Category Archives: Northern Ireland

Blog celebrates second anniversary; book finds home in libraries

This month the blog celebrates its second anniversary, a total of more than 200 posts. Thanks to all those readers who have clicked on the content and sent notes of support.

The biggest developments of the past year were publishing my book, “His Last Trip: An Irish American Story,” and moving to Washington, D.C., where I’ve been more plugged into Ireland through Irish Network D.C., which has sponsored speaker events about Northern Ireland, the Republic’s banking and economic crisis, and the police and criminal justice services on both side of the boarder.

Regarding my book, I’m happy to report that copies have been accepted at the Carnegie Library and the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh; the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pa.; and the County Kerry Library in Tralee. I checked the Kerry library’s online catalog recently and was pleased to see the book was checked out. Due Aug. 8.

Here a link back to my 2013 serialized version, “Willie’s Emigration Centennial.”

A copy of my book about my grandfather Willie Diggin, and his streetcar company lunchbox with name engraved in the top.

A copy of my book about my grandfather Willie Diggin, and his streetcar company lunchbox with name engraved in the top. The book is available in libraries and archives in Pittsburgh and Kerry.

 

12th parades begin peacefully

Orange Order parades have begun peacefully, the BBC reports.

There were no incidents as a feeder parade passed a sectarian flashpoint at shops in Ardoyne in north Belfast. … Chief Constable George Hamilton said:

“I’m optimistic, but it’s a cautious optimism and I’m just hoping that people take responsibility for their own actions and they need to understand that, as I’ve said throughout the past couple of weeks, the police will do our piece to keep people safe and also to collect evidence where people step outside of the law.”

The Irish Times reports that the Police Service of Northern Ireland is deploying 3,500 officers, with about one third deployed to north Belfast hot spots. After several years of relative calm, loyalist violence erupted last July when Orangemen were banned by the Parades Commission from returning home past the Ardoyne shops. The commission decision was upheld this year.

Here’s a good background piece about “Orangeism,” also from the BBC. By the way, that “L.O.L” on their banners refers to Loyal Orange Lodge, not laughing out loud.

Here we go again: marching season in Northern Ireland

It’s July, and that means Orange parade season in Northern Ireland.

The trouble has already begun as the two main unionist parties walked out of talks at Stormont after the Parades Commission banned Orangemen from marching by a republican area of north Belfast on 12 July.  The Guardian reports there are renewed fears that serious street disorder will break out in the coming days over the ban.

[Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa] Villiers said: “The last thing Northern Ireland needs is any kind of public disorder which could put police officers at risk of injury or worse and which would damage Northern Ireland’s reputation abroad and undermine efforts to attract jobs and investment. Any reaction or protest needs to be both peaceful and lawful, as called for by unionist leaders in their statement today. “

Here’s the full statement from five unionist leaders, including Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson. We will see what happens, but in Northern Ireland in July, it usually isn’t anything good.

An Orange Order parade. Image from rte.ie.

An Orange Order parade. Image from rte.ie.

 

Tragedy and triumph in Irish transportation

I’ve come across two historical transportation stories.

This month marks the 125th anniversary of the Armagh train tragedy, which remains Ireland’s largest rail disaster. The Belfast Telegraph explains:

The train was packed as it pulled away from the station at 10:15 am, but around three miles out of the city a nightmare unfolded as the train was trying to pull up the slope out of Armagh, but was pulled back by its weight. A decision was taken to decouple the front four carriages, move them to Hamiltonsbawn, and then to return for the remaining eight carriages. Stones were placed behind the wheels of those carriages, but they rolled backwards, crushed the stones and began to build up speed as they continued back down the slope. The runaway carriages crashed into another train, resulting in the loss of 89 lives. All denominations suffered – Catholic, Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian.

June 1889 rail disaster at Armagh.

June 1889 rail disaster at Armagh.

This August will mark the centennial of the death of John Phillip Holland, builder of the first successful submarine, known as the Fenian Ram. His experimentation began in Drogheda, County Louth. In America, a later design became the U.S. Navy’s first commissioned submarine, according to this story in The Irish Times.

He died in August 1914, relatively poor, and just weeks before HMS Pathfinder became the first ship to be sunk by a torpedo fired by submarine – and nine months before a German U-boat set its sights on the Lusitania.

B.C.’s Irish Institute exchange fellows visit D.C.

In a forlorn corner of Dublin, a sign at the entrance of a youth diversion community center warns against bringing alcohol inside the building. At a similar youth center in a low-income neighborhood of metro Boston, the sign at the front warns against bringing in guns.

That’s just one of many differences between the criminal justice system in Ireland and the United States, as detailed by 13 professionals in the fields of law enforcement, youth justice, and law visiting Boston from Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Irish Institute at Boston College hosted the exchange fellows, who spoke to Irish Network-D.C. on 3 June before returning home.

Youth justice worker Ashling Golden of Dublin made the observation about the two signs. She said programs that divert young people from the criminal justice system have resulted in youth crime dropping to seven in 100 from 13 in 100. Such programs, she said, are much less expensive than imprisonment.

Sgt. Gavin O’Reilly of An Garda Síochána said gun crimes are on the rise in Ireland. He observed that Boston and other American police agencies seem to do a better job of sharing information across agencies, but added the relationship between law enforcement in the Republic and the Police Service of Northern Ireland is improving. O’Reilly also said the U.S. does a better job of engaging third-party partners from the community to help police deal with troubled youth.

Maura McCallion, division head for the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, told me that while many Catholic and Protestant youth in the north have fallen away from the practice their religion, they still hold tightly to those community identifications. And that continues to cause problems in the flash points of Belfast and other parts of Ulster.

Adams released without charges

Gerry Adams was released without being charged Sunday after four days of questioning by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  Irish republicans and their supporters have insisted an old guard of the former Royal Ulster Constabulary were behind the arrest, which they say was politically motivated.

Sky News has video of Adams’ giving a press conference after he was freed, as well as Northern Ireland loyalist who tried to block his release.

This story is far from over. A report from the police agency will be reviewed by Northern Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions, which could still bring charges. Upcoming Irish and European elections bear watching, as does the Orange marching season just around the corner.

Gerry Adams questioned about ’72 IRA murder

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has been arrested for questioning about the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, a widow wrongly suspected of informing against the Irish Republican Army.

Adams2Feb14_Swf

Adams was implicated by two IRA veterans who gave taped interviews to researchers for a Boston College oral history project on the four-decade Northern Ireland conflict known as the Troubles. The tapes were made available to Northern Ireland/British police in a complicated court battle. Here’s some perspective from a B.U. trustee.

Adams made himself available to the authorities, but denies any role in the killing. Here’s his statement on the Sinn Féin website.

Obviously, this story is developing. We will have to see if Adams is charged, and what impact this might have on upcoming elections and the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland. No doubt many on the island of Ireland would like to see Adams removed from politics and the public stage. But he has his supporters, as well, and has demonstrated an amazing talent for survival over the decades.

McGuinness to attend state banquet in Britian

Former IRA commander and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has accepted an invitation to attend a British state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.

The Irish Times and other media outlets report that McGuinness will attend the 8 April banquet, which honors Irish President Michael D. Higgins. It is the first official visit by an Irish head of state since the modern political separation of the two islands began in 1922.

McGuinness and the Queen shake hands in Belfast, July 2012.

McGuinness and the Queen shake hands in Belfast, July 2012.

The Wall Street Journal said the visit “is designed to underscore Ireland’s evolving acceptance that, before independence in 1922, its people weren’t always unwilling participants in the U.K. and the global empire it led, and the shared history of the two nations is less deeply antagonistic than once claimed by Irish nation builders.”

The Journal‘s story continues:

The exchange of official visits is the latest in a series of steps that have taken place over the last three decades and have marked a gradual but steady mending of fences between the two nations, once bitterly divided over the fate of the six Irish counties that remain a part of the U.K. … The formal process of reconciliation has lagged behind deepening links between British and Irish people. A quarter of British people have some recent Irish forbears, while 50,000 directors of current British companies were born in Ireland.

Of the Northern Ireland republican, the BBC says:

As a youth, Martin McGuinness wore the uniform of an IRA volunteer – secretly, illegally and defiantly. Now, decades later, he will don a white tie and tails and publicly, cheerfully and – perhaps -still defiantly, attend the Queen’s banquet at Windsor Castle. We should not be too surprised. His journey has already seen him shake the hand of the Queen. Not to attend the first state visit of an Irish president would undermine all his promises, made as an Irish presidential candidate, that he would work for peace.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams noted that McGuinness’s attendance might be a bridge too far for some republicans. “I would appeal to them to view this positively in the context of republican and democratic objectives and the interests of unity and peace on this island,” he said.

Kenny meets Obama at White House

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Barack Obama have completed the annual St. Patrick’s holiday meeting at the White House.

Obama said he was “disappointed” that all-party talks in Northern Ireland failed to reach agreement at the end of last year. Kenny said the two leaders privately addressed immigration reform and the situation in Ukraine.

Here’s the full transcript of their public remarks.

Kenny and Obama. White House photo.

Kenny and Obama.                                                                          White House photo.

Gay pride v. St. Patrick

UPDATE 2: No surprise here: The tentative deal referenced below has been swept off the table by parade organizers, according to the Boston Herald. This situation could change again, but now I expect an ugly parade-day scene in Southie.

UPDATE 1:

The Boston Globe and other media outlets say a tentative deal has been struck allowing a gay advocacy group to march in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. The reported agreement, brokered by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, contains a provision prohibiting the group from wearing T-shirts or carrying banners that proclaim their sexual orientation.

This situation could change before the March 16 parade. But as noted in most media stories about the issue, the demographics and character of Boston’s “Southie” neighborhood, once a solid Irish-Catholic enclave, have changed dramatically in recent years.

ORIGINAL POST:

With St. Patrick’s Day less than three weeks away, the showdown over whether gay groups can march openly in two of America’s most famous March 17th parades is nearing a climax.

The Los Angeles Times offers this rundown on the situation in New York and Boston, where each city’s newly elected mayor says they will refuse to march because parade organizers continue to ban gays. Here’s another version of the story from USA Today.

Gays march in Dublin‘s annual parade.

Gays are welcome in Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade. Image by The Guardian.

Gays are welcome in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Image by The Guardian.

Naturally, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has offered her typically snarky take on the Big Apple controversy:

It has just always seemed strange to me that gays were fighting so hard for so long to bust into such a hoary, boozy, corny tradition. Didn’t they have something more fun and cool to do?

But a quote from Dublin drag queen Panti Bliss, a.k.a. Rory O’Neill is the most provocative part of the piece. S/he suggests that the Manhattan parade organizers to pious Orangemen in Northern Ireland, “very much tied up in an old Ireland that doesn’t really exist anymore.”

It will be interesting to see if parade organizers in either city give ground by the time the parades step off.