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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Dublin native writes book of Iraqi experiences
Friday, May 9th, 2008Dublin native Graham Dale has written a book, “The Green Marine: An Irishman’s War in Iraq”, describing the experience that followed his decision to join the US Marine Corp on September 11. At the time, he was 23 years old and had been living in Austin, Texas for about a year, working as an IT specialist and as a volunteer fireman. The book describes the personal toll the war in Iraq took on Dale, as he witnessed scenes of terrible violence.
See more information about “The Green Marine”.
See the article in the Irish Times.
Let diaspora return, says Irish-America
Friday, May 9th, 2008Two pleas from Irish America calling for changes to make it easier for the diaspora to come to Ireland were published in the last week.
In the first, Rose Foley of Boston writes in the Irish Times that she has sought for the last eleven years to find a way to work in Ireland – but her status as a fourth-generation Irish-American prevents her from doing so. She is one generation removed from eligibility for citizenship, so her only option would be to get sponsorship through employment – but she has found that she cannot find work without a visa and cannot get a visa without a job. And since any employer would have to prove that no one in the EU could do the job before she could be hired, this avenue is not likely to lead to success.
Invoking David McWilliams’ recent call for Ireland to welcome back its diaspora for the sake of its economic growth, and in recognition of their “deep, vested interest in our culture”, she says, “The time has come to welcome us back.”
The second request to open the doors to the diaspora appeared in a letter to the editor from an Irish emigrant living in Philadelphia. Cian de Buitleir has an Irish-American partner who is not eligible for citizenship, and notes that he has met many Irish-Americans who have strong interest in Irish culture, history and the language. He says, “India offers its diaspora recognition, residency and work permits through the ‘Person of Indian Origin’ (PIO) card,” and suggests that Ireland would benefit both economically and culturally by giving the diaspora a route to move to Ireland.
The next time that you hear a call for legalising the Irish in America or for a united Ireland, maybe you should reflect on whether we should first undo the hypocrisy of Irish immigration law and simply reunite the Irish, because charity begins at home.
These people will fortify the Irish economy.
These are no longer the ‘poor huddled masses’, these are the people who built nations.
Now is the time to take a leap of faith and offer tangible immigration benefits through ‘affirmative action’ to the Irish diaspora.
The letter has prompted dozens of comments on the Irish Independent website.
See the two articles:
- Diaspora deserves the right of return – Irish Times (subscription required) (also available here for free)
- Time to let Irish diaspora come home – Irish Independent
Sport journalist calls for recognition of rugby diaspora
Thursday, May 8th, 2008A sportswriter in the Irish Independent has written an interesting article on how Ireland should welcome home our sporting diaspora from Britain. Billy Keane takes the London Irish rugby club as the starting point for his article, “Exile odyssey highlights need to welcome back all those in our extended green family”. He extends his concerns, however, to other sportspeople as well.
He notes that many of the London Irish rugby players with Irish names have gone on to play for England. He says it was a mistake that the Irish national team’s strategy in the past was to recruit mostly from Ireland. He says:
The London Irish kids have spent holidays back home and believe me the Irish in England are as Irish as any of us. And more so because their limited access to our culture makes the yearning and respect all the greater.
And before we move on let us praise the GAA, who do a marvellous job in nurturing and networking our emigrants and their offspring.
London Irish is the ideal medium for the second generation who choose England as their home country to express their Irishness. It’s a form of compromise. We would prefer if they declared for us.
Keane notes that “history and county of origin have developed different forms of Irishness”, and describes the warm welcome he received in Glasgow the day Celtic won the 2000 Scottish title.
He concludes:
So let us follow on from President Robinson and light a candle tonight and every night for all of our people, whatever the jersey’s colour.
Read the whole article on the Irish Independent’s website.
Member’s Query: Exemption from Irish
Thursday, May 8th, 2008We’ve had a query from one of our member groups regarding the exemption from the Irish language. This is an issue that may affect those who are returning to Ireland with school-aged children.
The Department of Education has a document outlining who may be exempted and the procedure for granting an exemption. The part that is applicable to returning emigrant children is as follows:
“ Pupils in the following circumstances may be allowed to substitute any other subject from the list of approved subjects for Irish for the purpose of Rule 21 (1) (a) and (b):-
(a) Pupils whose primary education up to 11 years of age was received in Northern Ireland or outside Ireland;
(b) Pupils who were previously enrolled as recognised pupils in a primary or second-level school who are being re-enrolled after a period spent abroad, provided that at least three years have elapsed since the previous enrolment in the State and the pupil is at least 11 years of age on re-enrolment;
The document gives the procedure for getting an exemption as well, which begins with a parent or guardian submitting a written application to the principal.
The document does note, however, that “[t]he second-level programme in Irish both current and planned has the capacity to cater for a wide diversity of ability”, so it seems to encourage parents to consider whether studying Irish may be suitable for their children.
See the Department of Education’s document on exemption from Irish.
On a related note, NY-born comedian Des Bishop, recently impressed TV viewers with his attempts to learn Irish for his RTE TV programme, “In the Name of the Fada”. Des came over to Ireland from NY as a teenager and has been making a name for himself as a keen observer of Irish life. He is now touring Ireland with a comedy show in Irish called “Teanga”.
See more about “In the Name of the Fada” and watch the show on the RTE website.
Study prompts call for global recommendations on use of autopsies
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008The Irish Independent is reporting that an upcoming study in the Irish Medical Journal will be the first examining the causes of Irish nationals abroad. The study looked at the cases of 20 people who died abroad and were repatriated to Ireland between 1998 and 2004.
The news report contains the rather sensationalist claim that “many people believed to have died accidentally abroad may actually have been murdered because their cause of death has not been recorded properly.” More than half had no cause of death recorded.
The State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy, has called for global recommendations on the use of autopsies. The newspaper quotes her as saying:
“When someone dies abroad, we have no control over what happens and often we just don’t know what we are dealing with. You either do a complete autopsy or you don’t. Coroners in Ireland are now very active in ensuring that repatriated bodies are subject to a full examination, but we are concerned that some homicides may be slipping through the net because of flawed autopsies or none at all. “
All bodies arriving in Dublin airport are automatically sent to the State Pathologist for examination. Domestic coroners, however, are not required to investigate the deaths of Irish citizens abroad.
In related news, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said that the number of Irish travellers dying abroad is increasing. Sixty people travelling abroad died in the first three months of this year. One-third of these deaths were in Spain, seven in the US, and five in Thailand. There were others in Italy, Ghana, Fiji, Argentina, Laos, China and the Middle East.
Minister Ahern said drugs and alcohol were a big factor in the deaths. He is predicting that if trends continue, there will be three hundred deaths this year, as opposed to 130 for all of last year.
Read the full articles:
Organs taken without consent from Irish who died abroad.
Minister warns of big rise in holiday deaths.
Emigrant chaplains featured on TG4
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008A four-part documentary is telling the stories of emigrant chaplains in Britain and the US. Séiplinigh na nImirceach, being aired on TG4 throughout May, tells the story of four members of the Emigrant Chaplaincy Scheme, which was set up in 1957 to serve emigrants in the US and Britain.
One of those interviewed is Ean board member Sr Attracta Heneghan, who worked with the Irish in Huddersfield. Also featured is Fr Michael Leonard, who works in Chicago.
See the information at the bottom to watch the programmes online.
The filmmakers say:
As Chaplains they were there to provide pastoral care to the emigrants but more often found themselves much more deeply involved in the lives of the emigrants than they could possibly have imagined. For many emigrants the Chaplain was seen as a first port of call, to sort accommodation, and employment and to deal with the difficulties many young Irish found themselves in in a strange land. In recent years, we have become very aware of our ‘Diaspora’ and their role in the development of today’s Ireland. In this series, the Chaplains have the opportunity to tell their own side of the emigration story. We also hear from the emigrants themselves, those who have stayed abroad and those who returned.
The programme also looks at parallels with new immigrant communities in Ireland.
The programme airs on Sunday nights at 9:30 throughout May. Here are the outlines for the individual programmes:
Programme 1 An taithí I Londain Sunday May 4th
Fr Tom Looney is currently Parish Priest of the Gaeltacht community of Dingle. As a young priest he was sent to London to work as an Emigrant Chaplain. Through his experiences we introduce the work of the Emigrant Chaplains and the importance of their role. We also draw parallels between his work London with Irish emigrants and the contemporary situation in Dingle for the new immigrant communities.
Programme 2 An taithí i Huddersfield – Sunday May 11th
The second programme in our series looks at the particular experiences of those who emigrated to Huddersfield in the North of England. Huddersfield always had a particular draw for emigrants from Connemara, and in recent years, Sr Attracta Heneghan worked with the older Irish emigrants who have settled there. Now back in Ireland, Attracta meets with Sr Marilyn, a Nigerian Nun who has come to Ireland to provide pastoral support for African immigrants who are settling here.
Programme 3 An taithí i Sasana – Sunday May 18th
Fr Gearoid Ó Griofa reflects on his work as an emigrant chaplain with particular responsibility for emigrants in London from Gaeltacht areas in the 1980’s. We examine how today’s chaplains in London are working with the elderly and often lonely Irish emigrants, the same generation which the original chaplains were sent to help 50 years ago. In his current role as PP in the suburbs of Galway Ó Griofa also comments on challenge of multicultural Ireland with examples of cooperation with local NGOs and foreign chaplains.
Programme 4 An taithí i Chicago – Sunday May 25th
Our fourth programme follows Fr Michael Leonard on his rounds in Chicago – a particularly Irish city. His brief is to work with newly arrived and undocumented Irish, but the old established Irish community (and their children) still welcome the connection with the Irish priest. We feature contributions from the older Irish-American community who had to leave Ireland and the newer generation who are in USA by choice.
Watch the programmes online! They are subtitled, in case your Irish is rusty. Here is how to find them:
- Go to www.tg4.tv.
- On the left, click on “Cláir Eile – Cartlann”
- Scroll down until you see each of the four episodes of “Séiplinigh na nImirceach”.