Irish America

June July 2007 Issue

Peace at last in Northern Ireland?

By Susan McKay, Contributor
June / July 2007

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Though political tensions linger, the Northern Ireland Assembly is up and running and both communities are working together for the future. The Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, sat down together before the world’s media on March 26 to announce that they would form a power-sharing executive at … [Read more...] about Peace at last in Northern Ireland?

Bliss to Be Alive

By Niall O'Dowd, Founding Publisher
June / July 2007

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Belfast: “Bliss it was to be alive” the poet William Wordsworth once wrote. It felt like that in Belfast on Tuesday, May 8th. What the world thought was once impossible was suddenly live before my very eyes. The Reverend Ian Paisley, the paragon of hardline Protestantism, and Martin McGuinness, the former IRA leader, were walking down the ornate stairway of Stormont Castle … [Read more...] about Bliss to Be Alive

The Old Sod Blooms at Philly Flower Show

By John Kernaghan, Contributor
June / July 2007

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It wasn’t merely the classic ‘bit of the auld sod’ when the Legends of Ireland commanded center stage at the Philadelphia Flower Show in early March. It was an attempt by North America’s largest garden showcase (and at 178 years, the world’s longest running) to mirror the Irish landscape as well as polished gardens in an indoor setting. Some 258,000 visitors (up 18,000 from … [Read more...] about The Old Sod Blooms at Philly Flower Show

Irish Eye on Hollywood

By Tom Deignan, Contributor
June / July 2007

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The Tribeca Film Festival opened in late April, and Cillian Murphy’s latest effort was among the films featured. Watching the Detectives, which teams the Cork-born Murphy with Lucy Liu, was screened several times during the two-week fest, which closed May 6. Watching the Detectives is a romantic comedy directed by newcomer Paul Soter, who also wrote the script. Murphy – whose … [Read more...] about Irish Eye on Hollywood

De Valera’s “Tree of Liberty” at Notre Dame

By Prof. Brian O Conchubair
June / July 2007

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Captured in May 1918 and imprisoned in Lincoln Prison, England, Eamon de Valera, Ireland’s future president, escaped in dramatic fashion on February 3, 1919. Fearing the propaganda boost his re-arrest would provide England, the IRA dispatched de Valera to the United States. His mission was to acquire official U.S. support for Irish independence, and raise funds. He traveled … [Read more...] about De Valera’s “Tree of Liberty” at Notre Dame