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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Ean presents curriculum project
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007Ean presented our curriculum project as a work-in-progress at the annual conference of the History Teachers’ Association of Ireland on Saturday, the 6th of October.
The curriculum project is aimed at helping Transition-Year teachers to teach about emigration and the diaspora. It includes a course outline, primary-source documents, a list of resources, and sample exercises. Several teachers have volunteered to pilot the project later this school year.
Download the project outline and resource list.
Ean Chair visits Australian Irish
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Ean Chair Alan Hilliard, who is also Director of the Irish Bishop’s Commission for Emigrants, visited Australia this month for family reasons, but while he was there he visited with members of the Irish community. He spoke of how in a strange way their object was to be idle, but that their hands-on support is in fact vital to ensure that difficult situations do not deteriorate.
“There is no formula other than human goodness, focused motivation, common sense and a cultural sensitivity that offers support and ultimately makes a difference,” he said. He also spoke of the “tyranny of distance” that can be lessened by better communication and interaction.
Depression among emigrants rooted in Ireland, say researchers
Sunday, September 30th, 2007The origins of depression among many Irish emigrants in Britain are located in Ireland or in difficult life circumstances, rather than the experience of migration, according to recently published research.
The researchers behind “Explanations of depression among Irish migrants in Britain” said they had hypothesised that the explanations for psychological distress may have been related to unprepared or spontaneous migration. After interviewing Irish-born migrants living in London, they found that this theory was not supported.
The article’s abstract is online at sciencedirect.com, where the whole article may be purchased.
Emigrant film an Oscar nominee?
Thursday, September 20th, 2007A film featuring the experience of Connemara emigrants in London has been nominated by an Irish jury to be put forward for the Oscars. The film, produced and directed by Tom Collins, is a bilingual Irish-English production. It is the first Irish-language film to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Kings is a heart-breaking depiction of a group of young men who leave Galway in the 1970s for London. Thirty years later, the men, in varying states of homesickness, hopelessness and addiction, meet up for the wake of the youngest of the group.
Director Collins told the BBC that it was “a universal story – it’s not just about Paddies… I know it is always dangerous to have messages in films, but I hope people will watch Kings and empathise with the whole experience of emigrants in a foreign land and how hard it is for them to find their way home.”
The film has already won Ireland’s Directors Finders Series; it will be screened in Los Angeles on 28 September to an audience of potential US distributors.
Should Ireland welcome its diaspora home?
Monday, September 10th, 2007Irish commentator David McWilliams is calling for the Irish diaspora to be welcomed to a “New Hibernia” in his upcoming book, The Generation Game. He is calling for descendants of Irish emigrants to be welcomed back for the economic and cultural health of Ireland.
In an excerpt from the new book published in yesterday’s Sunday Business Post, McWilliams says,
There are 3.5 million Irish citizens living outside the country. But the greater diaspora is considerably bigger. In economic terms, the 70 millionstrong Irish tribe is the 21st-century equivalent of a huge oil deposit.
In the same way as oil guarantees Saudi Arabia’s future, the Irish tribe could be the key to Ireland’s prosperity in the next century. Unlike oil, because the tribe exists inside the minds of millions of Irish people around the world, if we cultivate it properly, it is a resource that won’t run out.
It is time to see the island of Ireland in the 21st century as the cradle of a global nation.
This nation extends all over the world, gelled together by the shared experience of previous generations.
We should institute a ‘‘right of return’’ policy and extend citizenship to people of Irish descent, extending beyond the present cut-off point of two generations. This would create a strong bond between the tribe and the mother country.
McWilliams says that Ireland’s diaspora are a “soft power” that will give the nation competitive advantage while reinforcing cultural identity. Noting Ireland’s long tradition of emigrant remittances, he calls it “the right thing to do” – but this human resource could become “the largest sales force in the world, selling Ireland first to themselves and then to others”.
He believes that tapping into the economic might of the diaspora and its potential workforce could develop the economy while allowing Ireland to retain a sense of cultural uniqueness. Ireland would still be open to other European workers, so “the idea threatens no one”.
He notes that the opportunity will dissipate if Ireland does not move quickly. With emigration on the decline, Irish communities abroad are no longer being replenished: “Without active guardianship from the home country, the tribe will not flourish, and in a few generations, this extraordinary opportunity will dissipate”.
He concludes with Article 2 of the Irish Constitution, which says, ‘‘the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage”. McWilliams adds, “Let’s make this ‘special affinity’ a reality by calling them home”.
Read the article on the Sunday Business Post website.
RTE gives details of global All-Ireland broadcasting
Thursday, August 30th, 2007RTE Radio has announced that its All-Ireland Hurling and Football Final coverage will be broadcast to Irish people living abroad in countries across Europe, Africa and the Far East.
In Africa and the Far East, the finals will be on shortwave. Across most of Britain, listeners will get coverage on LongWave 252. Most of Europe can hear the finals on DRM; RTE is broadcasting the finals on DRM for the second year in a row.
Audio coverage will also be available worldwide on www.rte.ie/sport.
The broadcaster notes:
The service is part of RTE’s continued commitment to Irish people overseas, particularly in geographically or technically isolated areas.
The hurling final takes place on 2 September and the football final takes place on 16 September.
See full details of the All-Ireland broadcast on the RTE website.
For more information on RTE’s global coverage visit the broadcaster’s website.
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