Irish America

June July 2018 Issue

Ireland Considers Legislation to Restrict International Travel by Convicted Pedophiles

By Irish America Staff
June / July 2018

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T.D.s and Senators have been urged to support a new bill – the Sex Offenses (Amendment) Bill 2018 – introduced in Dáil Éireann by Maureen O’Sullivan, T.D., which proposes to restrict the foreign travel of convicted pedophiles. If enacted, Ireland would be the first country in the E.U. to curtail overseas travel by convicted child sex abusers. Australia has already introduced … [Read more...] about Ireland Considers Legislation to Restrict International Travel by Convicted Pedophiles

Clothing-Optional Beach Established in Ireland

By Mary Gallagher, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2018

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The County Council of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown announced plans in March to accommodate nude bathers at Hawk Cliff beach in Dalkey, County Dublin, making it the first Irish beach to do so. Signs indicating the permissible presence of unclothed beachgoers were posted at Hawk Cliff in April. In a victory for Ireland’s naturist population, changes to the laws regarding public … [Read more...] about Clothing-Optional Beach Established in Ireland

Good Friday Agreement 20th Anniversary Marked in London and Belfast

By Mary Gallagher, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2018

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A night of creative expression recalling the Troubles in Northern Ireland, sponsored by the Irish government in tandem with Poetry Ireland, was exhibited at both the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and the Barbican Centre in London in April in honor of the Good Friday Agreement’s 20-year anniversary. The program, called “A Further Shore,” focused on the necessity of keeping the spirit … [Read more...] about Good Friday Agreement 20th Anniversary Marked in London and Belfast

New Map Animates Devastation of the Great Hunger

By Dave Lewis, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2018

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Dr. Alan Ferinhough, a lecturer and economic historian at Queen’s University Belfast, recently created an animation of the evolution of Ireland’s population density from 1841 to 2012 showing how the population still hasn’t recovered from the effects of the Great Hunger. In 1841, before the famine struck, the population of Ireland was around 7 million, while today the population … [Read more...] about New Map Animates Devastation of the Great Hunger

Ireland’s Wettest Decade

By Mary Gallagher, Editorial Assistant
June / July 2018

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The years 2006 to 2015 saw the highest average rainfall in Ireland in the past 300 years, according to a study performed at Maynooth University led by Conor Murphy (right). The data, collected from Irish and U.K. records dating back to 1711, confirms what weary residents had already intuited – these ten years saw Ireland’s rainfall nearly double from 42.5 inches per year for … [Read more...] about Ireland’s Wettest Decade