NORAID, officially the Irish Northern Aid Committee, is an
Irish American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
membership organization founded after the start of
the Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na TrioblóidÃ) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in 1969. The organization states its mission is to aid in the creation of a
United Ireland
United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...
in the spirit of the
1916 Easter Proclamation and to support the
Northern Ireland Peace process
The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...
. During the Troubles NORAID was known for raising funds for the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
and other
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
community groups. NORAID runs a newsletter titled ''The Irish People'' which provides analysis and coverage of ongoing events in Northern Ireland.
History
NORAID was organized and directed by
Michael Flannery
Michael Flannery (7 January 1903 – 30 September 1994) was an Irish republican who fought in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. He supported the Provisional IRA during The Troubles and was a founder of NORAID.
Irish revo ...
, who in the 1920s was a member of the IRA North Tipperary Brigade.
Unionist politicians and the British, Irish and United States governments have accused NORAID of being a
front
Front may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film
* ''The Front'', 1976 film
Music
* The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...
for the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA), and that it was involved in fundraising for
IRA arms importation from North America since the early 1970s.
This accusation has always been denied by NORAID. NORAID's former leader,
Martin Galvin
Martin J. Galvin (born January 8, 1950) is an Irish American lawyer, publisher and activist, and former director of NORAID.
Background
Galvin was born on January 8, 1950, the son of a fireman. He attended Catholic schools, Fordham University an ...
, was banned from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in the 1980s.
[ The charge was also disputed by historian ]Ed Moloney
Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular.
He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...
who stated that the funds raised by NORAID went largely to the families of imprisoned IRA volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
, and that Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael ( ga, label=modern Irish orthography, Clann na nGael, ; "family of the Gaels") was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister org ...
was the principal financial backer of the Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
.
By the late 1980s, NORAID was a loose federation of local branches centred on fundraising. Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
, the political party associated with the IRA, wanted NORAID to expand its activities. At the end of 1988, NORAID agreed to try to broaden its appeal and its executive committee was expanded. Sinn Féin sent an organizer to the United States, and more time and money was devoted to lobbying and propaganda.
Then-president Pat O'Connell said "Americans are fed up with their own nation's politics. They sure as hell don't want to get involved in Irish politics. They only want to give money for the prisoners and their families, not for political lobbying." O'Connell subsequently opened a separate NORAID office in the Bronx.[
A letter later published in New York's two Irish weeklies charged that under Martin Galvin and others, NORAID was "being steered in a direction toward politics and away from its original humanitarian objectives."][ The first name among forty-one signers was Michael Flannery, who in 1986 had quietly resigned from NORAID.][ Galvin joined Noraid in the early 1970s, and became the committee's publicity director and editor of its weekly newspaper, ''The Irish People.'' He later joined the group's board of directors. Galvin split with Sinn Féin in the mid-1990s over the direction of the ]Northern Ireland peace process
The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political developm ...
.
NORAID has in the past supported "Project Children", a New York-based organization founded in 1975, to provide summer vacations for children from Northern Ireland away from sectarian strife.
In 1994, Sinn Féin was de-listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department after the start of peace efforts in Northern Ireland. NORAID was supportive of the peace process and the subsequent Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
and is nowadays highly supportive of Sinn Féin.
Mission statement
Irish Northern Aid is an American based membership organization that supports through peaceful means, the establishment of a socialist and democratic 32-county Ireland.
Our Strategy: To develop a broad coalition of supporters for Irish Unity through organizing and educating the public, our members, political leaders, and the media.
To support the current Peace Process, including the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
which was endorsed by the vast majority of the Irish people.
To support a process of National reconciliation and equality for all the citizens of Ireland.
Membership: In keeping with the principles of the 1916 Proclamation
Events
Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored ...
, Irish Northern Aid is open to anyone who shares these values.
1981 case in U.S. federal court
In May 1981, the United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
won a court case forcing NORAID to register the Provisional Irish Republican Army as its "foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)2 U.S.C. § 611 ''et seq.'' is a United States law that imposes public disclosure obligations on persons representing foreign interests. . In his decision, U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. wrote: "The uncontroverted evidence is that oraidis an agent of the IRA, providing money and services for other than relief purposes." NORAID lawyers appealed the decision but lost.[
A compromise was reached between federal attorneys and NORAID, allowing it to include with its filings a written statement expressing that the document had been signed under duress and that NORAID maintained that the IRA was not its "foreign principal". NORAID resumed filing its financial returns in July 1984.]
See also
* Friends of Sinn Féin
* Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America (IRSCNA) was founded at a conference held March 23–25, 1984 in Saint Paul, Minnesota as a support group for the Irish Republican Socialist Movement. In 1998, it was recognized as the No ...
* Troops Out Movement
References
External links
official website
€”the University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
's CAIN project entry on NORAID
{{Authority control
Irish diaspora
Irish-American history
Provisional Irish Republican Army
1969 establishments in New York (state)