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Friday, July 11th, 2008Hundreds of emigrants who returned from America are expected to attend a reunion party in Athlone this month. The event is the brainchild of Helen Greene and Shelia Denning, both returned emigrants, and is being organised by Tom Woodlock, who has recently returned to Tipperary. They are hoping to make it an annual event, according to the Irish Voice, and intend to hold it in a different town in Ireland every year.
Organisers are encouraging all returnees to come. “A lot of returnees may not know about the event so please tell them and give them our numbers so they can contact us,� Woodlock told the paper.
He added: “We all live in different parts of the country and it’s not often we all get to meet up, so by organizing this reunion it gives everyone a chance to catch up with old friends, faces and even make some new ones. It will be just nice to share old stories of America and the good times we all had there with each other.�
The reunion will be held at the Shamrock Hotel in Athlone on Saturday, July 19, with a buffet from 7-9 pm, followed by music and dancing. Entry is 18 euro. Call the organisers at 011-353-87-7903022 or 011-353-87-0545644 for more information.
Read the original article in the Irish Voice.
Former emigrant chaplain dies
Thursday, July 10th, 2008Cannon Paddy Curran, a former emigrant chaplain in London, was buried on July 5 after his funeral mass at the Church of the Holy Rosary in Castelbar. Archbishop Neary paid tribute to his work with emigrants in his eulogy, as reported in the Mayo News:
From 1968 to 1970 he ministered in Belclare outside Tuam. It was a time when the haemorrhage of emigration was leaving communities lifeless in the west. Many of those emigrating at the time were ill-prepared. Some were not street-wise; poorly educated, many were very vulnerable. These were very close to Paddy’s heart,� the Archbishop continued. “Accordingly, he volunteered to work as an Emigrant Chaplain with our exiles in England, particularly in the London area and in Scunthorpe.�
Read the entire article in the Mayo News.
TV service for emigrants named RTE International
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008RTE’s new television service aimed at the Irish in Britain will be named RTE International, not Diaspora TV as previously announced. RTE is currently recruiting for the new service, which may launch before its previously announced target date of St Patrick’s Day. The new channel will feature programmes from RTE One, RTE Two, and TG4, with some news bulletins carried live. The channel will be broadcast free-to-air on digital satellite.
Calls for RTE to boost power to reach Irish abroad
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008The Irish Times has reported on a call for the Broadcasting Bill to be amended to require RTE to operate its long-wave radio transmitter at full capacity. Campaigners say that RTE’s current practice of transmitting its long-wave service at about half-power means that the broadcaster is not giving adequate service to the Irish abroad.
The newspaper says,
Kevin J O’Connell, a former director of engineering at RTE, said the broadcaster is not living up to its obligation to serve the public because the long-wave transmitter is operating at just over half its capacity.
RTE says, however, that “It is satisfied its long-wave signal ‘is sufficient to reach customers across Ireland and the UK’.”
The amendment was recently the subject of discussion in the Seanad. See the transcript.
Emigration returns as headline news
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008Net emigration will return in 2009, predicts the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The ESRI says that we will have our first period of recession since 1983 this year, as our economy contracts by 0.4%, a reversal of a growth rate of 4.5% this year. Although it is predicting the resumption of growth next year, at a rate of 1.9%, it says that there will be a level of net emigration not seen since 1990.
While 40,000 are predicted to arrive in Ireland in 2009, 60,000 will leave. The ESRI notes that it is impossible to predict how many of those comprising the outflow will be immigrants leaving for their homelands or a third country.
The outward migration will be fueled by a predicted 60% increase in unemployment between 2007 and 2009. The unemployment rate is predicted to rise from 4.5% last year to 7.1% in 2009.
The ESRI’s predictions are attracting strong media comment. The front cover of today’s Irish Times says, “ESRI warns of recession, job losses and renewed emigration”. The Irish Independent says “Emigration spectre back to haunt after 20 years”.
Emigrant returns for visit – with 29 grandchildren
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008The Irish Independent is featuring the story of one emigrant’s return visit to Ireland. Fifty years after unemployed mechanic Sean Flanagan and his then-girlfriend Margie left to Dublin to seek new lives in America, the New Jersey couple have brought along their six children and 29 grandchildren to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. Sean and Margie were married and raised their family in New Jersey, where Sean Flanagan has been running a successful car dealership.
The 74-year-old businessman says Dublin has changed: “There’s less visible poverty. There’s a lot more haves than have-nots, which is very good – but there’s also a greater cynicism about religion. “
See the full story at the Irish Independent website.
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