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Monday, July 21st, 2008Former US congressman Bruce Morrison has praised Taoiseach Brian Cowan’s commitment to and understanding of undocumented immigrants in the US. He went so far as to say, “I’m very heartened by his analysis, which I think is spot on.”
Mr Morrison, a hero to many in the Irish-American community because of his work in securing visas for the undocumented in the 1980s and 1990s, was interviewed by the Sunday Independent during Mr Cowan’s visit to New York.
When queried on the prospects for a positive solution for the undocumented Irish in the US, Mr Morrison was upbeat, and noted that the ultimate solution may include a requirement to have the immigrants leave the US and reapply for visas to return.
“There will be a solution. The question is how soon and in what ways. One of the focal points of the work, which certainly the Taoiseach understands, and is committed to, is leaving and coming back, a model which worked before with Morrison visas and Donnelly visas. When one leaves, one is no longer an illegal. So opportunities for the waiver of past violations in the context of new visa opportunities is certainly something that would continue to be part of the advocacy”.
He also noted that the solution for the Irish may lie in either comprehensive immigration reform that would assist immigrants of all nations, or as part of a specific solution for the Irish.
Mr Morrison also said that Mr Cowan favours a ‘three-legged stool’ approach, which would result in
- opportunities for Americans to come to Ireland to work
- enhanced opportunities for Irish citizens to work in the US legally and
- a resolution to the undocumented Irish in America.
Mr Morrison praised Mr Cowan’s knowledge of the situation at a meeting with Irish immigrant activists:
“Well, he was in a room full of people who don’t have a habit of staying silent, but he made a presentation up front which really made people feel he didn’t need a lot of education. He just needed to be affirmed in what he was saying.”
Similarly, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform has also praised the Taoiseach following a meeting with him in New York. “What we like about the Taoiseach is he understands the Irish community,” said Ciaran Staunton, vice-chair of the group.
Read the articles on the Irish Independent’s website:
- Cowan “more genuine” on commitment to illegal Irish.
- Cowan wants illegal Irish to leave the US.
- Cowan in visa bid to resolve immigrant plight.
“Evidence of Irish diaspora everywhere” in Montserrat, says journalist
Monday, July 21st, 2008There’s a brief but interesting description of Montserrat, sometimes known as “the Emerald Isle of the Carribbean� in an extract of “More Thrills than Skills: A Half-life in Journalism�, the memoirs of Scottish war correspondent Paul Harris.
The extract is appearing on allmediascotland.com.
In 1632, the English governor, Sir Thomas Warner, ordered the tiresome dissident Irish living on nearby St Kitts to colonise Montserrat for England and the island soon became renowned as a refuge for persecuted Irish Catholics from other English colonies.
The evidence of this Irish diaspora is everywhere. Irish shamrocks adorn Government House and the cannons on the foreshore of the now abandoned capital of Plymouth. The flag and crest bear a lady – Erin – with a cross and a harp.
St Patrick’s Day is celebrated with an open air fete.
The names of the estates, villages and heights are pure Irish: St Patrick’s, Fergus Mountain, Kinsale, Galway’s, Cork Hill, Sweeney’s, O’Garro’s and Galloway.
Montserrat enjoys an extraordinary and unique Afro-Irish culture; a curiously integrated mixture of the cultures of the Caribbean slave and the Irish settler. It is intriguing to hear a black Monserratian ending a sentence, “at all, at all�.
See the entire extract at www.allmediascotland.com.
Irish-American family’s return to Ireland focus of RTE kids’ show
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008RTE has commissioned a new interactive children’s series that will focus on the life of an Irish-American teenager who moves to Ireland with her family. “Aisling’s Diary” will be aired on weekdays on RTE 2, and will also be available online.
According to a report on the IFTN website, Aisling is an Irish-dancing obsessed teen who must adjust to her new school and culture. She begins a romance with “the hip hop bad boy next door”.
The show is being created by the creater of Sofia’s Diary, a popular online programme, which was the first internet-based show to make the transition to UK television; it is being proudced by Campbell Ryan Productions. Aisling’s Diary will be accompanied by a Bebo page.
“We are really excited about this series as it examines what it means to be Irish in contemporary Ireland,” ‘Aisling’s Diary’ producer TrÃona Campbell told IFTN. “The series will feature modern dance, hip hop and Irish dance, and we will also be launching a search online for new Irish bands to play on the soundtrack to the series”.
See the full article on the IFTN website.
Matchmaker carries on Irish tradition in Chicago
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008A Chicago newspaper has reported on an age-old Irish tradition that’s crossed the water: matchmaking. Maureen O’Looney, an 86-year-old owner of an Irish import shop who emigrated in 1953, has two marriages to her credit. She practices the fine art of matchmaking every year at Chicago’s Hooley Happy Hour at the Irish-American Heritage Center. The report says the Hooley is modeled after the Lisdoonvarna festival, and attract people from their early twenties to their late 40s and older.
The report features Kevin McBride and Bridget McGowan, who attended the Valentine’s Day hooley in 2006. O’Looney matched them up, and they were married on June 14. “We basically both decided to come on by and try our luck�, said the new husband. “You have nothing to lose. Why not? You never know�.
While O’Looney says the matchmaking is ‘just fun to start with, all fun’, she adds, “Who knows? You might meet your match.”
Read the report from the Chicago Sun-Times.
Taoiseach visits US: focus on economy, community
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008Brian Cowan is making his first visit to the US since becoming Taoiseach in May. The focus of this three-day visit will be heavily economic; he will visit the New York Stock Exchange and address a Wall Street dinner, as well as meeting with the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. He will meet with Irish and American business executives at a business sponsored by Enterprise Ireland. Mr Cowan will also meet with New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The Taoiseach said, “I will be bringing a clear message that Ireland is now a successful European country, with a coherent strategy to maintain that success and build for the future.�
Politics will also be on the agenda, as Mr Cowan meets with the chair of the Friends of Irleand in the US Congress, Richie Neal, as well as New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and New Jersey Governer Jon Corzine. “I look forward to meeting our many friends in the United States and listening to their advice on how we can continue to work together during a turbulent period for the global economy,”
Mr Cowan will also meet with the Irish community in New York. He will address the Wall Street 50 Dinner, a major annual event honouring Irish-American business leaders. He will also open an exhibition at the Irish Arts Centre, and attend a reception for the Gate and Abbey theatres, which are staging productions in the city. Mr Cowan said, “I am also delighted to be meeting with representatives of the Irish community in America, who have been and remain a key part of Ireland’s international success story and of our nation.”
The Irish Times quoted a spokesman for the Taoiseach who said, “He is glad to get the opportunity to meet with the Irish diaspora and the business community there, renewing the links which are so important on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly in the current economic climate when Irish businesses are creating a similar number of jobs in the US as American companies are creating in Ireland.”
RTE news features intending emigrants
Friday, July 11th, 2008The buzz about a projected increase in emigration is continuing, along with talk of an impending recession.
An RTE reporter met people considering packing their bags yesterday – those interviewed included both Irish-born people and returning emigrants from other countries.
England, Denmark and Sweden were among the destination countries named, while a Polish person said he would return home, and an Irish electrician said he was heading for Australia.
The last ESRI quarterly report has projected that net outward migration would begin again next year.
View the report at RTE’s website.
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