February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Ray O’Hanlon
Controversial author Sean McPhilemy has won big in a London court for a second time.
McPhilemy, whose book "The Committee" prompted uproar and lawsuits — including one in Washington, D.C. — after its publication in the U.S. in 1998, came out on top in an Appeals Court hearing decided Tuesday.
The hearing was prompted by an appeal taken by the London-published Sunday Times newspaper against an earlier jury verdict awarding McPhilemy £145,000 in damages.
The Sunday Times had accused the Derry-born McPhilemy of perpetrating a hoax with a TV documentary that formed the basis for his book. A jury subsequently decided that the paper did not prove its case.
Both the documentary and book alleged the existence of a secret committee of unionists and loyalists who had plotted the death of Catholics in the late 1980s and early ’90s. Alleged members of the committee were named in the book.
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A year ago, McPhilemy and his U.S. publisher, Roberts Rinehart, agreed to a $1 million payout in settlement of a libel action taken in a D.C. by two Northern Ireland men named in the book as members of the committee.
But fortunes were reversed for McPhilemy this week. He is now set to receive extra damages payments from the Sunday Times, which will also have to cover both its own, and McPhilemy’s, legal fees. Those fees could amount to several million pounds.
McPhilemy, who is yet facing a number of additional libel cases arising from his book, said that he was "gratified" with the London court decision.
"I would like to thank the judges, the jurors, my solicitors and barristers and all of the people who have stood behind me during this ordeal," he said.
Bucks for immigrants
The Irish government is now accepting applications for financial grants from Irish immigrant advice organizations in the U.S.
Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs, Brian Cowen, has set aside $300,000 for grants in the current fiscal year.
The money will be made available to aid in the provision of information, advice and outreach services for immigrants.
Applications are being accepted at the Irish Embassy in Washington, D.C., or at the consulates in New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. The deadline for applications in June 29 and payments of grants will be made before the end of September.
This year’s grant allocation will bring the total given by successive Irish governments to over $3 million since 1990.
Go figure!
New Jersey Rep. Steve Rothman wants the International Fund for Ireland to receive a minimum of $25 million from the U.S. this year.
Secretary of State Colin Powell apparently agreed during recent testimony before the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.
"I think the $25 million is an adequate amount to show our interest. I think they know we are committed," Powell told Rothman.
The Democratic congressman had just asked Powell if he thought the sum might be a sign of complacency in the Bush administration given that it was the same amount as last year.
Rothman, in a statement after the hearing, said he had questioned Powell closely on the amount because in his prepared statement for the subcommittee, he (Powell) had announced support for the IFI to the tune of $19.6 million, a figure that was the standard U.S. contribution for most of the 1990s.
"It would be a monumental mistake if the Bush administration does not continue the efforts of the Clinton administration to pursue peace in Northern Ireland. At a minimum, the Bush Administration must push for $25 million for the International Fund for Ireland," Rothman said.
O’Hagan honored
Former St. Patrick’s Day Parade grand marshal Al O’Hagan was honored by New York city Council at a recent ceremony marking the council’s annual Irish Heritage Celebration.
Also honored at the event, hosted at City Hall by Speaker Peter Vallone, was this year’s New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade grand marshal, Ed Malloy, and Dr. Kevin Cahill, who led the parade up Fifth Avenue in 2000.
O’Hagan was honored for his work as chairman of the Great Irish Fair, held every year at Coney Island in Brooklyn.
Schumer time again
Though the number of successful Irish applicants has plummeted, anyone from the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland will have an opportunity to apply for a Schumer diversity visa again later this year. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has announced that the mail-in period for the DV-2003 visas will be from Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, 2001. Detailed instructions for potential applicants will be released by the INS in late July or August.
Both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have separate ceilings of 3,500 Schumer visas in the annual lottery. But a combination of fewer Irish applicants and increasing numbers of applications from many other countries has resulted in a sharp fall in the number of Irish obtaining a 2002 Schumer. Fifty thousand from an open pool will be distributed for 2002 out of a total of 10 million qualified entries.