Safe Home Programme publishes emigrant memories
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008The Safe Home Programme has published a collection of stories from returned emigrants called “Coming Home”. The subtitle reads: “A collection of stories from people who left Ireland as young men and women and, after many years in exile, closed the circle of emigration by coming home again.”
The book was launched at the Department of Foreign Affairs on October 22 by Minister for Foreign Affiars Micheal Martin. Most of the 36 contributors to the book were in attendance, as was actor Niall Toibin, who did a reading from the work at the launch.
The stories were compiled by Frances Browner, who had previously compiled the enormously successful “When Mem’ry Brings Us Back Again“, the stories of Irish emigrants in the New York area.
Minister Martin said at the launch,
The stories are poignant accounts of the stark choices young people had to make in the Ireland of the not too distant past. It is a story of mixed emotions, our emigrants speak of their fears, the sadness and the challenges they faced as they left their loved ones and their homes for life in a strange land.
The emigrants do not themselves speak of the courage it took to leave home at such a young age – but that bravery is evident to anyone who even just casually flicks through the individual stories which were compiled by author Frances Browner.
Frances has ensured that the stories are very much in the own words of the emigrants. By allowing us to share their experiences the men and women involved are ensuring an important chapter in our history is not forgotten.
Anyone who reads the book will be absolutely convinced of the policy of the Government to ensure Ireland continues its strong links with its communities abroad.
It is my firm hope that a new generation of Irish people at home and abroad will read this book and learn more about events which are very much part of our history, and what we are.
Order “Coming Home” from the Safe Home website.
Frank McCourt on his oceanic ties
Thursday, October 9th, 2008A gem of a quote from “Angela’s Ashes” author Frank McCourt, speaking at the Yakima Hall Town Hall lecture series in the US state of Washington this month. Referring to his status as a Limerick native living in New York, he said:
“I have this hyphen: Irish-American. The Atlantic Ocean is my hyphen.â€?
Read the article in the Yakima Herald.
Cayman Irish love sun, beaches – and GAA
Thursday, October 9th, 2008About 250 Irish people live in the Cayman Islands, according to a report on Cayman Net News.
The news service interviews several Irish natives, who report that the sun, the beaches and the relaxed lifestyle of the Carribean nation were major draws.
While several noted they miss familiar Irish favourites such as Tayto and a good Irish fry-up, there’s one thing they don’t miss: Gaelic football. There is an active GAA club, and they’ve been playing the sport on the island since 1987. A Gaelic football match is at the centre of the island’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations every year.
Dublin native Lisa McGinty, a marketing and PR executive, says it was her arrival in Cayman in 2007 that prompted her to take up the sport:she “started playing Gaelic football last April for the first time. I had to come all the way to the Caribbean to learn how to play the national sport of Ireland.”
Read “The Irish of Cayman” on Cayman Net News.
Visit the Cayman GAA Club website.
US opens Diversity Visa application period
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008The United States has opened the application period for diversity visas. The Diversity Visa lottery attracts over 5 million applicants every year for a total of 50,000 permanent visas to the US. Last year, Irish people won around 130 of these visas.
To apply, interested people should visit www.dvlottery.state.gov. This is the only official way to apply for the visa. There are many websites that claim to process applications for a fee. Do not pay any online ‘agency’ website for assistance with the visa – the US State Department does not charge for applying and there is no guarantee that these websites will complete the application.
The Coalition for Irish Immigration Centers in the US has issued this list of reminders and conditions for applying for the visa:
- Applications must be submitted electronically and will be accepted only until noon, Eastern Standard Time on December 1.
- No paper entries will be accepted
- Requirements for the photos have changed this year: only color photographs will now be accepted and the photo dimensions are now 600 pixels x 600 pixels.
- Applicants should submit early as heavy demand during the last week may result in delays on the website
- Fraudulent websites are plentiful; please note that there is no charge to submit an application on the official website
- Applicants should check with one of the Irish Centers regarding eligibility for the program and for assistance in completing the application
- This year a new feature will allow applicants to check the status of their application on line
- It is important to keep the confirmation number from their application receipt so that they can check on line after July 1 2009 to see if they have been selected.
- Those selected as winners will also be notified by regular mail to the address provided on the online application.
For assistance with these applications:
Remember, the only website to use to apply for the visa is the US State Department’s at www.dvlottery.state.gov.
Ireland-Newfoundland festival to go global
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008The organisers of a festival celebrating the links between southeast Ireland and Newfoundland will begin marketing their festival to the whole world as a way of celebrating the Irish diaspora.
The Festival of the Sea has been running since 2005, and is a joint project between organisers in Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny and in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Festival co-chair Calvin Manning told The Charter, a Canadian newspaper, that they will be marketing the 2009 festival to places as far away as New York and even Australia:
There are many people in the world that claim Irish ancestry and that is a big market – if we have an international caliber festival celebrating the Ireland-Newfoundland connection, celebrating the history of the Irish diaspora. Scholars claim that nowhere have they retained their Irish features better than in Newfoundland, whether it’s in the face, the name, the dialect, the culture, the music, songs. People who left Ireland and went to places like Australia and New York and Toronto, and assimilated into those places more than we did. The ones that came here kind of got nestled away. They retained their culture. It makes it a stronger link between Ireland and Newfoundland. They feel it and so do we. It blows people away.
See the article on the Charter website.
Related links:
- Festival of the Sea
- The Irish Loop – a tourism initiative in Newfoundland’s heavily Irish Avalon Peninsula.
- Ireland Newfoundland Partnership – promoting business, educational and cultural linkages between Ireland and Newfoundland.
Unemployment forecast to reach 11-year high
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Emigration will increase as the unemployment rate hits 8% next year, according to predictions by the Economic and Social Research Institute. The ESRI says there will be 180,000 people out of work in 2009, as the economy continues to shrink.
The organisation says that net emigration will reach 30,000 in 2009, as the number of people in employment falls by 14,000 this year and by 47,000 next year. This is compared to net inward migration of 72,000 two years ago.
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