Phone Number for Florida Commerce Secretary Kelly (850) 245-7105

Please also consider calling your State Senator and State Representative

The script is provided below as an aid to this call to action; you can, of course, use your own words.  If you use the script, please pre-read it so you are comfortable.

When you call, say, “I wish to speak to [ the person you are calling by title, for example, Governor DeSantis, Commerce Secretary Kelly].  You will likely be told that is not possible but that you can leave a message and then launch into the script or what you wish to say. 

“Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians from [YOUR TOWN/COUNTY IN FLORIDA].  I’m calling to voice my strong opposition to the proposed trade deal between Florida and the United Kingdom.

The news of a U.K. Florida trade deal following the recent passage of the Northern Ireland Troubles and Reconciliation Act by the UK Parliament deeply troubles me.  The act denies justice to the victims of the conflict in Northern and grants amnesty for murder.  It is opposed by all the communities of Northern Ireland, Catholics and Protestants, Loyalists, and Nationalists.  Britain is imposing this legislation upon them without their consent.  The UN, the Council Of Europe, and 90% of the people in Britain oppose this act.  The only one supporting it is a British government trying to hide its past.

Considering Britain’s repeated failures to uphold international treaties regarding Northern Ireland, I believe it’s unwise for Florida to enter into a trade agreement with a partner that does not honor its previous commitments.

I urge you [NAME OF PERSON YOU ARE CALLING], to reconsider supporting this deal.  It would not only betray the victims of the Troubles and their families but also send a message that Florida condones this amnesty for murder.  As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ injustice in the north of Ireland should not be rewarded with a trade deal by the state of Florida.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

The British Government has been anxious to sign a trade deal with the United States since BREXIT; the fact that the British Government has not been able to do so has embarrassed them. 

Having been frustrated in getting an actual national trade deal, the British Government has embarked on a new marketing strategy: getting what it is marketing as “trade deals” with individual states.   Now, these “trade deals” are more “memorandums of understanding” (Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution prohibits states from making independent trade deals).  This is a cynical British marketing ploy.  By getting a collection of supposed “trade deals” with individual states, the British are attempting to sell BREXIT at home while building momentum and a case for a real trade deal.   They are aided by American politicians of both parties who see their own P.R. potential in announcing a “feel good” “trade deal” without realizing the consequences.

The U.K. recently concluded a “trade deal” with the State of Washington.  U.K. trade minister Nusrat Ghani said, “Florida is next on the list.  That should be concluded shortly.“

 A win in Florida would give the U.K. tremendous momentum,  but a loss would be seismic and deliver a clear message that injustice in Ireland has consequences.  We are reaching out to all Florida Hibernians to contact their Governor to express their belief that callous injustice in Ireland should not be rewarded.

Neither the U.S. nor its states should reward the rejection of fundamental human rights in Ireland with a “trade deal.”  We should not give something to Britain that we would withhold on human rights grounds if it were any other nation.  Turning a blind eye to injustice is not the friendship of a “special relationship”; it is being an accessory in a crime.   

DESALES UNIVERSITY
ALLENTOWN, PA

Host: Tir na Og Lehigh County Division 1

Contact: Ken Walsh

ROSEN CENTRE HOTEL
9840 International Drive

Host: Florida State Board / Florida State Convention

Contact: Greg Sean Canning

ARCHBISHOP HUGHES CENTER
32 Prince Street, Manhattan, NY 10012

Host: New York City County Board

Contact: Bill Lee

AOH HALL

Host: New Jersey State Board

Contact: Jeff Nisler

BAYSHORE CATHOLIC CENTER
12 Hwy 36, Middletown, NJ 07748

Host: New Jersey State Board

Contact: Leo Mcguire

EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL
204 Centreport Drive Greensboro, NC 27409

Host: North Carolina State Convention

Contact: Brian Kiernan

With the passage today of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, the government of Prime Minister Sunak has decided to add their own sad chapter in the history of Britain’s callous disregard for the rights of the Irish people.  The bill trades equal access to the courts and justice that are the mark of all democratic societies for an unrealistic, forlorn hope that perpetrators of killings and torture will, after decades of literally getting away with murder, will now have a ‘Road to Damascus” moment. 

In rare unanimity, the bill is opposed by all major Northern Ireland Political parties and all segments of the Northern Ireland community.  The bill is as undemocratic as it is unjust; it reflects a return to Britain’s imperial attitudes of the 19^th century, not the values of the world of the 21^st. 

In unilaterally adopting this bill, the United Kingdom has violated the Good Friday, Stormont House, and Fresh Start Agreements, which now join the dubious company of the Treaty of Limerick and the Third Home Rule Bill.   It is yet another sad justification of Britain’s sobriquet “Perfidious Albion.”  With this track record of broken commitments and promises, how can one have faith in the dubious truth recovery provisions of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill?

As the largest Irish American Organization in the United States, we are reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  We cannot condemn atrocities in Ukraine by Russian Paratroopers while British Paratroopers are given an amnesty.  We can not fall victim to what former Irish Ambassador to the U.S. Séan Ó hUigín termed as Britain’s “Irish Anomaly”: something that would be taken very seriously in another context can be disregarded if it comes with an Irish label.  The victims of the Ballymurphy Massacre are as entitled to justice as the victims of Bucha. It is often stated that the United States and the United Kingdom have a “Special Relationship”; per the U.S. Embassy to the U.K. website, “a bilateral cooperation reflects the common language, ideals, and democratic practices of the two nations.”  In passing the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, the United Kingdom has violated those “ideals and democratic principles.”  We shall ask our elected representatives to reexamine the “Special Relationship” in light of Britain breaking with the standards of justice that Americans and all modern societies hold dear.

In an unprecedented move, the President of America’s largest Irish American Organization, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), has written a letter to each member of the British House of Commons expressing strong opposition to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill currently before parliament. This marks the first time that the AOH, an influential Irish-American organization, has reached out directly to Members of Parliament, highlighting the significance of the issue. The text of the letter is as follows:

In every official meeting between the United States and the United Kingdom, there is invariably a mention of the “Special Relationship” between our two countries. The bedrock of that relationship is our shared history and values. I write to you as the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill currently before parliament is a grave threat to that relationship.

The concept that no one is above the law, that all people are accountable for their actions and are entitled to justice, is one of the landmarks of Magna Carta and one of the great legacies that the British people have given the world.  The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill repudiates that noble legacy by creating a protected class and denying victims of criminal action justice solely based on the time and place where the crime occurred. It violates Article Two of the European Convention of Human Rights and the accepted standards of justice of all democratic nations.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill has achieved the rare distinction of uniting the Northern Ireland community (who, ironically, proponents of this bill claim will be the “beneficiaries”) in unprecedented unanimity in opposition. The bill has been condemned by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and in several letters and statements by members of the U.S. House and Senate. In a recent poll, 90% of U.K. citizens opposed the bill. This begs the question “Cui Bono?”

The main argument made by proponents of this bill is that “too much time has passed for effective prosecutions.’ We frankly find this argument fallacious.   The passage of time has not been solely due to a natural course of events but largely a result of the prolonged delays in implementing commitments under the Good Friday, Stormont House, and Fresh Start Agreement Agreements. If the United Kingdom had acted on its obligations under those agreements, we believe significant progress could have been made in resolving the backlog of legacy now being used as a pretext for this bill. 

Secondly, we note that just two weeks ago, Attorney General Dame Brenda King ordered a new inquest into the murders of five Catholic men in four separate attacks, citing “deficiencies” in the original investigations and “new information not considered at the first inquests.” If new information is still being developed in this and other cases, how can it be stated “too much time has passed for prosecutions?” I also draw your attention to 25 June this year when a British jury found John Apelgren guilty of killing 22-year-old sex worker Eileen Cotter on 1 June 1974. It defies logic that we are asked to accept that a murder in London in 1974 can be successfully prosecuted while the murder of a priest, shot in the back while administering the last rights to another victim in 1971, cannot.

Where the “too much time has passed argument” does have merit is showing that the proposed “truth recovery” process that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would substitute for justice is a fantasy. Are we expected to believe that perpetrators who have successfully avoided prosecution for decades will now have pangs of conscience and line up to confess their misdeeds, refuting tales they have told their children and grandchildren about their role in the Northern Ireland Conflict?

The proposed bill threatens to undermine the delicate balance achieved through the Good Friday Agreement.  Such a course of action has the potential to strain relationships, both within Northern Ireland and internationally, and jeopardize the progress that has been made towards a lasting peace. It threatens the “Special Relationship,” for at the heart of any relationship is trust; if a nation can not keep faith with its commitments under international treaty and with its moral obligation to justice, how can the U.S. realistically have the trust to engage in future agreements with the U.K.?

We ask you  to reject the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill and to protect Britain’s reputation as the ‘cradle of common law’; we ask the United Kingdom be faithful to the ideals of William Blackstone and William Garrow and not emulate the model of Augusto Pinochet.

The letter is signed Daniel J. O’Connell, President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

The Hartford Irish Road Bowling Tournament was held on Saturday, July 29 by the Hartford AOH Division 2, in conjunction with Riverfront Recapture. The event marked the third-straight year that Irish road bowling tournament returned to the area and attracted approximately 30 teams from Connecticut and Massachusetts. All proceeds from the event benefit Hartford AOH’s fight against hunger in the area.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris stated today that the U.K. Government plans to continue to pursue the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, restoring to the bill provisions that would provide an amnesty for murder and torture, halt current and future investigations, and deny victims access to the courts. This action contravenes Britain’s pledged commitments under the Good Friday Agreement and the norms of justice of civilized societies, including the basic principles of the Magna Carta, which holds that no one is above the law.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill has achieved the rare distinction of unifying the major political parties in opposition, parties that currently can not agree to form a government. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. Special Rapporteurs, national human rights institutions, parliamentary committees, members of the U.S. House and Senate, and civil society organizations, including victims’ groups, have all denounced this bill. A recent poll reported that nine in 10 U.K. adults said perpetrators should still be prosecuted for serious crimes even if they were committed decades ago.

Only one group favors this legislation: those who wish to hide their misdeeds in the shadows of injustice, and that includes the British Government.

It is no coincidence that this legislation was announced in the Queen’s Speech on the very day a British Coroner’s court found that the ten civilians killed by members of the British Parachute Regiment were “completely innocent.” Nine days later, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized “unreservedly on behalf of the U.K. government for the events that took place in Ballymurphy and the huge anguish that the lengthy pursuit of truth has caused the families of those killed .” Prime Minister Johnson concluded that “No apology can lessen [the victims’] lasting pain.’

Yet that is, at most, what the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would offer the victims of Ballymurphy and the families of hundreds of victims of violence perpetrated by Crown forces: an apology.

Even the possibility of families getting that modicum of relief is questionable as the bill is based on the wildly optimistic belief that those who have reached old age, having lived lives of stolen valor with medals on their chests and various honors after their names, will now have pangs of conscience and confess. Even Professor Pangloss and Pollyanna would be skeptical of the success of such a process.

The U.K. often seeks to leverage what it perceives to be a “Special Relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States, a relationship built on “common language, ideals, and democratic practices.” Granting an amnesty for murder and denying victims access to the judicial system are not American ideals.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians calls upon all elected U.S. leaders to denounce the U.K.’s legacy bill; to remain silent is not the act of a friend but the actions of an accessory after the fact. If the Sunak government persists in this bill, the United States must reevaluate and reconsider “the special relationship.”

On May 28th, members of the AOH in America participated in the “Annual Walk to the Stone” memorial ceremony that is organized by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Canada. The Black Rock Memorial is currently located in between two highway roads near the Victoria Bridge in the Point Saint Charles section of Montreal and is the site of a 6,000 person mass grave of coffin ship victims from 1847-1848.

Since the 1860s the AOH Canada has sought to protect the Irish immigrants that perished from typhoid (many of whom were children) from further desecration of their resting place as they fled The Great Hunger. The Black Rock Monument was created after Irish construction workers who were completing the Victoria Bridge in 1859-60 discovered several bodies from the mass grave. The workers refused to work and complete the bridge until there was a memorial on this site. The workers negotiated for a 40 ton granite rock to be placed in the cemetery with the inscription, “To Preserve from Descratation the remains of 6000 Immigrants Who died of Ship Fever A.D. 1847-48” They were not allowed to mention Irish in the inscription.

Over the years the AOH Canada has fought to fulfill the promise inscribed on the Black Rock Memorial by fighting development and encroachment on the site. In 2017, Hydro-Quebec purchased the land the Black Rock Memorial is on with plans to donate 3.65 acres to create a memorial park that is scheduled to be completed in 2028.

The 2023 Walk to the Stone started with a beautiful Mass on Pentecost at Saint Charles Church. After Mass, members of the parish, AOH, representatives from the City of Montreal and other Irish organizations; led by a piper, walked the mile to the Black Rock Memorial. Once at the memorial site, AOH Canada National President started the ceremony. The Irish, Canadian and United States National Anthems were performed beautifully by Esmé Cavanaugh and Lily MacLean of the band Gráinne. President Boyle went over the history of the Black Rock Memorial and the 6000 people that rest uneasily below. Memorial wreaths were placed on Black Rock by many organizations including the AOH in America National Board, the AOH NYS Board and Schenectady AOH JFK 1 (who hosted President Boyle at their Communion Breakfast the month prior). After the ceremony participants went back to the parish center at Saint Charles and shared some delicious Irish Stew and samosas along with some traditional Irish music.

This year’s event also coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. MP John Finnucane of Sinn Féin (Belfast North) participated in the ceremony and gave his remarks and paid his respects to the victims of The Great Hunger at that site. The day prior the Friends of Sinn Féin Canada hosted a 25th GFA Anniversary at Hurley’s Irish Pub where members of the U.S. AOH were able to meet MP Finnucane, Kevin Callahan from Friends of Sinn Féin Canada, Marion Mulvenna from Concordia University’s Irish Studies Program and AOH Canada National President Victor Boyle.

Overall the weekend was tremendously moving, and the people, especially President Boyle, were welcoming and gracious hosts. Walk to the Stone will take place in 2024 on May 26th, and members of the AOH and LAOH are most welcome to participate.

AOH Brother Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick will join victims’ relative Patsy Kelly, civil rights lawyer Niall Murphy, and justice campaigner Andree Murphy in a live webinar broadcast hosted by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) this Saturday, June 10th, at 10 AM Eastern Time, 3 PM Irish time.

 By its appointment of former Chief Justice Declan Morgan to head its new legacy commission, the British government is clearly signaling its intention to move ahead with the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, despite overwhelming opposition by victims’ relatives, human rights campaigners, the Irish government and all major six county political parties. While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is visiting Washington DC, victims’ relatives are making an emergency appeal for American help as their best hope to stop a bill designed to cut off legal channels for justice.

The British amnesty bill aims to discard Britain’s Stormont House Agreement on legacy mechanisms with the Irish government and end criminal cases, Historical Investigations, Inquests, civil suits or Ombudsman investigations, which could give the truth in hundreds of cases, including British crown force or collusion killings. Instead, the British want to set up an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which victims’ relatives fear will bury the truth along with the victims. Although the amnesty bill has not yet been passed at Westminster, the British have already announced the appointment of retired Chief Judge Declan Morgan to head the Commission.

Panelists

• Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has been one of the leading Washington voices on Irish issues and a driving force on a series of Congressional initiatives, House Resolutions and Briefings on legacy justice. Most recently, he co-signed a strongly worded letter to British Secretary Chris Heaton Harris, expressing deep disappointment at the moves to push ahead with an amnesty bill despite the opposition of nationalist and unionist victims.
• Patsy Kelly Jr., is the son of Independent Councillor Patsy Kelly, who was abducted from work in County Tyrone and murdered in July 1974. The family has always believed the murder was carried out by members of the British Army’s Ulster Defense Regiment, and a recent Ombudsman Investigation ruled that there had been collusive behavior by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Now the Kelly family’s 50-year fight for justice is threatened by the proposed British amnesty bill.
• Civil rights lawyer Niall Murphy will explain the legal implications of the amnesty law and how badly the law will affect families who have waited decades for truth and would be compelled to begin a long legal battle in the European Court of Human Rights.
• Andree Murphy, the Deputy Chair of Relatives for Justice, will discuss the importance of American help in the continuing political and legal battle for legacy justice.

Brother Hibernians and Brother Paratroopers. LTC (Ret) Cole Slattery, past President of the Col. Thomas J. Cunningham Jr. Div., Loudoun County, VA (Left) and MAJ (Ret) Keith Kettell, current President of the Herbert /Cady Div. Alexandria. VA (Right), stand proudly before the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Old Town Alexandria in early March and meet up again in late March in Palatka, FL to close out Irish American Heritage month by jumping from the 80-year-old C-47, Tico Bell. The storied aircraft dropped Paratroopers into Normandy on D-Day June 6^th, 1944, and again during Operation Market Garden into Holland September 17, 1944. After the war, the Tico Bell flew missions of relief in support of the Berlin Airlift.  Presidents Slattery and Kettell served several tours of duty in the 82^nd Airborne Division in addition to other Airborne units throughout their military careers. 

As President Biden arrives in Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, we recognize the tremendous progress that has been made in Northern Ireland since its signing. The agreement has brought about an unprecedented era of peace and stability, and its positive impact on the people of Northern Ireland cannot be overstated.

However, we cannot let the significant achievements made over the past 25 years distract us from the significant challenges and threats the Good Friday Agreement and a lasting peace still faces. The ongoing political deadlock in Northern Ireland as the Democratic Unionist Party, the only party not to sign the Good Friday Agreement, fails to participate in government over its disagreement with how Westminster has implemented the Brexit the DUP campaigned for. Moves by the British government to enact an extraordinary amnesty for murders committed by its agents during the conflict in Northern Ireland seek to deny the justice that the Good Friday Agreement promises. There are continuing threats of violence from dissident groups. All this serves as reminders of the work that still needs to be done to fully implement the agreement.

Given these challenges, it is more important than ever for the United States to remain engaged in Northern Ireland. The U.S. played a vital role in brokering the Good Friday Agreement. Its continued support will be crucial in ensuring that the agreement remains a cornerstone of peace and stability in the region.

As we reflect on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, we must renew our commitment to the principles of peace, reconciliation, and respect for human rights that underpin the agreement. By doing so, we can build a brighter future for the people of Northern Ireland and ensure that the progress made over the past 25 years is not lost.