Sport journalist calls for recognition of rugby diaspora
Thursday, May 8th, 2008A sportswriter in the Irish Independent has written an interesting article on how Ireland should welcome home our sporting diaspora from Britain. Billy Keane takes the London Irish rugby club as the starting point for his article, “Exile odyssey highlights need to welcome back all those in our extended green family”. He extends his concerns, however, to other sportspeople as well.
He notes that many of the London Irish rugby players with Irish names have gone on to play for England. He says it was a mistake that the Irish national team’s strategy in the past was to recruit mostly from Ireland. He says:
The London Irish kids have spent holidays back home and believe me the Irish in England are as Irish as any of us. And more so because their limited access to our culture makes the yearning and respect all the greater.
And before we move on let us praise the GAA, who do a marvellous job in nurturing and networking our emigrants and their offspring.
London Irish is the ideal medium for the second generation who choose England as their home country to express their Irishness. It’s a form of compromise. We would prefer if they declared for us.
Keane notes that “history and county of origin have developed different forms of Irishness”, and describes the warm welcome he received in Glasgow the day Celtic won the 2000 Scottish title.
He concludes:
So let us follow on from President Robinson and light a candle tonight and every night for all of our people, whatever the jersey’s colour.
Read the whole article on the Irish Independent’s website.
Member’s Query: Exemption from Irish
Thursday, May 8th, 2008We’ve had a query from one of our member groups regarding the exemption from the Irish language. This is an issue that may affect those who are returning to Ireland with school-aged children.
The Department of Education has a document outlining who may be exempted and the procedure for granting an exemption. The part that is applicable to returning emigrant children is as follows:
“ Pupils in the following circumstances may be allowed to substitute any other subject from the list of approved subjects for Irish for the purpose of Rule 21 (1) (a) and (b):-
(a) Pupils whose primary education up to 11 years of age was received in Northern Ireland or outside Ireland;
(b) Pupils who were previously enrolled as recognised pupils in a primary or second-level school who are being re-enrolled after a period spent abroad, provided that at least three years have elapsed since the previous enrolment in the State and the pupil is at least 11 years of age on re-enrolment;
The document gives the procedure for getting an exemption as well, which begins with a parent or guardian submitting a written application to the principal.
The document does note, however, that “[t]he second-level programme in Irish both current and planned has the capacity to cater for a wide diversity of ability”, so it seems to encourage parents to consider whether studying Irish may be suitable for their children.
See the Department of Education’s document on exemption from Irish.
On a related note, NY-born comedian Des Bishop, recently impressed TV viewers with his attempts to learn Irish for his RTE TV programme, “In the Name of the Fada”. Des came over to Ireland from NY as a teenager and has been making a name for himself as a keen observer of Irish life. He is now touring Ireland with a comedy show in Irish called “Teanga”.
See more about “In the Name of the Fada” and watch the show on the RTE website.
Study prompts call for global recommendations on use of autopsies
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008The Irish Independent is reporting that an upcoming study in the Irish Medical Journal will be the first examining the causes of Irish nationals abroad. The study looked at the cases of 20 people who died abroad and were repatriated to Ireland between 1998 and 2004.
The news report contains the rather sensationalist claim that “many people believed to have died accidentally abroad may actually have been murdered because their cause of death has not been recorded properly.” More than half had no cause of death recorded.
The State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy, has called for global recommendations on the use of autopsies. The newspaper quotes her as saying:
“When someone dies abroad, we have no control over what happens and often we just don’t know what we are dealing with. You either do a complete autopsy or you don’t. Coroners in Ireland are now very active in ensuring that repatriated bodies are subject to a full examination, but we are concerned that some homicides may be slipping through the net because of flawed autopsies or none at all. “
All bodies arriving in Dublin airport are automatically sent to the State Pathologist for examination. Domestic coroners, however, are not required to investigate the deaths of Irish citizens abroad.
In related news, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said that the number of Irish travellers dying abroad is increasing. Sixty people travelling abroad died in the first three months of this year. One-third of these deaths were in Spain, seven in the US, and five in Thailand. There were others in Italy, Ghana, Fiji, Argentina, Laos, China and the Middle East.
Minister Ahern said drugs and alcohol were a big factor in the deaths. He is predicting that if trends continue, there will be three hundred deaths this year, as opposed to 130 for all of last year.
Read the full articles:
Organs taken without consent from Irish who died abroad.
Minister warns of big rise in holiday deaths.
Emigrant chaplains featured on TG4
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008A four-part documentary is telling the stories of emigrant chaplains in Britain and the US. Séiplinigh na nImirceach, being aired on TG4 throughout May, tells the story of four members of the Emigrant Chaplaincy Scheme, which was set up in 1957 to serve emigrants in the US and Britain.
One of those interviewed is Ean board member Sr Attracta Heneghan, who worked with the Irish in Huddersfield. Also featured is Fr Michael Leonard, who works in Chicago.
See the information at the bottom to watch the programmes online.
The filmmakers say:
As Chaplains they were there to provide pastoral care to the emigrants but more often found themselves much more deeply involved in the lives of the emigrants than they could possibly have imagined. For many emigrants the Chaplain was seen as a first port of call, to sort accommodation, and employment and to deal with the difficulties many young Irish found themselves in in a strange land. In recent years, we have become very aware of our ‘Diaspora’ and their role in the development of today’s Ireland. In this series, the Chaplains have the opportunity to tell their own side of the emigration story. We also hear from the emigrants themselves, those who have stayed abroad and those who returned.
The programme also looks at parallels with new immigrant communities in Ireland.
The programme airs on Sunday nights at 9:30 throughout May. Here are the outlines for the individual programmes:
Programme 1 An taithà I Londain Sunday May 4th
Fr Tom Looney is currently Parish Priest of the Gaeltacht community of Dingle. As a young priest he was sent to London to work as an Emigrant Chaplain. Through his experiences we introduce the work of the Emigrant Chaplains and the importance of their role. We also draw parallels between his work London with Irish emigrants and the contemporary situation in Dingle for the new immigrant communities.
Programme 2 An taithà i Huddersfield – Sunday May 11th
The second programme in our series looks at the particular experiences of those who emigrated to Huddersfield in the North of England. Huddersfield always had a particular draw for emigrants from Connemara, and in recent years, Sr Attracta Heneghan worked with the older Irish emigrants who have settled there. Now back in Ireland, Attracta meets with Sr Marilyn, a Nigerian Nun who has come to Ireland to provide pastoral support for African immigrants who are settling here.
Programme 3 An taithà i Sasana – Sunday May 18th
Fr Gearoid Ó Griofa reflects on his work as an emigrant chaplain with particular responsibility for emigrants in London from Gaeltacht areas in the 1980’s. We examine how today’s chaplains in London are working with the elderly and often lonely Irish emigrants, the same generation which the original chaplains were sent to help 50 years ago. In his current role as PP in the suburbs of Galway Ó Griofa also comments on challenge of multicultural Ireland with examples of cooperation with local NGOs and foreign chaplains.
Programme 4 An taithà i Chicago – Sunday May 25th
Our fourth programme follows Fr Michael Leonard on his rounds in Chicago – a particularly Irish city. His brief is to work with newly arrived and undocumented Irish, but the old established Irish community (and their children) still welcome the connection with the Irish priest. We feature contributions from the older Irish-American community who had to leave Ireland and the newer generation who are in USA by choice.
Watch the programmes online! They are subtitled, in case your Irish is rusty. Here is how to find them:
- Go to www.tg4.tv.
- On the left, click on “Cláir Eile – Cartlann”
- Scroll down until you see each of the four episodes of “Séiplinigh na nImirceach”.
Emigration prominent in Ahern’s speech to Congress
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008Bertie Ahern spoke movingly of the bond created by past generations of immigrants to the US in his historic speech to the joint session of the US Congress today. Ireland’s immigrant legacy in the US figured prominently in his speech, and he did not leave out a request for the US to resolve the plight of the Irish undocumented – a request that was applauded by his audience.
The Taoiseach said:
Whenever we have asked for help, America has always been there for us – a friend in good times and in bad.
From the very outset, Ireland gave to America presidents, patriots and productive citizens of a new nation.
Beginning with the Scots-Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries, they came from all corners of our island and from all creeds.
The Irish helped to build America.
The very bricks and stones in this unique building were quarried and carried by the hands of Irish immigrant labourers.
A sculptor of Scots-Irish Descent, Thomas Crawford, created the figure of Freedom, the statue later raised to the top of this famous dome here on Capitol Hill.
It reminds us all of the shared values of democracy and freedom which inspired both our journeys towards independence – the values that shine as a beacon of light and that stand strong as a city upon the hill among all the nations of the earth.
That statue also tells our Irish immigrant story – a story which is an indelible part of America’s own story of immigration, of struggle and of success.
The great waves of Irish immigration in the 19th century carried millions to your shores in flight from famine and despair. They carried little with them as they arrived on these shores, except a determination to work hard and to succeed.
In the words of the poet Eavan Boland, that eloquent voice of Ireland and America, they had
“ Their hardships parcelled in them.
Patience. Fortitude.
Long-suffering in the bruise-coloured dusk of the New World.
And all the old songs.
And nothing to lose. �To them, and the legions of others who came before and after, America was more than a destination.
It was a destiny.
We see that same spirit in the New Irish at home today – the many people from beyond our shores who are now making new lives in Ireland. They too had the courage to come to a foreign place, to find their way and to provide for themselves, for their children and, in many cases, for their families far away.
The New Ireland – once a place so many left – is now a place to which so many come. These newcomers to our society have enriched the texture of our land and of our lives.
We are working, as are you, to welcome those who contribute to our society as they lift up their own lives, while we also address the inevitable implications for our society, our culture, our community and our way of life.
So we are profoundly aware of those challenges as we ask you to consider the case of our undocumented Irish immigrant community in the United States today. Â We hope you will be able to find a solution to their plight that would enable them to regularise their status and open to them a path to permanent residency.
There is of course a wider issue for Congress to address. And it is your definitive right to address it in line with the interests of the American people.
I welcome the wise words of your President when he addressed you on the State of the Union earlier this year and said he hoped to find a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally, to resolve a complicated issue in a way that upholds both America’s laws and her highest ideals.
On this great issue of immigration to both our shores, let us resolve to make the fair and rational choices, the practical and decent decisions, so that in future people will look back and say:
They chose well.
They did what was right for their country.
The Taoiseach is the sixth Irish leader to address a joint sitting of the US Congress. Another prominent theme of his speech was the issue of peace in Northern Ireland; Mr Ahern thanked the US for its role in the peace process.
Irish-American publisher Niall O’Dowd welcomed the speech and said that it would be warmly welcomed by the Irish in America. He noted that work by the Irish government was continuing on the issue, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is in the US was conducting meetings on the issue.
He continues his US visit with a trip to Boston tomorrow, where he will deliver a speech at Harvard University.
See the entire text of the speech at the Emigrant.ie website
Emigrant citizenship and diaspora policy: publications roundup
Friday, April 25th, 2008The relationship between home countries and their diasporas is becoming increasingly the subject of research. A number of articles have been published recently exploring the nature of the relationship, and the way countries are responding to increasing globalisation and the changes that enhanced transport and communications technology have wrought in emigrant experience.
- World wide webs: Diasporas and the international system by
Dr Michael Fullilove, Lowy Institute. 2008.
A global look at increasing diaspora consciousness, with a focus on demographics, economics, politics, identity and security.
- Citizenship à la Carte by David Fitzgerald, UC San Diego. 2008
Posits that home countries and emigrants are increasingly negotiating a new form of citizenship, based on greater voluntarism, a greater emphasis on citizen rights over obligations, and the legitimacy of multiple affiliations. - States and their citizens abroad: The sequencing and viability of citizenship rights for emigrants by Sybil Rodes and Arus Harutyunyan, 2007.
- NYU Law Review: The Construction of Citizenship in an Emigration Context 2006
A special edition of the journal with a number of articles focusing on issues related to emigrant citizenship.
Council of Europe documents related to expats and diaspora
- Diaspora Cultures Report – Doc 10342 (2004)
- Diaspora Cultures Recommendations 1668 (2004)
- Links between Europeans living abroad and their countries of origin. Document 8339 (1999)
- Links between Europeans living abroad and their countries of origin Recommendation 1410: (1999).
Irish documents of interest
- Ireland and the Irish Abroad: Report of the Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants (2002)
- A study of the existing sources of information and analysis about Irish emigrants and Irish communities abroad (2002) Written by Bronwen Walter with Breda Gray, Linda Dowling Almeida, and Sarah Morgan, For the Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants
- Cherishing the Irish Diaspora A speech by President Mary Robinson to the Joint Houses of the Oireachtas, (1995)
International documents
- They still call Australia home: Inquiry into Australian Expatriates (2005)
A report published by the Australian Senate.
Includes: “Measures taken by other countries regarding their expatriates“. - Policies to encourage the return of emigrants (2006)
Recommendations from the Institute of Public Affairs to encourage return migration from Poland. - Democratic rights of European expatriates: Comparative Study Report on the electoral regimes in the country of origin for European expatriates and the Democratic representation of their interests, rights and obligations to the country of origin and to the European Parliament. (2004)
Produced by the European Confederation “The Europeans Throughout the World”.