Caomhin O Caolain & The N.Y. Irish

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.

The party is over

Ireland's economy

The party is definitely over
Mar 19th 2009 DUBLIN

From The Economist print edition

How wage cuts and tax rises might preserve the gains of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger years
AFP

DUBLIN is full of shiny new office buildings and retail outlets. But many are unoccupied, monuments to a construction boom that went bust. At one site, the football ground at Landsdowne Road, the cranes are not idle. The stadium is being renovated and will reopen in 2010. “At least someone is drawing a decent wage,” says one watching Dubliner.
This year’s St Patrick Day’s parties were glum, even in Washington, where Brian Cowen, the Irish taoiseach, gave Barack Obama the usual bunch of shamrock (see above). Ireland is having a deeper recession than any other euro area country. The economy probably shrank by 2.5% in 2008 and may contract by another 6.5% this year. Unemployment has jumped from 5% to 10.4%, a faster rise even than in America. Irish banks may be free of the toxic securities that have poisoned rivals’ balance sheets, but they are blighted by souring property loans. And a crisis in public finances has forced the government to bring in an emergency budget on April 7th.
To envious observers, Ireland’s fall from grace is an overdue payback for its previous swift rise. Between 1990 and 2007 the economy grew by an annual average of 6.5% (see chart 1). It is easy now to dismiss the rise in living standards in the “Celtic Tiger” years as illusory, particularly as Ireland enjoyed house-price and credit booms that were big even by British standards. But to focus on the bursting of the housing bubble would be to miss the lasting gains that were made.
Ireland’s expansion went through two phases. The first, led by exports and powered by foreign direct investment, ended roughly in 2002. Foreign companies, mainly American, provided bags of capital and know-how. Ireland offered in return a young, educated, English-speaking, low-cost workforce. State grants, a low corporate-tax rate and access to the EU’s single market made things sweeter.
That gave way to a period of growth on weaker foundations. Low interest rates, a consequence of euro membership, lit a fire under property prices and spurred a building and retailing boom. The boom got a fillip in 2004 as migrants from the EU’s new members flooded in. Continued growth gave the impression that all was well. But as one Irish economist notes, the Celtic Tiger had already vanished.
When the bubble burst, it left a legacy beyond the pile of unsold houses and bad debts. The housing boom had chipped away one pillar of Ireland’s appeal: its low costs. Inflation had picked up and unit labour costs (ie, pay adjusted for productivity) rose sharply relative to Ireland’s main trading partners. A recent study by the European Central Bank found that Irish unit labour costs had risen by a third between 1999 and 2007, the biggest jump in the euro area. A healthy current-account surplus in the mid-1990s had turned into a big deficit a decade later, a sign that Ireland had become too pricey.
One contributory factor was a big rise in public-sector wages after a 2002 review. State workers grumbled that they had been left behind by the private sector. The review led to a hefty increase in pay, a symptom also of a generally lax approach to public finances. Charlie McCreevy, finance minister between 1997 and 2004, scorned the notion that fiscal policy should lean against the business cycle. “When I have the money, I spend it. When I don’t, I don’t,” he once said. Cuts in income tax left public finances too dependent on windfall revenues from VAT on new homes, capital-gains tax and stamp duty. Those revenues dried up swiftly once house prices and sales slumped, pushing the budget into deep deficit.
The fragile economy and a continuing loss of competitiveness have made bond markets nervous about Ireland’s ability to dig itself out of its fiscal hole. The yield on Ireland’s ten-year government bonds, at 6%, is way above those of Germany, at 3.2%. Both countries borrow in euros, so the gap is a rough guide to how creditworthy investors consider Ireland to be.
One big concern is the cost of the state’s guarantee of bank debts, hurriedly given last September. The assets covered are worth 2-3 times annual GDP, not the 7-8 times quoted by some, says Patrick Honohan, at Trinity College, Dublin. The banking system looks big on paper but it is swollen by foreign banks with offices in Dublin and loans abroad. These are not key to Ireland’s economy, so the government does not have to stand behind them.
Even so some of the guaranteed banks’ assets are sure to turn bad. Kevin Daly at Goldman Sachs reckons total losses could be €20 billion ($27 billion), or 10% of GDP—mostly from bad loans to property companies. Even on gloomier assessments, the cost ought to be manageable, as Ireland’s public debt was low to start with.
Yet the pressing task remains to rein in the budget deficit. The mini-budget in April will be the fourth fiscal package in a year. In February, in the teeth of union opposition, the government introduced a levy on public-sector pensions that cut take-home pay by an average of 7.5%. The pain will intensify in April. Income-tax rates seem certain to rise, some capital projects may be put on ice and more current spending will be cut. The Irish insist on keeping their 12.5% corporate-tax rate. Still, once the economy bottoms out and new measures take their full effect, the 2010 deficit ought to be less scary to the markets.
Some economists would like an agreement that cuts public and private pay in tandem. As a euro member, Ireland cannot devalue to restore competitiveness. So wages must fall. Karl Whelan at University College, Dublin is sceptical that a co-ordinated pay cut is likely or even necessary. “This is a flexible market economy: with a 10% unemployment rate, wages will fall.” Indeed, they already are. A Dublin Chamber of Commerce survey found that nine out of ten firms were reducing or freezing pay; almost a third of respondents were cutting executive salaries by 10% or more.
Ireland’s response to austerity goes against the grain. In America and Britain, policy is geared to avoiding deflation, which raises the real cost of debt. But Ireland seeks salvation in lower wages, even though its households are also heavily indebted. Whereas many countries want to lift their economies by fiscal expansion, Ireland is tightening its budget. Few other countries face such big deficits. The Irish hope for a payoff in improved confidence among foreign investors and at home. Consumers are aware of the gap in the budget and know tax rises are coming, says Alan Barrett at ESRI, a research institute. Spending may even pick up if the uncertainty over taxes is ended.
There may be regrets about the excesses of the housing bubble, but not about Ireland’s globalised growth model.“The key is to turn the model back to export-led growth,” says Brian Lenihan, the finance minister. “So we have to attend to competitiveness.” For all its ills, Ireland has form when it comes to retrenchment: it cut debt sharply in the late 1980s. If adjustment within the euro means wage cuts, that is a price Ireland seems ready to pay.

Courtesy of "The Bagman" who enjoyed living off the fat of the Celtic Tiger

Chris Dodd's Irish 'Cottage'

Wall Street Journal

WSJ.com

The Senate Ethics Committee has been looking into possible conflicts of interest in Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's 2003 mortgages. Now questions about another Dodd real-estate adventure, this one in Ireland, should keep the Ethicists even busier. All the more because Mr. Dodd's "cottage" purchase involves a crooked stock trader for whom the Senator once did a very big political favor.
Mr. Dodd is already under a cloud for receiving what a former loan officer claims was preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial on two mortgage refinancings -- in Connecticut and Washington -- in 2003. Countrywide was an aggressive lender to shaky borrowers and relied heavily on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy those mortgages in bulk. As a senior Member of the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Dodd was one of Fannie's greatest promoters. Mr. Dodd promised last year to disclose mortgage documents to prove he got no special treatment, but so far all he's done is let a few hand-picked journalists take a quick peek before he put the papers back in storage.

Continue reading, Click below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123681364667801647.html

Courtesy of "The Bagman", an unrepentant Irish American anarchist

Obama wants to disarm U.S. pilots

Newsmax.Com
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:19

By David A. Patten

The Obama administration is taking steps quietly to shut down the program that qualifies commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in jetliner cockpits in order to ward off another 9/11-type attack.
The administration recently diverted $2 million from a program to train and certify pilots to carry firearms safely while on duty. Instead, it is using the money to hire additional field inspectors to help discipline pilots who step out of line, according to a report in Tuesday’s Washington Times.
A Times editorial condemned the Obama administration's action, calling it “completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots.”
Since Obama took office, the approval process for certifying pilots to carry firearms has ground to a halt, the newspaper reports. Pilots are afraid to speak out about the behind-the-scenes maneuverings, for fear of retaliation, according to the newspaper. No cases have been reported in which pilots have brandished a weapon inappropriately or otherwise abused their eligibility to carry firearms.
About 12,000 pilots have been authorized to carry handguns while flying aircraft as part of the Federal Flight Deck Officers Program. Congress authorized the program in a 310-to-113 vote following the 9/11 attacks to help prevent terrorists from turning jetliners into flying bombs that could be used to attack key sites like the White House, the Pentagon, or Capitol Hill.
Paul Valone, a Second Amendment advocate who directs Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC.org), is calling for citizens to contract their congressional representatives to protest the administration’s anti-gun priorities.
Pilots are already required to pay for their own room and board during training, and use paid leave for the time they’re off the job. Every six months, the program requires them to be requalified for firearm use.
Valone writes on Examiner.com: “While bureaucrats . . . may have attempted to hamstring the program with burdensome requirements, training instructors and the Federal Air Marshals who now oversee the program routinely thank the FFDOs for their professionalism and dedication in protecting the nation’s air commerce against terrorism.”
Valone says the Obama administration is “dismantling yet another layer of defense against terrorism and defying the will of the American people.”
Since coming to power, the Obama administration has undertaken a series of moves that signal a major de-emphasis of programs enacted to keep America’s homeland safe from terrorist attack:
Obama’s choice for U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, labeled enhanced interrogation techniques as outright “torture” during his Senate confirmation hearings.
Obama banned waterboarding and ordered CIA interrogators to abide by U.S. Army Field Manual regulations.
He selected Clinton-era political operative Leon Panetta to serve as his CIA director. Panetta’s qualifications to run the agency have been questioned widely.
Obama announced that he would shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba within one year, raising the prospect of hardened terrorists entering the U.S. criminal justice system, or worse, being released to rejoin al-Qaida.
He indicated the U.S. defense budget would be sharply reduced.
He has sent a letter to Russian leaders, apparently offering to back off on the ballistic missile defense system that would protect Europe from Iran and North Korea.
These and other Obama administration moves recently prompted former vice president Dick Cheney to charge that Obama is returning to the Clinton-era view of terrorism as a law enforcement issue.
"Now he's made some choices that in my mind raise the risk to the American people of another attack," Cheney said of Obama on CNN's "State of the Union" program.
The Washington Times points out that about 70 percent of airline pilots have military backgrounds. With airport screening less than 100 percent effective, it states, armed pilots provide a second layer of defense.
“Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots,” the newspaper editorial says.
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Obama’s Economic Wrecking Ball Coming for You

Courtesy of Francois - veteran activist, columnist & journalist

The Neeson Family

Our thoughts and prayers are with Liam Neeson, his sons Micheal and Daniel and all the other family members, as they keep watch over their wife, mother, daughter and sister Natasha.

Go dtuga Dia suaimhneas daoibh!

www.irish-american-news-opinion.blogspot.com

Natasha Richardson & Liam Neeson

NYPOST.COM

NATASHA LEFT BRAIN DEAD
FAMILY SAYS 'THERE IS NO HOPE' OF RECOVERY
RELATED STORIES
NATASHA RICHARDSON IS BRAIN DEAD
NATASHA RICHARDSON INJURED
RELATED TOPICS
NATASHA RICHARDSON
LIAM NEESON

Comments: 69
Read Comments
Leave a Comment
By MICHAEL RIEDEL

Click for photo gallery

Posted: 2:13 pmMarch 18, 2009
Actress Natasha Richardson has "no chance" of recovery after suffering from "leakage of blood between the brain and skull," according to a family friend.
Family and friends of the gravely injured actress gathered at an Upper East Side hospital today to say goodbye to the British star.
Sources told The Post on Tuesday that Richardson is brain dead after hurting herself in a skiing accident.
Richardson's actress mom, Vanessa Redgrave, clad in a gray scarf, looked dazed and grim last night as she walked into Lenox Hill Hospital.
RIEDEL: RICHARDSON THE SHINING LIGHT OF BROADWAY
PHOTOS: NATASHA RICHARDSON
A few hours later, 45-year-old Richardson's TV-star sister, Joely Richardson, appeared on the verge of tears when she arrived.
"This is painful for the family. Please leave the family alone," said a woman who accompanied her.
Richardson, 45, was injured after what seemed to be a minor fall on a "bunny" slope during a skiing lesson near Montreal on Monday.
According to People magazine's Web site, Richardson suffered from "leakage of blood between the brain and skull," a family friend said.
"It is a fact that her heart is beating but she is brain dead," the friend added.
Her husband, actor Liam Neeson, immediately left a movie shoot in Toronto to be by her side and accompanied her on the trip from Montreal to New York.
Before leaving, Richardson was seen in an ambulance wrapped in blankets with tubes covering her face, the Toronto Star reported. Neeson was with her, looking extremely worried.
The tearful trek home was made with Neeson and Richardson's two young sons in mind, according to friends. The family has an apartment on Central Park West and a home in Dutchess County, and the boys, ages 12 and 13, were believed to be at Lenox Hill last night.
The eldest boy, Michéal, was with Richardson on the slopes, while Daniel was in New York when the accident happened, friends said. Richardson fell during a private lesson at Mont Tremblant, about 80 miles northwest of Montreal.
She had been telling friends how excited she was to go on the trip, sources said.
After the fall, she initially told employees she felt fine, according to resort managers. But an hour later, she complained of a severe headache and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The Broadway, movie and TV star was on a beginner's slope and reportedly not wearing a helmet when she fell. Headgear is not required.
"She did not show any visible sign of injury, but the ski patrol followed strict procedures and brought her back to the bottom of the slope and insisted she should see a doctor," said a statement from the resort.
"Approximately an hour after the incident, Mrs. Richardson was not feeling good."
Richardson was initially taken to the Centre Hospitalier Laurentien in Sainte Agathe, and was later transferred to Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal.
Her family is expected to release a statement later today.
The actress - whose father was the late, Oscar-winning director Tony Richardson - comes from a long line of noted British players. Maternal grandparents Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, along with uncle and aunt Corin and Lynn Redgrave, are all actors.
Joely Richardson appears on the FX show "Nip/Tuck."
Lynn Redgrave was also believed to be on her way to New York.
Natasha once said she wanted to make a career in the United States so she could dodge the "baggage of family" back home in Great Britain.

Why the Irish love America!

www.nationalreview.com
March 17, 2009

Congress’s most outspoken Irish-American reflects on his heritage

By Mark Hemingway
The Irish have a long and proud political tradition in the United States. In the land of opportunity, a willingness to take on hard work, a natural-born sense of community, and a cultivated way with words go a long way toward winning elected office. Perhaps no contemporary politician is a better proof of this than Long Island congressman Peter King (R.). King’s office, festooned with such notable pieces of décor as a large Notre Dame Fighting Irish rug and a framed poster for the Liam Neeson Irish revolutionary biopic Michael Collins, will quickly put you in the mood for a Guinness. The day before St. Patrick’s Day, National Review Online dropped by to talk about what it means to be an Irish-American. Though just one generation removed from his immigrant grandparents, King didn’t grow up seeing any difference between what it meant to be Irish and what it meant to be American. “I didn’t think of myself as having an immigrant upbringing,” he said. “My father put a flag up and down in front of the house every day until he went in the hospital and died. It was old-fashioned patriotism. Even among my grandparents during the Depression, there was this real feeling about not going on welfare. All of the traditional American values were imparted to me. But I thought everyone was like that.”
↓ Keep reading this article ↓

A Prayer to Brian Cowen

Doing the rounds in cyberspace!

COWEN IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WORK.
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.

HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE FINE GAEL.

HE GUIDETH ME TO THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT.

YEA, THOUGH I WAIT FOR MY DOLE, I OWN THE BANK THAT REFUSES ME.

COWEN HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES, MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME, SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF HIS TERM.

FROM HENCE FORTH WE WILL LIVE ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES IN A RENTED HOME WITH AN OVERSEAS LANDLORD.

I AM GLAD I AM IRISH, I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.

BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG AND COWEN WAS A TREE.

Courtesy of an Effin Limerick native who had the good sense to marry a Kerryman!

Civil unrest may force June poll

www.independent.ie

Ex-FF adviser predicts fury over harsh budget

By JEROME REILLY
Sunday March 15 2009
The country is facing the prospect of a general election on June 5 in the wake of three months of political turmoil and possible civil unrest following the emergency budget, according to former Fianna Fail strategist Noel Whelan.
The veteran political analyst believes the current administration could collapse as a result of the pressures that will follow what is expected to be the harshest budget in living memory.
Whelan is deeply pessimistic about the Government's ability to push through reforms desperately needed to fill a €4.5bn hole.
His prediction of a local, European and general election all on the same day -- June 5 -- is based on his fear that a tough budget will spark deep public anger and create instability among Government backbenchers, the Greens and supporting Independent deputies.
"I think the next 12 weeks are going to be some of the most tense weeks in Irish politics, with a budget scheduled at the beginning, April 7, Easter following after that. I think there is a real possibility we will have a general election on the June 5, actually, because of, I think, the intensity of the demands that are going to be on the Government and the political system generally...

Continue reading, click below:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/civil-unrest-may-force-june-poll-1673559.html

A Threat in Albany

Assemblywoman Marge Markey's anti - Catholic bill

A Threat in Albany

The Tablet

The NYS Assembly Committee on Codes is considering a bill that will decimate the ministries of the Catholic Church. Despite the Church’s increased efforts to protect children, some advocacy groups, backed by trial lawyers, are seeking to pass a bill (A.2596) that will likely bankrupt the various dioceses of New York State while at the same time protecting public institutions where abuse has occurred.
Regrettably, the bill is sponsored by an Assemblywoman from our own diocese — Marge Markey of Queens.
Sexual abuse is an ugly crime and it is a sin. Unfortunately, it occurs everywhere, and society must root out the abusers and punish them to the fullest extent of the law. The most common location for sexual abuse is in the home. Outside the home, public schools are the most frequent place where children encounter abuse.
The bill in question would allow some people who say they were victims of sexual abuse many years ago to bring lawsuits, even though the statute of limitations on such cases have expired. Under this bill now being considered, a person can bring a lawsuit against the Catholic Church for abuse that may have taken place 60 years ago or more. He would be permitted to bring this suit even though he may have never reported the abuse at any time over the last six decades and even though the accused priest, and anyone else who might have some knowledge of the facts, are all long dead.

Continue reading:

http://www.thetablet.org/03072009/editorials.html

Letter to Assemblywoman Marge Markey from veteran Irish American activist,

Don Martin.

Dear Assemblywoman Markey:

I believe that anyone who molests a child whether that person is a priest, public school teacher, soccer coach or Boy Scout leader should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I also believe that statutes of limitation have a purpose. I believe they should be tolled until a minor reaches his or her majority. But how many years must go by until we foreclose an alleged victim's right to sue?

An innocent person would very often have a difficult time defending against a charge of molestation that is predicated on acts allegedly occurring twenty, thirty or forty years beforehand.

The so-called "recovered memory" theory has been discredited by the psychiatric profession but not before many persons, subsequently shown to be innocent, were put through the wringer of turmoil and expense.

Your bill, it seems to me, creates an enormous potential for injustice. It is a full employment act for trial attorneys. It is disturbing to me that it seems to single out only one defendant, the Catholic Church.

After all, if a Protestant minister molests a child you may get to sell the church and the manse. That is the limit of your recovery. If you can fasten liability on a Catholic priest, then it's the big casino!

The alleged molester may be dead. The person (who knew, or conceivably, possibly, maybe, "shoulda, coulda" have known) may be dead or in his dotage. There may or may not be records. But the Catholic Church will be there like the fatted calf until the end of time.

Who cares?

Ms. Markey, this is not justice; it is demagogy. Edmund Burke said I do not know how to draw up an indictment against a whole people. You seemingly have indicted the entire Catholic priesthood and the Catholic Church in New York.

You have accomplished all this by greasing the skids for massive judgments against the church, and you have done it by stacking the deck against a single institutional defendant.

The fact that the City of New York will not have to respond in damages for similar abuse of minors committed by teachers or paraprofessionals says it all.

Your bill has one target.

Shame!

Donald T. Martin

30th AD

Woodside

Queens, NYC

Some Co. Mayo Wisdom

http://www.city-journal.org/

John M. Murtagh
Some Wine with Your Pork, Congressman?
In Washington, New York, and all over the country, it’s business as usual, as usual.
6 March 2009

When it’s time to pick a nice wine, I usually order beer. It’s not my fault, really. My people hail from the west coast of Ireland, not the west coast of France. County Mayo has many things to recommend it; vineyards are not among them. Still, I can enjoy the occasional playful Chardonnay or plummy Merlot now and again. And wine has been on my mind a good bit lately, since I’ve been wondering what vintage goes best with pork.
To find out, I may have to call Congressman Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat who seems to enjoy pairing the grape with the pork. How else to explain the $2.19 million in taxpayer dollars that he recently earmarked for the Center for Grape Genetics in Geneva, New York? Oh, I know what you’re thinking: “Here we go again, another congressman hiding hometown favors deep in a spending bill” (in this case, the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill that the House of Representatives passed last week). But Hinchey is hiding nothing. In a two-page press release, he unabashedly boasts that he’s “excited about all the great agricultural research” that these funds will buy.

Continue reading, click below:

http://www.city-journal.org/2009/eon0306jm.html

In the early hours of Feb 21, 1970 when John Murtagh was only nine years old, the terrorist group, Weather Underground tried to kill his family by bombing their home in Upper Manhattan. The specific target was Mr. Murtagh's father, a NYS Supreme Court justice who was trying a case involving the Black Panthers and their plan to bomb New York City landmarks and department stores. The Weather Underground's founder was Bill Ayers, who subsequently became a mentor to Barack Obama.

To read Mr. Murtagh's recollections of that night, click below:
http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=2601

The Real Gitmo

THE REAL GITMO
By Peter King

New York Post Op/Ed

February 26, 2009

HAVING just returned from leading a con gressional delegation to the terrorist-detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, I am more convinced than ever that President Obama's executive order to close Gitmo by next Jan. 22 is wrong and misguided and, if fully implemented, will threaten American security at home and abroad. To be fair, the president deserves much credit for a series of key decisions he has made in the war against terrorism: 1) launching predator missiles against Taliban and al Qaeda locations in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater; 2) detaining, without trial, enemy combatants captured and imprisoned overseas, and 3) invoking the "state secrets" privilege to block a lawsuit on CIA renditions (the practice of allowing other nations to interrogate non-US citizen terror detainees). Unfortunately, his Gitmo decision undercuts these positive actions.

It has become an article of faith among the MoveOn.org crowd and the Democratic Party's liberal base to denounce Guantanamo as a symbol of inhumane treatment and torture. (Indeed, in his address to Congress on Tuesday, the president announced the closing of Guantanamo in the same paragraph in which he said "that is why I can stand here tonight and say . . . the United States of America does not torture.") Yet that symbolism doesn't square with the real Gitmo.

Detainees at Guantanamo are treated far better than most American prisoners in the US jails and prisons I've inspected over the years. The unfounded accusations that are so regularly and cavalierly made about Guantanamo are a slander against the brave men and women of our armed forces, who perform their duties at that facility so professionally and under such duress.

If there's any scandal at Guantanamo, it is that the detainees are treated too well. Consider what I observed:

* Detainees get three full meals a day with a choice of menu.

* Each detainee receives a Koran and a prayer rug.

* Arrows throughout the facility point toward Mecca.

* Detainees receive full medical treatment - including psychiatric services. There is one medical personnel for every two detainees.

* Detainees who comply with regulations are allowed out of their cells for 16 to 20 hours a day and participate in various recreational and educational activities including soccer, language training and art classes.

* Noncompliant detainees - including the hardest of the hard core - are allowed out of their cells for four to seven hours a day. (It was particularly galling to observe a vicious terrorist reclining in the sun like a Palm Beach retiree.)

* Detainees have access to live TV, books and two daily Arab newspapers plus USA Today. (I suppose it would be inhumane to subject them to The New York Times.)

* Detainees are allowed to confer to discuss courtroom strategy.

* Guards within the facility are not armed and are regularly subjected to abuse and harassment, including having human feces and urine thrown at them.

These are not just my conclusions. The Defense Department has just finished its review of Guantanamo as ordered by President Obama and determined that conditions comply with the Geneva Conventions: "No prohibited acts were found and conditions are humane."

We are at war with Islamic terrorism. Gitmo is a major front in that war. Closing Guantanamo could well mean releasing deadly Islamic terrorists overseas or bringing them to American soil. It would be craven surrender to left-wing groups and uninformed, self-righteous world opinion. We must do all we can to convince President Obama to reverse his decision.

Rep. Pete King (R-LI) is the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Editors note: For over thirty years, Pete has been a staunch leader on Irish-American issues.

Washington Office

339 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

202-225-7896

Massapequa Park Office

1003 Park Boulevard

Massapequa Park, NY 11762

516-541-4225

Suffolk County 631-541-4225

Northern Ireland Troubled Again

Northern Ireland Troubled again
Mar 9th 2009 BELFAST

From Economist.com

A fatal attack on British soldiers in Northern Ireland does not mean an end to powersharing
AFP
Get article background
NORTHERN IRELAND had begun to relax after 30 years of the “Troubles” gave way to relative calm. The last British soldier to be killed in the province, Lance-Bombardier Stephen Restorick, had been shot by an Irish Republican Army sniper in 1997. But murderous terrorism has not yet ended there. On Saturday March 7th two soldiers were killed and four men left seriously injured at the Massereene army base near Antrim. This is the first time in memory that “dissident” republicans, who hate the “Good Friday” power-sharing agreement of 1998, have managed to kill members of the security forces.
There had been recent warning signs of a pending violent assault. Wary of a new attempt to break up the peace process, an undercover military unit had just been deployed in Northern Ireland to improve intelligence on dissident republican groups. The latter are thought to have reorganised after several splits. Northern Ireland’s police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, gave warning last week that the threat from dissidents, opposed to the political process, was greater than at any time in his seven years in office. And over the past few years the tally has grown of near-miss attacks on policemen and of sizeable bombs discovered (and defused).

Continue reading, click below:

http://www.economist.com/world/britain/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=13256145

Moneygall??? - Obama just doesn't care

www.independent.ie

Sorry, but Obama is simply not that bothered about us

The US president will do the shamrock photo but that's about it, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards

In a month when angry demands are being made of Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown, among many others, to apologise for their contribution to our economic meltdown, I'm showing them how to say sorry. President Obama, I apologise for having ridiculed you for declaring March 2009 Irish-American Heritage Month and for alleging that you must have allowed the Clintons to put one over on you when your attention was elsewhere. For I have now learned that you are merely following in the footsteps of your three predecessors: it was in 1991 that Congress authorised George Bush Senior to issue the first annual presidential proclamation urging Americans thus to honour the Irish contribution to the making of the United States.
Before anyone gets over-excited, I have to share the bad news that in 1999 Bill Clinton -- never a man to do things by halves -- also declared March to be Women's History Month. What's more, the Irish are Paddy-come-latelys to celebratory months: in 1976 Gerald Ford gave presidential recognition to African-American History Month; Ronald Reagan in 1988 elevated into a month the Hispanic Heritage Week approved by Lyndon Johnson 20 years earlier; and George Bush in 1990 gave May over to Asian/Pacific Americans and November to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The proclamations say much about how different presidents saw the Irish contribution. Bush Senior spoke of the Irish origins of nine signatories of the Declaration of Independence, of naval and army exploits, of the Irish contribution to arts, education, government, business, science and agriculture, and singled out writers Eugene O'Neill and Edwin O'Connor. Clinton's first proclamation in 1993 added the 18 presidents with Irish blood and the Irish political legacy in New York, Boston and Chicago, tipped his cap to several living leaders like Tip O'Neill and Tom Foley and threw in Gene and Grace Kelly.
Seven years later, the Kellys had made way for Gregory Peck, but there were PC additions like the suffragist Leonora Barry and the labour organiser Mary Kenney O'Sullivan. Clinton's main focus was on "the Good Friday Accord. America remains committed to the Irish people as they continue working to forge a brighter future in their own land. The road ahead is long, but the promise of peace is still within reach".
In 2008, George W Bush went back to his dad's basics with the nine signatories, the military contribution and the addition of Buffalo Bill, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Gene Kelly was back, but balanced by John Wayne. In 2008, he was much briefer: no individual got a mention, but, he said, "we honour the service of Irish Americans in America's armed forces".

Continue reading,click below:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ruth-dudley-edwards/sorry-but-obama-is-simply-not-that-bothered-about-us-1665022.html?service=Print

Feedback from Readers # 6

Cork Rebels All!

Patrick, I was born in Youghal, County Cork. Lets keep in touch!

Irish American activist, Orange County, California

I think we spoke about 5 years ago when I was living in DC. Myself and my wife live in Tallahassee at the moment but we are moving up to the Philadelphia area.
I have been pretty active with the guys at the Irish GOP.
In other activities myself and my Russian friend from Brooklyn run a few conservative humor websites. We have been linked to the Drudge Report twice. Rush Limbaugh has mentioned our site twice and Michelle Malkin has linked to us numerous times.

http://www.thepeoplecube.com/
http://www.che-mart.com/

Irish American GOPer, formerly Cork City

On Irish Times article 'Misery of the Returned Emigrant'

This article tears your guts out! There's a real ring of truth and disillusionment too.

Veteran Irish American activist, Queens, N.Y. - AKA "The hanging prosecutor"

On Caomhin O Caolain and the New York Irish

I liked the article. You have a good way with your words.

Irish American Student Journalist, SUNY

Loved this piece you wrote! I hope you don't mind that I am emailing it to several people around NY & in Ireland. I am also printing it to post to friends who don't have internet.

Irish American activist, Bronx, New York

Very eloquent and informative Pat. You have captured what it is to be Irish-American as well as the roots of anti - Americanism in the EU. You are right, perhaps it is time to repatriate our fallen soldiers.

Irish American activist, Queens, N.Y. AKA "Fenian"

Once again you have conveyed a very thought provoking opinion of Mr. Caomhin O'Caolain. While I share your feelings of friendship and admiration for Joe McManus, I hasten to remind you of an incident that has had a lasting effect on my very negative feelings for O'Caolain.
Around St. Patrick's Day 2004, he was in Washington, DC with the usual gaggle of "Emerald Isle politicians" to rededicate a monument to Thomas Devin Reilly and gave a very fine oration in praise of Reilly. He, undoubtedly, was wined and dined in the "manner to which he had become accustomed". I am sure that he returned to Ireland with a pocket or two bulging with "Yank dollars", not a single one of which he refused.
Not a month after his return to Ireland, he introduced a resolution to Dail Eireann which called for the immediate suspension of the use of Irish airspace and the fueling and service facilities at Shannon to any aircraft, either military or commercial, that were transporting American military personnel. I submit to you that Shannon would not exist if it were not for the money that is generated from American tourism.
Mr. O'Caolain and other members of his misguided political party have alienated huge numbers of Irish Americans sympathetic to their cause by their disgraceful anti - American behavior regarding the myth of "Irish neutrality" and the demonstrations against our valiant American troops at Shannon Airport.

AOH leader, New England

On Obamamania
Looks like the Irish will be hammering America's shores again once the Celtic Tiger is de-clawed, which is in the process. Remember, these are the same Irish that left Ireland 15-20 years ago for the U.S. when things were better in America, went back to Ireland when the Tiger was roaring, and now will come back here once again. These gypsies are not like the pre-1970 Irish, who were proud to be Americans. Many of the new Irish openly mock America. What a shame how America is used.

Anonymous Irish American

A word from the SDLP
Thank you for your ever welcome News Sheet. It is important that all aspects of Irish America are promoted and that when erroneous claims or statements are made that someone has the courage to challenge them. We need someone like you here in the North of Ireland to take on the amount of false propaganda that is spouted from the extremes on both sides. I hope to be in New York . . . and I would welcome the opportunity to say hello. . . You may not remember me but we did exchange emails some years ago but somehow that was allowed to drift. I am an SDLP Member of the NI Assembly. . . I look forward to hearing from you. . .

SDLP Member, NI Assembly

Presidential Bait - and - Switch

WSJ.com

Presidential Bait-and-Switch
What Obama once promised, and what he's delivering.

By KARL ROVE
Barack Obama won the presidency in large measure because he presented himself as a demarcation point. The old politics, he said, was based on "spin," misleading arguments, and an absence of candor. He'd "turn the page" on that style of politics.
Last week's presentation of his budget shows that hope was a mirage.
For example, Mr. Obama didn't run promising larger deficits -- but now is offering record-setting ones. He'll add $4.9 trillion before his term ends and $7.4 trillion if given a second, doubling the national debt in five years and tripling it in 10. Mr. Obama's deficits will be much larger than he admits because he relies on rosy economic assumptions and gimmicks that mask spending and debt (like assuming popular new programs he supports won't be renewed).
Nor did Mr. Obama run promising more earmarks. Instead, he said he'd reform the earmark culture and "scour the federal budget, line by line, and make meaningful cuts." Now he wants to wave through a $410 billion omnibus spending bill with about 8,500 earmarks. This is on top of the $787 billion stimulus bill signed into law two weeks ago.

Continue reading, click below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123621161271234665.html

Pack the City, We're Moving!

www.city-journal.org

Pack the City, We’re Moving!

Each year, one Yonkers leaves New York for friendlier climes.

John M. Murtagh

11 February 2009

I’m thinking we should move to South Carolina. No, not me and the family. The whole city of Yonkers.

In June 2008, longtime Yonkers manufacturer Stewart EFI left the city, taking with it a few hundred manufacturing jobs. Then, a few weeks ago, the Precision Valve Corporation, one of Yonkers’s largest employers and a company founded in the city, announced that it was moving to the Palmetto State. Precision Valve vice president Bob Reto explained the relocation delicately: “The decision was driven by the need to operate under the greater efficiencies afforded in South Carolina.” Mayor Phil Amicone, by contrast, didn’t mince words: Yonkers “could not surmount the costly economics of doing business in New York State.”

Overall per-capita government spending in New York State is now the fourth-highest in the nation—nearly 50 percent above the national average. That’s a problem in good times; in the current economic climate, it’s a disaster. Examples of waste abound. New York spends more per pupil on education than any other state, yet it ranks near the bottom third in most measurements of student performance. Likewise, New York spends double the national average on Medicaid, yet lags badly in the quality of its health care.

The cash to fund this waste, of course, comes out of New York taxpayers’ pockets. When I ran for the New York State Senate last year, I’d remind audiences that here in Westchester, we live in the highest-taxed county in the highest-taxed state in the nation. New York’s personal-income and real-estate taxes are the highest in the country, while its business taxes are the second-highest. As a result, New York has seen a steady emigration of citizens and employers for years. In the current downturn, that emigration could turn into a stampede.

Yet as unchecked spending and a crushing tax burden destroy the Empire State, what solutions do we hear from our elected leaders in Albany? Governor David Paterson, while proposing token spending cuts, has called for over $3 billion in new “revenue actions.” Under his proposals, New Yorkers can expect to pay more for everything from haircuts to iTunes downloads to soda pop. Ever the populist, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposes that we “tax the rich”—or at least those he defines as such. What the Speaker really means is: Let’s tax the people who start and own businesses, create jobs, and pay salaries. Of course, the “rich” have a simple solution to tax increases: move to South Carolina, where there are “greater efficiencies” in doing business.

Precision Valve was founded by Bob Abplanalp, the Bronx-born son of an immigrant machine-shop owner. After building his business, Abplanalp joined other businessmen in founding the Hudson Valley Bank, also in Yonkers. Today, the Hudson Valley Bank is one of those increasingly rare independent banks focused on serving their local communities. For decades, Abplanalp and his family quietly but generously supported countless local charities, from the Yonkers Boy Scouts to a shelter for pregnant women. In the mid-1970s, Abplanalp all but single-handedly saved his old high school, Fordham Prep, as it struggled to keep its doors open. Today, Fordham Prep thrives, teaching a new generation of children, many the sons of immigrants themselves. Such are the “rich” who, Silver insists, must pay their “fair” share by turning their money over to the barons of Albany.

Instead of figuring out how to dig deeper into our pockets, New York leaders need to slash taxes, halt decades of wasteful spending, and make the state an attractive place to do business again. The current crisis demands a hard look at every line in New York’s bloated budget and dramatic cuts in unnecessary, mismanaged, and outdated programs. Likewise, Albany must eliminate the countless mandates, laws, and regulations that increase burdensome taxation and create additional inefficiency in local government.

As businesses like Precision Valve leave Yonkers, it’s worth remembering that over the last several years, New York has seen a net loss of close to 200,000 residents annually. Yonkers is, coincidentally, a city of approximately 200,000. What I suggested jokingly is, in fact, already happening: every year, Yonkers—or its equivalent in population, anyway—abandons New York.
John M. Murtagh, an attorney, is presently serving his second term as a member of the city council in Yonkers, New York State’s fourth-largest city.

In the early hours of Feb 21, 1970 when John Murtagh was only nine years old, the terrorist group, Weather Underground tried to kill his family by bombing their home in Upper Manhattan. The specific target was Mr. Murtagh's father, a NYS Supreme Court justice who was trying a case involving the Black Panthers and their plan to bomb New York City landmarks and department stores. The Weather Underground's founder was Bill Ayers, who subsequently became a mentor to Barack Obama.

To read Mr. Murtagh's recollections of that night, click below:

http://www.city-journal.org/printable.php?id=2601

Misery of the Returned Emigrant

www.irishtimes.com

Misery of the returned emigrant
Wed, Feb 11, 2009

OPINION: After 16 years in Canada, I came home to Ireland. Big mistake. A really big mistake . . . writes BRENDAN LANDERS.

THERE ARE three types of people who uproot themselves and emigrate to make their lives anew in a country that is not their own by birthright. Some are gifted with itchy feet and a lust for adventure – they abandon their homeland to satisfy their curiosity about the wide world beyond. Some are fortunate enough to happen upon a foreign place that touches their soul or to bond with a person who makes the prospect of migration more attractive than a life lived at home without the other. And some are forced to emigrate because their native place has nothing substantial to offer them in life.

Most of us who left Ireland during the 1980s fell into the third category. We went away not because we had itchy feet, had found our Eldorado or fallen in love with an exotic foreigner, but because Ireland had nothing to offer us. No jobs, no opportunities, no scope to follow our dreams or aspire to even a modicum of success in life. The Irish economy was broken and it would take a miracle to fix it.

Along with the dismal state of the nation’s finances, there was a sense that whatever wealth existed was hoarded greedily by a coterie of well-connected professionals, wide boys and golden circles. The land of our birth offered us nothing but tacit encouragement to leave. Brian Lenihan snr, the father of our current Minister for Finance, put it succinctly when he said: “Sure we can’t all live on a small island.” Emigration was expected of us and so, forlorn and abandoned, we departed. We overcame our grief, our disappointment, our homesickness, our longing for the day-to-day company of our families and friends. We settled and went about the business of building new lives for ourselves in our homes away from home. We didn’t expect to live in Ireland again.

Then, after a decade or so of exile, a sequence of remarkable events conspired to persuade us that maybe miracles can happen after all. We watched agog as Ireland underwent an awesome transformation. The country transmogrified from an impoverished backwater racked by unemployment and a culture of despair into the epitome of cool and a clamorous hothouse of self-indulgent affluence. U2 became the biggest rock’n’roll band in the world and, unlike previous Irish rock stars such as Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and the Boomtown Rats, who all invariably moved to London at the first taste of success, they stayed in Dublin.
Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan directed world-class movies that won Oscars and they stayed in Ireland instead of moving to Hollywood. Alan Parker made a movie of The Commitments and Roddy Doyle bestrode the world of literature, won the Booker Prize and didn’t move to Paris or New York.

By virtue of Michael Flatley’s dazzling footwork, Riverdance created a sensation in theatres throughout the world and Flatley actually moved to Ireland. The IRA declared a ceasefire and the country was at peace, albeit tentatively so. Michael D Higgins served as minister for arts, culture and the Gaeltacht. A poet in Cabinet, for God’s sake – it was like 1916 all over again.
Tribunals were exposing corruption in a host of establishment institutions and there was much heady talk of a brave new world of openness, honesty, transparency and ethics in public life.
Hope peeped out from under the carpet. Mary Robinson, a principled, liberal woman, won the presidency and put a candle in the window of her residence in the Phoenix Park as a beacon of light and a welcome home to the children of the diaspora. For us, this was a revolutionary act of sensitivity unprecedented in the country’s history.

US multinationals flocked to Ireland to invest their money and gain a toehold in Europe, and the eponymous Celtic Tiger was born. Money talked the talk and Ireland quickly learned to walk the walk. There was full employment. We went home on holidays and we shook our heads in bemusement at the profusion of “Help Wanted” signs in shop windows. The Irish government sent emissaries throughout the diaspora, asking us to come home and take our place in the new Ireland. They promised jobs, prosperity, vindication and a proud place in a proud new Ireland. And we, poor fools, chose to believe them. How could we have refused, we who had, for years, deep inside ourselves, wondered what life might have been like if we’d been able to stay home?

We dared to believe, stifled our doubts, bought into the new zeitgeist and gave up the lives we had so carefully and painfully constructed. We sold our houses, packed our furniture into containers, uprooted our families and came back to Ireland. Things were good at first. We found jobs that paid well. So what if the houses cost a fortune – all our savings went into the deposit and we still had to borrow a small fortune – weren’t the universities free for our kids and won’t they have a wonderful life without the shadow of emigration hanging over their heads? And weren’t the old-age pensions going up? And wasn’t this a grand new country after all its troubles?

We blinked when we saw the old and infirm racked up like refugees on trolleys in hospital waiting rooms, enduring conditions that would be embarrassing in the developing world.
We baulked when we saw the subversion of progressive initiatives like the Freedom of Information Act and the Equality Agency. We gaped in disbelief as successive ministers for finance behaved like lumpen proletariat lottery winners, squandered billions of euro in budget surpluses and pumped up inflation – had they no mothers, we wondered, to instill in them the good sense of saving for a rainy day?

We were overwhelmed with dejected deja vu when our taoiseach tied himself up in verbal knots trying to explain his ill-gotten gains at the Mahon tribunal. And we wept in despair when, in the face of his chicanery, the people re-elected him. But the final nail was hammered into the coffin of our disenchantment when the financial crash came and the Government’s first instinct was to make the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society pay for its mistakes. We finally had to admit to ourselves that the golden circles hadn’t gone away, they’d just put on new coats.

Now here we are, utterly faithless in the disposition of our elected politicians, plagued with anxiety and insecurity, one job-loss away from ruin.
Our savings are gone and our houses are virtually worthless. Our children face a bleak future and the heart-rending prospect of forced emigration.
We made a terrible mistake. We came back. Because we wanted to, we believed that the country had changed.
We believed in the miracle.
We believed in the politicians.
In the electorate.
We were wrong.
Never again.

Brendan Landers is a Dublin-born freelance writer and journalist. His first novel, Milo Devine, was published by Poolbeg Press in 2001. From 1974 to 1981. he worked in Dublin as a bus conductor for CIÉ. In 1984, he went to Canada where he was publisher/managing editor of Ireland’s Eye, a magazine for Irish-Canadians, and also editor of the Irish Canada News, a Toronto-based monthly newspaper. In 2000, he returned to Dublin. He is married and the father of a young boy.

Courtesy of "The bagman" a Queens based Irish American radical

Protests in Ireland

Protests in Ireland

In a stew
Feb 26th 2009 DUBLIN

From The Economist print edition

Tough times for Ireland’s government—and its people

WHEN more than 100,000 people paraded through Dublin on February 21st, it was the biggest march the Irish capital had seen since 1980. Then, binmen joined bankers in protest against Ireland’s high tax rates. This time there was less social solidarity. The marchers were mostly public-sector workers angry over a plan to cut their pay, via a 7% pension levy. They were also outraged by the behaviour of bankers, whom one union leader accused of economic treason.
The government has injected €3.5 billion ($4.5 billion) into each of the country’s two largest banks, but this has not impressed markets. Shares in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland have fallen sharply. After the bursting of the property bubble, more than €7 billion may be needed to cover bad loans to developers. In January the government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank (often seen as the builders’ bank), after its chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick, failed to disclose some €83m in personal loans. This week anti-fraud police raided the bank to investigate alleged breaches of company law.
The prime minister, Brian Cowen, faces two crunches: the banks and the public finances. So far, he has had little success in tackling either. His government’s popularity ratings, and his own, have dived. He is struggling to avoid nationalising the two biggest banks. And his fiscal plan is in trouble. It aims to keep the budget deficit below 10% of GDP this year (the highest in the European Union), and to achieve balance by 2013, via spending cuts and tax rises worth 8% of GDP. Tough, yet most economists doubt it is enough. The European Commission is sceptical. The government’s proposals, it has said, lack detail and its growth assumptions are too optimistic.
This may force the government to try to trim the deficit sooner, this year and next, not later in its five-year plan. That would mean raising taxes earlier than expected. Mr Cowen had been hoping to delay that unpalatable medicine. He faces European and local elections in June and, in the autumn, a second referendum on the EU’s Lisbon treaty, which recent polls suggest should be winnable. The state now pays higher rates on its bonds than Greece. With increasing talk of potential default on its sovereign debt, Ireland has become the weakest link in the euro. Mr Cowen has little time left to turn things round.

Our Troubled Economy

WSJ.com

Click below:

Our Troubled Economy Is a Response to Barack Obama's Policies - WSJ.com

Courtesy of an unrepentant Irish American radical "academic"

Archbishop warns against Obama hype

Denver archbishop warns against ‘spirit of adulation’ surrounding Obama

Toronto, Canada, Feb 23, 2009 / 09:03 pm (CNA).

Canadians packed St. Basil’s Church in Toronto on Monday evening to hear Archbishop Charles Chaput speak about how Catholics should live out their faith in the public square. He warned that in the U.S., Catholics need to act on their faith and be on guard against "a spirit of adulation bordering on servility" that exists towards the Obama administration.
The public lecture by Archbishop Chaput took place on the campus of the University of Toronto at St. Basil’s Church and was attended by an overflow crowd of more than 700 people.
After giving a sketch of the basic principles in his New York Times Bestseller "Render Unto Caesar," the archbishop offered his insights on the need for an honest assessment of the situation of the Church in the public square.
"I like clarity, and there’s a reason why," began the archbishop. "I think modern life, including life in the Church, suffers from a phony unwillingness to offend that poses as prudence and good manners, but too often turns out to be cowardice. Human beings owe each other respect and appropriate courtesy. But we also owe each other the truth -- which means candor."
The Denver prelate then provided his critique of President Obama.
"President Obama is a man of intelligence and some remarkable gifts. He has a great ability to inspire, as we saw from his very popular visit to Canada just this past week. But whatever his strengths, there’s no way to reinvent his record on abortion and related issues with rosy marketing about unity, hope and change. Of course, that can change. Some things really do change when a person reaches the White House. Power ennobles some men. It diminishes others. Bad policy ideas can be improved. Good policy ideas can find a way to flourish. But as Catholics, we at least need to be honest with ourselves and each other about the political facts we start with."
Yet this will be "very hard for Catholics in the United States," Chaput warned.
According to the archbishop, the political situation for Catholics is difficult to discern because a "spirit of adulation bordering on servility already exists among some of the same Democratic-friendly Catholic writers, scholars, editors and activists who once accused pro-lifers of being too cozy with Republicans. It turns out that Caesar is an equal opportunity employer."
Looking ahead to the coming months and years, Chaput offered four "simple things" to remember.
"First," he said, "all political leaders draw their authority from God. We owe no leader any submission or cooperation in the pursuit of grave evil."
"In fact, we have the duty to change bad laws and resist grave evil in our public life, both by our words and our non-violent actions. The truest respect we can show to civil authority is the witness of our Catholic faith and our moral convictions, without excuses or apologies."
In a reference to the messianic treatment the Barack Obama received from some Americans during the presidential primaries, Archbishop Chaput delivered his second point: "in democracies, we elect public servants, not messiahs."
Noting that Obama actually trailed in the weeks just before the election, the Denver archbishop said that this places some of today’s talk about a "new American mandate" in perspective.
"Americans, including many Catholics, elected a gifted man to fix an economic crisis. That’s the mandate. They gave nobody a mandate to retool American culture on the issues of marriage and the family, sexuality, bioethics, religion in public life and abortion. That retooling could easily happen, and it clearly will happen -- but only if Catholics and other religious believers allow it."
The third point to focus on when the beliefs of Catholics are challenged is that "it doesn’t matter what we claim to believe if we’re unwilling to act on our beliefs," Chaput counseled.
"The fourth and final thing to remember, and there’s no easy way to say it," remarked Archbishop Chaput, is that the "Church in the United States has done a poor job of forming the faith and conscience of Catholics for more than 40 years."
"And now we’re harvesting the results -- in the public square, in our families and in the confusion of our personal lives. I could name many good people and programs that seem to disprove what I just said. But I could name many more that do prove it, and some of them work in Washington."
American Catholics need to realize that many in the current generation haven’t just been "assimilated" into the American culture, but have in fact been "absorbed and bleached and digested by it," Archbishop Chaput asserted.
If this realization doesn’t happen, the coming generations will continue on the same path and "a real Catholic presence in American life will continue to weaken and disappear," said Chaput.
Citing the example of "unhappy, self-described Catholics who complain that abortion is too much of a litmus test," he stated, "We can’t claim to be ‘Catholic’ and ‘pro-choice’ at the same time without owning the responsibility for where the choice leads – to a dead unborn child."
The archbishop also addressed the "abortion reduction" argument being made by some in politics.
"We can’t talk piously about programs to reduce the abortion body count without also working vigorously to change the laws that make the killing possible. If we’re Catholic, then we believe in the sanctity of developing human life. And if we don’t really believe in the humanity of the unborn child from the moment life begins, then we should stop lying to ourselves and others, and even to God, by claiming we’re something we’re not."
"Catholic social teaching goes well beyond abortion," Chaput noted. "In America we have many urgent issues that beg for our attention, from immigration reform to health care to poverty to homelessness."
Winding his talk down, the Archbishop of Denver remarked on the misunderstanding of the word "hope."
"For Christians," he explained, "hope is a virtue, not an emotional crutch or a political slogan. Virtus, the Latin root of virtue, means strength or courage. Real hope is unsentimental. It has nothing to do with the cheesy optimism of election campaigns. Hope assumes and demands a spine in believers. And that’s why – at least for a Christian -- hope sustains us when the real answer to the problems or hard choices in life is ‘no, we can’t,’ instead of ‘yes, we can.’"
The full text of the archbishop's speech can be found here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=790

Courtesy of New York United Irish Counties Officer

Grandstand Pub, Elmhurst, NYC - Twenty - one years!

Congrats to John Browne and Brendan McCartan co - owners of The Grandstand Pub & Restaurant, 8535 Grand Ave., Elmhurst, Queens, N.Y., on marking twenty one years of business.

The Grandstand has become an institution in the New York' Irish community. A place, which over the decades has been a conduit for the newly arrived Irish immigrant. An establishment where you are guaranteed to run into a genuine friendly face, especially if the Guv'nor, the jovial John Browne is on the premises and, of course, daughter - in - law, Deirdre from County Armagh.

John is a native of Kanturk, Co. Cork and a veteran member and past president of the County Cork Association of New York.

Lunch and dinner are served daily at The Grandstand. There is entertainment every weekend.

On St. Patrick's Day Weekend - Sun March 15 to Tuesday March 17 - the pub will feature the Sean Tracy Band.

The Grandstand can be reached at (718) 651-4996 or (718) 478-9633.

Dermot Myers, NY Kerry Association - Update!

Dermot Myers, formerly Two - Mile - School, Fossa, Killarney, Co. Kerry

Past President, Kerrymen's Association of New York

Your prayers and best wishes for Dermot are requested, as he continues to undergo treatment at Montefiore Hospital, East Gun Hill Road, The Bronx, New York City. Also, please keep in your thoughts wife Mary (formerly Donovan, Effin, Co. Limerick) and children Aisling, Edmund and Elizabeth, also brothers John and Niall in New York and their families, and mother and brothers Danny and Eddie in Killarney.

Update: The Kerryman is now cautiously on the road to recovery at the Helen Hayes Rehab Center, in West Haverstraw, N.Y. Hopefully, he will be home soon!

Go raibh mile maith agaibh for all the prayers, good wishes, and support!