Latest news with #TheTroubles
Newsweek
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Nurse in US for 40 Years Self-Deports—'It's Really Gotten Insane'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Matthew Morrison, a 69-year-old Irish immigrant and nurse in Missouri who became an immigration example in the late 1990s, left for Ireland on July 21 after living in the United States for 40 years due to fears of removal by the Trump administration. Why It Matters Morrison's self-deportation has brought further attention to the complicated realities faced by long-term undocumented immigrants in the U.S., especially those with historic convictions or high-profile political backgrounds. His case, uniquely tied to historic U.S.–Ireland relations, was previously referenced during the Clinton administration as part of U.S.'s efforts to support the Northern Ireland peace process. Morrison's departure also underscores the anxiety and uncertainty experienced by noncitizens who fear changes in immigration enforcement policies, particularly those perceived to be at higher risk during political shifts. What To Know Morrison worked for roughly 20 years as a psychiatric nurse supervisor in Missouri, including stints at a children's hospital and several state mental health facilities. He also presented at the St. Louis County Police Academy on topics including mental health and de-escalation tactics. He told The Marshall Project that he voluntarily left the U.S. due to fear of detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Donald Trump's administration. "I would bite the dust in an ICE holding cell," Morrison said prior to going home to Ireland. "There is nothing to stop them from deporting me to Ecuador, South Sudan or whatever. It's really gotten insane here. It's crazy what they are doing now, the Trump administration. You know what I mean?" Morrison told The Marshall Project that although his work authorization expires in October, he didn't want to spend the next few months in anxiety worrying about being deported. On July 21, he and his wife reportedly boarded a one-way flight from Cleveland to Dublin and left behind a life in the St. Louis area that includes grown children, grandchildren and friends. "I've come full circle," Morrison said. "I came here as an immigrant and I am leaving as an immigrant, despite everything in between. The whole thing is a crazy, stressful situation." Morrison first arrived in the U.S. in the mid-1980s after serving time in prison in Northern Ireland due to his involvement with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during "The Troubles." In 1985, he married his American pen pal, Francie Broderick, and had two children, Matt and Katie. Morrison later remarried to his current wife, Sandra Riley Swift. He once served as a symbolic figure in American–Irish diplomacy. The former member of IRA previously spent 10 years in prison, convicted of attempted murder in a 1976 raid on a British barracks. Other ex-IRA men, all in the New York area, faced deportation for similar reasons. In 1995, Morrison's wife flew to Belfast while President Bill Clinton was in the region, attempting to garner his attention and protect him from deportation, according to the Associated Press. By 1997, the family received more than $70,000 in donations to help with legal fees. The case for Morrison and others like him drew support from local and international lawmakers, notably due to IRA members being characterized by the U.S. government as terrorists. The Missouri Legislature passed a resolution in 1996 urging the Immigration and Naturalization Service to drop deportation proceedings against him. Members of the Derry City Council in Northern Ireland followed suit across party lines, approving a resolution urging Clinton to suspend his deportation. Morrison's struggle won support from countless Americans, including neighbors in this suburban St. Louis community to state legislators to members of Congress. The Irish Northern Aid, a nonprofit organization that helps families of Irish political prisoners, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians also have come to his defense. In 2000, the Clinton administration ultimately terminated the deportation process against Morrison and five others. Then-Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement that she had been advised by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to drop deportation proceedings to "support and promote the process of reconciliation that has begun in Northern Ireland." Clinton at the time said the termination was "in no way approving or condoning their past criminal acts." However, the ex-president echoed the sentiment of contributing to peace in Europe. Thousands of people gather at an anti-racism rally in the city center of Belfast, Ireland, on August 10, 2024, following a week of disorder across the province. Thousands of people gather at an anti-racism rally in the city center of Belfast, Ireland, on August 10, 2024, following a week of disorder across the province. PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images What People Are Saying Matthew Morrison's son, Matt, 37, to The Marshall Project about his father's scheduled check-in with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in June in St. Louis: "We were terrified that they were just going to take him right has to live under that fear of somebody knocking on the door and dragging him out of the house, just like they did in Derry when he was young. I hate it. I am just worried about him. Until recently, I hadn't heard him cry about it." Morrison's daughter, Katie, to The Marshall Project: "Even though he's still alive, I feel like I am grieving. It's a huge loss for me and my children." What Happens Next? Swift has a house in St. Charles, Missouri, as well as family in the U.S., The Marshall Project reported. After helping Morrison transition into an apartment in the town where he grew up, she wrote in a social media post that she's going to travel between both countries for a while.
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Warrior Itoje joins pantheon of Lions captains as McBride pays tribute
They were speaking hours apart and from different ends of the world but a few things united Maro Itoje in Sydney, New South Wales and Willie John McBride in Ballyclare, Antrim - both were/are locks and, as of last Saturday, both know how it feels to captain the Lions to a series win. McBride, 85 years young and leader of the immortals of 1974 in South Africa, is the oldest surviving victorious Lions captain. That merry band numbered just four before the weekend - Finlay Calder (1989 in Australia), Martin Johnson (1997 in South Africa) and Sam Warburton (2013 in Australia) being the others. Now there are five. "What message would I send to Maro?" says McBride. "I'd say well done, son. Well done. It's never easy to win a series in the southern hemisphere and they've achieved it. "I watched it at home on Saturday morning. I couldn't be doing with listening to all the rubbish down the club, all the experts giving their opinions. "The game was tremendous. The best I've seen in a very long time. There's lots about modern rugby that I don't understand. I don't understand line-outs any more. I haven't a clue why they bother having scrums because nobody knows what's going on. "We had 32 players, a coach and a manager when I was captain. They have more than 32 people in the backroom staff now. We had 22 matches. Everything is different, but I'd imagine something that hasn't changed much is the feeling of having won. "It's the biggest honour you can have in rugby - winning a series with the Lions." 'An honour to join such esteemed company' Generations divide them but in their own way they are deeply fascinating men with stories that transcend rugby. McBride played through The Troubles, an Ulster protestant and an Irish captain who used rugby to try to build bridges between two warring communities while others were trying to blow them up. The admiration for Itoje comes in a different form - in his work in giving severely disadvantaged kids from Nigeria, the land of his parents' birth, a proper education. Through his Pearl Fund, he is making a difference in the lives of orphaned, fatherless and poverty-stricken young people. McBride doesn't understand the game Itoje plays, but he knew how he would have felt on Saturday night. "I'm very grateful and it's obviously a tremendous honour to be in such esteemed company," says Itoje when asked about the select band of captains he's now joined. "When I'm old and grey these occasions and these tours are going to be the experiences I look back on with extreme fondness. "I would be surprised if you can find a British and Irish rugby player who says they don't want to be a Lion. It's something that each player holds dear to their heart. This is something the players want and the players will continue to want for decades and for as long as rugby is being played. "You don't have many shots at it. The next tour is never guaranteed. There's a rarity to it. If you miss one, you may never have another opportunity. "It's been said before but in many ways, it shouldn't really work. You have four different nations, four different ideologies, several different ways of how to play the game and how to think. "It is not a homogenous group at all, but people buy in and you forge great relationships and you build bonds. That's what makes it special." Rugby Union Weekly: Hooper, Itoje and Gilpin in Sydney 'Lions need whitewash to be lauded for decades' - Dawson column 'Finish on a high' - Russell seeks 3-0 Lions clean sweep 'Power, nous and strategic brilliance' Itoje is one of the greats now. He has played in eight straight Lions Tests (seven as a starter) and that will become nine on Saturday when the Lions face the Wallabies in the last dance in Sydney. His captaincy is low-key, almost gentle. When he wants some fire and brimstone in the dressing room he tends to call on others to deliver it. He once described himself as "deeply thoughtful, prone to overthinking, actually" - but that's part of what makes him interesting. He's a rugby player but also a Christian, a collector of African art - "it speaks to my soul" - a philanthropist, a strong voice on anti-racism - "it has happened so often in my life" - and a lover of politics. When asked what was the coolest message he's received since wrapping up the series last weekend, he says it was from foreign secretary David Lammy. Itoje is also in the pantheon - a lock who wreaks havoc with his power, his nous and his strategic brilliance. His durability is astounding. He's played every minute of every Six Nations game going back six years. In 37 of his past 38 games for England and the Lions he's gone the distance. Softly spoken, he's as hard as they come. A player who came to rugby late and to captaincy later still, but who's left his mark on the game and with years on his side - he's only 30 - to make that mark even bigger. What will he remember of this trip - the rugby or the people? "It's hard to differentiate it. Ultimately, it's going to be the people but the rugby makes it sweeter," says Itoje. "There is a verse that I can't quite remember what book it is from in the Bible [Mark 8:36], but it says 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?' If we won every game and we absolutely hated one another - I think life is more than that." Faith amid the fury - how Lion king Itoje keeps his peace 'He was taller than me at 10' - meet the man who inspired Itoje Willie John McBride at 80 Can the class of 2025 match 1974's Invincibles? There is one more step to take and that's turning 2-0 into 3-0, which would be the first time the Lions won three Tests in a row on tour since McBride's Lions of 1974. "We want to be part of something very special," said Itoje. "Winning a Lions Test series is obviously extremely special, but what would be an absolute dream would be to go out there and perform to the level that we think we can perform and win the third game. "While the first two games have been great because we got two wins, there's still a feeling that we haven't put it together in a way we know that we can. That's the exciting thing for us - we want to chase down the performance we've been searching for." That would make it an unbeaten tour in Australia, again a first since 1974. You put this potential slice of history to McBride and he can't help but pull you up. "Unbeaten? They were beaten in Dublin [against the Pumas], weren't they? That was part of the tour, wasn't it?" More than half a century on and the great man is still protective of his boys and their place in Lions history. Once a warrior, always a warrior. Itoje has now joined that class. "I think we owe it to ourselves," Itoje said about the need the finish the series 3-0. "The squad has worked incredibly hard for coming up to the last two months. We owe it to ourselves to give the best account of ourselves. We owe it to each other to give the best account of ourselves. Part of that is going for the win. This will already be a memorable tour, but we want it to live really long in the memory." Get the latest updates from the Lions tour How did the British and Irish Lions begin? British and Irish Lions fixtures & results for tour of Australia
BBC News
30-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Warrior Itoje joins pantheon of Lions captains as McBride pays tribute
They were speaking hours apart and from different ends of the world but a few things united Maro Itoje in Sydney, New South Wales and Willie John McBride in Ballyclare, Antrim - both were/are locks and, as of last Saturday, both know how it feels to captain the Lions to a series 85 years young and leader of the immortals of 1974 in South Africa, is the oldest surviving victorious Lions captain. That merry band numbered just four before the weekend - Finlay Calder (1989 in Australia), Martin Johnson (1997 in South Africa) and Sam Warburton (2013 in Australia) being the others. Now there are five."What message would I send to Maro?" says McBride. "I'd say well done, son. Well done. It's never easy to win a series in the southern hemisphere and they've achieved it."I watched it at home on Saturday morning. I couldn't be doing with listening to all the rubbish down the club, all the experts giving their opinions."The game was tremendous. The best I've seen in a very long time. There's lots about modern rugby that I don't understand. I don't understand line-outs any more. I haven't a clue why they bother having scrums because nobody knows what's going on."We had 32 players, a coach and a manager when I was captain. They have more than 32 people in the backroom staff now. We had 22 matches. Everything is different, but I'd imagine something that hasn't changed much is the feeling of having won."It's the biggest honour you can have in rugby - winning a series with the Lions." 'An honour to join such esteemed company' Generations divide them but in their own way they are deeply fascinating men with stories that transcend rugby. McBride played through The Troubles, an Ulster protestant and an Irish captain who used rugby to try to build bridges between two warring communities while others were trying to blow them admiration for Itoje comes in a different form - in his work in giving severely disadvantaged kids from Nigeria, the land of his parents' birth, a proper education. Through his Pearl Fund, he is making a difference in the lives of orphaned, fatherless and poverty-stricken young doesn't understand the game Itoje plays, but he knew how he would have felt on Saturday night. "I'm very grateful and it's obviously a tremendous honour to be in such esteemed company," says Itoje when asked about the select band of captains he's now joined."When I'm old and grey these occasions and these tours are going to be the experiences I look back on with extreme fondness."I would be surprised if you can find a British and Irish rugby player who says they don't want to be a Lion. It's something that each player holds dear to their heart. This is something the players want and the players will continue to want for decades and for as long as rugby is being played."You don't have many shots at it. The next tour is never guaranteed. There's a rarity to it. If you miss one, you may never have another opportunity. "It's been said before but in many ways, it shouldn't really work. You have four different nations, four different ideologies, several different ways of how to play the game and how to think."It is not a homogenous group at all, but people buy in and you forge great relationships and you build bonds. That's what makes it special." 'Power, nous and strategic brilliance' Itoje is one of the greats now. He has played in eight straight Lions Tests (seven as a starter) and that will become nine on Saturday when the Lions face the Wallabies in the last dance in captaincy is low-key, almost gentle. When he wants some fire and brimstone in the dressing room he tends to call on others to deliver it. He once described himself as "deeply thoughtful, prone to overthinking, actually" - but that's part of what makes him a rugby player but also a Christian, a collector of African art - "it speaks to my soul" - a philanthropist, a strong voice on anti-racism - "it has happened so often in my life" - and a lover of politics. When asked what was the coolest message he's received since wrapping up the series last weekend, he says it was from foreign secretary David is also in the pantheon - a lock who wreaks havoc with his power, his nous and his strategic brilliance. His durability is astounding. He's played every minute of every Six Nations game going back six years. In 37 of his past 38 games for England and the Lions he's gone the distance. Softly spoken, he's as hard as they come. A player who came to rugby late and to captaincy later still, but who's left his mark on the game and with years on his side - he's only 30 - to make that mark even will he remember of this trip - the rugby or the people? "It's hard to differentiate it. Ultimately, it's going to be the people but the rugby makes it sweeter," says Itoje."There is a verse that I can't quite remember what book it is from in the Bible [Mark 8:36], but it says 'What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?' If we won every game and we absolutely hated one another - I think life is more than that." Can the class of 2025 match 1974's Invincibles? There is one more step to take and that's turning 2-0 into 3-0, which would be the first time the Lions won three Tests in a row on tour since McBride's Lions of 1974."We want to be part of something very special," said Itoje. "Winning a Lions Test series is obviously extremely special, but what would be an absolute dream would be to go out there and perform to the level that we think we can perform and win the third game."While the first two games have been great because we got two wins, there's still a feeling that we haven't put it together in a way we know that we can. That's the exciting thing for us - we want to chase down the performance we've been searching for."That would make it an unbeaten tour in Australia, again a first since 1974. You put this potential slice of history to McBride and he can't help but pull you up. "Unbeaten? They were beaten in Dublin [against the Pumas], weren't they? That was part of the tour, wasn't it?"More than half a century on and the great man is still protective of his boys and their place in Lions history. Once a warrior, always a warrior. Itoje has now joined that class."I think we owe it to ourselves," Itoje said about the need the finish the series 3-0."The squad has worked incredibly hard for coming up to the last two months. We owe it to ourselves to give the best account of ourselves. We owe it to each other to give the best account of ourselves. Part of that is going for the win. This will already be a memorable tour, but we want it to live really long in the memory."
New York Post
26-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Feds move to deport 82-year-old convicted IRA terrorist after decades in the United States
A convicted terrorist and boss of the Irish Republican Army in North America may finally be getting booted from the United States. Gabriel Megahey, 82, lived in New York for decades but a June 20 letter from the US Department of Homeland Security warned his 'parole' was being terminated, nearly 30 years after he and other IRA members were given dispensation to stay in the country. 'Do not attempt to unlawfully remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately,' reads the one-page letter, which Megahey shared with the Irish Echo. Advertisement The Belfast native was convicted in 1983 in Brooklyn Federal Court for conspiring to buy missiles to shoot down British helicopters amid the violent clashes in Northern Ireland known as 'The Troubles.' Gabriel Megahey was convicted in 1983 of conspiring to buy weapons to shoot down British helicopters. Gabriel Megahey /Facebook At the time, federal authorities considered Megahey 'the officer commanding (OC) of America and Canada' for the IRA, he told PBS's Frontline. The married father of six served five years in federal prison for conspiracy and arms shipments. Advertisement Megahey, known by the nickname 'Skinny Legs,' was convicted with three others, with then U.S. Attorney John Dearie describing him at the time as 'the most culpable of these defendants,' and the group as a whole as 'a network of men who sought to use this country as a base of terrorist activities,' according to reports. 'No one wants peace more than us,' Megahey, who first settled in Jackson Heights, Queens in 1975, insisted at the sentencing hearing. He was released from prison in 1988 — but never deported. Advertisement Megahey and four other IRA members were then allowed to remain in the country as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the historic April 1998 accords which ended decades of violence in Ireland between those who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom and those who didn't. Now the grandfather of 14 and great-grandfather of five, who records show moved to Delaware in 2019, is reeling after DHS warned he would be fined and criminally prosecuted if he stays in the United States. Now 82, Megahey is facing deportation decades after he served his sentence. Gabriel Megahey /Facebook 'DHS is terminating your parole,' according to the one-page letter, which Megahey shared with the Irish Echo. 'Do not attempt to unlawfully remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.' Advertisement Megahey, who relies on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to pay for expensive medicine necessary to treat a heart ailment, also faces the loss of his benefits. 'It would cost me $4,000 to $5,000 a month to pay for it on my own,' he told Straus News. 'I can't afford that. I'll have to go home.' DHS and Megahey declined comment.
The Age
25-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
The 55-minute lunch, the ‘brazen signal' and the council in chaos
Among the matters under examination are councillor conduct, the council's handling of its finances, and state government grants for infrastructure, property purchases and staff employment – including its revolving door of 10 acting or permanent chief executive officers in eight years. On Friday, the inquiry heard Jackson – who lived in Northern Ireland through The Troubles and was once chief executive of the Belfast Local Strategy Partnership – started work at the council in 2014. He had replaced the council's former boss Kiersten Fishburn, who is the current secretary of the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, as chief executive in November 2020. By the time of his lunch with Mannoun in late 2021, the inquiry heard Jackson was one year into his five-year contract and fresh from a positive performance review. He had steered more than 800 staff through the departure of a 'highly popular' former chief executive, a restructure, and the pandemic. Loading 'The organisation was exhausted, we didn't need further upheaval,' he had told Mannoun. When he had quizzed Mannoun about what he meant by his remarks about the chief executive role, Mannoun had not responded, but instead asked Jackson about the process required to terminate his contract. Jackson said he had phoned Mannoun when he secured the mayoralty on December 20. 'I congratulated him on his success and he immediately said, 'Have you thought about my proposition to you about leaving the organisation?' 'I said, 'I think you're making a mistake, but if you've got the numbers, we know how it plays out.'' Mannoun said that 'his group' had agreed to a settlement of 50 weeks' pay, which Jackson understood was a reference to Liberal councillors, of which there were five on the council. He had also expressed a desire to Jackson that they keep his 'transition' out of the role professional, to agree on core messaging to staff, and for the matter to remain confidential. At a meeting on January 10, before the first meeting of the new council, Mannoun had said: 'Eddie, the people of Liverpool have elected their mayor and new CEO.' Jackson said: 'That, to me, was a very brazen signal of his intent to take a direct role, contrary to the [Local Government] Act, in the appointment of directors and day-to-day operations of staff, and he had no qualms about seeking to direct or influence members of staff, or directors in particular. 'I was very concerned about that.' Jackson said Mannoun had reiterated his dissatisfaction with the council directors' recent performance, which Jackson thought was 'unfair, 'very dismissive' and 'an arrogant approach'. Loading 'I'm speaking in the context of living through Belfast in the worst of times – COVID tested everyone in a way that was unprecedented.' Councillors voted 6-5 to terminate Jackson's contract and replace him with acting chief executive Peter Diplas at a council meeting on February 2. Jackson met Mannoun a few days later to discuss his settlement, which was reached months later. 'The meeting concluded, I shook his hand at the door, and that was the last contact I had with Mr Mannoun,' Jackson said. Jackson will be cross-examined next week, and Mannoun is yet to provide evidence. The inquiry continues. It is being heard over five weeks in front of Commissioner Ross Glover.
