By Bill O’Donnell
Libyan Fighting Threatens IRA Victims’ Claims – War, even the no-fly-zone type of war being waged today against Colonel Khadafy’s brutal regime, has many casualties. One of the probable losers of the conflict in Libya is a secret deal between the British government and Khadafy to win compensation from Libya for British victims (including Northern Ireland) of IRA bombs and violence.

The agreement, hammered out in secret negotiations but possibly incomplete, would compensate UK citizens for loss of life and property from Provisional IRA operations during the Troubles using armaments, semtex explosives, surface-to-air missiles, AK47 rifles, ammunition, etc. supplied by Khadafy. The dimensions of the deal, fueled by Libyan oil profits, was projected to be as high as $15 billion.
The possibility of such a compensation agreement came about when Khadafy, taking heed of the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, abandoned his nuclear weapons program and after years of wrangling finally settled for $2 billion with the families of the Lockerbie plane-bombing victims. The long simmering US-Khadafy imbroglio cooled down and the Colonel and the West moved closer and began speaking to each another.
During the 30-year conflict in the North, there existed a close and continuing relationship between the Provos and Khadafy. That friendship blossomed when Margaret Thatcher’s government decided to allow the United States Air Force to use British bases to bomb Tripoli. Khadafy, in a retaliatory move against Thatcher, decided to aid Britain’s enemies by supplying war materials to the Provisional IRA. This infusion of weaponry allowed the Provos to accelerate the campaign of violence in the North and in English cities as well.
The big question, obviously for the victims is this: If Khadafy survives or if he is removed and a new government in Libya takes over, what would be the status of the compensation agreement?
High Profile Visits Set for Ireland – May could be a busy month in the old Sod with a trio of top-level visitors set to visit Ireland. President Obama will squeeze in a likely visit to Moneygall in County Offaly around a planned European economic summit in France. Former President Bill Clinton is also scheduled for a return to Ireland for a separate event there and Hillary Clinton might well be accompanying her boss, the president.
Queen Elizabeth is also scheduled to be in Ireland in May, departing coincidentally the day before Obama arrives. The queen’s state visit will be her first ever to Ireland and the first by any British monarch since King George V spent six days in Dublin in 1911. She was invited by President Mary McAleese.
Another rather well-known head of state won’t be in Ireland this year, but Pope Benedict XVI is rumored to be planning a pilgrimage of sorts to Ireland in 2012 as a way to show the Vatican’s concern for the Irish Church amidst the clerical abuse scandal that has rocked Catholicism in the country.
Boston ‘Hack Holidays’ Have Irish Counterpart – Here in Boston the effort to abolish two of the traditional holidays that are nearest and dearest to the State House and area city halls continues with somewhat mixed results. The Evacuation Day (Okay, St. Patrick’s Day) and Bunker Hill Day (June 17) holidays have been iced, but most workers are off with skeleton crews meeting the letter of the new law with offices barely open.
Boston is not alone in observing specialized holidays for public employees. Something called “Privilege Days” began in the early years of the British civil service. Like Boston there were two of these holidays, the King’s Birthday and Empire Day. In 1922 when the Irish Free State was established the two British holidays became a part of the Irish civil service. One Privilege Day was to be taken at Easter, the other at Christmas.
Times have changed and public budgets have dramatically slimmed down, but Privilege Days in Ireland have hung in there and are now incorporated into the 30-day annual leave. It’s hard, it seems, to keep a good holiday down.
Police Recruiting at 50/50 Ends – The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, announced last month that the 50-50 Catholic-Protestant recruitment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland was ending. The even-handed recruiting policy was a reform recommended by the Patten Report a decade ago and had been successful in radically altering the makeup of the PSNI. When introduced in 2001, Catholics made up just 8 percent of the former RUC. Today the level of Catholics in the police service is a shade under 30 percent (29.76).
Many Northern unionists and the politicians who represent them have been critical of the police quota system, calling it “institutionalized discrimination” and urging a return to “natural recruitment.” Nationalists generally believe that the 50-50 policy should be in force longer (maybe until 40 percent Catholics is reached) but have been relatively mute in response to the secretary of state’s decision.
Did You Know … that the unique Irish concoction “Riverdance” is now in its 16th year since it first opened to raves at Dublin’s Point Theatre in 1995? It has been performed over 10,000 times and seen by 22 million people in 350 venues in 40 countries and 4 continents. Some 2 billion people have seen “Riverdance” on television and it has sold 3 million CDs and 10 million videos and DVDs.
Irish American Museum Eyes Washington Site – The planning is still in the very preliminary stages but it seems that with the help of an Irish-born Connecticut businessman an Irish-American museum could become a reality in the nation’s capital. There had been talk at one time of organizing an Irish-American museum in Boston somewhere within or near the Rose Kennedy Conservancy acreage, but that possibility has suffered from inertia, a grim economy, the still unsettled questions of what will eventually go into the Rose Kennedy Park area, and, as always, the scarcity of a deep-pocket source of funding.
The Connecticut businessman Carl Shanahan is a native of County Limerick and has been active in the Irish-American Cultural Institute, the Ireland-US Council and a number of successful businesses. Shanahan and an organizing committee have spoken longingly about a brick and mortar museum to celebrate Ireland’s contribution to America but thus far there has been little hard information available about financing, a time table for development, or similar details about any Washington, D.C. facility.
It is a shame, it says here, that the call for a Boston-based Irish American Museum seems lost amidst the recession. Boston, quite realistically, would be an ideal venue for such an enterprise. As a port city and gateway with a heavy Irish population it would appeal to both area residents as well as the large numbers of Irish and European visitors who annually trek to the Hub. It would add critical mass to an already rich list of tourist attractions and might even have found a home within or near the emerging Kennedy Senate Institute at Columbia Point or at UMass-Boston.
A Post-Election Economic Snapshot – In Ireland at the moment it is difficult – maybe next to impossible – to provide any detailed analysis of the situation economically or politically. In the simplest of terms, Ireland is a messy work in progress, but there are several points that might be made:
First, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his government will not bend on the 12.5 percent corporate tax rate. That stays as is, non-negotiable. Secondly, many of Ireland’s EU neighbors are upset with Ireland for varying good reasons, but the Irish can still look with optimism at the real possibility it will win a one percent reduction in the bailout interest rate, saving $600 million a year of taxpayer euros.
Thirdly, it looks as though bank bondholders will finally have to pony up some serious money if the upcoming bank stress tests are as bad as feared. Finally, a serious and sober Fine Gael government will not any time soon be listening to, and certainly not implementing, Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein’s unprincipled suggestion that Ireland could default on its IMF obligation or put the bailout question to a national referendum. More posturing/pandering from a minority party that seems to have forgotten that the election is over. Time, fellas, to start acting like adults!
Cancer Centre Ruling Raises Coleraine Spectre – “Here we go again” could be the cry in Derry with the stunning news of the decision by the unionist Minister of Health to shelve plans for Derry’s long-awaited cancer centre. There is a lot of bitter history here going back to the late 1960s when Derry was the logical location for the new University of Ulster, but Protestant Coleraine was chosen by the unionist government because of the high proportion of Catholics in Derry.
It seems to be deja vu all over again for the cancer centre! The decision to scrap the Derry facility has come as a shock to the people of Derry and the leadership of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party. Many felt that it repeats the Coleraine Ulster U. decision again long after the Good Friday Agreement had seemingly put a stop to most sectarian-based decisions. The Derry Cancer Centre location was to be one-third funded by the Republic of Ireland because the facility was to be available to patients from Sligo, Donegal, and Leirtim.
Both the DUP and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness lambasted the decision, with McGuinness calling it “blatantly sectarian.” Both pledged to reverse the decision, if possible, following the Northern local elections in May.
Chairman Peter King Unarmed In Muslim Hunt – The Republican congressman from Long Island has been called our worst congressman and after watching him on TV last month indict (or at least try to indict) every Muslim in America, I think he has earned his sobriquet. What a thundering disgrace Rep. King is to the Irish. Throughout his public life he has been an outspoken fan of whatever atrocity the Provisional IRA was engaged in. He defended the IRA because, he said, “The fact is that the IRA never attacked the United States and my loyalty is to the United States.” But he never cared about the British civilians and hundreds of Northern Catholics who were killed and maimed by IRA-Libyan bombs and bullets. Ah yes, clearly another patriot in the mold of someone like serial adulterer Newt Gingrich.
As one journalist noted, the hearings of Chairman King’s Homeland Security subcommittee took place in a room once used by the House Un-American Activities Committee. King and his white Republican cohort tried desperately to cast doubts on the loyalty of the entire Muslim population but some unscripted congressional colleagues put the publicity-seeking King in his place.
My question is whether King is thinking of becoming candidate for New York mayor? Are his quasi-McCarthyite hearings part of a grand plan and a not so subtle public political appeal to the nativist fringe in the New York suburbs. With his “credentials” King just might win a primary in a crowded mayor’s race. God forbid!
It Is April. What Has Bertie Cost Us Now – The results are in and the bottom line that former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern refers to in his patented banking strategies, is fixed and undeniable: A major independent review of Ireland’s Department of Finance clearly shows that the department repeatedly warned the Ahern government and Ahern’s handpicked successor, Brian Cowen, about the dangers of its economic policies over the last ten years. To no avail, as current circumstances now suggest.
Every year, save one, over the decade each government (Taoiseachs Ahern & Cowen & cabinet) added hundreds of millions of euros to every budget in direct reversal of prudent budget recommendations and reasonable spending limits. There was always a few hundred million more to hand out during the run-up to elections. Fourteen years of FF rule can get to be expensive.
A Fond Farewell to James “Bibber” Bradley (Nov. 24, 1933 - March 1, 2011) – He was the best of all of us. He had no enemies except maybe deceit and meanness. I never in almost 50 years heard him criticize anybody, never a bad word unless you outdrew him with a gut straight. He had his priorities in order: family, faith, country. He was a Marine grunt in Korea during the heavy going there, a forward observer (God bless the mark) who had no war stories to share.
He was never famous except at home. The life he lived was full – his family, his Catholicism, and being a caring friend; no bluster, no bluff, but with a determined taste for gentle whimsy and his favorite Marsh Wheeling cigars. He died as he lived —at home with his Polly and their three children, at peace with himself, the world and God. We should all be so blessed when that time comes.
RANDOM CLIPPINGS
Strangely enough given the financial chaos that is Ireland today, the Green Isle in 2010 had its “best year ever” for Irish exports. Great news but still 30 percent under the target number needed to meet EU bailout numbers. … New Taoiseach Enda Kenny is tough. He and French President Sarkozy had a big tiff at the economic summit over the Irish tax rate but Kenny never blinked. … The North’s First Minister and former Ian Paisley associate, Peter Robinson, raised Unionist eyebrows when he said he could attend Catholic funeral Masses. Meanwhile Robinson and wife Iris, who resigned her multiple political jobs, are hanging in and it is being said that neither will face any charges over financial questions. … Irish incomes have fallen 8 percent below the EU average and are now near the bottom with Portugal, Greece, Spain, and Italy. … Ma Bell in all her dotage is back and AT&T and T-Mobile are planning a marriage. One certain outcome of that is higher rates as they will control 71 percent of the US mobile phone business.
March marked the 20th anniversary of the release of the Birmingham Six from Old Bailey in London after 15 years in British captivity. … Final Irish Bank stress tests are still to come but early indications are that there’s a $34 billion black hole the new government has to contend with. … Blood is thicker: Former Fianna Fail TD Mary O’Rourke, took her nephew Brian Linehan’s side against her former party leader, Brian Cowen. … New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a pretty savvy guy, told a stupid Irish drunk story and paid for it with catcalls during the St. Pat’s festivities. … A well-deserved honor for Belfast’s Inez McCormack, women and labor activist, who was named by Newsweek as one of the 150 women “who shake the world.” … The US is the favorite travel destination of the Irish. They like Orlando, Las Vegas, and New York the best. Where’s Boston? … Isn’t sad Charlie Sheen just the latest bad Irish drunk joke. I know his dad is Ramon Estevez but his grandmother was Irish, so please don’t write.
Sign of hard times: the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which already has 20 branches in Co. Galway, is opening two more. … With what’s going on in Wisconsin and other assaults on American trade unionism, what is Jesse Jackson doing in Ireland? … Maybe I’m just slow but when Mass Lottery scratch tickets partner up with the likes of the Red Sox and Patriots, and the sports teams get paid for their involvement, which part of the cut do the teams get paid from? … Thanks to the Globe’s Kevin Cullen for revisiting the tale of Dorchester crossing guard Marie Conley whose heroism saved a young girl from death at the cost of Marie’s life. Greater Love ...! Ireland lost a great journalist and republican patriot with the death last month of Sean Cronin at 90 in Washington, D.C. Good man! … The new chief of staff of the US Army is General Martin Dempsey. His grandfather, John Og Devenney, left Donegal for America 85 years ago. Dempsey will command 600,000 army troops in 135 countries. … In 2013 Boston will host the World Irish Dancing Championships (March 24-31) at the Hynes Memorial Auditorium in the Back Bay. …This year marks the 75th anniversary of Aer Lingus. That first flight by Ireland’s national airline was from Dublin to Bristol, England in May, 1936. Thirty years ago this month, Bobby Sands, on a hunger strike in Long Kesh, was elected to the British Parliament in the Fermanagh-South Tyrone by-election.