English Empire Over

Regarding the letter by John Gregg in the November 8-14 issue on his Protestant warning – his statement on Sinn Fein being Nazis, communists, racists, etc. is pretty sad. How could you be all these things at one time?

The English government in the 1600s set up the Plantation of Ulster to keep the Irish in a state of servitude to the English crown, and to drive the Irish off their land.

If Mr. Gregg doesn’t like the changes in Ireland, let me suggest what the loyalist did in America after the English got kicked out of the U.S. at the end of the Revolutionary War. The loyalist left the colonies and went back to dear old England.

The days of empire are over. Mr. Gregg’s hatred of the Irish only makes us stronger.

The English will leave the Orangemen on the land. They were used as pawns by the English government for their own political gains, not to forget cannon fodder in World War II.

The Irish people never hated anyone. They just finally wanted to be free of English domination.

The winds of change are here. Northern Ireland is the last colony in Europe of the faded and dead British Empire. As my Protestant grandma Williamson said many years ago, someday all of Ireland will be free of English domination.

I forgive Mr. Gregg for his hatred of the Irish. And at the end of the day, justice will prevail.

Tom McTigue
Bronx, New York

Hail to the Queen!

I rise to take issue with the critics (Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times) cited in “Choppy Sailing for Pirate Queen” in the “Page 2” report on the new show (November 1-7).

First, our credentials. Ancestor’s of my wife’s late grandmother, Loretta O’Malley, hailed from County Mayo — O’Malley country.

During our 1995 trip to Ireland, my wife and I visited the ruins of Grace O’Malley’s castle on Clare Island in Clew Bay prior to our ill-fated climb (in record-shattering heat) up Croagh Patrick.

Last month we trekked 715 miles to Chicago for the world premiere of The Pirate Queen. The trip proved to be well worth the effort.

We joined in all those well-merited standing ovations. It was a splendid evening of theater.

Ireland, and Granuaile (Grace O’Malley), forever.

James V. Dolson
Springfield, Virginia

More than U2

I am an avid reader of the Irish Voice and have written before about the music coverage. I think it is pretty good overall except for one contributor: Mike Farragher.

All he thinks of is U2 this, U2 that. U2 is good, but there are other bands out there besides U2.

I am a fan of Irish rebel music like the Wolfe Tones, Derek Warfield and Irish Brigade. I recently purchased a CD from Ireland by the Irish Brigade called Live in Dublin. It tells of the Troubles in Ireland. It is a very good CD. I got it from Donegal because it is difficult to buy rebel CDs here.

I sent a tape of rebel songs to Mr. Farragher about a year ago and never heard from him or saw anything in his column. I’m sure he knows more groups than U2.

Mike, how about writing about the Wolfe Tones, Derek Warfield or Tommy Makem once in a while?

Jim Harrington
Arlington, Massachusetts

The Master Durkan

In 1976 there was no such thing as caller ID, but when the phone rang at 2 a.m. I had a good idea who it was. “They have one of our people at the border,” said a sleep deprived Frank Durkan.

Knowing the legal portfolio of Frank as a principal of the O’Dwyer and Bernstien law firm, “our people” could have meant an Irish refugee, ex-prisoner, gun runner or an activist from any part of the labor, political, human or civil rights spectrum.

The person of interest had been arrested, and could I contact then deputy solicitor general Joe Dooley, a member of the Brehon Law Society to secure representation? It was not the beginning of Frank’s legacy of concern for the oppressed, but it was my first exposure to a lawyer who truly cared.

For a time in the decades of the 1970s and ‘80s Frank seemed to be in courtrooms across the nation fighting our government’s abuse of power and corruption of justice in its’ rush to do the bidding of the British government.

In an unforgettable courtroom drama in New York City, Frank’s legal instincts were tested in a poignant scene few who witnessed it will ever forget. A government witness at the arms trial of Mike Flannery depicted one of the defendants, George Harrison, as recently involved in gun running.

This struck Harrison as an insult. Harrison pulled feverishly at Frank, and after a few minutes of consultation Frank stood up. Always the consummate professional, Frank asked the judge if he could speak. With a Clarence Darrow demeanor and a bemused smile, the Mayo native informed the judge that his client wanted to assure the judge and this courtroom that he was no latecomer to gun running and had been doing so for 40 years.

As the British vice tightened on the Northern six counties of Ireland, there were more refugees, escapees and those in America who sought to espouse their cause or aid them in distress as well as those who helped them fight their persecutors. Frank was there for all of them — Baltimore 3, Fort Worth 5, Florida 4 and the NYC 1, Irish activist Michael Shanley, who had the temerity to wave an Irish flag and offer some choice words to Prince Charles as he entered Lincoln Center.

Even when tensions emerged between organizations and the strategies employed to help those in the North, it was Frank who was the master of ceremonies at all their dinners and conventions. This included yeoman work as toastmaster at the Irish American Unity Conference convention in Pittsburgh last year, and with his beloved Mayo Society of Cleveland.

The sorrow of the passing of such a man must soon give way to the joy of his legacy of service to those less fortunate. His example of dedication and sacrifice inspired many like myself to see what part we might play to secure a peace with justice not only in Ireland, but especially in Ireland.

May the master of ceremonies who gave us Frank and who sustained him through his infirmity now welcome him to the head table for a never-ending banquet of peace!

Michael J. Cummings, member National Board of the AOH and IAUC
Albany, New York

Therapy Needed

The letter writer John Gregg should be locked up in jail for the horrific rant he penned in the November 8-14 issue. He is so full of hatred and blinded by prejudice that it’s a wonder this man still has a functioning heart.

Times are changing, Mr. Gregg. The days of the Protestant veto in Northern Ireland are gone forever. Get used to it.

It’s time to build peace and forget about the past, Mr. Gregg. The Catholic community in Northern Ireland has been abused and discriminated against for centuries. Isn’t it better to try and heal these wounds, instead of pouring more salt?

I live for the day when the small island of Ireland is reunited again. And that will happen, in spite of the John Greggs of the world.

It must be awful to live the life that Mr. Gregg does. Imagine being so angry as to pen such hatred to a newspaper for publication? This man is in serious need of therapy, and possibly medicine, before he does some serious damage.

Joan McManus
Bridgeport, Connecticut