Prelate urges marchers not to support I.R.A.

Press, 11 March 1983, Page 8

Prelate urges marchers not to support I.R.A.

NZPA-Reuter New York The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Terence Cooke, yesterday called on the organisers of next week’s St Patrick’s Day parade not to turn it into a show of support for the outlawed Irish Republican Army. Cardinal Cooke did not say whether he would attend the parade, whose grand marshal this year is an outspoken I.R.A. supporter. Michael Flannery, aged 80. The cardinal usually stands on the steps of St Patrick’s Cathedral to greet the grand marshal as hundreds of thousands of IrishAmericans march up Fifth Avenue. The grand marshal customarily stoops to kiss the cardinal’s ring in a gesture symbolising the import-

ant relationship between the Church and Ireland. Mr Flannery told a news'

conference at an’ Irish pub that he was delighted by the uproar his appointment has caused. “If there is cheering for the I.RA. at the parade, then God bless those who give it,” he said. Several prominent IrishAmericans will boycott the parade, including the former Governor of New York. Hugh Carey, and New York’s senior senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. The Irish Governmentt will also be absent because of Mr Flannery’s I.R.A. stand. I Mr Flannery, a founder of the Irish Northern Aid Committee, which has been called • a front for the 1.R.A., was ■ acquitted last year of i' charges of conspiring to send

weapons to the 1.R.A., although he admitted giving money for that purpose.