September 11 Digital Archive

Charge of the 'Right' Brigade

Title

Charge of the 'Right' Brigade

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name

Last weekends Queens St. Patricks Parade has become the latest backdrop in the evolving argument ove

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-03-05

VTMBH Article: Edition

9

VTMBH Article: Article Order

2

VTMBH Article: Title

Charge of the 'Right' Brigade

VTMBH Article: Author

Ray O'Hanlon

VTMBH Article: Publication

Irish Echo

VTMBH Article: Original Language

English

VTMBH Article: Translator

VTMBH Article: Section

news

VTMBH Article: Blurb

Last weekends Queens St. Patricks Parade has become the latest backdrop in the evolving argument over what it means to be Irish in New York.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

Last weekends Queens St. Patricks Parade has become the latest backdrop in the evolving argument over what it means to be Irish in New York.
In one green corner is Patrick Hurley, veteran campaigner on behalf of the Irish presence in the city. In the other is Brendan Fay, also a veteran campaigner on behalf of the Irish presence in the city. Both men see themselves as active promoters of Irish social, cultural and political life in their adopted city.
Many outside observers would see numerous similarities between both men, at least in a general sense. But when it comes to the particulars of their activism, Hurley and Fay sharply diverge.
Fay, a onetime member of the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization and a founder of the Lavender and Green Alliance, said the parade will honor Fr. Mychael Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain who perished in the September 11th World Trade Center disaster. Fay worked overtime to have everybody in sight, regardless of sexual orientation, politics, religious or political affiliation, take part in the parade.
Hurley, a founder of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, led an effort this week to persuade Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others to boycott Sunday's parade.
According to a spokeswoman at the mayor's office, Megan Sheekey, Bloomberg is intent on taking part in the Sunnyside/Woodside event. Mayor Bloomberg will be marching in every St. Patrick's parade to which he has been invited, Sheekey told the Echo.
At press time, the number of such parades totaled five. In addition to the Sunnyside/Woodside parade, the mayor, according to Sheekey, was lined up to march in Rockaway, Throgg's Neck, the main parade in Manhattan on March 16, and the Brooklyn parade the following day.
Bloomberg's participation in the Queens parade comes despite a letter from Hurley and Ed Coynedistrict leader and president, respectively, of the Woodside branch of the Republican Partyurging him to stay away from what Hurley in particular has long argued is nothing more than a radical left-wing demonstration.
Another mayor was also invited to march in the parade. Mayor Jimmy Mulroy of Drogheda, County Louth, was invited by Fay, a Drogheda native, to lead a contingent from the town that would include members of the fire brigade and ambulance service.
However, Mulroy and the rescue service groups participation was in doubt following a plea against it from New York's County Louth Society.
In a letter to Mulroy, Eileen Martin, the president of the Louth Society, warned self-styled Queens St. Patrick's Parade had been nothing more than a demonstration with a strong anti-law-and-order theme.
The local Irish-American community of Woodside/Sunnyside, which has given many members to the NYPD, has been particularly offended by this parade, Martin wrote. It enjoys negligible community support in terms of participation or attendance.
Martin's letter strongly echoed sentiments expressed by the GOP branch's letter to Bloomberg, a document scripted by Cork native Hurley.
Hurley described the Queens march as a debacle, a demonstration of a radical, left-wing anarchistic agenda and an event with the recurring theme, of an aggressive anti-law-and-order, anti-police diatribe with protest groups belligerently vocal in their support of the infamous Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted murderer of Irish-American Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner [and] an aggressive, exhibitionist imposition of a radical homosexual agenda.
Hurley warned Bloomberga former Democrat who ran for office last year as a Republicanthat his participation would gravely offend Irish Americans, Catholics and other religious congregations and indeed all industrious, patriotic, law-abiding and civic-minded people living in the Sunnyside and Woodside district.
Hurley told the Echo that he had no problem with a Queens parade in principle as long as it was a bona fide celebration of St. Patrick, Irish culture and Irish achievement in the United States. And it would be a parade open to people of all religious affiliations and sexual orientation. he stressed.
He remains opposed, however, to what he described as the promotion of a left-wing political agenda in the present event, one that he said was out of sync with a neighborhood that supports traditional values.
Why can't they have such a parade in the Village where they won't cause offense to anybody? Hurley said, referring to Greenwich Village in Manhattan. He said he will watch the parade from the sidelines this Sunday.
I have nothing against Brendan Fay. But if he genuinely wants to celebrate St. Patrick and Irish achievements in the United States, I'm sure the Louth association would invite him to march in the main [Manhattan] parade, Hurley said.
Not surprisingly, Fay was unimpressed by Hurley's arguments.
The parade will go on. We're getting calls from all over, Fay said. I hope people in the Irish community, here and in Ireland, will make up their own minds and come …We are in touch with the civic and religious leadership of the borough and the city. We are not anti-law and order and we're not anti-Catholic.
Fay's reaction to the Hurley/Coyne letter to Bloomberg and Hurleys other recent similar press statements, was emphatic. Its a rant, he said. [Hurley] should come and help pour tea or push a wheelchair.
The Republican mayor of the city is not rejecting us and this is a wonderful breakthrough. Anybody in our community can come out on the day, register on the spot, and march.
If Pat Hurley came as a participant, rather than a critic, he might actually have fun, Fay said.
Sunday's parade stepped off at 1 p.m. at 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-03-05

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

n2.doc

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

161

Citation

“Charge of the 'Right' Brigade,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 7, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1334.