Tech company targets diaspora with iPhone apps
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Ireland’s first mobile phone application company has found that a global focus with a diaspora slant has helped it achieve sales.
Mercury Girl Inc has developed several Irish-diaspora oriented products for the iPhone. Their iPub application automatically locates the nearest Irish pub anywhere in the world. The application has over 3,500 pubs registered, ‘from Mullingar to Miami, from Boston to Bangcock”.
Additionally, the company also offers free applications that allow the user to listen to TodayFM and Newstalk wherever they are in the world. The company says this is a highly popular service. “We’ve been giving those away for free, but they’ve been doing around 2,500 downloads a day worldwide, which gives some idea of the size of the Irish diaspora”, said entrepreneur Tim Duggan. “We’ve had downloads in Vietnam, in South America and even in Greenland.”
The company has been approached by an Australian radio group interested in using the technology for their own services.
Related web pages:
Journalist tired of “teary goodbyes”
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009A journalist has written of growing weary of attending emigrant wakes, in an article in which she describes going to three ‘teary goodbyes’. She has attended the three goodbye parties as two of her friends leave for New Zealand and a third goes off to Australia.
‘Will I fit into your suitcase?” I whisper into the long-suffering ear of my close friend. She, like so many others, has made the decision to leave behind the rotten Irish economy that has failed her, and travel to far-away lands to make her millions. In this case, the far-away land is Australia, and tonight is the night to commemorate her departure with dancing and laughing and beer. Except, this is the third going-away party I have attended in just as many weeks and a person grows weary of teary goodbyes.
Such a night-time celebration, and a feeling of loss by the people who are left behind, is nothing new in Irish history. The ‘goodbye’ party is an echo of the ‘American wake’, to which the generations before us were accustomed.
Read the story:
Another ’emigrant wake’ and I’m weary of teary goodbyes
Scotland’s Homecoming reaches peak with Gathering, Diaspora Forum
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Scotland will welcome 8,000 members of its diaspora later this month for “The Gathering”, the highlight of its Homecoming Scotland year. In Edinburgh on the weekend of July 23-25, there will be a gathering of 130 clans, a Highland Games festival, and a spectacular clan pageant called “Aisling’s Children”.
The Scotsman newspaper reports that cynics may scoff, but cites the rewards of Ireland’s cultivation of its diasporic links:
For political and business leaders who want to see the country thrive, the bond between Scotland and its diaspora is not just culturally significant. As Ireland has demonstrated, properly fostered, the emotional ties could reap dividends for all involved. Over the last decade or so, the Irish government has explored ways in which the country can tap into the economic, intellectual and social bounty of its ex-pat community. One particularly successful initiative is the Irish Technology Leadership Group, which is comprised of Irish and Irish-Americans in senior positions in Silicon Valley willing to invest in Irish companies.
There will also be a debate at the Scottish Diaspora Forum, open to the public, which will feature Scottish politicians, journalists, academics, and business people discussing the role of the diaspora in Scotland’s future. There will be a panel debate on whether the Scottish diaspora has a critical role to play in any potential new Scottish enlightenment. There will also be a “Dragon’s Glen” event, where several pitchers try to sell a panel ideas which would bring Scotland’s resident population of five million people together with its diaspora of 40 million people.
- Scotsman.com – Homeward Bound: Scotland’s diaspora heads to Edinburgh for the highpoint of the Homecoming celebrations this month
- Scottish Diaspora Forum
- Homecoming Scotland
- Irish Technology Leadership Group
- The Scottish Diaspora and Diaspora Strategy: Insights and Lessons from Ireland
Edited to add:
Australasian Irish Studies Conference: Massey University, NZ; 9-12 July 2009
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009Ireland and the Irish Antipodes: One World or Worlds Apart?
The Irish Studies Associaton of Australian and New Zealand will host its conference from the 9th to 12th of July at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Organisers say:
Australia and New Zealand were essentially secondary destinations for the post-1800 waves of Irish leaving to make new lives overseas, accounting for no more than 10 per cent in most decades. Yet the two countries have regularly been identified by scholars as appropriate ‘laboratories’ for studying the nature and impacts of Irish migration over time. This conference seeks to review research undertaken both at the points of origin and destination and to pose new questions. Were the Irish communities that took root in the Antipodes essentially transplanted fragments of the homeland? How did they evolve, and to what extent was their evolution influenced by developments at home? Were there noticeable differences between the Australian and New Zealand Irish experiences, and if so how may these best be explained? What is the relationship today between Ireland and its most far-flung diasporic communities?
With seven keynote speakers providing contextual signposts, the topics to be addressed over three days will be diverse. Historical themes range from aspects of early convict transportation to Australia, through Irish-Maori relations in New Zealand, to late twentieth century economic interactions. Cultural life will also be a focus, Irish literature, theatre and music – both traditional and contemporary – being scheduled for discussion. A particular consideration will be how the Antipodean Irish are being depicted in historical reconstructions and displays. Necessarily, many of the contributions will reflect collective experiences, but provision has also been made for papers on those of individuals and families. The utility of oral history for recording the experiences of more recent arrivals will also be assessed.
Newspaper makes dubious assertion that emigration is good for business
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009The Sunday Business Post is claiming that an uptick in emigration is good business for at least one Irish company. In an article headlined, “Immigration is good for Fonepool”, the paper states, “The Increasing number of people opting to move abroad has provided an unexpected boost to a small Irish firm that sells mobile phones for the US, Canada and Australia”.
Fonepool began trading in 2003, selling prepaid US phones to J1 students travelling from Ireland to the US. While the company has had remarkable growth, going from 1,000 new phone lines in its first year of business to 12,000 this year, the article doesn’t offer any reason to believe that the customers are emigrants rather than holiday-makers or people travelling on business. It also mentions that the company has customers in 85 countries and has an aggressive expansion programme that includes an office in Ecuador with plans for one in Colombia.
At the same time, it reinforces the popular impression that emigration rates are rising significantly; while anecdotes like this are interesting, they aren’t grounded in any evidence. We’ll have to wait until the CSO’s annual statistics on emigration are released next month to know for certain the extent of the rise in emigration.
Related web pages:
Taoiseach discusses US-Irish relations, immigration reform, North, economy with US delegation
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009The Taoiseach held talks yesterday with the visiting US Congressional delegation led by Richie Neal, Chair of the Friends of Ireland.
Also on the delegation are:
- Rep Tim Murphy, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Donald Payne, from New Jersey
- Rep Luis Gutierrez, from Illinois
- Rep Mike Doyle, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Tim Holden, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Nydia Velazquez, from NYC
The Taoiseach’s press office said in a press release:
The Taoiseach reiterated the priority he has placed on Ireland’s relationship with the United States and looked forward to the further development of that relationship with the implementation of the recommendations of Strategic Review of Ireland-US Relations which he launched on his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US. He stressed the importance of human interaction across the Atlantic and the need to develop all opportunities to enable Irish and US citizens to visit, work and study in each others countries.
There was also a lengthy discussion of the prospects for immigration reform in the US and its implications for Irish citizens, including the Irish undocumented community (Reps. Gutierrez and Velazquez have been very active in the campaign for immigration reform and recently attended a bipartisan meeting with President Obama on the topic – see http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Working-Together-for-Immigration-Reform/ ).
The Taoiseach briefed the delegation on recent progress in Northern Ireland. He particularly welcomed the announcements of loyalist decommissioning. There was a discussion on how the US can continue to make a contribution to the peace process, including by assisting with economic development and as a strong example of how a varied, multicultural society can integrate and work together for the greater good.
There was also a discussion on the economic situation. The delegation updated the Taoiseach on the economic reform programme in the US, including tax refrom, while the Taoiseach responded by emphasising the Government’s strong commitment to supporting US businesses in Ireland and the transatlantic trading relationship.
See the press release on the Taoiseach’s website.
« Previous Entries Next Entries »