Writer Pete Hamill, whose parents are from Belfast, explores the connection between the Irish diaspora and Ireland, and offers suggestions as to what Americans of Irish descent can do now to help further the peace process. Almost forty years ago, a fine Irish-American writer named John McNulty wrote an account of his first trip of Ireland. The story was lovely, full of the … [Read more...] about The Irish Diaspora and the North
The Troubles
The First Word: And Now the Good News…
Belfast: "We need a solution the dead can live with," is how one Belfast resident, in a uniquely Irish way, described the prospects for long-term peace after the recent events in Northern Ireland that shook the world. His words were not such a paradox as they may seem. The graves of the over 3,000 dead stand as mute testament to the suffering on all sides that the Long War of … [Read more...] about The First Word: And Now the Good News…
The Long Shadow
Tim Pat Coogan, author of The IRA: A History, talks to Patricia Harty. "I really think the Irish-Americans are crucial to this. I'm historian enough to know there would be no independent Irish state without Irish-American pressure in the 1920s. The cabinet records are there and the ambassador's records are there to show how much Irish Americans were involved." However, "one … [Read more...] about The Long Shadow



