Caoimhin O Caolain & the New York Irish
Wake up & smell the coffee . . .
By Patrick Hurley
Congratulations to Leitrim’s Joe McManus on his election as president of the United Irish Counties of New York. His installation was held on Valentine’s eve at the building of the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, in Mineola, Nassau County. A fine edifice! A credit to the organization’s founding fathers and, indeed, founding mothers, who banded together decades ago. We understand that there may have been at least one Skibbereen man in among them - John O’Regan, RIP, one of the shoemaker’s sons from Bridge Street. Certainly, the West Cork involvement continues. Denis O’Sullivan, formerly Kealkil, Bantry, was observed ar fud na haite, back and forth to the bar and kitchen with food and empties, mopping up spills, giving directions to the uninitiated and endeavoring to maintain some semblance of order.
Whether you agree with the radical left wing politics of Sinn Fein or you don’t, it was an honor for President McManus that Cavan/Monaghan Sinn Fein TD Caoimhin O Caolain was on hand as installation officer. In 1984, Joe McManus emigrated from Leitrim, joining thousands of his fellow political and economic exiles, as they set up home along Broadway and Bainbridge Avenue, in The Bronx, and in neighborhoods like Woodside and Sunnyside in Queens and Bayridge in Brooklyn. We first encountered the Leitrim man over twenty years ago, as he did the rounds of the Irish American fairs, festivals and feiseanna promoting the periodical "The Spirit of Freedom". We, ourselves, were on the IIRM roadshow. Activists, especially those on the margins, no matter the stripe, hue or cut of gib, share a common soul.
Unlikely to have been embraced by the Southern Irish establishment - you wouldn’t have found it on the stands in Easons - "The Spirit of Freedom" was an intellectually stimulating publication that provided a viewpoint not countenanced in Southern Irish society of the time, stifled as it was by the heavy hand of official and unofficial censorship. Empirical evidence has suggested, and as O Caolain implied in his address, that over the years Joe was no armchair activist, either here or on the "other side". Suffice it to say that he is a man of his convictions and has never been afraid to jump into the bearna baol when required. Accordingly, New York’s "Belfast Brigade" was well represented with no shortage of the boys from Fermanagh, Tyrone, Monaghan and other strongholds.
Despite the supposed rapprochement between the various strands of Irish nationalism - what’s left of Irish nationalism that is - Iveagh House had no representation. Perhaps the Foreign Affairs mandarins would have been too uncomfortable with the inevitable talk of times, and things, past. Perhaps they felt that their presence would only have conjured up the proverbial 800 pound gorilla in the room; that the specter of glaring inconsistencies and ironies would have hovered o’er the evening.
The balance of O Caolain’s remarks was seriously out of date. One could have imagined the interaction between O Caolain and his staff, "I’m off to America. Dust off the Irish American speech, and get me a few pieces of Waterford Crystal. Er . . . Caomhin we have the speech but getting the Waterford could be a bit of a problem." Yaaaaawwwwn! It was redundant clichéd oratory of the "Brits Out" and "Ireland United, Gaelic and Free" genre. Apparently, not unlike the other denizens of Kildare Street and the Mandarins of Iveagh House, O Caolain is wedded to the same misperception of Irish Americans – "The Yanks. Ah sure, they’d swallow anything!"
Unfortunately for the Irish establishment, Irish Americans are not stuck in a time warp and do not succumb to a collective amnesia at the first strains of "Danny Boy". The comely dancing colleens, the crystal, and the Shamrocks make for nice symbolism but that’s it. Irish Americans have real expectations of the "old country" and, in recent years, those expectations have fallen far short. The "Yanks" have duly noted the less than lukewarm support from the Irish Government for our efforts in the war against radical Islam. Irish Americans have recoiled with disgust at the rampant anti - Americanism that pervades from Malin Head to Mizen Head. That phenomenon and the more specific "Bush Derangement Syndrome" that has gripped the country will make it all the more difficult to ease the passage of an anticipated new generation of Irish illegals into legitimacy.
"Europe's nations should be guided towards the super-state without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation." - Jean Monnet, founder of the European Movement
But we digress slightly. T-anam an diabhal, Caoimhin mo bhuachaill when you speak of an Ireland United, Gaelic and Free, what manifestation do you see this Utopia assuming? The Southern Irish state is now merely a European colony. A protectorate of the European Reich, administered from Brussels. In exchange for ephermal treasures, establishment politicos of all hues and stripes, like junkies looking for their next fix and aided and abetted by the chattering classes, have enthusiastically sold off wide swathes of Irish sovereignty. Notwithstanding that Fianna Fail is in power, all the establishment parties have collaborated in this endeavor. Like that same junkie, incapable of coming to terms with reality, the politicos, the opiners and the chattering classes debate incessantly the irrelevant propositions of replacing Fianna Fail with a Fine Gael/Labour coalition, of bringing back Bertie Ahern, of demoting Mary Coughlan etc. . . etc. . . . ad infinitum, without seeming to grasp that none of these would make the slightest difference in responding to the economic crisis, which grips the former Celtic Tiger. Taoisigh or cabinet ministers no longer have any executive power. They are now merely well - compensated middle managers delivering to the Irish people the diktats of their faceless aloof undemocratic European masters. Incredibly, over two thirds of Irish laws now originate in Brussels. So Caomhin, mo bhuachaill with what do you see the "Fourth Green Field" uniting?
"The fusion (of economic functions) would compel nations to fuse their sovereignty into that of a single European State." - Jean Monnet, founder of the European Movement, 3 April 1952
"The 11, soon to be 12, member States adopting the euro have already given up part of their sovereignty, monetary sovereignty, and formed a monetary union, and that is the first step towards a federation." - German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Financial Times, 7 July 2000
The recent spectacle of Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan whining about the British manipulating sterling to make their exports more attractive would have been laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic. Understandably, the move is detrimental to Southern Ireland. Apparently, the border counties have been devastated as people go north in droves to shop for bargains. But earth to Brian. . . shock, horror . . . that is what independent sovereign nations generally do. They promote their own interests. Southern Ireland would of course be playing the same currency manipulation game . . . But wait! . . . Control over Irish fiscal and monetary policy – the core elements of sovereignty - was long ago surrendered to Brussels.
"The time for individual nations [in Europe] having their own tax, employment and social policies is definitely over. We must finally bury the erroneous ideas of nations having sovereignty over foreign and defence policies. National sovereignty will soon prove itself to be a product of the imagination." - Gerhard Schroder, Chancellor of Germany, January 1999
It is indeed difficult to appreciate that not even a hundred years ago our parents, grandparents and great - grandparents fought and died to establish a sovereign Irish state, and now the contemporary political establishment and their media enablers have cheerfully surrendered their legacy of independence to Brussels without a shot been fired. Panicked and powerless, like the junkie seeking to score, the same establishment is intent on "selling out" what’s left of sovereignty by coercing the increasingly disillusioned Irish electorate into driving the last few nails into the coffin of independent nationhood by supporting Lisbon # 2. Hey, prestige and well paid Euro jobs for the "boys". . . what matter Sean & Sibohan Citizen
"If it's a Yes, we will say 'on we go', and if it's a No we will say 'we continue.'"Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minster and holder of the EU Presidency, Daily Telegraph, 28 May 2005
That same establishment now arrogantly presumes that it should form "An all-party government, drawn from the main parties for a three-year period, with the possibility of extending it" . . . and of course this national government, "would need some exceptional powers for at least three years to insulate it against the unpopularity of the decisions that have to be made." An arrogant, blatant, cynical power grab in the midst of an economic crisis demonstrating complete disdain for the intellect of the ordinary Irish citizen. Does Sean and Siobhan Citizen really want this cabal of failed sychophantic politicos and their fat cat enablers "the Golden Circle" invested with such power, unfettered by a credible opposition to hold them accountable. From such scenarios doth dictatorships spring. There must be a general election and the people must render their verdict. And does Sean and Siobhan Citizen really believe that unaccountable, unelected elitist bureaucrats in Brussels would really be concerned about conditions in West Cork, Kerry, Galway West or Donegal. Even the home grown Teacthai Dala lose touch with the people – e.g. Lisbon #1 - and have to have their feet held to the fire every few years.
Considering the illusion that was the Celtic Tiger, how embarassing for all of us with Irish blood in our veins is it for former taoiseach, Bertie Ahern to be traveling from pillar to post promoting himself as having sired said Tiger. Is’nt it about time that Bertie ended this surreal pantomime, stopped making the proverbial "show" of himself and just slipped quietly away into the sunset?
"It (the EU) is one of the few institutions we can develop as a balance to US world domination."- Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson in Gothenburg, New York Times, 15 June 2001
Irish Americans, as U.S. citizens, also consider the American dimension of the coerced endeavor to form a European Superstate. One of the stated objectives of such a project is to counter U.S. power and influence i.e "U.S. world domination". Eh! . . . Just how many people has "neutral" Sweden liberated from oppression recently? Next time there is a "European" problem in the Balkans why should American kids be going into harm’s way? Perhaps it is time, as has been so often suggested, to repatriate those American kids that "lie in the corner of some foreign field" all over Europe? The drive towards a Euro Superstate is inherently anti -American and any Europhillic advocate no matter the national hat of convenience, Irish, British, French, German Swedish etc., he may be currently hiding under, is no friend of the United States. Irish Americans would prefer to keep the Irish cousins - as misguided as they are at times - within the American sphere of influence than to have them abused and manipulated as marginalized sans culotte by Europhillic elites with "high notions".
So Caoimhin, mo bhuachaill you will understand that in the context, your reference to the recent ninetieth anniversary of the First Dail sounded disconnected and unworldly. You presumed our naivete and expected us to jump euphorically to out feet. You were obviously perplexed and disappointed! The British - resistants that they are - are no longer the enemy. Indeed, they can be our ally in halting the steady encroachment of the EU dictatorship, which is having remarkable success at achieving by stealth what the armies of Napoleon and Hitler could not achieve by force of arms.
We are not against European cooperation. The concept as originally conceived, independent, sovereign nations, a "Europe des Patries", cooperating on issues of common concern was a laudable one. Problems began when this original relationship began stealthily evolving into a an undemocratic, unaccountable Euro Superstate, with the clear objective of eradicating the concept of the democratically conceived nation state.
We encountered Caoimhin in the bar afterwards and endeavored to elaborate our position. However, we got that evasive response that isn’t an answer. These Sinn Fein politicos have quickly cultivated the weave and dodge of the professional politician. In contemplating the last ninety years and in considering that the Southern Irish state might not even see a centennial, one cannot help usurping the words of Brendan "Darkie" Hughes, RIP, Belfast IRA commander when things were really hot: "What was it all about?"
Patrick Hurley is a past president of the County Cork Association of New York. In 1987, Hurley was a co-founder of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, which went on to secure thousands of Green Cards for Irish and other European immigrants to the United States. Active in GOP and Conservative Party politics, he is a former candidate for political office in NYC. Patrick Hurley is a 1985 graduate of University College Cork.
