MR. PRESIDENT, PLEASE RAISE THE RAYMOND MC CORD, JR. CASE WITH PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON—URGES IRISH NATIONAL CAUCUS

Posted By: June 09, 2021

 

 

President Joseph R. Biden

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C.  20500                                                                June 9, 2021

CC Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Dear President Biden,

This is a follow-up to my letter of June 7 regarding your meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the G7 Summit. I had urged you to strongly stand up for the Good Friday Agreement, which you have always done. And I also urged you to raise the case of Richard Kerr—a Belfast Protestant who was horribly mistreated by the British Government, and who is now an American citizen living in Texas.

 

Yesterday, the Irish National Caucus hosted a Zoom Meeting with another Belfast Protestant victim, Raymond McCord, Sr., and his attorney Paul Farrell, both participating from Belfast.

 

In 1997, Raymond’s son, Raymond, Jr., was brutally beaten to death near Belfast. Because some of those involved in the murder were police informers and British Agents, the murder was covered-up by the British Government and its agencies. And now almost 24 years later, the British Government is still blocking an Inquest, to which Raymond has a right.

All this was compellingly reaffirmed yesterday by both Raymond and attorney Paul Farrell.

 

Mr. President, I know you will understand that Catholics in Northern Ireland are not too surprised when they are oppressed by England; indeed, they expect it, and some can wear it as a badge of honor. But when Protestants/Unionists are mistreated by what they see as “their government, their police, etc.,” the shock of that betrayal turns their entire lives upside down, and the pain and suffering are profound … And, when they go public to expose the injustice and corruption (of British intelligence and police), they are shunned and isolated by their own community.

 

Yesterday, Raymond affirmed again that in almost 24 years no Northern Ireland Protestant Church leader or Protestant politician has ever expressed the slightest support or solidarity. And he has stated many times in the past that he had to turn “to a Fermanagh priest in Washington for help.” And, Mr. President, it is a service I am proud and honored to perform because I deeply believe that ecumenism and reconciliation are at their best when Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland not only pray together for peace, but also work for justice—for as Blessed Martin Luther King, Jr. and Saint Pope John Paul II taught us, “peace is the fruit of justice and solidarity.”

 

The Irish National Caucus, therefore, Mr. President asks you to please raise the case of Raymond McCord, Jr. with Prime Minister Johnson.

 

Thank you.

God bless America and God save Ireland.

Sincerely

 

Fr. Sean McManus

President

Irish National Caucus

PO BOX 15128

Washington, D.C. 2003-0849

Sean@IrishNationalCaucus.org

CC Prime Minister Boris Johnson