Sinn Fein/DUP Duel

IT seems to me that Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is calling for elections because he feels the DUP will beat the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). 

Of course the DUP campaign theme will be the dismantling of Good Friday Agreement. They probably will beat the UUP as they are in such disarray under David Trimble’s leadership. 

The kicker is, Sinn Fein will greatly increase its mandate too, and with the UUP gone there will be only be two political parties left in Northern Ireland, the DUP and Sinn Fein. Then we’ll have fun. That should clear the air. 

The DUP, having won on its call to scuttle the Good Friday Agreement, and Sinn Fein, winning by calling for its full implementation, should provide lots of action. But the DUP won’t have anything to do with Sinn Fein at any price, win or lose. Who cares at that point? 

Sinn Fein can then proceed to its main goal, a united Ireland. Go Sinn Fein. Irishmen everywhere will cheer you on. Where’s my checkbook? 

Hugh Casey
Mesa, Arizona

The Real Cunningham

AS a reader of the Irish Voice, I would like to express my displeasure at the inaccuracies in Tom Deignan’s article “Bloomberg’s Right Hand Irishman” in the July 16-22 issue.

Billy Cunningham was raised by my mother and father. Deignan failed to mention my father, Andrew, who served this country in World War I and as an Irishman was more than generous to all he could help, and to his church.

Bill was not taken by Andrew and Mary Moylan when he was two years old, as the article stated, but rather he was taken directly from the hospital in Hartford, Connecticut when his mother, Helen, died in childbirth. My parents raised and cared for Bill and paid his bills, when his father was too busy taking care of his own personal needs.

The Moylans did not leave the Bronx, as Deignan suggested, as a grief-ridden family, but rather to be near two married daughters. The Moylan family consisted of four girls and two boys, all loved and well cared for by Andrew and Mary Moylan. 

As I am one of the Moylans, I resent this article failing to recognize Andrew Moylan as though he didn’t exist, and as if Mary Moylan was a spinster aunt. Such is far from the truth.

Billy was given the same love, care and education as all the Moylan children, and at a time when Mary and Andrew had already raised six of their own. I’m sure it was no bed of roses for them, and this effort of theirs, I feel, should have been correctly stated by Deignan.

I further feel, in fairness to two great Americans who came from Ireland and contributed to what this country is today, that your inaccuracies should be corrected in a future article.

Thomas J. Moylan
New York, New York

TOM DEIGNAN RESPONDS: In our interview, Bill Cunningham spoke highly of Andrew Moylan. Regrettably, this did not make it into my column. Overall, Cunningham conveyed to me his great appreciation for all that the Moylan family did for him. I apologize if my column did not illustrate this clearly. 
According to my notes, Mr. Cunningham told me his mother died “shortly after (he) was born.” I apologize for any factual errors which were reported.

Joyce’s Sensitivity

GEORGINA Brennan’s review of The Magdalene Sisters in the July 30-August 12 issue stated, “When you were in school learning about Irish history, they never told you about these institutions for fallen women called the Magdalene Launderies.”

In the Irish Voice issue of July 2-8, Tom Deignan calls the film “a dark chapter in Irish history where the penitent women were forced to work unpaid in sweatshop-like conditions to cleanse their souls.”

Patricia Burke Brogan’s play Eclipsed describes these fallen women of Ireland as “unmarried mothers who broke the Sixth Commandment . . . betrayed by their lovers, signed in by their parents, their children taken for adoption.”

In James Joyce’s 1906 story Clay, Maria works in the kitchen of the “Dublin by Lamplight” laundry. Joyce’s subtle allusion to the Magdalene Launderies anticipates the new film and reinforces Joyce’s sensitivity towards the way women were treated in Ireland.

Brother Ed Kent
Fresh Meadows, New York

Looking for Journalist

I HAVE been trying to contact an Irish-born journalist who worked in America for many years. His name is Thomas J. O’Hanlon, and he worked for Fortune, among other publications. He also wrote a book on the Irish which was published in the 1970s. 

I have had no luck establishing his current whereabouts. Perhaps some Irish Voice reader may have come across him at some point in time. I am interested in contacting him about an article which he wrote on the Irish sweepstake for Fortune in the late 1960s. I would very much appreciate any assistance.

Dr. Marie Coleman
Department of Modern Irish History
University College Dublin

Hungery for Glitz

OVER the years of reading John Spain’s columns, I can’t say I’ve always agreed with his points of view, particularly his views on Sinn Fein, England and the ongoing problems in the North. However, his column “Forty Shades of Glitz” in the July 30-August 12 issue hit the proverbial nail on the head.

The loss of concern for the higher things in life, such as literature, scholarship, music, intelligent conversations and modesty, is not just an Irish problem. It’s an even bigger problem here in the U.S.

When we have millions of people watching rubbish like Jerry Springer, and all those “reality” TV shows, I guess we can’t be surprised that they’re not reading the classics or concerning themselves with intelligent conversation.

I don’t mean to sound like a snob. I enjoy reading about people’s lives and their doings like anyone else. 

However, this “cult of celebrity, this obsession with the gushings of a few gossip writers,” as Spain wrote, has infected the highest levels of American life. I’d love to know how many Americans make the gossip pages their first stop in reading their daily newspapers. I’m sure it’s high, just like in Ireland and undoubtedly other countries.

When one thinks about it, this is really not surprising, given some of the role models we’ve had for the past few years. We had a president who had sex in the Oval Office, and the country obsessed about it for more than a year.

It’s not surprising Ireland is going ga-ga over Bertie and Celia and Miriam soap opera. And then there’s Colin Farrell, and all the interest in the number of women he’s bedded. No wonder magazines like Hello! and People sell so well.

As Spain stated, the media has had much to do with this circus. I’ve always thought that the investigations into Watergate unleashed a tremendous sense of power in this country. 

Granted, it was great to see how Woodward and Bernstein exposed the Nixon administration, but following that so many members of the media seem to think they have the right to stick their cameras and notebooks into anyone’s personal life. We’ve created insatiable glitz merchants, and they have millions of followers.

There are many wonderful women in Ireland like Joan FitzGerald and Maureen Haughey who demonstrate classy behavior and maintain their dignity despite the chaos around them. But the “Forty Shades of Glitz” will live on because so many seem to need a dose of it to get through their day!

Jim Hawkins
Baldwin, New York