THE Ancient Order of Hibernians has been playing a leading role throughout the US in recent years holding the British government to account. When it comes to legacy, a border poll and Brexit, the AOH has played a pivotal role lobbying the main players in Washington and advising members of Congress on Capitol Hill. The National President of the AOH, Sean Pender, was back in Ireland last week and spent a number of days in Belfast. With a father from County Carlow and a mother from County Kerry, he has been a regular visitor to Belfast over the past quarter of a century, since he first met Clara Reilly and Mark Thompson in the Relatives for Justice office on the Falls ROad. It was around the same time as the Holy Cross dispute when loyalists tried to prevent schoolgirls from going to school in Ardoyne over a gruelling four-month period. He said Clara Reilly is still his hero and admits that those early visits to Belfast left a deep and lasting impression on him. Growing up in New Jersey, Sean joined the Hibernian in 1981, having always had an interest in Irish history. Today the Hibernians are active across the States on many issues. “Constitutionally we cannot endorse or person party or a candidate,” he said. “So therefore, when we go to a Republican or a Democrat we're speaking to an issue. That's it. And I think what that’s done over the years has given us credibility, and it also has made us an honest broker.” One of those issues that the AOH is concerned with the current immigration policy which is best illustrated by the actions of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “We [the Irish] were the immigrants who spoke a different language, worshipped a different God. We were called, you know, apes, drunks and everything like that. And we got to make sure that doesn't happen to anybody, anybody else. So the current climate that's going on in our country and everywhere, I try to remember our people. That's not who the Irish are. You know, the Irish have been treated with oppression, aggression, discrimination, but we got to make sure it doesn't happen to other people. So we're very involved, like I said, with looking for a fair, equitable immigration policy, looking to a peace, justice and unity in Ireland.” In recent years the AOH has lobbied and met with members of Congress to help ensure that there would be no hard border in Ireland as a result of Brexit. It has led the campaign in Washington against the British government’s legacy plans and successfully pressed the Irish government to take an inter-state legal case against the British government over its controversial Troubles Legacy Act. Its strong connections with victims’ families back in Ireland, while also bringing those families out to the US means it is a trusted voice in the States on the legacy issue. “Irish America helped bring the peace to this island,” says Sean. “And we are the largest [Irish-American] group there. We're not taking credit for that, but we have the cohesiveness with members in every state. We're able to reach out and say, let's reach out to our elected officials here. We’re proud of the other work we did. I think it came about because we need to finally finish the job. We see what was coming over here. We see with the whole legacy, thing, which has been heart-breaking.” Sean said that after the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016 there was a fear among the AOH that it would be used as an excuse by the British to put a hard border up in Ireland.
