Letter to Editors -- Stormont Watch

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Date Posted: Fri, May 11 2007, 21:23:02 PDT
Author: October '06
Subject: Letter to Editors
In reply to: Fionnbarra � Dochartaigh 's message, "Re: Ancient Order of Halfwits?" on Thu, May 10 2007, 21:01:21 PDT

After dialogue with editors and/or journalists the below letter was effectively blocked by prominent Civil Rights veterans, even though many Hibs and CR Vets know its contents to be 100% correct. Let your Watchers decide for themselves in whose interests this letter was blocked, certainly not in the interests of those O'D family members, including a then 95-year old who addressed the conference, and organised local accommodation for visitors, some from the UK and USA. Shame, Shame on the AoH, at home and abroad!!!

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A Chara,

A few moths ago, at a well attended weekly members-only meeting, the former AoH president claimed that he did not impose a ban on civil rights veterans. Strange, only one voice challenged him on that issue. That person, a civil rights veteran, was �in-the-dock�, but his appeal for justice, I�ve learnt, seems to have fallen on totally deaf ears. Was this a Kangaroo Court? I and several others have been asking ourselves this question over recent days. It would seem so. No one at the top table broke ranks and there was was no other critical voice raised. All, apparently, accepted the last president�s word as gospel, or should that be Papal Bull.

Caught in the rain, a few weeks ago, I went into a library determined to sort out the facts from the fictions. I shared what I unearthed with several friends, including members of the AoH. They all felt that I should write to the local papers fearing that if I did speak up at a future meeting I too might be accused of bringing the Order into disrepute and be banned from its premises. That surely is a sorry state of affairs within a supposedly Catholic/Nationalist organisation that should be upholding its proud motto: Brotherhood, Truth and True Christian Charity.

The Derry Journal of Tuesday 4th March, page 3, quotes the last president: �They will never use this hall again�. The Derry News two days later, page 15 reported: �[stating his name] reiterated his determination that the civil rights veterans would not be allowed to use the hall again.�

I feel angry because I don�t like being misled. I feel no member of the AoH or the general public should also be misled. Successive management committees have let this controversy fester for almost four years now. There�s an old saying, �Justice delayed, is justice denied�, but there�s another one that comes to mind, �The truth will out in the end�.

Your astute readers will understand why I am withholding my name. If the current management committee think they can continue to bury their heads in the sand, then it is they who are bringing the Order into disrepute. If they do not act in the manner expected of them, no doubt other readers, even better informed than myself, may have a lot more to say in the days ahead.

Let Justice be done, and be seen to be done!

Who�s Civil?
Who�s Right?

Name and address supplied

n.b.

THIS LETTER, AS POINTED OUT, NEVER APPEARED IN THE LOCAL PAPERS TO WHICH IT WAS E-MAILED.

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