Author Archive « Previous Entries Next Entries »

December 18 is International Migrant’s Day

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Today is International Migrants Day, as designated by the UN. The date was choosen because it was on 18th December 1990 that the UN adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrants Workers and Members of Their Families.There are 37 countries that have ratified the convention on migrant workers’ rights. Ireland is not among them; few European countries are.

Visit the official International Migrant’s Day site.

See more information on the UN Migrant Workers’ Convention.

Foreign Affairs Minister outlines new relationship

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has published an article outlining Ireland’s relationships with the Irish abroad. In “Ireland’s New Approach to its Diaspora”, available in full on the IrishEmigrant.com website, Minister Ahern outlines the changes that have taken place in recent years.

He notes that the Diaspora is vast:

The dimensions of our Diaspora are breathtaking. In the last US census, 36 million people declared an Irish link. The figures for Britain, Australia, Argentina, Canada and New Zealand are equally impressive. Large numbers are also to be found in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and increasing numbers of Irish-born people are living in Spain and other Mediterranean countries.

Minister Ahern also notes that changes in Ireland, including the peace process and economic success have allowed Ireland to re-evaluate the relationship with the Irish abroad. This has resulted in a tremendous increase in funding, up to €15.2 million this year, and increasing to planned spending of €34 million a year in the lifetime of the current administration. He details the spending in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

Minister Ahern concludes:

Regular newspaper articles and TV programmes show that there has never been so much interest at home in the Diaspora. Irish people are travelling abroad in huge numbers and meeting members of our Diaspora in many of the countries they visit. Our Constitution has been changed to reflect the new commitment to the overseas Irish, enshrined in the amended Article 2. New structures have been established by the government through the Irish Abroad Unit to coordinate our policy in this area and to provide funding, when appropriate, to projects relating to the Diaspora. It is a very exciting time with much happening. We have to ensure that we maintain the interest of our communities abroad in Ireland as the generations go by. I am confident we can meet that challenge. I am fully committed to maintaining this new outreach to our people – our global family – overseas.

See the entire article on the IrishEmigrant.com website.

Exhibition on Irish in Europe opens

Friday, December 14th, 2007

“Strangers to Citizens: the Irish in Europe, 1600 – 1800” has opened at the National Library’s Genealogical Office on Kildare Street in Dublin.

The exhibition tells the story of the Irish who went to continental Europe from the time of the Flight of the Earls. It shows that the Irish left for a variety of reasons and had a myriad of experiences:

Following the wars at the end of the 16th century, the Irish began to migrate to continental Europe in a pattern which continued over two hundred years. Soldiers, students, priests, professionals, and merchants, were among the many thousands who emigrated, to Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Sweden, and elsewhere. Over time migrants formed communities and eventually integrated into their host societies.

The exhibition features a number of images from institutions across the Continent, as well as original manuscripts illuminating the Irish experience. Digital installations allow visitors to explore topics in greater depth and also to look up individuals who served in the French and Spanish armies of the 18th century and who studied at Irish colleges in Paris, Leuven, or Toulouse.

The exhibition, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Flight of the Earls, will be open throughout 2008. Admission is free.

See the National Library website.

No recognition for gay couples a barrier to return

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007

An agency that works with gay and lesbian people says that the lack of recognition for gay couples is preventing many gay emigrants from returning home.

A report in the Irish Independent says,

The Gay Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) said the issue of foreign partners of Irish nationals not being allowed to live or work here is their biggest problem area.

Spokesman Eoin Collins said the number of calls to the organisation on the issue in the past two years has doubled.

“Irish people who have a partner from outside the EU, such as Canada or the US, are having huge problems,” he said…

“It’s definitely turning people off returning to Ireland. They fear that if they do return, that their partners’ status will cause tension in the relationship.”

While the Government has ruled out gay marriage, it says it will introduce a bill establishing civil partnerships for gay couples next year.

See the full report in the Irish Independent.

See the GLEN website.

Irish/US abductions the highest rate in world?

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

The London Times has reported that international child abduction between Ireland and the US is a bigger problem than anywhere else in the world. The fact is reported as a small mention in an article on international abductions, “After the breakup, the kidnap”. The article discusses the difficulties faced by parents who split up and see their children taken out of the country by their partners, often emigrants who are returning home. It says the problem is increasing due to the increasing migration, international marriage and divorce.

Journalist Carol Midgley suggests the high level of intermarriage between the US and Irish citizens is responsible for the levels of Irish/US abductions:

The highest level of child abduction/return is between the US and Ireland, because of the number of marriages between Irish and American people. The problem is so pronounced that the two countries have a child abduction pact.

I will try to find more information on this – it seems to cry out for more verification and explanation. It also raises the question of how many of those couples might be both Irish and one wants to return home while the other doesn’t.

Read the whole article on the London times website.

See information from the Irish Centre for Parentally Abducted Children on the Citizens Information Database.

Alerted via IrishEagle.com

Irish Times carries report on Ean seminar

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

The Irish Times has published a report by migration correspondent Ruadhan Mac Cormaic on Ean’s AGM and seminar, which was held on Saturday. The text is as follows:

Emigrant group calls for stronger ties with diaspora Ireland must develop ties with its diaspora that are driven by more than labour market needs, a conference has heard.

Fr Alan Hilliard, chairman of the Emigrant Advice Network, told the organisation’s agm on Saturday that many states were realising their diaspora’s political and monetary power.

“If Ireland is to be a leader in this area, we have a lot more work to do,” he said. “We have allowed circumstance to attract people back rather than actively strategise the involvement of people in their homeland.” Part of the problem was that, as with migration issues generally, the debate was too “labour-focused.”

On the Unit for the Irish Abroad, a section of the Department of Foreign Affairs set up in 2004, Fr Hilliard expressed concern it “might be reduced to a bank teller with a purely monetary role dolling out money for anything ‘Oirish’ that coincides with visits of dignitaries or finds itself supporting some nice ideas that may have a business interest in the background.”

With the collapse of comprehensive immigration reform in the US earlier this year, Fr Hilliard suggested the focus of the campaign on behalf of the undocumented Irish there should change. “Maybe we need not work the corridors of power in the US but engage in a campaign to educate people about the reality of our undocumented Irish in the United States.

“The latest squall stimulated by Trina Vargo shows the need to have further mature discussion on this matter. Time can be spent arguing or time can be used more productively educating those that are in need of enlightened education programmes that dispel myths. You cannot change political process and outcomes if you ignore the mindset of the people who actually vote,” he said.

Fr Hilliard, who is also director of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants, warned that there were dangers in the growing preference for temporary worker programmes.

“Again, the focus here is on the labour market and not on the migrants. Surely as a country . . . that has a long history of dealing with emigration, we need to highlight the inadequacy of such theories. Our work with emigrants in need reveals that when ‘temporary’ is put alongside ‘migrant worker’, there are catastrophic consequences. Indeed, any talk of integration in countries where these conditions are present is shallow talk.”

A recent report by Goodbody’s Economic Consultants on emigrant services stated that funding grew from €3.1 million for 73 groups in 2003 to €11.6 million for 184 groups in 2006.

© 2007 The Irish Times

 See the article on the Irish Times website.

« Previous Entries Next Entries »