February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Ray O’Hanlon Ireland’s ambassador to the U.S., Sean O hUiginn, has written to astronaut Eileen Collins congratulating her on her role as commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
"I know that many in Ireland, and in the Irish American community, have watched your progress in the space program with pride," O hUiginn wrote Collins.
"We are delighted that someone of Irish descent has been chosen as the first female Space Shuttle commander, and no doubt your pioneering example will serve as a model and inspiration for young women, and young people generally, around the world."
Ambassador O hUiginn invited Collins to visit the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Columbia’s launch is expected Thursday. It was postponed Tuesday because of a hydrogen leak.
Eileen Collins, meanwhile, will not be the first Collins to soar into space in a craft called Columbia. Astronaut Michael Collins was pilot of the Command Module Columbia 30 years ago this week during the first moon landing.
Westchester Famine memorial
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Westchester County’s Great Hunger Memorial will be sited in W.E. Macy Park in Ardsley, according to the county’s Great Hunger Memorial Committee.
The park is currently undergoing extensive renovation and the chosen site overlooks Macy Lake, a body of water formed by the Saw Mill River.
The memorial, for which a budget of $250,000 is being established, is intended to commemorate the Irish who died in the Great Hunger and those who came to America. Copies of the committee’s planning application are available by calling (914)722-9071 or by writing to Great Hunger Memorial, c/o Houlihan-Parnes Realtors, 455 Central Park Ave. Suite 308, Scarsdale, NY 10583.
Offers $300,000 bail
Bill Fuller, a wealthy former Irish club and ballroom owner, has offered to post $300,000 bail in a Las Vegas court for a woman accused, along with her boyfriend, of murdering a Vegas gambling figure.
Fuller told the court that he believed in the innocence of former topless dancer Sandra Murphy, who faces multiple charges, including murder and robbery, arising from the death of Ted Binion at his family’s Horseshoe casino.
Prosecutors charge that Murphy, along with her lover, Rick Tabish, forced Binion to consume a fatal overdose of drugs. Fuller told the court that he had been introduced to Murphy at a local restaurant and had been asked by the owner to help her.
Committee welcomes arrest
The New York-based Lawyers Committee For Human Rights has welcomed the recent arrest in Northern Ireland of former UDA member William Stobie in connection with the murder of attorney Pat Finucane.
"This is an important step, but the investigation needs to go much further. Those responsible for targeting and killing Finucane must still be apprehended and prosecuted," said Lawyers Committee spokesman Mike Posner.
"We also believe that this arrest makes the establishment of an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances of Mr. Finucane’s killing all the more necessary," Posner added.