In an attempt to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country, Ireland will introduce mandatory fingerprinting for all asylum seekers. This step has been roundly criticized by human rights organizations and the Irish Refugee Council. Under the new program, all asylum seekers over the age of 14 will be fingerprinted and the information will be added to a … [Read more...] about News from Ireland: Ireland to Fingerprint Asylum Seekers
Immigration
Hibernia: Irish
U.N. Sculpture
The United Nations recently received a sculpture from the Irish government. The work, by renowned Galway artist John Behan, celebrates the Irish diaspora and their contribution to the world.
Entitled Arrival, the work portrays Irish emigrants debarking from a ship. If this sounds like a typical Famine commemoration, it's not. As the Irish Minister of State at the Department … [Read more...] about Hibernia: Irish
U.N. Sculpture
Nora, an Excerpt
Even now, here 30 years since, when I turn to the southwest in Ennis from Shannon, and head out on the peninsula that ends at Loop Head, and somewhere on that road get my first wind of turfsmoke, I remember the first time and the sense that I had then of coming home. "The name's good," the man in the customs hall had said, letting my bags pass without a look. I had a hundred … [Read more...] about Nora, an Excerpt
The Perils of Pat
Peter Quinn writes about his immigrant grandfather. ℘℘℘ The man on the horse is my paternal grandfather, Patrick Francis Quinn. The date is September 5, 1904. Pat is about to take his place as grand marshal of the New York City Labor Day Parade. The horse was rented for the occasion. I have the sash he is wearing in the photograph, a piece of faded blue silk embroidered … [Read more...] about The Perils of Pat
Confessions of a
Bronx Irish Catholic
Over the years, I've spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about what it means to be Irish. Occasionally, my public writings and ruminations on the subject have led to me being described (and dismissed) as a "professional Irishman." If only it were true! Unfortunately, I'm still a semi-pro, forced to make a living at activities unrelated to my ethnic investigations.
A … [Read more...] about Confessions of a
Bronx Irish Catholic