McCord and Fr.McManus in Joint-Mission to US Congress

Posted By: February 08, 2020

 
        Belfast Protestant and Catholic priest to expose British collusion and cover-up

CAPITOL HILL. Washington, DC. Saturday, February 9, 2020— Too often the media in both the United States, Britain and Ireland wrongly present the problem in Northern Ireland in merely sectarian terms—as just a problem of Catholics and Protestants being unable to get along.
That non-historical narrative leaves out —and is designed to leave out—the fundamental fact that the British Government has been in overall and total control of Northern Ireland since the 1920 British Government Act that partitioned Ireland: 26 Counties were given partial independence, while Six Counties were renamed Northern Ireland and kept within the British jurisdiction.
So, the British Government has not been “neutral” in Northern Ireland. Rather, it has been the fundamental player and in complete control—it has controlled the police, all the security forces, intelligence, legislation, etc., etc.
Nonetheless, the partition of Ireland did sadly and inevitably create a sectarian society in The North—as did, for example, the Jim Crow laws in the United States after Reconstruction create division and segregation, with the “social marker” being not religion but color. (In the United States, Blacks were the second-class citizens; and in Northern Ireland, the Catholics were the second-class citizens).
That is why the duo of Raymond McCord-Fr. McManus on Capitol Hill exposing British collusion in murder and assassinations creates a striking dynamic and appeals greatly to Members of Congress.
 
McCord’s touch down
Legendary victims’ campaigner Raymond Mc Cord arrives from Belfast on Capitol Hill on Sunday evening, February 9th  and will be escorted around Congress by Fr. McManus from Monday, February 10th until he departs back to Belfast on Sunday, February 16th,
Meetings
Because the issue is British Government collusion in, and cover-up of,  the 1997 murder of Raymond Mc Cord, Jr., the immediate and most relevant points of contact for the McCord-McManus duo are the Congressional House Foreign Affairs  Committees.
Consequently, their meeting with Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY)—Chairman of the full House Foreign Affairs Committee—is not only appropriate but of central importance for the McCord-McManus mission.
Congressman Engel, a distinguished Jewish-American legislator,  is a long-time Congressional Friend of the Irish National Caucus and has a long and excellent record of concern for,  and action on, equality, justice and peace in Ireland.
Likewise, the McCord-McManus meeting with the Staff of the U.S. Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) is of great significance. The Chairman is Congressman Alcee  L. Hastings (D-FL), a leading African-American Member of Congress, is also a Congressional Friend of the Irish National Caucus. The previous Chairman—when the House was controlled by Republicans— is Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), who held a total of 17 Hearings on Human Rights in Northern Ireland.Mr. McCord and Fr. Mc Manus will be briefing Congressman Smith’s office.
They will be briefing the Office of Congressman Joe Kennedy III ( D-MA), another Congressional Friend of the Irish National Caucus. They will also be briefing the offices of Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and Congressman  Thomas R. Suozzi (D-NY), both Congressional Friends of the Irish National Caucus.
Because it is an extremely busy time for Congress, the ever-helpful Congressman Richie Neal (D-MA) is still trying to fit them into his schedule.
Rounding off these meetings, Mc-Cord-McManus are meeting with the Irish Desk at the State Department, the Irish Embassy and the Northern Ireland Bureau.
And importantly, Mr. McCord and Fr. Mc Manus are meeting with Mr. Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO. President Trumka has expressed interest in the McCord campaign for many years. He also works closely with Fr. Mc Manus in the promotion of the World Peace Prize.
Finally—keeping the Belfast man and Fermanagh man in line at all these meetings— will be Barbara Flaherty, Executive Vice President, Irish National Caucus.
END