AOH Pennsylvania State Board

This article is extremely interesting in that a single Unionist Party, backed by the Orange Order, would be done for the sole purpose of preventing Sinn Fein from becoming the largest party in the North and thus taking the Prime Minister seat in the Belfast Assembly.

Who would of thought that Paisley would speak against the single unionist party and suggest that he would be able to deal with the idea of a Nationalist, Sinn Fein, Prime Minister.

Remember the Ulster Unionists Party, who joined with the the Tories (the winners of the UK election), did not win a Parliament seat even the seat where they ran one Unionist candidate against Michelle Gildernew was narrowly lost.

Remember First Minister Martin McGuinness in Cincinnati at the AOH/LAOH National Convention said that he could deal either way because the First Minister position is as powerful and he has the patence to wait for the electoral majority they need.

Very interesting indeed, we will need to stay alert. Again the United Ireland Resolutions, sponsored by the AOH/LAOH can keep the pressure on the Unionist Parties.

AOH National PEC

Paisley Against Single Unionist Party

Former DUP leader Ian Paisley has spoken out against the creation of a single unionist party.

Writing in the Belfast News Letter, the former First Minister warned that such a move would only benefit those who want to have senior positions at Stormont.

“Limiting that choice is not in the interests of the province but merely in the interests of those who want power,” Lord Bannside told the News Letter.

During a speech before the Twelfth, the Orange Order Grand Master Robert Saulters hinted that he would like to see moves towards unionist unity.

Dr Paisley – who earlier this month entered the House of Lords – also said he would have to accept the will of the people of Northern Ireland if Sinn Fein ever took the First Minister’s post.

“For many years I had to accept that the Democratic Unionist Party that I founded and led was not the majority party. Sinn Fein didn’t become the majority party on my watch.”

“Naturally, as a unionist, I will continue to play my part to prevent that happening in the future,” he said.

Lord Bannside added that unionist unity is a good thing for the UK as a whole.

“Unionist unity – in its broadest sense within Great Britain – is essential for the health of the nation.  A unified sense of loyalty to the throne and to the constitution ought to be top of the agenda with each of the devolved institutions,” he said.

“Within Northern Ireland, unionist unity in the sense of one grand political party is, in my opinion, a non-runner.”

Leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice party, Jim Allister, who has been highly critical of the DUP political strategy, has criticised Lord Bannside’s remarks.

“It must never be forgotten that part of the Paisley legacy is the very prospect of a Sinn Fein First Minister, because it was his and the DUP’s connivance at the legislative change in the St Andrews Bill which made it possible, ” he said.

“The other striking feature of Ian Paisley’s contribution in today’s News Letter is the obvious discord with the present DUP leadership, epitomised by his jibe about how things were different on his watch.”
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The LOCC and GRRC have made submission on Public Assemblies, Parades, and Protests Bill 2010. They disagree with some portions of the agreement between the DUP and Sinn Fein. They have not always supported the Parades Commission but they are unsure of the new parades body and it’s rules will work.

These are really the people on the ground. Many members of the AOH have visited Garvaghy Road and visited with Breandan MacCionnaith. We have personally been on Garvaghy Road during the stand off after the Garvaghy Road March and on Ormeau Road as they prepared for the RUC baton charge and we never want to see the return of these times.
The article points out that there are a total of 3,801 events that seek permission to parade.
Of these 2,483 are requests from the Orange Order, Apprentice Boys, etc., that is 65% of all events (some are car shows etc.).
111 are requests from Nationalist Community to March, this would include the AOH Board of Erin Parades
Of these 2,371 are proceeded unhindered and are automatically approved.
Leaving 221 classified as contentious and the imposition of restrictions on 163 – with 51 applications for the Garvaghy Road March (each week)
That leaves a total of 112 parades with restrictions
Many have simply followed the restrictions but others cause protests from the local Nationalist Community, most protests are peaceful but a very small portion, single digits, turn violent. As usual media loves the violence and that is what is driving the news coverage at the moment.

I have attached the full report, it is 20+ pages, an argument against the changes created from the Hillsborough Agreement.

The most important thing is that we need to reduce or eliminate violence, continue to restrict OO Marches, let the residents groups know that we support them, and work for peaceful resolutions.

The United Ireland Resolutions are crucial in this regard. Please work on them until the legislatures come back in December.

Click Here to View Full Report

Ballymurphy Massacre Campaign
Truth, Justice,
walk of truth

I am writing to you on behalf of our group, The Ballymurphy massacre families would like to invite you to our annual walk of truth,..between August 9th and august 11th 1971 eleven innocent civilians were murdered by British Parachute regiment in the greater Ballymurphy area.the same soldiers who went on less than six months later to murder 14 more innocent civilians in Derry. This 9th august marks the  39 th anniversary of these deaths in Ballymurphy yet no one has been held to account,no police  investigation of any level, nor provided acknowledgment to the gross war crime which was perpetrated on these civilians. As part of the community remembering and providing solidarity to the families this walk will mark each spot where the eleven were killed and will point to the community,s support for the families campaign for truth and justice.

The Position of the Irish Government is below.  The most important statement in this is : “Right now, the biggest threat to Irish unity is not the British, or the Orange Order, but those wannabe republicans who think that they can bomb and shoot their way there.”

AN ROINN GNÓTHAÍ EACHTRACHA
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
“Dissident Republicans are unqualified partitionists” says Minister Martin

Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Micheál Martin, T.D.,
on the rioting in Northern Ireland

I am deeply concerned at the rioting and criminal activity which has erupted in parts of Northern Ireland over the past few days.   I recognise that the days around the Twelfth of July are always surrounded by tension and that ways still need to be found to reduce the scope for conflict.  However, what we are seeing this year marks a considerable escalation over recent years.

The fact that significant rioting has continued in Belfast and elsewhere and that we witnessed an attack, involving robbery, arson and vandalism, on a train carrying innocent civilians through Lurgan is evidence of sinister forces at work.  I would like to pay tribute to the PSNI for their professionalism and restraint in policing the unacceptable violence that has once again disfigured the North of our country.  I would urge that everything continue to be done to avoid casualties.

Sadly, those in the front line of public disorder appear to be mostly young people from disadvantaged areas looking to break the boredom of a long and inactive summer.

Those directing the violence and who are encouraging these youths to take to the street are the real guilty parties.   By their twisted logic, they believe that by inciting violence and sectarian hatred, they can lead Ireland into the future by dragging it back through the horrors of the past.    Dreadful as it is to contemplate, they are actually hoping that one or more of the rioters will be killed or maimed in their conflict with the police so that a new generation of martyrs for the cause will inspire others to follow.   They are also hoping by their actions to provoke a violent reaction from the protestant community so that communities will once again look to paramilitaries for protection.

I appeal to anybody who has influence over the young people involved in the rioting – mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends – to do what you can to keep them from being sacrificed by these cynical  godfathers.   Keep your loved ones safe from harm.  Seeing their name painted on a gable wall will be scant consolation to you in years to come should they fall into harm’s way.

To those misguided, would be republicans who delude themselves into believing that an independent united Irish Republic can still be achieved by violence, I say it’s time to face up to reality.    The war is over.  The only way that Irish unity, a goal, shared by the majority of people on this island, can be achieved is through peace, reconciliation and consent.  The people of Ireland endorsed this reality when they voted overwhelmingly to endorse the Good Friday Agreement.   If you do not have the stomach or the patience for the long haul, leave it to those of us who do.

Right now, the biggest threat to Irish unity is not the British, or the Orange Order, but those wannabe republicans who think that they can bomb and shoot their way there.

What chance of peaceful coexistence and eventual reconciliation when unionists fear that they will be marched into a united Ireland with a gun in their back?

What chance of promoting the noble ideals of republicanism when the flag of the Republic is used as an ugly mask for criminal activity?

What chance of removing the British security presence from Ireland when every effort is made to heighten insecurity on the island?

Let nobody be fooled, these so-called “dissident” republicans are unqualified partitionists.   Nobody who believes in the Republic should have anything to do with them.

ENDS 14 July 2010
Press Office | Department of Foreign Affairs | Dublin | (+ 353 1) 408 2275/2550 | fax: (+353 1) 478 5942 | press.office@dfa.ie

Brothers,

The National Officers elected at the Convention in Cincinatti are :

Seamus Boyle – National President
Brendon Moore – Vice President
Thomas McNabb – Secretary
Judge James McKay – Treasurer

Directors
Robert Mott – South Carolina
Jere Cole – New Jersey
Keith Carney – District of Columbia
Danny O’Connell – Ohio
Mike O’Connor – Montana
Chris Norris – Pennsylvania

Constitutional Changes passed were :
* Raised national per capita assessment from Eight (8) to Twelve (12) dollars per member.
* Religious brothers now eligible to be AOH Chaplains along with priests and deacons.

Site of 2012 National Convention to be Turning Stone, New York ( near Oneida ).
Site of 2014 National Convention to be Saint Louis, Missouri.

Wolftones & Fighting Irish help Celebrate
Camilla Hall 50th  Anniversary

On June 26th on the Holy ground of the Camilla Hall Community Cemetery the members of the Wolf Tones Div. #1 of Chester and the Notre Dame #1 Division of Montgomery County came together with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart to Celebrate their 50th  Anniversary. This establishment is mainly used for the IHM Sisters when they retire or have to go to after an illness.
With over two hundred nuns attending the service of prayer and song the AOH Color Guards of the Wolf Tones and Notre Dame Division followed by the Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums opened up the ceremony by leading fifty sisters to the area were the service was going to take place and were the rest of the IHM Sisters and guest were waiting.
Several readings were made and songs sung by the congragation. The closing prayer was made by Reverend Christopher Papa, AOH Chaplain.
Back in the recreation room were everyone congregated afterward for refreshments provided by the AOH and the Irish Thunder entertained the sisters with some Irish and  Patriotic music that they all enjoyed.
This event of piping and having refreshments for the sisters happens every year thanks to AOH President Mick Dunleavy of the Wolf Tones who organizes the event and coordinates with Mark Ryan  of the Notre Dame Division.

To All:

The North South Ministerial Conference has met with all parties participating including the once obstructionist Democratic Unionist. Certainly we can begin to discuss a movement towards a United Ireland.

A peaceful political solution is most certainly beginning to appear on the horizon. All sides are beginning to act as Irish Men and Women.

Economy Tops NSMC Meeting In Dublin 07/05/10 16:02 EST

Economic challenges facing the administrations in both parts of the island topped the agenda at a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in Dublin today.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen hosted Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at the meeting, which was attended by 26 Ministers from North and South.

The meeting at the State guesthouse, Farmleigh, will also consider how both  governments can work together to save money and to improve services. There will be a focus on co-operation in innovation and economic development.

Ministers also reviewed progress across a range of North-South co-operation, from cancer services in the northwest to cross-border infrastructure development.

Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness were expected to raise concerns about possible job cuts arising from the sale of First Trust Bank, Northern Ireland subsidiary of the AIB group.

Speaking ahead of the meeting the Taoiseach said: “As we face the continuing challenge of generating economic growth and jobs and achieving fiscal consolidation, North and South, we must work together energetically in whatever ways we can, for mutual benefit.”

“The ongoing work of the North-South Ministerial Council can play an increasingly important part in our strategy for economic recovery and can realise benefits for all of the people, North and South.”

In a joint communiqué issued following the meeting, the Ministers said they had a “comprehensive discussion of the fiscal challenges facing each jurisdiction and the measures they are taking to consolidate their budgets and to prepare for economic recovery”.

“In the current difficult economic environment, Ministers emphasised the need to secure value for money across the full range of public sector expenditure. In this context they welcomed the ongoing discussions between the two Finance Ministers to identify potential cost savings through co-operation and sharing.”

They also discussed the “significant level” of co-operation underway to promote innovation to underpin economic growth and create employment.

These included the introduction of “innovation vouchers” on an all island basis, funding provided through the Programme for Research in Third level Institutions, cancer research, increased cooperation in securing research funding under the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and the success of the US/Ireland/Northern Ireland Research and Development Partnership.

The Executive raised concerns about restructuring of the banking sector and issues related to the insurance sector, the communiqué stated.

Progress on a range of child protection issues, including the establishment of the North-South Child Protection website, was also discussed.

The ministers also discussed a coordinated approach to reducing permitted blood alcohol levels for driving in both jurisdictions, the introduction of the mutual recognition of driver disqualifications between the UK and Ireland in January, and continuing work on the mutual recognition of penalty points.
__________________________________________________________

The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization
providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world.
The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your
tax-deductible contributions to IAIS at  505 S East St, Culpeper VA 22701
You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org

To all,

Eugene Daly had the winning ticket for the National Convention Fundraiser ( $100 Tickets ) drawn yesterday at Division 39.

Seamus Boyle – AOH National President

Gerry Ennis – PA State Secretary

Brothers, We believe this says it all. The Easter Rising Proclamation of the Republic in 1916 also uses the word Citizens.
We need to continue to push our United Ireland Resolutions.
Remember what it really means to all Americans
Jefferson changed ‘subjects’ to ‘citizens’ in Declaration of Independence

Washington Post Staff Writer
By Marc Kaufman

That’s what Thomas Jefferson first wrote in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence to describe the people of the 13 colonies.
This Story
But in a moment when history took a sharp turn, Jefferson sought quite methodically to expunge the word, to wipe it out of existence and write over it. Many words were crossed out and replaced in the draft, but only one was obliterated.
Over the smudge, Jefferson then wrote the word “citizens.”
No longer subjects to the crown, the colonists became something different: a people whose allegiance was to one another, not to a faraway monarch.
Scholars of the revolution have long speculated about the “citizens” smear — wondering whether the erased word was “patriots” or “residents” — but now the Library of Congress has determined that the change was far more dramatic.
Using a modified version of the kind of spectral imaging technology developed for the military and for monitoring agriculture, research scientists teased apart the mystery and reconstructed the word that Jefferson banished in 1776.
“Seldom can we re-create a moment in history in such a dramatic and living way,” Library of Congress preservation director Dianne van der Reyden said at Friday’s announcement of the discovery.
“It’s almost like we can see him write ‘subjects’ and then quickly decide that’s not what he wanted to say at all, that he didn’t even want a record of it,” she said. “Really, it sends chills down the spine.”
The library deciphered the hidden “subjects” several months ago, the first major finding attributed to its new high-tech instruments. By studying the document at different wavelengths of light, including infrared and ultraviolet, researchers detected slightly different chemical signatures in the remnant ink of the erased word than in “citizens.” Those differences allowed the team to bring the erased word back to life.
But the task was made more difficult by the way Jefferson sought to match the lines and curves of the underlying smudged letters with the new letters he wrote on top of them. It took research scientist Fenella France weeks to pull out each letter until the full word became apparent.
“It’s quite amazing how he morphed ‘subjects’ into ‘citizens,’ ” she said. “We did the reverse morphing back to ‘subjects.’ ”
France said the possibility that the erased word was “subjects” came up during a talk she gave to library donors and visitors about how to study historical documents without harming them. France had determined that a word existed beneath “citizens,” and she asked the group for ideas. One woman called out “subjects,” and library staff members immediately realized that she was on to something. The intensive work on the document soon began.
The erased word is on the third of the draft’s four pages, in the section that addressed grievances against King George III and outlined his incitement of “treasonable insurrections.” The sentence is not found in the later Declaration of Independence, but “citizens” is used elsewhere in that document and “subjects” is not.
Scholars previously determined that Jefferson had been writing his early version based on the first draft of Virginia’s constitution, where the words “our fellow subjects” appear.
Finding Jefferson’s erased word is the library’s greatest accomplishment using its new technology, but several other projects are in progress. The imaging device, for instance, found thumb and fingerprints on the Gettysburg Address using infrared light, and library researchers are seeking to determine whether they are President Abraham Lincoln’s.
Light outside the visible range has also brought to life details of Pierre L’Enfant’s design for Washington and notes on papers of Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
Van der Reyden said the research and discoveries illustrate why it’s so important to keep and protect original documents. The erased “subjects,” she said, could have been detected only from Jefferson’s original draft

Conway Mill Trust received word this week from Danny Cassidy, Project Manager for Altram, a community-based regional support group for Irish language early years programs and family support services in Northern Ireland, that Altram has lost funding, severely affecting Altram’s certified Irish-medium early years immersion education training program and Two Windows on the World Centre.

Altram was founded in 1990 by local Irish-medium preschools in Newry, Armagh, Derry and Belfast. It currently provides a wide range of services and publications including training materials, certification training and support publications to some 50 groups in Northern Ireland, some of which have families from both sides of the community who benefit from Altram’s services.

Altram undertook development of its Irish-medium early years tutor training program and dedicated training centre in 2008 in partnership with Comhairle na Gaelscaiochta, the organization specifically responsible for the Irish-medium early years sector in Northern Ireland, North West Regional College, Ultach, a Belfast-based charity, and the University of Ulster. The program and centre became fully operational in September 2009 and recently certified its first class of tutors/workers.

Danny writes, “Despite all our hard work to establish the training centre, we are now at the stage where we have to close it by July as we have no money to maintain the rent on it (£450 per month). This, to say the least, is heartbreaking for all involved in the project. All the money invested into the centre will have been for nothing and is a terrible waste of resources.”

In addition to the Centre’s imminent closing, all members of the Altram staff will be placed on notice within the next two weeks. However, Danny went on to say, “This is not about our [the staff’s] future, it is more about the future of the children who attend the Irish-medium early years schools. Without our support I have no doubt that the sector in general will experience a downturn in terms of quality and care.”

Danny reports they are currently lobbying the local politicians and remain hopeful that they can avert this crisis, but as it stands now, even if funds are secured to maintain the staff, he doesn’t believe they will allocate funds for rental costs. “Unfortunately, I can’t see a way out of this situation, and we may have to accept closure of the centre,” Danny ended.

If you would like to help Altram, simply send your tax-deductible contribution to Conway Mill Trust Inc., P.O. Box 101529, Pittsburgh, PA 15237-8529. Mark you check or money order “Altram.” And one-hundred percent (100%) of your contribution will be sent to them.  Or, donate online through PayPal.