Sordid tale of Boston College IRA tapes should now be over - Death of Dolours Price means no prosecution possible for British

Dolours Price

In Friday's Boston Globe newspaper, columnists Kevin Cullen states that he believes that the death of Dolours Price, the dissident Republican, meant that the issue of the Boston College IRA tapes was now over.

Price died of a suspected overdose in her Dublin home. She had suffered from mental health issues for many years.

The British government had been seeking the tapes in an attempt to link Gerry Adams to the murder of Jean McConville, an alleged IRA informer who was killed in Belfast in 1972.

Read More: Religion is the least important aspect of Irish people’s lives, survey offers holistic view of life in Ireland 

Price had apparently fingered Adams on the tapes but what use the word of a clearly ill woman would have been was never explained.        

Cullen’s point was well made; the death of Dolores Price means she cannot give evidence against Gerry Adams in court which was the main reason why the British government wanted to seize the tapes.

The tapes were part of the Boston College Project which was intended to be an oral history of The Troubles but quickly turned into a Gerry Adams witch hunt led by project director journalist Ed Moloney who clearly holds Adams in great contempt for daring to sign up to the peace process.

Despite the fact that the Boston College project was allegedly an historical one aimed at creating an oral an archive of The Troubles the British government decided that their long time vendetta against Gerry Adams could be well served by seizing the tapes.

Read More: Boston College Irish tapes - the truth about Ed Moloney’s book and letting the cat out of the bag

Cullen pointed that without Price the tapes are no longer useful to the British and they and the U.S. government should now reach an agreement that no further tapes will be sought.

The timing is perfect as I wrote here last week. The new Secretary of State, John Kerry, is on the record as opposing the British attempt to gain access to the tapes.  Now is the perfect time for Kerry to make clear to the British that they should give up their efforts to get the tapes.

The episode has been a sordid one from the beginning with the initial efforts to get Adams by the researchers followed by the British government efforts to use historical records to cause problems in the peace process.

There is enough death and destruction attached to The Troubles to last several lifetimes. Cherry picking cases or fomenting historical feuds is a waste of time

With the death of Dolours Price this episode can now be brought to an end. Hopefully John Kerry will take the opportunity to do so in no uncertain terms with the British.

The Vatican very happy that Irish bishops mess is being sorted out - Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown skips a generation of leaders

Cardinal Sean Brady (center) with Monsignor Eamon Martin (left) and Papal Nuncio Charles Brown (right) on the steps of Armagh Cathedral on Jan 18 2013. 

The Vatican is moving to completely transform the face of Irish Catholicism led by the dynamic Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown.

The New Yorker and Notre Dame grad has quickly worked out a strategy for the Irish church leadership beset by sex abuse cover-up allegations.

That strategy was unveiled in full by the announcement late in the week that Monsignor Eamon Martin of Derry would leapfrog a generation of bishops and would be bishops and become the future leader of the church.

Martin is a toddler in ecclesiastical terms, a mere 51 years old, and Brown has undoubtedly taken the step to recommend him as the future Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland to end once and for all the hideous in fighting that has consumed the church leadership.

There is apparently a poisonous atmosphere among the top clergy, caused in the main by the implications of the cover-ups and the failure of one leader, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, to go along.

Diarmuid Martin is fearless, but a deeply divisive figure among his fellow bishops because of his outspoken comments. In terms of public approval he would be by far the most popularchurch figure in Ireland but popularity is not where the Vatican is at.

Cardinal Sean Brady, head of the church in Ireland, has become a massive liability after it became clear that he had participated in some manner in the cover-up of abusive priests.

So he had to go, hence the move now by Brown and the Vatican to move beyond this tainted generation of church leader and choose a bright new star, untainted by child abuse scandals.

It is operation ‘clean hands’ and is already being referred to as such. There are many other senior appointments to come and we can expect more of the same.

The gamble for the Vatican is that young Eamon Martin may be out of his depth which would mean they have picked a lightweight who may be in situ at least two decades.

Brown however, appears to be a shrewd and clever playmaker who has seen the need to skip a generation and start afresh and who thinks the gamble on such an inexperienced prelate is worth the risk.

That remains to be seen but there will be a long sigh of relief in the Vatican that the Irish mess is on its way to being sorted out.

Former Bishop of Derry Edward Daly spoke for the majority when he said “He does not carry any baggage from the past with him,' Daly told the BBC.

'It's a challenging time for the church in Ireland. He has been asked to lead that church.'

Manti Te’o Notre Dame hoax is like an episode from ‘The Twilight Zone’ -- Fake girlfriend, fake death, is a twisted tale about life online - VIDEO

Manti Te'o and his fake girlfriend (Credit: Deadspin.com)

Manti Te’o’s lackluster performance against Alabama in the national championship game is now explained.

In a twist worthy of a Twilight  Zone episode it turns out that Te’o, the Notre Dame stand-out,  was the victim of a hoax girlfriend, a faked death and a professional scam perpetrated for no other reason it seems than to embarrass and seriously wound an outstanding young man.

The media is having a field day, especially the anti-Notre Dame shills. ‘Lying Irish’ is just one headline from The New York Post today.

I have just watched the entire press conference that Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick gave in South Bend and my head is spinning with the tale of deceit, lies and cold blooded callousness he revealed.

Much and all as we think a fake girlfriend would be an impossible trick to pull off, the fact is that online personas, avatars, and disguises are the stock in trade of millions of hucksters on the Internet.

We open our online accounts every day and there are a flood of such bottom feeders trying to inveigle their way into our lives.

In the case of Te’o they succeeded and in the process have created a sensational outcome that will deeply embarrass Notre Dame and all who sail with her.

Read more: Johnny Football got the Heisman and Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o got the shaft

Te’o’s only crime appears to be that he was so trusting that he was duped from day one in September 2011 when a woman masquerading as a Stanford student who was a big fan of his contacted him via Twitter.

Over the next 14 months or so it appears they carried out an intense online and telephonic relationship.

According to Swarbrick, there was a cast of characters who kept the dupe Te’o narrative going, an unbelievably cruel and sophisticated hoax.

The girl even came with a family, different characters who were introduced to Te’o who was obviously seriously smitten, strange as that may sound.

Or maybe not. People are smitten every day on the Internet by perfect strangers. Much of it is real, much of it is imagined. In Teo’s world the distant girlfriend became a constant presence.

As Swarbrick pointed out the scam was based closely on a documentary called ‘Catfish’ about this phenomenon of reeling in an unsuspecting person by virtue of a fable carefully constructed.

What possible enjoyment there could be from such a scam is hard to see but any scroll through the Internet reveals trolls and other evil people ready to do their worst.

Read more: Notre Dame support is a search for family and common roots for millions 

Just yesterday there was a series of articles about one of the heroes of the Sandy Hook shooting , a man who took in several of the panic stricken children who fled the school, being abused anonymously online.

Such is the world we live in and we should not be surprised when a major figure like Te’o, clearly way too trusting for his own good, was roped in to a scam.

It is deeply embarrassing for Te’o and for Notre Dame. One can only imagine what Coach Brian Kelly was thinking when he was informed of the hoax days before the biggest game of his life.

But the real victim here is Te’o, a young man caught in the full glare of the media headlights and revealed as naive and far too trusting.

People will ask how come he never demanded to meet her and apparently several planned encounters were canceled at the last moment. Those should have been warning shots for Te’o but he won’t be the first or the last fool in love to construct his own reality around events despite glaring holes in the story.

What satisfaction these bottom feeders got from their hoax I do not know but it is a sad reflection on our modern world that such people exist and thrive. I hope for Te’o and Notre Dame’s sake he can put all this behind him and be the great NFL player he is destined to be.

Just when you think you have seen it all a story like this comes along. Sadly, it is a truly a reflection on the times we live in.

Fascist groups now seen as behind Northern Ireland flag clashes -- Gerry Adams claims fascist group have leadership role in flag rallies

Violence in Belfast over union flag continues (Photo: Broadsheet)

Right wing fascist groups and mafia-type intimidators now appear to be at the heart of the flag protests in Northern Ireland.

Britain First, a fascist group based in Britain, has claimed to be at the forefront of leading  what it describes as peaceful flag protests. 29 police officers were injured over the weekend in clashes that threaten to restore the bad old days in Northern Ireland.

The clashes began last month after Belfast City Council ruled on December 3 that the Union Jack would no longer fly over City Hall every day but only on 15 select days and have continued unabated since.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott have both pointed out that outside agitation is forming a large part of the protest core.

Adams stated over the weekend that, “The vast majority of the protests taking place around the flag issue are illegal. Most are being organized by the BNP, (British National Party which is composed of fascists) the UVF and criminal elements, some of whom are well known drug pushers.”

Read more news from Ireland

On their website the British First group proclaims, “As protests continue across Ulster at the disgraceful decision to remove our flag from Belfast City Hall, Britain First has once again been at the forefront of peaceful demonstrations.

“Instead of going away, as those who would attack our flag and Ulster’s British identity had hoped, the protests are only getting stronger.

“We see protests in Ulster, we see them on the mainland – no surrender, we will never submit to this attack on our flag.

Read More: Loyalist flag riots leave 29 police injured in Belfast as violence escalates

“Many thousands have turned out to take a stand against this disgusting attack, many thousands more are on the way.”

PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said social media is playing a role and youngsters as young as 10 are involved.

We’ve had an 11-year-old in custody but I believe some of [the rioters] are as young as 10,” Baggott said.

“The flag has become a rallying point. If you ask them what they are doing, [some] wouldn’t be able to tell you. It’s easy for them to be manipulated. They are not mature enough to see the consequences for their own life opportunities or the bigger picture.”

He said the riots “gathered a momentum of their own, quickly, through modern communications, which is a new phenomenon.”

Baggott said there was an urgent need for the Parades Commission to tackle the protests. “There has been a vagueness about the need for protests to be properly authorized and regulated through existing mechanisms, which at the moment is the Parades Commission. There has been an ambiguity around this for some time,” he said.

Read More: Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams says “vast majority” of the Belfast protests are illegal

The deeper issue is that the unionists can feel the power flow away from them. The recent census show a nationalist majority is in the offing in Northern Ireland with the Catholic numbers one birth cycle away from a majority.

Does that mean a united Ireland?

No, not necessarily, but it means parity of esteem issues like flags will become even more important.

No reason to allow Union Jacks to fly alone over Belfast any more - Unionists need to get used to equality agenda and equal symbols

Belfast City Hall

I’d almost feel sorry for the Loyalist protesters complaining about their Union Jacks no longer flying proudly over Northern Ireland were it not for the fact that they had it so good for so long -- and still do in terms of lording it over nationalists when it comes to symbols.

Danny Morrison, writer and former Sinn Fein political figure put it beautifully recently when he compared the place names of Belfast and showed just how dominant the unionist tradition remains.

If you’re a nationalist in his imaginary board game he says “You can't use the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, the Queen's Bridge, the Albert Bridge, the King's Bridge, Victoria Street, Prince's Street, Queen Street, King Street, Albert Street, the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital, a helicopter from the Kings Hall, Lower Windsor Avenue, the fields behind the Royal Academy. Nor can you be disguised as a prostitute from the Albert Clock, a student from Queen's, a worker with Royal Mail, a violinist with the Royal School of Music, a Queen's Counsel, a (former) member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, a screw of Her Majesty's Prison Service, a soldier with Her Majesty's armed forces, a Crown Court judge. Nor by boat up Victoria Channel to Albert Quay, Victoria Wharf or Alexandra Jetty. You must use the Queen's English on the Queen's Highway or else you'll be in breach of the Queen's Peace.”

So there. Nice job Danny.

And how many nationalists names are there around Belfast? Not many that I can think off unless you count Ballymurphy. The Falls Road means in Gaelic, district of hedges-- hardly revolutionary stuff!

When you consider that Ian Paisley essentially sparked The Troubles when he charged up the nationalist Falls Road in the mid 1960s to remove a lonesome tricolor flying in an local building there my sympathy for the Loyalists lessens a little.

Remember we are not talking about flying the tricolor side by side, which would be warranted given the fact that the population numbers are now equal and Belfast City Hall has a Nationalist /Alliance majority .

We are talking about flying the Union Jack about 15 days a year instead of every day and no Tricolor. The Loyalists want to party like it is 1922 all over again and a Protestant state for a Protestant people.

Alas for them, that ship sailed a long time ago now and there can be no flag of convenience any longer that does not recognize both traditions.

So Loyalists should just get used to the new era, not try and fly yet another kite.

Focus should be on depression not media in Irish Minister’s suicide -- Deep seated issue of depression and suicide needs full exploration

Shane McEntee RIP (Photo - AP)

We in the media business take our fair share of the blame for demonizing individuals and sometimes jumping to wrong conclusions.

But I think it is stretching it to say that media is responsible for the  suicide of a prominent politician as is being alleged in Ireland.

I knew Shane McEntee the Minister  of State for Agriculture who took his own life in tragic circumstances last week. I had met him on many occasions and he struck me as the prototype of a rural Irish politician deeply involved in his community and well liked and respected.

He was a man who had achieved an amazing amount in his too-short life and was clearly beloved as the massive 3,000 people at his funeral showed.

The reports in the media there say he was likely driven to suicide by the negative media coverage he received in recent months, as part of an increasingly unpopular government imposing more and more hardship on people.

I find it hard to believe that would have been the whole reason for his suicide however,
Anyone entering politics in Ireland knows it is a full contact blood sport where the real enemies, due to the electoral system, are far more likely to be in your own party than across the floor in the other parties.

Sure, there has been a coarsening in Irish life and the new media outlets including social media are relentless in their pursuit of individuals in attempts to bring them down.

But every politician I know either here or in Ireland factors in that issue and knows well that this week’s controversy is next week’s fish and chip wrapper and the carnival moves on.

They are able to separate the political from the personal and to understand that ,  irrespective of how intense political discussion and criticism becomes, it rarely has the power to impact to the horrific extent of suicide.

What I am saying is by definition, politicians have thick skins and are highly unlikely to be driven to suicide by headlines.

Long term depression is another matter altogether and it is clear all was not well with Shane McEntee for him to  have taken such a drastic course.

Whatever happened it is an unmitigated tragedy for him and his family. What hopefully it does do is  shine a light on depression and the causes of suicide in a country still remarkably reluctant to deal with an issue that has become  an urgent problem.

Perhaps that would be the best legacy of this tragic death that suicide and its causes become a major focus of the government he served so well and so proudly. That would be a fitting legacy for Shane McEntee if his death helped stop other suicides.

A witch hunt against Internet trolls on the other hand has no lasting value.

The truth is Margaret Thatcher likely ordered the Pat Finucane murder -- British can never reveal the truth about the killing of civil rights lawyer

Geraldine Finucane, widow of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane

The latest British inquiry into the death of Pat Finucane is again leaving massive questions unanswered.

The Guardian newspaper editorial headline said it best; “Pat Finucane murder: collusion, contrition, but not the whole truth.”

My strong belief is that the whole truth is that Margaret Thatcher ordered the Pat Finucane murder on February 12, 1989.

That is the key reason that no British Prime Minister will ever allow a public inquiry into the killing of the Belfast civil rights lawyer gunned down in front of his wife and children at his home.

He was shot 14 times while his widow, Geraldine, who was injured, tried to save him.

His only offense was to defend suspected IRA men and women too well in their court hearings.

I am not at all surprised that David Cameron uttered words of regret and then refused a public inquiry after the Da Silva report was issued yesterday.

Geraldine Finucane, a woman of immense courage,called it for what it was.

“This report is a sham. This report is a whitewash. This report is a confidence trick dressed up as independent scrutiny and given invisible clothes of reliability. Most of all, most hurtful and insulting of all, this report is not the truth,” she told reporters afterwards.

Read more: Inquiry into death of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane shows ‘shocking levels of collusion’

She knows what the truth is. The order to kill her husband came all the way from the top and David Cameron or any other British Prime Minister can never allow that truth to be revealed.

He can’t admit the British kill civil rights lawyers, can he?

Patrick Finucane was bringing the case of the Gibraltar 3, three IRA members shot dead in cold blood in March 1988, to Europe, which was going to be a massive embarrassment for Thatcher, who very likely gave the order for them to be shot dead also.

That court later found the three had been shot unlawfully. They had their hands up in surrender when they were shot down.

Finucane was doomed by a top government official. A member of Thatcher’s government Douglas Hogg, a Home Office minister, stood up in the House of Commons three weeks before Finucane was murdered and stated that some lawyers in Northern Ireland were "unduly sympathetic" to Irish Republicans.

He was directly referring to Finucane and signaling the killers to go ahead.

The new inquiry shows that MI5 was perfectly aware of the Finucane murder plot as were the RUC Special branch.

The Stevens inquiry into the Finucane killings stated, “My Enquiry team also investigated an allegation that senior RUC officers briefed the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Rt Hon Douglas Hogg QC, MP, that ‘some solicitors were unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA.”

Mr Hogg repeated this view...and the Enquiry concludes that “the Minister was compromised.”

In this latest enquiry, Sir Desmond Da Silva wrote, "My review of the evidence relating to Patrick Finucane's case has left me in no doubt that agents of the State were involved in carrying out serious violations of human rights up to and including murder."

Those agents did not act alone, they did so on orders from on high -- all the way to 10 Downing Street.

Thatcher’s reaction to the finding that her minister was responsible for the death of a lawyer?

She promoted him to Minister for Agriculture, all the better to keep him quiet.

Hogg was not alone in fingering Finucane of course. It went much higher in the government, all the way  to the top.

It was a time when Thatcher apparently believed she could win the war if only those pesky lawyers would stop getting guilty terrorists off. She also faced massive embarrassment in Europe over the Gibraltar killings.

The killing was sanctioned and carried out by the British state. Of all the crimes committed in Northern Ireland, the Finucane murder is the one which successive British government, of whatever hue, have most resisted investigating.

Pat’s problem was that he was too good at his job of defending Irish men and women arrested for alleged crimes against the state.

He had to be got rid of. The leader of the gang that killed him was a British special branch agent named Tommy Lyttle. The man who confessed to being the Ulster Defense Association hit man was Ken Barrett, also a special branch agent.

The UDA man who supplied the gun was William Stobie, also a special branch agent. He was killed by the UDA, by a British agent  in 2001, when he threatened to tell the truth about what happened to Pat Finucane.

Hogg and Thatcher might as well have been in the room when the gun went off fourteen times - they were just as culpable. The naming was the equivalent of painting a target on Finucane’s back - everyone knew who Hogg meant.

The British government had made their preference known.

And all the whitewash in the world will never remove the truth about what happened to Pat Finucane

Hillary's Choice -- a run for glory or a quiet retirement after Secretary of State? Irish trip provided vital clues as to her intentions for 2016

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton was feted and bid farewell to at a small private dinner at the Residence club in Stephen’s Green on Thursday night as twenty friends from both sides of the Atlantic gathered to mark her last trip to Ireland as Secretary of State.

During the meal of sea bass and boiled potatoes there was only one topic that dominated all else at the four small tables.

Will she or won’t she?

The White House will have a "for rent" sign in 2016 when Barack Obama leaves. Could she follow the first African American with the first woman and upend American politics for ever?

The answer insiders believe is a likely yes but there remains a significant element of doubt.

While the prospect is tempting the pitfalls are many and Hillary Clinton is keenly aware of them after her crash and burn in 2008

The Clintons have been part of every American national election since 1992, whether as direct participants or as key figures. It is a remarkable record and the question now is will it extend to 2016.

The Dublin dinner was a poignant occasion and one that was dominated by talk of what was next for a remarkable woman who has been Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, First Lady and a law lecturer in her career.

She has a resume unmatched by any modern day politician, indeed you would have to go back to the time of Jefferson to meet one politician who has held so many titles.

But a long resume is not necessarily a qualification for higher office in America. Barack Obama was just a one term senator .

It is not disputed that she is eminently qualified to be president of the United States. The question is will she be a contender and can she win?

There is also the bitter experience of 2008 to consider when she started as the red-hot favorite only to burn out as Barack Obama rode a massive media tide and an internet wave to victory in the primaries.

That defeat singed her in a way no other political setback had hurt. Yet the temptation for one last campaign at the age of 69 in 2016 is very real.

The speculation is already rife. The latest opinion polls show her at record popularity. her husband, fresh from helping secure Obama's victory is also at new levels of approval. Obama will be gone in four years.

Hillary wasn’t saying on Thursday night what her plans were but her tireless aide Huma Abedin did pipe up and say “vacation” when the question was raised on about what she would do next.

Hillary did not address the issue but instead went around the table and asked for memories of her Irish trips and Irish American events.

It was a poignant moment. If this really is her last job in public life as many believe, then she is bidding farewell to Ireland and will return only as a private citizen.

Ireland is very special for the Clintons, where they both proved their mettle on the peace process and established  friendships and links that endure to the present day. Unlike Obama's Moneygall trip which
was little more than a pleasant interlude, the Clintons take their Irish involvement very seriously.

Her aides say that as Secretary of State she has repeatedly used the Irish example in talks with Middle East leaders and others as an example of how those of different ethnicities can get along.

In many ways it was her proving ground. As she had mentioned earlier in her speech at Dublin City University, her first efforts at diplomacy in Northern Ireland had been putting the kettle on and meeting with women from different  backgrounds.

During her husband’s first visit to Northern Ireland in 1995 Hillary had met with community activist Joyce McCarten and dropped into her community center for tea with women of different backgrounds.

Hillary remembered she took the battered aluminum teapot back to the White House and used it as a symbol of her peacekeeping efforts.”

At the time she stated " Joyce gave me an old battered aluminium teapot - which kept the tea very warm, which is what I first noticed about it - that I took with me to the White House where I used it
every single day in the second floor private kitchen."

That unlikely start as a negotiator who eventually ended up facing off with world leaders and despots in the world’s trouble spots was an invaluable insight into bringing people together by stressing their
common humanity she said.

Thus, the women of Northern Ireland and her experience with the Vital Voices campaign stood to her she said.

Other lessons from Northern Ireland have clearly impacted.

The memories came cascading as friends and aides on Thursday night remembered. That December 1995 trip to Belfast and Derry when President Clinton addressed hundreds of thousands and Van Morrison sang “There Will Be Days Like This” was mentioned as a defining moment.

So too was the raucous White House Party on St.Patrick’s Day in the mid 1990s when the couple finally told the carousing Irish from both sides of the divide, who would not go home, to turn the lights off they were going to bed.

Then there was the memory of the first Vital Voices conference in Belfast bringing the women from both sides together.

Earlier at Dublin City University Hillary had revealed her emotional side when mentioning a champion of those days, Inez McCormack, now battling a serious cancer.

Hillary has called the Northern Ireland peace activist several times during her illness, a sign as always that the Clintons do not forget close friends.

This is the new Hillary, the emotional one who reaches out far more than she did. As First Lady she was stand offish, as U.S. Senator she was far more engaging and direct, as Secretary of State she has her husband’s ability to connect with people.

When it came to Hillary’s turn to speak on Thursday night she recalled the Adams visa and the overwhelming advice not to give it and the decision her husband made to grant it.

That taught her too she said, that tough decisions often upset your own side as much as the opposition.

The 2016 race is such a tough decision. There is the capacity to upset key figures in the Democratic Party if she overly delays her decision to run or not in 2016.

There are two candidates chomping at the bit, New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.

Both are bright, young and ambitious yet know that they are frozen in place until Hillary makes up her mind.

If she is clever they will have a long wait. The later she decides the harder it is to mount a campaign against her, the harder it is for an outsider like an Obama-type to mount a guerilla campaign against her.

Yet she knows how fickle the press is, how they will seek to anoint some other new candidate if only to sell newspapers when the time comes around.

Her abrupt fall from grace in 2008 when she thought she was the anointed one is still on her mind.

By 2016 some other candidate now in the long grass will have emerged perhaps. In 2008 they saw the now disgraced John Edwards as the looming threat.

Obama was in their rear view mirror his chance unlikely to come for at least another eight years. He soon destroyed that illusion.

So as she departs Ireland after her successful Dublin and Belfast visits Hillary Clinton will have much to ponder. As soon as she gets the rest she so desperately needs she will face the greatest choice of her life, to run or not in 2016.

Already some Republcian candidates have made shapes and visited early battleground states.

With campaigns startng earlier and earlier Clinton will be hounded to declare by the end of 2013 on whether  she intends or not to run.

In a life full of drama, glory and bitter defeat, the guess is Hillary will indeed seek that magic ring one more time and run for the White House.

The Clintons do not like unfinished business and the most remarkable couple in the history of the Republic are unlikely to pass up one final shot at history.

Hillary Clinton says ‘put me to work’ on Northern Ireland after she steps down - Amazing offer to American Ireland Fund by Secretary of State on Belfast visit

Hillary Clinton

Belfast; Well we now know at least one job Hillary Clinton would like to have after she leaves office.

Here is what she said to a room full of attendees at the American Ireland Fund luncheon in her honor held at the spectacular Titanic Quarter museum here.

“So my offer to you is, as I leave this current position and become a private citizen again, I want to continue working with you.

"I want to support you in what you are doing.  And I hope that we’ll have a chance to really come to grips with some of the serious remaining problems that are still plaguing the fulfillment of our aspirations for the people of Northern Ireland.

“Of course I look forward to coming back and having some time just to relax and spend a few hours talking with friends and thinking about things besides public life.

“But I’m very serious about this offer and very serious to the Ireland Funds that I want to remain involved as a friend, an advocate, and a cheerleader for what you have already achieved.”

That last sentence is especially compelling. As far as I know, it is the first time that Hillary has specifically committed to doing work for any group, voluntary or otherwise after she quits office.

What an opportunity for the Ireland Funds to have the best known name in America pulling for their cause!

Hillary has made an offer the organization can hardly refuse however it plays out and what role she might have.

Chairman Loretta Brennan Glucksman and CEO Kieran McLoughlin have done a remarkable job positioning the Fund for the 21st Century but they hardly expected the ‘put me to work for you’ offer by one of America’s most prodigious fundraisers and famous people.

It was a remarkable end to a spectacular trip by Clinton to Ireland, one which I was delighted to tag along on.

Earlier I had witnessed a sad but touching moment when two of the great architects of the historic Good Friday agreement, David Trimble and John Hume met with Secretary Clinton in a private room.

John Hume is not well these days and wife Pat continues to play an heroic role in being by her husband’s side. David Trimble looks hale and hearty but his role in the Good Friday Agreement shortened his political career.

It was great to see their work acknowledged one last time by the Secretary of State.

Other heroes of the peace process were also present, the extraordinary Ian Paisley, still hale and hearty, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and of course the two Northern Ireland overlords, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.

The great and the good turned out to  say farewell to Mrs Clinton, but as both Robinson and McGuinness noted, there is every chance they will greet her soon again perhaps in a very different capacity.

Witnessing Hillary in Belfast one last time and listening to her impassioned words about the Irish peace process I have no doubt that her involvement was one of the touchstones of her political life.

It was a fortunate wind that blew the Clintons into Northern ireland on that November/December week in 1995 which seems so long ago now.

But all these years later the fire continues to burn and Hillary wants to continue to kindle the flames. It is an opportunity not to be missed I’d say.

Irish America stands up for Denis O’Brien and applauds loudly -- Ireland’s top businessman and philanthropist wows New York crowd

Irish media mogul and philanthropist Denis O'Brien (Photo: Forbes)

Denis O’Brien is Ireland’s equivalent of Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish emigrant who made billions and gave it all away in the final decades of his life.

Though he roamed and prospered far and wide, Carnegie never forgot the millions in need in his own country or anywhere else he operated.

O’Brien has made his billions through his telephone company Digicel which has provided cell phone service to millions of the world's poor.

He has also given back in the countless millions to those countries where he has prospered.

His next assignment will be Burma, he says, or Myanmar if you prefer. It is a country with a population of 63 million, where only two million have cell phones, which has recently opened up to outsiders.

Writing in Time Magazine recently, Bill Clinton rated O’Brien’s work in making financial transactions possible by cell phone as the single most important development in 2012 in helping the poor worldwide.

Impressive.

He has personally given $16.5 million to Haiti in an attempt to help get that country back on its feet.

Of course O’Brien earns a handsome buck, but he gives back. His work on behalf of the destitute in Haiti and elsewhere has won him international acclaim. He is a huge backer of Concern, the Third World agency that has inspired a new generation of Irish to volunteer in the Third World.

Read More: Business 100 Honorees and Keynote Denis O’Brien Celebrated in New York

That is why I was immensely proud to honor him yesterday in New York before a packed audience at the Irish America Magazine Annual Business 100 in New York.

We had never honored a non-American before with our premier business award but both editor Patricia Harty and I felt O’Brien deserved to be the first

Good men like O’Brien are rare as hen’s teeth and like all good men he has drawn ferocious critics as well -- mostly in Ireland.

That is not unusual. "Great hatred, little room" as Yeats wrote and O’Brien’s success began in the Wild West era of capitalism in Ireland when there were few established rules.

O’Brien was perfect for that era, a buccaneer capitalist with no special family ties to the notorious insider world of Irish business.

He emerged with the country’s first cell phone license and turned it into pure gold and some have never forgiven him for upsetting the cozy coterie.

How he got it still exercises some of the chatterati in Ireland.

I think it is time Irish America took a stance on this good and decent man and gave him the respect and acknowledgement he deserves as the pre-eminent Irish businessman and philanthropist of his era.

He is a man who has done enormous good on behalf of so many and will continue to do so. He has raised the Irish banner high and proud wherever he lands in the world. He has reached out to Irish America and is a major supporter of immigration reform.

That is the extraordinary legacy, even if he is sometimes a prophet unheard in his own land.

Over here we hear him – loud and clear. Our message is clear too -- Irish patriots working for the betterment of Ireland, Irish America, and the world, are always welcome.

Because that has always been the way. He is this generation’s Chuck Feeney doing good by doing his best and the packed venue yesterday rising to give him a standing ovation after his remarks recognizes that above all.

Ain’t that America folks.

Tim Pat Coogan slams American Embassy as ‘Kafkaesque’ after visa refusal - Responds to Ambassador Rooney statement that rules were followed

Tim Pat Coogan

Writer and historian Tim Pat Coogan has slammed the U.S. Embassy in Dublin as “Kafkaesque” in their dealing with Irish citizens when they apply for visas.

Coogan’s comments come after U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney defended the consular staff and how they treat individuals.

The exchange comes after Coogan was denied a U.S. visa twice for a book tour and was only granted one after the intervention of U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer who was responding to Irish American concerns.

In his statement given to IrishCentral, Tim Pat Coogan said: “As I suspect I am the only prominent Irish writer to have been barred from the U.S. in the recent past I feel I must reply to the Ambassador Rooney statement.

“I have only the friendliest feelings towards Ambassador Rooney personally but have found dealing with the U.S. Embassy Kafkaesque.

“I have been reliably informed many others less prominent than I have had very bad experiences also.

“There is no reason for such difficult behavior towards a friendly country.”

Read More: Diplomats gone wild at U.S. Embassy in Dublin say concerned Irish

“My case is simple. I was unexpectedly turned down on two visas and was only phoned out of the blue by an anonymous Embassy spokesman a day after my book tour was due to begin to say my third application had been successful.

“This success followed a major campaign of protest from Irish Americans, which prompted Senator Charles Schumer to intervene on my behalf. By then it was too late for my book tour.

“The refusal came as a great blow to me personally given my record of friendship towards the U.S.  And at no time was I given an explanation by Embassy officials as to the reasons.”

Ambassador Rooney in his statement said: “I want to respond to a series of media reports about a delay in a visa for a prominent Irish writer.  These reports were particularly harsh and showed a fundamental misunderstanding of the visa process.

"Although we cannot comment on individual cases, I do want to say that during my time as Ambassador to Ireland I have seen how our consular officers at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin are dedicated to facilitating travel between Ireland and the U.S.

"Our consular officers, like their counterparts all over the world, have the difficult job of enforcing U.S. Immigration laws. They do vital work, but their service often goes unsung and can even be derided by those who don’t understand the law and the process or don’t like the outcome.  Let me say that each applicant’s eligibility for a visa is evaluated individually and objectively under U.S. law.  No Embassy officer, including the Ambassador, has the legal discretion to disregard a finding of ineligibility or to waive any requirement for administrative processing.  

"The service to their country that U.S. consular officers provide is essential to keeping our borders safe,” the statement ends.

I have to say the Rooney statement is problematic to me. Everyone agrees in keeping U.S.  borders safe  but making it incredibly difficult for Ireland’s leading historian and most pro-American writer  to come here hardly qualifies for positive  border security measures.

Ambassador Rooney’s point that the letter of the law is always applied is debatable. How is it that when Senator  Schumer intervened the rules changed and a visa magically materialized?

Read More: United States visa ban on Tim Pat Coogan removed after Senator Schumer steps in

Rooney seems to be in the paw of the Embassy securocrats, most notably US Consular  official Bradley Wilde who has drawn huge criticism for his attitude from those  Irish who deal  with him and some of his  staff.

As I understand it, there have been high level expressions of concern from the Irish government about the refusal of visas to several Irish people, none as famous as Coogan before this but nothing has changed.

Perhaps Ambassador Rooney could refer back to what a predecessor, Jean Kennedy Smith said about Coogan and his new book ‘The Famine Plot’

“He has the wisdom of a craftsman, the urgency of a journalist the depth of a historian..... he is one of the greatest social commentators of our time’

Surely a dangerous man to allow into the United States!

Diplomats gone wild at U.S. Embassy in Dublin say concerned Irish -- Horror stories about how Irish are treated after famed author Tim Pat Coogan refused

Hillary Clinton

Since the Tim Pat Coogan story broke here, I have heard numerous horror stories about the American Embassy in Dublin and how it is treating Irish applicants for visas to the United States.

As we know, famed author and historian Tim Pat Coogan was treated incredibly poorly and denied a visa for his U.S. book tour until Irish American pressure and New York Senator Chuck Schumer reversed the decision.

It is vital how an embassy treats the citizens of the country they are operating in. It sets a tone. The U.S. Embassy currently is presenting a very hostile face to the Irish.

There is no good reason for that. Ireland is not the Soviet Union circa 1955.

That’s not just my opinion -- it is that of a broad spectrum of Irish government personnel, lawyers who deal with the visa section of the embassy, and people who went through the process who I have spoken with.

It now appears that Tim Pat was the tip of the iceberg. Several who have dealings with the embassy have recounted episodes of rudeness, arrogance and most of all incomprehensible decisions by visa officers there.

Read More: United States visa ban on Tim Pat Coogan removed after Senator Schumer steps in

It is spoken openly about in Irish government circles. Many prominent figures in Ireland and here are scratching their heads at the treatment.

Representations have been made but nothing has changed. Visa officers in U.S. embassies have broad latitude, but the division in Dublin seems deliberately set on keeping applicants out of the U.S. based on the slightest whim.

Ambassador Dan Rooney, while a beloved figure to many, hardly seems to have reacted despite being told on numerous occasions about the treatment of Irish visa seekers.

Since the arrival of visa head Bradley Wilde in 2010, things have quickly gone downhill in Ballsbridge where the embassy is located.

Wilde has instituted a very aggressive regime which treats visa seekers in the main like potential burdens on America.

Rules appear to have been arbitrarily applied and changed, leaving deep confusion. Rudeness, failure to explain and downright bloody mindedness when depriving people of visas on the smallest technicalities seems rampant.

Read more: Niall O'Dowd -- Barring of writer Tim Pat Coogan from U.S. is an absolute disgrace

Maybe Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who visits Dublin next week, could take this up with Ambassador Rooney.

It is long past due as the Tim Pat Coogan case finally proved.

Savita’s death is a tragedy - shouting and debating over the loss of beautiful life

Savita Halappanavar

I was on the Al Jazeera channel on Monday discussing the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland.

I was struck by how, in all the shouting and debating, the soul and spirit of the young Indian woman has been lost already.

Savita died in a Galway hospital after doctors refused her request for an abortion on her fetus who they agreed was not going to live. They allegedly told her that because Ireland was a “Catholic country” she would have to wait for the heartbeat to cease.

She spent three days in terrible agony, then contracted septic shock and died.

On the show I was on the usual sides were in opposition -- those who blamed the lack of an abortion on her dying fetus as the reason why she died, and the pro-life gurus claiming that she would have died anyway from septic shock. I was there to give the American reaction.

Few referred to the fact that the death of Savita, the 31-year-old beautiful Indian woman who worked as a dentist in Ireland, is firstly an unbelievable personal tragedy.

Amidst all the recrimination and argument as to how and why she died, it appears to me the human story has been lost.

Al Jazeera played a captivating video of Savita showing off her Indian dance moves. She had the looks of a Bollywood film star and the moves of a natural dancer.

In real life this wonderful and warm Indian professional was an emigrant to Ireland, worked as a dentist in Westport, Co. Mayo and was beloved in her community. Her husband worked in Galway at an American multinational there.

She led the way teaching Indian dance to local Mayo youngsters, and was arranging the events connected with her local Indian festival when she became ill.

In the early weeks of her pregnancy her husband’s family visited, thrilled to bits at the new grandchild. One can only imagine the happy occasion, especially in a culture that adores children.

The parents were hardly back in India, however, when the complications began.

At 17 weeks pregnant, Savita was rushed to Galway Hospital with complications. We all know most of what happened next.

But what stands out in my mind is that when she asked for a termination of a fetus that could not be saved, she was told “no” and that “this is a Catholic country.”

If that is true, what kind of ignorance fueled that type of response? The woman was in excruciating pain and her doctors refused to act.

So this lovely young woman sent three days in absolute agony, a fact not disputed by anyone in this case, while doctors fulfilled some magical religious custom.

And she died and left a heartbroken husband and family behind her. Not only has her husband Praveen lost his wife but also his new baby who no doubt he was thrilled to await.

Hopefully others will not lose sight of the wonderful human life that has been lost.

Savita has now become another statistic that will fuel the incendiary abortion debate. There is no issue I know of more strongly argued and more vehemently than the issue of abortion.

Alas, Savita now becomes part of that ongoing global battle. Her story appeared on Page 3 of The New York Times this week and has sparked worldwide coverage.

But we should never forget her to be a wonderful professional woman, a wife and someone beloved by her family.

That is the real tragedy here.

GAA goes Broadway in New York as a new era dawns for Gaelic games -- Historic banquet marks major expansion by Ireland’s largest sporting group

GPA Chairman Dónal Óg Cusack pictured with GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell

A new era dawned for the GAA Ireland’s leading sporting organization in a New York hotel last night.

The first annual dinner of the Gaelic Players Association, the umbrella group for all the 2,500 top athletes in Gaelic football and hurling, was a smashing success with over 400 prominent Irish Americans as well as the All-Star teams from Ireland.

More importantly however, the New York dinner signaled a fresh assault by Ireland’s leading sporting organization on the lucrative overseas market where tens of thousands already play their games.

Also present last night was GAA president Liam O’Neill who spoke about the new effort to spread Irish games worldwide on the wings of emigrants and the GAA’s legendary amateur status.

Though their players fill arenas as big as Yankee Stadium, the players are unpaid and in many cases,out of pocket as a result of giving their all for Ireland’s premier sports.

It is an incredible achievement and story that deserves far greater coverage and acknowledgement over here. Playing for the love and not the money is a foreign concept in big time sport anywhere in the world except Ireland.

Read more GAA news here

Ireland’s greatest athlete is Henry Shefflin who has nine hurling all Ireland medals, the equivalent of 9 super bowl rings -- but by day he is a bank employee making a relatively modest wage.

Guest of honor on the night was Donald R. Keough, the former top Coca-Cola executive who has done more to ensure bonds between Ireland and America remain closer than ever than any Irish American alive.

He was the one, as a former Chairman of Notre Dame and founder of the Keough Naughton Irish Institute there, who was the prime mover behind Notre Dame playing in Ireland this year-- and what an incredible success that was.

Now the GAA has come to play in America and based on the overwhelming success of the GPA players first dinner, there is a bright future ahead.

The games of hurling and Gaelic football are thrilling, fast moving, and can hold their own with any games on earth. With such a plethora of sports networks now here in America it seems a wonderful opportunity to spread the games of the Gael to new worlds.

The first steps for that American presence were taken in the Marriot Marquis Hotel in New York’s theater district  last night. The GAA are finally going Broadway.

Irish government and Catholic hierarchy need to disavow reasons for death of pregnant woman -- Will they stand up and be counted on wrong application of Catholic doctrine?

Protestors gather outside Leinster House (Irish Parliament building)
 during a demonstration in favor of abortion legislation in Dublin,
 Ireland, on November 14, (Credit: Peter Muhly/AFP)

The Irish government and the Catholic hierarchy there should make clear that they strongly disagreed with the dreadful decision to allow a young mother in a Galway hospital to die because her non-viable fetus continued to have a heartbeat.

There is no other correct decision for them to make. This is not a medical issue, it is a human rights one. It is incredible to think that in this day and age such a death could occur.

The life of the mother was sacrificed in this occasion by waiting for the 17-week-old non-viable fetus to die while she was miscarrying. When she desperately asked for the fetus to be aborted she was told “This is a Catholic hospital.” She later died of sepsis.

Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist and of the Hindu faith, originally from India, went through two and a half days of dreadful pain while the fetus lived on.

Surely the Catholic Church and the Irish government need to step in here and say “not in our name”?

The fetus would never have lived, doctors in Galway agreed. The mother was bleeding and leaking amniotic fluid.

In Britain or the US, if it were seen that the mother was in imminent danger, the mother would have been given drugs to expedite the miscarriage.

In Ireland she was told to suffer and bear it and she died as a result.

If it sounds like a terrible plot from an Edna O’Brien novel from the 1950s then it is.

One can only imagine what this lovely young woman and her husband, both emigrants to Ireland, experienced in her final hours.

It is an enormous blot on the country, a throwback to the bad old days when women’s lives in childbirth were considered expendable.

The church and state need to make it clear that it was not done in their name.

Whether they will or not will tell us a lot about the new Ireland.

 Read more: Thousands gather to protest in Ireland over death of mother due to abortion denial

Not in our name -- Irish Americans deplore Dissident IRA killing --Time to stand up and be counted on slaying of prison officer

David Black

The murder of prison officer David Black in Lurgan, Armagh by dissident IRA members who ambushed his car, was not done in the name of Irish America.

This community has made clear for years now that it stands with the peace process and not with those who wish to continue to visit death and tragedy on the people there.

We agree with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said "There is no justification for this outrageous and cowardly act. I offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Officer Black, who had a long and distinguished record of service."

It is a futile cause and a death in vain as it only solidifies the belief among the peace process parties and among Irish Americans that the current progress must continue.

It was never going to be a 100 per cent break with the past and violence but the killing of the prison officer, a Protestant, was yet another example of the lunacy at work in some quarters.

Does the killing of a prison officer or a policeman move the goal of a united Ireland one centimeter closer?

Of course not, quite the opposite.  Those who still take up arms despite the wishes of overwhelming majorities in both communities who support the process know that too.

It allows them their stupid delusions of grandeur that they are players in a conflict that has actually ended with  the Good Friday  peace agreement between all sides.

Nobel Prize winner John Hume referred to his goal as that of an agreed Ireland. As far as we can that has been achieved with a huge helping hand from Irish America and President Clinton and other presidents since.

Whether the future holds a united Ireland or the status quo depends on the future generations who will vote on such issues.

It certainly  does not depend on those who will wantonly take life in support of a violent ideal that has now receded into history.

It was heartening to see Northern Ireland’s two leaders, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness issue a joint statement on the killing, condemning it in the strongest terms.

Such is the only way to proceed in the North. The peace process has now been operational in one form or another since the early 90s. A generation has grown up not knowing violence or the despair of earlier generations.

That is how it should be, persuasion by political means not violence remains the goal of all who wish the peace process well.

We here in America want to reiterate again these killers do not speak for the overwhelming majority of Irish Americans.

Death of Billy Vincent a truly extraordinary Anglo-Irishman at 93 -- Deeply committed to Ireland, he helped start the American Ireland Fund

RIP Billy Vincent

Billy Vincent, who just died at the age of 93, was one of the most extraordinary characters I have ever known.

Back in the day when my world was young, about 1979 to be exact, I had the bright idea to start my first newspaper in San Francisco.

Myself and a partner, Tom McDonagh, had about $1,000 dollars and by the second edition we were broke.
I realized I had to raise money and fast. One of my unlikely friends at the time was A.W. Vincent.

Billy, as he was universally known, was an Anglo Irish gentleman who has somehow been transported to San Francisco where he lived in a palatial mansion in Pacific Heights. His mother, Maud Bourn was a San Francisco native.

Despite the clipped Oxford accent and the former British Army background – he was a highly decorated soldier in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who saw major action in World War II — he was Irish in the best sense.

His family, the Bourn Vincents, owned Muckross House in Killarney and had given the 11,000 acre estate to the Irish state where it remains one of the jewels of the Irish state-owned park system.

He became a very successful businessman in California after the war and by the time I knew him he had begun major philanthropic work for Ireland through the American Irish Foundation, which later merged with the American Ireland Fund.

So, to Billy Vincent I went seeking money for my new newspaper venture.

He referred to everyone by their surnames, as in, “O’Dowd, what on earth do you want me to do, invest in some dubious Irish newspaper?”

‘Yes,’  I told him. He harrumphed, which is the only way I can describe his reaction.

But he did invest, and not only him, but he rounded up some rich colleagues and gave me enough to survive and eventually prosper.

He refused to take the money back. “O’Dowd old chap, don’t bother me --just make sure your newspaper works.”

We became fast friends. I often attended his private parties, always for worthy causes or visiting Irish dignitaries at his mansion. He’d usually call beforehand and tell me, “Now O’Dowd, don’t appear in some scruffy old jacket,” (I was going through my long hair and hippie phase) and, “scrub up, old chap.”

I spent time with him in Muckross, his beloved Killarney home where he was clearly at his most comfortable. His pride in his Kerry roots was evident to all. He took me on a ramble through the grounds, pointing out the family landmarks, which were generations old.

We discussed Northern Ireland at length and he displayed a keen instinct and sense of the need for American help to solve the problem. He played a huge role in the success of the American Ireland Fund, especially on the West Coast, and in later years when he moved to Monaco he helped establish its successful branch there. Kieran McLoughlin CEO of the Funds told me he met Billy during his final days and his thoughts as always were of Ireland. “An incredible gentleman,” was his heartfelt verdict.

We drifted apart when he moved to Monaco and I to New York. But I will never forget him, as patriotic and decent an Irishman as you would ever meet.

The Irish Times obituary said it well; Vincent, they said, was, “Known for a cranky directness with which he pricked pomposity and exposed humbug, he also was possessed of warmth and compassion.”

I can personally attest to that when he decided to help a neophyte Irish publisher with no dollars but only a dream.

May he rest in peace and condolences to his lovely wife Elisabeth and children and grandchildren.

Money from immigrants to be a key part of Irish recovery? -- Back to the sad 1950s for Irish economy if this keeps up

Photo Credit: DAVID MONAHAN

Is Ireland heading back to the days when money from emigrants abroad was a mainstay of the economy?

A recent report by a leading hedge fund in Britain stated it was highly likely that emigrant remittances would play an increasing role in the Irish economy.

We have all heard tales of the 1940s and 50s when money from emigrants in Britain and America kept many an Irish family going through very hard times.

Former Irish Times writer John Healy wrote very movingly about his aunt in Brooklyn who kept his family in rural Mayo going.

He had always imagined she lived in finery in America, but when he eventually visited her it was in a fourth floor walk up in a dingy building. She had sacrificed everything to keep them all together back in Ireland.

She had never married, had kept down two jobs and scraped and saved to see her relatives in Ireland better off.

That was not an unusual story.

When I lived in England during the mid 70s, the final stops at the weekend were always the same for many in my construction crew.

Read More: Irish economy to become dependent on emigrant funds by 2020, expert warns

There was the pub on Friday night and the post office on Saturday morning to send money home to the folks. Despite the fact that many were living in abject conditions themselves and saving little, the money home was always a sacred duty.

Many a rural town and village depended on those remittances in the form of money orders and it is so strange to see them being talked about again

The emigrant parcel was a lifesaver in many homes, especially from America. As the emigrant trails have started up again there will be many households back home, especially where the breadwinner has left, awaiting those funds again.

They won’t come via post office money order I'm guessing but by wire and bank transfer.

Soon the technology will exist where funds can be transferred by cell phone - thanks to Irish businessman Denis O'Brien who has created just such a system for Haitians for which he was praised in a Time Magazine cover story by Bill Clinton.

Leave it to an Irishman to come up with way for emigrant remittances to be conveyed at speed back to the family back home.

The hedge fund expert in Britain stated: "Having not depended on remittances for many decades, Ireland, like Portugal, will come to rely on these once more.”

 Plus ça change, you might say.

Requiem for Irish emigrant Jill Meagher -- the tragic loss of a wonderful young woman

 Flowers are left at the Melbourne bridal shop where Jill Meagherwas last seen alive. Picture: Robert Mckechnie Source: Herald Sun  

I didn’t know Jill Meagher, the young Irish emigrant from the town of Drogheda found brutally raped and murdered in Australia, but I feel like I did.

She hails from the same town in Ireland as me, was an emigrant from Ireland like me and I’m sure she had the same hopes and dreams that all emigrants from my hometown have – to make it good somewhere in the world and to make people proud.

Jill, just 29, did all that and was living her dream in a Melbourne suburb happily married and working in a good job with the local radio station.

Then a horrible twist of fate saw her leaving her local pub to walk home last Saturday morning and being accosted by a fiend who raped and murdered her.

I can only think of her family back in Drogheda and her family in Australia and think how sad and awful it must be for them.

In her most frequently published photograph, she has a beautiful face, sparkling eyes, and a smile to melt an iceberg.

She was one of the brave ones who rather than sitting around in Ireland, chose to take the world as her oyster.

She and her husband Tom traveled all over the globe before settling in Australia where her family had previously lived.

Now that brave girl is gone, the victim of a senseless and cruel murder that will haunt her family and friends forever.

I hope her killer pays the full price for snatching this beautiful young woman away so savagely.
The family has only the memories of a beautiful girl and a sad tale that has captured the hearts of millions who read about her.

My brother Fergus, a member of parliament for the area of Drogheda, says the family is very highly regarded there and the news of young Jill’s death has stunned the town.

I’m sure it has. Evil knew no bounds.

May she rest in peace and may he rot in hell.

Let’s get real about Kate Middleton’s topless shots and Muslim’s protests over “Innocence of Muhammad”

Kate Middleton sprays a dancer with perfume on Tuvalu on Tuesday. (Arthur Edwards)

The suspension of the editor of the Irish Daily Star for publishing topless photographs of Kate Middleton and the outraged reaction in the Middle East to the Innocence of Muhammad film are both connected.

Kate flashing her boobs while thinking she was in a private setting, and a lunatic filmmaker making a perfectly appalling film about the prophet, fanned flames and crises across the globe that no sane person could even remotely have expected.

But there they were, rioting and killing in Arab countries and furious reacting in media all over the world to Kate’s topless shots.

In both cases the overreaction was so intense, the global hue and cry so startling that it defied all logic.
I watched the Innocence of Muhammad film on You Tube, and it is quite possibly the worst piece of filmmaking I have ever seen.

It is incoherent, lacking in plot and laughable.  It makes The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes look like Oscar material.

Except no one was laughing when millions took to Arab streets all across the Middle East and proclaimed death to America.

God knows we get blamed for enough in that part of the world, but pretending we had anything to do with the film or that it was part of some master plan to make Muslims look bad is ridiculous.

I’d have nominated the film for the Raspberries, the anti-Oscar ceremony, as worst film ever made and moved on.

Equally, Kate’s topless shots have brought down a wave of hysterical outrage that is hard to fathom.
It was a case of “off with their heads” from Buckingham Palace on down.

Porn king Richard Desmond, who owned multiple porn sites and magazines, was the most hypocritical of all.

He wanted the Irish Daily Star, which he half owns, closed down after they published the pictures – which by the way are almost impossible to decipher because they are shot from so far away.

There is nothing worse than a pornographer and a royal family in a fit of righteous indignation, but two points come to mind.

Kate must surely know that she is scrutinized everywhere at all times – that is what she bought into when she married the future king. Stripping off outside was not a great idea to begin with.

Secondly, why is she not fair game when every other young woman of note or big boobs, from Page 3 girls on down, is wide open for tabloid exploitation?

Rest assured if it was Rihanna – and remember her in the cornfield in Northern Ireland? -- the coverage would be massive and utterly intrusive.

One law for the royals and one law for every other woman it seems.

In both the responses to the Muslim film and the royal boob shots, we have had a massive overreaction that speaks ill for reasonable debate on issues such as cultural and sexual stereotypes.

We all need to take a bottle of chill pills and relax when such issues become so inflamed.  The tragic consequences when we don’t are all too plain to see.