IAUC, Pittsburgh Chapter Meets at 7 p.m. on the Fourth Wednesday of every month. Check the website for location.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND
Yearly Dues are $25 or $35 for a family membership

Where: Westin Convention Center 1000 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA. 15222
website:www.westin.com/pittsburgh
telephone for guest room reservations: 412-281-3700
When: Friday September 30 to Sunday, October 2, 2005

TOPICS/FEATURES

THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT, THE IRISH PEACE PROCESS
AND THE ROLE OF THE USA
DEPORTING THE IRISH FROM THE USA
THE EXTRADITION TREATY
AND MORE
To register for the program or for more details contact:
Sarah McAuliffe-Bellin, 2005 Convention Chair
412-782-2715 or Email

HELP promote democracy, civil rights, justice and peace in Ireland by placing an advertisement or a special message in the IAUC's 22nd annual convention program journal. The journal will be distributed to all attendees of the 22nd annual national convention in Pittsburgh (September 30-October 2, 2005) and will be also be available for a limited time by special mail order after the convention. Reach out to other Irish Americans, politicians and businesses and help the cause for peace and justice in a re-united Ireland .

Click Here for a printable order form.

Convention Speakers

This year's theme focuses on advancing democracy in Northern Ireland and what Irish-American Organizations can do to help. We are pleased that the leaders of many Irish-American organizations have accepted our invitation to participate in panel discussions on Saturday, October 1. Our other distinguished speakers will include:

• Judge Peter Cory, whose investigation recommended public inquiries into the killings of Pat Finucane, Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright
• Máirtín Ó'Muilleoir, journalist and author of " Belfast 's Dome of Delight"
• Former Sinn Féin MLA Mary Nelis, recipient of the 2005 Paul O'Dwyer Award
• Professor Ruan O'Donnell of the University of Limerick , historian of the Robert Emmet Association and author
• Professor Jim Vincent of Robert Morris University whose work includes “Tangled Roots ”: the Troubled History of Irish-Americans and African-Americans
• Bill Rolston, Professor of Sociology at the University of Ulster and author
• Diane Byrnes , radio host of Echoes of Erin
• James Lamb, Vice President, Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh
• "Lifting a Dark Cloud" a documentary on the murder of Kathleen Thompson produced by the Pat Finucane Center will be shown at the convention.

Professor Bill Rolston

Professor Rolston is a sociologist who has amassed a unique photographic archive of Northern Ireland’s political murals over twenty years and more.

Although the murals have been used as backdrops in innumerable documentaries and dramas and proved to be something of a tourist attraction, they have tended to be treated as a static phenomenon.

In reality, the murals continue to play a dynamic part in Northern Ireland’s on-going political process. Sometimes their existence is long-lived, other times it is fleeting but as their student and archivist explains, every mural has a story to tell about a particular moment in history, or an important shift in power between the two sides or about developing tensions within the divided communities of Northern Ireland.

The Honourable Peter Cory, C.C., C.D., Q.C.

The Honourable Peter Cory was a pilot in the RCAF and served overseas with 6th Bomber Group.
The Honourable Peter Cory received a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario (Assumption) in 1947. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1950. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1950. He was appointed Q.C. in 1963. He practised law with Holden, Murdoch. He was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1971. He was President of the Advocates’ Society; Chairman of the Ontario Civil Liberties Section of the Canadian Bar Association; President of the County of York Law Association; and a Director of the Canadian Bar Association. He was appointed as Chancellor of York University in June 2004.

He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario High Court in 1974; Appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1981. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, February 1, 1989 and retired in June, 1999.
The Honourable Peter Cory is Honorary Colonel of 426 (T) Training Squadron and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

The Honourable Peter Cory is currently mentoring at the Federal Department of Justice and conducting arbitration and mediation work at the Osler ADR Centre.

Since 1999 the Honourable Peter Cory has been appointed and is continuing as a member of the DNA Data Bank Advisory Committee. He was appointed Commissioner for the Province of Ontario to conduct a study regarding paralegals. He was appointed Commissioner to study the qualifications, salary and pensions of Military Judges. He was appointed Commissioner by the Province of Manitoba to investigate the reasons for the wrongful conviction of Thomas Sophonow for murder and to fix the compensation payable to him arising from his wrongful conviction and imprisonment. He was recently appointed Commissioner by the governments of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to investigate and report with regard to six high profile murder cases which are significant to all the parties involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland. He is presently conducting a study for the Province of Ontario pertaining to the best method of auditing the medical service accountants of the doctors of the Province.

Mairtin O Muilleoir

August 5 th Pittsburgh , PA & Washington, D. C. Mairtin O Muilleoir, publisher of the Andersonstown Newsgroup of newspapers in Belfast, which includes the Irish language daily La, who was also a former Sinn Fein Councillor for West Belfast will take part in the Irish American Unity Conference annual general meeting being held at the Westin Hotel and Convention Center beginning Sept. 30 th . The National President of the IAUC, retired Judge Andrew Somers stated “Mairtin has a unique perspective not only on the burden of decades of violence, corruption and injustice but also on the prospects for economic regeneration of communities starved of investment by successive British rulers.” Continued Somers: “He is a powerful advocate for American support for the Good Friday Agreement and for the type of investment that will one day bring unity to the island.”

O'Muilleoir was a Sinn Fein Councillor for West Belfast from 1987-1997 and is the author of Belfast 's Dome of Delights—City Hall Politics 1981-2001 . His address will

focus on prospects for an invigorated Irish peace process now that the IRA has been ordered to stand down. “It is vitally important”, stated O'Muilleoir, “that Americans recognize the pivotal role their government continues to play not only in its dialogue with Britain on the Good Friday treaty but in establishing a climate for investment that continues to give new life to Irish entrepreneurship.”

Mr. O'Muilleoir is married with four children. He will address the convention and participate in workshops dealing with media and economic issues.

Those wishing further information on the convention, Mr. Muilleoir or who may wish to interview him prior to or at the event may do so by contacting Convention Publicity Chair Ms. Maggie VanCleave at 724-515-7492 or irishlady1916@hotmail.com

Royal Irish Units To Be Disbanded

The Northern Ireland-based battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment are to be disbanded as part of the Army response to the IRA ending its armed campaign.

The Army will end its support role to the police on 1 August 2007, the same day that the battalions will disband.

More than 3,000 soldiers serve in the three battalions, many part-time.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain set out a two-year plan on demilitarisation which he said would be contingent on the security situation.

Under the security normalisation plans, Army observation posts will be closed and police stations will be defortified.

Mr Hain also announced on Monday that troop levels in the province would fall from 10,500 to 5,000 in two years time.

The government also aims to repeal within two years counter terrorist laws particular to Northern Ireland if everything goes according to plan.

Twenty-six army sites out of 40 across Northern Ireland will be closed.

Mr Hain said: "The programme published today will see the creation of an environment which will allow the return of conventional policing across Northern Ireland."

The Army's general officer commanding, Lieutenant General Sir Reddy Watt

said: "The Royal Irish Regiment (Home Service) and their predecessors, the Ulster Defence Regiment, have played a crucial role in creating the enabling environment for normalisation to begin.

"Once the Police Service of Northern Ireland no longer needs routine military support, the three Home Service battalions will have successfully completed the task for which they were raised."

The IRA has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means.

In a long-awaited statement, the republican organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said the move was a "courageous and confident initiative" and that the moment must be seized.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was a "step of unparalleled magnitude".

"It is what we have striven for and worked for throughout the eight years since the Good Friday Agreement," he said.

The IRA made its decision after an internal debate prompted by Mr Adams' call in April to pursue its goals exclusively through politics.

Mr Adams said Thursday's statement was a "defining point in the search for a lasting peace with justice" and also presented challenges for others.

"It means that unionists who are for the Good Friday Agreement must end their ambivalence," he said.

"And it is a direct challenge to the DUP to decide if they want to put the past behind them, and make peace with the rest of the people of this island."

In a joint communique the British and Irish governments welcomed the statement and said if the IRA's words "are borne out by actions, it will be a momentous and historic development".

"Verified acts of completion will provide a context in which we will expect all parties to work towards the full operation of the political institutions, including the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, and the North-South structures, at the earliest practicable date," it said.

The Independent Monitoring Commission, which examines paramilitary activity, has also been asked to produce an additional report in January 2006, three months after their next regular report.

During the Northern Ireland Troubles, the IRA murdered about 1,800 civilians and members of the security forces.

The IRA statement issued on Thursday said the end of the armed campaign would take effect from 1600 BST.

"All IRA units have been ordered to dump arms. All Volunteers have been instructed to assist the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever.

"The IRA leadership has also authorised our representative to engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use in a way which will further enhance public confidence and to conclude this as quickly as possible."

The statement said independent witnesses from Catholic and Protestant churches had been invited to see the decommissioning process.

Key Points Of Statement

• All IRA units ordered to dump arms
• Members ordered to pursue objectives through "exclusively peaceful means"
• Arms to be put beyond use as quickly as possible
• Two church witnesses to verify this Statement followed "honest and forthright" consultation process
• Strong support among IRA members for Sinn Fein's peace strategy
• There is now an alternative way to achieve goal of united Ireland
• Volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever

Interpol , US Tell Dublin To Arrest Columbia 3

Enda Leahy, Stephen O'Brien and Liam Clarke

IRISH authorities came under intense pressure this weekend to track down and arrest the Colombia Three.

The American government issued a statement saying it expected the government to pursue the matter, while a spokesperson for Interpol said gardai were obliged to honour an international warrant for the men's arrest.

Bertie Ahern interrupted his summer holiday in Co Kerry to address growing international concern about the men's re- emergence in Ireland last week. The three have been on the run since they were convicted of training terrorists in Colombia in June 2004.

The taoiseach said gardai would seek to talk to the men, particularly in relation to possible passport fraud. He added that any extradition request by the Colombian authorities would be dealt with by the courts.

Ahern branded their reappearance, just a week after the IRA issued a statement calling for the dumping of arms, as "unhelpful to the peace process".

An Interpol officer said this weekend that gardai were obliged to arrest and question the men. She said the men were the subject of a "red notice" from the international policing organisation.

According to the officer, Niall Connolly, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley are all named in an Interpol file code- named The Amazon Project, updated on January 19.

"If these men are found in Ireland then they must be arrested," she said. "They're wanted to serve a sentence in Colombia , and Colombia has asked for their arrest and extradition if they are found."

Charlie Bird, whose interview with one of them, James Monaghan, was broadcast on RTE on Friday night, refused to give gardai information about the fugitive's whereabouts. He was driven by a contact to meet Monaghan on Friday.

The American government issued a response yesterday to news that the three fugitives had returned to Ireland last week.

The American statement said: "Three individuals tried and convicted in Colombia are fugitives from Colombian justice. We believe this is a matter that must and should be pursued by the Irish and Colombian governments. The US condemns contributions to terrorism, such as those of which the three men were found guilty, no matter where perpetrated."

Ahern insisted that no deal had been done with Sinn Fein to give the men safe haven in the republic. He said the issue was never mentioned in talks with the republican leadership prior to the IRA statement of last month. The government had no knowledge of their return before the news broke on Friday, he said.

"I assume the offences they may or not be responsible for (in Colombia ) are matters that the gardai could look at," said the taoiseach.

"And, of course, any prosecutions in the normal way would be taken by the independent Director of Public Prosecutions office. If there is any issue, like passports for instance, that the gardai wish to raise with them, I understand they will do so."

He said the men's activities "whatever they were" had created a lot of difficulties for the Irish government, for Britain and for America . "These men have created in the peace process, on a number of occasions in the last few years, an enormous amount of difficulty and their return creates difficulty as well."

Pat Doherty of Sinn Fein said he was glad to see them home.