30 years ago, accused of a
gun attack on British soldiers.

Owen Carron, former MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone,
who was election agent for the hunger striker Bobby
Sands. He was arrested in 1986 after an AK-47 was
allegedly found in a car he was in. He jumped bail and
has been living and working across the border in Co
Leitrim.

Liam Averill, nicknamed Mrs Doubtfire after escaping
from the Maze dressed as a woman during a party for
IRA prisoners' children in 1997, had served two years
of a life sentence for a double murder in 1994.

Pol Brennan, convicted of possessing explosives,
escaped from the Maze to the US, and has avoided
extradition.

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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=675516

Hain's OTR Statement To MP's

11 January 2006

"With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a
statement about Northern Ireland.

"Northern Ireland is governed best when governed
locally.

"Since 2002, Mr Speaker, for reasons the whole House
is aware of, that has not been possible. But our
commitment remains absolutely clear: this Government
believes that 2006 can be the year for restoration of
the Assembly and will work to that end as a matter of
the utmost priority.

"My predecessors have all referred to critical times
for Northern Ireland. And there have been many. But
this year is indeed a critical one, and especially for
the Northern Ireland`s political parties, and
specifically Assembly Members.

"2006 is a make or break year for them. If there is no
restoration of the Assembly in prospect, then two
stark realities have to be faced.

"First, public resentment within Northern Ireland
continues to build at the continued payment of
Assembly Members of salaries and allowances totalling
on average £85,000 per member while Stormont stands
idle. Since it was suspended in October 2002, the
Assembly has cost £78 million to maintain.

"Countless times voters in Northern Ireland have asked
me: how long this can go on? I want to tell the House
today: not many months more.

"Second, no Northern Ireland political leader has
disagreed with me that it would be traducing democracy
to have elections, for a second time, to an Assembly
that does not exist.

"Elections are due in May 2007. For those to be
meaningful we must have an Assembly exercising its
full responsibilities. We therefore need to make
progress urgently. We cannot let things drift.

"Mr Speaker, MLAs were elected to be active members of
a Legislative Assembly, working for their constituents
in that Assembly. They have a duty to do so.

"I want to see them discharging their responsibilities
to their electors to govern on the shared basis the
voters of Northern Ireland gave a mandate for in the
1998 referendum.

"Of course this means building greater trust to
deliver on commitments already made on all sides.

"Unionists and nationalists need to know that
republicans are committed to exclusively lawful means.

"They need to know that all paramilitary activity,
including criminality, has ended. The Independent
Monitoring Commission is the body that will make that
assessment. They also need to know that there is
unequivocal support for the Police Service of Northern
Ireland and the rule of law.

"And Republicans and nationalists have to know that
unionists are fully committed to fair and equitable
power sharing. But if people are serious about seeing
a shared future based on fairness and equality, they
must persuade each other of that.

"I am therefore asking each of the political parties
to agree dates for substantial discussions in early
February with the British and Irish Governments to
give their views on the way forward to restore the
political institutions.

"The Prime Minister, together with the Taoiseach, will
be closely involved with developments during the year.
Mr Speaker, I also wish to inform the House about the
Government`s intentions as regards the Northern
Ireland (Offences) Bill.

"When I moved the Second Reading on 23 November, I
said that it was necessary to help bring closure to
Northern Ireland`s dark past of violence by resolving
outstanding issues that had not been dealt with in the
Belfast Agreement, primarily that of terrorist
suspects `on the run`. Following the Agreement, over
400 paramilitary prisoners were released on licence.

"Although victims of atrocities were, understandably,
in uproar at the sight of murderers and former
terrorists walking free, it was the right thing to do
to seal the Agreement and lock in the peace.

"But it left unresolved an equally difficult matter:
the issue of what to do about those who had committed
terrorist offences before 10 April 1998 and who, had
they been in prison at the material time, would have
been part of the Early Release Scheme.

And it also left the question of what to do about
others who might be prosecuted in future for crimes
committed during the Troubles before the Good Friday
Agreement.

"The Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill is a challenge
to everyone to look to the future, not to be trapped
in the past. That challenge remains. But, as I told
the House then, I did not bring forward this
legislation with a spring in my step because I knew
how hard it was for those thousands of victims who had
lost so much.

"I knew that introducing this legislation would be
difficult and uncomfortable: I neither sought nor
expected the sympathy of the House for that.

"Members of the House, particularly those from
Northern Ireland, expressed their opposition to this
Bill with great power and passion. In detailed
discussion in committee over many hours, those
concerns were amplified with real commitment by
Members across the Committee.

"That passion was expressed no less powerfully outside
the House in meetings that I and the Honourable Member
for Delyn had with victims groups.

"In response to the arguments put to us in Committee,
we have been drafting wide-ranging amendments to the
Bill - including to ensure that defendants would have
to appear before the Special Tribunal. And we were
giving serious consideration to a time limit for the
scheme.

"The Government still feels that it was right to
introduce this legislation, not least to honour the
commitment made publicly by both the British and Irish
Governments in 2003, a commitment that was a key
building block in the process which saw the IRA end
their armed campaign.

"The Government could have proceeded with this Bill
when the issue was first raised seven years ago. We
could have done so when the Joint Declaration was made
in 2003. But we did not because the IRA had not
delivered on its promise to end its war. We waited
until that happened.

"Every Northern Ireland Party vigorously opposed the
Bill, bar Sinn Fein. Now Sinn Fein is opposed because
they refused to accept that this legislation should
apply to members of the security forces charged with
terrorism-related offences.

"Mr Speaker, to exclude any members of the security
forces who might have been involved in such offences
from the provisions of the Bill would not only have
been illogical, it would have been indefensible and we
would not do it. Closure on the past cannot be one-
sided.

"That was, and is, non-negotiable. The process would
have made people accountable for their past actions
through the Special Tribunal before being released on
licence.

"Sinn Fein have now said that any Republican
potentially covered by the legislation should have
nothing to do with it.

"But if nobody goes through the process, victims, who
would have suffered the pain of having to come to
terms with this legislation, would have had done so
for nothing. That is unacceptable, and I am therefore
withdrawing the Bill.

"Mr Speaker, when I introduced this Bill I said that I
would not presume to tell any victim that they must
draw a line under the past. But the Government remains
of the view that this anomaly will need at some stage
to be faced as part of the process of moving forward.

"It is regrettable that Northern Ireland is not yet
ready to do so. We will reflect carefully over the
coming months on how to move forward on this issue, in
the context of dealing with the legacy of the past. We
will not rush to conclusions. I will take stock in the
Autumn.

"In reflecting we will be mindful of the views of all
the political parties, the Select Committee on
Northern Ireland Affairs, victims` groups and others.

"Mr Speaker, we are coming to the end game of a long
period of transition that began with the ceasefires of
the early 1990s. As I have said before, the endgame in
conflict transformation is often the hardest part, as
it has proved in this case.

"But 2006 can and must be a year of historic progress
in Northern Ireland. It must be a year in which we
will see a devolved, power-sharing Executive of local
politicians taking the decisions that affect the
everyday lives of the people of Northern Ireland.

"That goal should unite all members of this House."

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0112/4039255197HM8OTRIRISHREACT.html

A Relieved Government Relegates Issue To The Back
Burner

Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent

Dublin reaction: The Government has suspended its
plan to give presidential pardons to those "on the
run" in relation to paramilitary offences and will not
"rush" to return to the issue, according to Minister
for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern.

The Government swiftly announced yesterday that it was
putting into abeyance the controversial plan to give
pardons to paramilitaries on the run.

Mr Ahern said the matter was now "on the back burner".

The Government announcement came immediately after
Northern Secretary Peter Hain told the House of
Commons that he was abandoning legislation in the UK
that would have freed around 60 "on-the-run"
paramilitaries under licence.

"The British have succeeded in uniting everybody
against their particular proposals," Dermot Ahern said
yesterday.

"It was just politically not feasible for them to
proceed."

While yesterday's events mean the issue remains
unresolved, the abandonment of the plans will come as
a relief to the Government, which had been criticised
over the idea that the President would pardon people
wanted for very serious offences without their ever
having to face a court or admit guilt.

A Government spokeswoman said yesterday that the
proposals for dealing with "on-the-runs" in the
Republic were now "in abeyance pending the issue being
revisited in both jurisdictions". She said the
Government's plan to give presidential pardons was
always intended to "operate in tandem with the
operation of the provisions in the UK".

She said the British government had told Dublin in
advance that the Northern Secretary would be making
his announcement in the House of Commons yesterday. Mr
Ahern said that the legislation that had been produced
by the British government last November was not what
the Government has expected.

In 2003, he told RTÉ's Five Seven Live programme, the
two governments had agreed to deal with the
outstanding issues in relation to the Good Friday
agreement, and the issue of "on-the- runs" was one of
these.

"We had little or no input in relation to what the
British brought forward."

The Government had received very late notice that the
British scheme was to deal not only with paramilitary
"on-the-runs" but also with members of the British
security forces.

"We immediately raised the inclusion of that with the
British because that had not been part of our
understanding of what they were proposing to do
relative to their jurisdiction".

The Government had seen it as a problem. The
Government would have preferred if the British
security forces were not covered by the legislation.
"When the legislation came out we indicated
immediately to the British that we had some
difficulties in relation to this."

He said the Irish and British governments would now
reflect on how to proceed, but he did not know what
the time scale would be.

"We don't know . . . we won't be rushing back to
revisit the issue. It's on the back burner, and if
there is to be any future consideration, one thing we
would have to learn from the debate that has taken
place over the last while is there will have to be
input from victims groups."

The Labour Party leader, Pat Rabbitte, last night
called on the Irish and British governments to talk to
all political parties in the North about how to deal
with the issue.

"The rights of victims and their families must be to
the fore, rather than the selfish interests of
governments and particular parties who want to cover
up their crimes of the past," he said.

© The Irish Times

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0112/2074459366HM8OTRREACT.html

Parties Unite In Celebrating Bill's Demise

Fearghal O'Reilly, in Belfast

North reaction: Northern parties have welcomed the
decision by Northern Secretary Peter Hain to abandon
the bill, which would have allowed the return of
paramilitary fugitives, the so-called "on-the-runs"
(OTRs).

Victims groups, the Human Rights Commission and the
Police Federation also welcomed the decision.

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson described the Bill as
"one if not the most repugnant piece of legislation
ever to be placed before parliament".

"Had the Bill become law, it would have caused untold
hurt to the innocent victims of terrorist violence who
would have been faced with the prospect of the people
who killed their loved ones literally getting away
with murder," he said.

Sinn Féin had reversed their decision to endorse the
Bill. Party leader Gerry Adams described the
legislative proposal as "unacceptable" and a "major
breach of what was agreed at Weston Park".

He also described it as a "serious act of bad faith by
the British government".

"The issue of OTRs must be resolved. Responsibility
for this rests with the British government." Mr Adams
added.

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said: "It seems that the
government has at last seen sense. This hideous piece
of legislation should never have seen the light of day
in the first place and was a massive insult to the
victims of terrorist violence who have yet to see
justice."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan, who had opposed the Bill from
its conception, said: "I want to be reassured,
however, that it will not be recycled in any way.

We want to know that it has been abandoned, not just
parked until a later date."

Mr Durkan believed that the legislation did not "leave
the past behind on a moral basis". He said their
collective task must be to find an agreed way of
leaving the past behind, one that takes account of the
rights of victims, one that allows for truth,
recognition and remembrance.

The Alliance Party used the decision by Mr Hain to
urge the government to deal with OTRs "in the proper
way - via inclusive talks" .

The Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill had included a
clause that would exclude members of the security
forces from prosecution for crimes committed before
1998. Mr Terry Spence, secretary of the Police
Federation for Northern Ireland, said: "It was a
victory for common sense and decency.

"I suspect that the government was wrong-footed by our
clear stance that including the police and military
personnel within the scope of the legislation was an
unworthy trade off and an insult to the police and
military services."

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission also
welcomed the announcement. Prof Monica McWilliams, the
chief commissioner, said she also welcomed the
sensitivity shown by the NIO in responding to the
widespread criticism of the Bill."

She said the proposed legislation was incompatible
with international human rights.

Victims group, Families Acting for Innocent Relatives
(Fair), said it was "delighted that Secretary of State
Peter Hain has announced the scrapping of the
nefarious 'on-the-runs' legislation". The group's
spokesman, William Frazer, said the government's
attempt to further buy off Sinn Féin/IRA had backfired
- with democracy and human rights triumphing in the
end.

Paul O'Connor, from the Pat Finucane Centre in Derry,
said they were "delighted" that the legislation had
been dropped.

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.unison.ie/anglo_celt/stories.php3?ca=38&si=1539848&issue_id=13527

Sinn Fein Delegates Endorse Ó Caoláin

More than 300 Sinn Fein party activists attended a
meeting in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan, on Friday
night last to record their support for Cavan Monaghan
Sinn Féin TD and Party Leader in the Dáil, Caoimhghín
Ó Caoláin, who was recently the subject of an article
in a Sunday newspaper in which it was alleged that he
had been a low-level garda informant.

Deputy Ó Caoláin subsequently rejected the Ireland on
Sunday suggestion that he had provided information to
the Gardaí about IRA activities. In a detailed address
to the meeting the Sinn Féin Dáil Deputy reiterated
his view that he and others were now being targeted
because of the ongoing rise in support for the Party,
particularly in the 26 counties.

The Sinn Féin the TD said; "The primary purpose of
this meeting is to focus our minds at the start of the
year on what will be a very intense political period
ahead in 2006. There will be renewed efforts to revive
the Peace Process through negotiations and to re-
establish the Good Friday Agreement institutions. At
the same time we will be preparing for the forthcoming
General Election which could be sprung on us at any
time up to summer 2007.

"This is also the year of the 25th anniversary of the
death of the heroic ten who died on hunger strike in
Long Kesh in 1981. This is the year too that marks the
90th anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916. This
will be, and must be for us, a busy and productive
year. I know we are up for the challenge. I look
forward to working with each of you in the face of all
the challenges that will present and in the eye of all
the campaigns we will fight".

The guest speaker was Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator
Martin McGuinness MP who roundly rejected the Ireland
on Sunday slur against Deputy Ó Caoláin’s reputation
and standing among his peers and within the broader
Republican community.

"While these latest attacks are unquestionably
directed at the Sinn Féin leadership, they target also
the Peace Process and the efforts of all who seek the
restoration of the Northern Assembly and the delivery
of the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement,
including the cross-border implementation bodies.

"These attacks are designed to weaken our resolve but
we shouldn’t for a moment let them distract us from
our task and purpose" stated Mr. McGuinness.

Speakers from the floor endorsed Deputy Ó Caoláin’s
outright rejection of the Ireland on Sunday charge.
The meeting concluded with a discussion on the
difficulties still presenting with Martin McGuinness
giving an overview of the matters of importance in the
peace process at this time.

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

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article338030.ece

Government Defies Business Lobby Over US Extradition
Treaty

By Julia Kollewe

Published: 12 January 2006

The Government has rebuffed pleas from business
leaders that businessmen should not fall prey to
legislation drawn up to combat terrorism, as the
former Morgan Crucible chief executive Ian Norris
begins his High Court appeal against extradition to
the United States today.

Sir Digby Jones, the director-general of the CBI, has
protested against the way the US government is
"abusing" an extradition treaty between the two
countries. He has met the Home Secretary, Charles
Clarke, and the US ambassador to Britain, Robert
Tuttle, to lodge his protest. Sir Digby is concerned
that the Extradition Act 2003, which came into force
on 1 January 2004 and was designed to fast-track
terrorism cases, is being used to target alleged
white-collar criminals.

The Home Office said yesterday that white-collar crime
was like any other type of crime, rejecting pressure
from business for different extradition procedures. It
said it fully trusted the US legal system to deal with
the cases before it.

Since 2004, Britain has received 45 extradition
requests from the US, 23 of which were for financial
offences (fraud, forgery, theft and robbery). That
compares with nine requests from Britain to the US,
three of which are financial cases. The legislation
has speeded up proceedings considerably. Previously,
the US had to wait 30 months on average for Britons to
be extradited (it took Britain five months to get US
citizens) - and that has now been cut to six months.

Under the new laws, US authorities are not required to
present a prima facie case and so it takes very little
for them to make an extradition request. UK citizens
have been stripped of the protections that previously
enabled them to fight such requests on UK soil.

Mr Norris's lawyer, Alistair Graham, a partner at the
law firm White & Case, said: "The key difference
between requests made by the US and the UK is that the
US may weigh up or challenge the evidence put forward
in requests, whereas UK citizens who are the subject
of an extradition request have no such right to
challenge the evidence."

The balance will remain tipped in favour of the US
until it ratifies its side of the extradition treaty,
which is a long way off.

If extradited, Mr Norris faces seven counts of fixing
the price of industrial carbon products between 1989
and 1998 and two counts of attempting to pervert the
course of justice. He denies the charges.

Today is the start of the four-day High Court hearing
in which Mr Norris's lawyers will appeal against the
decision of Bow Street Magistrates' Court in June to
extradite him. They have applied for a judicial review
of the imbalance in the UK-US extradition
arrangements.

Sir Digby recently launched an impassioned plea on
behalf of Mr Norris, who has prostate cancer, saying:
"This is totally unacceptable. It might be acceptable
for the bloke who wraps Semtex around his body but not
for a 62-year-old executive with prostate cancer. The
process of justice is being abused. America is being
an ignorant bully."

He said he had come under pressure from CBI members
for action. "Some of our members are asking why they
should have anything to do with the US. They say, 'Why
should I trade with America or invest in America if I
might myself be banged up on remand with a bunch of
rapists?'"

The legislation leaves UK executives vulnerable to a
crackdown on white-collar crime in the US, after the
collapse of Enron. Other cases concern Nigel Potter,
the former chief executive of the gaming company
Wembley, who went to the US voluntarily and was jailed
for three years, but has lodged an appeal. Three
former NatWest bankers are fighting extradition to the
US over Enron-related fraud charges. The High Court
may make a ruling tomorrow.

In a House of Lords debate last summer, Lord Hodgson
of Astley Abbots said the imbalance in the US-UK
treaty arrangements was "unprecedented." He said the
Government had given assurances that Britons would not
be liable for extradition to the US for financial
crimes.

The Government has rebuffed pleas from business
leaders that businessmen should not fall prey to
legislation drawn up to combat terrorism, as the
former Morgan Crucible chief executive Ian Norris
begins his High Court appeal against extradition to
the United States today.

Sir Digby Jones, the director-general of the CBI, has
protested against the way the US government is
"abusing" an extradition treaty between the two
countries. He has met the Home Secretary, Charles
Clarke, and the US ambassador to Britain, Robert
Tuttle, to lodge his protest. Sir Digby is concerned
that the Extradition Act 2003, which came into force
on 1 January 2004 and was designed to fast-track
terrorism cases, is being used to target alleged
white-collar criminals.

The Home Office said yesterday that white-collar crime
was like any other type of crime, rejecting pressure
from business for different extradition procedures. It
said it fully trusted the US legal system to deal with
the cases before it.

Since 2004, Britain has received 45 extradition
requests from the US, 23 of which were for financial
offences (fraud, forgery, theft and robbery). That
compares with nine requests from Britain to the US,
three of which are financial cases. The legislation
has speeded up proceedings considerably. Previously,
the US had to wait 30 months on average for Britons to
be extradited (it took Britain five months to get US
citizens) - and that has now been cut to six months.

Under the new laws, US authorities are not required to
present a prima facie case and so it takes very little
for them to make an extradition request. UK citizens
have been stripped of the protections that previously
enabled them to fight such requests on UK soil.

Mr Norris's lawyer, Alistair Graham, a partner at the
law firm White & Case, said: "The key difference
between requests made by the US and the UK is that the
US may weigh up or challenge the evidence put forward
in requests, whereas UK citizens who are the subject
of an extradition request have no such right to
challenge the evidence."

The balance will remain tipped in favour of the US
until it ratifies its side of the extradition treaty,
which is a long way off.

If extradited, Mr Norris faces seven counts of fixing
the price of industrial carbon products between 1989
and 1998 and two counts of attempting to pervert the
course of justice. He denies the charges.

Today is the start of the four-day High Court hearing
in which Mr Norris's lawyers will appeal against the
decision of Bow Street Magistrates' Court in June to
extradite him. They have applied for a judicial review
of the imbalance in the UK-US extradition
arrangements.

Sir Digby recently launched an impassioned plea on
behalf of Mr Norris, who has prostate cancer, saying:
"This is totally unacceptable. It might be acceptable
for the bloke who wraps Semtex around his body but not
for a 62-year-old executive with prostate cancer. The
process of justice is being abused. America is being
an ignorant bully."

He said he had come under pressure from CBI members
for action. "Some of our members are asking why they
should have anything to do with the US. They say, 'Why
should I trade with America or invest in America if I
might myself be banged up on remand with a bunch of
rapists?'"

The legislation leaves UK executives vulnerable to a
crackdown on white-collar crime in the US, after the
collapse of Enron. Other cases concern Nigel Potter,
the former chief executive of the gaming company
Wembley, who went to the US voluntarily and was jailed
for three years, but has lodged an appeal. Three
former NatWest bankers are fighting extradition to the
US over Enron-related fraud charges. The High Court
may make a ruling tomorrow.

In a House of Lords debate last summer, Lord Hodgson
of Astley Abbots said the imbalance in the US-UK
treaty arrangements was "unprecedented." He said the
Government had given assurances that Britons would not
be liable for extradition to the US for financial
crimes.

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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/4601958.stm

Army Defuse Bomb In Hotel Grounds

The Army has defused a car bomb in the grounds of an
Armagh hotel.

The device, made up of gas cylinders, was left in a
vehicle outside the Armagh City Hotel on the Friary
Road.

The car had been stolen from a pensioner on Tuesday.
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley said it was likely dissident
republicans were behind the bomb.

PSNI Supterintendent Bob Moore said the perpetrators
"wanted to terrorise" others with their "repugnant
activity and redundant mindset".

"The motive for this incident defies logic and
rational understanding," he said.

"All that has been achieved as a result of the
incident at the City Hotel is widespread disruption,
worry and upset to the wider community residing,
working, visiting or travelling through Armagh.

"It creates a negative impact and undoes all the good
work that has and is being done by council, community
leaders and the business fraternity to attract
employment and tourism to the area. "

'Despicable incident'

Mr Moore said that two cars and a shotgun had been
stolen from a house in the Ballyrath area of Armagh
before 2300 GMT on Tuesday, by men describing
themselves as republicans.

He said an elderly woman in the house suffered shock
as a result of what he said was a "despicable"
incident.

A vehicle, thought to be one of the stolen cars, was
later found on fire.

A Vauxhall Vectra car was found abandoned in the car
park of the Armagh City Hotel on Wednesday morning
following a telephone call.

A number of controlled explosions were carried out on
the vehicle and police said a "viable device" had been
found in the back.

Mr Moore urged anyone with information about the
incident to contact police.

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/01/11 21:05:08 GMT
© BBC MMVI

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

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/print/news/5047771.shtml

Celtic Chief In Vow Over Video Claims

CELTIC'S chief executive Peter Lawwell has insisted
the club is investigating allegations surrounding a
video showing two players at an event where sectarian
songs were sung.

The video, taken at a testimonial event in Donegal
last year, allegedly shows John Hartson and Stephen
Pearson sharing a stage with fans when chants of 'Sinn
Fein' and 'IRA' could be heard.

Mr Lawwell, speaking in this week's Celtic View, said
that following the probe the club would take "all
appropriate action".

He said: "We are taking an extremely serious view of
these circumstances and as soon as we were made aware
of this we immediately launched an investigation,
which is currently ongoing.

"We have made it abundantly clear on a regular basis
that Celtic has a rigorous policy of active opposition
to all forms of sectarianism and intolerance and
condemns support for all paramilitary organisations.

"It should be made clear this was not an official club
event but was organised locally by a testimonial
committee.

"We aim to conclude our investigations as soon as
possible and will take all appropriate action to
underline our stance on this issue."

11/01/06

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

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=168769300&p=y6877xxx6

Omagh Accused Hires Michael Finucane As New Solicitor

11/01/2006 - 13:23:51

The Co Louth man awaiting retrial on charges connected
to the Omagh bombing has hired new legal
representation in the form of Belfast solicitor
Michael Finucane.

The development was revealed as 53-year-old Colm
Murphy made a routine appearance before the non-jury
Special Criminal Court today.

Mr Finucane's father Pat, who was also a solicitor,
was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his
Belfast home in 1989.

Mr Murphy is currently facing a retrial after his
conviction for allowing his phones to be used by the
Omagh bombers was quashed last January.

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

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0111/m50.html

Man Remanded Over M50 Bomb Find

11 January 2006 20:21

A man charged with having a bomb in a car on the M50
motorway in north Dublin last month has been remanded
until March at the Special Criminal Court.

Martin O'Rourke, 23, of Sheepmore Grove,
Blanchardstown, Dublin, is charged with the unlawful
possession of an improvised explosive device at the
Westlink Toll Plaza, Castleknock, on 8 December.

He is also charged with membership of an unlawful
organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army.

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

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1684507,00.html

Opin: The Dustbin Of History

Leader
Thursday January 12, 2006
The Guardian

It was a humiliation, but the Northern Ireland
secretary, Peter Hain, really had no alternative but
to withdraw his bill on paramilitary fugitives. With
every political party in Northern Ireland now opposed
to the bill - which would have allowed paramilitary
"on-the-runs" to appear in front of a special tribunal
and then be released into the community on licence -
it was friendless and going nowhere. Yesterday Mr Hain
duly filed it in the political bin.

The ex-bill originated in the negotiations at Weston
Park in 2001 as one of the pledges made by Tony Blair
in return for IRA arms decommissioning. After the end
of the IRA's "armed struggle" last year, the
government duly introduced the on-the-runs plan. But
what might conceivably have worked in 2001 has not cut
the mustard in 2006. Five years after Weston Park and
eight years after the Belfast agreement, but with
republican political capital hugely devalued by
subsequent delays and unsolved events such as the
Northern Bank robbery and the McCartney murder, there
is little momentum for accommodations of this kind.
Not only did all the republicans' political opponents
refuse to swallow the bill, but then even Sinn Féin
itself found it unacceptable.

Sinn Féin rejected the bill on the grounds that
members of the security forces should not be permitted
to benefit from the same release on licence that
republicans had demanded for their own forces. Yet
without some parity of this kind, it was inconceivable
that the other parties would even look at a measure
that inevitably involved turning something of a blind
eye towards former terrorists, some of them murderers.
As a result, the entire plan has foundered, victim
partly of enduring mutual suspicions and partly of
Sinn Féin's insistence on the uniqueness of its own
victimhood.

The bill's collapse is glumly indicative of the
deepening collective failure in Northern Ireland. In
the Commons yesterday Mr Hain said that, after the
next report on IRA compliance from the international
monitoring commission at the end of this month, he
will restart talks with the political parties with the
aim of restoring the Northern Ireland assembly,
suspended since 2002. The Ulster secretary has our
good wishes in that initiative, but optimists should
not hold their breath. Recent indications from the
Democratic Unionists contain no suggestion that they
are willing to sit down in government any time soon,
or even at all, with Sinn Féin. The death of the on-
the-runs bill is a symptom of a society that seems in
no hurry to breathe new life into the peace process.

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

http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/opinion/Full_Story/did-sgypSXT8DR9Ws.asp

Opin: O’Rourke Reveals Entrenched Racist Attitudes
Here

REMARKS by Senator Mary O’Rourke that her campaign
team “worked like blacks” (Irish Examiner, January 9)
reveal how entrenched racist attitudes are in Fianna
Fáil and the wider republican tradition to which it is
aligned.

It wouldn’t be so bad if this was an isolated incident
or the utterances of just one individual, but it keeps
happening again and again.

In Cork, a Fianna Fáil TD blamed that city’s woefully
inadequate stock of sub-standard council housing on
asylum seekers rather than his party’s rubbish housing
policies and in Newtonabbey, an SDLP councillor
(basically the Northern Ireland division of Fianna
Fáil) says his constituents are treated “like
niggers”.

We’ve also had a Fianna Fáil junior minister in the
Dáil referring to Turkish migrant workers as kebabs.
Neither Bertie Ahern nor SDLP leader Mark Durkan have
ever reprimanded these individuals. This latest of
course from a party whose founder, Eamon de Valera,
offered his condolences on Hitler’s death - which
makes a mockery of Mary McAleese’s claim that we
Unionist Prods are ‘Nazis’.

Small wonder that Fianna Fáil want to ditch the PDs
and form a coalition government with the fascists of
Sinn Féin/IRA in pursuit of an ethnically cleansed
‘Celtic’ Ireland. (No such thing as a Celt by the way,
it’s a fictional construct.)

Perhaps Sir Bob Geldolf is right when he speaks of the
intrinsic racism of the Banana Republic.

Of course when even Pat Rabbitte plays the race card
we shouldn’t be surprised at more openly reactionary
politicians drawing this kind of poison to its logical
conclusion.

In fact, about the only thing worse than the open
racism of Fianna Fáil and other nationalist parties is
the kind of truculent right-wing libertarianism that
whines about the freedom of the individual, or freedom
of speech, bemoaning “too much political correctness”,
usually in the same week as a race murder or attack -
whether it be in Liverpool or Sandy Row.

The fact of the matter is that individual freedom
should be stamped on hard if it’s bad for society.
This means that racists don’t have rights. Not to
opinions. Not to free speech.

Far from “too much political correctness”, Mary
O’Rourke proves there is too little in the two nation
states on the island of Ireland today.

Sadly, a lot of what applies to the intrinsic racism
of Fianna Fáil (and the nationalist and republican
traditions since Arthur Griffith supported anti-
semitic pogroms in Limerick in 1905) applies also to
that strand of traditional unionism that is
incompatible with Britain’s multi-ethnic democracy -
by which I mean the DUP and the ‘Love Ulster’ crowd.
I’m sure they whine about political correctness, too.

Which is why, with their all-white, pre-World War II
understanding of what it means to be British, they’re
as big a threat to the union as the Shinners.

Roger Cottrell
Queens University
Belfast

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0112/2632358906HM6YEATS.html

Yeats Family Treasures In New Exhibition

Christine Newman

Personal treasures of WB Yeats, which will show the
human face of the poet, were presented by his family
yesterday to the National Library of Ireland.

The items on temporary loan will be part of the first
major exhibition on William Butler Yeats, which will
open in May and continue for three years.

The poet's son, Michael Yeats, accompanied by his wife
Gráinne and daughter Síle, yesterday visited the
National Library, where some of the items were on
display.

Mr Yeats (85) said the family was delighted to have
the opportunity of lending the various artefacts.

"He [ WB Yeats] was born 140 years ago, and to many
people he seems to be a rather remote historical
figure, but I think that, as a result of this
exhibition with the personal items, it will show he
was a human person with a sense of humour and quite
different from the poet in an ivory tower that people
think he was," Mr Yeats said.

"He'd be delighted to see this recognition. He was
always anxious that the public as a whole should
accept him, not just the few people who might be
interested in poetry."

Among the items the family is donating is a Japanese
sword given to WB Yeats by a student in the United
States in 1920; an illuminated copy of the Lake Isle
of Innisfree; and portraits of Georgie Hyde-Lee, wife
of WB Yeats, by Edmund Dulac and John Butler Yeats.

Other personal items will include: a lock of his hair;
his last pair of spectacles, with one lens blacked
out; school report cards which show that he was bad at
maths but was well-behaved and good at languages and
chemistry; his passport; and letters between him and
his wife, previously unpublished.

There are also drawings in watercolour of the poet as
a baby by his father, family photographs, and a cup
for winning a school half-mile race.

The material will augment the National Library's
permanent collection of Yeats manuscripts and books
donated by the family, including manuscripts or early
printed versions of most of Yeats's best-known poems.

The material being assembled for the exhibition will
also include previously unseen pictures of Yeats and
Maud Gonne on loan from Anna MacBride White, grand-
daughter of Maud Gonne.

Aongus Ó hAonghusa, director of the National Library,
commented: "This will be the first major exhibition
developed by the National Library on the great poet
and we are indebted to the Yeats family for their
support.

"It will draw on a wide range of Yeatsian scholarship
and will attempt to engage with all the major aspects
of Yeats's life and works to give a comprehensive view
of him."

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0112/115459679HM10TRADFESTIVAL.html

Temple Bar Festival To Take The Traditional Route

Kitty Holland

Some of the finest traditional Irish singers and
musicians in the world will come together at the end
of the month for Dublin's first trad festival.

The festival, from Thursday, January 26th, to Sunday,
January 29th, is expected to bring 100,000 people into
the Temple Bar area.

Dermot McLaughlan, chief executive of Temple Bar
Properties, said there was a long association with
traditional music in the area and it was intended to
"give traditional music a platform and a push".

"I'm very excited about it. It is a great programme;
some of the best in the world will be appearing here."

Martin Harte, general manager of Tascq (Traders in the
Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter), said it was
"amazing" that Dublin did not already have a festival
celebrating traditional Irish art.

He said it would not all be pub-based, pointing out
that some of the events would take place in the Bank
of Ireland Arts Centre and the Temple Bar Music
Centre. There would also be events for children in the
Ark.

Among those appearing over the four days will be
fiddle players Andy Morrow and Tommy Peoples, singer
Rosie Stewart, folk band Cran, piper Seán McKeown and
perhaps the world's best traditional Irish concertina
player Noel Hill.

Tickets and information available from the festival
box office at 12 East Essex Street, 01 6772255, or
online from www.tickets.ie

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/0112/3178262334HM2CORKPICS.html

Cork City 100 Years Ago Depicted In Black And White

Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent

Corkonians curious about how their city looked 100
years ago can see how much the place has changed when
a photographic exhibition of Leeside life officially
opens at Cork Public Museum this evening.

The exhibition of some 37 photographs, taken by Cork
businessman and Cork Camera Club co-founder Alec Day,
his uncle John, and his grandfather Robert, span some
70 years from the 1860s to the 1930s.

Dan Breen, acting curator at Cork Public Museum, says
the exhibition offers an insight into the life of Cork
city particularly during 1890 to 1930 from which most
of the photographs date.

"There are photographs of the Royal Horse Guards on
the South Mall during the 1903 visit of King Edward
VII and Queen Alexandra but most of the photographs
are simply street scenes - people crossing Patrick's
Bridge or attending a regatta down the Lower Glanmire
Road."

The photographs were part of the Day Collection of
1,500 glass negatives and 35mm prints donated to the
Irish Architectural Archive in 1981 by Alec Day's
widow, Raymonde. They were first exhibited at the
IAA's building on Merrion Square in Dublin last June.

Day's niece, Amy Ramsden, and her husband, Chris, have
many of the same photographs in the collection which
they inherited and Chris is delighted that the people
of Cork can see how their city looked 100 years ago.

The exhibition is being opened by photographer Billy
Wigham at Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald's Park this
evening at 6pm and runs until Easter. For more details
visit the IAA website on www.iarc.ie/news .

© The Irish Times

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

http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=17667

Attention all hands!

Barry's Flag Is Hoisted Anew

By Ray O'Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com

The John Barry File Born: 1745, Our Lady's Island, Co.
Wexford, to a tenant farming family. Education: Mostly
at sea where he made his living from age 14. Military
Service: One of the first into the breach for newly
independent America. Last day of active service on
March 6, 1801. Commander of navy until his death on
Sept. 13, 1803. Memorable words: "Not the value or
command of the whole British fleet can lure me from
the cause of my country which is liberty and freedom"
in response to a British offer to join their side.
Personal: Married a second time, to Sarah Austin,
after death of first wife, Mary Cleary. Resting place:
Old St. Mary's Churchyard, Philadelphia. In salute:
Statues in Wexford Town and Philadelphia; four U.S.
navy destroyers named after him and most lately the
joint congressional resolution with presidential
approval.

Though an island, Ireland has never been a naval
power.

But it has sent many a youngster to sea over the
centuries, none more important than John Barry, a man
whose life's work helped launch the mightiest navy the
world has ever seen.

Commodore Barry was for years known as the "father" of
the United States navy. This epithet first surfaced in
a biographical sketch of Barry published in 1813, 10
years after his death.

But for many Barry aficionados there has long been a
lingering sense that the title was a little loose, not
quite taut and shipshape and that for too long Barry's
reputation had played second fiddle to that of John
Paul Jones of Continental Navy fame.

That changed just before Christmas when President Bush
put his name to a long running congressional
initiative recognizing Barry as "first flag officer"
of the United States navy.

The signing ceremony for House Joint Resolution 38
took place on Thursday, Dec. 22, almost 10 years after
the resolution was first drafted and 202 years and
three months after the Wexford-born Barry passed into
the history books - though not from memory.


So now the Wexford-born Barry is both a father and a
first.

But what exactly does first flag officer mean?

According to Dr. Michael Crawford of the U.S. Naval
Historical Center in Washington, D.C., there has been
a widely prevailing view that the congressional effort
was aimed at securing a posthumous promotion for Barry
who, during the Revolutionary War, was the first
captain of an American ship to clap irons on a Royal
Navy opponent.

"This was not the awarding of a posthumous honor, but
simply the recognition of an historical fact,"
Crawford told the Echo.

"As the first commodore in the navy, Barry had the
right to fly his own personal flag. The resolution
doesn't make him the first flag officer, but merely
recognizes that he was," he said.

Still, there's a lot to be said for fully-fledged
recognition, even 200 years on.

According to Crawford, the rank of commodore in
Barry's time was more of an honorary title. As a
captain, Barry had achieved the highest attainable
official rank of his day.

Indeed, there was no rank in the service higher than
captain until the Civil War, a conflict that produced
the U.S. navy's first admiral, David Farragut, the man
who uttered the never to be forgotten line, "damn the
torpedoes, full speed ahead."

Barry, who needed little prompting himself when it
came to going flat out under full sail, was called a
commodore because at one point he commanded not one,
but a squadron of ships.

In those days, a squadron would have been made up of a
significant portion of the newly independent nation's
entire navy.

Barry, who at 6-feet-4 had no problem standing out in
any town, adopted Philadelphia as his home in America
so there was little surprise that he was swept up in
freedom's tide.

And he lost no time in helping turn the tide of war in
America's favor after receiving his commission from
Congress.

He took command of his first ship, the 14-gun brig
Lexington, on a December day in 1775. And not just any
day, but one that would loom large in future U.S.
naval history: the seventh.

In April 1776, as captain of the Lexington, Barry
captured the sloop HMS Edward, thus making sure of his
position in history as the first American naval
officer to lay hands on one of King George's ships.

Barry's war career continued at full tack and he
continued to be a scourge as far as the British were
concerned. By the end of 1776, he had captured several
more ships, was promoted to captain in what was still
the Continental Navy and was awarded command of a new
frigate, the Effingham.

Other ships followed: Raleigh was one, Alliance
another. As captain of the latter vessel, Barry
notched up an impressive record. Between 1781 and '83,
he captured no fewer than three hostile privateers and
three Royal Navy ships.

Alliance, with Barry at the helm, also braved the
Atlantic and sailed into the Royal Navy's backyard
when it carried American diplomats to France.

The end of the war resulted in a brief pause in
Barry's naval career, though he remained at sea in the
merchant service.

But President George Washington had other plans for a
man who, though he was still under 40, more than
qualified for old sea dog status.

In June 1794, Barry was put in charge of training the
first cadets at the U.S. Naval Academy. By virtue of
this posting, Barry was now senior captain in the new
federal navy.

He was formally awarded Commission Number One in the
United States Navy by Washington in February 1797. The
commission was backdated to 1794.

In addition to overseeing the academy, Barry was also
assigned the job of building the 44-gun frigate United
States, in its day the most powerful ship in the
fleet.

Barry would command the United States in the Caribbean
during what became known as the Quasi-War with France
between 1798 and 1801.

It was during this time that he attained the honorific
rank of commodore because he commanded the U.S. Navy's
entire force assigned to the West Indies station.

After returning to Philadelphia, Barry continued to
serve shore duty until his death on Sept. 13, 1803, a
day long since recognized by the Ancient Order of
Hibernians in particular as Commodore John Barry Day.

"He was born in Ireland, but America was the object of
his devotion, and the theater of his usefulness," Dr.
Benjamin Rush, a member of the first Congress and
signatory of the Declaration of Independence, said at
Barry's graveside oration. "Barry is a great hero of
mine," said Dr. Crawford of the Naval Historical
Center.

"His reputation really needs no polishing. He was
quite glorious as he was."

----
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