Bear in mind these dead: I can find no plainer words. - John Hewitt, "Neither an Elegy nor a Manifesto" The New Year brings good tidings to a young couple I know, the birth of a baby boy, a welcome addition to their ever expanding family. Unlike his mother, a Belfast native, this boy will grow up outside the danger zone of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland. Other children … [Read more...] about What the Future Holds
The First Word
The First Word: Our Evolving Heritage
In this issue we celebrate the realization of the American dream by so many of our people, reminding us once again of the good fit this country has proved to be for the Irish. Not that it happened overnight. In the words of Robert Kennedy: "As the first of the racial minorities our forefathers were subject to every discrimination found wherever discrimination is known." The … [Read more...] about The First Word: Our Evolving Heritage
The First Word: Capture the Moment
Thomas Cahill's prescient piece in this issue entitled "The Irish Moment" captures much of the extraordinary success that Irish and Irish American ventures are enjoying at present. Even The New York Times tipped its august cap recently in a piece entitled "The Irish Are Ascendant Again" by Dinita Smith, which noted among other facts that "there are now some 100 Irish names on … [Read more...] about The First Word: Capture the Moment
Times They Are A’Changing
In 1984 I was part of an Irish American delegation which sought a meeting with the U.S. State Department to discuss Northern Ireland. We were the usual suspects, ethnic newspaper publishers, community activists, longtime Irish American leaders, numbering about 30 in all. At the time I was publishing a small Irish newspaper in California and the trip to D.C. was a major … [Read more...] about Times They Are A’Changing
The First Word: The New Irish Heroes
IN olden times, Ireland's icons were comely maidens strumming harps or perhaps mythical heroic warriors such as Cuchulainn, bravely besting the enemy in his lair. In more recent times, a flame-haired temptress called Maureen O'Hara fit the bill. Not any more. Shortly, the symbol of Ireland to millions worldwide is just as likely to be a Black athlete, speaking with a British … [Read more...] about The First Word: The New Irish Heroes