Republican Bulletin Board of Ireland
VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

Saturday, May 16, 2026, 12:13:33pm Ireland [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: Mon, Sep 29 2003, 14:31:38 GMT
Author: Liam
Subject: Request for meeting turned down

Police upset at snub by US mayor
By Sean O'Driscoll
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

29 September 2003
POLICE in Hamilton, New Jersey have accused the local mayor of playing to Irish republicans by declining to meet with a group of British police visiting his city.

Mayor Glen D Gilmore declined to meet eleven members of the London Metropolitan Police who wished to present him with a commemorative plaque.

The chief of police had requested that the mayor meet with the British police at the city's annual September festival.

The president of the local Police Benevolent Fund told the Belfast Telegraph that he would now rather shoot the plaque to pieces at the police firing range than let the mayor have it because he didn't deserve it.

Mayor Gilmore, who has sharply criticised police in Northern Ireland this year and who donated $$350 to Sinn Fein's recent New Jersey fundraising drive, issued a short statement this week saying that he regretted not having the time to meet the British police on September 9 last.

Criticism of the mayor grew after a commemorative display recording the Hamilton's police more successful visit to London last February was removed from the local police headquarters on the day the Trenton Times newspaper published details of the controversy last week.

The incident has now become an electoral issue, and Mr Gilmore's Republican opponent in the mayoral election, Jack Lacey, has written to the Metropolitan Police inviting them back to Hamilton if he is elected mayor.

The president of the Police Benevolent Association, Detective Brock Barber, joined in the criticism and said the British police had spent two hours in a park waiting for the mayor on September 9 and said he drove past them in a golf cart.

Det Barber said that the Metropolitan Police had hoped to present the mayor with a plaque to commemorate the ties between the two police forces, forged after the September 11 disaster.

"We don't think he deserves the plaque. We would rather shoot it to pieces on the firing range than let him have it," Det Barber said.

Det Barber said that the mayor had also pulled out of a planned luncheon with the British police, after the event had been planned two months previously.

Patrolman Matt Bagley, one of a group of Hamilton police who had travelled to England last February, said they now felt let down.

"We were with treated so well in England and then this happens. It was very, very embarrassing," he said.

He contrasted the mayor's attitude to the British police with the hours he spent meeting Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly.

The officers are now seeking a meeting with the mayor to explain their position.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT+0
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.