Latest News
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Scotland’s Homecoming reaches peak with Gathering, Diaspora Forum
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Scotland will welcome 8,000 members of its diaspora later this month for “The Gathering”, the highlight of its Homecoming Scotland year. In Edinburgh on the weekend of July 23-25, there will be a gathering of 130 clans, a Highland Games festival, and a spectacular clan pageant called “Aisling’s Children”.
The Scotsman newspaper reports that cynics may scoff, but cites the rewards of Ireland’s cultivation of its diasporic links:
For political and business leaders who want to see the country thrive, the bond between Scotland and its diaspora is not just culturally significant. As Ireland has demonstrated, properly fostered, the emotional ties could reap dividends for all involved. Over the last decade or so, the Irish government has explored ways in which the country can tap into the economic, intellectual and social bounty of its ex-pat community. One particularly successful initiative is the Irish Technology Leadership Group, which is comprised of Irish and Irish-Americans in senior positions in Silicon Valley willing to invest in Irish companies.
There will also be a debate at the Scottish Diaspora Forum, open to the public, which will feature Scottish politicians, journalists, academics, and business people discussing the role of the diaspora in Scotland’s future. There will be a panel debate on whether the Scottish diaspora has a critical role to play in any potential new Scottish enlightenment. There will also be a “Dragon’s Glen” event, where several pitchers try to sell a panel ideas which would bring Scotland’s resident population of five million people together with its diaspora of 40 million people.
- Scotsman.com – Homeward Bound: Scotland’s diaspora heads to Edinburgh for the highpoint of the Homecoming celebrations this month
- Scottish Diaspora Forum
- Homecoming Scotland
- Irish Technology Leadership Group
- The Scottish Diaspora and Diaspora Strategy: Insights and Lessons from Ireland
Edited to add:
Newspaper makes dubious assertion that emigration is good for business
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009The Sunday Business Post is claiming that an uptick in emigration is good business for at least one Irish company. In an article headlined, “Immigration is good for Fonepool”, the paper states, “The Increasing number of people opting to move abroad has provided an unexpected boost to a small Irish firm that sells mobile phones for the US, Canada and Australia”.
Fonepool began trading in 2003, selling prepaid US phones to J1 students travelling from Ireland to the US. While the company has had remarkable growth, going from 1,000 new phone lines in its first year of business to 12,000 this year, the article doesn’t offer any reason to believe that the customers are emigrants rather than holiday-makers or people travelling on business. It also mentions that the company has customers in 85 countries and has an aggressive expansion programme that includes an office in Ecuador with plans for one in Colombia.
At the same time, it reinforces the popular impression that emigration rates are rising significantly; while anecdotes like this are interesting, they aren’t grounded in any evidence. We’ll have to wait until the CSO’s annual statistics on emigration are released next month to know for certain the extent of the rise in emigration.
Related web pages:
Taoiseach discusses US-Irish relations, immigration reform, North, economy with US delegation
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009The Taoiseach held talks yesterday with the visiting US Congressional delegation led by Richie Neal, Chair of the Friends of Ireland.
Also on the delegation are:
- Rep Tim Murphy, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Donald Payne, from New Jersey
- Rep Luis Gutierrez, from Illinois
- Rep Mike Doyle, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Tim Holden, from Pennsylvania
- Rep Nydia Velazquez, from NYC
The Taoiseach’s press office said in a press release:
The Taoiseach reiterated the priority he has placed on Ireland’s relationship with the United States and looked forward to the further development of that relationship with the implementation of the recommendations of Strategic Review of Ireland-US Relations which he launched on his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US. He stressed the importance of human interaction across the Atlantic and the need to develop all opportunities to enable Irish and US citizens to visit, work and study in each others countries.
There was also a lengthy discussion of the prospects for immigration reform in the US and its implications for Irish citizens, including the Irish undocumented community (Reps. Gutierrez and Velazquez have been very active in the campaign for immigration reform and recently attended a bipartisan meeting with President Obama on the topic – see http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Working-Together-for-Immigration-Reform/ ).
The Taoiseach briefed the delegation on recent progress in Northern Ireland. He particularly welcomed the announcements of loyalist decommissioning. There was a discussion on how the US can continue to make a contribution to the peace process, including by assisting with economic development and as a strong example of how a varied, multicultural society can integrate and work together for the greater good.
There was also a discussion on the economic situation. The delegation updated the Taoiseach on the economic reform programme in the US, including tax refrom, while the Taoiseach responded by emphasising the Government’s strong commitment to supporting US businesses in Ireland and the transatlantic trading relationship.
See the press release on the Taoiseach’s website.
US Congressional delegation visits Ireland
Monday, June 29th, 2009A US delegation of seven Democratic and one Republican Congressmen is visiting Ireland this week to hold talks with Irish political leaders on a number of topics. Items on the agenda include immigration reform, the political situation in the North, and the global financial crisis.
The group is led by Congressman Richard Neal, chair of the Friends of Ireland Executive Committee in the US Congress, a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives that promotes Irish interests and trade and cultural links. They will meet with the Taoiseach and Tanaiste, opposition politicians, and the President during their week-long visit.
An Oireachtas spokesman said:
“During their visit the delegation will meet with key political leaders and examine issues such as the International Fund for Ireland, the case of the undocumented Irish in the US, the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, Ireland-US relations and the World Financial Crisis.�
There are six members of the Friends of Ireland Committee: Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, and Richard Neal of the House of Representatives, and Edward Kennedy, Chris Dodd, and Susan Collins in the Senate.
Related websites:
Mother writes of son’s impending emigration
Monday, June 29th, 2009Patricia Leahy has written an extremely powerful article in today’s Irish Times about her son’s upcoming emigration. Leahy herself moved to Ireland 28 years ago; she is the daughter of Irish emigrants who left for New York in the 1940s. Seven decades later, after being unemployed for a year, her son is following in her father’s footsteps.
Leahy knows that her son’s emigration isn’t likely to sunder his link with Ireland:
As for his future, whether he stays or returns to Ireland, I hope the experience for him makes him grow into a man he can be proud of. I also hope it will heighten an appreciation of his country, culture and kinship.
Maybe it already has. Since he made the decision to emigrate, his musical tastes have switched from rap, rock and house music to that of The Dubliners, The Furey Brothers and The Wolfe Tones.
I am quite sure that Ireland hasn’t lost another son.
A deeply moving piece.
Irish Times: Irishwoman’s Diary
Unemployment rate at 10.2% – CSO
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Ireland’s official unemployment rate is 10.2%, the highest since 1997; this is the highest since 1997. There were 158,500 fewer jobs in the year ending March, a 7.5% fall in employment, with construction industry employment falling by 28.6%. There were 1,965,600 people employed in Ireland in the first three months of 2009, with 222,900 unemployed.
The CSO will next month release the emigration figures for the year ending in April, but the figures show that the non-Irish national labour force shrank by 8% in the year to March, while there was only a 1% decline in the number of Irish nationals in the labour force. Unemployment among non-Irish nationals was at 14.7% in quarter one, while it was 9.4% for Irish nationals. Unemployment was highest among those aged 15 to 34.
Earlier this month, the CSO’s Live Register figures, which are calculated in a different way, showed that the unemployment rate for May was 11.8%.
« Previous Entries Next Entries »