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Irish American Newsbriefs: Bush, Bradley back accord

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Ray O’Hanlon

In his first formal statement on the Northern Ireland peace process, GOP presidential frontrunner George W. Bush has outlined his backing for the stalled negotiations.

Bush also endorsed U.S. involvement in the effort to achieve a settlement.

"I hope that Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland find a way to overcome the remaining obstacles and finally achieve a lasting peace. The United States should do everything it can to help make this happen," Bush said in a statement.

Backing for peace talks and the Good Friday agreement also came in recent days from Democratic challenger Bill Bradley.

Bradley expressed his support for full implementation of the accord in a message sent to the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

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Bradley’s message was circulated at an AOH National Board Meeting in New York. The meeting coincided with the organization’s presentation of its annual Sean MacBride Humanitarian Award to former New York Rep. Tom Manton.

Manton is the sixth recipient of the award, named after the late Nobel Peace Prize winner.

— Susan Falvella-Garraty

U.S. still committed, IAUC told

The U.S. remains fully committed to the Good Friday agreement in its entirety, delegates to the annual Irish American Unity Conference national convention were told last weekend.

Washington’s support was outlined by Richard Norland, head of the European Directorate at the National Security Council, during the convention, which was held in Newark, N.J.

Norland said that while decommissioning was a goal of the agreement, decommissioning clearly was not a precondition for Sinn Féin’s entry into an Executive. He said President Clinton remained willing to do what he could to help the parties move forward.

During the convention, the IAUC presented its Patrick Finucane award to Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey. Smith said he was honored to receive the award named after the human rights attorney who was murdered by loyalist gunmen in his Belfast home 10 years ago.

"Pat Finucane gave his life defending human rights, so I am honored and greatly humbled to receive this award," Smith said. "As the review of the Belfast agreement enters the critical stage, I call on the British government to implement that agreement so that no one else will ever have to give their life for peace and justice in the North."

— Ray O’Hanlon

Philly shooting victim home

The remains of Martin McConigley were flown back to Ireland this week as homicide detectives stepped up their search for the killers who gunned down the Donegal immigrant in a botched robbery Oct. 22.

McConigley, who was 34, was shot multiple times in his car as he chased after two gunmen fleeing with the payroll taken from the West Philadelphia construction company he owned with another Donegal man. Police said the two suspects had robbed, beaten and gagged McConigley’s partner in the business before locking him in the garage.

McConigley arrived as the robber were fleeing and was gunned down as he gave chase in his car. His wife and mother of his 6-month-old son flew to Donegal for the funeral services.

Speaking to Ireland’s Sunday World, McConigley’s mother, Kathleen, said she had received word of her son’s death by telephone at 1:10 a.m. "He’s gone now. We’re all so shocked," she told the newspaper.

Detectives were still tracking down leads and speaking to McConigley’s former employees, but no arrests had been made, said Capt. James Brady of the Philadelphia Police Department.

— Patrick Markey

Women talk peace in D.C.

Peace in Northern Ireland is not just being discussed in Belfast. A group of women from the North recently gathered in the Old Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House to discuss the prospects for a lasting settlement.

The gathering was aimed at promoting the upcoming global initiative to be launched through the Women and Public Policy Program of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government called "Women Waging Peace."

The conflict in Northern Ireland will be one of the topics of a nearly two week long effort to be held starting the first week of December in Cambridge, Mass.

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke to the group of women who will participate in the global networking event and said she supported their efforts which will involve over a hundred women from Northern Ireland and a number of other regions, cities and countries around the globe.

It is hoped that at the end of the conference the women will return to areas of conflict with sharpened political, media, and Internet skills forming a global network for information and technical assistance to be used on behalf of various peace campaigns. —– Susan Falvella-Garraty in Washington

Irish Remember

The Irish Center of Washington, D.C., has announced a two-day commemoration entitled "The Irish Remember . . . Serving Uncle Sam" to be held in the city Nov. 9-11. Events will include a gala dinner and wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial. For details, call (301) 962-7206.

Endurance was popular

More than 140,000 people visited "The Endurance" exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History up to its closing on Oct. 11.

The exhibit, a tribute to Kildare-born Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, ran at the museum for six months and is now moving to new quarters, the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., where it will open on Nov 16 and run until Feb. 6, 2000.

Spokeswoman Lisa Cohen told the Echo that the American Museum, which is also running the exhibit in Washington, was delighted with the turnout in New York.

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