Christmas visitors face car hire hikes

The Consumers' Association of Ireland says that car rental companies in Ireland are fleecing visitors who want to hire a car over Christmas. The CAI's John Cradden compared car hire prices on websites in the days prior to Christmas (5-18th December) with the holiday period (23rd December – 5th January 2007); the companies surveyed were Avis, Hertz, Budget, Argus and National. Most firms doubled their prices over Christmas; Budget is actually charging 225% more for the Christmas rental.

The CAI also looked at car hire prices in Belfast and Paris over the same weekend. The same companies had more modest increases for Belfast, ranging from no increase to a 57% rise. There was no increase in price for Paris.

CAI’s Chief Executive Dermott Jewell stated:

“Yet again we see this sector hike their prices outrageously without any additional benefit to the customer and with a complete disdain for the negative effect upon tourism. It is profit that is the focus but with greed at its core. It is important therefore that we let our family members coming home and friends visiting for Christmas know that they must look at all possible transport alternatives before giving business to these outlets.”

See the Consumers' Association of Ireland press release.

Irish Times profiles Irish in Turkey

The Irish Times profiles the Irish in Turkey today, coinciding with the first day of the Pope's visit to that country. Journalist Aengus Collins says there are about 60 Irish people who have moved permanently to Turkey, with most settling in Istanbul. About the same number are living in Turkey for the short term, with most of those teaching English. About 1,500 are registered as having bought holiday homes.

The report notes that many of the Irish who came originally intended staying only a short time, while others came because they had a Turkish spouse or parent. It also says that the Irish community is well-integrated into Turkish life, and socialising tends to be with Turkish friends rather than other Irish expats; at Eamonn Lehane's Irish bar, none of the clientele are Irish. The low costs of living and accommodation are reported to be attractions for many of the Irish.

Most of the Irish interviewed for the article report no religious tension in the Muslim nation, with one woman saying that "For anyone that I know here, it just doesn't affect their daily life."

The full article is available on Ireland.com (subscription required).

Can digital radio help emigrants keep in touch?

Digital Radio Mondiale technology would allow the transmission of RTÉ radio into Britain and through much of Europe. Éan member Enda O'Kane has been working with the research group Irish Overseas Broadcasting as part of his efforts to improve Ireland's radio links with our emigrants.

Enda says:

Global coverage short wave has always been plagued with fading crackles and pops and was the traditional link with home for many. Digital Radio Mondiale is new, and gives the benefits of FM quality to short, medium and longwave bands.
DRM would allow Ireland, for the first time, to deliver and FM-like sound over the European continent, by bypassing expensive satellite systems.

It will also allow RTE to broadcast Radio 1 in almost-FM quality over most of the UK using Longwave 252 to a new generation of radios now available.

Environmentally friendly DRM uses only half the energy of existing AM transmitters, having a minimum impact on atmospheric pollution.

The UK's BBC and broadcasters in Germany, Holland, France, Sweden and the Vatican are just some of the DRM stations now beaming across Europe.

DRM is very attractive to small countries such as Ireland. It is cheap, does not need a satellite dish and avoids the control of a satellite "gate keeper". Motorists and listeners with portables can easily keep in touch with home.

A DRM demonstration was well-received at the recent Over-50s Exhibition at the RDS in Dublin.

Simple-to-use DRM radios are now on the market in Germany from €199 plus shipping to many countries.

These Morphy Richards and Sangean models can be purchased directly over the web:
http://www.radiostore.de
http://www.thiecom.de/shop1/index.html

Here are links to a number of articles about the new technology:

Signalling a new era for Irish radio reception in Europe
RTE's Digital Radio Scheme: Why it can't replace FM for special-interest or remote audiences
Digital TV and Radio - an excerpt from a Consumer Choice article by John Cradden
RTE's Digital Radio, an unworthy successor to FM

Visa mixup puts South African resident in jail

An Irish golf instructor who has lived in South Africa for five years spent 12 days in jail in a visa mixup, according to the South African Sunday Tribune. David Graham was in the process of applying for a visa extension when he was arrested in June in Durban. Immigration officials had misread a figure on his documentation and concluded his paperwork was invalid.

Graham was told he would be deported, and was sent to jail; although he was informed he would be put in the prison's immigration section, he was instead put in a cell with murder suspects. Graham says he bribed fellow prisoners in order to survive; South Africa's Home Affairs department took four days to find him because he was in the wrong section of the prison. His own lawyer did not know how to find him.

Graham was finally granted bail in August; his case was dismissed in October. The newspaper reports that a department of home affairs spokesperson said they were investigating the matter.

Read the full story on iol.co.za.

Gap between EU provisions and practice highlighted

The European Citizen Action Service recently hosted an event highlighting the difficulties of workers migrating within the EU. The event featured 14 citizens representing a cross-section of migrant workers explaining their experiences and making recommendations for future action.

The event highlighted the gap between European principles and lived experience. Participants reported inconsistent application of rules, red tape, and insufficient information.

The case histories of the 14 citizens are also recounted on the ECAS website. Their stories highlight a number of problems:
- working below qualifications and barriers to recognising experience earned abroad when returning home
- the "vicious circle" of formalising residence and looking for jobs
- hidden obstacles to setting up a company in another EU country
- pensioners losing out because of poor social security coordination.

Ireland's role as both an emigrant and immigrant nation was highlighted in the case studies. Irish woman Eve Geddie, who migrated to Brussels after graduating with a European Masters in Human Rights, said she was treated with disrespect by officials there, and her residence card was delayed, without which employment agencies refused to register her. In this catch-22 situation, she ran out of money and and was not able to get clear information about benefits to which she might be entitled.

Two Polish women and a Czech man recounted their experiences of working in Ireland. Agata Szarek found a job easily but she experienced discrimination as an employee; she has since started her own business and also interprets for the local Polish community. Through her interpreting duties she has realised the obstacles faced by many, including employer abuse and the language barrier. Meanwhile, Joanna Kasztelan recounted her experience working as a cleaning lady in a bakery. She was forced to carry heavy objects and work extra hours without pay, and was insulted by colleagues. When she found a new job her old employer threatened to withhold her outstanding salary. Ondrej Manda from the Czech Republic, a university graduate, was unable to find a job corresponding to his level of education and could only find work in a factory.

The report made a number of recommendations:
- a strong commitment to close the gap between EU Treaty provisions and practice on the ground
- the creation of a single information source on legal and practical information for citizens and officials
- training, resources and interpretation services for first-contact officials
- exploring the possibility of job centres the ability to check the credibility of job offers and inform people of their EU rights
- exploring the possibility of a personalised number to make it easier for citizens to switch social security and tax systems.

A full report on the event will be published shortly. Case studies and further information on the event are available on the ECAS website.

Migration the focus of Dermot Bolger's latest

Dermot Bolger, the poet who was the keynote speaker at Éan's 2005 conference, has a new play that touches on both emigration and immigration. "The Townlands of Brazil", playing now in Ballymun's Axis Arts Centre, tells the stories of two young women: one, a mother who emigrates to England in the 1960s, and the second, a Polish widow and mother who immigrates to Ireland forty years later.

Bolger told the Sunday Business Post:

"My extended family would be a typical Irish family [in that] I have loads of cousins with Wolverhampton accents and Liverpool accents and very few with Irish accents.

"When I was growing up, my own generation felt that we didn’t have to emigrate, but we soon realised that we were just a brief hiccup in the system, and once the 1980s started, there was a whole generation of young people who had to go abroad again. Of course, now that has turned around, and people are coming back, and immigrants are coming in.

"But when I talk to Polish people and Romanian people who live here, I often feel that I’m looking at my uncles and aunts, and all those generations of Irish people who had to leave their homes and start new lives."

Emigrant Services funding to increase by 25%

Funding for Emigrant Services abroad will increase by 25% in 2007, to €15.2 million, up from €12 million this year. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern commented, “This represents a fifteen-fold increase in such provision since 1997 and reflects the Government’s strong commitment to the welfare of the Irish abroad.”

The funding will mainly go to groups in Britain that provide front-line services to emigrants there. There will also be substantial increases for emigrant groups providing services in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

The funding increase was announced in the 2007 Estimates published today. Other Foreegn Affairs-related funding incraases include a nearly €130 million increase in aid to developing countries, up from 600.5 million this year to €738 million next year.

Irish-born Londoners decline in number

The number of Irish-born people among London's 7.3 million people now stands at 114,000, according to the Office for National Statistics. This makes the Irish the third-largest migrant group in the city, but is a dramatic fall from 1997, when there were 185,000. The Irish were at that time London's largest migrant group.

Indian-born residents now comprise the largest migrant group, with a population of 206,000, up from 144,000 in 1997; Bangladeshis came next, at 133,000.

Similarly to Ireland, the number of Eastern Europeans has risen dramatically; there are now 70,000 Poles in the city, nearly all of whom have arrived in recent years.

The number of foreign-born people in London rose from 1.63 million in 1997 to 2.28 million in June of this year.

More information on the Independent (UK) website.

Éan 2005 conference report describes proceedings

While Éan won't be holding a conference this year, the proceedings of last year's conference, themed "Toward a Positive Emigration Experience", are available online. Speakers at last year's event included representatives of the Federation of Irish Societies in Britain and the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers in the US, as well as people working with emigrant Travellers, prisoners, drug users and sexual abuse survivors. Writer Dermot Bolger gave the keynote speech and President Mary McAleese gave the concluding address.

Among the topics discussed were assisted holidays, undocumented Irish immigrants in the US, recent emigration to the UK, and research on return migrants. The event's networking and information exchange opportunities were meant to serve as an effective way for member organisations to improve the services they give to their clients.

Catherine Dunne, author of "An Unconsidered People: The Irish in London", compiled the report.

See the conference report.

Bishop Hegarty calls for respect for migrants

Dr Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry and Chair of the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants, has spoken of the need to respect the dignity of individual migrants in the face of globalisation. Bishop Hegarty was speaking on November 9th at the Drop-In Centre and Supported Housing Complex in Birmingham. He said the Church had a role to play in building bridges with communities and individuals living abroad. He added:

Our history shows us that during instances of people neglect, exploitation and removal of status, it resulted in an immense fall-out in terms of human suffering and economic stagnation. And what, you may ask, is the 21st century lesson that can be learnt from this historical legacy? It is thus: If we lose sight of the individual migrant, we promote globalisation without a conscience.

He also touched on the importance of Ireland's emigrant heritage as it tranforms into a nation of immigrants:

May I add that as we face the challenge of welcoming immigrants to Ireland we find ourselves reflecting on the story of Irish emigration as a touchstone for policy and initiatives. We now have a real responsibility to ensure that we provide a welcome that befits the dignity of those who migrate to Ireland. I know from talking to many Irish emigrants here in Birmingham that you support the granting of a warm welcome to those who seek a brighter future away from their homeland in Ireland.

Bishop Hegarty presented the Centre with a financial contribution from the Bishops' Supporting the Irish Abroad campaign. The theme of this year's SIA campaign was keeping in touch with elderly relatives abroad.

More information is available from the Catholic Communications Office.
See Bishop Hegarty's St Patrick's Day sermon, which launched the 2006 SIA campaign.

Will the Democrats' victory assist US immigration reform?

The chances for US immigration reform appear to have improved, following the electoral success of the Democrats in many Senate and House races, according to many stories in the US news media. The LA Times offers this analysis:

Many House Republicans based their reelection campaigns partly on opposition to immigration policies that Bush and many Democrats strongly support, including a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants.

That hard-line stance failed to rally voters or to turn tight races, even in border states where immigration is a major issue. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) all lost, as did Arizona congressional candidate Randy Graf, a Republican who co-founded the Minuteman border patrol group.

Those failures could help Bush within his party.

"The myth that members of Congress need to be afraid of immigration might have been put to rest, because no member of Congress was punished in this election for supporting pro-immigrant legislation," said Josh Bernstein, federal policy director of the National Immigration Law Center, another advocacy group.

The report also notes, however, that Democrats themselves do not speak with a unanimous voice on the immigration issue, and bipartisan agreement will therefore continue to be difficult.

Closer to home, John Bruton, the EU’s ambassador to the US, told RTE’s News at One that the Democrat’s landslide victory in the House of Representatives would lead to a greater chance for change on immigration, as President Bush’s views on the undocumented were closer to those held by many Democrats.

President lauds extension of Centenarian's Bounty to Irish abroad

A strong interest in the centenarian's bounty was highlighted during a recent members' conference call with the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers in the US. People who reach their 100th birthday are entitled to an award from the President; the scheme has been extended recently to allow people born in on the island of Ireland but resident outside the state to be eligible. On reaching his or her 100th birthday, the recipient receives a letter of congratulations signed by the president and a cheque for €2,540.

President McAleese has paid tribute to the success of a scheme's extension to the Irish abroad. In her most recent newsletter, she says,

"This year the Centenarian’s Bounty scheme has been extended to Irish centenarians living abroad and I am absolutely delighted to say that already it includes over one hundred centenarians who previously didn’t qualify. Almost half of those live in the USA, one quarter in Northern Ireland, almost another quarter in Great Britain and a small number elsewhere throughout the globe. What a wonderful thing it is for this very successful Ireland to remember in such a real way those who were born and raised in much harder times."

Download the application form.

Journal will highlight migration issues

A new journal is being launched this week that will be of interest to anyone working in a migration-related field. Titled Translocations: Irish Migration, Race and Social Transformation Review, the first issue will be launched by Mary Hickman on November 3 at the NCCRI.
The journal will address such topics as globalisation and migration, transnationalism and diaspora, state and racism, culture and the media, among other topics.
Its first issue includes an article by Breda Gray on "Migrant Integration Policy", in which she discusses Ireland's emerging emigration policy in her argument that globalisation challenges the notion of government integration policies.
Read the journal online.

VHI targets Irish in US with health plan

Health insurers VHI are marketing a plan to Irish people working in the US. The plan, Global, is designed for Irish expats who are working abroad for six months or more and who intend to reside in Ireland in the future. The plan covers emergency and elective medical treatment in the US, paying medical bills directly to US hospitals; it does not cover preventive visits. Current VHI members can transfer to Global and back to their domestic policy when resident in Ireland again, with no break in coverage.
More information can be found at www.vhi/global.