Boston Globe articles highlight changing migration patterns

The Boston Globe has run a two-part series of articles focusing on the experiences of the Irish in Boston. By Kevin Cullen, the series opens with a description of a new version of the "American Wake" - a goodbye held in Quincy pub for an undocumented couple as they prepare to head home for Ireland, giving up their Boston lives after seven years. The article describes how the Irish immigrant experience has changed dramatically as the community shrinks and enforcement increases.

The second article in the series describes the experiences of those who have conm home, and how returning emigrants are coping with the changes that have taken place in the last few years.

Read the series:
"Wave of Irish immigration to Boston begins to slow".
"Going full circle: Native land's new prosperity has many reversing their exodus"

Australia celebrates Paddy's Day - without a government representative

The Irish in Australia will not be hosting a government minister this Saint Patrick's Day. First Secretary Aidan Cronin of the Irish Embassy in Canberra said, "This year, for a variety of reasons, it has not been possible to send a minister to represent the Government. We would expect that there would be ministerial representation in future years".

One country that will be celebrating St Patrick's Day in style will be China - Shanghai, the largest city, has been hosting a major week-long festival. Events include the largest exhibition of contemporary Irish art ever held in China as well as Shanghai's first St Patrick's Day parade.

President McAleese pays tribute to emigrant heritage in speech to British Council

President Mary McAleese has paid tribute to Ireland's emigrants and immigrants in a speech to the British Council, entitled "The Changing Faces of Ireland - Migration and Multiculturalism".

In her speech she noted the contribution of Ireland's emigrants, from the past through to today:

The Irish know better than many other races how valuable the emigrants to our shores are. We know these things because of our own extensive history of being emigrants. We are proud of the contribution our emigrants made wherever they went and though the Irish word for exile 'deoraíocht' comes from the Irish word for tears, we have lived long enough to see our emigrants and their offspring power their way into every sphere of civic life around the world, first-rate ambassadors for Ireland and effective bridges between Ireland and so many countries and peoples. The success of our emigrants in politics, business, education and the arts inspired our self-belief at home through very fallow periods and their remittances of hard-earned shillings and dollars helped lift the quality of life of their families left at home. In every generation they too have filled the wells of Ireland's cultural heritage, bringing huge dynamism and fresh imagination – in this generation I think of Thomas Kenneally in Australia, author of Schindler's List, Tony award-winning playwright Martin Mc Donagh in London, dancer-choreographer extraordinaire Michael Flatley in Chicago and a list that would wrap itself around Ireland several times.

President McAleese also noted the challenges inherent in developing a vision for a diverse society, but noted that Ireland's heritage as an emigrant nation would be an asset:

As one of the world's great exporters of people, as a culture steeped in the emigrant experience, we have both the challenge now, and the chance, to make the emigrant experience in Ireland something to be truly proud of. We have a written constitution which pledges us to assure the dignity and freedom of the individual. It guides and informs us in formulating the vision we have for our country, a place where it is possible to love Poland, China, Latvia, Nigeria, Somalia and to love Ireland too, to be at home though far from home, to live comfortably within Irish culture and yet be free to showcase and express your own culture, for ultimately these are the great gifts each newcomer brings – the gift of difference and of curiosity. Our gift in return is our welcome for the otherness of others and our acceptance of each as our equal.

Read the entire speech on the Aras an Uachtarain website.

Services meet final needs of emigrants

Also on a funereal theme, the Galway Independent is carrying a story on "a mysterious Galway man", now a New York resident, who has made a most unusual purchase - he has spent $100,000 so that he can be buried under Irish soil in America, where he has spent most of his life.

The Independent reports that Pat Burke from Tipperary and Alan Jenkins from Cork decided to start their website, www.officialirishdirt.com, when they realised that there were many Irish emigrants who wanted Irish soil as part of their funeral commemorations.

While most are contented with a three-quarter-pound bag of the specially-treated soil, which costs $15, the Galway-born businessman had a different idea. Mr Burke says the weathly New Yorker was "in two minds as to where he wanted to be buried (either in his native Ireland or his adopted USA), so he contacted us and got the best of both worlds".

Pat added, "People living abroad get very sentimental about things and the idea of buying the soil or shamrock seed lets them feel a bit closer to home".

Visit www.officialirishdirt.com.
Read the whole story at the Galway Independent.

There's also another company that aims to meet the needs of emigrants contemplating what should happen to their remains - Ashes is a family-run service that will scatter cremated remains in Ireland.

See www.ashes.ie.

Online funerals aimed at far-flung relations

A Belfast firm of undertakers has launched what is reportedly the first online service to allow mourners to view funeral services from abroad, the AP has reported. Clarke & Son say their service came out of requests that tapes of services be sent abroad to far-off relations.

"We have one camera to give you the perspective of the minister looking out to the congregation, one showing the hearse and cortege of mourners outside, and one that looks like you're sitting in amidst the mourners," said Jim Clarke of Clarke & Son undertakers in Newtownards, an eastern suburb of Belfast.

The report added,

He said the service last year proved invaluable for two brothers - one living in New Zealand, the other in the United States - who had traveled back to Northern Ireland to visit an ill relative who then died.

"They said, 'There's no way we can get our wives and families here at such short notice,' and we had the solution to hand. It really removes a burden for some families," Clarke said.

Read the full report.

Visit S. Clarke & Son's website.

Politicians to make annual pilgrimage to global Irish communities

This year's plans for the annual St Patrick's Day trek by Irish politicians to sundry locales around the world has been announced by the Taoiseach.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern will visit Washington, DC, where they will celebrate the day at the White House and meet with the President and key Congressional leaders; they will discuss the issue of the undocumented, as will other Government Ministers visiting other American cities. The Taoiseach will also address the American Ireland Fund Dinner.

On the trip the Taoiseach will also travel to New York where he will meet with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. He will meet with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, visit the Twin Towers Memorial Centre and meet with leaders in the financial services industry.


United States
Taoiseach – New York and Washington
Tánaiste – Savannah
Minister Dermot Ahern - Washington
Minister Mary Coughlan - New York
Minister Brian Cowen - Chicago
Minister Martin Cullen – San Francisco
Minister Noel Dempsey – Dallas and Houston
Minister Mary Hanafin – Boston
Minister Éamon Ó Cuív- Phoenix
MoS Pat the Cope Gallagher – Atlanta and Philadelphia

Canada
Toronto - Minister Dick Roche

Britain
Minister John O’Donoghue – London
Minister of State Brendan Smith – Manchester
Minister of State Seán Power – Birmingham
Minister of State Conor Lenihan – Edinburgh

Rest of Europe
Austria – Minister of State Mary Wallace
France – Minister of State Brian Lenihan
Italy and the Holy See – Minister Seamus Brennan
Norway Sweden and Denmark – Minister Harney
Poland – Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt
Romania – Minister of State Noel Ahern
Russia – Minister of State Seán Haughey

Asia-Pacific
China – Minister of State John Browne
Japan – Minister of State Tim O’Malley
India – Minister of State Frank Fahey
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore – Minister of State Michael Ahern
Vietnam – Minister of State Batt O’Keeffe

South America
Argentina – Attorney General Rory Brady

Africa
South Africa – MoS Tom Parlon – Cape Town and Pretoria


For more details on each of these trips, see the Taoiseach's department website.

An Post stops service aimed at emigrant market, encourages immigrants to write home

An Post says declining emigration is the reason that the postal service will not produce its St Patrick's Day cards this year. The Irish Independent reports that a spokesperson called the move "a sign of the times", adding:

We introduced the cards in 1984 at a time when emigration was very high in Ireland. Sales and distribution followed the emigrant trail at the time. Over the 1990s and since 2000, there has been a very definite and steady decline in sales.

An Post is not in the card business but this was our annual foray into greeting cards. It's a commercial decision.

In recent years, sales in no way cover the outlay of production costs, marketing and distribution to upwards of 1,400 post offices around the country,

Instead, the comapny will concentrate on encouraging immigrants to send cards home on their national holidays. Post offices will remind customers to send cards for such holidays as America's Independence Day and China's National Day on October first.

An Post will not produce these cards, however - perhaps the nation's holiday card makers will step up their production of international holiday cards?

Éan chair visits Washington

Fr Alan Hilliard, Director of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants (IECE) and the chair of Éan's board, attended yesterday's rally in Washington DC.

Today's rally is an example of people taking responsibility for their own futures, and while this has not been easy, it is both necessary and commendable.

He spoke of plans for information provision that would be necessary in the future:

"One flaw of the immigration reform of the 1980s was a lack of clear communication of rights and this was coupled with the propagation of misinformation. Partly - perhaps due to living on the fringes of society - many were uncertain, nervous and were consequently afraid to come forward. Many immigrants did not fully understand what was available to them. However, on this occasion we will provide information to those in need so that they can make informed decisions. What must be avoided are 'enticements' and other so called 'quick-fix' solutions which will be advertised by some unscrupulous people whose motive is profit and whose style is to prey on the vulnerable. We are presently upgrading our Irish Apostolate website to enable browsers to access the legislative changes, if and when they happen, as they become available online."

"Yesterday, members of our Apostolate met with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network to discuss the implementation of whatever legislation is put in place. Despite the uncertainty, we have to live with the expectation that legislative change will happen and, please God, a pathway of hope will open up."

See more of Fr Hilliard's comments on the Independent Catholic News website.

ILIR sponsors DC rally, lobbying

Thousands of people marched on Washington yesterday in support of legislation that would benefit the undocumented Irish in the US, along with their 11 million counterparts of all nationalities. The ILIR gathered 2,500 supporters, mainly Irish undocumented from all over the US, to lobby members of Congress on Capital Hill and attend a rally. Democratic Senators Hilary Clinton, Edward Kennedy, and Chuck Schumer were among those who addressed the crowds.

Senator Kennedy, along with Republican Senator John McCain, will introduce legislation that includes a path to legalisation to benefit most of the nation's undocumented immigrants. He told the rally, "This is basically an issue of defining our humanity, how we treat each other. I can't wait for this battle".

The Irish Echo has reported that the introduction of the bill may coincide with next week's St Patrick's Day activities. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will visit Washington next week for the annual shamrock presentation to the US president; Mr Ahern will also be lobbying on behalf of Irish immigrants.

For more information, see the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform website.

Limerick man's visit home results in US visa trouble

A 35-year-old Limerick native has been prevented from returning to his pregnant wife in Iowa by US immigration authorities. Jimmy Murphy of Newcastle West has been married less than a year to Iowa native Rachele Murphy; he was employed in the US and had applied for adjustment of status, which he was told would take nine months. He had all his papers in order when the couple decided to take a New Year's trip to Ireland; Mr Murphy was detained at Dublin Airport because he had breached the terms of his status upgrade application.

Attempts to resolve the situation have so far failed. The US embassy in Dublin no longer has the authority to process the case, and Mr Murphy has been told he needs to present himself to authorities in the US, although he has been prevented from re-entering the country. Local officials are hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern may assist in resolving the issue.

Mr Murphy told the Limerick Leader:

"My wife is three months pregnant. We were starting off on a new life, with our first child on the way and had never been happier. I had always had my papers in order. The packet of documents which I had received when applying for adjustment of status did not say that I was to remain in America while the application was being processed. The first I knew was when I was turned back at Shannon."

See the Limerick Leader for the full report.