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    Emigration prominent in Ahern’s speech to Congress

    Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

    Bertie Ahern spoke movingly of the bond created by past generations of immigrants to the US in his historic speech to the joint session of the US Congress today. Ireland’s immigrant legacy in the US figured prominently in his speech, and he did not leave out a request for the US to resolve the plight of the Irish undocumented – a request that was applauded by his audience.

    The Taoiseach said:

    Whenever we have asked for help, America has always been there for us – a friend in good times and in bad.

    From the very outset, Ireland gave to America presidents, patriots and productive citizens of a new nation.

    Beginning with the Scots-Irish in the 17th and 18th centuries, they came from all corners of our island and from all creeds.

    The Irish helped to build America.

    The very bricks and stones in this unique building were quarried and carried by the hands of Irish immigrant labourers.

    A sculptor of Scots-Irish Descent, Thomas Crawford, created the figure of Freedom, the statue later raised to the top of this famous dome here on Capitol Hill.

    It reminds us all of the shared values of democracy and freedom which inspired both our journeys towards independence – the values that shine as a beacon of light and that stand strong as a city upon the hill among all the nations of the earth.

    That statue also tells our Irish immigrant story – a story which is an indelible part of America’s own story of immigration, of struggle and of success.

    The great waves of Irish immigration in the 19th century carried millions to your shores in flight from famine and despair.  They carried little with them as they arrived on these shores, except a determination to work hard and to succeed.

    In the words of the poet Eavan Boland, that eloquent voice of Ireland and America, they had

    “ Their hardships parcelled in them.
    Patience.  Fortitude.
    Long-suffering in the bruise-coloured dusk of the New World.
    And all the old songs.
    And nothing to lose. �

    To them, and the legions of others who came before and after, America was more than a destination.

    It was a destiny.

    We see that same spirit in the New Irish at home today – the many people from beyond our shores who are now making new lives in Ireland.  They too had the courage to come to a foreign place, to find their way and to provide for themselves, for their children and, in many cases, for their families far away.

    The New Ireland – once a place so many left – is now a place to which so many come.  These newcomers to our society have enriched the texture of our land and of our lives.

    We are working, as are you, to welcome those who contribute to our society as they lift up their own lives, while we also address the inevitable implications for our society, our culture, our community and our way of life.

    So we are profoundly aware of those challenges as we ask you to consider the case of our undocumented Irish immigrant community in the United States today.  We hope you will be able to find a solution to their plight that would enable them to regularise their status and open to them a path to permanent residency.

    There is of course a wider issue for Congress to address.  And it is your definitive right to address it in line with the interests of the American people.

    I welcome the wise words of your President when he addressed you on the State of the Union earlier this year and said he hoped to find a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally, to resolve a complicated issue in a way that upholds both America’s laws and her highest ideals.

    On this great issue of immigration to both our shores, let us resolve to make the fair and rational choices, the practical and decent decisions, so that in future people will look back and say:

    They chose well.

    They did what was right for their country.

    The Taoiseach is the sixth Irish leader to address a joint sitting of the US Congress. Another prominent theme of his speech was the issue of peace in Northern Ireland; Mr Ahern thanked the US for its role in the peace process.

    Irish-American publisher Niall O’Dowd welcomed the speech and said that it would be warmly welcomed by the Irish in America. He noted that work by the Irish government was continuing on the issue, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is in the US was conducting meetings on the issue.

    He continues his US visit with a trip to Boston tomorrow, where he will deliver a speech at Harvard University.

    See the entire text of the speech at the Emigrant.ie website

    Emigrant citizenship and diaspora policy: publications roundup

    Friday, April 25th, 2008

    The relationship between home countries and their diasporas is becoming increasingly the subject of research. A number of articles have been published recently exploring the nature of the relationship, and the way countries are responding to increasing globalisation and the changes that enhanced transport and communications technology have wrought in emigrant experience.

    Council of Europe documents related to expats and diaspora

    Irish documents of interest

    International documents

    Postal vote for overseas travellers, suggests report

    Thursday, April 24th, 2008

    Postal voting should be enhanced to accommodate those who are temporarily out of the country at election time, says an Oireachtas committee report on electoral procedures.

    The report, “The Future of the Electoral Register in Ireland and Related Matters”, was published yesterday. Produced by the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, it is aimed at reforming the electoral register. It suggests the need for a single national commission to take over the electoral register from the 34 local authorities currently managing it. It also calls for the use of a PPS number instead of the current system, which is based on household address, as a way of eliminating duplicate registrations, fraud, and confusion over where individuals are registered.

    On the issue of voting from outside the country, the report says

    Improved measures should be introduced to facilitate people who are out of the country (holidays, work, etc) or where people are sick and cannot physically attend the polling station. Such new enhancements would need to take account of security and anti-fraud measures.

    The report calls for legislation to be drafted to “[e]stablish a more comprehensive postal voting for system for people who cannot attend polling stations”.

    Currently, the postal vote is reserved for members of the Defence Forces, the Garda Siochana, and Irish diplomats posted overseas, and their spouses. Sick and disabled people who cannot get to the polling station, and students studying away from home may also vote by post.

    Why is this of interest to emigrants? Because the development of a postal vote that can be used by overseas travellers may normalise the phenomenon of voting from abroad, while establishing the infrastructure that may at some time in the future be used to allow emigrants to vote.

    So it’s a step that would be of interest to those who would support emigrant voting rights, although there is no movement yet toward widening out the franchise beyond those who are ordinarily resident in the state.

    See the full report on the Oireachtas website.

    Author seeks stories from workers in British construction

    Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

    Ean member and author Ultan Cowley has put out a call for information as he researches his new book.

    In his own words:

    DID YOU EVER WORK IN BRITISH CONSTRUCTION?

    In 2001 I wrote a history of the Irish in British construction, The Men who built Britain, and now I want to publish the stories of those who were there – in their own words.

    In Britain almost half a million Irishmen worked in construction. On hydro dams, power stations, oil terminals and motorways. Many lived in camps, often in remote locations, working long hours for Wimpey, Tarmac, or MacAlpine, following the Big Money and sending what they hadn’t ‘subbed’ back home to families in Ireland.

    In London, Birmingham, Manchester and elsewhere other Irishmen were working, often on ‘The Lump’, for Irish contractors renewing and expanding the utilities – telephones, water, gas and electricity.

    The pub was their labour exchange. Although working in the public eye theirs was a hidden world: of gangers, agents, publicans and landladies whose whims and vagaries set out their everyday existence. They moved between the pubs, the digs, the dancehalls, ‘caffs’ and roadside ‘Stands’ where ‘Skins‘ were hired each day by gangermen who judged them by their boots.

    Those who were there remember ‘Tunnel Tigers’, ‘Heavy Diggers’, and ‘McAlpine’s Fusiliers’; ‘Hen Houses’, ‘Cock Lodgers’, and ‘Landladies’ Breakfasts’; ‘Pincher Kiddies’, ‘Long Distance Men’, and ‘Shackling Up’; ‘Dead Men’, ‘Walking Pelters’, and ‘Murphy’s Volunteers’; ‘The Shamrock’, ‘The Galtymore’, ‘The Buffalo’ and ‘The Crown’; exile and isolation and loneliness and despair…

    If you were there, and have a tale to tell, please contact Ultan Cowley at

    The Potter’s Yard

    Rathangan

    Duncormick

    Co. Wexford

    Email: ultan.cowley@gmail.com

    “White Cargo” tells of forgotten slave trade involving Irish

    Thursday, April 17th, 2008

    The little-known story of the white slave trade from Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries has been told in a new book. White Cargo by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh has been published by Mainstream Publishing. It tells how British authorities rounded up the impoverished and the criminal and sent them to colonies in the Americas. The Irish were included in the transportations, which involved thousands.

    Many children were sent over, and the overwhelming majority died. Many died of disease, while others were cruelly beaten to death for discipline infractions.

    Pat Kenny spoke with one of the authors on today’s programme.

    See “White Cargo” on the Amazon.co.uk website.

    Clinton, Obama campaigns take Irish slants

    Thursday, April 17th, 2008

    The Irish interest in the Democratic primary continues, with several developments of Irish interest from both campaigns in the last week.

    Senator Hillary Clinton appeared last week at the first of three Irish-American Presidential Forums. She spoke on a variety of issues, including her belief in the Northern Ireland peace process and her commitment to a strong economic partnership between the US and Ireland.

    On immigration, Clinton said she sought comprehensive immigration reform:

    “There are an estimated 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the United States,” Clinton said.

    She said that as president she would work with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and other advocacy groups to put the undocumented on a path to legalization as part of comprehensive reform.

    She spoke of her passion for Irish issues, and her plan to dedicate herself to Ireland’s progress in her presidency:

    “I was asked if I would commit to visiting Ireland and Northern Ireland during my first term in office. What a hardship,” she said to loud laughter.

    “I have visited Northern Ireland six times as first lady and a senator and I am always looking for an excuse to go back. So I will as president travel to Ireland and Northern Ireland to honor the strong and deep relationship between our peoples. We have shared values, common aspirations, a bond that it unbreakable and presidential visits are a special part of reinforcing that bond.”

    Read full coverage in the Irish Echo.  

     Meanwhile, Irish-American supporters of Barack Obama have taken out an ad in the Irish Echo to proclaim their support for the candidate, and to condemn media claims that the ‘white working class’ opposes him.  “The Irish American Writers and Artists Association”, a group of 22 Irish-born and Irish-American creative types, say

    “We are the descendants of the generations of Irish American working-class women and men who helped build this country, nurse its sick, care for its children, work its mines, fight its wars and police its streets. We wholeheartedly endorse Barack Obama in his quest for the Presidency of the United States.”

    Several of the group are quoted in the Irish Echo article as condemning the media’s use of the term “white working class” as a code for racism.  The report says:

    The signing group, 22 in number, write that “generations of progressive Irish Americans and African Americans” had worked side by side in the struggle to improve conditions for the poor and working class, whatever their color or ethnicity.

    “We reiterate our commitment to this struggle in our enthusiastic endorsement of Obama as the surest way to stop the destructive drift in our nation’s foreign and domestic policies, and return dignity, tolerance, compassion and intelligence to the White House. We proudly stand with Barack Obama,” they state.

    English, author of “Westies” and “Paddywhacked,” and among those behind the initiative said the signatories believed Obama represented the continuation and culmination of the struggle for civil rights that JFK helped to foster and for which Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy gave their lives.

    “We will not sit idly by while the term ‘white working class’ becomes a kind of code for “Irish working class bigotry,'” English said.

    See the entire article.

    See Irish Americans for Obama website.

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