[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1932-E1933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              OFFICERS OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. KING. Mr. Speaker, today to request that the following speeches 
given by Officers of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) be inserted 
into the Congressional Record. The first speech is the welcoming 
remarks by John E. McInerney, the President of the District of Columbia 
State Board of the AOH. The second is a tribute to the work of the 
Congressional Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs by Ned McGinley, the 
new National President of the AOH.

                      A Tribute to the Peacemakers

                       (By John Edward McInerney)

       Ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, Mr. Ambassador, 
     fellow Hibernians, and honored guests. Welcome.
       The Ancient Order of Hibernians is gathered here this 
     evening to pay tribute and to thank a very special group of 
     legislators. We Hibernians are here to thank the 89 women and 
     men of the United States House of Representatives who are 
     serving as members on the bipartisan Ad Hoc Committee for 
     Irish Affairs. After twenty-five years of service, the 
     members of the committee have done so much to bring peace 
     with justice to Ireland.
       For centuries before the United States was formed as a 
     nation, Ireland struggled and fought for her freedom. Since 
     1921, Ireland has strived to be one nation united taking its 
     rightful place among the family of nations. In that long 
     struggle for the cause of an united Ireland, the Irish 
     American community never received support by a large 
     organized group of members of the American Congress.
       However, twenty-five years ago that situation changed, 
     thanks in large part to so many people, especially 
     Congressman Mario Biaggi. It was during this very month on 
     September 27, 1977 that the Ad Hoc Committee for Irish 
     Affairs was born. Initially, it did not meet with universal 
     acclamation on both sides of the Atlantic. But in time it 
     became a valuable resource to all parties on both sides of 
     the Ocean as it focused on the important issue of peace with 
     justice in all of Ireland. From the onset, it focused on 
     encouraging the United States to help broker peace 
     initiatives. The progress that has been achieved so far is 
     due in part to the tireless efforts of this bipartisan Ad Hoc 
     Committee for Irish Affairs.
       In time, this committee became the preeminent Congressional 
     Caucus dedicated to fostering a closer relationship between 
     the people of Ireland and the United States Congress. It was 
     organized with the help of the national board of the Ancient 
     Order of Hibernians and other groups. It has been an 
     unfailing proponent of the Peace Process in the north of 
     Ireland by hosting members from both sides of the government 
     of the North as well as the Republic of Ireland. In doing 
     this it has served as a valuable source of education for all 
     the members of the United States Congress on Ireland.
       This ad hoc committee was there for Ireland and the Irish 
     American community at critical moments during the past 
     quarter century--such as persuading President Clinton to 
     grant Gerry Adams a visa. That bold move alone set off the 
     current peace process in the north of Ireland--a process that 
     is still developing and unfolding today. It was a member of 
     this ad hoc committee namely Peter King of New York--who was 
     a liaison between President Clinton and some of the parties 
     in helping shape the Good Friday Agreement--even to the point 
     of waking the President of the United States up in the middle 
     of the night to intervene at critical moments.
       Each member of the Ad Hoc Committee has made valuable--or 
     should I say significant--contributions. In decades to come 
     when the history of these uncertain times--the history of the 
     ``troubles'' and the history of the current struggles over 
     the Good Friday Agreement--will be written, historians will 
     record that the Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs played a 
     critical role in achieving peace with justice in Ireland. Not 
     only the role of Mario Biaggi will stand out, but the names 
     of the current Co-Chairs of this bipartisan committee--
     Benjamin Gilman, Peter King, Richard Neal, and Joseph 
     Crowley--will be not be lost in the annuals of history, 
     especially the history of Ireland.
       But, for each of you individually, you will know in time as 
     you look back upon your years of service in the Congress, 
     that your interventions and efforts--both personally and 
     collectively--played an important role at critical times in 
     Ireland's history today. You will have achieved the personal 
     satisfaction of having played the role of peacemaker. And to 
     each of you, may the promise of Scripture come true in your 
     own lives and in exercising your responsibilities as 
     lawmakers--``Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall 
     inherit the earth.''
       This evening, the Hibernians--the oldest Irish American 
     fraternal organization in the

[[Page E1933]]

     United States--welcome each of you here this evening as we 
     pay tribute and to thank the peacemakers.

                                  ____
                                  

           Tribute to the Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs

                           (By Ned McGinley)

       Reverend clergy, Members of Congress, AOH and LAOH national 
     officers, AOH District of Columbia state board officers, and 
     members of the AOH and LAOH. Welcome to our congressional 
     reception.
       The Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, along with our 
     Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, is proud to host this 
     reception for the 25 years of work that the Ad Hoc Committee 
     for Irish Affairs has accomplished.
       We know that Ad Hoc refers to a ``temporary committee.'' 
     When our efforts in the next few years are successful and 
     bring about a United Ireland with Peace and Justice for all 
     of it's citizens, we will all come down here for a really 
     big, party when we finally dissolve this Committee.
       The following is a quote for the--Irish Echo of May 2, 1981 
     right after Bobby Sands had won a by-election to become a 
     legally elected member of the London Parliament and put and 
     end to the lie to the propaganda that Irish-Republicans had 
     NO political support in the six counties in the north of 
     Ireland. In a letter to President Reagan, the Committee 
     wrote:
       ``As members of the Ad Hoc Congressional Committee for 
     Irish Affairs, we are making an urgent appeal on behalf of 
     the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish National 
     Caucus, that you immediately communicate with Prime Minister 
     Margaret Thatcher to urge a humanitarian resolution in the 
     matter of Mr. Robert Sands. Mr. Sands, a legally elected 
     member of the British Parliament, and a prisoner in the Long 
     Kesh prison facility, is in the 54th day of a hunger strike.
       ``As his condition deteriorates, violence in the North has 
     escalated. His death very well may trigger more severe 
     violence. It is our hope that you can convey your concern 
     personally and immediately to Mrs. Thatcher. Clearly, time is 
     of the essence as officials have indicated that his death may 
     be imminent if quick action is not taken.
       ``As you stated in your St. Patrick's Day message, `I add 
     my personal prayers and the good offices of the United States 
     to those who wish fervently for peace.' We make our appeal to 
     you in the spirit of peace and humanity.''
       That telegram sent to President Reagan was signed by many 
     members of Congress, namely Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), 
     and Representatives Mario Biaggi (D-NY), Benjamin Rosenthal 
     (D-NY), William Cotter (D-CT), Leo C. Zeferetti (D-NY), 
     Norman Lent (R-NY), Harold C. Hollenbeck (R-NJ), John Conyers 
     (D-MI), Richard Ottinger (D-NY), Nicholas Mavroules (D-Mass), 
     William Carney (R-NY), Frank Annuzio (D-Ill), Eugene Atkinson 
     (D-Pa), Charles Schumer (D-NY), John LeBoutillier (R-NY), 
     Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), Gregory Carman (R-NY), Hamilton Fish 
     (R-NY), Cardiss Collins (D-Ill), Samuel S. Stratton (D-NY), 
     and James Nelligan (R-Pa).
       Obviously the Ad Hoc Committee made a statement on the 
     Hunger Strike in May of 1981 that the election of Bobby Sands 
     may be the seminal moment in the Peace Process today. That 
     was when Sinn Fein, the Irish-Republican political party, 
     discovered their electoral mandate and platform. That was the 
     beginning when they formed the strategy of today. That 
     strategy essentially states that they are willing to beat you 
     at ``the ballot box,''
       It would take fifteen more years and 3,000 deaths in a 
     population of 1.5 million, but that strategy would evolve 
     into the electoral successes of the day for Sinn Fein and the 
     other Nationalist Party, the SDLP.
       It built a confidence in the Irish Republicans that they 
     were not alone and that people in the United States knew of 
     their plight, due in no small part because of this Ad Hoc 
     Committee.
       It would bring in 1996 Gerry Adams to New York City--in no 
     small part because of the efforts of this Ad Hoc Committee.
       It would mean a ceasefire for the IRA and the 
     decommissioning of weapons during the past two years.
       It would bring about the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that 
     would tie everyone in the North of Ireland to the ballot box.
       It would build a consensus for a political solution to what 
     was once known as one of the world's interminable conflicts.
       In all of this I do not wish to get too optimistic. The 
     latest threat to the peace process came only last weekend 
     because the level of tension loyalist paramilitary UDA and 
     LVF have had during a summer of violence unparalleled in a 
     land used to summers of violence. Their one and only aim in 
     all of this is to draw the Irish Republican Army back into 
     the violence, knowing that any violence by the Republicans 
     will cause headlines while their violence will be against 
     little girls walking to Holy Cross School to not even draw a 
     camera.
       The Royal Ulster Constabulary, about which the U.S. 
     Congress held hearings in many instances chaired by Ben 
     Gilman and Christopher Smith, exposed this lethal 
     paramilitary arm of Unionism for the collusion and murders in 
     which they had aided the Unionists.
       There have been changes, but not yet enough. Those who 
     helped murder Nationalists must be vetted from the Police 
     Service and brought to trial. Rosemary Nelson testified at a 
     U.S. congressional hearing, chaired by Chris Smith, in which 
     she said that she had been threatened. Within months after 
     she returned to the north of Ireland, she was assassinated 
     with a bomb in her car.
       The Patton Proposals must be instituted in full, not 
     partially. The Special Branch of the RUC, which may have 
     failed to prevent the Omagh Bombing when it protected an 
     informant, needs to disappear.
       With my own eyes I saw this past August that the RUC is 
     still a sectarian police force in the Belfast neighborhoods 
     of the Short Strand and Ardoyne, where Protestant gangs roam 
     unchecked firing shots and attacking any Catholic in the 
     area.
       We need to answer the Unionists who say this process isn't 
     working with the list of concessions made by the Republicans 
     both in arms control and in politics. Remember that Sinn Fein 
     gave up their long-time armed struggle to accept the ballot 
     box as a means to bring about a United Ireland. I submit that 
     the Ulster Unionist Party is more afraid of Sinn Fein at the 
     ballot box than they are anywhere else, and that they are 
     also deathly afraid of the Sinn Fein mandate with their 
     rightful place in the government.
       Please don't stop now! We together--the Ad Hoc Committee 
     for Irish Affairs and Irish organizations like the AOH--
       We have made the difference in converting the armed 
     struggle into the political struggle.
       We have made the difference between war and peace.
       We have saved hundreds of lives in a country of 1.5 
     million.
       We have brought the confidence to the Nationalist/Catholic 
     people of the north that someone knows their plight and will 
     give them a fair shake.
       We have proved to them that they can win freedom through 
     politics.
       We have proven that they can have a United Ireland by all 
     peaceful means.
       Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the Congress for having 
     the courage to do the right thing though it may not be the 
     popular thing during the past quarter century.

     

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