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November 03, 2006

British Need to Come Clean on Hamill Murder

News About Ireland & The Irish

SF 11/03/06 British Need To Come Clean On Hamill Murder
IT 11/04/06 Unease Within DUP Ranks Over Deal With SF
UT 11/03/06 Durkan Calls For Referendum On St Adrews Deal
BB 11/04/06 Police Open Fire On Lorry In City
SF 11/03/06 Concern At PSNI Operation In West Belfast
CB 11/04/06 Board Official Hoping Sinn Fein Will 'Endorse Policing Soon'
IK 11/04/06 Blog: Good Bye Long Kesh
RT 11/03/06 Williams To Meet Pope Benedict
AC 11/03/06 Mary Robinson Spotlights Human Rights Abuses In Darfur
YO 11/03/06 Irish Dance Company Trinity Returns To Japan
IT 11/04/06 Pioneering Irish Nurse The Subject Of New Film
IT 11/04/06 Dubliners Try To Prevent EMI From Selling CD Selection Of Songs

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/16613

British Need To Come Clean On Hamill Murder

Published: 3 November, 2006

Commenting after former members of the RUC who witnessed
the sectarian murder of Portadown man Robert Hamill
succeeded in a court bid to conceal their identities, Sinn
F‚in Assembly member for Upper Bann John O'Dowd said that
this was the latest stage in the effort to cover-up the
facts around the killing.

Mr O'Dowd said:

"It is beyond dispute that Robert Hamill was brutally
murdered in a random sectarian attack as members of the RUC
sat back and watched. At the time of the murder strenuous
efforts were made by the RUC to cover-up the circumstances
surrounding the killing. It is for this reason that an
independent inquiry was needed.

"With today's court ruling it appears that the efforts at
cover-up and concealment are continuing. Nationalists and
Republicans in Portadown will not accept another RUC white
wash. The British State and its agents need to come clean
about this and other murders they have been involved in."
ENDS

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http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1104/1162547544254.html

Unease Within DUP Ranks Over Deal With SF

04/11/2006

The DUP might opt to play a long St Andrews game rather
than risk a UUP-style split, writes Dan Keenan, Northern
News Editor

Members of the DUP are not used to many divisions within
the ranks. Party conferences operate on a basis of
unanimity on everything. Dissent is virtually unknown,
votesvagainst the party top table are unheard of even at a
token level. Questions about splits, factions and division
are waved away with dismissive laughter.

Yet these days, the rumour is of unease within the party's
ranks over the St Andrews Agreement and the possibility of
sharing power with Sinn F‚in in a mandatory coalition at
Stormont.

Senior party figures are quick to point out that the St
Andrews deal is between London and Dublin and no-one else -
so far.

The leadership is presenting bits of the St Andrews accord
as a better deal for unionists than the Belfast Agreement.
Other, less palatable, bits are considered "work in
progress" and are up for negotiation.

The DUP, like the others, has until next Friday (November
10th) to say if it is for or against the accord.

To that end, the leadership is consulting its grassroots at
regional meetings to hear what they have to say about the
stark choice: taking office alongside Martin McGuinness, or
the governments' plan B - closure of Stormont and its
replacement by more direct rule with Dublin input.

Remarks by Ian Paisley seem to indicate that when it comes
to sharing executive office with Sinn F‚in, the days of DUP
unanimity are over.

"We had people who didn't see it the way we [ the
leadership] saw it," the Big Man has admitted.

"Many of them said, 'well we trust you' and many of them
got up and said, 'I came to this meeting prejudiced. I've
heard what you had to say and I have no questions'. It has
been a tremendous response," he told UTV, adding in a
telling remark: "But you wouldn't want to be in politics
without having some opposition." Opposition, yes. But not
internal opposition.

Cllr John Finlay attended one such meeting near Ballymena
and admitted: "A lot of people asked questions as they're
entitled to do. There was no anger, but some people had
their concerns. I think the leadership handled the meeting
very well." He estimated that "the high 80s or 90 per cent
were happy with what they heard", adding that no-one in the
party supports the St Andrews deal as it stands and that
changes "had to be nailed down" first.

Chris Stalford is, at 23, the youngest DUP councillor in
Northern Ireland and works in the headquarters of MEP Jim
Allister.

The meeting he attended "endorsed the leadership of the
party" regarding St Andrews. But, like others, he was
reluctant to elaborate on what went on.

Peter Robinson was asked recently about a meeting on the St
Andrews deal in Galgorm, Co Antrim, in which one party
stalwart took to his feet and allegedly announced he would
rather pay the new, threatened water charges on top of his
domestic rates than have Martin McGuinness in office with
the DUP.

"Well, I would rather pay water rates than see Martin
McGuinness in government but I didn't see that as one of
the options that the government put forward," the deputy
leader told Radio Ulster.

On the question of dissent, some of it from "Trimble blow-
ins" - those who quit the UUP for the safe, uncompromising
stance of the Democratic Unionists - Mr Robinson had this
to say.

"There are people who have concerns, those people are
amongst the leadership of our party. Ian Paisley has
concerns, I have concerns and other officers have concerns.
That's why we are saying there is no done deal, there are
still issues to be resolved. We have been pushing those
matters since we came out of St Andrews with the [ British]
government."

Ruth Patterson, Belfast's deputy lord mayor, works well
alongside SDLP First Citizen Pat McCarthy, and raised an
occasional eyebrow recently when she attended a Foras na
Gaeilge reception at City Hall.

She reflects a near-universal trust in her leadership's
negotiating ability and it is this which fosters the
"extremely positive" tone of the party consultation
meetings.

But implicit in her thoughts is a clear idea that while a
deal is desirable and possible - it is nowhere near
imminent. "The people who spoke at our meeting were
impressed by how much the talks team had achieved, they
were aware how much needs to be done in order to build
confidence," she said.

"We put our faith and trust in the leadership. That clearly
came across at the meeting I was at. The mood was, 'we know
you are not going to sell Northern Ireland short'." She
denies any notion of "disruption or division" within the
DUP. Questions from ordinary members on policy are common,
she said, questioning the leadership's direction is not.

"We are doing a job on behalf of Northern Ireland and we
will never sell the people short." No-one approached by The
Irish Times felt bound by the governments' timetable. All
of which seems to indicate that if the governments hope for
a clear-cut indication of support for their St Andrews
package next Friday, there is likely to be some
disappointment in official circles.

The DUP appears neither ready nor willing to sound so
certain so soon.

c The Irish Times

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http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=77679&pt=n

Durkan Calls For Referendum On St Adrews Deal

Social, Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Mark
Durkan has come out in favour of a referendum on the St
Andrews Agreement, saying it would enable the British and
Irish governments to put it up to the Democratic Unionist
Party (DUP).

By:Press Association

"The way to get the DUP to move is to put them under
pressure," said the Foyle MP. "That`s what worked at St
Andrews.

"Faced with a firm deadline and a tough bottom line, the
DUP were forced to shift position.

"But since then, the governments have given the DUP the
impression that they are back in control.

"So, it`s no surprise that the DUP now believe that they
can push further and get more.

"That`s why the DUP are saying there can be no devolution
of justice for a political lifetime.

"It`s why they are pushing for inclusion to be scrapped in
the next few years.

"It`s why they are taking a run at the Parades Commission
and the equality agenda.

"Calling an (Assembly) election at this time will only
invite further trouble from the DUP.

"An election allows the DUP to say `yes but` to St Andrews.

"It allows them to pretend to be up for the deal while
still demanding changes to the Agreement that dash our
chances of moving forward."

Mr Durkan also said an election would cause voter
confusion, with people puzzled as to whether a hardline DUP
candidate was a vote in favour or against the deal.

"A referendum would put the DUP under real pressure," he
continued.

"Because in a referendum the DUP would either have to urge
a yes vote, or stand exposed as backwoodsmen by voting no.

"It denies them the chance of saying yes but. It strips
away their ability to pose as progressive while still
clawing away at change.

"A referendum would give St Andrews its own mandate and
pave the way for Sinn Fein and the DUP to sign up to what
they should always have done under the Good Friday
Agreement.

"It is by far the better way to go."

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6114704.stm

Police Open Fire On Lorry In City

Police have opened fire on a lorry which refused to stop in
west Belfast, police have said.

The shots were fired after the vehicle failed to stop and
collided with a car and a police vehicle in the St James
Park area off the Falls Road.

One man was arrested and the Police Ombudsman's office has
been informed. There were no injuries.

HM Revenue and Customs officers are investigating the
lorry's contents. An amount of fuel is being tested.

A representative of the Ombudsman, which invesigates all
police shootings, is at the scene of the indicent.

Chris Mahaffey of the Ombudsman's office said he understood
police had tried to stop the lorry on the M1 motorway.

"There followed a short pursuit.

"During that I believe that one of the officers got out of
the police vehicle he was in and attempted to confront the
driver, during which I'm aware a police officer discharged
his firearm," he said.

"It will be a thorough investigation - we'll be looking to
establish the justification and the reasons why the officer
discharged his firearm at the vehicle and this could take
some considerable period of time."

The SDLP's Alex Attwood said the police would have to give
a "sufficient explanation" as to why shots were fired.

"It gives rise to public anxiety, particularly when it
occurs in a heavily built up area," he said.

"The police have to justify why this vehicle was chased off
the motorway and why live fire was used, though there are
suggestions that this vehicle was chasing through a built
up area and crashing through red lights."

Sinn Fein have expressed concern at the shooting.

West Belfast councillor Marie Moore said she had heard that
the van was forced off the motorway into a residential
area.

"This PSNI operation appears to have been carried out with
absolutely no regard for the safety of the people of this
community," she said.

"I am very concerned at reports that this van was forced
off the motorway into a built-up residential area and that
a number of shots were also fired by the PSNI in an area
where many children and families would have been going
about their business."

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2006/11/03 22:37:59 GMT
c BBC MMVI

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http://www.sinnfein.ie/news/detail/16615

Concern At PSNI Operation In West Belfast

Published: 3 November, 2006

Sinn F‚in West Belfast councillor Marie Moore has expressed
concern at the PSNI operation in the St James' area of West
Belfast when it appears that a van was forced off the
motorway into a residential area and that the PSNI then
fired a number of shots in the area.

Cllr More said:

"This PSNI operation appears to have been carried out with
absolutely no regard for the safety of the people of this
community.

"I am very concerned at reports that this van was forced
off the motorway into a built-up residential area and that
a number of shots were also fired by the PSNI in an area
where many children and families would have been going
about their business." ENDS


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http://www.citybeat967.co.uk/dynamicnewsdetail.aspx?article_id=9280

Board Official Hoping Sinn Fein Will 'Endorse Policing Soon'

Published on 04/11/2006

A senior member of Northern Ireland's Policing Board today
expressed hope that Sinn Fein would be able to join with
other parties soon in endorsing policing.

Policing Board vice chairman Barry Gilligan told a
graduation ceremony for police officers in Belfast that the
St Andrews Agreement had the potential to unlock the door
to all communities giving their backing to the Police
Service of Northern Ireland.

"Five years on from the establishment of the PSNI we are
facing another historical shift in the policing landscape,"
Mr Gilligan observed.

"The agreement made between the (British and Irish)
Governments in Scotland last month has the potential to
secure the support of Sinn Fein - until now the only party
which has failed to endorse and support policing.

"It is absolutely vital that our police service is
supported by the entire community so that it can best serve
that community.

"I hope that the discussions and agreements reached in
Scotland and actions in the coming weeks will deliver full
and unequivocal political support for policing for
everyone's benefit."

by David Gordon

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http://irishking.livejournal.com/171885.html

Blog: Good Bye Long Kesh

LONG Kesh, one of the world's most notorious prison camps,
is being demolished to make way for a multi-sports arena
and conflict transformation centre.

Wrecking crews moved in Monday and began to dismantle the
complex of old Nissen huts hastily erected in 1971 near
Lisburn to house internees being held without trial.

The barbed-wire compounds, officially and appropriately
known as cages, were occupied mainly by Republicans
initially, although numbers of Loyalists were also interned
as the Irish Troubles worsened.

The round-topped huts of Cage 20, an IRA compound, were
first to fall when the bulldozers began work. Demolition is
expected to take up to a year with the second phase of
clearing the main 360-acre site beginning next year.

A vigorous international anti-internment campaign in the
1970s severely embarrassed the British government, which
attempted to alter the prison camp's notorious image by
changing the name to the Maze after the area where it was
sited.

Internees in Long Kesh retained their own command structure
and ran their compounds on military lines, with officers
being elected by fellow prisoners.

A complex of cells was later built alongside the cages to
hold the hundreds of men imprisoned by the "conveyor belt"
no-jury Diplock courts system. These buildings, because of
their shape, became known as the H-Blocks.

The H-Blocks achieved notoriety when Republicans seeking
political prisoner status embarked on a no-wash, no prison
uniform protest. The protest escalated into a hunger strike
which resulted in the deaths of ten Republicans in 1981.

The prison hospital where the men died, as well as one of
the H-Blocks will be preserved. British government plans
for the site include a 42,000-seat sports area.

Northern Prisons Minister David Hanson said, "Clearing the
site will be part of the mission to transform it into a
symbol of economic and social regeneration, renewal and
growth. The demolition of the Maze/Long Kesh, leaving only
those former prison buildings which have been given
statutory protection, marks a further step towards
achieving the goal of a new future for the site, a future
that can be shared by the whole community."

A cross-party Maze/Long Kesh committee has been set up to
monitor the transformation of the prison. Chairman Edwin
Poots, a DUP Assembly Member, welcomed assurances by Sinn
Fein that the jail "would not be turned into a shrine to
Republicanism." He said the beginning of demolition work
"signified a clear demonstration of gathering momentum" and
represented a "major step forward to reshape this site."

Vice chairman Paul Butler of Sinn Fein spent several years
imprisoned in Long Kesh. He said his party's primary
concern had been the preservation of the site because of
"its historical importance, not just to Republicans but to
the wider community as well."

"The start of demolition work at the cages of Long Kesh is
a day of mixed emotions for Republicans. Many thousands of
Republican prisoners spent a big part of their lives in
these cages and today part of their past is being taken
away," Butler said.

"However, Republicans I believe will look positively to the
future and will see that today marks the beginning of a new
shared vision for the former prison where the preserved
listed prison buildings will play an important role."

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http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1103/pope.html?rss

Williams To Meet Pope Benedict

03 November 2006 18:12

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader
of the world's Anglicans, will make his first official
visit to Pope Benedict at the Vatican on 23 November.

The timing is significant because this year marks the 40th
anniversary of the historic meeting between his
predecessor, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, and Pope Paul VI in
1966.

That was the first formal meeting between the heads of the
two churches since England's King Henry VIII broke with
Rome in the 16th Century.

In the past 10 years, relations between the two Churches
have been strained over the issue of women priests and
homosexual bishops.

The blessing of same-sex unions in Canada's Anglican Church
and moves to ordain women bishops in the Church of England
are two issues that are driving Anglicans and Catholics
further apart after decades of optimistic dialogue.

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http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=15968

Mary Robinson Spotlights Human Rights Abuses In Darfur

William Hughes

----
William Hughes is a Baltimore author, attorney, educator
and professional actor. He has been writing political
commentaries for over 40 years. His latest book, "Saying
'No' to the War Party," is a collection of his essays, and
photographs, that targeted the "Special Interests," like
the Neocons, Big Oil and the Military-Industrial Complex,
which dragged the U.S. into the Iraqi war. The book was the
author's way of challenging the outrageous conduct of the
Bush-Cheney Gang, while making current history come alive.
----

November 3, 2006

"Where...do universal human rights begin? In small places,
close to home." - Eleanor Roosevelt (1)

Adelphi, MD - On the evening of Nov. 1, 2006, Mary
Robinson, the first female President of Ireland (1990-97),
and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (1997-2002), gave a lecture. It was sponsored by the
U. of Maryland University College (UMUC), an institution
with "3,300 faculty members and 90,000 students worldwide."
(2) Robinson's talk was entitled, "Human Rights and
Globalization." The event was held in the school's
auditorium, which was filled to near capacity. Ms. Susan C.
Aldridge, UMUC's President, introduced Robinson, who spoke
for about an hour. She covered a wide array of topics
ranging from the origins of the United Nations' Universal
Declaration of Human Rights to troubled hot spots around
the world, in places like Tibet, Sierra Leone, East Timor,
Grozny in Chechnya, the Balkans and Darfur.

Robinson began by recalling the key role of the late
Eleanor Roosevelt, (the widow of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt), in shaping the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR). (3) She said that although she wasn't an
attorney, Mrs. Roosevelt knew how to "boss" lawyers and
eminent jurists around to get the job done. She helped this
team of jurists "to adopt a real vision of values for our
world." The global Charter on Rights was adopted on Dec.
10, 1948, in Paris, France. This was only three years after
the creation of the UN itself. This is also why "Dec. 10th"
is honored today as "Human Rights Day," Robinson pointed
out.

Trained for the law as a Barrister, Robinson hails from the
market town of Ballina, in County Mayo, in the West of
Ireland. Her parents were both physicians and her maiden
name is Bourke. Robinson joked that she had to learn about
human rights early on because she "was wedged in between
four brothers. Two older and two younger." She grew up in a
mostly rural area, which is within a short automobile ride
of the sprawling Ox Mountains, the pristine Bay of Killaha
and the Atlantic Ocean. The salmon-filled Moy River flows
through Ballina. Its small cemetery, Leigue, located on the
fringe of the town, holds the remains of two of Ireland's
legendary IRA "Hunger Strikes" from the 70s, Michael
Gaughan and Frank Stagg. (4) Robinson admitted that she has
passed her "60th birthday" and is very proud of now being
"a grandmother." After serving for 20 years in the Irish
Republic's Senate, (1969-89), she began to specialize in
Human Rights Law, while raising a family, and teaching
Constitutional Law at Dublin University. Today, among a
host of other projects, Robinson is the architect and one
of the moving forces behind the Ethical Global Initiative
(EGI). It advocates "the integration of human rights,
gender sensitivity, and enhanced accountability into
efforts addressing global challenges and governance." (5)

Robinson, a "Feminist," in a then-very "conservative"
country, before the word was fashionable, is working on
creating a process for having "Human Rights"-the words
themselves-invoke "more depth and more coherence" for
everyone. She underscored how the UDHR has been adopted and
endorsed by every country in the world, but that, she
quickly added, is a lot different then having it
"implemented" by every country. Robinson reports that when
she held the position of UN's High Commissioner for Human
Rights, it was a very small office, with little or no
enforcement power. She made it her personal business to go
to the countries where human rights were being egregiously
violated, so that she could be seen, in her official
capacity, as identifying with the "victims" of abuse. (6)

Two of the articles of the UDHR have a lot of meaning for
Robinson. They are Article 1 and Article 29 (Subsection 1),
and she read both of them to the audience. First, Article
1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
Then, Article 29 (1): "Everyone has duties to the community
in which alone the free and full development of his
personality is possible." Dignity, she emphasized, was a
"very important concept" to the drafters of the document.
All the peoples of the world, Robinson urged, should be
made aware that the UDHR "is their birthright."

As to where we are today on that issue, Robinson said: "We
know from UNICEF...that more than 30,000 children, under
five [years of age], die every day in our world of
preventable diseases or...hunger," Robinson said. "This is
a silent Tsunami every week and is therefore 52 silent
Tsunamis every year. To me, that is a more meaningful
figure then talking about a billion people living on less
than a dollar a day. We get lost in all of the statistics.
But, I think we can all grasp the unnecessary deaths of
children--very often painfully. We do have a world that
hasn't lived up to Mrs. Roosevelt's vision and [of] her
eminent jurists."

It was during the Q&A period, when the controversial
subject of Darfur came up. (7) Robinson said in response to
a question on its status: "The situation in Darfur is far
worse than we are hearing and reading about. It is
absolutely catastrophic at the moment. It is hard to
explain how much worse it was from six months ago even. A
number of those who were trying to help-aid workers-can no
longer be there because of security. So, they are squeezed
out. Save-the-Children, Oxfam are finding it much more
difficult to be there. Politically, Sudan is getting off
the hook altogether and part of it has to do with the fact
that the oil money [is] now [coming] into Sudan, [along
with] the Chinese investment and Khartoum [is] booming. It
is though Darfur is somehow a forgotten backwater again.
And it is really very difficult. And I do think that the
United States has tried...But somehow it is not enough at
all. We are seeing the unforgiveable-the never again-again.
And just because they are poor and they are black, and they
are voiceless, it's happening. Human beings are being
killed. Women are being raped. Villages are being savaged
every day and it is getting worse...The United States, the
E.U., the countries of the world, honestly, have to,
really, wake-up...As far as I am concerned, it [Darfur] is
a disgrace! It is absolutely unacceptable. And I don't have
an easy answer...Let's get Darfur up on as high a list as
possible. Sudan cares about public opinion. It's not
getting the messages that it should be getting about what
is happening in Darfur. That has to change." (8)

Robinson finished her informative lecture by reading some
passages from Seamus Heaney's poem, "The Republic of
Conscience." (9) It calls for each of us, in our own lives,
to fight to protect and promote human rights and to be "an
Ambassador of Conscience." This year's awardee, presented
by Amnesty International (AI), which has adopted the poem
as one of its themes, is Nelson Mandela, one of South
Africa's greatest sons. He has demanded that the HIV/AIDS
epidemic be treated as a "human rights" issue and require
"urgent global concern." (10)

Thanks to human rights champions, like Robinson, AI's
honoree, such as Mandela, and so many other unsung heroes,
the world is better off. The governmental bullies do back
off and retreat, but, unfortunately, only temporarily.
More, much more, remains to be done in this important
arena. Robinson's' crusade for making the UDHR a global
code to protect every individual on the planet, as in a
solemn and legally enforceable "birthright" is central, as
is the need for every country to strictly abide by its
provisions, or to face blame, shame and punishment. Only in
this way can we end what Robinson refers to as the "cycle
of impunity." (11)

Notes:
1. http://www.udhr.org/history/frbioer.htm
2. http://www.umuc.edu/index.html
3. http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/default.htm

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20061104TDY15001.htm

Irish Dance Company Trinity Returns To Japan

Amy Vaillancourt Matsuoka / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

Trinity Irish Dance Company has refined its craft and is
taking the genre to new heights--literally. The company is
now on its second tour of Japan, which covers 15 cities and
continues through Dec. 1. It will present 12 pieces from
the repertoire ranging from 1998 to 2006, with more
traditional pieces interspersed with modern works.

Two new pieces are a showcase for artistic director Mark
Howard's ingenuity: The Black Rose, where dancers hold drum
sticks to display their percussive skills on the stage
floor, and The Mist, inspired by tales of fairies, with
dancers in leotards and bare feet using their bodies to
make Celtic patterns.

Traditionally performed as a solo or in unison, Irish dance
has developed a competitive system with an annual world
championship. The dancers' shoes are either soft leather,
which allows for balletic high jumps, or clogs with soles
made from resin or fiberglass. Feet positions are crossed
with movements always alternating between the front and
back (unlike tap dance, there are no sideways steps).
Because the dancers' movements are characterized by a stiff
upper body and limited arm gestures, one's focus is
constantly pulled to the rigorous footwork and powerful leg
sweeps. Trinity takes this mesmerizing barrage of step
combinations from traditional to modern to multicultural.

An Emmy Award-winning choreographer who has received
numerous choreographer's fellowships awarded by the U.S.
National Endowment for the Arts, Mark Howard is the founder
of the world's largest Irish dance school. Born in Ireland
and raised in Chicago, Howard began dancing at the age of 9
which led him to become a North American champion. At 17,
he founded the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, which now
has more than 2,000 students in multiple locations around
the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.

The academy's talented and skilled students feed into the
22-member dance company, aged 18 to 28. One of the bright,
young stars is Garrett Coleman. While beginning with his
mother's teacher in Pittsburgh, this college freshman won
world titles in Ireland in 2004 and 2005. Fellow dancers
and rehearsal directors Ashley Purl and Katie Wright are
founding members of Trinity who achieved company world
titles. Respectively, they now continue Howard's visions as
assistant choreographer and outreach coordinator. The
company is accompanied by both recorded and live music.

In an interview with The Daily Yomiuri, flute, whistle, and
pipe player Christopher Layer described working with Howard
over the past 11 years. Calling him a tireless visionary,
Layer says Howard's ability to create work in Irish dance
while drawing on other forms of movement is unparalleled.
Layer says he is deeply inspired by the work of Ballet
Folklorico de Mexico.

"Before the Riverdance Irish music and dance boom, Mark had
the opportunity to sell the show in the mid-90s for
millions [of dollars]," Layer said. "But he didn't want to
go that way. He's really interested in innovating
movement." Layer adds that Howard sincerely wants to look
at different cultures and places.

In fact, Riverdance and Trinity have a lot in common. Both
Howard and Riverdance's Michael Flatley, the principal star
and choreographer of that show, grew up and began dancing
in Chicago. The major difference? Riverdance has a story
told through a series of dance pieces, while Trinity is a
repertory company of dancers performing their unrelated
dances in a program.

Layer also hinted that the Irish-American community in
Chicago has been untouched by modern-day Irish influences
for a couple of generations. So artistic and cultural
exchanges are immensely interesting to Howard and all the
dancers. Touring throughout the United States, including
Alaska, and to Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Japan
gives everyone the opportunity to have new experiences
which open their minds.

Of course, Howard has also taught more than dancing. In an
interview on a promotional video, Howard states he is
"building an institution." He wants Irish dance "not simply
to entertain." Wright also talked of how Howard has taught
"respect for others."

Audience members are encouraged to clap, stomp and shout
along with Trinity. Purl, who toured Japan two years ago,
said at a press conference in Tokyo last month that this
time, "I want the audience to get into the show--join in,
clap you hands." Wright, who also was at the event, urged
people to "become part of our party onstage." The Trinity
dancers "use the energy from the audience" to infuse and
refuel their energetic performance.

Trinity Irish Dance Company will perform Nov. 28-29 at 7
p.m. and Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Bunkamura Orchard
Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo, (03) 5721-4621. It will also
perform in Osaka, Nagasaki, Sapporo and several other
cities through Dec. 1.

(Nov. 4, 2006)

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1104/1162547544262.html

Pioneering Irish Nurse The Subject Of New Film

George Jackson in Derry
04/11/2006

The premiere of the film, Agnes, which tells the story of
one of the 19th century's pioneering nurses, Co Donegal-
born Agnes Jones, took place in Derry last night as part of
the Foyle Film Festival.

Among those in attendance at the Guildhall premiere were
three descendants of Jones, two from New Zealand and one
from Cambridge, England.

Born in 1832, Agnes Jones grew up in Fahan near Buncrana.
She was one of Florence Nightingale's first trainee nurses
and spent most of her nursing career at the then infamous
Brownlow Hill workhouse in Liverpool.

She tended to thousands of Irish people who fell into
poverty after fleeing Ireland to escape the legacy of the
Famine. At the age of 32, she was in charge of the
workhouse. It had a patient population of 1,500, many of
whom suffered from cholera and typhus.

Author Felicity McCall, on whose book Agnes Jones the film
is based, said Jones, who died aged 35, revolutionised
nursing.

"She made the Liverpool workhouse a model for the rest of
the country in terms of its caring attitude to patients,
she introduced administrative and financial control for the
nursing staff and she made nursing a respectable
profession," she said.

The title role is played by Bronagh Gallagher.

c The Irish Times

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

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2006/1104/1162547544292.html

'Irish Rovers' Try To Prevent EMI From Selling CD Selection
Of Songs

04/11/2006

The Dubliners have brought a legal action to stop the
record company EMI from promoting or selling a CD box
collection entitled The Dubliners Platinum Collection.

The dispute is about copyright over seven songs featured in
the collection - The Mountain Dew, Dirty Old Town, A Song
for Ireland, The Irish Rover, The Town I Loved So Well, The
Marino Waltz and Dublin In The Rare Ould Times.

The action was briefly mentioned by Denis McDonald SC, for
The Dubliners, before Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday and
was adjourned to next Thursday.

The proceedings have been brought against EMI Records
(Ireland) Ltd by Baycourt Ltd and John Sheahan, Barney
McKenna, Sean Cannon, Eamonn Campbell, Paddy Reilly and
Ronnie Drew (trading as The Dubliners), and James Kelly,
acting as executor for the estate of Luke Kelly.

It is claimed that the song recordings referred to are part
of The Definitive Dubliners album and were included in the
new box collection without the consent of The Dubliners.

This, it is claimed, infringes the copyright over those
recordings.

The court will be asked to grant an order restraining EMI
or its agents from promoting, distributing, selling or
disseminating copies of the box set.

An injunction restraining EMI or its agents from
manufacturing or selling more copies of The Definitive
Dubliners than were manufactured between November 2005 and
May 2006 is also being sought.

The legendary group is also applying for an injunction
restraining EMI or its agents from using the title The
Dubliners Platinum Collection in place of The Definitive
Dubliners or from marketing the song recordings included in
The Definitive Dubliners under or by reference to a sleeve
entitled The Dubliners Platinum Collection.

In the same legal action, EMI is also being asked to
account for all of the platinum collection box sets sold by
retailers to date.

c The Irish Times

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