Intelligencer

Kerry’s Irish Statement Revisited

SENATOR John Kerry’s new Irish statement this week is a major improvement on the one his campaign had previously supplied to the Irish American Democrats organization and the Irish American Unity Conference.

That original statement was sent by a staffer in the Kerry office in Boston and represented a mish-mash of different comments that Kerry has made over the past few decades on Ireland. It lacked any defining sense of the Northern Irish situation, or the role of the candidate in Irish American developments.

The new statement is excellent in comparison and compares well with the General Wesley Clark statement which was released a couple of weeks ago. Both show that the candidates are treating this issue seriously.

Not so Senator John Edwards and Dr. Howard Dean, it seems. Despite repeated requests, neither candidate has supplied any information on their Irish platform. With time running out and both needing all the help and support they can get it seems a surprising development.

One issue which Kerry does not mention in his statement is his early support for the Donnelly and Morrison visas which allowed thousands of Irish in the mid-1980s to become legal in the U.S. Otherwise, the new statement is all that activists have been seeking.

Edwards, Dean On the Outs

SPEAKING of Edwards and Dean it is surprising, given the number of Irish American activists who have met them, that the campaigns did not issue Irish statements much sooner.

In Edwards’ case, he met with Irish activists, including Brian O’Dwyer, chairman of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, in spring of last year. Edwards gave strong indications then that not only would he issue an Irish statement, but that he would be willing to go to Ireland to see the North of Ireland for himself.

That trip, of course, was later scrubbed, but it is still strange that no one in his campaign feels it is necessary to get the finger out on this issue. After all, with major Irish American states coming up it would certainly not do him any harm if he is still in the race then.

As for Dean, it has become evident that the chaos in his organization extends all the way to his ethnic outreach people. A statement on Ireland was set to be issued over a month ago but the final sign off was never received. Little doubt why when we read all the other details of a campaign steeped with internal difficulties.

New Envoy Impresses 

PRESIDENT George W. Bush’s new Irish envoy Mitchell Reiss has made a favorable first impression on those on this side of the Atlantic who have met or spoke to him. He is expected in Ireland this week to discuss the situation with party leaders there.

They will find him an impressive American envoy. Since replacing Richard Haass as Irish envoy Reiss, who also is the State Department head of policy and planning, has spent a considerable time devoted to reading up and listening to opinions on Irish issues.

Those who have spoken to him have been taken with his genuine wish to learn and his open-mindedness and sharp instincts on the question. His knowledge will clearly only improve, and Reiss has already made it clear that the Bush administration is willing to give him whatever latitude he needs to do the Irish job. 

It seems a long way away from the old days, even under George Bush Senior, when Ireland was very much an afterthought and even then, merely a question of finding out what the British wanted. 

War Hero for Unionist MP?

REMEMBER Colonel Tim Collins? He was the Belfast-born British Army colonel who gave an inspirational speech (“We go to liberate, not to conquer,” etc.) shortly before his troops went into battle in Iraq. The speech was reproduced all over the world and the Royal Irish Regiment leader became a hero overnight.

Subsequently Collins found his reputation a little tarnished after he was named by an American officer as carrying out torture on an Iraqi prisoner, though Collins vehemently denied the claim and was never charged.

Now it appears that Collins may well become a member of the British Parliament. The Ulster Unionist Party is actively seeking him as a candidate for their party in the upcoming Westminster election. Collins is said to be very interested in his Ulster Scots heritage.

Apparently a senior party figure, Lord Laird (now there’s a name, as Laird is the Scottish word for Lord) had dinner with Collins and popped the question. Laird did not reveal what Collins told him, but it appears Collins has also been approached by the Tory Party to run for them. 

Collins comes from East Belfast, where the sitting MP, is Peter Robinson so it would be a very difficult seat to win. A safe seat for the Tories might be a better option for him.

Orange Crushed Over Trimble

JUST how right wing are Ulster Unionists anyway? It appears party leader David Trimble is in trouble with the Orange Order because he spoke at an event in Spain last week sponsored by a Catholic organization. 

The Orange Order requires that its members “should strenuously oppose the fatal errors of the Church of Rome,” and many of Trimble’s colleagues are upset that he stood on a Catholic platform. Between that and Rev. Ian Paisley condemning Sunday sports as an abomination, you would wonder what century these people live in.