ITLG founder calls for high-level outreach to Irish abroad
Friday, March 20th, 2009A group of high-level Irish representatives should be gathered to reach out to the Irish diaspora to assist in economic development, says an Irish-American founder of the San Francisco-based Irish Technology Leadership Group.
Tom McEnery, a former mayor of San Jose, is quoted in the Sunday Business Post as saying,
It is now time to assemble the best and most significant Irish representatives – like President McAleese, key government and Enterprise Ireland people, U2, Seamus Heaney and the Abbey players as well as certain chief executives – to help Ireland in these tough times.
If these representatves reached out to successful second- and third-generation Irish around the world, then a rich vein of relationships that could achieve real results would be initiated.
McEnry said that the focus of Irish outreach efforts needs to shift from the traditional centres of Irish-American power:
Politicians need to make more visits to Silicon Valley, where there are 700,000 technology workers – and less to Washington, New York and Chicago.
Silicon Valley is successsful because of the Californian government’s investment in universities, the development of a proper transport network via public-private partnerships, and the availability of capital to support enterprise ventures.
Ireland has good universities, but it hasn’t achieved the others to the extent that is needed, and that is where the focus needs to be now. Ireland has come a long way in the last 20 years, and everything that can be done now to sustain that must be done.
Related websites:
Sunday Business Post: Irish diaspora must be tapped for support
Taoiseach launches strategic review of Irish-US relations
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009Taoiseach Brian Cowan has launched a major review of Ireland-US relations entitled “Ireland and America: Challenges and Opportunities in a New Context”. The report was initiated following a visit by the Taoiseach to New York last year. It is the first significant review of diplomatic relations with the United States since the 1930s.
The report is an ambitious one, setting out the following key objectives:
- A revitalised relationship between Ireland and the United States, shaped to meet the challenges of a new era
- A strong and mutually beneficial economic partnership
- A deep and enduring engagement with the Irish diaspora in the US
- A vibrant Irish community with new possibilities for young people to work, gain experience and live in the United States
- A strong partnership with the Irish American community and with US authorities in caring for the ‘forgotten Irish’
- Continued strong partnership with US Administration and Congress in support of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement
The Taoiseach has outlined a number of key initiatives:
- a new Ireland-US Strategic Policy Group, chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, which will oversee implementation and report directly to the Taoiseach
- A new Irish American Leadership Council
- Extended diplomatic representation in the US, with, in the first instance, a new Consulate in Atlanta, GA and later in Houston, TX
Expansion of the Honorary Consul network - Development and expansion of business networks to support Irish jobs and take advantage of new economic opportunities
- A reinforcement of the Embassy’s capacity to promote economic relations
- Development of bilateral dialogue foreign policy dialogue with the US on issues ranging from development assistance, human rights, disarmament and non-proliferation to conflict resolution
- Develop targeted engagement with individual US states
- Development of Ireland-US bilateral visa arrangements with a new reciprocal and renewable 2-year working visa arrangement, a reenergised J1 visa programme and a long term solution for the undocumented
- encouragement of new online links for Irish communities and the wider diaspora in the US
- A new certificate of Irish ancestry for Americans seeking formal acknowledgement of their Irish roots
- A fast-track naturalisation regime for those with Irish great-grandparents who have studied in Ireland
- Improved on-line access to genealogical records
- Annual arrangements to commemorate the Famine in the US
- A new leadership development programme to connect emerging leaders in US with counterparts in Ireland
- Improved coordination of activities by Irish universities and Higher Education institutes
- Expanded internship programme for US students with reciprocal placements for Irish students
- Enhanced secondary school linkages and the development of curriculum materials in both the US and Ireland
- Support for growing Irish studies programmes and development of an annual Summer School focussing on aspects of the Irish story in America
- Officer exchange programme between the US State Department and Department of Foreign Affairs
- A dedicated education officer in the Embassy in Washington
- A series of high-profile Irish cultural events in 2011
- Investment in existing Irish-American cultural infrastructure, especially in New York.
Related websites:
- Department of the Taoiseach
- Press release: Taoiseach launches strategic review of Ireland-US relations
- Speech by an Taoiseach at American Irish Historical Society in New York: Ireland and America – Re-energising a critical relationship
US-based tech leaders support Irish business
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009The Irish Technology Leadership group, a San Francisco-based group of technology executives, are eager to lend their support to Ireland’s economy, according to an article in TechCentral.ie.
John Hartnett, the group’s chair, told the publication that the Irish abroad can play a key role in dealing with the current economic crisis:
“It’s not just an Irish problem; it’s a worldwide problem. Ireland needs to reach out to each part of the diaspora that can help it to be successful.”
The ITLGis comprised of 500 members, all at executive and CEO level. The group is hosting an event in Silicon Valley this month that will bring six firms selected at its “Siclicon Valley comes to Ireland” event in November to meet with senior executives from US-based businesses.
The ITLG is working with the IDA and Invest NI to better compete in Silicon Valley. The article says:
Ireland is going to have to compete in a different way. The first thing is to get the brand right,” he argues, by positioning Ireland as a high-value country and an innovator on the leading edge of technology.”Inward investment is hugely imporant, but we must stand on two legs and make Irish companies multi-million firms. Israel ahs 66 companise listed on Nasdaq; Ireland has four. We have got to be able to compete up the food chain and up the value chain. “
Hartnett also says that the group is encouraging Irish politicians to meet with industry leaders in the valley, and assisting government and educational institutions to understand how to innovate and win business more successfully.
The ITLG is hosting its Silicon Valley Awards 2009 ceremony on 14 April at Stanford University in California, with Tanaiste Mary Coughlan as keynote speaker.
Related links:
- Need to accelerate quest for Ireland, Inc. (TechCentral.ie)
- Irish Technology Leadership Group
- Speech by Taoiseach at “Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland” meeting at Trinity College, November 2008
Homecoming Scotland welcomes Scottish diaspora
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008Deomonstrating the increasing efforts of nations to reach out to their global communities, Scotland is welcoming home its diaspora this year with a series of events comprising “Homecoming Scotland”. It’s Scotland’s first-ever “homecoming year”, and organisers are celebrating poet Robbie Burn’s 250th birthday as a focal point. They are also highlighting “some of Scotland’s great contributions to the world: golf, whisky, great minds and innovations and Scotland’s rich culture and heritage.” It’s a dynamic programme: there’s a “Celtic Connections” programme featuring a concert of traditional songs that have crossed the Atlantic with Scottish and Irish emigrants over the last 300 years, as well as a Jamaican carnival celebrating Burns Night. The website also includes information on the contributions of the Ulster Scots around the globe. May will be “Whisky Month”. The world’s biggest clan gathering will take place in July in Edinburgh. There is also a “My Special Place” competition, inviting visitors to photograph their favourite place. The director of the Scottish Centre of Diaspora studies, Tom Devine, however, has criticised the event for focusing too heavily on the North American tourist market. Noting the scale of Scottish emigration throughout 700 years to mainland Europe and Ulster, Professor Devine told the Times,
They should have had an over-arching umbrella statement about the sheer scale of migration. This was a golden opportunity to demonstrate to the world and to the Scottish people themselves what is a remarkable global experience. If you go back to the 13th century, right up to the present, the really enormous Scottish diaspora has been to Europe, but Europe hasn’t been invited to this.
Professor Devine also noted, “American Scots have not retained the same level of expatriate ethnic identity as Irish Americans. They assimilated quickly.” Homecoming Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative managed by EventScotland in partnership with VisitScotland. Related links:
- Homecoming Scotland 2009
- Diaspora in Europe ‘real homecoming story’ (The Times)
- Heritage, homecoming and haggis (Boston Globe)
Jamaica, US region look to Irish diaspora experience
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008An interesting example of Irish leadership in diaspora thinking took place in New York recently, when Niall Burgess, the Ambassador and Consul General of Ireland to the USA, spoke at the Jamaican consulate on the Irish-American experience. The event was the first in a series of conversations with business and community leaders “aimed at inspiring critical thinking about the development of the Jamaican Diaspora Movement”.
Ambassador Burgess spoke along with Moet Hennessy Chief Operating Officer Jim Clerkin in the event, titled “From immigrant community to Diaspora movement, the Irish Americans: a case study”.
The event is one of a series of events hosted by the Jamaican Consul General in collaboration with the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board/NE USA and the Organisation for International Development. The next event in the series will focus on the Indian experience.
Related sites:
And on a related note, Ireland’s experience is helping to inform Pittsburgh’s attempts to keep in touch with its own exiles. The rust belt city has faced outward migration in recent years, and possesses an ’emigrant community’ of loyal former residents.
See this blog entry by geographer and social theorist Jim Russell at the Pittsburgh Quarterly : it references David McWilliams’s diaspora ideas and the Donegal Diaspora Network.
Russell has set up an extremely informative website called “Cleveburgh Diaspora” about the Cleveland-Pittsburgh Diaspora. There is much of worth here about topics such as brain drain, attracting returnees, and encouraging investment from area natives living away.
Visit the Cleveburgh Diaspora website
Mexico works to deepen links with diaspora
Monday, November 24th, 2008The Associated Press has an interesting report on Mexico’s preparations to solidify its ties with its diaspora. Mexico’s emigrants are responsible for the second-largest source of foreign income after oil exports through their remitances. The Mexican government has long expected the remittance stream from its emigrants in the US to dry up someday, so they began to take a more pro-active stance in the relationship with their diaspora in the early 1980s.
The Mexican government set up the “Institute of Mexicans Abroad” in 2003. Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, the executive director says, “They’ve tried to take a much more proactive stance with these communities, with the recognition that they might not be coming back”.
The article says:
The institute supports education and cultural programs for Mexican immigrants and their families in the U.S., including Spanish classes, a program that sends Mexican teachers to U.S. districts with a shortage of bilingual educators, donations of Spanish language materials to U.S. schools and libraries, and literacy initiatives for adult immigrants in the U.S.
Other programs are aimed at the children of immigrants – many whom may have been to Mexico – that include sponsoring soccer tournaments, cultural programs, youth exchanges and academic scholarships.
Gutierrez said the Mexican government wants to emphasize to immigrants that it doesn’t just view them as revenue streams for the estimated $23 billion they have pumped into the economy yearly over the past few years.
The Mexican government has also expanded consular services, extending hours and adding mobile services. It has also made changes to allow for dual citizenship and emigrant voting rights.
Further reading:
« Previous Entries Next Entries »