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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Stop misleading the undocumented, says Taoiseach
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008The Irish Voice has published a statement from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on the recent controversy over the campaign on behalf of the undocumented.
The Irish Voice is the New York Irish-American newspaper published by Niall O’Dowd, a leading campaigner in the fight to legalise undocumented immigrants and one of the founders of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. The ILIR has criticised statements by the Taoiseach last month that those campaigning for the undocumented were “sitting in the bar and talking nonsense”. He also suggested that the Irish-American reformers were seeking ‘amnesty’, a claim the ILIR denies.
In his statement, Taoiseach Ahern says that he will pay tribute to the Irish community in the US in his speech to Congress on April 30. He continues:
In my address, I will also once again emphasize the government’s strong support for the undocumented Irish. In doing so, I will be making a further direct intervention on an issue to which, rightly and very willingly, I have given unprecedented priority during my time in office.
I firmly believe that the government’s record on behalf of the undocumented and all our emigrants in the United States is second to none.
The Taoiseach then outlines Government efforts on behalf of the undocumented, and notes that Congressional contacts have given the Government advice that “it will be exceptionally difficult to build the necessary political support for such a measure during the period of the presidential election campaign. We may not like this advice, but we cannot ignore it or wish it away.”
The Taoiseach notes that no other country has secured a bilateral visa deal with the US that would be open to undocumented citizens.
He adds,Â
The issue of the undocumented Irish has been a priority for this government not for any selfish reason or for political advantage — because there is little or none — but because we are committed to helping those of our citizens who have found themselves in this unfortunate position.
Mr Ahern concluded his piece by stating, “We will continue to press the case for change and look forward to working with the many organisations in the US who have worked hard on behalf of the undocumented. We should and must work together”.
Read the entire document on the Irish Voice website.
The ILIR has issued a response, which is available on the Irish Voice website.
Repatriation of bodies through Shannon to resume
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008Aer Lingus has reinstated the service of repatriating remains through Shannon Airport from London-Heathrow. The service had ended in January, with the ending of direct flights between the two airports. The move will benefit loved ones in the West of Ireland who for the last few months have had to travel to Dublin or Cork to receive repatriated remains.
London-based funeral directors Patrick Ryan and Daughter said that they will now begin repatriating remains by flying them to Dublin late at night, and then transporting them on the last leg on to Shannon on one of two early-morning transatlantic flights. Patrick Ryan, a native of Cappamore, County Limerick, said that “There is no doubt that the loss of the repatriation service to the West of Ireland did add to the distress of families at a very vulnerable time.” He continued:
“Traditionally many Irish born people living throughout Britain express a wish to be buried in Ireland when they die. And up until the removal of the direct service between Shannon and Heathrow it was fairly common practice to fly remains over from Britain. Indeed, the bodies of Irish people who died elsewhere in Europe were also repatriated through Shannon via Heathrow.”
Councillor Patricia McCarthy, the Mayor of Clare, welcomed the move, adding, “Following this announcement, we in the West of Ireland will continue to lobby for the resumption of direct flights between Shannon and Heathrow in the not-to-distant future.”
Holiday-makers and business travellers may get absentee ballots
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008The Irish times is reporting that An Oireachtas committee will propose that people abroad on holidays or business at election time should be allowed to vote.
The report says the recommendation will be proposed as part of a series of suggested changes to the electoral register to be proposed by the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Committee. It will also recommend that a National Electoral Office should be established to take responsibility for an accurate voting register away from local authorities.
The report of the committee will be released on 16 April. It will then be up to the Minister for the Environment to make a decision on the next steps.
Currently, Ireland does not allow for any form of voting from outside the country, apart from for those involved in diplomatic service. About 115 countries now allow voting from abroad, with most of those nations allowing their emigrants to vote.
See Ean’s factsheet on external voting.
See the report in the Irish Times (subscription required).
Ahern lists end of forced emigration among accomplishments
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in yesterday’s speech announcing his intent to resign on May 6, listed the end of forced emigration among his accomplishments. He said:
In looking back on all the things I wanted to achieve in politics, I am proud that as Taoiseach I have:
- delivered on my objective to bring the peace process to fruition;
- delivered on my objective to see a stable administration based on the power-sharing model take root in Northern Ireland;
- delivered successive social partnership agreements which underpin our social and economic progress;
- delivered a modern economy with sustainable growth in employment and brought an end to the days of forced emigration;
- delivered on my objective to improve and to secure Ireland’s position as a modern, dynamic and integral part of the European Union.
 Read the entire speech on the Department of the Taoiseach’s website.Â
Gay couples want to return: Irish Times
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008An American researcher has said that recognising same-sex partnerships would allow Ireland to reap economic benefits by increasing the number of well-educated returnees. Currently, Ireland does not recognise gay relationships and its immigration law does not allow for Irish citizens to bring their non-marital partners with them if they move home.
Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at the Williams Institute in UCLA, says that there are at least 1,173 same-sex couples in the US that include an Irish partner. He found most Irish people in a US-based same-sex partnership are women, highly educated, and with an average age of 40. One in seven are raising children.
Gates told the Irish Times that more than 40% have a college education, as compared to an average of 30% for other Irish immigrants in the US. He says:
In that sense, you’re getting some level of economic benefit. But I actually think that the bigger benefits come in terms of the fact that Ireland is an economy that has quite a few global companies that need to be able to move their personnel around easily across national borders.
I think that legal recognition, at least for one section of their employees, for gay and lesbian people . . . both in a very practical way but also as a signal to employers that says, ‘we’re making this as easy as we can for you and this is just one obstacle we’re taking out of your way,’ I think all of that has positive economic benefits.
The Times article, written by Denis Staunton, also highlighted the situation of American Annie Rogers and Irish-born Ã?de O’Carroll, a couple in their 50s who are finding it difficult to plan for their retirement move from Amherst, Massachusetts to Lismore, Co. Waterford, where they own a home. Annie can only stay for three months at a time. The couple got married in Massachusetts in 2005 but their relationship is not recognised in Ireland. Ã?de says,
We are in some respects inhibited from having the kind of life we want to have by the sort of immigration legislation that’s in place because of the nature of our same-sex marriage and relationship. Were we heterosexual, we could both be dual citizens and navigate both places freely and choose to live where we want.
Ã?de also noted her belief that Irish society is more ready for recognising gay partnerships than politicians believe:
My experience in Ireland has been very, very positive, as somebody who works as an ‘out’ person, with family and friends living in a small town in Ireland. So I think it’s a question of the politicians not reading the climate of change in a way that I think that they should.
 Read the entire article (subscription required).
See Ean’s factsheet on the issue of gay partnerships and return migration.
Irish could lose right to vote in Britain
Monday, March 31st, 2008New Irish immigrants to Britain may no longer be entitled to vote in British elections if reform proposals contained in the Goldsmith Report are approved. News reports say, however, that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is likely to reject the controversial proposal.
Peter Goldsmith, a former Attorney General, made the suggestion as part of a wide-ranging study on enhancing British citizenship. He says that Irish and Commonwealth citizens should be denied the vote in Westminster elections, but still be allowed to vote in local, European and devolved elections. He says,
there are two particular issues in relation to Irish citizens. First, the Good Friday Agreement confirms the right of the people of Northern Ireland to take either British or Irish citizenship or both. Anyone who exercises their right under the Agreement to identify themselves as Irish and to take up Irish citizenship should not lose their right to vote in Westminster elections as a result of any change made to restrict voting rights to UK citizens. Hence it would be necessary to distinguish this group of Irish citizens from others. I have not been able to examine the different practical means of doing this but this would have to be part of further consideration of the issue. My proposal is dependent on finding a satisfactory means of distinguishing the two categories in a way that did not affect the position of those exercising rights under the Good Friday Agreement.
Secondly, Ireland is of course a member state of the EU as well. This means that Irish citizens would retain the voting rights that other citizens of EU member states have in the UK. Hence the extent of the change that I am proposing as it relates to Irish citizens is to restrict their right to vote in Westminster elections, while retaining their right to vote in European, local and devolved elections. Also, as I have said, the restriction of the right to vote in Westminster elections should be phased, so that no person who is already resident or registered to vote in the UK loses the right to vote.
The proposal has been strongly criticised by groups working with the Irish in Britain. Fr Gerry McFlynn of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas said:
« Previous Entries Next Entries »If one is serious about acknowledging the special relationship and historic ties between Britain and Ireland, what is needed is a proposal which ensures that Irish people living in the UK, as well as both parts of Ireland, are entitled to vote in all elections, including the Westminster elections.The oath of allegiance to the Queen has been described as an empty gesture and it will not be popular with the nationalist population in Northern Ireland.
It is hard to see what purpose can be served by visiting such procedures on sections of the population other than to create problems for the future.