By Ray O’Hanlon
Staten Island members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are furious over remarks made by Manhattan parade leader James Barker during the recent installation of Cardinal Edward Egan as the Manhattan parade’s grand marshal.
They have registered their anger in a letter to Barker penned by William J. Reilly, president of the order’s Richmond County Board.
The letter to Barker accused him of “slanderous and inflammatory statements” made by him as master of ceremonies and directed at the grand marshal of last year’s Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade, New York City Council member Jerome “Jay” O’Donovan.
Barker’s allegedly remarks came at a point in the installation ceremony when an award was presented to Msgr. Peter Finn.
Finn led a boycott of last year’s Staten Island parade in protest against O’Donovan’s pro-choice position on abortion.
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Reilly and the Staten Island contingent have no problem with Finn’s pro-life views and attended the recent installation to applaud the award.
But when Barker took aim at O’Donovan — though not mentioning him by name — Reilly and the Staten Islanders stood up and walked out.
“We were there to see [Finn] get his award,” Reilly told the Echo. “When we arrived, he nodded to us and we nodded to him.”
Reilly said that the subsequent criticism of O’Donovan by Barker in the context of the abortion issue was inappropriate given that the Staten Island parade was not organized by the Hibernians, but by a separate corporation.
In his letter to Barker, Reilly accused the parade executive secretary of unleashing a “bitter and hateful attack” on the Richmond County AOH for its choosing of O’Donovan as grand marshal.
“What highlights the hateful motives behind your diatribe is that you harangued the audience with tales of Mr. O’Donovan’s ‘pro-choice’ voting record in New York City Council,” Reilly’s letter to Barker said. “You failed to cite any specific instance of a vote cast by Mr. O’Donovan. This is not surprising, since the New York City Council does not have authority over the issue of abortion.
“In point of fact, you made no mention of Mr. O’Donovan’s statements on the subject, choosing instead to invent your own convenient fiction. What made this polemic more hurtful was the fact that the New York State president of the AOH sat idly and silently by and allowed this attack to continue.”
The New York AOH state president is Martin Kelly from Brooklyn.
Reilly stated in the letter that Richmond County AOH members considered Councilman O’Donovan a friend.
“He has demonstrated his courage and integrity under fire in the fields of Vietnam and in the halls of government,” Reilly said. “Throughout last year’s controversy, he maintained his dignity and displayed his character by not firing back at the unknowing and cowardly critics and political operatives and opportunists who fired cheap shot after cheap shot. We would march alongside Jay O’Donovan any time and any place. If only we could feel the same about others.”
In conclusion, Reilly wrote Barker that he owed a public retraction and apology to the Richmond County AOH and to O’Donovan.
“Hopefully, you have the courage and integrity to do so,” Reilly said.
Reacting to the letter, Mr. Barker said that he had not mentioned O’Donovan by name at the installation ceremony.
“We honored Msgr. Finn because he defined what St. Patrick’s Day parades stand for and that is to honor the teachings of St. Patrick and the Roman Catholic Church,” Barker said.
“They selected a grand marshal who did not abide by the teachings of St. Patrick. If you use the name of St. Patrick in your parade, then you should abide by the teachings of the church. If you don’t, then you should not use the name of St. Patrick. It’s as simple as that.”
Barker said it was likely he would reply to Reilly’s letter.
“We have made our statement,” he said.