The Paul Ryan American dream -- fleeing famine in Ireland to Vice Presidential ticket

Paul Ryan’s brother speaks out about GOP candidate’s humble Irish roots

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Paul Ryan speaking at an American Ireland Fund event

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Ryan was honored by the American Ireland Fund last March and according to the Irish Times he told how the Ryans settled in Wisconsin in the mid-19th century because it looked like Ireland, without realising how bitterly cold the winters would be.

The newspaper reported that he “told an off-colour joke, complete with a poor imitation of an Irish accent, about a dying Irishman who asks his friend Paddy to pour his treasured bottle of 50-year-old whiskey over his grave. “D’ya mind if I pass it through my kidneys first?” Paddy answers. Men in dinner suits and jewelled ladies in evening gowns groaned,” columnist Lara Marlowe wrote.

With just 83 days left to the US Presidential election, 41-year-old Paul Ryan is now pitted against fellow Irish American Democrat Joe Biden and will make his first public debate appearance against his opponent on 11th October in a public debate. However, the campaign has already kicked off with Biden calling Ryan’s policies “irresponsible”, according to the Associated Press.

Biden asked, “What's gutsy about giving millionaires and billionaires tax breaks? What's gutsy about gutting Medicaid and Medicare?"

As Niall O’Dowd recently pointed out, although these two politicians have similar ancestry, have suffered similar tragedies and have both achieved the American dream, it’s clear that they are fundamentally different in their values.

As the two Irish Americans step up to the mat it will be interesting to see where the “Irish American Vote” lands.

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