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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7. Death of immigration reform. The John McCain/Ted Kennedy bill would have legalized thousands of Irish undocumented and possibly allowed many Irish to at last begin emmigrating legally to America. Alas it was not to be. Since the 1965 immigration act, ironically authored by Kennedy, which essentially barred most European immigration to the U.S., Ireland has had far less than 1 percent of all green cards issued.

8. Flowering of Irish culture in the U.S. From smash hit plays on Broadway to U2's continuing extraordinary success to Riverdance to 2009 National Book award winner Colum McCann it was a fantastic decade for Irish arts and culture in America. Whatever other ills have affected the Irish economy, the creative gene still runs very strong.

9. GAA allows soccer and rugby in Croke Park. The best sports story of the decade. The Gaelic Athletic Association, Ireland's largest sporting organization, had long been tagged with an anti-British, narrow and insular reputation. By opening their sparkling new headquarters to soccer and rugby they defied the conventional wisdom and moved Irish sport into a new era. The first game against England in rugby in Croke Park will never be forgotten with some Irish players and many in the crowd in tears during the Irish national anthem. As other bastions of Irish society crumbled all around, such as the church with its sex scandals and the political system beset with corruption, the GAA went from strength to strength.

10. What didn't happen? No Irish politician served a significant jail term for corruption, no bankers were put on trial for raping and pillaging the banking system, no construction magnates were jailed for corrupting the planning and political process with bribes.

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