“Irish in Britain” event debates diaspora role
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I did up this report for the Irish Emigrant newsletter at Emigrant.ie –
UCD’s John Hume Institute brought its third annual Irish Diaspora Forum to London this week, bringing together politicians, historians, writers, business executives and others from the Irish community. UCD president Hugh Brady joked that the “Irish in Britain” event allowed London to become “Connemara East” for the day. He called the forum series “a rolling conversation exploring the nature of the relationship between Ireland and Irish people and people who identify with Ireland.” The first two forums, which were co-organised by Irish America magazine and The Ireland Funds along with UCD, were held in 2007 in New York and in 2008 in Dublin.
The speakers at this year’s event, which drew about 100 people, included academics Mary Daly, Diarmaid Ferriter, Declan Kiberd, Mary Hickman and Cormac O’Grada; writer Frank McGuinness; Olympian John Treacy; legendary sports broadcaster Micheal O Muircheartaigh; former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald, and many more. The panel sessions explored three themes: the Irish Diaspora as agents of political change, Diaspora as creative impulse, and cultural branding in the Diaspora. The final session asked the question “What does the future hold for Ireland and its Diaspora?” It was a day of lively debate, with contrasting views of the Diaspora and the future role of emigrants emerging.
One of the highlights was the awarding of the UCD John Hume Medal to former president Mary Robinson. While the award recognised the work Ms Robinson had done on raising the profile of the Irish abroad during her presidency in the 1990s, she made it clear that there were many in Ireland who had not appreciated the importance of the diaspora at the time. She described the response in the Oireachtas as she gave her ground-breaking speech, “Cherishing the Diaspora”: “it was going down like a lead balloon… there was no doubt in my mind that members of the Oireachtas did not want to hear [about the diaspora]”. She said she left the speech, deeply depressed, but then “messages started to come in from all over the world,” and Ms Robinson realised her speech had meant a great deal to the Irish abroad. Ted Kennedy even entered the speech into the US Congressional record. The contrast between the response of the Irish in Ireland and the global Irish response “reinforced my sense that we underestimated our diaspora”, she said.
Much has changed since then, and the Irish Diaspora, of course, is enjoying a high profile in Ireland these days; the recent Farmleigh Conference in particular has raised questions about what role the Irish Diaspora might play in Ireland’s future and its economic development. But the crisis that served as the impetus for this new outreach to the Diaspora has also sparked a renewed uptick in emigration by the young unemployed. It was this dual reality that was at the heart of one of the differences that emerged in the day: whether the dominant image of the Irish worldwide was more accurately portrayed as that of a global professional, entrepreneurial class or that of a sometimes vulnerable, potentially marginalized, migratory workforce at the mercy of the global economy.
Most of the attendees and speakers were at the professional end of the spectrum: this was an event that was pitched at UCD alumni living in London, and with a 55-euro fee and a setting in the Royal Society, the event would probably have seemed inaccessible to less affluent members of the Irish community.
It was a consideration of the most vulnerable Irish emigrants, however, that provoked the most passionate contribution of the day, from writer Frank McGuinness. He discussed Children of the Dead End, the classic emigration novel written by Patrick MacGill, describing MacGill as “one man who spoke out to give voice to the voiceless”. McGuinness outlined MacGill’s depiction of the Irish dispossessed, who had been failed by their families and their society: “their bodies are their own only insofar as they can be rented out for other’s benefits”, and their “contact with home would eventually be reduced to letters that said ‘Send money home’.”
McGuinness said, “May we be forgiven for what we did – and continue to do – to our poorest”. Adding that the vast majority of the new class of emigrants are construction workers who left school young, he suggested that he would “give everyone emigrating a copy of this book”. It would serve as a warning: “You’re up for a fight – and be prepared for it.”
One contributor, former Esat Digiphone CEO Barry Moloney, bridged the gap between the two visions of the diaspora when he envisioned that global Irish professionals had a role to play in preventing emigration in the future. Describing the diaspora as “the single most important thing that can help” in developing Ireland’s economy in the future, he said, “I take that responsibility very seriously”. He said that in forums such as this and the Farmleigh conference, economic strategising by the diaspora was “the number one agenda item if we’re going to help so our kids don’t have to go abroad again.”
The issue of emigrant voting arose during several of the speaker’s contributions. Diarmaid Ferriter was the first to bring it up, noting how Polish politicians had courted the vote of the Poles living in Ireland. He asked, “Would the Irish political situation have been different had the Irish of the 1950s had the vote?”
Mary Hickman noted that the issue of emigrant voting rights was “more taboo” than in the past, even though 115 nations allow emigrant voting rights. She also suggested that the diaspora, Northern Ireland and new immigrants presented a three-prong challenge to Ireland, noting that despite the reform of Article Two of the Constitution, “the national territory and its governance remain ring-fenced”.
This issue provoked the most heated discussion of the day, as former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald suggested that the American Revolution’s famous rallying cry for democracy, “No taxation without representation” needed to be inverted in an Irish context into “No representation without taxation”. He also expressed fears about the candidates that the Irish in America, in particular, might vote for.
Dermot Gallagher, the former secretary-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, also voiced opposition to the idea of emigrant voting, citing a potential example of a woman in California with one Irish grandparent being eligible to vote (although Mary Hickman had explicitly stated that she was not proposing voting rights for second or later generations). Mr Gallagher did welcome an exploration of the idea of political participation by emigrants through representation in the Seanad, however. Judging from the emotional response to the debate, the role of emigrants in Ireland’s political structures in the future is an issue likely to arise in the future.
Mary Robinson, in one of the closing comments of the conference noted that the Irish diaspora doesn’t just want a connection with Ireland; there is “a notion of being able to reimagine Ireland because we’re making more of a link�. She pointed to the diaspora’s ability to bring greater understanding of our history, to act as a bridge on climate change, and to unite to create huge numbers of jobs as potential benefits of making and remaking connections within the diaspora.
Related web pages:
- UCD’s John Hume Institute – Global Forum page
- Irish Post.co.uk: Co-existence is the way forward
- Irishtimes.com: We must learn from diaspora, says Robinson
Irish diaspora strategist advises Armenia
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Maynooth-based geography professor Rob Kitchin, the Director of the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis, has been advising Armenian authorities on how they could best engage the diaspora. Kitchin is the co-author of several significant reports on Irish diaspora strategy.
Kitchin told a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Armenian National Competitiveness Fund that creating business networks with the diaspora will allow them to harness the economic power of the diaspora. He suggested the development of networks in technology, financial services, health and tourism.
Ireland has 60 networks over the world with 30,000 members, experienced in dealing with a variety of national governments and in different economic sectors. Â Kitchen suggested that Armenia implement a number of pilot projects, and recommended in particular that it follow the experience of such nations as Scotland and New Zealand. He added that Armenia should develop an elite network that would drive other development projects and create funds for investment.
Related web page:
Armenian News Network – Armenia needs to develop business networks with its diaspora: Rob Kitchin
Irish gems of early cinema showcased in Boston
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009The Boston Irish Film Festival looks like it’s up to great stuff these days. The website is out of action at the festival rebrands, but this month moviegoers are being treated to a look back at the earliest days of Irish cinematic history.
“Blazing the Trail: The Story of the Kalem Film Company in Ireland” is being billed as
a unique multimedia event that takes you back to the early 1910s when pioneering screenwriter/actress Gene Gauntier and director Sidney Olcott of the Kalem Film Company blazed a trail from New York to Killarney-and into history!
Affectionately known as the “O’Kalems,” Gauntier, Olcott, and their crew became the first American filmmakers to shoot overseas and the first to produce films that reflected the realities of the Irish experience. A sentimental mix of rebel dramas, folk romances, and tales of exile and emigration, their films proved tremendously popular with the Irish in America and helped ease the pangs of being so far from home.
I love the idea that these films were made in part to assuage the pangs of homesickness in an immigrant audience. How thrilling – and heartbreaking – it must have been to be able to see Ireland on screen in the earliest days of cinema, thinking that the black-and-white images might be the  closest thing to home you might ever see again.
The programme will consist of a number of these short films, all digitally restored. The original films – some of which haven’t been screened in a century – will be accompanied by a pianist and two vocalists; there will also be a series of recently produced short films recounting the adventures of the Kalem film-makers.
Watch this quirky little preview:
The Boston Film Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary a year ago. Organisations like this (and the New York-based Irish-American Writers and Artists, for example) are a great reminder of the appetite for intelligent contributions on Irish-American heritage, and how much vitality there is on the Irish-American cultural scene; this  vitality is far too  often underestimated here in Ireland, where many people cling to inaccurate and outdated stereotypes of our diaspora.
The event is sponsored by Reel Ireland, the Arts Council, and Culture Ireland. In recent years, there has been an increase in funding available from Ireland for Irish cultural events taking place outside of Ireland – this will surely have a great impact in strengthening the relationship between arts communities abroad and in Ireland, and also with deepening the understanding between Ireland and its diaspora communities.
The programme will be screened on Monday, November 23 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, Harvard Street in Brookline; tickets cost $9.75.
If you’re not near Boston, you can watch (most of) “The Lad from Old Ireland” on YouTube (I think it’s from a German print, so it’s complete with a little bit of German text). Directed by Sydney Olcott and released in 1910, it’s the first American film shot on location outside the US. Eleven highly entertaining minutes of melodrama!  Part 1 and Part 2.
Related web pages:
- Boston Irish Film Festival on Facebook
- Boston Irish Film Festival website
- IrishEmigrant.com – Blazing the Trail: the incredible story of early film in Ireland
Political participation by the Irish abroad – Irish Times
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Paul Gillespie has an article in today’s Irish Times calling for the formation of an organisation that would act as a representative body for the 70 million Irish abroad.
He mentions this website as a source for more information on global emigrant voting rights — here are some links to more of what I’ve written on the topic:
- Factsheet on emigrant voting
- Expat Voting, Global Style
- Letter to the Irish Times on emigrant voting rights
I’ve also got a factsheet on diaspora strategy, although it’s in need of some updating.
I have long had an interest in the diaspora strategies of other European nations, and I’m the Irish representative and vice-president of Europeans Throughout the World, a body comprised of the expat representative associations of the nations of Europe.
Here are some posts highlighting their activities:
- European group calls for EU Commissioner for European expats
- ETTW issues response to Paris declaration
- Proposals on European emigrants passed at Paris meeting
Donegal publishes latest for global community
Friday, November 13th, 2009Donegal County Council has published the latest edition of its wonderful newsletter, “Donegal – Community in touch”.
As usual, lots of great stuff! Included are reports on:
- The launch of “The Fid”, the Moville Emigrant Monument, commemorating the thousands of Irish who went to New Brunswick, as well as a schools programme linking schoolchildren in Moville and New Brunswick
- The MacGill summer school and a related publication
- The Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and the School of Tourism at Letterkenny Institute of Technology
- the first-ever reunion of Falcarragh people from home and abroad
- a new social organisation called Go Irish Boston, comprised of Irish and Irish-American people
- the launch of Fado, a memoir by Irish-American musician Kevin O’Donnel, the child of Donegal immigrants.
There is much more here – it’s a great collection of news and resources that will be of interest to Donegal people at home and abroad. If only more counties would produce such resources – this is a model that would be very useful throughout Ireland.
Read the publication online on the Donegal County Council website.
US diversity visa program – apply by Nov 30
Friday, November 13th, 2009There are just over two weeks left to apply for the annual diversity visa lottery, which gives winners a green card to move permanently to the US.
The Diversity Visa Programme gives out 50,000 US visas to the winners among the 6 million or so global applicants who apply every year. Country eligibility is determined by the rate of immigration from those countries in the recent past. People born in Ireland or Northern Ireland are eligible to apply; those born in Britain are not.  There are usually fewer than 200 Irish winners every year, because there is so much competition from around the world.
Those applying must also meet an educational or work experience requirement. Applicants must have either:
- a high school or equivalent education (12 years of elementary and secondary education
- two years of work experience in the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.
Undocumented immigrants currently living in the US are not eligible for the visa, and should not apply.
The registration period began on October 2 and will continue until 5 pm Irish time on Monday, 30 November, 2009. Those planning on applying should apply right away, as high traffic affected the site’s availability in the closing days of last year’s application programme.
The ONLY way to enter the DV-211 lottery is to submit the Electronic Diversity Visa Entry form online at www.dvlottery.state.gov. There is no entry fee.
There are many fraudulent sites charging a fee and claiming to increase an applicant’s chance of winning. DO NOT pay a fee to any such site.
The Crosscare Migrant Project has produced a comprehensive guide to the Diversity Visa programme.
Related websites:
- CrosscareMigrantProject.ie: DV-2011 Information Leaflet
- Official US government application site: www.dvlottery.state.gov/