Irish America

February March 2016 Issue

Kerry WWII Veteran Receives
France’s Highest Honor

By Julia Brodsky, Contributor
February / March 2016

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Ninety-seven-year-old Kerry man John “Jack” Mahony was named a Chevalier de La Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, for his participation in the European theater of World War II. Mahony received his medal and commendation from Phillipe Ray, first counsellor from the French Embassy, in early December at a ceremony in Midleton, Co. Cork, where he and his late wife, Mary, … [Read more...] about Kerry WWII Veteran Receives
France’s Highest Honor

Ireland Launches Campaign to
Bring Emigrants Back

By Julia Brodsky, Editorial Assistant
February / March 2016

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In early December of 2015, the Irish government launched a campaign to bring its emigrants home to help grow the economy. Inspired in part by #hometovote, the hashtag that urged Irish abroad to come home to vote in the marriage equality referendum, the #hometowork campaign displayed posters in Ireland’s major airports just in time for heavy holiday traffic. One poster showed a … [Read more...] about Ireland Launches Campaign to
Bring Emigrants Back

30 Years Later:
The Anglo-Irish Agreement

By Julia Brodsky, Editorial Assistant
February / March 2016

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November of last year marked the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which attempted to bring an end to the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Signed by then-Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Agreement gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in Northern Ireland’s affairs and offered the possibility of a … [Read more...] about 30 Years Later:
The Anglo-Irish Agreement

Arlene Foster is N.I.’s
First Female First Minister

By R. Bryan Willits, Editorial Assistant
February / March 2016

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Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, the largest political party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, officially began her tenure as First Minister of Northern Ireland in January, making her the youngest person, at 45, and the first woman to fill that position. Foster has represented Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2003, … [Read more...] about Arlene Foster is N.I.’s
First Female First Minister

First Soldier Arrested for 1972
Bloody Sunday Deaths

By Julia Brodsky, Editorial Assistant
February / March 2016

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This past November, detectives in County Antrim arrested a former British soldier who was involved in 1972’s Bloody Sunday. The arrest was the first made in connection with the incident, which claimed the lives of 14 civil rights protesters in Derry nearly 44 years ago. The man was arrested and held and questioned at a police station before being released on bail. Since the … [Read more...] about First Soldier Arrested for 1972
Bloody Sunday Deaths