Peter Robinson Slips Away to Retirement – The grand poohbah of Northern Ireland politics is scheduled to end his dual careers as First Minister and DUP party chairman on Jan. 11. There will be some who will miss this enigmatic successor to Ian Paisley, but I will not be among them.  Robinson, beset with domestic issues at home and political problems at Stormont, has been a major source of the sterile leadership problem that has plagued the North. The retiring leader famously tried to reach out to the nationalist community, asking for their votes and suggesting a warm, cozy relationship that was belied by his actions and his policy moves that angered many in the nationalist ranks.

There has been a series of personal problems and eccentric moves by the man who followed in Paisley’s wake. Iris Robinson, his wife, had a dust-up concerning a boy toy “friend” who received an unexplained large government grant payment supported by her while she was an elected public official. Soon after that came a two-week hiatus by First Minister Robinson that apparently was meant to give him time to cleanse his political palate and let the effects of the Iris imbroglio settle down. Mr. Robinson has also been periodically criticized for the unseemly number of family members employed by the First Minister’s office and his unionist colleagues. There have also been unanswered questions about land deals involving large sums that directly involved Robinson while he was the North’s top gun.

Finally, the Northern Ireland political leadership has been described as virtually non-existent and was found wanting – and again leaderless – during the recent talks aimed at saving Stormont and the peace agreement.

Robinson’s successor is the tough, gritty Arlene Foster, the Stormont finance minister who will be First Minister and DUP party leader. She ran unopposed and was a member of the Ulster Unionist Party before defecting to the Democratic Unionist Party.
Inversion: A Nasty Word For Ireland and the USA – The Obama administration is moving fast to have the US Treasury Department implement new rules limiting tax inversions, where US companies buy smaller foreign businesses and reincorporate in countries like – need I say it? —Ireland.  Yes, Ireland with its tempting low 12.5 percent corporate tax ( less than half the US),  is a friendly target for many US companies.

The latest and one of the costliest inversion transactions involves Pharma giant Pfizer and Ireland-based Allergan, the Botox maker. The deal, involving a huge tax saving for Pfizer, will be a $150 billion merger when it finally happens. The new Treasury rules will not affect the Pfizer-Allergan partnership, which is scheduled to close next summer. It is estimated that the Pfizer deal will cost the US over $33 billion in lost taxes in the next decade.

Bill Galvin, a Veteran Watchdog Carries On — Bill Galvin of Brighton is a former state representative (1979-91) and has been secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the past twenty years. In the minds of many, when Galvin’s name comes into public view, it usually involves his role as official overseer of elections in the Bay State. However, the 65-year-old Galvin and his office in the State House have another extremely important function: He is in the business of keeping investment firms honest in this razzle-dazzle Madoff scandals era we live in.

For the past two decades, Galvin has investigated and pointed out schemes, scams, and fraudulent investment companies and individuals who steal millions of dollars from investors in the state. Over the years Galvin’s Securities Division has brought scores of complaints that have resulted in civil court cases, criminal charges, and the return of money to duped investors.
In a move launched last month, Galvin’s office began an investigation into a New York-based junk-bond fund that froze its assets and halted withdrawals from its troubled fund. The mutual fund’s assets, the Boston Globe noted, have “plunged from $3 billion last year to $789 million,” a drop of 75 percent.

The longest-serving Massachusetts constitutional officer, Bill Galvin is a good advertisement for a cautious approach to term limits, it seems to me.

GAA Clarifies Role In Paramilitary Funeral — There has been simmering criticism of the Gaelic Athletic Association by some unionists because a Derry GAA club formed a guard of honor at the military funeral for the son of Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) leader Dominic McGlinchey. The funerals of former IRA and other republican paramilitaries has raised the ire of the unionist community, which views the honors accorded the IRA and their military campaign as an enemy assault on the largely Protestant establishment. 

Given the triumphalism of Orange Order marchers and the July history carnivals staged by the Unionists, do the critics not share in the idea of parity of esteem?

In any event, a senior GAA official explained that the funeral honor guard was extended to the family because the McGlinchey son was a member of the GAA, nothing more, nothing less. The explanation was also accompanied by a reiteration of the GAA’s long-standing policy of opposition to violence.

Women Moving Up At The Vatican – An Austrian journalist who looked into the emerging new policies of Pope Francis and the Vatican, said recently, “There is a fresh wind blowing in the Vatican as far as women’s role in the church is concerned. The ‘Francis effect’ has clearly made its mark.”

The report notes that there are about 750 women working in the Vatican, and, the writer said, “They are not doing the cleaning job, moreover, as those are done by men. Most of the women are academics. Women on the Vatican staff now make up one-fifth of Vatican employees.

The percentage of women, according to the report, working in the Curia is particularly high and females working in leading positions is also on the increase.  Their voices are being heard in such places as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Vatican Council for Culture.

Bertie Into Redemptive Globe-Trotting – Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is not a well-loved man in Ireland, nor in his old Dublin hangouts in and around  Drumcondra. When he stepped down in the spring of 2008 it was the moment that the Irish economy took a nosedive and suffered one early major impact. The recession took euros out of the pockets of working people, while leaving many of the newly rich protected. Ahern then seemed to suffer from political amnesia that, in his own mind, absolved the now retired politician and generously endowed pensioner from blame for the economic body blow suffered by the Irish middle class and working class.

With little real work to do in these past six or seven years, the man who takes a large share of the credit for the peace agreement (who is Albert Reynolds?), has found himself a more fertile venue – Europe.  Finding an empty table in Ireland, Ahern turned to the World Economic Forum where he has a position as a peace and mediation contributor. He also found a spot with the Harvard International Negotiating Program. Through Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative, he got involved with the push for peace in the Ukraine; he has been a frequent visitor to the Basque region of Spain; and he been involved with the long-term effort to reconcile the Kurdish population in Turkey.

Will Bertie Ahern’s former colleagues and the wider Irish public forgive the former Fianna Fail leader for his years in office and the quotes and comments and the public self-justification and lack of contrition for his massively flawed policies? A good question.
In my opinion it is not simply the failed politics that has set Bertie Ahern’s reputation in historic concrete; it is, rather, how he handled it in the aftermath. Messy and graceless.

No Refugee Help, Just GOP Scorn – The National Catholic Reporter authored an editorial on the Syrian refugees (Dec. 3) that put the tragedy in perspective while pointing the finger at the sorry lineup that constitutes the Republican Party’s dismal  “best and brightest.”

“Some 12 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes and more than 4.3 million have sought refuge, mostly in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, but also in Europe,” the NCR reports. “More than a third are under the age of 12. Do the math. That comes to 1.5 million children.”

 But that hasn’t stopped the dismissive rhetoric from the Republicans. Chris Christie, the Catholic governor of New Jersey, said he would not take any Syrian refugees — not even “orphans under age 5.” Ted Cruz only wants to admit Christian Syrian refugees. Ben Carson compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs.” But the worst, says the NCR, is Donald Trump, who has called for a halt in the Syrian refugee programs, and also called for surveillance inside mosques, or closing them entirely. Shameful.
And don’t forget the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which voted, 289 – 137, to tighten the already formidable process that Syrian refugees go through to enter the US.

Trump is the summer patriot in his own mind, who, in the heart of the Vietnam war years as a young, healthy 20-something, asked for, and got, four exemptions keeping him out of the military and safe from harm while American troops his age fought his battles. Trump talks the talk, but he does not walk the walk, and he wants to be president! Wow.

The realtor from Manhattan, as the NCR describes Trump, “is appealing to the worst instincts of human fear and stupidity.” Amen.
Gregory Campbell vs. Martin McGuinness – Stormont had a mini-debate recently between Campbell, DUP Minister for Regional Development, and McGuinness, the deputy First Minister in the devolved Northern government. The accusations began with the nasty chap from Paisley’s party, Campbell, bringing up some old chestnuts about the McGuinness role in Bloody Sunday, suggesting that the former IRA commander was probably armed with a submachine gun and offering the possibility that McGuinness might have shot two policemen just before Bloody Sunday. All dismissed by the Saville Report.

McGuinness, all too familiar with the Campbell catechism of the past, reminded Campbell that the Saville inquiry believed the IRA’s evidence, while the panel rejected the evidence of the paratroopers and the British Army.

I remember Gregory Campbell very well from a brief meeting we had in 1995 at the dedication of the Foyleside Centre in Derry where I spoke representing Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, who was a fierce advocate for the construction of the Foyleside shopping centre, now among the largest in Ireland.

After leaving the dais, Campbell and a fellow I did not recognize pulled me aside for a talk about aid funds for his projects or the like for development in Derry. Campbell could not have been more cordial but it was apparent that his approach to a Boston Irish Catholic who, with BIV, helped the Foyleside Centre  become a reality, was solely for the purpose of his promoting a coup in attracting financial help for his Derry projects, few, if any that would aid nationalist areas.

Back then I had one advantage over Campbell. I knew him for the toxic, anti-Catholic, bigoted opportunist who had been an early opponent to any cooperation between the two traditions. That knowledge was more than enough to keep the conversation short.
Banker David Drumm, Guest Of The Commonwealth – To those who believe in justice and frauds and deadbeats getting their comeuppance, the following news should warm your heart:

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief Drumm faced Boston Judge Donald Cabell looking for bail so he could be free to use his luxe Wellesley home until he had to be back in the courthouse in March. The judge, with all the incredible machinations of Drumm from previous court appearances listed in the papers before him, refused bail and Drumm will be in custody until next March 1.
At that time Drumm and his coterie of white-shoe lawyers will try to show why he should not be extradited to Ireland, where he faces a stack of charges relative to his banking tenure at Anglo Irish. If you can try to remember, David, the laughter and careless banter you and your bank pals enjoyed in those last hours while your bank (because of corruption) and the Irish economy were heading to disaster and pain for millions of your fellow citizens, those happy day memories may make your days in crossbar hotel go just a bit faster.  Happy Holidays!

RANDOM CLIPPINGS
Former Irish President Mary McAleese will be in Boston for the Eire Society annual award at its April dinner where she will be honored as the Society moves toward its 80th anniversary. … There was a warm welcome for Syrian refugees when they arrived at the Welcome Centre in Belfast two weeks before Christmas. … General Robert Ford, 91, has died in Dorset, UK. He was the army front-line commander on Jan. 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday. He defended his paratroopers slaughter of innocent Irish citizens, calling the deaths “a short-lived victory.” … A major international investment bank has issued a stark warning about the risks of Sinn Fein being in government. … A native of Ireland, who graduated from Trinity College has received this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine. William Campbell has also studied at the University of Wisconsin and is now at Drew University in New Jersey. Campbell shared the award with Satoshi Omura ... The owner of a Belfast tanning salon was prosecuted for allowing an under-18 to use tanning equipment. … Nice to hear that an anti-refugee parade in Belfast drew a scant handful of people while elsewhere the city embraced the refugees. … Agreement is nearing on an EU pact to share air passenger records to help control terrorist attacks. … Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has signed the Greater Boston Regional Economic Agreement with Quincy, Braintree, Cambridge, Somerville and Chelsea to coordinate economic development and cooperation on jobs and regional development.
Some of those involved with the story of the Boston Globe’s reporting on the clergy abuse that is now showing in the film “Spotlight” have established a $100,000 fellowship to promote investigative journalism with funds from the film’s Hollywood company and the Globe. … Boston’s premier sports columnist, the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy, has won the prestigious Spink Award for his contribution to baseball over his career. … The Irish Minister for Public Expenditure, Brendan Howlin, is upping the ante and predicting that the final numbers for the year will reflect a spectacular seven percent growth for Ireland. … The painting of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the cover of Time magazine’s “person of the year” issue was painted by Belfast artist Colin Davidson. … Gerry Adams, still hoping to become Irish taoiseach for this year’s Easter Rising centennial, began romancing Fianna Fail and his own Sinn Fein. The trial balloon never got much altitude or applause. … There is still no resolution of the future of the famed “Quiet Man Cottage” in Connemara. It is broken down but efforts at restoration are ongoing and called hopeful. … Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, told students in Cork that Apple will add another thousand employees to its current work force of 5,000. … Michael Jordan, the basketball supremo, may not be Irish, but he keeps his word. He sued two supermarket chains for unauthorized use of his name and image and won a multi-million dollar settlement. He then turned around and gave it, as promised, to 23 Chicago nonprofits, mostly devoted to Chicago’s kids. When Michael says “it ain’t the money,” he means it.

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I was out with health issues for the last issue and am happy to be back.  May this New Year bring a lessening of violence, a respect for diversity, and a modicum of peace for all human kind.