Niall O'Dowd: Ten top Irish and Irish American stories of the decade

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NIALL O'DOWD,

IrishCentral.com Publisher

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1. 9/11. Fully 40 percent of the firemen and 30 percent of the policemen who died that tragic day at the World Trade Center were Irish Americans. Many of the civilians were too as well as 12 Irish citizens. Ireland itself called a full day of national mourning, the only country outside the U.S. to do so. Tens of thousands turned up to pay their respects at the American Embassy in Dublin.

2. Fall and fall of the Catholic Church in America and Ireland. Child sex abuse cases, cover-ups by Bishops, slow responses from Rome, all led to the greatest crisis for the Catholic Church in Ireland and America. It culminated in America with the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston in December 2002 and in Ireland with a series of horrific reports detailing how deep and extensive the scandals were.

3. On May 8th, 2007 the unthinkable happened in Northern Ireland when the Reverend Ian Paisley, the scourge of reconciliation efforts for decades, agreed to share power with Sinn Fein, hitherto his mortal enemy. He was sworn in as First Minister with Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein as Deputy First Minster. The red sea had parted, the mountains had come to Mohammad, the unthinkable had occurred. A great good news story

4. Rise and fall of the Celtic Tiger. For several years in the early and mid 2000s Ireland's economy looked like the miracle child of the global family. By the end of the decade it had become the orphan no one wanted to claim. The dizzying rise and fall left many in Ireland shell shocked and Irish Americans dumbfounded by the suddenness of the crash.

5. Defeat of Hillary Clinton running for president. Both Bill and Hillary Clinton had become deeply involved in Ireland and in the Irish peace process and her run for the White House was widely viewed in Ireland and Irish America as an opportunity to put into power the most pro-Irish president in history. It was not to be but there was some scant consolation when Barack Obama turned out to have Irish roots.

6. Death of Senator Edward Kennedy. The lion of Irish America had been to the forefront in every major piece of legislation affecting Ireland and Irish America most notably the Irish peace process and immigration reform. The American role in the peace process would never have happened without him.

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