Government initiates US-Irish strategic review
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008The Irish government has announced the details for its strategic review of the relationship between Ireland and the US. The plan was announced this week by Ambassador Michael Collins in New York.
Taoiseach Brian Cowan first indicated that there would be such a review during his first visit as Taoiseach in July. At the time he told his US audience that Ambassador Michael Collins would “seek out your ideas, your views as to how Ireland and America can continue to partner, can continue to work together, can continue to share the values that have made that kinship real for this generation, as it was in the past.”
This week, Ambassador Collins said,
“Relations between our two countries and peoples have never been better. The review will map out how relations can be further developed in this era of peace and economic development.
I am looking forward to receiving considered contributions from across the United States from organisations and individuals by the end of October 2008.”
The embassy is accepting contributions through the end of October through email at washingtonembassy@dfa.ie, or by post to:
Strategic Review
Embassy of Ireland
2234 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008-2849.
For more information:
Down Under Expo: RDS, Dublin 27-28 Sept
Friday, September 12th, 2008The RDS is hosting the Down Under Expo on September 27 and 28th. It’s the fourth annual running of the event, but this year it’s been expanded to include new locations: not only Australia and New Zealand, but also Canada, the Middle East and Europe.
The event is a commercial one, and is being run by the SGMC Group, an exhibition promoter.
Exhibitors include recruitment companies, relocation specialists, several Australian government bodies, visa agencies. The recruitment companies are heavily focused on construction and healthcare, but also feature banking and finance, engineering, mechanics, trades, hospitality and mining.
The list of companies is remarkable: there are a large number of commercial companies, based in Ireland and in destination countries, that are involved in recruitment and relocation.
The weekend also features a number of seminars focusing on Australia and New Zealand, covering topics such as visas and trades recognition.
The exhibition costs 10 euro for admission.
FIS publishes guide to elders’ lunch clubs
Friday, September 12th, 2008The Federation of Irish Societies in Britain has published the “FIS Guide to Setting Up an Elders’ Lunch Club”. It looks like a great resource for groups interested in enhancing the lives of elders. The handbook notes the benefits of a lunch club are extensive:
A lunch club, not only allows organisations to improve their relations with elders but also provides an excellent social networking opportunity (for some elders, isolation is a stark reality within their lives) as well as offering an access point for various community services, i.e. Health, Benefits, etc.
It’s a really comprehensive guide, covering organisational issues, finding premises, training volunteers and staff, nutrition and menus, promotion, record keeping, finances, and suggested meals.
See the Guide on the FIS website.
Literature of Irish Exile: Ulster-American Folk Park, 18 October 2008
Thursday, September 11th, 2008The Ninth Literature of Irish Exile
Autumn School
Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster-American Folk Park, Omagh
Saturday, 18 October 2008
The focus of the Literature of Irish Exile Autumn School, now in its ninth year, remains on how emigrants from Ireland have given expression in words to feelings of exile. Part of the programme will take place in the stimulating setting of the Outdoor Museum of the Ulster-American Folk Park. The rest will be in the warmth of the library of the Centre for Migration Studies. The aim is to give members of the public a friendly opportunity to meet and mix with experts on some of the less well-known aspects of ‘exile’ in Irish literature.
Speakers
Karen Corrigan is Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Newcastle University. She has been researching the interaction between Irish, English and Early Modern varieties of English/Scots in Ireland. Additionally, she has been engaged in exploring the interrelationship between language and migration to the United States during the post-famine period in Ireland.
Her new research project, which is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, focuses on Northern Irish English (NIrE). Like Welsh English and Highland English in Scotland, it was initially learned as a second language. Professor Corrigan’s talk will demonstrate that this scenario arose from the region’s colonization by speakers of English/Scots dialects, beginning in the Middle Ages & reaching a peak during what is termed ‘The Plantation Period’ of Irish history.
If you are interested in learning more about the migration of language and why the peoples of Northern Ireland speak the way they do, Professor Corrigan’s lecture is for you.
Read more about Professor Corrigan.
Patrick Fitzgerald is Lecturer and Development Officer at the Centre for Migration Studies and Brian Lambkin is Director of the Centre for Migration Studies. Their presentations in the afternoon session are designed to introduce the two sections of illustrations in Migration in Irish History, 1607-2007 (Palgrave Macmillan) due to be published in October 2008.
Visit the Centre for Migration Studies’ website.
More families emigrating, say Australian visa companies
Monday, September 8th, 2008Young families are emigrating at an increasing rate, claims an article in the Irish Independent. While it cites no official statistics to back up this claim, companies specialising in immigration assistance say they are seeing more families making the move.
Immigration consultant Nathan Brennan says most of his clients are in their 30s and have families:
“There has been a tendency for the Irish to travel for a year or two to places such as Australia and New Zealand, and of course there is a big history of the Irish settling permanently in America. But the vast majority of people we see – over 80pc – are people aged 30 to 40 with a family. They are looking for a complete change of life and career.â€?
Liz O’Hagan, similarly, says that people are moving with children:
“People are telling us that they have lost their jobs here, are going to be made redundant and have been given two months’ notice or that their partner has lost their job. People are also worried about their children’s future. These are real families looking to move because of the economic environment in Ireland.
“People who contacted us in 2003 or 2004 with the idea of moving to Australia are coming back to us saying they now want to go ahead”.
There is no way to judge whether those who visit such immigration consultants, who charge for their services, are representative of those interested in migrating to Australia. It is probably safe to assume that those contracting immigration consultants would be among the more financially well-off. The report notes expanding opportunities for tradespeople and professionals in Australia. In an accompanying article, the newspaper profiles a family who has left Dublin for Brisbane, Australia to raise their young family. Read the articles on the Irish Independent website:
- Young families emigrate as brain drain grips economy
- “We love being outdoors and feel it’s a better life”
Obama and McCain’s Irish stances: Irish Times features debate
Monday, September 8th, 2008The Irish Times today has a “Head to Head� feature on whether an Obama presidency would be best for Ireland, with opposing opinions written by Democrats Abroad president Kate Fitzgerald and national co-chair of the Irish-American Republicans (and former Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform president) Grant Lally.
One point the two articles do not highlight: the contrasting immigration policies of the parties. Immigration continues to be a powerful issue in US politics, and it appears that the subject has become even more polarised in this campaign.Â
The 2008 Democratic Party platform supports comprehensive immigration reform. The platform says:
We need comprehensive immigration reform, not just piecemeal efforts. We must work together to pass immigration reform in a way that unites this country, not in a way that divides us by playing on our worst instincts and fears. We are committed to pursuing tough, practical and humane immigration reform in the first year of the next administration.
The platform is specific about the steps that should be taken to reform the current situation:
For the millions living here illegally but otherwise playing by the rules, we must require them to come out of the shadows and get right with the law. We support a system that requires undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, pay taxes, learn English and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens. They are our neighbors and we can help them become full tax-paying, law-abiding, productive members of society.
This stance is similar to what immigration advocates in the US have been calling for: a chance to regularise the status of the estimated twelve million undocumented, including an estimated 50,000 Irish.
The Republican Party platform does not support a path to legalisation for the undocumented, although before his presidential candidacy, Senator McCain had strongly supported and even sponsored legislation that would have have provided for this.
The platform expresses support for a reversal of immigration through stronger enforcement of existing legislation:
Our determination to uphold the rule of law begins with more effective enforcement, giving our agents that tools and resources they need to protect our sovereignty, completing the border fence quickly and securing the borders, and employing complementary strategies to secure our ports of entry. Experience shows that enforcement of existing laws is effective in reducing and reversing illegal immigration.
It rejects comprehensive immigration reform that would be aimed at regularising the status of the undocumented:
We oppose amnesty. The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity. The American people’s rejection of en masse legalisations is especially appropriate given the federal government’s past failures to enforce the law.
See the two platforms:
See the Irish Times feature: Head 2 Head: Would an Obama presidency be best for Ireland?