Sinn Fein's American outreach

Up to 1,000 delegates are now expected to attend the Sinn Fein organized conference on the need for a united Ireland, which will take place in New York on Saturday, June 13.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams will host the major forum entitled “United Ireland – How Do We Get There?” at the Hilton Hotel, 1335 Sixth Avenue at 53rd Street in New York City.

Among the main speakers will be Adams himself; author Pete Hamill; Professor Brendan O’Leary of the University of Pennsylvania, an expert on partition issues; Brian Keenan, the former Beirut hostage; and Terry O’Sullivan, president of the Laborers International Union.

 

O’Leary should be particularly interesting. He has spent the last few years writing a constitution for the Kurdish part of Iraq and wrote several landmark books about Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles.

Others expected to attend include William Flynn, former chairman of Mutual of America who played a major role in the peace process, and leading members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, including former president Ned McGinley.

There will be buses coming to the event from Pennsylvania and Connecticut as well as possibly from Boston.

It marks the first major event for Sinn Fein in America with the exception of the party’s fundraising efforts, since they came into power with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland.

Speaking of the conference Adams noted, “Irish America played a significant role in securing the peace process. The next important task is unity.

“As part of the work of the party’s task force on Irish reunification we are hosting a number of significant forums in Ireland, the U.S. and Britain over the course of the coming year.

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Nster.com