Derry’s Richard Moore – Freedom In Forgiveness – At age 10 and a student at the Rosemount Primary School near Derry’s Creggan Estate, Richard Moore was on his way home from school on May 4, 1972, when a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier ten feet away crashed into his face. He lost his right eye and was left blind in the other. His blindness could have left him bitter and withdrawn, but instead he kept up with his music, which was already a big part of his life, while his strong, supportive family made all the difference. Richard was never angry or bitter; he even wished to meet the soldier some day.

The years passed and Richard met and married Rita in 1984. He continued his education and graduated with honors from the University of Ulster. He later reflected on his self-described “good life,” blindness and all. In 1996, in an effort to reach out to children in the crossfire of poverty and to help promote and protect all vulnerable children, he founded Children in Crossfire in partnership with local aid organizations in Africa and Ireland.

Richard arranged to meet the soldier, called only “Charles,” for the first time in an Edinburgh hotel in 2006. They have continued a form of friendship, meeting in each other’s respective homes. Richard is an extraordinary man who found peace in his blindness and his work with Children in Crossfire and who says his blindness is a gift, offering his personal philosophy that he lives with blindness, not in darkness. He also described his feelings and the aftermath of his early meetings with Charles: “I’ve found freedom in forgiveness.”

His work leading Children in Crossfire has won him international praise and a warm friendship with the Dalai Lama, and the support of Northern Ireland statesman John Hume, a friend and neighbor in Derry. Richard will be in Boston from Mon., May 9, through Sun., May 15 to meet new and old friends.
To reach him and/or Children in Crossfire or for more details call locally at 617-943-4528, or send an email to
usa@childrenincrossfire.org.

Boston, the Capital Of Irish America – Not too long ago the Buffalo Business Journal, relying on Census Bureau numbers, named Boston (23.4 percent) the most Irish city in America. That will likely quiet the candidates for the Irish heritage honor, cities like Philadelphia, Chicago and Pittsburgh, who are near but trailing in Irish population. Following Boston for the “most Irish” title are the aforementioned Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. And two cities in addition to Boston can be found in New England, Providence and Hartford. Other US cities in the first tier are Rochester and Buffalo in New York.

Chicago (11.6 percent), a city many believe is closest in Irish residents to Beantown, has only half the number in Boston. Other above-average Irish heritage cities are Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus, all in Ohio and all hovering around 14 percent. Trailing but above average in Irish numbers are: St. Louis, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Louisville.

Over the years the number of US residents claiming Irish heritage status has fluctuated, with the current number roughly agreed on being 38 million.

The American cities with the smallest percentage of Irish Americans or the least Irish today are: San Bernardino, San Jose, and Los Angeles in California, and Houston and San Antonio in Texas. Miami and Salt Lake City also have below-average Irish numbets. Of the major cities, Los Angeles ranks as the “least Irish” at under 5 percent.

Filmmaker James Demo Talks About “Peacemaker” – Cambridge documentary film maker James Demo took some time from his post-production polishing and visiting film festival sites to talk about his newest project, “Peacemaker,” the story of Padraig O’Malley and his international efforts at solving intractable conflicts in Northern Ireland, South Africa, Iraq, and elsewhere. Demo, producer and director of the O’Malley film, has spent the last five years following and filming the University of Massachusetts Professor of Peace & Reconciliation, an effort that has resulted in an up close, verite look at an extraordinary man and his mission.

Following are excerpts from a recent interview Demo had with The Independent Magazine, a respected voice of independent films and documentaries:

• “We have had significant support from within the documentary film world and the film could not have been made without it. The project was selected by three labs, Sundance, Film Independent Documentary Lab, and the Tribeca Film Institute.”
• “In addition to the support we received from Sundance Institute, I also crowdfunded twice through Kickstarter and had numerous fundraising parties. I have used my own money when need be and
many talented friends have worked in-kind.”
• “They say the film is only half over when you finish it, and for the majority of the next year I will be launching the “Peacemaker” out into the world. Also I have begun discussions about turning Padraig’s story into a narrative-scripted feature. I am developing a few ideas for both documentary and narrative and am really excited for what the next year will bring.”

The Twilight Of Limbaugh – Radio talk show host/cum hatemonger and the man with the richest AM radio contract in the history of that medium is one Rush Limbaugh, who has been enjoying an eight-year, $400 million agreement during a time when his ultra-nasty brand of put-down, including racism, anti-women and anti-humanistic drivel, has led the parade of pale imitators on radio whose sole claim to fame is their ability to get the bile flowing and breed more doomsday virulence for the salivating hearts of the discontented.

Limbaugh’s employer, once known as Clear Channel Communications, has changed its name to “I Heart Radio,” with a history that has caught up with its stock in trade – a hate-your-neighbor approach unless he or she is a flaming anti-liberal, anti-gay or anybody who ever received a federal government payment for anything save a grant for grazing land or a silent oil well.

This year, the Limbaugh crusade and his sumptuous contract are easing towards a finale. The reasons for the Limbaugh Twilight are many, but they are largely focused on depressed ratings, aging demographics, and an advertising community that views his offerings as toxic and unwelcome in millions of homes of American listeners.

That downside formula for Limbaugh’s limping employers, “I Heart Radio” – They are headed to court on the brink of bankruptcy with a debt burden of some $20 billion (Yes, with a “b”) and a dwindling listener base. Many radio industry insiders believe that at age 65 Limbaugh’s radio future has never looked worse as remnants of his once-bustling brigade of listeners are growing stale and geriatric, aging alongside the Dark Knight of the aArwaves and his cliche destructive rants.

While Limbaugh’s scorn-driven talk show has, for reasons already noted, been a short sale for several years now, the slippage of his employer has fallen further and faster. Its stock price in January 2000 was $90 a share; in 2007 it was $39; in July 2011 it was $8.30; and in mid-April this year it was $1.15. Even Rush is doing somewhat better than that.

Pfizer & Allergan – See How They Run – After less than six months, one of the biggest proposed mergers of 2016 – between Pfizer and Allergan – was ended by mutual agreement. The merger was an attempt at inversion with Pfizer joining Allergan and assuming a new tax home with its Dublin-based partner. Pfizer, facing some domestic problems, was keen to link with Allergan and begin enjoying the 12.5 percent lower corporate tax rate in Ireland. For Pfizer it was the fourth unsuccessful attempt at inversion and came suddenly as the US Treasury Department invoked new rules that made inversion difficult, especially if there were previous efforts at such a move.

While Ireland’s corporate tax rate is more than 20 percent less than the US corporate rate, the so-called inversion tactic has been a tempting stratagem for companies seeking to cut its US taxes. It is also true that the functional or actual US corporate tax rate is often legally avoided by US firms.

President Obama has on several occasions publicly chided US international companies for running out on their responsibilities as American companies. The US Treasury has quickly moved to erect legal obstacles against attempted inversions, and public opinion is solidly against American companies who reap benefits here but run to grab lower tax rates in foreign countries.

John Treacy Warns On Irish Martial Arts – Veteran Olympian John Treacy, one of the fabled distance runners in Ireland and a member of the Treacy family from Waterford that is well known here with its New England ties (Providence College), is currently the CEO of Sports Ireland. Last month, following the death of a martial arts fighter, Joao Carvalho, Treacy issued a stark warning about the dangers of the games and the need for enforceable regulations and codes of practice.

The governance of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is not under the control of a national organization and regulatory oversight is lax. “If we bring forward guidelines and codes of practice and they are not followed, than I think there is no place for it in Ireland. It’s as simple as that,” said Treacy.

Mixed martial arts has grown in popularity and event attendance in recent years. Irish MMA fans in the thousands have become fixtures in venues like Las Vegas and Dublin, and in US arenas.

British Journalist Aids “Birmingham 6” Release – Last time in this space I marked the anniversary of the release 25 years ago of the six innocent men – the Birmingham Six – who were set free after their guilty verdicts were overturned. There were many who helped find justice for the men who had languished in a British prison for 17 years, but there was one man who played a huge role in their release and deserves public thanks: the British journalist Ray Fitzwalter.

An an investigative reporter for Granada TV’s World in Action program, which ia watched by 10 million viewers, Fitzwalter was directly instrumental in discrediting the court findings, the bogus evidence, and police misconduct in he case. He even went further by identifying on television some of those who were the actual Birmingham bombers.

It is worthwhile recalling that amidst the 1974 Birmingham bombings and other injustices there were men and women who followed their conscience, some to their own detriment. Ray Fitzwalter moved against the tide and popular opinion at a moment in history when doing so was not a good career move. God bless all who follow his example.

No Criminal Charges In Berkeley Balcony Collapse – Following a nine-month investigation, the Alameda (Calif.) County district attorney found there was “insufficient evidence” to bring criminal charges against the building’s owner. In the June 2015 accident six students were killed and seven sustained serious injuries. The Irish students, who were in the US on J1 work visas for the summer, were among 40 people at a birthday party on the fifth floor of the building when the balcony collapsed.

No Surprise, Super-PAC Money from 50 Richest – A relative handful of donors, maybe 50 in all, including relatives, are writing over 40 percent of the checks that are funding the 2016 elections, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal campaign finance reports. With each passing day, fewer and fewer of our citizens are involved in election fund raising, essentially leaving the funding of down-ballot and presidential candidates to the professional fund-raisers and the mega-rich who come to the task with needs and greed.

We are to a large extent standing outside the action, letting those who can buy Senate and House seats do so without sharing the burden or allowing the rest of us to financially participate in the democratic election process. Political contributors in this current cycle have given north of $600 million to 2,300 Super PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and corporations.

As the Post’s analysis clearly reflects, “these Super PACS have become fundraising powerhouses just six years after they came on the scene. This concentration of power carries echoes of the end of the 19th century, when wealthy interests spent millions to help put former Ohio governor William McKinley in the White House.”

This dangerous “shutout game” situation, where a mere hatful of multi-millionaires (most unidentified) is dictating election results, combined with the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United has only worsened a deteriorating situation that is dragging the electorate further away from active involvement in the process. And the road ahead, glutted as it is with special interest dollars, looks anything but promising for real campaign finance reform.

Grace Notes – Moments Worth Remembering
A loyalist flute band has memorialized a GAA Catholic youngster who died in a tragic accident on the Irish roadway where they march. The captain of the Ballymacash flute band halted his troupe as it marched close to the accident site where six-year-old Diarmud Frazer was injured and later died, and laid a wreath as a tribute to the lad. During the wreath-laying, the band dipped the colors and played the hymn “Abide With Me.”
•••
For three decades, Adi Roche has led the Chernobyl Children International (CCI), an Irish-based group dedicated to aiding victims of the worst nuclear disaster in history. The CCI has become Ireland’s personal charity and Roche has worked tirelessly through thick and thin to help make a difference to those who were terribly wounded at Chernobyl.

In an unprecedented move , the Belarusian government, in a United Nations tribute, has for the first time given its allotted time spot at the UN to Adi Roche. It is the first time that a charitable NGO has been given a country’s allotted speaking time at a UN Assembly.

RANDOM CLIPPINGS
Weekday weddings are the new craze in Ireland. Newlywed couples (or their families) are being charged $30,000 and more to get hitched on a weekend. Thursdays are the new Saturdays, with a mid-week wedding half the cost of the weekend affair. … Given the chaotic situation in the presidential campaign, the GOP is looking to the possibility of saving the Senate even if they can’t claim the top job. … Speaking at Boston College, the former NI police ombudsman Baroness O’Loan said, “In a country in which the media was once sympathetic to the Irish Catholic Church, it is now aggressively hostile.” … The Narrow Water Bridge project linking the North and the Republic near Newry, seems to have found a new life after it was shoved to the back burner by Northern officials. … The real estate mogul from NY has won the endorsement of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, the National Inquirer, and a paper owned by the moguls’s son-in-law. … Norwegian Air International will soon be flying a low-fare Cork to Boston service.
Howie Carr is still around (albeit on a low-watt Boston radio station) and talking nonsense and other silly chatter about Fox network’s Megyn Kelly (heavy stuff, guys). … Australia is over the top in warning travelers to Ireland to be “wary of civil disorder.” Tourists know that it’s just the Irish pols losing patience with the electoral impasse. … Don’t forget that the swan boats in Boston’s Public Garden lagoon are back afloat, their wondrous 140th year there. … Anglo Irish Bank’s former chief, David Drumm, is facing two trials back in Ireland. … Deeply saddened by the death on the Notre Dame campus (fittingly on St. Patrick’s Day) of former Stonehill College President Father Bartley MacPhaidin. The Donegal priest and Irish speaker was one of a kind and a champion for sane, compassionate immigration reform.