IT was 40 years ago this summer when Limerick hurling finally showed signs of recovery, and hopes sprung aloud throughout the county that perhaps finally we might have a team that would see our proud hurling tradition hoist the Liam McCarthy Cup anew, a feat we hadn't completed since the great "Mick Mackey" and gang did it for us back in 1940.
While they were impressive en route to that year's Munster final, they were matched against a Tipperary team that had powered through the 1960s being regarded by many a hurling enthusiast as being the greatest hurling team of all time.
Needless to state, of course, that Tipperary were huge favorites on the day.
The game was played at a drenched Fitzgerald Park in Killarney, and because of the poor playing conditions nothing much was expected in the way of style or, for that matter, scoring.
Tipp and Limerick are bitter rivals when it comes to hurling, and the poor playing conditions were quickly tossed aside from the onset. It was tit-for-tat and score for score, with neither team willing to give an inch.
There were periods of the first half when Tipp looked rattled, and it seemed noticeable to those in the stands that Tipperary had greatly underestimated the hurling prowess of their upstart neighbors.
Babs Keating will mostly be remembered for his amazing heroics in that year's All-Ireland final against Kilkenny, when in the closing stages of that game he kicked off his shoes and socks to the sidelines. Babs was absolutely brilliant against Limerick in the second half, and he gave an exhibition on how the great game should be played by showing both firepower and deft skill, along with an unyielding willingness for victory. He ended the game with a very impressive final scoring tally of 3-4.
The game will also be long remembered for its climactic finish. Both teams were still locked together when Tipperary were awarded a 70 ( 65 ).
When Francis Loughnane, the great sharp shooter from Roscrea, stepped up to take the 70, the referee told him that this was to be the final play of the game. The rain was pelting down and Francis was summoned to the sideline and asked that he get a towel to dry his hurley.
A Tipp mentor then ran onto the pitch and took Loughnane's hurley from him and started to dry it. Everyone in the park saw the towel drop to the pitch, but what everyone didn't see was the dry sliothar being dropped beneath the towel and the soggy one that would never have made it 70 yards being picked up along with the towel.
Loughnane proceeded to bend and lift, and he struck the dry ball dead center of the posts and Tipp were victorious with the final score Tipperary 4-16 to Limerick's 3-18.
The year 1971 is still known in Munster as being the one of the dry ball. I was 11 years old when that match was played.
Growing up in east Limerick and not a stone's throw from the Tipperary border, it was a bitter pill to swallow, especially knowing how the game ended. For many years I looked upon that day with scorn and with not much respect for my Tipperary neighbors.
It was years later, when I grew to realize the genius that it took to orchestrate such a cunning move, and it was then when I figured out that the mark of a champion is not always shrouded with honor.
That was 40 years ago. Where have the years gone to?
Pat Greene
Brooklyn, New York
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wake Up Cormac!
THE only reason Cormac MacConnell's column about Sarah Palin in last week’s issue would "get him into hot water" becomes obvious in his third paragraph wherein he utilizes The Almighty in a way that is sinful before all practicing Christians.
Indeed, I'm not surprised after returning from Ireland and hearing the name of God bandied about without hesitation or guilt. Having said that, I'm also amazed at how poorly informed he and many Irish people are when it comes to the American election process now going on. Here in America, the economy and unemployment are at the top of the list. We Americans (both Democrat and Republican) are looking for a viable candidate with good administrative experience.
Palin, while a nice person, doesn't meet the criteria to save a nation brought down to its knees by the current administration (whether you like it or not). The press has been so mesmerized with Palin that it can't see the forest through the trees.
The people of America have become really ticked off at many abusers in government, and we already gave the first indication with the last election both on federal and state levels. Those results were a sheer rebuke of Obama's socialist policies that don't work here.
We see where Obama has been in constant campaign mode even after being elected. He's surrounded himself with buffoons who don't know their butts from their elbows.
Sorry to correct Cormac, but his view is blurred by the true realities of what's going on here. There are good candidates out there who could whip Obama both in debate and at the polls.
Now about to rise to the occasion are Romney, Santorum, Cain, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Perry, Bachmann, etc. Cormac's “West’s Awake” has been sleeping, and I do hope his west is now awake.
Ed McGovern
Palm Harbor, Florida
Indeed, I'm not surprised after returning from Ireland and hearing the name of God bandied about without hesitation or guilt. Having said that, I'm also amazed at how poorly informed he and many Irish people are when it comes to the American election process now going on. Here in America, the economy and unemployment are at the top of the list. We Americans (both Democrat and Republican) are looking for a viable candidate with good administrative experience.
Palin, while a nice person, doesn't meet the criteria to save a nation brought down to its knees by the current administration (whether you like it or not). The press has been so mesmerized with Palin that it can't see the forest through the trees.
The people of America have become really ticked off at many abusers in government, and we already gave the first indication with the last election both on federal and state levels. Those results were a sheer rebuke of Obama's socialist policies that don't work here.
We see where Obama has been in constant campaign mode even after being elected. He's surrounded himself with buffoons who don't know their butts from their elbows.
Sorry to correct Cormac, but his view is blurred by the true realities of what's going on here. There are good candidates out there who could whip Obama both in debate and at the polls.
Now about to rise to the occasion are Romney, Santorum, Cain, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Perry, Bachmann, etc. Cormac's “West’s Awake” has been sleeping, and I do hope his west is now awake.
Ed McGovern
Palm Harbor, Florida
Stop Using Shannon
THE use of Shannon Airport by U.S. troops on their way to and from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan has gained a good deal of coverage recently primarily thanks to the WikiLeaks stories in the Irish Independent.
The new program for the Irish government says Shannon Airport should only be used in accordance with international law, and since the Hague Convention of 1907 which has been a cornerstone of law says neutral states cannot allow their territory to be used in a war (no U.S. Army planes land in Zurich Airport), the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) expects the Fine Gael/Labor government to live up to its promises.
Please visit www.globalintelligenceforum.com which promotes a conference on global intelligence (???) from July 11-13 in Dungarvan. The speakers include a former director of the CIA and many others.
Since the decisive majority of the people of the U.S. and Great Britain want to see the end of these wars, PANA in opposing them since 2001, sees itself as the most pro-U.S., most pro-British (their people, that is) in Ireland.
If the new Irish government refuses to enforce its own agreed program, it is it, not PANA, that is anti-American, anti-British.
Roger Cole,
Chair, PANA Dublin, Ireland
The new program for the Irish government says Shannon Airport should only be used in accordance with international law, and since the Hague Convention of 1907 which has been a cornerstone of law says neutral states cannot allow their territory to be used in a war (no U.S. Army planes land in Zurich Airport), the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) expects the Fine Gael/Labor government to live up to its promises.
Please visit www.globalintelligenceforum.com which promotes a conference on global intelligence (???) from July 11-13 in Dungarvan. The speakers include a former director of the CIA and many others.
Since the decisive majority of the people of the U.S. and Great Britain want to see the end of these wars, PANA in opposing them since 2001, sees itself as the most pro-U.S., most pro-British (their people, that is) in Ireland.
If the new Irish government refuses to enforce its own agreed program, it is it, not PANA, that is anti-American, anti-British.
Roger Cole,
Chair, PANA Dublin, Ireland
Zip It Cormac!
HE’S at it again. Cormac MacConnell, writing from 3,000 miles away, never a resident of the U.S. (as far as I know) yet still pontificating on Sarah Palin.
Guess what, Cormac? You think you’ve got a right to weigh in because the U.S. president is the leader of the free world, as you say, but if I were you I’d worry about what’s going on in your bankrupt country first and foremost.
The leader of the free world didn’t cause the greed that resulted in your banks going bust and the value of your real estate falling through the floor.
The leader of the free world isn’t the one who’s responsible for causing another brain drain in your country which will result in yet more emigration.
You’ve got a heap of problems right at your doorstep, Mr. MacConnell, so butt out of our election and worry about cleaning up your own country. You might not like Sarah Palin, but guess what? No one here really cares. American voters will make the decisions about her political future, not you or any other smart-mouthed armchair pundit living an ocean away.
Paul McCarthy
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Guess what, Cormac? You think you’ve got a right to weigh in because the U.S. president is the leader of the free world, as you say, but if I were you I’d worry about what’s going on in your bankrupt country first and foremost.
The leader of the free world didn’t cause the greed that resulted in your banks going bust and the value of your real estate falling through the floor.
The leader of the free world isn’t the one who’s responsible for causing another brain drain in your country which will result in yet more emigration.
You’ve got a heap of problems right at your doorstep, Mr. MacConnell, so butt out of our election and worry about cleaning up your own country. You might not like Sarah Palin, but guess what? No one here really cares. American voters will make the decisions about her political future, not you or any other smart-mouthed armchair pundit living an ocean away.
Paul McCarthy
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Spread the Blame
MR. James V. Burke, in his letter "Real GOP Agenda" in last week's issue, gave us the absolute and final truth about the originators of evil and injustice in America, if not the whole world. They are none other than Republican politicians and free enterprisers.
On the other hand, he implies that there is no way you can be a good Christian unless you support public sector unions or any union backed by the Democratic Party.
The good Christian aspect of Mr. Burke's position is intriguing because I believe that the seventh commandment is very much at play here. Buying Democratic politicians with union dues in return for gold plated contracts on pension rights, exorbitant health care benefits, work rules where workers can't get fired and having the entire unsustainable cost passed on to the taxpayers is nothing more than legalized stealing.
The seventh commandment, as far as I know, doesn’t make any distinction between legalized stealing and plain old fashion stealing. The only difference is a fellow on Wall Street could wind up in jail while the legalized stealer retains his good name and gets reelected.
However, in Christian terms, God has not been fooled nor has the good Christian.
The Democratic left wing politicians in Albany, headed by Assembly Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver, were able for years to keep secret their outside incomes and clients they represented before the state. They had passed a statute to actually allow them to do this. Another good example of how to be a good Christian.
Mr. Burke says in his last paragraph that industry has always treated the federal government like a cash cow at the expense of the taxpayers. Does Mr. Burke not realize that he just hoisted himself on his own petard with that statement?
Since the federal government is not some inanimate object but a group of elected politicians where the Democratic Party held majority rule unbroken for 40 years, I think I can logically conclude that these politicians sold their integrity to the captains of industry and thereby allowed the federal government to be turned into a cash cow, as Mr. Burke claims.
It takes two to tango. There is no one way street here.
When all is said and done there is enough blame to go around many different groups. I think sharing the blame and the responsibility for wrongdoing is better than pointing fingers with the holier than thou mentality.
John Rogers
Voorhees, New Jersey
On the other hand, he implies that there is no way you can be a good Christian unless you support public sector unions or any union backed by the Democratic Party.
The good Christian aspect of Mr. Burke's position is intriguing because I believe that the seventh commandment is very much at play here. Buying Democratic politicians with union dues in return for gold plated contracts on pension rights, exorbitant health care benefits, work rules where workers can't get fired and having the entire unsustainable cost passed on to the taxpayers is nothing more than legalized stealing.
The seventh commandment, as far as I know, doesn’t make any distinction between legalized stealing and plain old fashion stealing. The only difference is a fellow on Wall Street could wind up in jail while the legalized stealer retains his good name and gets reelected.
However, in Christian terms, God has not been fooled nor has the good Christian.
The Democratic left wing politicians in Albany, headed by Assembly Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver, were able for years to keep secret their outside incomes and clients they represented before the state. They had passed a statute to actually allow them to do this. Another good example of how to be a good Christian.
Mr. Burke says in his last paragraph that industry has always treated the federal government like a cash cow at the expense of the taxpayers. Does Mr. Burke not realize that he just hoisted himself on his own petard with that statement?
Since the federal government is not some inanimate object but a group of elected politicians where the Democratic Party held majority rule unbroken for 40 years, I think I can logically conclude that these politicians sold their integrity to the captains of industry and thereby allowed the federal government to be turned into a cash cow, as Mr. Burke claims.
It takes two to tango. There is no one way street here.
When all is said and done there is enough blame to go around many different groups. I think sharing the blame and the responsibility for wrongdoing is better than pointing fingers with the holier than thou mentality.
John Rogers
Voorhees, New Jersey
Respect for Victims
THE recent appointment of Ms. McArdle as a Sinn Fein adviser in the Stormont Assembly has caused a great deal of controversy and debate within the media and amongst politicians at home and abroad.
It has divided opinion as to whether it is morally right to appoint ex-prisoners to profile positions. It has re-ignited the debate around how we deal with the past and reinforces the need to find a mechanism to start dealing with our past.
More importantly, it has shown that if you scratch the surface of victims and victims’ survivors, their wounds are still extremely raw.
I empathize with the Travers family and can understand their feelings regarding the appointment of the person involved in the killing of their loved one in 1984 as a special adviser at the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure.
However, I am of the opinion Ms. McArdle should not resign from her position. I do not say this lightly as I myself lost my mother at the hands of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1979. After having shot her they then attempted to murder my grandmother and aunt in our family home while my 12-year-old brother was present.
One of the most controversial yet significant parts of the Good Friday Agreement was the early release of prisoners. Public opinion was divided on this issue but we accepted it as part of the conflict transformation process. Ms. McArdle was and still is part of that process.
I do understand how difficult this appointment must be for the Travers family to accept. Issues like this become more complex when as a victim you are directly affected by them. Memories do not diminish with time.
It has been repeated again and again that we should put the past behind us and move on. Ms. McArdle is a part of that past as is the Travers family, as is my family and hundreds of other families.
It has become apparent since this story was released by the media that the aftermath of the conflict is very much a live issue and one which up until now has yet to be dealt with in a proper manner. There has been a collective failure in finding a way forward.
It is within this context that we now need to find a way to deal with the past in a sensitive and inclusive manner. The politicking of victims’ issues needs to end, and serious debate needs to begin on how to acknowledge the wrongs of the past for all our sakes.
Do they await the death of the conflict generation in the hope the issues die with them rather than deal with the here and now? I wonder!
Josephine Larmour
Belfast, Northern Ireland
It has divided opinion as to whether it is morally right to appoint ex-prisoners to profile positions. It has re-ignited the debate around how we deal with the past and reinforces the need to find a mechanism to start dealing with our past.
More importantly, it has shown that if you scratch the surface of victims and victims’ survivors, their wounds are still extremely raw.
I empathize with the Travers family and can understand their feelings regarding the appointment of the person involved in the killing of their loved one in 1984 as a special adviser at the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure.
However, I am of the opinion Ms. McArdle should not resign from her position. I do not say this lightly as I myself lost my mother at the hands of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1979. After having shot her they then attempted to murder my grandmother and aunt in our family home while my 12-year-old brother was present.
One of the most controversial yet significant parts of the Good Friday Agreement was the early release of prisoners. Public opinion was divided on this issue but we accepted it as part of the conflict transformation process. Ms. McArdle was and still is part of that process.
I do understand how difficult this appointment must be for the Travers family to accept. Issues like this become more complex when as a victim you are directly affected by them. Memories do not diminish with time.
It has been repeated again and again that we should put the past behind us and move on. Ms. McArdle is a part of that past as is the Travers family, as is my family and hundreds of other families.
It has become apparent since this story was released by the media that the aftermath of the conflict is very much a live issue and one which up until now has yet to be dealt with in a proper manner. There has been a collective failure in finding a way forward.
It is within this context that we now need to find a way to deal with the past in a sensitive and inclusive manner. The politicking of victims’ issues needs to end, and serious debate needs to begin on how to acknowledge the wrongs of the past for all our sakes.
Do they await the death of the conflict generation in the hope the issues die with them rather than deal with the here and now? I wonder!
Josephine Larmour
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Shameful Journalism
THE Irish corporate media's coverage of the Windsor visit could not be described, no matter how broad a definition used, as “journalism.”
Those that produced such one sided, sycophantic reports should hang their heads in shame. It exposed once again a complete lack of any credible mainstream media outlet willing to critically examine or question the political establishment line.
Their “journalism” consisted of article after article parroting the “consensus” of how great the English monarch is, how great this visit would be for us all and how anyone who questioned this consensus was a political dinosaur filled with hate and bitterness.
None dared break the consensus and report on Gardai (police) intimidating protesters, stealing posters and banners or throwing the national flag in refuse trucks as they effectively banned it from our capital city.
There was no media questioning as to whether the tens of millions of euros spent on this visit would have been better spent elsewhere, such as in our hospitals and schools or for special needs assistants and carers.
Silence on these issues was the consensus. Instead we heard a narrative of a little old lady and her husband who were in Ireland to promote peace and goodwill.
And no “journalist” dared ask the obvious question -- what exactly is it about this anti-democratic, sectarian, war crimes apologist who lives a life of privilege based on the exploitation of her “subjects,” that has the leaders of this so-called “republic” almost wetting themselves with excitement at the prospect of being in her company and bowing and scraping before her?
Anyone dare to hazard a guess?
Gerry Casey
Co. Sligo, Ireland
Those that produced such one sided, sycophantic reports should hang their heads in shame. It exposed once again a complete lack of any credible mainstream media outlet willing to critically examine or question the political establishment line.
Their “journalism” consisted of article after article parroting the “consensus” of how great the English monarch is, how great this visit would be for us all and how anyone who questioned this consensus was a political dinosaur filled with hate and bitterness.
None dared break the consensus and report on Gardai (police) intimidating protesters, stealing posters and banners or throwing the national flag in refuse trucks as they effectively banned it from our capital city.
There was no media questioning as to whether the tens of millions of euros spent on this visit would have been better spent elsewhere, such as in our hospitals and schools or for special needs assistants and carers.
Silence on these issues was the consensus. Instead we heard a narrative of a little old lady and her husband who were in Ireland to promote peace and goodwill.
And no “journalist” dared ask the obvious question -- what exactly is it about this anti-democratic, sectarian, war crimes apologist who lives a life of privilege based on the exploitation of her “subjects,” that has the leaders of this so-called “republic” almost wetting themselves with excitement at the prospect of being in her company and bowing and scraping before her?
Anyone dare to hazard a guess?
Gerry Casey
Co. Sligo, Ireland
A Positive Leap
JOHN Brennan’s letter to the editor entitled "Monumental Leap" (May 18-24) about the British and Irish burying the hatchet hit the nail on the head.
You may want to hire him to write for your editorial page. He may be America's answer to John Spain and Cormac MacConnell.
Nancy Murphy
Florence, Kentucky
You may want to hire him to write for your editorial page. He may be America's answer to John Spain and Cormac MacConnell.
Nancy Murphy
Florence, Kentucky
Country Folk Care
I AM writing in reference to the letter “Burn Donkey Abusers” by Eileen McNamara in the April 20-26 issue, about the donkey abuse in Limerick.
Mrs. McNamara thinks most COUNTRY people are ignorant and cold. Well, I was raised on a farm in Kerry and taught to respect all life, be it human or animal.
The people who abuse animals have a choice between good and evil. They choose evil. They should be punished to the full extent of the law.
Kitty Kenny
Brick, New Jersey
Mrs. McNamara thinks most COUNTRY people are ignorant and cold. Well, I was raised on a farm in Kerry and taught to respect all life, be it human or animal.
The people who abuse animals have a choice between good and evil. They choose evil. They should be punished to the full extent of the law.
Kitty Kenny
Brick, New Jersey
He’s Gone
IT’S taken almost 10 years, but peace loving people around the globe can finally exhale and say that Osama's “bin laden” to rest, thanks in no small measure to President Obama.
Sean McPhillips
College Point, New York
Sean McPhillips
College Point, New York
Don’t Export Greyhounds
"ASSURANCES on export of greyhounds to China" will be given, according to the Irish Greyhound Board.
This spells out the controversy surrounding the board’s proposal to export Irish greyhounds to China for racing, regardless of China's wretched record of animal welfare.
I can't think of much that would cast a bigger, darker shadow on Ireland than the photos and video that are bound to come back to haunt the Irish if this trade goes forward. As Mark Beazley of the Dogs' Trust said, "These aren't bags of potatoes.”
There is a growing animal welfare movement in China. People there will be on the look out and will document and expose the brutality that is inevitable given the real lack of welfare safeguards.
The Irish breeders sold their greyhounds to Spain for years despite the damning evidence brought to the public's attention about the wretched conditions for the greyhounds on the Spanish tracks. That trade finally dwindled dramatically when the real estate the tracks occupied was more lucrative as real estate instead of seedy dog tracks.
Sending greyhounds to China is a pivotal decision for the Irish. If the proposal goes ahead the haunting wails of abandoned dogs will be heard and will indicate the depths of Irish greed.
What goes around, comes around...
Louise Coleman
Greyhound Friends
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
This spells out the controversy surrounding the board’s proposal to export Irish greyhounds to China for racing, regardless of China's wretched record of animal welfare.
I can't think of much that would cast a bigger, darker shadow on Ireland than the photos and video that are bound to come back to haunt the Irish if this trade goes forward. As Mark Beazley of the Dogs' Trust said, "These aren't bags of potatoes.”
There is a growing animal welfare movement in China. People there will be on the look out and will document and expose the brutality that is inevitable given the real lack of welfare safeguards.
The Irish breeders sold their greyhounds to Spain for years despite the damning evidence brought to the public's attention about the wretched conditions for the greyhounds on the Spanish tracks. That trade finally dwindled dramatically when the real estate the tracks occupied was more lucrative as real estate instead of seedy dog tracks.
Sending greyhounds to China is a pivotal decision for the Irish. If the proposal goes ahead the haunting wails of abandoned dogs will be heard and will indicate the depths of Irish greed.
What goes around, comes around...
Louise Coleman
Greyhound Friends
Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Thanks for Mention
MANY thanks to Tom Deignan for his generous mention of my part in the Great Irish Famine curriculum in his column “Beware Hunger for Government Reform” (April 27-May 4).
Credit really must go to Ann Garvey who, as president of the American Irish Teachers Association (AITA), had the idea to mark the 150th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine by teaching children about its importance. She contacted Congressman Joe Crowley about introducing legislation to make the Great Irish Famine a strand in the New York State Human Rights curriculum.
AITA advocated, Crowley took up the project, and the curriculum was on its way. The curriculum itself is 150 lessons that run to more than 1,000 pages of interactive and interdisciplinary lessons that provide instruction framed by the New York State learning standards.
We not only teach it in New York, we have also taught its lessons in other states as well as in Ireland, Britain, Brazil, Argentina and Japan. In 2001, the curriculum won the National Council for the Social Studies Project Excellence Award.
Professor Maureen Murphy
Hofstra University
Hempstead, New York
Credit really must go to Ann Garvey who, as president of the American Irish Teachers Association (AITA), had the idea to mark the 150th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine by teaching children about its importance. She contacted Congressman Joe Crowley about introducing legislation to make the Great Irish Famine a strand in the New York State Human Rights curriculum.
AITA advocated, Crowley took up the project, and the curriculum was on its way. The curriculum itself is 150 lessons that run to more than 1,000 pages of interactive and interdisciplinary lessons that provide instruction framed by the New York State learning standards.
We not only teach it in New York, we have also taught its lessons in other states as well as in Ireland, Britain, Brazil, Argentina and Japan. In 2001, the curriculum won the National Council for the Social Studies Project Excellence Award.
Professor Maureen Murphy
Hofstra University
Hempstead, New York
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Proud of Obama
I WATCHED President Obama's arrival in Ireland aboard Air Force One from CNN – who else? What would we do for true worldwide news without them and the BBC this side of the Atlantic?
If we were depending on Fox News, which really stands for "For Only Xenophobes" we wouldn't have a foggiest notion what occurs outside the GOP or along the Mexican border.
With all the financial pain Ireland has endured the past couple of years, it really did the heart good to see the throngs of parents and kids with smiling faces who lined the streets tenfold of Obama’s ancestral home of Moneygall in Offaly, and boy did the president lap it up. You could clearly see he was he was in love with the audience as indeed, they were with him and his beautiful wife.
There he was in the middle of the crowd shaking hands with literally hundreds of onlookers. I'm sure his security team was having nightmares!
But they need not have worried. This was Ireland.
During the Irish election campaign I wrote to the Irish Voice saying that Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny couldn't put two words together without stammering. Granted he was reading his speech on Monday in College Green Dublin in front of a packed audience, but I must say he delivered it with a gusto and passion that I honestly didn't think he possessed, so I was 100% wrong in my assessment of him.
When it was the president’s turn I was on the edge of my seat throughout, and I don't mind admitting a few tears were shed as he spoke about the harrowing details our ancestors had to go through on the way to these shores.
Sure things are tough today, but we can't even begin to compare with what our forefathers experienced on their voyage west. Ironically, about 75% of Ireland's population now knows what "yes we can" (Is feidir linn) is in the Irish language, whereas they didn't before.
I truly believe Obama’s message will bring hope and inspiration to the Irish people when they need it most. I also have no doubt that Ireland will once again rise from its present financial disaster and take its proper place among the prosperous nations of the world.
Agus tiochaidh ar la aris.
Sean McPhillips
College Point, New York
If we were depending on Fox News, which really stands for "For Only Xenophobes" we wouldn't have a foggiest notion what occurs outside the GOP or along the Mexican border.
With all the financial pain Ireland has endured the past couple of years, it really did the heart good to see the throngs of parents and kids with smiling faces who lined the streets tenfold of Obama’s ancestral home of Moneygall in Offaly, and boy did the president lap it up. You could clearly see he was he was in love with the audience as indeed, they were with him and his beautiful wife.
There he was in the middle of the crowd shaking hands with literally hundreds of onlookers. I'm sure his security team was having nightmares!
But they need not have worried. This was Ireland.
During the Irish election campaign I wrote to the Irish Voice saying that Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny couldn't put two words together without stammering. Granted he was reading his speech on Monday in College Green Dublin in front of a packed audience, but I must say he delivered it with a gusto and passion that I honestly didn't think he possessed, so I was 100% wrong in my assessment of him.
When it was the president’s turn I was on the edge of my seat throughout, and I don't mind admitting a few tears were shed as he spoke about the harrowing details our ancestors had to go through on the way to these shores.
Sure things are tough today, but we can't even begin to compare with what our forefathers experienced on their voyage west. Ironically, about 75% of Ireland's population now knows what "yes we can" (Is feidir linn) is in the Irish language, whereas they didn't before.
I truly believe Obama’s message will bring hope and inspiration to the Irish people when they need it most. I also have no doubt that Ireland will once again rise from its present financial disaster and take its proper place among the prosperous nations of the world.
Agus tiochaidh ar la aris.
Sean McPhillips
College Point, New York
Real GOP Agenda
WE can be thankful for union-busting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for making explicit the Republican agenda. Phase one, already largely accomplished, involves steadily de-funding government through big tax cuts for the rich.
In phase two, Republicans use balanced-budget rhetoric as a political weapon to attack "entitlements," defined as every positive thing government does to benefit society.
And when our public sector has been cut to the bone, with working Americans effectively stripped of affordable health care, schools and retirement security, and the middle class lifestyle is a distant 20th century memory, the Republicans can move ahead with phase three -- more tax cuts for the rich.
What happened to the charitable, caring nation we once were? Republicans are hypocrites for professing to be good Christians while apparently not worrying about the tens of millions of people who need health care and assistance in general.
I have not heard even one politician put caring for people above the so-called absolute need to cut spending and reduce the deficit.
Spending and the debt do need to be reduced. But when politicians won't end tax cuts for the rich or lessen the wasteful, gargantuan military budget, it's clear that maintaining political power and obeying corporate lobbies take priority.
The recent Republican budget proposal by Congressman Paul Ryan proposes more tax cuts for the wealthy, which have never produced more jobs or increased income to the Treasury.
This is beyond absurd at a time of historically low taxes. Reducing spending without increasing income would make poor Americans poorer, rich Americans richer and the middle class non-existent -- and not reduce the deficit.
Finally, the Republicans' blind faith in the free market is also beyond absurd. The "free market" has always been a rigged system, particularly where the big money is defense, energy, finance and insurance.
Industry has always treated the federal government like a cash cow at the expense of the taxpayers.
James V. Burke
Sayreville, New Jersey
In phase two, Republicans use balanced-budget rhetoric as a political weapon to attack "entitlements," defined as every positive thing government does to benefit society.
And when our public sector has been cut to the bone, with working Americans effectively stripped of affordable health care, schools and retirement security, and the middle class lifestyle is a distant 20th century memory, the Republicans can move ahead with phase three -- more tax cuts for the rich.
What happened to the charitable, caring nation we once were? Republicans are hypocrites for professing to be good Christians while apparently not worrying about the tens of millions of people who need health care and assistance in general.
I have not heard even one politician put caring for people above the so-called absolute need to cut spending and reduce the deficit.
Spending and the debt do need to be reduced. But when politicians won't end tax cuts for the rich or lessen the wasteful, gargantuan military budget, it's clear that maintaining political power and obeying corporate lobbies take priority.
The recent Republican budget proposal by Congressman Paul Ryan proposes more tax cuts for the wealthy, which have never produced more jobs or increased income to the Treasury.
This is beyond absurd at a time of historically low taxes. Reducing spending without increasing income would make poor Americans poorer, rich Americans richer and the middle class non-existent -- and not reduce the deficit.
Finally, the Republicans' blind faith in the free market is also beyond absurd. The "free market" has always been a rigged system, particularly where the big money is defense, energy, finance and insurance.
Industry has always treated the federal government like a cash cow at the expense of the taxpayers.
James V. Burke
Sayreville, New Jersey
Focus on Culture
LIKE many, I was quite impressed by President Obama’s cúpla focal included in his College Green oration. However, I hope that the primary beneficiaries of the event were listening closely.
Obama’s appearance in Dublin was, after all, an advertisement for Failte Ireland. The president, also, is likely to benefit from some footage as well. This is perfectly legitimate, as increased tourism in Ireland and barring the GOP from the White House are worthy objectives.
While Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny also indulged in a bit of Gaeilge, I was somewhat repulsed his playing the “Irish” American card, patronizing “40-million” Americans.
It also likely lacked the desired effect, as much of that demographic are “informed” by Fox News, which reportedly rendered scant coverage to the event in comparison to other networks.
Perhaps, however, Kenny isn’t to be faulted for following the script. So too, it is somewhat understandable that Failte Ireland would resort to appealing merely to “Irish” Americans rather than thinking Americans.
Indeed, such rank tribalism worked well as cost-effective fundraising scheme for Sinn Fein. This approach, however, is getting tired.
Obama’s use of the national tongue should remind the Irish tourist industry to consider cultural tourism as a viable marketing objective. Indeed, language is the soul of any culture.
While on the onset 40 million is an attractive number, few of these will ever hold a passport. Among those who do, many will make one and only journey “home” on the back of a CIE bus and will content themselves with annual reminisces every 17th of March.
Cultural tourists, on the other hand, are more likely to provide “repeat business” to the tourist industry as well as to others, such as publishing and recording.
This latter group tends to be more appreciative and low maintenance, rendering less wear and tear on facilities and nerves. More so, they’ve more disposable income and are likely to form lasting friendships and acquaintances overseas.
With a bit of imagination, Failte Ireland would find ways to reach this market. We do certainly exist and offer a considerable potential, regardless of our complexions, where we worship or how we spell our names.
Fáinne ort, a Uachtaráin!
Daithà Mac Lochlainn
Woodside, New York
Obama’s appearance in Dublin was, after all, an advertisement for Failte Ireland. The president, also, is likely to benefit from some footage as well. This is perfectly legitimate, as increased tourism in Ireland and barring the GOP from the White House are worthy objectives.
While Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny also indulged in a bit of Gaeilge, I was somewhat repulsed his playing the “Irish” American card, patronizing “40-million” Americans.
It also likely lacked the desired effect, as much of that demographic are “informed” by Fox News, which reportedly rendered scant coverage to the event in comparison to other networks.
Perhaps, however, Kenny isn’t to be faulted for following the script. So too, it is somewhat understandable that Failte Ireland would resort to appealing merely to “Irish” Americans rather than thinking Americans.
Indeed, such rank tribalism worked well as cost-effective fundraising scheme for Sinn Fein. This approach, however, is getting tired.
Obama’s use of the national tongue should remind the Irish tourist industry to consider cultural tourism as a viable marketing objective. Indeed, language is the soul of any culture.
While on the onset 40 million is an attractive number, few of these will ever hold a passport. Among those who do, many will make one and only journey “home” on the back of a CIE bus and will content themselves with annual reminisces every 17th of March.
Cultural tourists, on the other hand, are more likely to provide “repeat business” to the tourist industry as well as to others, such as publishing and recording.
This latter group tends to be more appreciative and low maintenance, rendering less wear and tear on facilities and nerves. More so, they’ve more disposable income and are likely to form lasting friendships and acquaintances overseas.
With a bit of imagination, Failte Ireland would find ways to reach this market. We do certainly exist and offer a considerable potential, regardless of our complexions, where we worship or how we spell our names.
Fáinne ort, a Uachtaráin!
Daithà Mac Lochlainn
Woodside, New York
RUC Not Truthful
ON July 8, 1981 my wife Norah McCabe was shot and fatally wounded by a plastic bullet. The RUC denied any knowledge or any involvement in her killing, and were subsequently found to be lying when evidence in the form of a video recording was shown at the inquest into her death.
It was also stated that the person who fired the fatal shot could not be identified. A fact later found to be untrue.
In other words members of the RUC, including a chief inspector, James Crutchley, colluded in an attempt to hide the truth.
The inquiry into the death of Rosemary Nelson found that despite denials at the time harassment did take place and had "the subsequent effect of legitimizing her as a target in the eyes of Loyalist terrorists.”
In the case of my wife Norah and that of Rosemary Nelson, the RUC were seen to be less than truthful in giving evidence. Whether it be under oath or in enquiries, they have demonstrated that their evidence should not be relied upon.
Jim McCabe
Belfast, Northern Ireland
It was also stated that the person who fired the fatal shot could not be identified. A fact later found to be untrue.
In other words members of the RUC, including a chief inspector, James Crutchley, colluded in an attempt to hide the truth.
The inquiry into the death of Rosemary Nelson found that despite denials at the time harassment did take place and had "the subsequent effect of legitimizing her as a target in the eyes of Loyalist terrorists.”
In the case of my wife Norah and that of Rosemary Nelson, the RUC were seen to be less than truthful in giving evidence. Whether it be under oath or in enquiries, they have demonstrated that their evidence should not be relied upon.
Jim McCabe
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Proud of the AOH
THE great waves of immigration from Ireland to America were just beginning when in May of 1836 a group of Irish Catholic men in New York and Pennsylvania formed a benevolent society called the Hibernians to help newly arrived immigrants.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), as they became known, were linked to a group called the Defenders in Ireland, which fought oppressive British landlords and provided protection to priests. A Mass at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s in New York last weekend marked the 175th anniversary of the AOH, the longest tenure of any such ethnic or fraternal organization in the U. S.
New Yorkers know well the Hibernians for their proud, full presence and long association with the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Each St. Patrick’s Day New York’s archbishops remind Mass-goers of the Hibernians’ response in 1854 to the pleas of then Archbishop John Hughes to defend the original St. Patrick’s Church at Prince and Mulberry Streets against threats by Nativist bigots to burn it. The Hibernian headquarters was nearby.
The Know-Nothings, as they were called, had succeeded in burning an Ursuline Convent in Massachusetts and St. Augustine’s Church in Philadelphia, but they failed to destroy the cathedral, now designated a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
Despite the anti-Catholic bigotry and anti-Irish sentiment prevalent in America in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Hibernians grew.
At its peak in 1916 the AOH was led by Pennsylvania Congressman McLaughlin and boasted 250,000 members from Portland, Maine to Yreka, California.
Century old Hibernian Halls still stand in Bristol, Pennsylvania, Butte, Montana and Turners Falls, Massachusetts.
An example of the AOH’s many gifts to churches can be found in two stained glass windows in St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Long Island City.
Today the AOH is still assisting Irish immigrants, promoting immigration reform and advocating for the peaceful re-unification of Ireland.
It remains a strong voice for truth about the persecution and killings of the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland and for justice for the many victims of the conflict.
The national president of the AOH, Seamus Boyle of Philadelphia, recently appealed to President Obama to demand greater cooperation from the British in the search for truth on the unsolved murders of nearly 1,000 Catholics.
The record of the AOH in America is unique not only for its long tenure, but for its singular efforts to commemorate in art, word and deed the contributions and sacrifices of Irish and Irish Americans to the growth and defense of the country, to the welfare of the Catholic church and to Ireland’s peace and prosperity.
That is a legacy for which all Americans can be proud.
Michael J. Cummings
Former National Archivist, AOH
Albany, New York
The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), as they became known, were linked to a group called the Defenders in Ireland, which fought oppressive British landlords and provided protection to priests. A Mass at the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s in New York last weekend marked the 175th anniversary of the AOH, the longest tenure of any such ethnic or fraternal organization in the U. S.
New Yorkers know well the Hibernians for their proud, full presence and long association with the St. Patrick’s Day parade. Each St. Patrick’s Day New York’s archbishops remind Mass-goers of the Hibernians’ response in 1854 to the pleas of then Archbishop John Hughes to defend the original St. Patrick’s Church at Prince and Mulberry Streets against threats by Nativist bigots to burn it. The Hibernian headquarters was nearby.
The Know-Nothings, as they were called, had succeeded in burning an Ursuline Convent in Massachusetts and St. Augustine’s Church in Philadelphia, but they failed to destroy the cathedral, now designated a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.
Despite the anti-Catholic bigotry and anti-Irish sentiment prevalent in America in the late 19th and early 20th century, the Hibernians grew.
At its peak in 1916 the AOH was led by Pennsylvania Congressman McLaughlin and boasted 250,000 members from Portland, Maine to Yreka, California.
Century old Hibernian Halls still stand in Bristol, Pennsylvania, Butte, Montana and Turners Falls, Massachusetts.
An example of the AOH’s many gifts to churches can be found in two stained glass windows in St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Long Island City.
Today the AOH is still assisting Irish immigrants, promoting immigration reform and advocating for the peaceful re-unification of Ireland.
It remains a strong voice for truth about the persecution and killings of the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland and for justice for the many victims of the conflict.
The national president of the AOH, Seamus Boyle of Philadelphia, recently appealed to President Obama to demand greater cooperation from the British in the search for truth on the unsolved murders of nearly 1,000 Catholics.
The record of the AOH in America is unique not only for its long tenure, but for its singular efforts to commemorate in art, word and deed the contributions and sacrifices of Irish and Irish Americans to the growth and defense of the country, to the welfare of the Catholic church and to Ireland’s peace and prosperity.
That is a legacy for which all Americans can be proud.
Michael J. Cummings
Former National Archivist, AOH
Albany, New York
Liz Never Welcome
MY dear father, an exiled Corkonian, was an activist in the IRA during the Troubles, and unlike Presidents Clinton, Bush, Jr. and Obama was no sofa samurai, having been awarded several medals for valor.
He was also a close personal friend of the martyred Lord Mayor of Cork Terrence McSweeney, his brother and their mother. In fact, my first cousin is married to the first cousin of McSweeney.
In 1957 my father returned to Ireland and visited an embittered and tear-filled Mrs. McSweeney, who said that her son’s sacrifice was wasted and scantly appreciated, especially by Corkonians. How truly prophetic!
To ALL (no exceptions) defilers of the faith, enamored of Missy Liz’s in the dear Mother Ireland – Perfidious Albion, the vampire on the continent, spits in your face and you merely call it mildew.
John Keenan
Bronx, New York
He was also a close personal friend of the martyred Lord Mayor of Cork Terrence McSweeney, his brother and their mother. In fact, my first cousin is married to the first cousin of McSweeney.
In 1957 my father returned to Ireland and visited an embittered and tear-filled Mrs. McSweeney, who said that her son’s sacrifice was wasted and scantly appreciated, especially by Corkonians. How truly prophetic!
To ALL (no exceptions) defilers of the faith, enamored of Missy Liz’s in the dear Mother Ireland – Perfidious Albion, the vampire on the continent, spits in your face and you merely call it mildew.
John Keenan
Bronx, New York
McAleese Invites
DURING the recent visit to Ireland by the Queen of England, President Mary McAleese in her wisdom extended invitations to five Ulster Defense Association (UDA) and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) brigadiers to attend a wreath laying ceremony by the Queen at Islandbridge.
Jackie McDonald, one of the UDA/UFF brigadiers invited to the ceremony stated, "This represents progress and is a reward for work being done. Others could learn from this."
In recently seen court transcripts, one of the UDA/UFF brigadiers invited to this ceremony was named as having been involved in the planning of the Greysteel massacre in Derry in 1993.
Would McAleese extend the same welcome to the families of those murdered in Greysteel by the UDA/UFF, and listen as they speak of their loss and how it has impacted on their lives and the lives of their extended families?
Would they be as warmly welcomed as McDonald and his brigadiers? Would she embrace them and be as comfortable with them as she appears to be while in the company of McDonald?
Will she be as supportive of them as they continue to seek the truth, as she appears to have been when arranging the visit to Ireland by the Queen of England?
Will collusion and state sponsored murder be on their agenda? Others could learn from this!
J. Parker
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Jackie McDonald, one of the UDA/UFF brigadiers invited to the ceremony stated, "This represents progress and is a reward for work being done. Others could learn from this."
In recently seen court transcripts, one of the UDA/UFF brigadiers invited to this ceremony was named as having been involved in the planning of the Greysteel massacre in Derry in 1993.
Would McAleese extend the same welcome to the families of those murdered in Greysteel by the UDA/UFF, and listen as they speak of their loss and how it has impacted on their lives and the lives of their extended families?
Would they be as warmly welcomed as McDonald and his brigadiers? Would she embrace them and be as comfortable with them as she appears to be while in the company of McDonald?
Will she be as supportive of them as they continue to seek the truth, as she appears to have been when arranging the visit to Ireland by the Queen of England?
Will collusion and state sponsored murder be on their agenda? Others could learn from this!
J. Parker
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Monumental Leap
WHOEVER would have thought it possible? At a time when it seems as if the rest of the world is hell bent on slaughtering each other, the Irish and the British have taken a monumental leap toward burying the hatchet.
I use the word monumental because the astonishing thing is that they are not trying to bury it in each other’s heads on this occasion! If ever there was a case of reverse psychology, then surely this is it. Big time!
Everywhere else on the planet the cave men are out in force, hell-bent on proving that Allah or Jesus or Abraham or Christ or the Dali Lama or Jehovah or Billy Graham or the guy from Waco, or the apostle from Prosperous, Co. Kildare (Christy Moore) is the true God, and have the weaponry to prove it, enforce it, ram it down your throat and generally just wipe out all the heathens who don’t agree, won’t agree, can’t agree, refuse to see.
We Irish are definitely a race apart and have tried to teach the world in our own inimitable style, with books, music, poetry, sarcasm, wit, craic and a lot of bull that we can all live together and get along (as long as you don’t touch my pint!)
John Brennan
Garden City, New York
I use the word monumental because the astonishing thing is that they are not trying to bury it in each other’s heads on this occasion! If ever there was a case of reverse psychology, then surely this is it. Big time!
Everywhere else on the planet the cave men are out in force, hell-bent on proving that Allah or Jesus or Abraham or Christ or the Dali Lama or Jehovah or Billy Graham or the guy from Waco, or the apostle from Prosperous, Co. Kildare (Christy Moore) is the true God, and have the weaponry to prove it, enforce it, ram it down your throat and generally just wipe out all the heathens who don’t agree, won’t agree, can’t agree, refuse to see.
We Irish are definitely a race apart and have tried to teach the world in our own inimitable style, with books, music, poetry, sarcasm, wit, craic and a lot of bull that we can all live together and get along (as long as you don’t touch my pint!)
John Brennan
Garden City, New York
A Productive Visit
I WAS glad to see Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip enjoy their time in Ireland so much, and gladder still that violence didn’t destroy their historic trip.
The Irish people have come such a long way. They should be proud of the welcome they extended to the Queen, and she represented her country so well too.
It’s crazy for Britain and Ireland to be at odds with each other, given how close they are to each other geographically and so many other ways as well. The Queen’s trip will undoubtedly bring the two sides even closer, and the people who continue to advocate on behalf of violence will have their toxic voices further silenced.
Maria Corcoran
Tenafly, New Jersey
The Irish people have come such a long way. They should be proud of the welcome they extended to the Queen, and she represented her country so well too.
It’s crazy for Britain and Ireland to be at odds with each other, given how close they are to each other geographically and so many other ways as well. The Queen’s trip will undoubtedly bring the two sides even closer, and the people who continue to advocate on behalf of violence will have their toxic voices further silenced.
Maria Corcoran
Tenafly, New Jersey
Travel Helps Everything
IN my youth growing up in Limerick I was led to believe, as were most of the young men and women of Ireland at that time, that most Americans were lazy, and because they were so lazy they had to wear Hawaiian shirts to cover their bulging waistlines.
When I finished school, I became a bartender at the Anner Hotel in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. From time to time a tourist bus filled with Americans would pull into the hotel parking lot, and out of these coaches would emerge the worst dressed people that you could ever imagine seeing.
It seemed to me then that Americans had either no taste for style, or they simply were just too rich to care. Of course, back then I was also of the idiotic assumption that there was no such thing as a poor American.
Water was all that these American tourists seemed to care to drink. Was this because they were too cheap to order a real drink? (we all certainly thought so).
We nonetheless filled their glasses with iceless water (straight from the faucet), and we painfully listened to them complain with disdain about the fact that we had no ice to offer them. But of course we did have ice to offer them, but ice was only for paying customers.
For as long as I can recall I had wanted to come to America, but I must admit that my primary reasons back then for wanting to be here in the land of dreams was solely to make money, get rich and then return to Ireland with all that money and buy myself a simple little mountain-side cottage.
A place where I would hopefully live out the rest of my life in peaceful bliss. There was a Lassie dog thrown into the mix somewhere there too.
Now that I have lived in New York for just over 20 years, I sometimes feel both ashamed and embarrassed by how small my thinking was before travel broadened my mind.
America is a much different place than what I had perceived it to be (childish thinking), and American people are just like any other race of people with their mixture of personalities and their individual ideals, but all of them trying in their own best way to carve out a decent life for themselves.
Today, I consider myself to be just as American as my two sons who have grown up as proud Americans, and if some foreign figure attempts in any shape or form to either demean or insult the very fabric of Americanism, then I too take deep offense to such rhetoric. America is my home, and a home that I would gladly give up my life to protect.
Travel is a great educator, and I believe that more Americans should spend at least one year of their life traveling abroad. Most Americans are a very proud people and they love their country with all of their heart.
But most Americans are also guilty of being small-minded, especially when it comes to the cultures and ways of their world neighbors.
If Americans want the world to better understand them, then I suggest that Americans do a better job of understanding the world around them.
In this time of fragile world borders, it's not good for any of us to be belligerent in our way of thinking and foolishly believing that we are better than our neighbors. We can all learn to change together.
Pat Greene
Brooklyn, New York
When I finished school, I became a bartender at the Anner Hotel in Thurles, Co. Tipperary. From time to time a tourist bus filled with Americans would pull into the hotel parking lot, and out of these coaches would emerge the worst dressed people that you could ever imagine seeing.
It seemed to me then that Americans had either no taste for style, or they simply were just too rich to care. Of course, back then I was also of the idiotic assumption that there was no such thing as a poor American.
Water was all that these American tourists seemed to care to drink. Was this because they were too cheap to order a real drink? (we all certainly thought so).
We nonetheless filled their glasses with iceless water (straight from the faucet), and we painfully listened to them complain with disdain about the fact that we had no ice to offer them. But of course we did have ice to offer them, but ice was only for paying customers.
For as long as I can recall I had wanted to come to America, but I must admit that my primary reasons back then for wanting to be here in the land of dreams was solely to make money, get rich and then return to Ireland with all that money and buy myself a simple little mountain-side cottage.
A place where I would hopefully live out the rest of my life in peaceful bliss. There was a Lassie dog thrown into the mix somewhere there too.
Now that I have lived in New York for just over 20 years, I sometimes feel both ashamed and embarrassed by how small my thinking was before travel broadened my mind.
America is a much different place than what I had perceived it to be (childish thinking), and American people are just like any other race of people with their mixture of personalities and their individual ideals, but all of them trying in their own best way to carve out a decent life for themselves.
Today, I consider myself to be just as American as my two sons who have grown up as proud Americans, and if some foreign figure attempts in any shape or form to either demean or insult the very fabric of Americanism, then I too take deep offense to such rhetoric. America is my home, and a home that I would gladly give up my life to protect.
Travel is a great educator, and I believe that more Americans should spend at least one year of their life traveling abroad. Most Americans are a very proud people and they love their country with all of their heart.
But most Americans are also guilty of being small-minded, especially when it comes to the cultures and ways of their world neighbors.
If Americans want the world to better understand them, then I suggest that Americans do a better job of understanding the world around them.
In this time of fragile world borders, it's not good for any of us to be belligerent in our way of thinking and foolishly believing that we are better than our neighbors. We can all learn to change together.
Pat Greene
Brooklyn, New York
Irish Need Bam’s Help
WHEN President Obama travels to Ireland next week, in between visiting his great-great-great-grandfather’s village of Moneygall and other events, he will undoubtedly face the chaffing issue of the country’s corporate tax scheme.
Currently under duress by the Franco-German alliance to consolidate their corporate tax base as a condition of the EU/IMF bailout, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny understands the harm this holds for Ireland, and adamantly rejected the idea as tax harmonization by the “back door.”
But at a international financial conference hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Financial Times in Washington, D.C., French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced that she was “pleased” by her recent meeting with Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan because he signaled that Ireland was willing to negotiate, marking a “step in the right direction.”
While Noonan insisted to Bloomberg news “there’s no question of any concession on the corporate tax rate being made by Ireland,” his willingness to explore possibilities on the matter and failure to mention the status of talks on a consolidated corporate tax base comes as an unpleasant surprise to the Irish electorate who were guaranteed their tax scheme as a condition of their passage of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.
Ireland needs a big brother to stand by its side, and this could be America’s opportunity to provide some empowerment.
It’s in the U.S. interest to ensure that the Irish corporate tax scheme remain fixed. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, U.S. firms have invested over $165 billion in Ireland, and U.S. firms export 90 billion Euro from Ireland to world markets.
This would hardly be the case if it weren’t for a favorable tax scheme and access to EU markets. An increased corporate tax rate or a consolidated corporate tax base will hurt the already flailing country hit by a devastating banking crisis, an emigration rate of about 1,000 people per week, and falling education standards all at once.
With little other recourse for growth in an economy clamoring for liquidity, maintaining a competitive advantage in foreign direct investment is vital to Ireland's recovery. And pressure to do otherwise for the “good” of the EU simply adds insult to injury.
Not to mention the Irish electorate holds the cards when it comes to EU treaty change – any future referendum on necessary changes to the functioning of the EU, as required by the Irish Constitution, could be hampered by a disillusioned people who feel misled and confused.
Obama should recognize this disillusionment and support the Irish on this issue -- to sustain the benefits of this economic partnership -- and as a matter of principle, to remind the EU of the importance of standing good on its promises.
The Irish descendents who helped to build America to prosperity could not have done so without hope for a better day. Now Ireland needs some hope.
Meghan McBride
Washington, D.C.
Currently under duress by the Franco-German alliance to consolidate their corporate tax base as a condition of the EU/IMF bailout, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny understands the harm this holds for Ireland, and adamantly rejected the idea as tax harmonization by the “back door.”
But at a international financial conference hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Financial Times in Washington, D.C., French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced that she was “pleased” by her recent meeting with Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan because he signaled that Ireland was willing to negotiate, marking a “step in the right direction.”
While Noonan insisted to Bloomberg news “there’s no question of any concession on the corporate tax rate being made by Ireland,” his willingness to explore possibilities on the matter and failure to mention the status of talks on a consolidated corporate tax base comes as an unpleasant surprise to the Irish electorate who were guaranteed their tax scheme as a condition of their passage of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009.
Ireland needs a big brother to stand by its side, and this could be America’s opportunity to provide some empowerment.
It’s in the U.S. interest to ensure that the Irish corporate tax scheme remain fixed. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, U.S. firms have invested over $165 billion in Ireland, and U.S. firms export 90 billion Euro from Ireland to world markets.
This would hardly be the case if it weren’t for a favorable tax scheme and access to EU markets. An increased corporate tax rate or a consolidated corporate tax base will hurt the already flailing country hit by a devastating banking crisis, an emigration rate of about 1,000 people per week, and falling education standards all at once.
With little other recourse for growth in an economy clamoring for liquidity, maintaining a competitive advantage in foreign direct investment is vital to Ireland's recovery. And pressure to do otherwise for the “good” of the EU simply adds insult to injury.
Not to mention the Irish electorate holds the cards when it comes to EU treaty change – any future referendum on necessary changes to the functioning of the EU, as required by the Irish Constitution, could be hampered by a disillusioned people who feel misled and confused.
Obama should recognize this disillusionment and support the Irish on this issue -- to sustain the benefits of this economic partnership -- and as a matter of principle, to remind the EU of the importance of standing good on its promises.
The Irish descendents who helped to build America to prosperity could not have done so without hope for a better day. Now Ireland needs some hope.
Meghan McBride
Washington, D.C.
Shannon Needs Saving
WITH reference to Patrick Furey's letter on Shannon Airport in the issue of April 27-May 4, I totally agree with him.
It is absolutely scandalous that Aer Lingus pulled out of the JFK to Shannon route for three months from the end of December to the end of March. Don’t tell me the numbers are not there to keep a full schedule of daily flights to Shannon.
All of Connacht and Munster as well as some of Leinster would use Shannon and thus avoid the terribly cramped Dublin Airport if the flights were available at the Clare airport. Instead, you have a scenario where buses are shuttling people to the former, at all times of the day and night.
What a joke. The politicians of not only Clare and Limerick but also Tipperary, Cork, Kerry and all the Connacht counties should be up in arms over this. What are they waiting for?
Shannon must not only be saved but actually upgraded, and if Aer Lingus are not prepared to help in this, then Michael O'Leary and Ryanair should be approached.
I would strongly urge everyone from the above mentioned counties living in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as Irish Americans and others, to support Shannon in every way possible.
Please e-mail Aer Lingus on this issue, and in coordination with groups in Ireland, let’s get a petition going.
If this doesn't work, let's fly Delta to Shannon. Maybe then Aer Lingus will get the message.
P.J. Delaney
New York, New York
It is absolutely scandalous that Aer Lingus pulled out of the JFK to Shannon route for three months from the end of December to the end of March. Don’t tell me the numbers are not there to keep a full schedule of daily flights to Shannon.
All of Connacht and Munster as well as some of Leinster would use Shannon and thus avoid the terribly cramped Dublin Airport if the flights were available at the Clare airport. Instead, you have a scenario where buses are shuttling people to the former, at all times of the day and night.
What a joke. The politicians of not only Clare and Limerick but also Tipperary, Cork, Kerry and all the Connacht counties should be up in arms over this. What are they waiting for?
Shannon must not only be saved but actually upgraded, and if Aer Lingus are not prepared to help in this, then Michael O'Leary and Ryanair should be approached.
I would strongly urge everyone from the above mentioned counties living in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as Irish Americans and others, to support Shannon in every way possible.
Please e-mail Aer Lingus on this issue, and in coordination with groups in Ireland, let’s get a petition going.
If this doesn't work, let's fly Delta to Shannon. Maybe then Aer Lingus will get the message.
P.J. Delaney
New York, New York
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