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"In Internet Veritas"
Church of Ireland prelate attempts to censor Tutu's news
by Ray O'Hanlon column, 'Inside File'
from The Irish Echo
July 13-19, 1994
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South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu wanted to
read more about the conflict in Northern Ireland. The word went
out to New York along the ecclesiastical branch road of the
information superhighway. At the office of the Episcopalian
Church in the city, Bill Bailey works with Internet computer
systems. Being an obliging fellow and aware of a clippings
service out of Rutgers University, {IRL-NEWS} Bailey "turned" the
Rutgers flow into the Anglican Church computer network.
Archbishop Tutu was now able to read news on the North from
a range of publications and agencies including Reuters,
Associated Press, The New York Times, The Times of London,
Donegal Democrat, Western People, An Phoblacht/Republican News
and the three New York-published Irish-American weeklies, The
Irish Echo, Irish Voice and Irish People.
Several others joined in the computer "meeting" entitled
"Ireland News Clippings" and all was going well until the Armagh
office of Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames got wind of
what was on the wire.
What happened next was to shatter once and for all the
belief that only Catholic bishops are inclined to deliver belts
of the crozier. Baliey was contacted by a none to happy Church of
Ireland press officer Liz Harries. According to Bailey, Harries
indicated to Bailey that Archbishop Eames, who recently visited
New York along with Cardinal Cahal Daly, was concerned that the
contents of the clippings was "overly biased" in favor of the
republican viewpoint.
Harries was particularly concerned about An Phoblacht and
the three Irish-American papers, this publication included. A
deal was struck. Bailey agreed to add to the clippings stories
from several Northern Ireland dailies as well as Church of
Ireland press releases.
Bailey also agreed to remove An Phoblacht from the
clippings, but struck to his guns on the matter of including
stories from the Irish-AMerican papers. An Phoblacht was axed
because Harries was concerned that Church of Ireland press
releases and the likes of "War News" didn't make a very good mix.
However, Bailey informed subscribers to the clippings that An
Phoblacht would be made available upon specific request.
Bailey was rather amused by all the fuss. He was told that
some of the contents of "Ireland News CLippings" had been turned
over to the British security forces on the grounds that it might
possibly be classified.
"I was not editorializing. I wasn't speaking on anybody's
behalf, simply relaying newspaper articles to people who wanted
to read them," Bailey told 'Inside File'.
Bailey said that all the material was publicly available,
although he did express concern that any readers might be placed
in jeopardy by reading items that might be considered classified
in some quarters.
The deal between Bailey and Harries was not the end of the
affair, however. Harries released a Church of Ireland
'disclaimer' via the Anglican Communion Office in London.
It read: "As Church of Ireland {Anglican} Press Officer, and
with the authority of my Church, I wish to state that
communications under the meeting name 'Ireland News Clippings' by
Bill Bailey do not emanate from, nor necessarily have the support
of, the Anglican Church of Ireland. Such communications are not
issued with the agreement of the Church of Ireland and should be
understood to be the responsibility of Bill Bailey alone."
All the heat from Armagh made Bailey feel the need to
explain himself. He didn't quite nail his 95 these to the nearest
church door, but he did send an e-mail message to the now
thoroughly bewildered readers of "Ireland News Clippings."
Bailey stated that he had no contacts with the IRA or
terrorist groups of any stripe, had no contacts with Sinn Fein or
any political party in Ireland or the U.K., did not accept
violence as an acceptable means to any end obtainable through
peaceful means, and did not, nor ever intend, to have in his
possession documents pertaining to the situation in Northern
Ireland.
Bailey also reiterated his position that he had no position
one way or the other on the issues covered by the newspapers in
the clipping service.
The bottom line is that Bailey has expunged "Irish News
Clippings" from Anglican wires, although he is helping former
subscribers tap directly into the Rutgers service. A separate
arrangement is being worked out for Archbishop Tutu, who, given
the sort of things he has witnessed down the years, is presumably
not in the least bit fazed by news items that might give MI5 or
the Northern Ireland Office the willies.
A question arises out of all this: Just why in the first
place did Archbishop Tutu feel compelled to come looking for
Northern Ireland news in New York? Faith in the First Amendment
perhaps?
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