[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 24 (Thursday, March 7, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E304-E305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SAINT PATRICK'S DAY 2002 DEMONSTRATES REAL PROGRESS IN NORTH OF IRELAND

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                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 7, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, yet another glorious Saint Patrick's Day 
will soon be upon us, and all of the good, warm Irish people here,

[[Page E305]]

and all around the globe, will be celebrating the patron saint of the 
Emerald Isle on this the day when the wearing of the green means 
something special.
  Today, in the long, difficult struggle for lasting peace and justice 
in the north of Ireland there is also much to celebrate. The assembly 
and local governing bodies are up and running. All of the people of 
Northern Ireland are making their own judgments on many of the 
contentious issues of the past, and deciding their own future through 
new and democratically accountable institutions as established under 
the Good Friday accord.
  One of the most important and difficult issues for many in the 
nationalist community is a new beginning for policing, and in 
particular the issue of the new police service and the new policing 
board, as well as a new ombudsman along with the democratic 
accountability of these new institutions over the police service, once 
viewed by many as just a unionist dominated force.
  Recently, the Irish News in Belfast published my opinion piece on the 
need for all those in the nationalist community to join and support the 
new police service and support the policing board in order that they 
help select a new chief constable, and further make these institutions 
even more democratically accountable. We must continue to struggle for 
protection of human rights and the redress of past injustices in the 
new north of Ireland as we make these changes and bring about long 
overdue reforms.
  For your consideration, I ask that my Irish News piece, be reprinted 
below for the benefit of my colleagues, and all those who are concerned 
the progress in Northern Ireland which we are witnessing, to continue 
to move forward:

              [From the Irish News Limited, Feb. 25, 2002]

               We Must All Join the Solution for Policing

                            (By Ben Gilman)

       ``It's time for the nationalist community to seize the 
     moment on policing reform and fully participate in the new 
     Northern Ireland Police institutions,'' says Congressman Ben 
     Gilman.
       The newly constituted Policing Board established under the 
     Pattern reforms, which is now overseeing the Police Service 
     of Northern Ireland (PSNI), will soon have a historic 
     opportunity to help select the new chief constable to replace 
     the long serving Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
       The often tragic and troubling history of many in the 
     nationalist community with policing in the north is hopefully 
     coming to an end.
       Our International Relations Committee in the House of 
     Representatives held hearings and investigated this past and 
     troubling record.
       We know well the problems and anxieties in the nationalist 
     community on the difficult policing issue, and we will 
     continue to push for even more democratically accountable 
     policing in the north.
       The chief constable appointment, however, can become a 
     historic crossroads on the nationalist community's 
     relationship with the police service--once viewed by many as 
     merely an arm of unionist domination in the north.
       The selection of a new chief constable, with whom the 
     nationalist community, its leadership, and its citizens will 
     have to communicate and interact for years to come on 
     organized crime, parades, protests, illicit drugs, and all of 
     the fundamental rule of law problems in a democratic society, 
     will help define the new policing relationship well into the 
     21st century.
       All of the leaders in the nationalist community must raise 
     their voices and be heard on the vital selection of the new 
     police chief, as surely and rightfully the unionist community 
     will, and should do, as well. This is the very essence of 
     democratic accountability for policing. The key selection 
     decision will be made by the policing board, and Sinn Fein 
     should be part of it.
       Not only should the nationalist leadership help choose a 
     qualified, understanding and sensitive chief constable, the 
     time has also come for all of the young people in the 
     nationalist community to consider a rewarding police career 
     in the new PSNI. There they can help serve all of the 
     citizens in the north of Ireland, irrespective of tradition, 
     location, or station in life.
       Policing is very often the average citizen's only 
     interaction with his or her government on a daily basis. It 
     is vital that both communities be adequately represented in 
     the police service and that the face of citizen contact 
     should truly represent the entire community.
       The ``new beginning'' for policing that the Good Friday 
     agreement wisely envisioned is now becoming a reality in 
     Northern Ireland. We have seen a new name, new badge, new 
     flag, and new police recruits from both traditions. The GAA's 
     island-wide vote to drop its longstanding rule excluding 
     Northern Ireland police officers from playing Gaelic athletic 
     games was a reflection of that new reality.
       Change has occurred in policing, and it is broadly 
     welcomed.
       Along with the new police leadership in Northern Ireland, 
     at of these new policing efforts will help better serve both 
     communities under the new democratically accountable 
     community policing, especially through the new policing board 
     and district boards, for decades to come.
       We in the Congress, and President George Bush in the White 
     House, acknowledged and recognized this new beginning when 
     the administration, at the request of myself and others 
     finally restored our world-renowned FBI police training for 
     the new PSNI in Northern Ireland.
       In doing so, President Bush made it clear the US government 
     officially and formally concurs with the British and Irish 
     governments and groups like SDLP and the Roman Catholic 
     Church in the north, that the new PSNI meets the spirit and 
     intent of the recommendations of the Patten commission police 
     reforms. It was a major vote of confidence on the future.
       In our nation, earlier Irish emigrants to America often 
     faced isolation, mistreatment and hostile bigotry in many of 
     our major US cities where they embarked or journeyed in an 
     unknown and sometimes hostile land. They did not remain 
     isolated and withdrawn from politics and the police 
     functioning in their newly adopted land, but rather they 
     worked for and brought about change and reform from within 
     these vital institutions.
       These courageous and hardworking Irish emigrants to America 
     used our political process and policing to play a key role in 
     improving their lives and bringing themselves, their 
     children, and future generations into the maintstream.
       As a result, they have prospered and grown apart of the 
     American melting pot, and today they staff, and in many cases 
     lead, major police departments in several American big 
     cities.
       The lessons of Irish emigrants in the US can serve as an 
     example to the nationalist community in the new north of 
     Ireland in dealing with their difficult and challenging 
     police question. The time to sit on the side lines is over.
       I strongly urge young people in the north to join the new 
     police service, without fear or favor, and become part of the 
     solution. I also urge, as the Bush administration has urged, 
     that Sinn Fein now in the assembly, also join the new 
     policing board, join in picking the new chief constable, and 
     thereafter hold him or her, and the PSNI fully and 
     democratically accountable to all of the citizens of Northern 
     Ireland.
       We in the Congress will continue our efforts to improve and 
     increase police accountability to the new board in areas like 
     the ongoing loyalist attacks on the nationalist community, 
     the Patrick Finucane murder, and the Omagh bombing 
     investigate shortcomings, among other legitimate areas of 
     rightful concern to the nationalist community.
       All of the friends of the good, hardworking people of 
     Northern Ireland of both traditions see the future for their 
     children and communities as unlimited. We note that they can 
     help ensure that continuing success by becoming part of the 
     peace process and the new, shared governing institutions, 
     such as the police board. The solutions now lie from within.
       We here on our side of the Atlantic will continue to cheer 
     the progress we see daily in Northern Ireland and will work 
     to see it continue. We have helped and encouraged on that 
     front but it is now up to all of the good people of Northern 
     Ireland to fulfill this promise.

     

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