US-Ireland Forum focuses on relations
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007An event focusing on the relationship between the US and Ireland was held in New York on November 7 and 8.
The US-Ireland Forum, which organisers say was attended by around 1,000 people, was sponsored by Irish America magazine, University College Dublin and the American Ireland Fund. The Irish government and Aer Lingus supported the event.
The speakers included many of the most prominent voices in US-Irish relations, including Irish America/Irish Voice publisher Niall O’Dowd, Irish Ambassador to the US Michael Collins, American Ireland Fund president Kieran McLoughlin, former Congressman Bruce Morrison, economist David McWilliams, and former Coca-Cola president Don Keough.
The most significant announcement at the forum was the launch of the John Hume Global Irish Institute at UCD, which university president Hugh Brady said would be an international centre of excellence aimed at exploring the Irish Diaspora.
Among the other themes at the event was the need to create a philanthropic spirit among the wealthy Irish in Ireland, with several speakers noting that Irish philanthropy lags behind that in other countries, despite the increasing wealth of the country.
Several speakers highlighted a desire for increased participation in Irish life, with Keough calling for a Diaspora Commission that would allow Ireland to tap into the resources of the Irish abroad. The issue of emigrant voting rights was also raised.
Several speakers raised the issue of tensions between the US and Ireland, such as the anti-Americanism which some attributed to international hostility to the current administration. There was a clear recognition, however, of the goodwill that had attracted the large crowds to the venue – including a strong contingent from Ireland.
See the Irish Voice report on the US-Ireland Forum.
Visit the US-Ireland Forum website for the lineup of speakers.
Irish rep notes emigration in Year of Potato support
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007At the recent launch of 2008 as the International Year of the Potato, Kevin Dowling, Counsellor from the Irish mission to the UN, noted that Ireland is planning to be an active supporter of the year. He noted that Ireland is providing $300,000 to support the activities, seeing it as “an opportunity to focus on the role agriculture can play in improving nutrition and food security” and also co contribute to the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.
Ireland is also giving 200,000 euro in funding to the International Potato Centre in Peru and 320,000 euro for a related research project in Milawi.
He added,
“Ireland’s commitment to combating hunger is not without historical reason. The failure of the potato crop in Ireland in the 1840s led to a famine that left 1.5 million dead and forced 1 million to emigrate. Since then, Ireland’s fortunes have changed and we are now a prosperous nation, but hunger and food insecurity continue to hamper progress in reaching the MDGs in many developing countries. Earlier this year Ireland established a Hunger Task Force with the aim of identifying the particular contribution that Ireland can make to international efforts to eliminate hunger and tackle food insecurity.”
See the full text of Mr Dowling’s remarks.
Visit the Year of the Potato website.
Dail calls for bilateral agreement on US undocumented
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007TDs from all parties have united to call for a bilateral agreement between the US and Ireland to legalise the undocumented Irish in the US.
The motion was proposed by Fine Gael. Fine Gael spokesperson on community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs Michael Ring said Ireland had a responsibility toward the undocumented, adding,
“The situation facing undocumented Irish in the US has become more precarious since 9/11, with many of them unable to obtain driving licences, travel to or from Ireland, even at the most upsetting times when they need to attend a family funeral.”
Minister for State for Foreign Affairs Michael Kitt said that the Government has said it would explore all possible alternative options in the event that comprehensive reform legislation, which would have provided a path to citizenship for all of the 11 million undocumented in the US, failed.
Those options included reciprocal initiatives for young people, as well as non-immigrant visa exchanges between Ireland and the US.
Some sources say, however, that there are difficulties that would prevent reciprocal work visas from covering the undocumented.
 Read the Dail debate on the Oireachtas.ie website.
What if emigrants had been allowed to vote?
Thursday, October 25th, 2007There’s an interesting opinion piece in the Irish Examiner about emigrant voting rights, contrasting the situation with the Polish vote in Ireland with the fact that Irish emigrants have never been given the vote.
The writer queries the potential impact of an emigrant vote:
Irish emigrants have never been allowed to vote in Irish elections, which raises the intriguing question: if they had had the vote at a time when emigration was so pervasive, could they have transformed the politics of Ireland? Would the leaders of the Irish political parties have found themselves addressing election meetings in Kilburn, Coventry, Birmingham, Boston and New York, promising that a vote for them was a vote to end the emigrants’ exile?
Irish Times publishes letter on voting rights
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007The Irish Times has published a letter today from Ean regarding emigrant voting rights. The letter was written in light of media coverage of Polish residents of Ireland exercising their right to vote in the Polish elections. It reads:
Emigrants’ voting rights
Madam – Your coverage of Polish citizens living in Ireland lining up to vote in their country’s election is a powerful reminder of the importance that migrants place on this link with their native country.
It also highlights the fact that Ireland is one of a small and shrinking number of developed nations that do not give overseas citizens anyvoice in the political process.
Nearly 100 countries have overcome the logistical and political hurdles involved in granting emigrants voting rights. Ireland’s stance on the issue is out of step with our technological and globalised world. – Yours, etc,
NOREEN BOWDEN,
Director,
Ean – Emigrant Advice Network,
Carmichael House,
North Brunswick Street,
Dublin 7.
Ean presents curriculum project
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007Ean presented our curriculum project as a work-in-progress at the annual conference of the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland on Saturday, the 6th of October.
The curriculum project is aimed at helping Transition-Year teachers to teach about emigration and the diaspora. It includes a course outline, primary-source documents, a list of resources, and sample exercises. Several teachers have volunteered to pilot the project later this school year.
Download the project outline and resource list.
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