Team Ireland Looks At Billions In Tax Dilemma – As everybody surely knows by now a European Union ruling wants Apple Corporation to pay Ireland 13 billion euros in unpaid corporate taxes for the 2004 –2014 decade. Sounds easy enough but the Irish government, which would receive the money, does not want to accept the windfall.

Led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, a supportive Irish Dail voted on Sept. 7 to appeal the tax ruling.  The government’s appeal means that the 13 billion euros would be collected, put in an escrow account, and remain unspent until all litigation is complete.

The EU decision has created a firestorm of charges back and forth between those who would not appeal and accept the money and those, including some EU member countries, who disagree with Ireland accepting the EU fiat and the money.

Kenny has launched an angry attack on the European Union, asserting that the ruling “was a reverse to economic development and job creation in Ireland and all across the European Union.”  The taoiseach maintains that Ireland never had a special deal with Apple, pointing to the longstanding policy of seeking industrial investment to contend with economic disadvantages and spur job creation at home. He argued that the 12.5 percent corporate tax rate was an integral part of that strategy, supported by a young, educated population and Ireland’s proximity to the 500 million EU market.

From an American, tax-collecting viewpoint, Apple is a US-based international corporation, and when small European countries like Ireland create a paper-hosting company identity in a particular country, there are corporate taxes to be paid eventually when revenues are repatriated.

The US Treasury is in the process now of amending some of its tax policies related to corporate headquarters and tax collection from US operations in Europe.

Some in Ireland contend that the EU tax ruling would leave Ireland as a winner either way, regardless of what happens with the appeal. If Ireland loses the appeal it will receive a huge windfall, about 2,600 euros per person. If Ireland wins its appeal, others say, the country will be seen by corporate America as its only friend in Europe, a decided advantage given Ireland’s already strong relationship with US companies and its appeal as an employer.

Another opinion comes from Michael O’Leary, Ryanair founder and owner, who is saying, “Ireland should threaten to leave the EU over the Apple tax ruling.” In any event, there is a long slog ahead before an answer to the homeless tax money and, maybe, Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax.

Who Won/Lost During July ’81 Hunger Strike? It has long been a tearful tenet of Irish Republicanism that the brutal intransigence of then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the only thing that stood between life and death in the case of a handful of Irish hunger strikers in Long Kesh Prison in mid-summer of 1981. However, there is a an conflicting narrative, first published in two Richard O’Rawe books, that makes a strong case that, contrary to IRA lore, there was indeed a “good offer” from Thatcher to the hunger strike leadership, including Gerry Adams, that was not put before the men still on strike. It would have eased the British demands, softened public opinion re Thatcher, and freed the remaining hunger strikers from certain death.

In so many words, the counter narrative goes, the offer could have resolved the ongoing hunger strike and saved from four to six men on Long Kesh pallets. What happened?

There was general belief among the strike leaders, including Adams, Danny Morrison and Bik McFarlane, all front-line IRA leaders, that the Thatcher proposal was “a good offer.” The British government offer met almost in full four of the strikers’ five demands, including a core call for the right to wear their own clothes in prison. The criminalization of the IRA prisoners was at the center of the hunger strikes.

 The main reason that the strikers were never consulted on this “good offer,” according to O’Rawe and a committee of leading republicans, is that it was a way to ensure the safe election of Owen Carron in a by-election to succeed Bobby Sands. The theory goes that if the hunger strikes suddenly stopped, the Sands/Carron parliament seat could be lost to another nationalist, or a divided nationalist vote could elect a unionist, not Carron. Any of these results would have crippled Adams’s political strategy for the Irish republican movement. So they did the deal, and six additional hunger strikers died needless deaths.

Catholic Vote A Key Factor for Hillary Clinton – Along with African American and Hispanic voters, an extremely important voter segment is one that is often overlooked or hurriedly assigned to an early brush-off despite the fact that they make up a quarter of the electorate.

Catholic voters are reliable poll-goers. They pay attention and have played critical roles in past elections. But unlike the evangelicals, their voting habits are rarely analyzed.

In early, September Clinton was doing better than Trump with all voters, but doing 25 points better with Catholics in the polls. She was said to be ahead by double digits among Catholics.

E.J. Dionne, a national columnist and a Catholic, is fond of noting that “There is no Catholic vote,” then quickly adding, “and it is important.”

Belfast Energy Team Creates Wave Power – Paul Brewster and Tim MacDonald, two ocean engineers who are part of the Northern Irish team that has traveled to Rhode Island and the US from Belfast, are pioneering something called wave power.

Most people know something about wind power, which has had modest success in New England and California, but wave power, directly from the sea, is seen to have a strong potential and Belfast’s Pure Marine Company in the Irish North is at the cutting edge of using waves for energy.

The main ingredient in activating wave power is a double-hulled ship-like seagoing craft that holds machinery used to activate and churn waves into energy. The name they gave it is the “Duo” and the Belfast team is one of nine finalists in a federal Department of Energy contest with a top award of $1.5 million.

“We’re not going to power the world on wave energy,” MacDonald says, “but we can make an important contribution.” Brewster, with Pure Marine, designed the double -hulled device, an he believes the Duo has an advantage over competitors because it generates power from both the up and down motions of the waves, as well as the side-to-side movement.

The US Department of Energy estimates that the amount of wave power that could be developed off US coasts is equivalent to just under a third of the total annual electricity usage in the the nation. Tapping into just five percent of that resource could power five million homes, says DOE.

Boston in Good Company Bypassing 2024 Olympics – There are some Boston residents who disagree with Mayor Marty Walsh’s decision to run, not walk way from the Olympic games when we could have had them. I was just one of the opponents of the aromatic Olympic adventure and months later it clearly reflects the right judgment by the mayor.

Further proof of the correctness of sending the 2024 Olympics elsewhere is word that the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, late last month rejected the Olympics setting up shop in that ancient, beautiful city along the Tiber, saying the city needed to focus on its domestic problems.

The contenders for the 2024 games have shrunk to a precious few, with only Los Angeles, Paris, and Budapest in the running. Earlier, Italian Premier Mario Monte stopped Rome’s plans to bid for the 2020 Olympics, citing financial concerns.

 Immigrants In Detention Deserve Fair Play – Two things I quickly learned about the indignity and careless treatment of immigrants: (1)  Immigrants in detention and afterwards are big business in the United States, and (2) The average bond for detained immigrants usually falls between $5,000 and $8,000. These fees are multiple and non-refundable.

The above facts were part of a report by Global Sisters, allies of the Nuns in the Bus. They monitor federal detention centers; they teach English as a second language; and they help provide education and health services for the poor and undocumented. If you ever wondered what became of the good sister in her habit, you likely know they are dressed in mufti, live together in urban settings, and serve those who need help, regardless of religion, race or immigration status.

Their contact email for information or to help the works they do is Globalsistersreport.org.

Temperate Climate Means Fall In Ireland – Whether it’s flights in and out of Ireland, the top hotels, scenic beauty spots, new air carriers, or the Great Atlantic Way, fall is a ideal time for Dublin, Derry, Belfast, or over to the west coast. A new listing (more hotel ratings are on their way, I’m sure) has six Irish hotels among Europe’s finest. The best rated start off with Powerscourt Hotel & Spa in Wicklow; Dromoland Castle, Clare (honeymooned there years ago); The Shelbourne, Dublin; The Conrad, Dublin; and the Westbury Presidential Suite, Dublin.

The newest (four fast years old) and most intriguing sight in Belfast – voted Europe’s leading tourist attraction – is the Titanic. We visited there on our last visit to Ireland North, and the multi-level exhibits put you inside the historic liner. Since its opening, the exhibit has welcomed 3 million visitors from 145 countries. The Titanic can hold 3,547 visitors at any one time, the same number as the passenger capacity of the original ship.

Exciting news for readers are plans by Norwegian, Europe’s low-cost airline, to open with Cork to Boston flights next March, featuring introductory fares as low as $69. The company is finalizing transatlantic flights on 737s.

WOW Air will be flying direct from Ireland to Iceland three times a week beginning next April. And this November, the airline will inaugurate a one-stop service from Dublin to New York.

Belfast to Celebrate 75th Anniversary of US Troops Arrival –
There are yet many residents of Belfast who lived through that day 75 years ago when the first “Yanks” arrived. Eventually, there were over 300,000 GIs stationed in the Northern Irish capital. The celebration of our troops entry into Belfast will be formally observed this coming January (the original landing of the GIs at the Belfast docks was January 26, 1942). The Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum is doing the planning for a modest ceremony, more than likely near the City’s Dockside where the troops landed.

Boston College Oral History Moves To The Courthouse – One aspect of its oral history project on conflict in Northern Ireland, begun with all good intentions by Boston College years ago, will be the subject of court action initiated by former IRA member Anthony McIntyre. He has cleared the first stage in his legal move to stop police in Northern Ireland from gaining access to his confidential tapes. A subpoena seeking the tapes has been served on BC. Detectives want the material as part of their investigation into alleged offenses reaching back some four decades. McIntyre, formally of Belfast but now resident in the Irish Republic, was one of the main researchers with the project. The current hearing is preliminary. The case will proceed to a full hearing in November for a decision on who controls McIntyre’s tapes.

New ‘Repair & Lease’ Plan For Homeless – The Housing Minister for the Irish government has come up with a scheme designed to provide once vacant or under standard homes back into use for the homeless. Homelessness remains a major problem in Ireland, especially in rural and sub-standard urban areas, while vacant homes could be made available in this innovative plan for those in need.

 One aspect of the plan would be to offer landlords five years rent for vacant properties that could be refurbished and help ease the short term housing demands until delivery of new homes could be provided. There still remain thousands of uninhabited homes incomplete or shuttered or un-serviced as incompletely developed sites were abandoned as a result of the recession of 2007 and the housing bust at the time.       
             
Senator Warren Takes WF Chief To The Woodshed – Wells Fargo and its CEO, John Stumpf, who walked away with a $19 million pay check last year, might be able to con their stockholders but the Bay State’s Senate expert on banking scams, Elizabeth Warren. was able to show that his company’s campaign to load up its clients with expensive extra services without its clients knowing it was a “scam,” plain and simple.

At a senate hearting late last month, Warren pointed out that the bogus add-ons did nothing for WF clients and only added to the company’s bottom line revenue.  Stumpf bristled at Warren’s description of its illegal tactics, rebutting her claim by describing the sales approach as “deepening relationships,” in real terms a new prize winner for the business euphemism hall of shame.

RANDOM CLIPPINGS
Game of Thrones won again at this year’s Emmy awards show. The series, filmed in Northern Ireland, has won 38 Emmys, an all-time record. … Perfect Timing: Governor Chris Christie’s legacy will be on trial in New Jersey so no WH job for the arrogant, bullying Christies if Donald Trump is elected. … Immigrants are now getting city-issued ID cards that could make the GOP’s “stop the vote” campaign toothless. … In newest surveys there has been a significant increase in support of a united Ireland. … Let’s hear it for gutsy Boston Globe columnist Scot Lehigh, who charged the US Attorney of “prosecutorial overkill” for indicting the AFL-CIO’s’s Tim Sullivan on flimsy grounds. … The Senate in California has passed a bill to toughen the penalties following the Berkeley balcony collapse. … The PSNI (NI police) paid $15 million to former officers for hearing loss suffered at firearms training. … Just 9.1 percent in US now lack health insurance – Attn: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. … The Eire Society of Boston, which celebrates its 80th birthday next year, will honor novelist & playwright Colm Toibin as its Gold Medal recipient in the spring. … The NY Times has fallen on hard times as it has become the target for widespread media criticism, well earned by some careless reporting. … A new science study predicts that the Titanic wreck will dissolve by 2030. The cause: extremophile bacteria, whatever that is. … Given the huge hacking of the Yahoo site, the Irish Central Bank’s alerts on cyber attacks are timely. … Gerry Adams, newly accused of being involved in the death of a former British spy in the IRA, is saying it is not a case of “if” he will step down as Sinn Fein Leader, but “when.” … The US House Intelligence Committee has finally agreed officially that Edward Snowden (hiding out in Russia) is a criminal. … Since the Manhattan real estate mogul said the “birther” movement is over, I quit looking for the birth certificate. … The North’s First Minister, Arlene Foster was in the colonies drumming up American business in mid-September. … Victim family survivors recently marked the 45th anniversary of eleven shot dead by the British Parachute Regiment in the Ballymurphy Massacre. … A farewell salute to former Medford Mayor John “Jack” McGlynn, a wonderful political leader and a super effective public employee over many decades, who died recently.