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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009Paddy O’Hanlon, who headed the task force on policies regarding emigrants, has died at 65 following a short illness.
Paddy O’Hanlon became one of the founding members of the SDLP after being elected to Stormont in 1969; he left politics in the 1980s to become a barrister. O’Hanlon was appointed in 2001 to head the emigrant task force by then-MInister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen.
The task force was highly influential in prompting a new relationship between Ireland and the Irish abroad. Subsequent actions by the government included the establishment of the Irish Abroad Unit and increased spending on emigrant welfare.
For more information:
- RTE.ie: SDLP founder O’Hanlon dies at 65
- Irish TImes: SDLP founder O’Hanlon dies
- Ireland and the Irish Abroad: Report of the Task Force on Policy regarding Emigrants (2002)
20% of grads may emigrate for work: study
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009One in five university students surveyed are planning on emigrating to find work, according to a poll taken by University College Cork’s student union in conjunction with Senator Alan Kelly of the Labour Party. The survey interviewed 339 students at UCC, Cork Institute of Technology, University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology.
The survey found that one-fifth of the final year and post-graduate students are planning to emigrate, while nearly 90% of those surveyed have no work lined up for when their studies finish this summer. Over half feel they have little chance of finding a job, and 63% are pessimistic about the future. About half the students polled are planning to remain in education.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said of the findings:
“The students in colleges across Munster should be aiming to be the generation who will lead the European project and the Irish economy in the future, but that will not happen if we are just throwing the next generation on the dole queue,” he said.
The UCC student union has called for a graduate placement programme in response to the survey.
Additionally, there was an article in the Irish Times highlighting the effects of the downturn on three students; two of the featured students said they were considering emigrating after graduating.
One of them, Alan O’Connor, a 23-year-old science student at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, said, “I’ve sent out a load of CVs, but have had no response yet. I’ll keep trying until September and then I’ll head to Canada.”
Related articles:
- Irish Examiner: 20% of graduates will emigrate to find work
- Irish Times: Students brace themselves for harsh new economic reality
Will Australian rugby suffer from enhanced Irish citizenship rules?
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Australian rugby fans may be living in fear of a suggestion by Taoiseach Brian Cowen that Ireland may soon allow people with an Irish great-grandparent easier access to citizenship – at least that’s what “The Australian” newspaper suggests.
The newspaper points out that Australian and New Zealand clubs have been suffering from player drain to wealthy clubs in Europe and Japan, where they can make significantly more money. Previously, Australian rugby officials lobbied the IRB to abolish the rule that allowed Australians with European grandparents to play as locals in Europe.
The newspaper says:
ARU chief executive John O’Neill is proud of his Irish heritage, but it is unlikely he would have been too pleased with an announcement by the Irish Government on St Patrick’s Day.
Thousands of Australians will find it easier to take out Irish citizenship after the announcement that foreigners with an Irish great-grand parent would be eligible.
At present, Ireland requires a person to have at least one Irish grand parent to claim ancestral right to citizenship.
But Ireland has decided to loosen the rules to extend naturalisation rights to people who are one generation further away from their Irish roots.As a result of the Irish diaspora of over 80 million people, this initiative will have political and social ramifications around the globe, including the world of rugby.
In particular, Australian and New Zealand rugby will be significantly affected.
If you have Irish citizenship, you also carry with it a coveted European Union passport, which gives you the right to live and work in 27 nations – and that applies to professional rugby players as much as anyone else.
The Irish government has not released further details on the proposed change, however. The suggestion that it would be expanding citizenship rights was made by Taoiseach Brian Cowen as he launched a strategic review of US-Ireland relations in New York during his St Patrick’s Day visit.
Related webpages:
The Australian: Ancestral nightmare for ARU and John O’Neill
Diaspora a reason to rejoin the Commonwealth?
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009A new group urging that Ireland rejoin the Commonwealth has invoked the Irish diaspora in support of the idea.
In a letter that appeared in the Irish Times, the backers of “Ireland and the Commonwealth” said,
Members of the Commonwealth share a common heritage and history, including an Irish diaspora of some 20 million people – an international community that seems certain to grow as many people are forced by economic circumstances to emigrate from Ireland.
The letter continued with an outline of the Commonwealth’s benefits:
Membership of the Commonwealth is more relevant than ever as Ireland faces its worst economic crisis since the foundation of the state. The county is going to need all the friends and connections it can get in the perilous economic times that lie ahead. The Commonwealth is not an alternative or substitute for Ireland’s membership of other international bodies such as the EU or the UN but it could prove to be an invaluable addition if our worst fears about the global economic crisis are fulfilled.
Ireland’s membership of the Commonwealth would, we are sure, be welcomed by the unionist community in Northern Ireland as significant gesture of reconciliation. It would add to the collaborative framework established by the Belfast and St Andrew’s agreements. It would demonstrate unequivocally that the Republic has finally drawn a line under the troubled history of Anglo-Irish relations that led to Ireland’s self-exclusion from the Commonwealth 60 years ago. It would represent a further important step along the road to a pluralist Ireland in which different identities are recognised and respected, a country that celebrates its multi-cultural heritage and diverse history.
A follow-up letter in the Irish Times noted, however, that “‘Commonwealth citizens’ have no extra rights of travel or work – for instance, they need to apply for a visa to visit member-state Australia, just as Irish people do.”
See related websites:
Emigrated between 1975 and 1995? Researcher seeks you
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009I’ve had a request from a graduate student seeking information from Irish people who emigrated to the US between 1975 and 1995. Here is the information:
Survey for Irish emigrants to the United States between 1975 and 1995
Thank you for taking the time to do this survey; it will be an invaluable source for my term paper.
I am collecting these surveys only for use on my term paper for Alan Kraut’s spring 2009 Immigration and Ethnicity class at American University in Washington D.C. They will not be used for any other purpose and at no point will the name of the respondent be associated with their response. Feel free to skip any question you do not feel comfortable answering, or email for a clarification at elang@gwmail.gwu.edu.
If at all possible please return your survey to me via email (an attachment, or in the body of the email either is fine) by April 4, 2009.
Once again thank you very much for taking the time to do this survey
Emma Lang
Basic Information
Age at time of emigration:
Gender:
Education level at time of emigration:
Year of emigration:
Did you come to the U.S. legally and/or did you obtain a visa either before or after you arrived?
Number of years spent in the United States (please note here if you have settled permanently in the U.S.):
Hometown and county in Ireland:
Destination in the United States (If possible if you moved to a large city please tell me what neighborhood or area):
If you lived in multiple cities in North America between when you emigrated and 1995 please list them here:
On average how many times a year did you go back to Ireland (I know this is a complicated question due to the rapidly changing visa policies so you are welcome to give an explanation)
Your story
(please feel free to write as much as you want in response to these questions, since I’m not surveying a statistically significant number of folks I really just want your stories so I can understand the what it was like to move from Ireland to the United States during this time period)
Why did you decide to emigrate and why did you choose the United States as your destination?
What types of jobs did you work at between your arrival and 1995?
Did you connect up with family or friends already living in the United States? If so, how long had they been living in U.S.?
Did you join or participate in events of any Irish organizations such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians or county organizations or other groups (including the church or sports teams)?
Did you join or participate in events of organizations aimed at new immigrants such as the Irish Immigrant Reform Movement (IIRM) or groups aimed at helping to adjust to live in America?
How would you describe your relationship with the Irish American Community? If you are still living in the United States has the answer changed?
Anything else you think I should know or be sure to include in my paper?
ILIR to hold series of meetings
Monday, March 30th, 2009The New York-based Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform will be holding a series of meetings after a period of reorganisation. They report they will hold the first meeting in Boston at the Irish Cultural Centre in Boston on April 6 at 7:30 pm. Speakers will include Bruce Morison, ILIR chair Bart Murphy, vice-chair Ciaran Staunton and Executive Director Kelly Fincham.
Bart Murphy, a San Francisco-based immigration advocate, recently took over the position of chair from Irish Voice publisher Niall O’Dowd.
For more information, visit the ILIR blog.
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