Tara protest group to mobilise Irish abroad
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009The group campaigning against the building of a road close to the Hill of Tara is planning to mobilise 50,000 supporters abroad to make protests as government ministers attend St Patrick’s Day functions around the world.
TaraWatch says that demonstrators will appear in places such as San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Paris, where ministers will be representing the goverment. Minister for Energy and Communications Noel Dempsey and Green Party members are the primary targets, a spokesperson told the Irish Times, but “every minister in almost every city will be hearing about Tara again”.
He also said told the paper that the Irish abroad are “especially furious and this is becoming an annual ritual, in cities around the world.” He added, “If the Government wants to engage the diaspora, they [should] seek help in finding a solution to the M3”.
Related links:
Tara group plans St Patrick’s Day protests (Irish Times, 10/3/09)
Exhibition on Irish men’s experience in Britain to tour Spain and US
Monday, March 9th, 2009An art exhibition exploring the experience of male Irish immigrants to Britain in the 20th Century is premiering at PM Gallery in West London this month before it goes on an international tour.
The Quiet Men is the work of five artists drawing on their own lives to depict the London-Irish experience: Bernard Canavan, Daniel Carmody, John Duffin, Dermot Holland and Brian Whelan.
From the gallery’s press release:
Each featured artist is an immigrant, or child of immigrants, from Ireland. This immigrant status informs the work, which observes the margins of society and is full of stories, humour and tragedy. The church and pub appear, as do the launderette, bus and train. The theme of the journey is often present in the songs, toasts, poems and prayers of the immigrant and the artists do not stray far from the vehicles that brought them to the city and might take them away again.
Exhibition curator and featured artist Brian Whelan says,
‘Irish music, literature, poetry and dance are celebrated all over the world. However, when asked to bring to mind Irish paintings, sculpture or architecture or to name an artist, many will have difficulty as very few have been celebrated outside Ireland. One reason for this may be that a people that experienced famine, war, economic hardship and mass immigration, carried only their portable culture with them in their heads, hearts and suitcases. Poems and songs have few requirements short of a good memory or the ability to carry a tune, whereas painting, sculpture and architecture are less portable and need peace, prosperity and time in order to flourish.’
The exhibition will run from 11 March to 18 April at the PM Gallery, before it goes to Spain, Philadelphia and Chicago.
Complementing the exhibition is a photographic exhibition, “Irish Londoners 1950-1975”, which chronicles the lives of the London Irish after the Second World War. The photographs are from the Paddy Fahey Collection at Bernt Archive.
See more information at the PM Gallery’s website.
Irish emigrants make 1.7 million trips home annually
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Irish emigrants make 1.7 million journeys home every year, according to Garret Fitzgerald. The former Taoiseach made the statement in an article highlighting the extraordinary nature of Irish foreign travel.
He highlights the following facts:
- In 2007, Irish people made 7.7 million trips abroad.
- Ireland attracts 4.5 million tourist a year.
- There are one million business visits.
- A total of 15 million round trips are made to and from Ireland every year.
Read the entire article on the Irish Times website.
Recognise Oasis’s Irish links, says Mayo county councillor
Monday, January 5th, 2009A Mayo county councillor intends to rectify the “long-standing injustice” done to Manchester-born Noel and Liam Gallagher – also known as Oasis. Michelle Mulherin of Fine Gael is tabling a motion at this month’s meeting of Mayo County Council to honour the brothers, whose mother came from Charlestown. They are frequent visitors to the town, and often visited their maternal grandmother before her death in 2000.
Cllr Mulherin told the Evening Herald:
“The story of Liam and Noel Gallagher is that of so many of the Irish diaspora, it’s the Irish dream fulfilled. They stayed close to their mother’s homeplace and to Irish culture. Mayo is not just in their blood, it’s etched in their hearts.
“When they came to visit the home-place as children, they came to a place with no running water, which wasn’t uncommon in that era. They always talk fondly about their memories of going fishing and berry-picking, and going into the local shop for Silvermints or a Brunch. Those are memories so many Irish people identify with.”
The question of awards for members of the Irish diaspora is one that has been raised before. The 2002 Task Force report on Irish emigrants  called for an award to recognise the achievements of the Irish abroad.
Read the entire article on the Evening Herald website.
Midlands-Argentine project launches GAA programme
Wednesday, December 17th, 2008Hundreds of Argentine children will learn Gaelic games this February in a seven-day programme at the Hurling Club in Buenos Aires, thanks to an initiative originating out the Midlands. The move is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at refreshing Ireland’s links with its fifth-largest diaspora community.
The inaugural GAA hurling and Gaelic football coaching week is a joint effort supported by Capital Securities Corporation, the Midlands Gateway Chamber and the Longford-Westmeath Argentina Society, reports the Westmeath Examiner. The GAA is supplying hurls, helmets and footballs to the 240 children aged six to 16 who will participate.
The week will take place at Buenos Aires’ Hurling Club, which was established in 1922. GAA games were popular among the Irish community in the early part of the twentieth century, but were eventually replaced by hockey and rugby; this move is partially explained by the fact that during World War II it became impossible to get hurleys in Argentina.
Organisers of the project have wider ambitions than encouraging children to play the games of their ancestors. The article notes:
President of AIT and President of the Midlands Gateway Chamber, Prof Ciarán Ó Catháin said the launching of the coaching programme in Argentina was not only a significant sporting event, but had resonance for business, education, cultural and diplomatic relations between Ireland and Latin America.
“At a time of great economic uncertainty, it is heartening that this initiative encourages us to look beyond our own boundaries to explore global possibilities,� he said.
“For us, the GAA coaching programme signifies the potential of the Midlands, the creative spirit, the drive to innovate and the desire to succeed that is the bedrock of this region,� said Prof Ó Catháin.
The project was launched by Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan, who reinforced the project’s wider ambitions when she said:
Though in its origin independent of it, this project fits in perfectly with the intention behind the joint scheme between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the GAA decided earlier this year to support the promotion of Gaelic games abroad.
I am delighted to be present at the launch here in Athlone of this exciting initiative and congratulate all involved in seeing it through from the initial concept to actuality. A winning combination between enterprise and culture, which hopefully will lead to many other fruitful connections between Ireland and Argentina and between The Midlands Gateway Chamber area and Buenos Aires, and between individual Irish and Argentines.
Related sites:
- Westmeath Examiner: Tánaiste launches Argentine GAA coaching week
- The Longford-Westmeath Argentina Society
- Hurling Club of Argentina
Fulbright scholar for UCC’s Diaspora studies MA
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008A noted historian who has done important work on the Irish diaspora has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar and will lecture in spring 2009 at University College, Cork.
William H. Mulligan, Jr. is professor of history at Murray State University. He will work with UCC to develop and promote their new master’s degree programme in Irish Diaspora Studies. He developed and taught one of the first university-level courses on the Irish Daspora in the US. His research has focused on the nature of Irish identity in the diaspora, and more specifically, migration from copper-mining areas in Ireland to the Michigan Copper Country from the mid-19th century.
The Fullbright programme is America’s flagship international exchange programme, operating in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Related links:
- Willam H. Mulligan’s website at Murray State University
- Irish Diaspora Discussion link
- MA in Contemporary Migration and Diaspora Studies at UCC
- Press release: Mulligan selected as Fulbright Scholar