Anti-Catholic Law Must Go

The final IRA decommissioning will help reveal to the world what has always been at the heart of the problem in Northern Ireland.

The state of Northern Ireland was created in 1920 for a twofold reason — to ensure England would continue to have a foothold on the island of Ireland, and to ensure Protestant/Unionist/Orange supremacy in the new artificial state. In this way, British interests were secured, and Catholic inequality guaranteed.

The problem has always been about the British government militarily backing up that sectarian, undemocratic entity. Now that it appears, under Tony Blair, the British government is no longer interested in backing up a sectarian regime, there is a chance for the word to see clearly the remaining problem — Unionist reluctance to accept the concept of equality with Catholics. That is now the issue, and there’s no way of denying it.

But Blair must do something else to show his Government has abandoned all sectarianism. He must immediately remove the “constitutional” basis for all Orange bigotry and sectarianism: the anti-Catholic section of the Act of Settlement of 1700, which is still in force today.

Under this ridiculous — but malicious and inherently sectarian —act a Catholic is forbidden by law to become the king or queen, and if the monarch converts to Catholicism or marries a Catholic he/she forfeits the throne and “the people are absolved of their allegiance.”

That would be similar to the U.S. Constitution having a provision that would outlaw an African-American becoming president or marrying a black person. And if the president were to marry a black person his election would be declared null and void by the Constitution. Can you imagine how that would have further fanned the fires of white racism in the United States?

It is, therefore, this wretched Act of Settlement that is ultimately behind all anti-Catholic bigotry in Northern Ireland because it provides Protestant/Unionist /Orange extremists with motivation and justification.

If the very top law in England, the Queen’s own law, declares Catholics cannot be monarch, therefore it follows Catholics are inferior, and, therefore, cannot be equal to Protestants. (The easiest way for Protestants/ Unionists/ Orangemen to prove I’m wrong about this is to join me in calling for the abolition of this anti-Catholic legislation).

But the buck stops, as always, with the British government. It was not the Orangemen who passed this anti-Catholic legislation but the monarch acting in Parliament, and it can only be undone by same.

The sad thing is that Blair, up until now, has blocked all efforts to change this horribly anti-Catholic law because “it would be too much paperwork and too expensive.”

Father Sean McManus
President Irish National Caucus
Washington, D.C.

North for All

The IRA has decommissioned its weapons and the North is on its way to a bright, long-term future.

Why is Ian Paisley still such a champion of hate? Can’t he see that a peaceful and prosperous North is in the best interests of his people?

I wonder why Unionists continue to give this man a platform for his warped views. Does he really want to go back to the bad old days of bombs and killing?

Unionists need a change at the top, or else their lives will never improve.

Dennis Callaghan
Providence, Rhode Island

Farragher the Creep!

Mike Farragher’s attack in the issue of September 21-27 (“No, Nay Never Again, Please!”) on the AOH organizers of Irish festivals tells us more negative things about Mike Farragher than it does about the AOH members who organized the Sea Girt, New Jersey festival.

First of all he admits he joined the festival committee just to gather material that would be used to betray them. How tacky and dishonest can you get?

Then, he seems to be ignorant of the demographics of the attendees. He does not seem to know that those who go to such festivals go there because they want to hear the Irish “oldies.” They do not go to hear the latest offerings of the drug and alcohol scene in Dublin or Belfast.

I was at the Sea Girt festival and it was a lively family event with hundreds of babies and toddlers in attendance and young people of all ages and all were having a very good time.

Ironically, I spoke to some of the AOH leaders who put on the event and they were boasting about the fact that Farragher of the Irish Voice was helping them out. They were so grateful to him.

These are decent hard working men and women who had given a great deal of their time to put on an event that was enjoyed by so many, and little did they know that Farragher had come on board for the sole purpose of ridiculing their efforts. What a creep!

Patrick Campbell,
AOH Member, New Jersey

Respect Traditions

Once again Mike Farragher has used his column to criticize Irish traditional music. This type of music is enjoyed by many people in the New York metro area but is becoming more limited due to a loss of venues.

The Irish festivals are a haven for those of us who enjoy trad music. It is also an opportunity to hear different bands and singers we don’t get to hear very often due to geographic and other impediments.

Farragher has complained about the traditional music genre in the past. Certainly everyone is entitled to his opinion and personal music preferences, but when a person is employed to cover Irish music, he must be open to the traditional music of Ireland.

Perhaps the answer is to allow Farragher to write strictly about Irish rock bands and on alternate weeks, employ a person with a knowledge and appreciation of traditional music.

William Doyle
Clark, New Jersey

Keep Faith in Spain

I was sorry to read Ellen Knapp’s “Cancel Subscription” letter to the editor in the September 14-20 issue of the Irish Voice.

I will readily admit that John Spain took the popular line on bashing President Bush, but if you read Mr. Spain faithfully you will usually find that he leans to the right and has a pretty good handle on the issues most of the time.

I too was disappointed that he took the easy way out without doing his homework as to who was accountable for what-when in reacting to the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

Today it is more popular than ever for people to disregard their responsibilities leading up to a disaster, and then wail loudly while pointing fingers when catastrophe strikes. It reminds me of the political solutions to the sectarian violence that has plagued Northern Ireland for the last several hundred years.

Politicians like Bill Clinton got a lot of mileage out of empty commitments. George W. Bush has been castigated because he’s too smart to get involved.

The baby’s picture on the front page of the same issue of the Irish Voice says it all. Get the politicians out of it and put the housewives in charge. They’ll come to scratch on the problem because they understand the consequences better than anyone else.

Hopefully, Ellen, this will help you realize that John Spain is not the only journalist to be duped into going with the flow. I wouldn’t give up on him.

Jerry Hoosier
Orange, California

Don’t Boast

I would just like to say that I find your coverage on Irish celebrity news to be extremely boastful.

Can you possibly change this to just reporting celebrity news, as I cannot help but feel embarrassed.

B. Neary
Bellerose, New York