Proving the Irish Famine was genocide by the British -- Tim Pat Coogan moves Famine history on to a new plane

The Famine memorial on the quays in Dublin City

The most significant section of Tim Pat Coogan’s new book on the Irish Famine is not his own writing, but his printing of the United Nations definition of genocide.

“The Famine Plot”, published by Palgrave MacMillan, was released in America last week and Coogan should have been here to launch it but in a separate but equally confounding plot he was denied a visa to come here by the American Embassy in Dublin.

The conclusion from his book is unmistakable. Ireland’s most prominent historian, who has previously created definitive portraits of both Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera, has now pointed the finger squarely at the British during the Famine and stated it was genocide.

It is a big charge, but Coogan is a big man, physically, intellectually, and in every sense and makes a very effective accusation. Coogan has painted a portrait of devastating neglect, abuse, and mismanagement that certainly fits the genocide concept.

I mean if we go back to that time, Ireland was the equivalent of Puerto Rico or Samoa, massive dependencies on the United States today.

If there were a massive food shortage in either of those two countries, we know the US would step up to the plate, literally.

Back in Famine time, the same potato crop disease occurred most heavily in Scotland, outside Ireland, yet there were relatively few casualties as the landowners and government ensured, for their own sakes as much as anything, that there was no mass death.

That was not the case in Ireland, where a very different mentality prevailed. The damned Irish were going to get what they deserved because of their attachment to Catholicism and Irish ways when they were refusing to toe the British line.

Read more: Tim Pat Coogan slams American Embassy as ‘Kafkaesque’ after visa refusal

As Coogan painstakingly recounts, every possible effort by local organizations to feed the starving were thwarted and frustrated by a British government intent on teaching the Irish a lesson and forcing market forces on them.

Charles Trevelyan, the key figure in the British government, had foreshadowed the deadly policy in a letter to the “Morning Post”, after a trip to Ireland, where he heartily agreed with the sentiment that there were at least a million or two people too many in the benighted land and that the eight million could not possibly survive there.

“Protestant and Catholic will freely fall and the land will be for the survivors.”

Shortly after, he was in charge of a policy that brought that situation about.

One Trevelyan story and one quote suffice.

“British Coastguard Inspector-General, Sir James Dombrain, when he saw starving paupers, ordered his subordinates to give free food handouts. For his attempts to feed the starving, Dombrain was publicly rebuked by Trevelyan…”

The Trevelyan quote is “The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”

Tim Pat Coogan has done an enormous service with this book.

Read it and weep.

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.

Barring of writer Tim Pat Coogan from U.S. is an absolute disgrace - America’s greatest friend in Ireland insulted by the U.S. Embassy

Tim Pat Coogan

The barring of Tim Pat Coogan from coming to America for a book tour is disgraceful. He was refused a visa when he applied for one for his new book tour.

It is one in a clear pattern of a number of recent clueless decisions at the American Embassy in Dublin at the consular level that defy logic.

Read More: Famed historian Tim Pat Coogan confirms he was turned down twice for U.S. visa

Ambassador Dan Rooney is clearly unable or unwilling to use his own discretion in some of these cases.

Ever since Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith played a stellar role in the Irish peace process by running her embassy with an iron fist, the functionaries have done their very best to keep incoming ambassadors powerless.

Never mind that Kennedy’s role stand suit like a beacon in the annals of American diplomacy in Ireland. An ambassador the bureaucrats cannot control is a dangerous person indeed it seems.

They did not succeed in the Bush era where excellent appointments ensured that many political issues were retained at the ambassadorial level.

That does not seem to be the case today. The Tim Pat Coogan case is a travesty but senior Irish government officials have told me it is by no means the only strange decision emanating from the embassy in recent times.

There seems to be a hardening attitude there to make it as difficult as possible for people to come to the U.S. from changes in how the J1 one year visa program is being administered to several high profile turndowns.

Blink and you might think you were back in the McCarthy era.

Put simply, there was no greater defender of America in Ireland for the past few decades than Tim Pat Coogan, especially at times when the anti-American sentiment there was at its highest.

His pro-American stances, both in his Irish Press newspaper and his writing about the power of the Irish Diaspora were major factors in keeping the American flag flying in Ireland.

He played a key behind the scenes role in the Irish peace process, especially in the early days when his contacts with Father Alex Reid, the unsung hero of the entire process, were vital.

He was deeply trusted by the Kennedy family and it was a famous meal in Dublin he had with Senator Edward Kennedy convincing him of the need for a visa for Gerry Adams that swayed the Massachusetts senator as well as helping bring President Clinton into the loop.

Visiting Irish Americans are always assured of a hearty welcome from Tim Pat and his backing for America and stance against the anti-American rhetoric so often spouted in Ireland made him this country’s prime defender.

Yet this is the 77-year-old man who the American Embassy just refused a visa to come to America too and humiliated him in the process?

Is there no institutional memory whatever at the embassy that can separate and remember a friend? No one who was able to realize the deep insult they had just inflicted on America’s greatest journalistic ally there?

Where was Ambassador Rooney in all this, as we know he was personally aware of the case?

There are so many questions but one undeniable fact. It will be a blot forever on the Dublin embassy that it humiliated one of its greatest supporters and Ireland’s leading historian by refusing a visa to launch his new book on the Irish famine.

Disgraceful is the word for it.