Britain’s cancerous presence in the body politic of Ireland takes on many shapes and will never be far from the news. Today all of Ireland is fearful of just how an arrogant British Prime Minister Teresa May will disrupt their lives and economy so that mainland England and “The City” will thrive after leaving the European Union (BREXIT). A related issue is the UK’s keeping a lid on its corrupt governance in NI. How are the two linked? England needs American cooperation and assistance in trade deals and for the US to fight their battles for them with the EU. The rub? Britain’s deceit about N. I. with President’s and Congress.
Although the BREXIT deadline is 3-4 years off, Prime Minister May’s emissaries are practically commuting to New York and Washington these days and camping out at the Department of State in a race against time. Why? Some feel all this urgency is a ruse to garner US sympathy for their predicament. But the real urgency is pending judicial rulings of the European Court of Justice regarding inquests delays; disclosures of loyalist collusion inquiries; double-agent/informer investigations (Operation Kenova) and human rights rulings by the EU in Strasburg. All are encircling Whitehall like Harry Potter’s Dementors reminding the British of their murderous lawlessness in NI. BREXIT planning is as much about coping with these legacy Dementors as it is about refugees and trade.
The UK have an edge in limiting what American’s know about these ‘legacy’ issues. News about Ireland, BREXIT and NI is shaped by British influence over foreign news reporting of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. English Consulates in major cities here hire lobbyists and host acolytes who feed on canapes and propaganda to insinuate themselves in public forums like World Affairs Councils and spread the Royal gospel.
Britain’s dominance in the world of English language publishing is also critical. After all England’s version of Irish history is embedded in generations of students and scholars. Think not? In 1996 ‘terrorism expert’ Professor J. Bower Bell of Columbia University’s International Analysis Center wrote a book about the 1974 no-warning bombings of Dublin and Monaghan shopping centers. The author concluded that Britain’s reputation for respect for the rule of law and democracy prevented it from carrying out the attack despite the Army and police experience of all the prime suspects. The mass murder of 33 innocent people was whitewashed by the author because …well they are British. England is scrubbing out of history the killers of over 800 innocent Catholics in the same way they did the Dublin Monaghan bombers: deceit; stonewalling; destruction of evidence and with “assists” from favored ‘terrorism experts.
The British will be seeking U. S. waivers, exemptions, financial and technical assistance, grants and ‘most’ favored nation status especially in the military, financial, intelligence and technical sectors to aid in their ‘distress.’ There is no justifiable reason for the U. S. to prostrate itself any more than it already does for Her Majesty’s government. First, the British economy, the 6th largest in the world, is flying. Second, more favors extended to the UK is likely to be injurious of US abilities to meet other economic and political objectives with other nations and certainly injurious of those in Ireland who likely will feel the brunt of BREXIT changes. There is a third reason. Our Defense, State , and Justice Departments are indifferent to British actions in Ireland. But Members of Congress would be offended and most Americans shocked if they knew of British lying about those actions to American media and elected officials.
Consider: 1. To defend democracy British security services organized an assassination campaign which included 6 elected officials and 11 campaign workers doing nothing more threatening than canvassing; murdered two lawyers and a journalist and in the process made a mockery of the European Convention of Human Rights. 2. In support of law and order, the UK hired and colluded with loyalist anti-Catholic bigots and socio-paths involved in at least 150 murders of Catholics as informers and double agents. 3. To concoct their own ‘truth’, they have undermined key obligations of the U. S. brokered Belfast Treaty of 1998 by obstructing the Pat Finucane and Dublin-Monaghan inquiries of the Irish government. About all this Patrick Corrigan, Program Director of Amnesty International stated: “Killing people targeted by the State using intelligence provided by the State and killing them with guns provided by the State is not a security policy but a murder policy.”
As a new day will be dawning in the U. S. in January Britain has accelerated its BREXIT pleading in Washington perhaps to gain some special favors in a lame-duck session of Congress. The U. S. should develop its own BREXIT policy which defines just what America should get from the British for any trade considerations and then patiently wait until they get in return some economic relief, truth and justice for the people of Ireland. A cautionary note. Irish historian Barry Keane in Co Cork is appealing a decision by the British government to refuse him a 106 year old Classified file labeled “Paid Informants in Irish Secret Societies and in the United States”. The U. S. should be in as much of a rush to yet again help the British out of a mess as the UK is willing to disclose the truth of their murderous ways.
Michael J. Cummings
201 W. Evergreen Ave, Apt 715
Philadelphia, PA 19118
267-766-5028, 518-330-6765, & 518-606-6083
Michael J. Cummings, a native of Springfield, Mass., is a graduate of St. Anselm’s College (B. A., 1968) and New York University (M. P. A., 1970) and a former member of the National Boards of the Irish American Unity Conference (1996-2013), the Ancient Order of Hibernians (2001-2008), and the Irish Northern Aid Committee (1988-1996). He served six National AOH Presidents, 5 IAUC National Presidents and two National Chairman of INA primarily in public relations capacities. He is the only person to serve on the national policy making bodies of all three major Irish American organizations. He also served on the Commission on Peace and Justice of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. He served 36 years with the State of New York including as Assistant Deputy Comptroller.
Cummings has appeared on American, English and Irish television and radio and his commentary and letters and those of the Presidents have appeared in major American, Irish-American, and Catholic print media. He is a frequent columnist for the weekly IRISH ECHO newspaper. He has been married to Nuala Hogan, a nurse and native of Ireland, for 43 years and now resides in Philadelphia, PA. They are the parents of five children and five grandchildren
A great article folks. Mr Farage, I´m sure, will be spreading the Brit Nat Gospel with his great buddy Trump. Another reason to rue Clinton´s defeat I suppose.
Here in lies the problem. The Irish continue to look to the US to help expose Britains terror policy in Ireland. It’s like wishing for the end of world poverty; it will never happen. The British are solid bedfellows with the US especially with their joint efforts in similar terror wars in Iraq etc. They have plenty of ‘dirt’ on each other. Rather than lamenting Clintons failure to get elected(cringeworthy btw) the Irish would need to realise there are more countries in the world than the US. Perhaps it’s time to turn to them in bringing international pressure/attention onto Britains sins?
Cringeworthy, really Wolfe tone. So tell me, which other Country will care about Britain´s relationship with Ireland regarding its past behaviour. No doubt, the Clintons had their own selfish reasons for promoting the GFA but at least it helped the process. A far right administration in the U.S. will be pro British, full stop, and the myriad of political figures that do take some interest in Ireland will have a much tougher job now with Trump´s administration.
Btw,In case you think I´m a Clinton sycophant, I´m not. I was hoping Bernie would get the Democratic nomination.
So which other country? Well again the Irish continued reliance on hoping that a US administration will care about us leaves us with no other country….that’s my point. Other countries around the world have no interest in Ireland perhaps because we never asked them to. We have always remains loyal and uncritical of previous US administrations in the pathetic hope that they say nice things about us. And we did that for various reasons which normally boiled down to selfish reasons. We are a vassal state of the US and that should be deeply embarrassing for all of us. Btw, in the likelihood of, say, a referendum on Irish unity, do you honestly think Hilary,Obama or any other US politician will chip in and urge the Irish people to vote yes? You can bet your last dollar they won’t interfere, although they interfered in Scottish referendum and brexit. Ah but that was at the request of the British administration of course.
The ‘myriad of political figures’ had plenty of time to take an interest in Ireland but for the last 7 yrs or more the only time I heard any thing from them was when they hosted the cringe farce that is the paddys day whitehouse visit. Embarrassing stuff altogether.
We have to deal with realities. If it weren´t for the Americans, there would be no GFA. The Americans, with their lap dogs, the British, are responsible for so much suffering in the world. That´s not going to change I fear. re your question about politicians supporting a United Ireland in the States. I think a few would support a united Ireland. What I fear now, with Trump on board, is that the anti GFA brigade will gain more traction in the North and in Britain. That´s my main point.