February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Ray O’Hanlon
Aer Lingus has been given a tentative green light this week for its plans to operate a service to Ireland out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
The new service could be operational within a few weeks. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday a "proposed action" that would allow the Irish carrier to fly from BWI to Dublin and Shannon. Any possible objections to the plan must be filed within 10 days to the DOT.
Aer Lingus is currently operating flights in and out of five U.S. airports: JFK, Newark, Boston’s Logan, Chicago’s O’Hare and Los Angeles. The Irish carrier is linked to another major U.S. carrier, American Airlines, in the "oneworld" alliance. The alliance is due to take formal flight on June 1.
Meanwhile, United Airlines, one of the world’s largest carriers, is negotiating with the Irish government with a view to possibly flying passengers to Ireland via Britain. The link to Ireland would be through a code-sharing arrangement between United and the carrier British Midland. Northwest Airlines is looking at a similar plan.
Two other major U.S. airlines, Delta and Continental, are already competing directly with Aer Lingus on the increasingly busy, and profitable, direct corridor linking the U.S. with Ireland.
Follow us on social media
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Irish Echo
Keane out for U.S.
Irish national soccer team captain Roy Keane is out of Mick McCarthy’s squad for the Nike Cup tournament in the U.S. next month. Leeds United defender Gary Kelly is has also been ruled out.
McCarthy confirmed the bad news on Tuesday when he named the squad for Sunday’s testimonial game for Steve Staunton and Tony Cascarino against Liverpool, the game against Scotland on May 30, and the Nike Cup.
Keane, who missed Manchester United last three League games with a hamstring injury, wanted to play.
”The injury has not cleared up as much as I would have liked and I think I will be putting my feet up for the summer,” Keane said.
The good news is that veteran striker Niall Quinn will definitely travel. There had been speculation that the Sunderland striker may not be fit to travel.
Vegas jury ponders
A jury in Las Vegas is this week considering the fate of Sandra "Sandy" Murphy, the so-called "Irish Venus" who is accused, along with an alleged accomplice, of murdering her wealthy Casino-owning boyfriend with a lethal drug cocktail.
Murphy, together with another boyfriend, Rick Tabish, is accused of poisoning and suffocating Ted Binion. The trial has attracted strong media attention in Ireland because at one point Murphy was bailed and given luxury accommodation by wealthy Irish-born showbiz impresario Bill Fuller. Fuller, who first brought Irish showband King Brendan Boyer to America, lives in Las Vegas.
BBC needs time
The BBC has asked for a thirty day adjournment in the copyright lawsuit brought against it by Irish American hip-hop artist Chris Byrne. Byrne is suing for $5 million in federal district court. He is alleging that the BBC breached international copyright law when it used 180 seconds of his rap song "Fenians" during the broadcasting of a documentary on the Northern Ireland peace process last October.
Reps. concerned
Reps. Ben Gilman and Chris Smith are worried over delays in implementation of the Patten Commission report on the future of the RUC.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Gilman and Smith expressed "grave concern" about reports "that suggest the implementation of the Patten Commission report on policing in Northern Ireland — or some aspects of the report — may be delayed or tabled and used as a bargaining chip with Unionists" opposed to reforms.
"We have spent an extensive amount of time examining the report and the policing problems in Northern Ireland and believe it is imperative that, at a minimum, these modest reforms must be made in full," the two wrote Blair.
Nelson call
A group of district attorneys and law school deans recently marked "Law Day" by calling for an independent judicial inquiry into the assassination of Northern Ireland human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson.
"Rosemary Nelson’s murder seriously undermines the rule of law in Northern Ireland since the British government and the RUC so tragically failed to protect her, or to deal with the intimidation of other defense lawyers by RUC officers," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
Funding sought
The U.S.-Ireland Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Americans about Ireland and Northern Ireland, has asked Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Senate subcommittee for education appropriations, and Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Demcrat and ranking member, to include a $3 million appropriation for the George J. Mitchell Scholarships program in a bill currently before congress.
The Mitchell scholarships allow Americans to pursue a year of post-graduate study at universities in Ireland, North and South.
The first batch of 12 Americans have already been selected and will begin their studies in the fall. At least one student will attend each of Ireland’s seven universities and Northern Ireland’s two universities.
The US-Ireland Alliance is asking Irish Americans to communicate their support for the Mitchell program to Sens. Specter and Harkin.
Emerald Isle seminar
A seminar on the basics of investing will take place May 23 at 7 p.m. in the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, 280 East 236th St., in Woodlawn in the Bronx.
The speaker will be Ann McNulty, a financial consultant with Salomon Smith Barney. She will talk about stocks, tax-free bonds, government bonds, mutual funds and other investments. All attendees will receive a copy of the Salomon Smith Barney "Getting Started Guide."
Details, call the EIIC at (718) 324-3039 or McNulty at (800) 627-0608, ext. 2952 or (212) 692-2952.
Moynihan honor
The House of Representative voted unanimously this week to name the federal courthouse in Manhattan after Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who is retiring after 24 years in the Senate.
Sen. Charles Schumer began the drive to attach the senator’s name to the courthouse at 500 Pearl St. The bill has already passed the Senate and now awaits the president’s signature.