PAGE 4
THE CELTIC CONNECTION • MARCH 1993
Conversation with Paul O'Dwyer
Continued from Page 1
ancient system to draw together Irish-American lawyers across the U.S. to unite under the banner of the Brehan Law Society.
The Society was formed in New York when O'Dwyer encountered many talented lawyers in the courts and civil court. He found skilled Irish-American lawyers offering their services when cases arose in the American justice system regarding Irish issues. They would say, "Look when you have this Irish stuff ready, let me know, I can help you out."
It began when people began facing deportation hearings and were being pursued in the U.S. for supporting the Irish fight for freedom. Deportation hearings, such as the Joe Doherty case, brought forth a need for a strong lobby. It became apparent that concern about Ireland and, particularly the north of Ireland, was much more extensive in the Irish-American community than it was in the Irish community, either in Dublin or Belfast or anywhere else in the south.
O'Dwyer said "I invited about 75 lawyers whom I had come across and whom I felt might help out. I invited them to a lunch and about 50 showed up.
"There was a strong feeling of kinship between Irish-Americans generally and they supplied all sorts of law practice. I
Examining the Brehan Law Society
had done a lot of civil rights work and had been one of the early founders of the National Lawyers Guild.
"I explained to my New York confreres that we were literally in the position of stealing from the poor. These people were depending on civil rights organizations, such as the National Lawyers Guild and the Civil Rights Union, and that their skills, as Irish-Americans should be available to the impoverished. It was a means of getting Irish-American lawyers together."
When Bernadette Devlin (who at the time, represented Mid-Ulster in the British Parliament) attempted to establish a Board of Inquiry into a shooting incident which took place at a peaceful demonstration in Derry, she turned to O'Dwyer. He responded by sitting on an international tribunal to examine the evidence presented.
O'Dwyer recalls, "The board consisted of a number of foreign lawyers, such as myself, and French and British lawyers. Bernadette had attempted to get the British government to set up an inquiry but she got nowhere. So, she thought that she would get together this group of law-
yers who would sit and listen to the information, and we did.
"I was one of them, the American lawyer. There was a representative of a British group who were setting up civil rights organizations, a member of the House of Lords who was an excellent lawyer, very much committed to civil rights, and the third one, a representative from France.
"We listened to all the evidence and testimony of the people who were there at the time and who witnessed the events. The testimony was filed with the United Nations, even though they didn't have any power to do anything about it. We invited the British Army to come and testify but they refused."
O'Dwyer, in fact, served as a representative to the U.N. General Assembly. He resigned in protest when he found that the position was largely ceremonial and without any power to change the circumstances of those he represented.
"I found that my functioning was quite limited," he said. "Many people came to New York to speak about injustice and problems regarding laws and housing, and they often felt
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that law didn't take into account their special and peculiar problems.
"I have been a civil rights lawyer all my life. I have worked in Mississippi for black rights and I couldn t very well say I was in the U.N. when I saw what was happening in Northern Ireland and unable to make protests in connection with it."
O'Dwyer said he often found the government in Dublin of doubtful value, sometimes more of a hindrance than anything, because they were more British than the British themselves.
As part of O'Dwyer's lifelong commitment to fairness in the workplace, he became involved with labour practices in both the U.S. and Northern Ireland and the establishment of the McBride Principles to ensure fair hiring practices.
"I became involved in labour practices in a variety of ways and included in that was proposing the McBride principles, such as they applied in America, to Ireland.
"The Irish in New York and Boston had billions of dollars invested from their pension funds in industries in Ireland that believed in segregation.
"In the U.S. about 14 states and many more municipalities have adopted laws which prohibit the use of stockholders monies in companies that discriminate.
"So, we attacked it from that point of view. If your money is engaged in compromising the rights of people in Northern Ireland, you can't expect American money to be used for that purpose.
O'Dwyer's cases have brought many issues to the international forefront. I asked him if he could provide some insight into the controversy surrounding the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City.
Traditionally, the Ancient Order of Hibernians have been associated with the event for over 100 years. Last year, when a New York-based Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization expressed a desire to march in the parade, the Order turned them down.
O'Dwyer, a long-standing member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, disagrees with the line taken by the ancient order. "I disagree with them totally in connection with this group of young people who apparently are homosexuals," he said. "They applied to march at the
parade along with the other groups and organizations.
"As far as I am concerned, the streets of New York don't belong to any one group of people and we can't go around looking at what kind of priVate lives people are leading. It's none of our business and if they behave themselves, then there s no reason to exclude them."
"The Hibernian origin several hundred years ago was good because at that time Irish job-seekers encountered such signs as 'No Irish Need Apply' and they had a good cause. But the Catholic aspect is now rather overpowering the Irish aspect.
"I have met some of these young people from Ireland. Perfectly decent, hard-working people. I found no reason to say that they shouldn't march in the parade as they see fit."
O'Dwyer expressed doubt whether, in fact, there will be a parade this year but said "If there is one, it will be a parade that will include gays."
When a man such as Paul O'Dywer is compelled to resign in protest from the United Nations because the truth is being stifled, one is left to wonder if there is still room for honest politicians or lawyers in our society. I was reminded of the parable in the Bible about the effort to save a city from destruction.
The Lord said that if only ten honest men could be found, the city could be saved. After an extensive search, not even ten could be found. We have one, we need another nine, do you think we can find them? I desperately hope so, because I still cling to my faith in humanity.
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