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    Awards system would include Diaspora

    Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

    The Taoiseach is considering an honours system that would formally recognise outstanding achievements by Irish citizens. The proposed system was discussed in Question Time in the Dail yesterday.

    The Taoiseach said that the Irish abroad would be eligible under his proposed system:

    The system should be capable of applying to citizens, the diaspora and others who have made a significant contribution at international level or in Ireland. It should operate, and be seen to operate, transparently and independently. If we ever go ahead with this scheme, it should be open and not discriminate against anybody from any walk of life or class, creed or location. It should be an honour capable of being achieved by any citizen so that there is no elitism, as in some countries, attached to it. While a broad range of service achievements could be covered, I am particularly anxious that exceptional service for the betterment of the community would be included.

    He also noted that some Irish people were being honoured by the British government, and said that some had expressed to him that they would rather be honoured in their own country.

    An awards system that would recognise the contributions of the Irish abroad was one of the recommendations of the Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants, which made its report in 2002:

    4.15 The Task Force considers that there should be a formal system for acknowledging the contributions made by Irish people and groups in other countries. The Task Force recommends the establishment of an Awards Scheme to recognise exceptional or distinguished service by Irish people overseas. Such awards could be made annually by the President on the advice of the Government and include those who have achieved distinction in a range of fields including community service, culture, sport, business and education.

    See the full Task Force Report on Policy Regarding Emigrants.

    See the proceedings of Question Time on the Oireachtas website.

    ILIR leader takes aim at critic

    Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

    The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform has taken a strong stance against views expressed last week in an Irish Times article by US-Ireland Alliance director Trina Vargo that campaigners should not seek a bilateral agreement to regularise the status of the Irish in the US.

    In today’s Irish Times, Irish-American publisher Niall O’Dowd, who heads up the group, called last week’s article “deeply offensive”. He noted the strength of the ILIR membership, which numbers 17,000.

    He also noted that several countries, including Nicaragua, Chile and Singapore, along with Australia, have made special agreements involving visas, saying, “Far from preventing others immigrate, a bilateral deal may well show how, in this current toxic atmosphere, the issue of undocumented can be dealt with in a creative way by different countries”.

    See the full text of the article on the Irish Times website (subscription required).

    Additionally, ILIR director Kelly Fincham wrote an article in yesterday’s Irish Independent reporting on the way the recent US-Ireland forum covered the issue of the undocumented.

    See the full text of that article on the Irish Independent website.

    Over 1600 Irish refused benefits under HRC

    Monday, November 19th, 2007

    There were 1,629 Irish citizens and returning emigrants that have been refused welfare benefits under the habitual residency condition, according to a report by Carl O’Brien in today’s Irish Times.

    Emigrant Advice staff member Joe O’Brien says that the situtaion is detrimental to those intending to return:

    “It’s something that needs to be tackled immediately because it’s unacceptable that returning Irish emigrants should be refused the safety and the protection of the welfare system on their return.

    “The restrictions are unfair because they don’t take into account how long a person may have lived her prior to the welfare rules changing. As a result, we’ve asked the department to make alterations to the application of the habitual residency condition.”

    The report says the Department of Social and Family Affairs said 90% of returning emigrants have their applications accepted. Emigrant Advice says they know of a number of returning emigrants and missionaries who have been refused social assistance.

    Michael Ring on emigrants in US, Britain

    Friday, November 16th, 2007

    Mayo TD Michael Ring, the Fine Gael Spokesperson for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, has debated Trina Vargo of the US-Ireland Alliance over her objections to the campaign for a bilateral agreement to legalise the status of undocumented Irish in the US. Mr Ring took a strong stance in support of the campaign; he tabled last week’s motion in the Dail seeking to support such a bilateral agreement.

    Meanwhile, the Mayo Advertiser is reporting that he will use his new position in the British-Irish Parliamentary Body to work on behalf of Irish emigrants in Britain. “I will be speaking to my counterparts in Britain to try to help the Irish in Britain who have been struggling,� he told the paper.

    Hear the clip from the News at One.

    Ean quoted in Irish Echo story on US-Ireland Forum

    Friday, November 16th, 2007

    Ean has received a mention in the Irish Echo’s article on the US-Ireland Forum.

    The article, by Stephen McKinley, describes the events of the conference.

    The relevant quote:

    “It’s an exciting time to be involved with Diaspora issues,” said Noreen Bowden, a first-generation Irish New Yorkers who lives in Dublin, and is director of the Emigrant Advice Network. Summing up her feelings about the forum’s success, she welcomed the news that the forum would be organized again next year.

    “One thing that cropped up a few times was the idea of political participation; giving emigrants some voice in the political process is something that Ireland should probably revisit now,” Bowden said. “Almost every other developed nation in the world allows its emigrants to vote, even if living permanently in another country.”

    See the entire article from the Irish Echo.

    US campaigner has dim hopes for reform

    Friday, November 16th, 2007

    Also in the Irish Times today is an interview with US immigration campaigner Frank Sharry, who talks to the paper’s migration correspondent, Ruadhan Mac Cormaic.

    Sharry is executive director of the National Immigration Forum, offers an extremely pessimistic view of the prospect for immigration reform, saying that it may be ten years before a solution could be politically viable. He says the situation developed into a ‘culture war’, and the debate became racialised and deeply polarised. He noted that vocal anti-immigrant groups had always existed, but “what has changed is that one of the two major parties in the country has embraced them”. He added, “And so now there’s going to be probably two or three election cycles in which this issue gets played out in the electoral arena”.

    Even if a Democratic president were to be elected, Sharry says, the issue is so “radioactive” that it would be unlikely that immigration reform would be addressed early in the term.

    Sharry actually said that he would support the Irish Government’s efforts to secure a bilateral agreement to benefit the Irish among the undocumented, though he doubts it will succeed:

    “I would be supportive of it, but I don’t see its viability, because people on the right will label it an amnesty and people on the left will say, ‘how come these white immigrants are going to get status rather than many others?'” .

    Read the entire interview on the Irish Times website (subscription required).

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