Services meet final needs of emigrants
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Also on a funereal theme, the Galway Independent is carrying a story on “a mysterious Galway man”, now a New York resident, who has made a most unusual purchase – he has spent $100,000 so that he can be buried under Irish soil in America, where he has spent most of his life.
The Independent reports that Pat Burke from Tipperary and Alan Jenkins from Cork decided to start their website, www.officialirishdirt.com, when they realised that there were many Irish emigrants who wanted Irish soil as part of their funeral commemorations.
While most are contented with a three-quarter-pound bag of the specially-treated soil, which costs $15, the Galway-born businessman had a different idea. Mr Burke says the weathly New Yorker was “in two minds as to where he wanted to be buried (either in his native Ireland or his adopted USA), so he contacted us and got the best of both worlds”.
Pat added, “People living abroad get very sentimental about things and the idea of buying the soil or shamrock seed lets them feel a bit closer to home”.
Visit www.officialirishdirt.com.
Read the whole story at the Galway Independent.
There’s also another company that aims to meet the needs of emigrants contemplating what should happen to their remains – Ashes is a family-run service that will scatter cremated remains in Ireland.
Online funerals aimed at far-flung relations
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007A Belfast firm of undertakers has launched what is reportedly the first online service to allow mourners to view funeral services from abroad, the AP has reported. Clarke & Son say their service came out of requests that tapes of services be sent abroad to far-off relations.
“We have one camera to give you the perspective of the minister looking out to the congregation, one showing the hearse and cortege of mourners outside, and one that looks like you’re sitting in amidst the mourners,” said Jim Clarke of Clarke & Son undertakers in Newtownards, an eastern suburb of Belfast.
The report added,
He said the service last year proved invaluable for two brothers – one living in New Zealand, the other in the United States – who had traveled back to Northern Ireland to visit an ill relative who then died.
“They said, ‘There’s no way we can get our wives and families here at such short notice,’ and we had the solution to hand. It really removes a burden for some families,” Clarke said.
Visit S. Clarke & Son’s website.
Politicians to make annual pilgrimage to global Irish communities
Friday, March 9th, 2007This year’s plans for the annual St Patrick’s Day trek by Irish politicians to sundry locales around the world has been announced by the Taoiseach.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern will visit Washington, DC, where they will celebrate the day at the White House and meet with the President and key Congressional leaders; they will discuss the issue of the undocumented, as will other Government Ministers visiting other American cities. The Taoiseach will also address the American Ireland Fund Dinner.
On the trip the Taoiseach will also travel to New York where he will meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. He will meet with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, visit the Twin Towers Memorial Centre and meet with leaders in the financial services industry.
United States
Taoiseach – New York and Washington
Tánaiste – Savannah
Minister Dermot Ahern – Washington
Minister Mary Coughlan – New York
Minister Brian Cowen – Chicago
Minister Martin Cullen – San Francisco
Minister Noel Dempsey – Dallas and Houston
Minister Mary Hanafin – Boston
Minister Éamon Ó Cuív- Phoenix
MoS Pat the Cope Gallagher – Atlanta and Philadelphia
Canada
Toronto – Minister Dick Roche
Britain
Minister John O’Donoghue – London
Minister of State Brendan Smith – Manchester
Minister of State Seán Power – Birmingham
Minister of State Conor Lenihan – Edinburgh
Rest of Europe
Austria – Minister of State Mary Wallace
France – Minister of State Brian Lenihan
Italy and the Holy See – Minister Seamus Brennan
Norway Sweden and Denmark – Minister Harney
Poland – Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt
Romania – Minister of State Noel Ahern
Russia – Minister of State Seán Haughey
Asia-Pacific
China – Minister of State John Browne
Japan – Minister of State Tim O’Malley
India – Minister of State Frank Fahey
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – Minister of State Michael Ahern
Vietnam – Minister of State Batt O’Keeffe
South America
Argentina – Attorney General Rory Brady
Africa
South Africa – MoS Tom Parlon – Cape Town and Pretoria
For more details on each of these trips, see the Taoiseach’s department website.
An Post stops service aimed at emigrant market, encourages immigrants to write home
Friday, March 9th, 2007An Post says declining emigration is the reason that the postal service will not produce its St Patrick’s Day cards this year. The Irish Independent reports that a spokesperson called the move “a sign of the times”, adding:
We introduced the cards in 1984 at a time when emigration was very high in Ireland. Sales and distribution followed the emigrant trail at the time. Over the 1990s and since 2000, there has been a very definite and steady decline in sales.
An Post is not in the card business but this was our annual foray into greeting cards. It’s a commercial decision.
In recent years, sales in no way cover the outlay of production costs, marketing and distribution to upwards of 1,400 post offices around the country,
Instead, the comapny will concentrate on encouraging immigrants to send cards home on their national holidays. Post offices will remind customers to send cards for such holidays as America’s Independence Day and China’s National Day on October first.
An Post will not produce these cards, however – perhaps the nation’s holiday card makers will step up their production of international holiday cards?
Éan chair visits Washington
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Fr Alan Hilliard, Director of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants (IECE) and the chair of Éan’s board, attended yesterday’s rally in Washington DC. The rally brought Irish immigrants living in the US together to lobby politicians for comprehensive immigration reform.
“Today’s rally is an example of people taking responsibility for their own futures, and while this has not been easy, it is both necessary and commendable”, he said.
He spoke of plans for information provision that would be necessary in the future:
“One flaw of the immigration reform of the 1980s was a lack of clear communication of rights and this was coupled with the propagation of misinformation. Partly – perhaps due to living on the fringes of society – many were uncertain, nervous and were consequently afraid to come forward. Many immigrants did not fully understand what was available to them. However, on this occasion we will provide information to those in need so that they can make informed decisions. What must be avoided are ‘enticements’ and other so called ‘quick-fix’ solutions which will be advertised by some unscrupulous people whose motive is profit and whose style is to prey on the vulnerable. We are presently upgrading our Irish Apostolate website to enable browsers to access the legislative changes, if and when they happen, as they become available online.””Yesterday, members of our Apostolate met with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network to discuss the implementation of whatever legislation is put in place. Despite the uncertainty, we have to live with the expectation that legislative change will happen and, please God, a pathway of hope will open up.”
See more of Fr Hilliard’s comments on the Independent Catholic News website.
ILIR sponsors DC rally, lobbying
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Thousands of people marched on Washington yesterday in support of legislation that would benefit the undocumented Irish in the US, along with their 11 million counterparts of all nationalities. The ILIR gathered 2,500 supporters, mainly Irish undocumented from all over the US, to lobby members of Congress on Capital Hill and attend a rally. Democratic Senators Hilary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, and Chuck Schumer were among those who addressed the crowds.
Senator Kennedy, along with Republican Senator John McCain, will introduce legislation that includes a path to legalisation to benefit most of the nation’s undocumented immigrants. He told the rally, “This is basically an issue of defining our humanity, how we treat each other. I can’t wait for this battle”.
The Irish Echo has reported that the introduction of the bill may coincide with next week’s St Patrick’s Day activities. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will visit Washington next week for the annual shamrock presentation to the US president; Mr Ahern will also be lobbying on behalf of Irish immigrants.
For more information, see the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform website.
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