http://www.irishecho.com
Irish America is vital for unity push
Op-Ed: Rita O’Hare
All of us who believe that Ireland’s best future is unity have not just the right but the duty to assert this view and to plan for it. To argue otherwise is to try to undermine the Good Friday Agreement itself.
It is more than 10 years since I first arrived in the United States. My visits since, and tenure as the Sinn Féin Representative to the United States have been a varied and incredible experience. Most of all, they have awakened me to the extremely loyal and powerful voice of Irish America.
I am a native of Belfast who remembers what life was like before the conflict and during it. I have been part of the Sinn Féin leadership for much of those years, including the past 15 years which have brought us to the promising times of today.
I deeply admire the Irish America that cares so much about Ireland. Without Irish America it is questionable where Ireland - any part of it - would be today.
It is with this frame of mind that I call on Irish America to join with us to forge the path to unity and freedom.
Sinn Féin is an Irish Republican Party. Our aim is a united, independent Ireland.
We are not alone. Fianna Fáil, the “Republican Party,” has the same aim.
Fine Gael asserts itself as the “United Ireland Party” and the SDLP also supports a united Ireland. Indeed, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern recently declared that unification is “an imperative not an empty aspiration.”
The reality of this broad position is embodied in the Good Friday Agreement itself. Throughout the peace process, the legitimacy of the aim of unity was paramount and its inclusion in the agreement crucial. For the first time, in an international agreement between the Irish and British governments, there was an acknowledgement by the British government that the Irish people - and the Irish people alone - have the right to determine the future of Ireland.
The agreement makes clear that an end to partition, i.e. a “sovereign united Ireland”, is as desirable and politically legitimate as the status quo, and spells out how it will come about, i.e., by majority vote in referenda north and south.
There are those, mainly within unionism but also in the media and among an element of the establishment in the South, who either try to ignore this essential part of the agreement, or denigrate and dismiss it. Those who do use different tactics and arguments but generally assert that to raise the question will alienate
unionists.
However, since the agreement and the peace process itself are about ending the discrimination and exclusion of republicans and nationalists and their values and hopes, which are valid and honorable, these arguments are both offensive and spurious.
For too long, any political opinion in the North that opposed the union was treated as criminal and treasonous. That, like so much that dominated life in the North, has changed forever.
All of us who believe that Ireland’s best future is unity have not just the right but the duty to assert this view and to plan for it. To argue otherwise is to try to undermine the Good Friday Agreement itself.
In addition, recent commentary, sparked I believe by Sinn Féin’s announcement event, or that people have “accepted an internal solution.” While these views can be aired, they are wrong and often insincere.
In this spirit, Gerry Adams recently called for a national conversation, to include the Irish diaspora, on how the goal of a united Ireland can be achieved. As part of this discussion, Sinn Féin will host two major conferences in the United States:
New York on Saturday, June 13, and San Francisco on Saturday, June 27. Gerry Adams will host the conferences, introduce keynote speakers and open it to the floor for contributions. I am confident that Irish America will take this opportunity to speak and provide ideas, initiatives and plans to carry this conversation into action.
Of course, achieving Irish unity is a major challenge. It particularly means that Irish republicans have to reach out to unionists. Our vision of a united Ireland is an Ireland where prosperity and equality are delivered in equal measure, an Ireland in which orange and green can build a common future in co-operation and harmony, an Ireland at peace with itself and its neighbors.
We intend to mobilize and organize with all those who see Ireland’s best interests served by unification, whether they support Sinn Féin or not. We will challenge those who pay only lip service to the goal of unity. We want the Irish government and those political parties who aspire to unity to begin to plan for it in an inclusive way.
And we want Britain to do the logical thing - and the best thing for both countries - that is assist in ending the partition of Ireland.
Lastly, we need Irish America to join in bringing it about.
Irish Northern Aid
Two U.S. United Ireland Forums
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Announcing
Two U.S. United Ireland Forums
Sponsored & Organized by Sinn Fein
And Hosted by Gerry Adams
(See pics from NYC Conference & flyers & news below)
Proposed Program: Introduction by Mr. Adams, Special guests & speakers, open microphones for audience questions/statements, all individuals and organizations welcome, submissions accepted.
Admission: FREE
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Ireland’s future – A national conversation
DETAILS of 10 public meetings to be held across the North in the coming weeks as part of the Sinn Féin’s programme of promoting a ‘National Conversation for a United Ireland’ have been announced by Gerry Adams.
The public meetings will provide an opportunity for a discussion between the party leadership and the public on this key republican objective and on other matters of concern, including the current economic crisis.
The first public meeting will be in Galbally for south Tyrone and east Tyrone on Wednesday night, 22 April. It follows a series of public meetings and engagements across the 26 Counties and the announcement that Sinn Féin will host two major conferences in the USA this summer and a conference next year in Britain.
Gerry Adams said:
“In recent weeks, the Sinn Féin leadership has travelled the length and breadth of Ireland, holding a series of public meetings and engagements in Dublin, Cork, Longford, Westmeath, Clare, Ennis and Kerry. There have also been hugely successful Easter events rights across the island.
“Over the next few weeks, Sinn Féin will be holding public meetings throughout the North and two major conferences in the USA on 13 June in New York and on 27 June in San Francisco. This is part of our commitment to engage with people in Ireland and internationally about the future of Ireland and our commitment to a process of reconciliation and nation-building– a national conversation about the future direction of Ireland and achieving Irish reunification.
“Sinn Féin seeks to engage with people and particularly those who genuinely care about the future of Ireland and Irish unity.
“This is an important opportunity for people to speak directly to the Sinn Féin leadership about their hopes for the future and about how we can meet the political, economic and other challenges.
“Democracy requires the active participation of citizens and demands that political activists engage directly with local communities.
“Representatives of the Sinn Féin leadership, of the Sinn Féin Assembly and Executive teams, our Leinster House team, our European team and local government representatives will attend at all 10 public meetings.”
• TYRONE: 8pm Wednesday 22 April – Galbally Hall
• ANTRIM: 7.30pm Thursday 23 April – Leighinmohr House Hotel, Ballymena
• FERMANAGH: 7.30pm Friday 24 April – Clinton Centre, Enniskillen
• Belfast: 12 noon Sunday 26 April – St Mary’s
• ARMAGH: 7.30pm Wednesday 29 April – The Caledonian, Keady
• TYRONE: 7.30pm Thursday 30 April – Fir Trees Hotel, Strabane
• DOWN: 7.30pm Tuesday 5 May – Downpatrick Arts Centre
• DERRY: 7.30pm Wednesday 6 May – Gulladuff Centre
• DERRY: 7.30pm Thursday 7 May – Tower Hotel, Derry
• ARMAGH: 7.30pm Friday 8 May – Craigavon Civic Centre
The New York conference will be on Saturday 13 June and the US west coast conference will be on Saturday 27 June in San Francisco
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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19345
Keenan, Hamill to speak at NY United Ireland conference
By Ray O'Hanlon
June 3, 2009 Former hostage in Lebanon Brian Keenan and author Pete Hamill will be among the speakers at the conference in New York on June 13 that is intended to put the spotlight on a future united Ireland.
Keenan, now an author and broadcaster, will be one of the keynote speakers according to Sinn Féin which is organizing the event but is dubbing it an open forum where all points of view are welcome.
Other speakers on a list that is expected to be extended between now and the conference are Professor Brendan O'Leary of the University of Pennsylvania and the president of the Laborers International Union of North America, Terence O'Sullivan.
"Irish America played a significant role in securing the peace process. The next important task is unity," said Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in a statement on the conference.
"As part of the work of the party's task force on Irish reunification we are hosting a number of significant forums in Ireland, the U.S. and Britain over the course of the coming year.
"Our task is to mobilize support at home and internationally for the democratic demand for Irish reunification to be met. I am delighted that the first event in New York has attracted such significant support both from prominent individuals and organizations," said Adams who will be hosting the New York gathering which carries the formal title "United Ireland - How do we get there?"
The conference will take place in the Hilton Hotel, 1335 Avenue of the Americas at 53rd Street beginning at noon.
Also participating in the conference will be the presidents of a number of Irish American organizations including the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Northern Aid, the Irish American Unity Conference, the Brehon Law Society and the United Irish Counties Association.
This story appeared in the issue of June 3-9, 2009
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Sinn-Feins-American-outreach-46913972.html
Sinn Fein's American outreach
Up to 1,000 delegates are now expected to attend the Sinn Fein organized conference on the need for a united Ireland, which will take place in New York on Saturday, June 13.
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams will host the major forum entitled “United Ireland – How Do We Get There?” at the Hilton Hotel, 1335 Sixth Avenue at 53rd Street in New York City.
Among the main speakers will be Adams himself; author Pete Hamill; Professor Brendan O’Leary of the University of Pennsylvania, an expert on partition issues; Brian Keenan, the former Beirut hostage; and Terry O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers International Union.
O’Leary should be particularly interesting. He has spent the last few years writing a constitution for the Kurdish part of Iraq and wrote several landmark books about Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles.
Others expected to attend include William Flynn, former chairman of Mutual of America who played a major role in the peace process, and leading members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, including former president Ned McGinley.
There will be buses coming to the event from Pennsylvania and Connecticut as well as possibly from Boston.
It marks the first major event for Sinn Fein in America with the exception of the party’s fundraising efforts, since they came into power with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland.
Speaking of the conference Adams noted, “Irish America played a significant role in securing the peace process. The next important task is unity.
“As part of the work of the party’s task force on Irish reunification we are hosting a number of significant forums in Ireland, the U.S. and Britain over the course of the coming year.
“Our task is to mobilize support at home and internationally for the democratic demand for Irish reunification to be met. I am delighted that the first event in New York has attracted such significant support both from prominent individuals and organizations.”
The New York conference will be followed by a similar event in San Francisco on Saturday, June 27 at St. Anne’s Hall there.
It will be another opportunity for Sinn Fein to fly the flag in America and to put paid to the claims by dissidents that they have allowed a united Ireland to slip off the agenda.
From that point of view the American trip by Adams serves two vital purposes -- to show that the party is still intent on their ambition for a united Ireland, and also to re-engage Irish Americans on the issue.
It has been hard to keep the momentum up in America, but there will always be a hardcore, especially among the Ancient Order of Hibernians and older Irish organizations, that are drawn to the situation in Northern Ireland and what Sinn Fein is doing.
It is 15 years since Adams was first allowed into the U.S. on the famous 48-hour visa, and during that time Sinn Fein have built up a deep presence in America and collected millions of dollars here.
They have also delivered on their promises over that period, to bring the IRA campaign to an end and to take part in the political negotiations that brought about the landmark Good Friday Agreement.
Gerry Adams: It’s all about unity
Andersonstown News Thursday
Gerry Adams
BY THIS time next week the election results north and south will be known. At this time Sinn Féin is set to retain our EU seat in the North.
In Dublin every vote will count but people know if they want to take a seat off Fianna Fáil and tell the government that its days are numbered, then the only candidate who can do that is Mary Lou
MacDonald.
Mary Lou is now sitting at 15 per cent in the polls. In the Ireland South constituency Toiréasa Ferris is polling extremely well and has captured the support particularly of young voters. So too in the North West with Pádraig Mac Lochlainn while in Leinster, Sinn Féin’s two candidates, Kathleen Funchion and Tomás Sharkey, will increase our vote by around a third.
The fate of the Irish government could hang – pardon the pun – on the outcome of these contests.
The big challenge is not for the politicians. The big challenge is for the electorate. If citizens can be motivated to realize that election day is their day then the process of fight back will really have begun.
But whatever the outcome of the elections, it will be back to business as usual for Sinn Féin. And that means putting the work for Irish unity up a few notches.
I will be on my way to New York for the first of two Sinn Féin conferences in the USA on the theme of ‘A United Ireland – How Do We Get There?’ which will take place on Saturday, June 13.
I will host the conferences and there will be introductory speeches by keynote speakers who have different and challenging views on the question of a United Ireland and how it can be achieved.
Among those participating will be author Pete Hamill, Professor Brendan O’Leary of the University of Pennsylvania, author and broadcaster Brian Keenan, and President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Terence O’Sullivan.
Also participating in this conference will be the presidents of many powerful Irish American organizations, including the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Ladies’ Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Northern Aid, the Irish America Unity Conference, the Brehon Law Society and the United Irish Counties Association.
We have asked people to come to this conference not just to listen but to contribute, to share ideas, to suggest initiatives and to take action on promoting Irish reunification.
Our focus is on making Irish reunification happen. That is our political priority as an Irish republican party – to end the partition of Ireland and the union with Britain, and to construct a new national democracy, a new republic, on the island of Ireland, including reconciliation between nationalists and unionists, between orange and green.
This is the great unfinished and historic task of building a truly free Irish national democracy. And this is the challenge which we are asking Irish Americans and the Irish Diaspora across the world to join with us in completing.
The Irish Diaspora has already made a real difference. Irish America especially has played and continues to play a crucial role in the Irish peace process. Its influence in Washington is obvious.
Irish America is vast. Tens of millions of people scattered across the USA and organised through a range of Irish cultural, sporting and civic society organizations, as well as in the arts, in business, in local, state and national politics and in the trade union movement.
Many are openly supportive of a United Ireland.
So, if we are to ensure that Irish reunification is more than just a dream we have to involve the Irish diaspora, we have to reach out to it and to marshal its political strength in support of our goals.
So, it is Irish America we want to hear from. Already there is a buzz about the conferences. Rita O’Hare tells me that there are people coming to the New York conference from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other parts of the east coast, as well as New York.
On the west coast interest is also building for the San Francisco conference on June 27 with attendance from the Bay area and well beyond.
Can these conferences make a difference? This blog believes they can.
Irish American organizations have historically been central in helping and sustaining the struggle in Ireland.
In more modern times the MacBride Principles campaign, as well as the support Irish American organizations have given to justice campaigns, to the prisoners and the hunger strikers, were all vitally important.
This is about putting Irish reunification on the political agenda in the USA. Irish America can make a significant contribution to achieving that goal.
Irish unity may make sense, politically, economically and historically.
The Good Friday Agreement provides a legislative, peaceful and democratic route to achieve this. And the economic and demographic dynamics in Ireland make Irish reunification a realistic objective within a reasonable time scale.
But it won’t happen because it should or because it is the right thing, or because we want it.
It can and will happen if we come together and organise and plan.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2009/10/c5224.html
Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams to Hold Press Conference at United Ireland Forum
NEW YORK, June 10 /CNW/ -- Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, 2009 at the Hilton Hotel, 1335 Avenue of the Americas at West 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan.
The press conference will precede the Unite Ireland Forum to start an hour later at 12:30 p.m.
Adams will take questions on his call for the opening of a dialogue among Irish Americans and the Irish Diaspora across the world about how to proceed to attain a united, sovereign Ireland.
Unite Ireland Forum Invites Irish America To Speak
A forum to open a dialogue among Irish Americans about how best to unite Ireland will be held this Saturday, June 13, 2009 starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel, 1335 Avenue of the Americas at West 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan.
Sinn Fein, an Irish republican party, is organizing the event. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams MP will serve as host.
The theme of the forum is "United Ireland - How Do We Get There?"
"Irish America has played a significant role in securing the peace process," Adams said. "The next important task is unity."
Adams said he hoped the ideas, proposals and plans presented at the forum propel the issue of Irish unification into the forefront of discussion in Irish America and the Irish diaspora across the world.
"We wish to raise awareness among Irish Americans that the time has come to end the partition of Ireland and construct a new national democracy, a new republic on the island of Ireland," Adams said. "We seek a united, sovereign nation that reconciles nationalists and unionists and guarantees equal rights and equal opportunities for all. We want to bring people together and change their lives for the better."
Joining Adams at the forum will be four keynote speakers. They include: author Pete Hamill, former Lebanon hostage and broadcaster Brian Keenan, University of Pennsylvania professor Brendan O'Leary and the president of the Laborers International Union of North America Terence O'Sullivan.
Organizations participating in the forum include: the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish National Caucus, Irish Northern Aid, the Irish American Unity Conference, the Brehon Law Society, the United Irish Counties
Association and others.
Adams will host a second forum on June 27 in San Francisco.
Sinn Fein
For further information: Rita O'Hare, Sinn Fein U.S. Representative, +1-917-710-3700, +1-212-227-5937
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/adams-addresses-us-conferences-14336171.html
Adams addresses US conferences
By Jim Dee
Friday, 12 June 2009
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will be in New York tomorrow to host the first of two conferences in America this month aimed at marshalling support for a united Ireland.
In announcing the ‘United Ireland — How Do We Get There?’ event, Mr Adams said: “We wish to raise awareness among Irish-Americans that the time has come to end the partition of Ireland and construct a new national democracy, a new republic on the island of Ireland.”
Irish-American groups attending include the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Northern Aid (NORAID), the Irish National Caucus, and the Irish American Unity Conference.
Speakers will include former Lebanon hostage Brian Keenan and Peter Hamill, a former journalist who covered Northern Ireland for several New York newspapers.
“It’s not that people here think that something magical is going to happen on Saturday,” Larry Downes, a New York-based lawyer who heads Friends of Sinn Fein told the Belfast Telegraph.
“But things have a beginning long before they have a culmination. I think this is the beginning of the home-stretch, if you will.” Mr Downes said that many sceptics thought the peace process would never advance, and that the IRA would never decommission its weaponry.
“And that has not proven true. And, leading both of those efforts, by the way, was the same person leading the current effort. And that’s Gerry Adams — who even his biggest enemy would have to admit is a very good strategic long-term thinker, who then manages to follow-up what he’s working on.”
However, Professor Padraig O’Malley, the Dublin-born academic based at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, told the Telegraph that the role Irish-American groups can play in achieving a united Ireland is negligible — particularly since the Good Friday agreement states that unity cannot be achieved until a majority in Northern Ireland agree to it.
Prof O’Malley also said that domestic bread-and-butter issues are far more important to most Irish-Americans. “Given the recession and people’s advanced preoccupation with their own jobs and their own futures, I don’t think that this is going to serve as any tool that will effectively mobilise Irish-Americans on the part of any initiative for Irish unity,” he said.
Prof O’Malley, who organised the Helsinki initiative that saw Northern Irish politicians discuss peacemaking lessons with different Iraqi factions, also expressed scepticism that political support for unity will be found in Washington.
http://www.irishemigrant.com/ie/go.asp?p=story&storyID=4514
Ireland agenda for Americans
By Michael J. Cummings
Americans concerned with the Irish conflict and its aftermath are meeting in San Francisco and New York. The leadership of Sinn Fein including Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have invited discussion on Ireland’s re-unification and how Americans might best help to bring it about.
Many believe the issue had been resolved with the Belfast Agreement of 1998, and they would be correct to a point. Unfortunately that struggle effectively ended with no do-over of the democratic vote of 1918 that Parliament rejected. Instead there was a “partitioned plebiscite” on the Treaty itself with its oblique references to Ireland’s re-unification. As much as it pains me to say so, Ireland’s unity remains as firmly in the hands of a British Parliament today as it did in 1918. So as far as putting Ireland's national self-determination on the American foreign policy agenda, that train has left the station.
The good news is that the Agreement did end London’s corrupt version of democracy and the murderous rampages of Her Majesty’s terrorists, uniformed and otherwise. The decades of sacrifice by the brave Nationalist community and the resistance of men and women in arms had at last bore fruit.
While the so-called "Good Friday" Agreement now is the major factor limiting any American role ending partition, there are other impediments. There is firstly the matter of scale. Tiny Ireland barely shows up on the foreign affairs radar screen of our Department of State, long under British dictation. Only the huge Irish-American presence in the electorate counter balanced this. There is also the issue of Americans' interest in democracy and justice in the North far exceeding that of the Irish government. This prompted the late U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neil to chastise his constituents once saying, “What do you want me to do, be more Irish
than the Irish government?”
Finally, there is the small matter of pervasive British influence in two areas important to the conduct of foreign affairs: academia and the media. These fields of play have long been ignored by activists. What influential Americans read or hear about Ireland and the conflict is often fed to them by British sycophants John O’Sullivan and self-loathing Irish-American commentators like James Carroll. On campuses across the nation apostles of the mythical "special relationship," particularly those enthralled with all things Royal and Empire, teach unchallenged the English version of Irish history.
However, the problems don’t end there. There is the real prospect of repeating the past mistakes of activists. Take for example this forum. Foreign policy is shaped with strategic and tactical objectives defined at high levels of government and commerce over extended periods of time. The proposed open-mike discussion of Ireland's unity without the Irish government is, in truth, little more than a Sinn Fein pep rally. In the past, capable and informed advocates have been in short supply. A meeting was once arranged to discuss the Irish conflict with Rep. Ham Fish, then a key member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Instead of making key points and seeking action, the Irishman lectured the member of Congress on the scurrilous deeds of the English Pope Adrian IV. No advocate should consider ever asking U.S. officials to advocate the repeal of the British Act of Supremacy; a supreme waste of time. Advocacy by Americans often lacked two necessities for success: consensus and focus. Lobbying objectives often shifted with each new escaped Irish prisoner who made it to these shores.
Priorities and fund raising changed so often I was convinced it was a British ploy to minimize our impact. Lastly, for too long lobbying efforts were focused on East and West coast friends in Congress with little consideration given to where power in foreign affairs really rested.
Americans can be of tremendous assistance. Prime Minister Haughey in New York once claimed that our support lifted the voice of the Irish government in its dealings with England. Let me suggest the areas where U.S. support might be most welcome.
Media Monitoring—If journalist Bernard-Henri Levy in the Wall Street Journal could criticize the Kremlin for “shameless twisting of law and principle,” what then might we demand our President say about Britain’s corruption of law in justice in the North?
Democracy—No matter what phony democracy is instituted in the six counties of Ireland, Orders of the Privy Council from London can overrule everything including lawful human rights judgments. The U.S. should demand an end to this veto power, a vestige of the colonial era.
Truth—The U.S. has recently demanded from China truth and accountability for Tianamen Square. If the challenge by Secretary of State Clinton is not just for show and we are making these demands of a country that virtually owns America, how much more forceful should we be in demanding the truth and facts of over 1000 unsolved killings (mostly Catholic) by the so-called forces of law and order in N.I.?
Compensation—The Berlusconi administration approved a $5 billion restitution payment to oil rich Libya “as material and emotional recognition of the mistakes that our country has done to yours in the colonial era.” One can only imagine what Britain should pay for the last 100 years of murderous mayhem and anti-Catholic oppression that has wounded generations of Irish families. Why shouldn’t Americans lead the way in support of such compensation for Ireland?
Justice—The Belfast Agreement has failed to provide justice to the victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre, the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and the families of solicitors Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane. Every day the U.S. protests foreign countries' actions, imposes sanctions and/or restricts aid to discourage human rights violations or to uncover some unpleasant truths. Why should Britain get a free pass? Americans must show the world England’s real legacy in Ireland.
Education—To the extent Americans know anything about Ireland’s history and culture, it is the sanitized English version. Conversely, England’s undemocratic occupation of the North, the treachery of their "security forces" and their corruption of law and justice is rarely found in text books, documentaries, scholarly journals or academic study.
Americans should change this and promote a more balanced view of history than that of the oppressor and the conqueror.
Sinn Fein knows full well that Whitehall has plans for the next 50 years in Ireland, and is correct to be solicitous of Americans to disrupt those plans. But they signed the means and mechanism for Irish unity in the Belfast Agreement, and asking Americans to push public officials here for it is doomed to failure and would harm the credibility of other equally desirable areas of advocacy.
Michael Cummings serves on the national boards of the nations largest Irish-American groups; the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Irish Northern Aid Committee and the Irish American Unity Conference.
http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19375
One Ireland
Federal Ireland idea aired at NY forum
By Ray O'Hanlon
In the first of what will be a series of gatherings in the U.S. and other countries where there is a strong Irish diaspora, the path and the process by which Ireland will be reunited was the centerpiece of a forum in New York City last weekend organized by Sinn Féin.
The forum, under the banner of "Unite Ireland," and held at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, was attended by over 700 delegates and activists from around the U.S. and addressed by a panel of invited speakers as well as others representing an array of Irish American organizations.
There were also representatives of both the Irish and British governments at the gathering.
The forum was intended as an open debate and the audience was treated to a broad assessment of how Irish unity will be ultimately achieved - more than one speaker stressed that it was a matter of when, not if - and indeed what a unified Ireland might ultimately look like.
One scenario, outlined by Professor Brendan O'Leary of the University of Pennsylvania, was a possible federation of the present northern six counties and he southern 26.
And in what for many in the room was the emotional heart of the day's discussions, former Beirut hostage Brian Keenan, a Belfast Protestant by birth, delivered his view of the nature of the division on the island and his hopes for its ending in a series of stories that transfixed his audience.
The forum was opened by Friends of Sinn Féin president Larry Downes and party leader Gerry Adams who, in speaking to the press beforehand and the audience minutes later, said that the question for the Irish diaspora and Irish America was not how to get to a united Ireland, but how they could help achieve what was inevitable.
A united Ireland, said Adams, was not a matter of if, but of how and when. The forum, he said, was the beginning of a new phase of action and activism in the United States, one that would take on much of the appearance of the MacBride Principles campaign that garnered widespread community and political support behind the effort to secure fair employment in Northern Ireland.
Adams said it was important to discuss what kind of a united Ireland would take shape. The process, he said, was more than just a changing of flags.
The business of uniting orange and green would be done in Ireland, he said. The mechanism for doing this was contained in the Good Friday Agreement.
Adams asserted that partition had lost its influence as a result of economic progress on an island where "business unionism" now broadly shared the view of an all island economy.
And unionism, Adams emphasized, would have to play a central part in the gaining of unity.
He said it would require "huge outreach to our unionist brothers and sisters."
Adams opined that the economic and political dynamics in Ireland were combining to make unity possible "in a reasonable time." While stating his view that "this generation" could make full Irish freedom a reality, Adams emphasized that a lot of work would still be required.
"Doing," he said, "is the difference between dreaming and success."
The unity of Ireland, Adams said, was bigger than Sinn Féin, which did not have a monopoly on what was a "primary national and international issue."
With this in mind, he said there was the potential to mobilize the diaspora in a way never seen before.
Author and journalist Pete Hamill provided the introductions for the main invited speakers. The son of immigrants form Belfast, Hamill noted that the "icepack" that had been the core of political division in Ireland was now breaking up.
Professor Brendan O'Leary of the University of Pennsylvania said that the issue of unity would require extensive public debate and analysis that would take a long time.
But the process, he said, was an "honorable" one for which there was "no violent road." O'Leary spoke of the much vaunted demography of the North and played up the potential importance of immigration there, especially by "Polish Catholics with UK passports."
He did not think that, as per some predictions, there would be a nationalist majority by 2023 and he was of the view that the gains by nationalists in the overall population of the North had likely flattened out.
There was, he said, "no quick victory" for Irish nationalism "through the cradle."
As such, a "substantial portion of unionists and Protestants" needed to be converted to the idea of a united Ireland. In this regard the growing secularism on the island in general was diminishing old arguments against unity such as the "Rome rule" one.
Rome rule, he quipped, was no longer the rule of the Vatican but "the Rome of the pagans."
O'Leary introduced something that perhaps many at the forum were thinking about in the backs of their minds rather than in their foremost thoughts and that was federalism. There were, he said "practical and principled" reasons to advocate a federal Ireland.
O'Leary argued that the "population explosion" in the South stood to give the North much less clout in a united Ireland than once would have been the case.
A federal Ireland, he said, would dilute this effect. Such a federation would not necessarily be based on the historical four provinces but a two unit federation between the existing six county North and the South which, he said, could break into smaller units if it so desired.
There would be a need to persuade others such as immigrant groups in the North in order to establish a required backdrop for unity of peace and pluralism, said O'Leary.
The arrival of those groups made a federal Ireland more possible.
O'Leary focused on the difficulties of winning over public opinion in the South to the idea of unity.
"There had been "estrangement" over the 90 years of partition and a fear in the South over potential violence from northern Protestants.
Consent for unity on the southern side, he said, would minimally require the cooperation of the SDLP in the North, Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Greens in the South.
Fine Gael's name in English, he reminded listeners, was also the Irish unity party.
In addition to the listed speakers, the forum was also addressed by Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Eliot Engel.
Schumer drew a comparison between New York and its 62 counties, America and its 50 states, and Ireland and its 32 counties.
Schumer said that with regards to Ireland he looked forward to "one great united country in our lifetimes."
Brendan Keenan provided the emotional touchstone on the day in a delivery that kept all in the room riveted. The man who spent over four years as a hostage in Beirut was joined in the room by fellow former hostage Terry Anderson.
Both men were cheered and applauded loudly. Keenan's account of growing up in a part of East Belfast where "the men ate ball bearings for breakfast" was especially notable by virtue of his telling of how the lone Catholic family on his street had fared during his boyhood.
While this family lived only feet away from Protestant neighbors, they were separated from their neighbors, and their neighbors were separated from them, by an "ocean of misunderstanding."
Keenan remembered Bloody Sunday as a catharsis that left him thinking that there "had to be another Ireland, bigger and better than this."
Keenan said that if there was to be a united republic it would have to be one of the heart and mind and with the capacity to look outside itself.
"The way there begins today by talking and listening," he said.
Labor leader Terry O'Sullivan wrapped up the listed speakers with a rousing call to action during which he praised Gerry Adams as "an Irish hero, an American hero, and a world hero." "
A lot of people," he said, "gave their lives for us to be here in this room talking about a united Ireland," said O'Sullivan who said that organized labor had "thousands" of organizers and "boots on the street" that could be utilized in the campaign for Irish unity.
"We stand for a united Ireland once and for all," he said.
Following the platform speakers a long line of individuals who had signed up to make short statements to the audience did so in what was a second half of the three-hour long forum.
First up was Ancient Order of Hibernians National President Seamus Boyle who said that an Ireland united and free was the top priority for the Hibernians.
And the AOH, he said, vowed to be a "major player" in the campaign to secure unity.
Boyle said the Hibernians would be making a special effort to "revitalize" the congressional Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs and the Friends of Ireland in Congress.
Joe McManus, president of the United Irish Counties, said that in his organization's mindset, Ireland was already united.
Kate McCabe of the Irish American Unity Conference chose human rights as the primary focus for her brief address while Gerry Coleman, Kate Murphy and Dan O'Rourke of Irish Northern aid pledged an all out effort.
O'Rourke said the MacBride Principles campaign should serve as a model for the united Ireland effort.
Also addressing the audience were Joe Jamison of the Irish American Labor Coalition, Marty Cottingham of the Irish American Republicans, Danny Brown of Clan na Gael.
Rep. Engel, speaking at this juncture, noted that in Barack Obama, the U.S. had a president who "understands Irish freedom."
"We will continue to talk to him," Engel vowed.
Borrowing a line made famous by his adopted land, Fr. Sean McManus spoke of Ireland being "one nation under God." McManus stressed the importance of battling sectarianism even as the effort to secure unity gathered momentum.
Publisher Niall O'Dowd focused on the importance of educating Catholics and Protestants in the same schools in Northern Ireland, this as a way of breaking down social barriers.
Denise Doyle of the Philadelphia Irish Society and Sean Riordan of the Brehon Law Society, activist Jack Kilroy from Cleveland, Ted Sullivan from Atlanta, Ed Shevlin of the Grand Council of Emerald Societies, Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, and Steve McCabe of the Irish Reconciliation Committee - which has made groundbreaking contacts with loyalist paramilitary groups - were just some of the speakers who focused on different aspects that will emerge as a united Ireland campaign progresses.
In concluding the forum, Gerry Adams described the gathering as the commencement of a new phase.
"We cannot contemplate failure, or go out of here and falter. It's too important," he said.
"We have the ability, the capability, the potential to be the generation that brings about Irish unity.
"The Irish government has a constitutional imperative to bring about Irish unity. Irish America should remind them of that. Let's go from here and do the work," he said.
The forum is being reconvened in San Francisco on Saturday, June 27.
This story appeared in the issue of June 17-23, 2009
http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/38400
New York Conference puts Irish unity on the agenda
BY RICHARD McCAULEY
There was a loud buzz of anticipation in the hall as 800 Irish American activists gathered last Saturday afternoon in the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, in New York.
Old friends who had campaigned together over many decades on a range of justice issues, from internment, through political status campaigns, the hunger strikes, collusion, plastic bullets and the MacBride Principles Campaign against discrimination, and many more, came together for a special one day conference organised by Sinn Féin.
There were smiles, laughter, warm handshakes. Some reminiscing could be heard among the older activists but there were many new faces and young people there eager to hear the distinguished panel and make their contribution to the debate on reuniting Ireland.
There were scores of Irish American organisations represented at what was probably the biggest single gathering of Irish American organisations and activists in several decades.
The New York event was organised by Sinn Féin. It was billed as a ‘United Ireland Forum’ with the theme of the conference described as; ‘A Public Conversation to discuss: Unity – Our destination: How do we get there?’
By 12.30 the panel of distinguished guests had taken their seats and the large audience hushed to hear the format of the next three and a half hours of conversation.
Pete Hamill was Fear an Tí. This well known former New York journalist, essayist and novelist spoke of the importance of the conference and of the issue and introduced each of the panellists.
He was joined on stage by Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin President; Brian Keenan, author and broadcaster who was a hostage in Beirut for four and a half years and who is from East Belfast; Dr. Brendan O’Leary, is Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania who has written extensively on the north, is an advisor to the Kurdistan National Assembly, the UN, EU and others; and Terry O’Sullivan, the General President of the Labourers’ International Union of North America.
New Phase of Activism
Gerry Adams as the host of the Forum opened the proceedings by dedicating his remarks to the memory of four great Irish Americans who had died in recent months and had “kept the faith and who are with us here in spirit: Dave Burke; Mike Doyle; Danny Withers and Billy Briggs”.
The Sinn Féin President reminded his audience of the goal of the meeting, “A Public Conversation to discuss: Unity – Our destination: How do we get there?”. He identified two sub themes:
“Firstly for the people of Ireland – what kind of united Ireland do we need?
“And secondly for the diaspora, particularly here in the USA, the question is not so much how do we get there as how can the USA help the people of Ireland get there?
"How do you help? How can you be active and effective?
“Because it isn’t a matter of IF we will get a united Ireland – be sure of that my friends. It is a matter of HOW and WHEN.
“For Sinn Féin a united Ireland is more than just about changing the flags. We want a real republic – a national democratic republic – but that is for the people of the island of Ireland to decide, free from outside interference. So, this conference is about what you can do about uniting Ireland. In other words this is the start of a new phase of activism throughout Irish America.
“For hundreds of years we Irish have struggled for independence and freedom from Britain. Our struggle has taken many forms, sometimes armed and violent, sometimes electoral, sometimes peaceful.
“We have fought on all fronts – we have suffered. Others have suffered also. We have persisted; we have made enormous progress and we have prevailed. And always, at the heart of our struggle there has been our fundamental right, our basic human right, to determine our own future.
“And always, working alongside us has been the Irish diaspora, especially here in the USA. And with your support we have made progress. There is an end to armed conflict. The Good Friday Agreement contains a legislative, peaceful and democratic mechanism to set up a new and democratic Ireland.
“I believe that the economic and political dynamics in Ireland today make a united Ireland a realistic and realisable objective in a reasonable period of time.
“But there are still rigid differences, attitudes, opinions, self interests, partitionism, bigotry and sectarianism which have to be overcome. This is a daunting challenge.
“A United Ireland must guarantee liberty and justice for all. It must ensure religious and civil liberty and equal rights and opportunities for all. It must reconcile all sections of our people and heal the hurts between us. It will require thoughtful strategies – huge outreach to our unionist brothers and sisters and a patient process of nation building to unite orange and green.
“But it can be done. We can do it, all of us together. The peace process has given us countless examples of the unthinkable, the unexpected and the unbelievable actually happening.
“Twenty years ago who would have believed me if I had told you there would be cessations, and a Peace Process, and an Agreement, and Ian Paisley or Peter Robinson sitting in government as an equal with Martin McGuinness, and Sinn Féin emerging from an election – as we did last week – as the largest party in the North?’
Gerry Adams reminded his audience that Irish America made a key contribution to the Peace Process and succeeded in pushing the Irish, British and US governments into taking decisions they would otherwise have resisted. He said:
“The decisions that Irish America took then allowed you to reach into the White House; to reach into 10 Downing Street; to reach into Unionist Party headquarters and to change the direction of Irish history, to give hope where none had existed and to save countless lives in the process.
“That’s what you did. Well I believe we can go one better. Irish freedom and the end to British rule in Ireland has been the goal of generations of Irish republicans and of the diaspora.
“I believe this generation can make it real. But to succeed we have to be active. And to remember always that in activism every little bit counts. Every little step forward brings the end of the journey closer.
“There is nothing we cannot do; nothing we can not achieve; if we are determined to make it happen. Sinn Féin is determined. We have appointed Conor Murphy, Minister for Regional Development and Senator Pearse Doherty to jointly head up our United Ireland task Force.
“They have a responsibility to roll a series of events throughout every Irish county and to mainstream their work into every elected forum on the island of Ireland. This is in addition to work here in the USA, Australia, Europe and Britain.
“But let me make it clear that Irish unity is bigger than Sinn Féin. We have no monopoly and we do not want a monopoly on this primary national and international issue. It is the business of everyone who desires peace and justice and freedom and prosperity for the people of Ireland
“So my friends this conference is the beginning of a new phase of struggle. It will be followed by others. I believe it will mobilise and motivate the diaspora in a way never seen before. And that is our purpose today. To begin that process.”
Brendan O’Leary outlined the desirability but in his view not the inevitability of a United Ireland. In his remarks he spelt out the changes in demographics, as well as the options, he believes, are available to securing the consensus necessary to create a viable united Ireland. His clear preference was for a form of federal arrangement as the best way of reassuring unionists.
Professor O’Leary also raised the recent election results in Scotland in which the Scottish National Party had inflicted a serious defeat on the British Labour Party.
He said: “If the SNP permanently replaces Labour in Scotland as the largest party, then a confrontation with the British conservatives over the first Union lies ahead ... If and when that other union dissolves that may be the moment for launching fully the idea of the federalisation of Ireland.”
Brian Keenan received a warm welcome which became a standing ovation when he drew the audiences attention to his friend, fellow Beirut hostage Terry Anderson who was in the hall. Brian captured the attention of the audience with his very personal and moving account as a protestant growing up in east Belfast. He spoke of the lack of connection between people, of the dangers of sectarianism and of the need to reach out to others beyond the cultural stereotypes. And he recounted his experience of interviewing a Presbyterian Minister who wept for the loss of that radicalism that marked Irish Presbyterianism in the 18th century.
Terry O’Sullivan cut right to the core of what activism must be about and he pledged his support and that of his union to spread the word; use its resources; and exploit its political clout to help advance the argument for a United Ireland.
He identified for activists what activism must mean in this new phase of struggle and this theme was picked up by the almost 40 other speakers who then addressed the meeting, either as representatives of organisations like Irish Northern Aid, the AOH, Clann na Gael, the Irish American Unity Conference and many, many others, or as individuals who wanted to express their opinion.
The conference was also unexpectedly addressed by two senior New York politicians US Senator Schumer and Congressman Elliot Engel who both pledged their support to the campaign.
In summary there was an acceptance that Saturday’s conference was just the beginning and that it was crucial that Irish America talked about Irish unity and kept talking about it as a means of getting it on the political agenda.
Some suggested lobbying politicians; others said that Irish America now had to revitalise bodies like the Congressional Ad Hoc Committee on Ireland and the Friends of Ireland Committee.
The MacBride Principles Campaign was a constant touchstone for activists who see it as a template for a United Ireland campaign
Consequently many spoke of the need to build alliances and coalitions of organisations, writing to their local newspaper, persuading the universities and colleges to host debates on this theme and bringing forward resolutions to City Councils, State legislatures and Congress, all as a means of building awareness, support and momentum.
Several speakers lambasted those, especially the Irish Government, who are forever saying the time is not right to raise this issue. One contributor got a rousing reception when he said “we don’t need anyone’s permission to raise this issue or push for a united Ireland.”
There was also an understanding, probably assisted by the contributions of Brendan O’Leary and Brian Keenan, of the need to find ways of addressing unionists and their fears. The Brehon Society of Lawyers proposed a series of essays specifically addressing unionism.
At the end of the four hours the hall was alive with participants enthused by the contributions talking excitedly about the next steps for them.
Niall O’Dowd in a column the next day remarked: “Sinn Féin did the Irish American Community a service by hosting this event and laying out the pitfalls as well as the promise.”
In his summing up Gerry Adams expressed his confidence in Irish America. He said: “We cannot afford failure. We cannot falter. We do have the ability to achieve Irish unity.”
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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19392
A call to words
By Irish Echo Staff
If there had been a musical backdrop that best fitted last Saturday's "Unite Ireland" forum at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan it might well have been John Lennon's song, "Imagine."
The forum was an exercise in imagining not just a united Ireland, for it was stated more than once that such an outcome was inevitable, but how one would come about and precisely how one would look on the map.
The forum was organized by one party, Sinn Féin. But it was also stated and acknowledged that the unity of Ireland is not solely the prerogative of this party, or any one party on the island of Ireland.
A united Ireland, is, and this too was expressly stated, a constitutional imperative for the existing 26-county republic and all who participate in its legitimate political life.
So unity concerns everyone on the island and, though they would presumably lack a vote in any future referenda on the issues of partition and unity, all those from the island who are living overseas, all Irish citizens no matter their birthplace, all among the diaspora who have Irish ancestry, and, indeed, everyone and anyone who is simply interested and concerned about the island's future.
There were between 700 and 800 people from all these categories at the forum and all listened intently to speakers who approached the subject of Irish unity from a variety of distinct perspectives.
Gerry Adams, of course, outlined his party's well-known view of what the future should hold. But others approached the issue from an academic and, in the case of Brian Keenan, from a raw human and emotional perspective that held everyone in the room spellbound.
Interestingly, another speaker, Dr. Brendan O'Leary of the University of Pennsylvania, presented the idea of a possible future federal Ireland, not necessarily based on the Eire Nua model of the historic four provinces, but rather one in which the current six counties, long familiar with each other, would remain an entity in a federated union with the 26 counties, also long familiar with each other's company.
Other speakers presented a more traditional view of a future union of North and South but, overall, what was especially encouraging was the unequivocal acceptance of change based on politics and consent, and not through violent means.
The forum, as such, was a call to words, debate, consideration and a grassroots effort in the U.S, and other countries where the diaspora is significantly represented that would replicate in key respects the MacBride Principles campaign.
And in an indicator of a campaign taking precisely such a form, the second half of the forum was filled with the words of representatives of an array of Irish American organizations from around the nation.
Nobody will assert that a united Ireland is an easy proposition, that the road to one will not be fraught and troublesome, that no matter what form it eventually takes it will not please everybody.
But that's no reason to simply turn away and forget, discard the goal, or give in to the view that it is unattainable.
If we believe that the island of Ireland can be better place than it has been, than it is now, then it is indeed an imperative that we work to achieve what can, and should be, a more perfect union of the Planter and the Gael.
This story appeared in the issue of June 17-23, 2009
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From: sffosf [mailto:]
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 9:19 AM
Subject:
Gerry Adams on the Ron Owens Show and discussion panel line up for open forum
Dear Friends and Supporters,
We are immersed in the planning and coordination of the Sat. June 27th Forum “A UNITED IRELAND, HOW DO WE GET THERE ? Hosted by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.
There is great excitement in the community regarding this event and we are doing our best to inform those that do not already know about it. For the last six weeks, we have been meeting with representatives of various Irish groups, labor unions, politicians, members of the arts, and the business community, planning and coordinating the forum, and the event has come together quite nicely!
So what have we planned.
So far we have reserved St. Annes Hall on Funston Ave. between Irving and Judah st. to hold the event starting at 2pm until 5pm. The panel for discussion will be made up of
- Gerry Adams and he will be joined by
- Fionnula Flanagan, the renowned actress, and
- Robert Ballagh, Irish artist and political activist;
- John Burton, the state chairperson of the Democratic Party, and
- Professor Ruan O'Donnell head of the history dept. at Limerick university
will also attend as will many other local and state representatives, of the various groups that have seen their fair share of the Irish Diaspora swell their ranks.
This will be a town hall styled event, all are welcome to participate by offering suggestions as how best we in the USA can promote and support the goal of achieving "A United, Independent, 32 County Republic.’’ a goal that has been denied the Irish People for far too long.
On Friday 26th June between 10am and 11am Gerry Adams can be heard live and will answer questions on the RONN OWENS SHOW. 810 AM.Radio … Tune In…
Come participate with us and recognize this historic moment .
-___Organizing Committee;_____
- Pat Uniack,
- Seamus Canning ,
- Oliver Mc Elhone,
- Paul Mc Cann.
- Mandy Corry,
- Joan O’Neil.
- James Reid,
- Rose Collins,
- Regina Costa,
- Bobby O’Malley-Daly,
- Jeanne Sweet,
- George Trainor,
- Gerry Donaghy,
- Kieron Keenan,
- Finbar McPolin,
- Kenny Stocks,
- Buffy and Pat Maguire,
- Ronan Mulholland,
- Connlaith Mulholland,
- Ciaran Scally,
- Gilbert Coyle,
- Peter Cooper,
- Mike Carty,
- Louise Martin,
- Paul Campbell,
- Kathy Mc Cormick,
- Larry Mc Auley,
- Maudie Mc Cormick,
- Pat Burke,
- Trish Mc Cormick,
- Mikey O’Brien,
- Paul Downey.
Visit us at www.aunitedireland.org
http://www.sinnfein.ie
Strong support for cause of Irish unity in San Francisco
Sinn Féin had a capacity crowd in San Francisco on Saturday, 27 June at the second of its two major US Forums on the theme of a United Ireland and the role of Irish America in helping to achieve it -- and a euphoric Gerry Adams sat in a San Francisco pub -- Fiddlers Green -- and watched Antrim win an Ulster senior football semi final while sitting among a crowd of Tyrone supporters.
San Francisco was also celebrating gay pride weekend and was alive with colour, music and throngs of visitors from all parts of the world.
The Forum had seating for 600 seats but it was standing room only as Gerry Adams entered St. Anne's Hall. The smile on his face told the story of a very happy Antrim supporter buoyed up by the success of his county team. The Sinn Féin President sang the praises of Antrim and threw down the gauntlet to all the Tyrone supporters in the hall -- 'We're coming for you on July 19th in Clones!'
As in New York two weeks ago a distinguished panel addressed the theme of a United Ireland. They included Professor Ruán O Donnell, Head of the History Department at Limerick University, internationally acclaimed actress Fionnuala Flanagan, renowned Irish artist Robert Ballagh and John L Burton, Chairman of the California Democratic Party.
Gerry Adams told those present that the US conferences are only the beginning of a new phase in the struggle to achieve Irish reunification.
The efforts of Irish Americans had in the past he said made an enormous difference, for example in raising awareness through the MacBride Principles campaign, on the issue of discrimination in employment, and forcing a reluctant British government to introduce tougher anti-discrimination legislation.
"A united Ireland can only be achieved by the people who live on the island of Ireland. However, as the Peace Process has shown the Irish diaspora, and particularly Irish America, has the ability and the political influence to significantly advance the goal of Irish reunification", he said.
Over two dozen speakers from the audience representing a wide range of Irish American organisations also addressed the hall.
There was an enthusiastic welcome for the conference and an eagerness on the part of all of the speakers to begin this new phase of struggle. The ideas mirrored those made at the New York conference -- lobbying state and national legislators and legislative bodies; proposing resolutions for city and municipal and community organisations; securing the support of other Irish American organisations; e-mailing campaigns; letter writing; holding other similar type conferences and much more. Making maximum use of social networking sites like Youtube and Facebook was a constant theme.
One speaker was applauded when he suggested that an effort should be made to co-ordinate all of the St. Patrick's Day events in the USA and to ensure that they adopt the united Ireland theme. Another spoke of the support which the Irish struggle had won over the years from other ethnic groups and that a real effort should be made to win support for a united Ireland from them.
Concluding the Forum Gerry Adams said: "The breadth of representation from Irish America at the two conferences is evidence of how much Irish America cares about what is happening in Ireland and of the desire to achieve a united Ireland.
Irish freedom and independence has been a dream of Irish people for many centuries. We have the ability to do more than dream. We can be the generation that can actually achieve. Let's go and do it."