Ferry hearing set in Denver

Ferry has been held without bail since Jan. 30 after attending a green card interview with his U.S. citizen wife, Heaven Ferry.
Ferry was questioned at the interview about a prison term he served in Northern Ireland for IRA-related activities in the early 1990s. He was released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday agreement.
Ferry, who is 31, was detained at the interview by immigration officers. He is facing a deportation order but countered with the asylum plea. Both will be considered at the upcoming hearing
Ferry’s detention was specifically based on a charge that he had overstayed his U.S. visa. His attorney has countered that he had in fact obtained labor authorization and was permitted an extended stay in the U.S. pending his green card interview.
The Ferrys have a 2-year-old daughter, Fiona. The couple had lived in Belfast for a time but decided to settle in Colorado after Ciaran Ferry’s name was found by police on a loyalist death list.

PHILLY MURDER
HEARING OFF AGAIN
A preliminary hearing into the murder of Donegal man Neil Martin McConigley will not take place until after Labor Day.
A recently scheduled hearing was scratched from a Philadelphia courtroom after the attorney for the primary suspect requested a psychiatric test for his client.
Marlon Mullings was due to appear for the probable-cause hearing after being extradited from his native Jamaica.
However, his attorney told the court that Mullings was not being cooperative and was claiming not to remember any of the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting of McConigley.
The court granted leave for a psychiatric evaluation and will now decide the issue sometime in early September, said Jude Conroy, lead prosecutor in the case. Prior to the hearing, prosecutors secured what they described as a “complete confession” from Mullings.
McConigley, who was from Fannad, was gunned down on Oct. 22, 1999, as he chased a gang of four men who had robbed his business partner. Investigators early on identified Mullings as the alleged shooter.
Three other men in addition to Mullings face charges in connection with the murder. The three are all being held without bail. Prosecutors want all four accused to be tried together.

BROOKLYN RECALLS
REVOLUTION BATTLE
The Brooklyn Irish American Parade Committee has a busy August on its hands. This Sunday, Aug. 16, the group will gather to mark the opening of “Battle of Brooklyn Week,” an annual event marking the 1776 battle between George Washington’s army and the British, much of which took place on the site of present day Prospect Park.
This year, the committee will be paying special tribute to Washington’s Irish generals and Commodore John Barry, known as the “Father of the American Navy.”
On Sunday, Aug. 24, the committee will hold its annual commemorations at Greenwood Cemetery, last resting place of many notable Irish including Matilda Tone, wife of Wolfe Tone, Civil War Union general Thomas Sweeney and the late John Gallagher, author of the book “The Battle of Brooklyn,” published in 1995. Details on both these events are available by calling (718) 499-9482.

COMMODORE BARRY
MOVE IN CONGRESS
A resolution that would recognize Commodore John Barry as the first flag officer of the United States Navy has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Peter King.
The Wexford-born Barry is widely known as the “Father of the U.S. Navy,” but recognition as first flag officer would amount to a more formal tribute.
House Joint Resolution 62 is currently before the House Armed Services Committee and a Senate version is being planned.
A identical House resolution was approved in October 2002 but did not proceed to the Senate. Approval of both houses of Congress is necessary for final passage.
The resolution has to date attracted 19 co-sponsors in the 435-member House, which rose for its summer break at the end of last week.

HOUSE MAY MOVE
ON FINUCANE
The U.S. House of Representatives is being urged to adopt a resolution calling for a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast attorney Pat Finucane.
House Concurrent Resolution 267 was introduced by New Jersey Democrat Donald Payne just before the House adjourned for the August recess.
Rep. Payne stated in his resolution that “in the absence of any other apparent motive” it appeared that the murder of Finucane had been “politically motivated” and had not been addressed by an adequate investigation into the possibility of a conspiracy by political factions.
The resolution urged “a full and impartial inquiry” into the murder of Finucane. It also urged the House to “acknowledge the finding” of the European Court of Human Rights which criticized the investigation of the murder “for not addressing the possibility of collusion by partisan paramilitary forces.”