Search



  • Subscribe to our newsletter

    Email address


  • Archives

  • Tags

    Argentina arts Australia Canada conferences culture DFA diaspora diaspora strategy economy education elderly emigrants emigrant voting emigration EU events Farmleigh film GAA Global Irish Economic Forum heritage history ILIR immigration reform individuals Irish-America irish studies medium wave New York new zealand North oral history predictions publications radio research RTE statistics UK unemployment US Visas voting rights youth

  • Newswatch Categories

    • Latest News

    « Previous Entries Next Entries »

    “That’s what young people are entitled to do”: Tanaiste on emigration

    Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

    Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan was questioned about emigration in a wide-ranging interview aired last night by BBC’s Hardtalk programme. Here is what she had to say:

    Questioner: For the first time in 15 or more years, there is net emigration in Ireland. Once again we see Irish people leaving this country leaving this country looking for work. How long? How long is that going to last?

    You have two things happening. We have had over – in the80s we had about a million people working. Two years ago, two and a half years ago, over 2.1 million people working. We have 1.8 million still working in this country.

    We did have a lot of people who came from the new member states to come here. Many of them have returned home because the employment opportunities have not been afforded to them.

    Equally we have a lot of people – young people- who have decided they will go to other parts of the world to gain experience and I think the type of emigration that we have –

    Questioner: But your government was supposed to have ended that, the whole cycle of Irish having to leave Ireland.

    It’s the type of people that have left have gone on the basis that – some of them, fine, they want to enjoy themselves. That’s what young people are entitled to do.

    But moreover, they are coming with a different talent. They are coming with degrees, PhDs.  They are people who have a greater acumen academically and they have found work in other parts of the world.

    And that’s not a bad thing. Because equally we still continue to have very many people who are working here from other member states, the EU and Northern Ireland.

    Related web pages:

    Emigrants subject to taxation on Irish homes

    Thursday, February 11th, 2010

    Irish emigrants who keep a home in Ireland are subject to the taxation on non-principal homes. The tax of €200 is levied on most houses that are not occupied by their owners, although there are a number of exemptions. The charge does apply to overseas owners.

    The fact that emigrants must pay the tax was raised in the Dail today by Frank Feighan, Fine Gael’s TD from Roscommon South-Leitrim. In a debate over the Finance Bill, he said,

    I agree the non-principal residence tax is a good idea for raising moneys for local authorities. However, having visited the Roscommon Associations in Manchester, Birmingham and London, I know many emigrants feel let down that the little house they have back in Ireland, some without even electricity or running water, will be charged this tax. They want to be good citizens but the local authorities are insisting they pay the €200 tax. That is an insult to the Irish diaspora which actually helped rebuild this country by sending money back from abroad.

    The Government must apologise to those emigrants in the United States and the United Kingdom who have tried to keep a link with this country by keeping a small house, sometimes just a pile of stones, for not considering them when introducing this tax. It must be amended because the local authorities have not considered all factors involved.

    This, clearly, is a case of taxation without representation. Is it right to levy taxes on citizens who are entitled to no representation in this State? Two centuries of post-Enlightenment thinking would say no. Is this democratic?

    Related websites:

    Spectre of forced emigration a reality, says opposition leader

    Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

    The Mayo Advertiser quotes opposition leader Enda Kenny on emigration:

    Forced emigration is again a reality in County Mayo for an entire young generation. This spectre, which haunted Mayo for two centuries, is now back as a reality. That’s why I now receive text messages and emails from Australia, Canada, and the USA enquiring about job prospects. That’s why six young footballers have left Islandeady for foreign shores. Other clubs around the country have the same problem.

    The article notes that live register figures have begun to decline from the 12,000 figure of jobless in Mayo in September 2009, due to the number of people leaving the county. Only 7,000 were unemployed in September 2008.

    Economists cite emigration as a major reason why the unemployment figures released today showed a rate of 12.7%; they would be higher were the safety valve of emigration not in effect.
    See the entire article:

    First Irish history of Missouri available on audio download

    Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

    Following my post mentioning the first history ever written on the Irish of Vermont, I received a note from Mike O’Laughlin, an accomplished Irish-American genealogist and historian, who informed me he’s the author of the first book on the Irish of Missouri.

    Missouri Irish began life as a hardcover but is now available as an audiobook from IrishRoots.com.

    It looks particularly interesting as the history begins in 1770; eighteenth-century Irish immigration to the US is a story too infrequently told. Here are the notes from the table of contents:

    Part One
    1770 – 1804. Irish Settlers in the Spanish Regime…
    Indian Mounds and Tara Hills.
    Immigration…Religious Ties and Conflicts…
    West vs. East …
    The First Irish-American Settlement in the Bois Brule Bottom.

    Part Two
    1804 – 1900. The First Irish Americans
    Pioneer Journalists … Mexican War … Steamboat Irish … Indian War
    …The Famine Irish … Murphy’s Wagon replaced by the
    Railroad … Slavery … Civil War Irish.

    Part Three
    Irish Immigration and Distribution
    Irish Settlements in Missouri … City vs. Farm .. Population by County
    … Irish Settlements …O’Fallon Missouri … Donnybrook …
    Moving on from Missouri

    Part Four
    The Irish in the Cities.
    Saint Louis… Brady & McKnight … O’Connor… Mullanphy ..
    The Kerry Patch … Kansas City…. First Newspaper …
    Father Bernard Donnelly … The first Irish in Kansas City …
    The History of the St. Patricks Day Parade …
    The Shamrock Society … A.O.H. St. Joseph and Buchanan County…
    On the overland trail

    Part Five
    The Irish Wilderness Settlement
    Rev. J.J. Hogan … Lifestyle … Chillicothe … Brookfield … Ripley
    and Oregon Counties … Iron Mountain Railroad.

    Part Six
    My Irish American Heritage.
    The Sullivans, Donahues, Buckleys, Irish American Development.

    I hope that this is a trend and we’ll see histories of the Irish in all fifty states of the US!

    Visit IrishRoots.com – host Michael O’Loughlin has been working on Irish family history and genealogy since 1978!

    Government to help Irish in Barbados?

    Friday, January 29th, 2010

    Will the Irish government come to the assistance of the so-called “Red Legs”, the descendents of Irish (as well as English and Scottish) people transported 400 years ago to Barbados to act as slaves? As many as 50,000 Irish people were transported to Barbados as slaves and indentured servants during Cromwell’s time; the community that survives numbers about 400, and suffers from poverty and ill health.

    Their plight was the focus of a written question in the Dail, which has appeared on KildareStreet.com. The Q and A is below. In it, Minister Martin notes that Irish Abroad Unit officials have met with representatives of the community, and expresses and openness to funding projects as part of the normal emigrant support funding round.

    This kind of outreach is yet another sign of the Irish government’s innovative commitment to strengthening and developing its relationship with the Irish diaspora. How many countries are working to re-establish relationships like this one between Ireland and this small community, which was  so cruelly severed four centuries ago?

    Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
    Question 674: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has assisted the Redleg people of Irish slave decent in Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and other Caribbean states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1475/10]
    Micheál Martin (Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs; Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
    The Irish Abroad Unit within my Department maintains a keen interest in all aspects of the Irish experience of emigration, both forced and voluntary, and has active programmes aimed at strengthening our links with Irish communities overseas; including in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, Europe and Asia.
    While we have no active programme in the Caribbean at present, officials from the Irish Abroad Unit have held a number of exploratory meetings since 2008 with representatives of the descendents of those Irish people who were deported by Oliver Cromwell to Barbados in the 17th Century. During these discussions, the group were encouraged to maintain contact with the Government and to reflect further on the most appropriate way to recognise this unique community within the Irish Diaspora.
    Representatives of the community are welcome to submit an application for funding under the Emigrant Support Programme when the 2010 grant round is launched in March by my Department.

    Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

    Question 674: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has assisted the Redleg people of Irish slave decent in Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada and other Caribbean states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1475/10]

    Micheál Martin (Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs; Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

    The Irish Abroad Unit within my Department maintains a keen interest in all aspects of the Irish experience of emigration, both forced and voluntary, and has active programmes aimed at strengthening our links with Irish communities overseas; including in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa, Europe and Asia.

    While we have no active programme in the Caribbean at present, officials from the Irish Abroad Unit have held a number of exploratory meetings since 2008 with representatives of the descendents of those Irish people who were deported by Oliver Cromwell to Barbados in the 17th Century. During these discussions, the group were encouraged to maintain contact with the Government and to reflect further on the most appropriate way to recognise this unique community within the Irish Diaspora.

    Representatives of the community are welcome to submit an application for funding under the Emigrant Support Programme when the 2010 grant round is launched in March by my Department.

    It was, presumably, a recent TG4 programme  that highlighted the plight of this deprived outpost of the Irish diaspora and prompted Mr Varadkar’s question. The Irish Times also has a great article on this community.

    Related websites:

    Tracking the emigrant voting issue

    Friday, January 29th, 2010

    The issue of votes for Irish emigrants is rising in prominence, as evidenced by the increasing number of articles appearing on the topic. Here’s what’s been said in recent weeks:

    2010: March

    February

    January

    Articles and letters to editor

    Dail mentions:

    Political groups

    2009

    European-based web articles

    The articles above seem to imply that Irish-born voters who live and work in Europe can retain their right to vote by returning to Ireland to do so. Of course,  those who are not ordinarily resident in Ireland are ineligible to vote in Ireland, unless they are in the military or the diplomatic corps.

    « Previous Entries Next Entries »