New Irish president impresses major Irish Americans -- President Michael D Higgins lays out vital role of emigrant Irish for Ireland audience in New York
By: Niall O'Dowd | Published Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 10:45 AM | Updated Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 10:45 AM
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| Michael D Higgins speaking at the IN-NYC (Credit:James Higgins) |
Ireland’s new president, Michael D. Higgins, is a public intellectual turned politician, the best since Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president.
Intellectuals do not do politics normally, which makes Higgins an unusual case to begin with.
But last night at the American Irish Historical Society in Manhattan, the glittering building on Fifth Avenue across from the Metropolitan Museum, Higgins proved how wise the Irish electorate were in choosing him.
It was no easy crowd to please, a pastiche of Manhattan Irish great and good, many jaded by years of such events.
But you could hear a pin drop during his remarks.
Higgins, 71, delivered the annual Thomas Flanagan lecture with aplomb and vision, making favorable comparisons in many minds with his predecessors Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson.
You don’t get more complimentary than that.
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Chinese are coming and building one of the biggest developments in Ireland----------------
Well maybe you can -- Don Keough, Chairman emeritus of the AIHS board and former Coca Cola President and Notre Dame Chairman stated that the Higgins comments were the best he had heard on the relationship and would reverberate in history and would be studied by future historians.
Fulsome praise indeed from the man who many consider the unofficial leader of Irish America.
The theme was the Irish need and ability to reinvent themselves at a time when the country desperately needs to do so again.
Higgins stressed that the Irish abroad were a vital part of that reinvention, that the very act of emigrating forces a major reinvention and remaking of the self to begin with.
Higgins stated that the Irish in Ireland had much to learn from the ability of the Irish in America to surf those treacherous waters, to reinvent themselves and climb up from starving Famine refugees to the pinnacle of American life.
He also showed how Irish America had helped save aspects of Ireland and its culture. Francis O’Neill, a Chicago policeman, had collected and saved thousands of Irish airs and musical pieces and sparked the later Celtic music revival music for new generations.
He noted that without the support of men like John Devoy and John Boyle O’Reilly, Irish self-determination such as it is would never have been achieved.
Higgins spoke of the despairing tone of the editorials in the Times of London after the Famine when they realized the Irish were spread to the four winds and the memory of what Britain has done during the Famine would never be forgotten. The Times was indeed prescient in that.
Higgins will play a vital role in Irish and Irish American relations these next seven years of his presidency. He is able to articulate and identify the ties that bind and his presidency will be an important buffer against little Irelanders who want nothing to do with the Diaspora and denigrate it every chance they get.
Higgins clearly thinks very differently and his trip to America is making that clear.
As Doctor Kevin Cahill, President General of the AIHS, stated, “President Higgins represents the nobility - and mobility – of the Irish people, both at home and abroad.”
The universal respect for him came from “his unquestioned command of all aspects of the culture of his people, and from the respect and affection that he had won across the political spectrum.”
Indeed.
10 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.STEVENSTAR | May 11, 2012, 08:33 AM EDT
WHEN DOES IDIOT GET BACK OFF HIS HOLIDAY .. GOING AROUND SHAKING HANDS AND MY TAXPAYERS MONEY PAYING FOR IT ...COME HOME U FOOL !!!
Seanmor | May 08, 2012, 07:29 PM EDT
It is quite interesting that Higgins mentioned John Devoy and John Boyle O'Reilly, both of wrom supported full independence for the whole Irish nation, not merely for the part of the country now controlled by politicians like higgins. The above article doesn't say whether Higgins mentioned Peter King's enormous contribution the G.F.A., a blessing to all of Ireland. One aspect of Irish culture the Irish in NYC tried for save for 70 years in teanga na Gaeilge. How many memy members of the Gaelic League were invited to see Higgins at the A.I.H.S.?
Springfield9 | May 06, 2012, 01:42 PM EDT
@IrealandNorth - a fascinating idea. I cannot guess how many would care for dual citizenship. However, if it was availble by documentation, DNA or a combination PLUS a $400 annual tax - Ireland would gain $800,0000 per year with no burden to the state. a Nice piece of change. Look at how ridiculous the Irish Law is. If one of four grandparents was Irish you are "In" the other 3 could be Tibetan. "Irishness" can be very accurately determined by DNA. The golden output is "RL-21" ...that would mean you are as Irish as peat bogs.
Springfield9 | May 06, 2012, 01:32 PM EDT
I'd be cautious in citing Mary Robinson. She is very capable and intelligent but made one great mistake. In one of her speeches she was quite emphatic about the IRISH LIVE IN IRELAND. That series of comments alienated a very large number of the persons who identify with Ireland. A foolish bit of nationalism.
IrelandNorth | May 03, 2012, 06:34 AM EDT
Albeit a Labour Party supporter all my life, I would have preferred another Ulster/Northern Ireland president. Still, President Higgins can't help being born in Munster/southern Ireland - growing up and working in Connacht/western Ireland - before representing his constituency in Leinster/eastern Ireland. Our first female president, Senator Mary Robinson, rightly started this whole diaspora (a Jewish term) debate, by lighting a candle in a prominent window of the Áras for them for 7 years. But rather than just pay lip-service to Irish-America, best way to honour them is with Irish citizenship - even if the European Union (EU) would object. The population of Ireland before the Famine was c.8m. It's still only c.6m. 150 yrs. later. Ergo! 2m. green cards awaiting Irish-Americans. Maybe President Higgins can influence his former political colleagues in Dail Eireann/Irish House of Reps.
donal1951 | May 03, 2012, 12:05 AM EDT
Had I been living in Ireland at the time of the presidential election, and thus eligible to vote as a dual citizen, I would have cast my ballot for Mr Higgins. Thankfully, I had cousins who cast those votes, and I am very pleased with Mr Higgins' presidency.
abhainn | May 02, 2012, 11:31 PM EDT
Bythebay, you have no credibility. Michael D. Higgins was elected to the presidency with far more votes than any Irish politician has ever received in any election in history, so that mandate from the Irish people who know Higgins well puts your lies about him in perspective. He made no allegations – true or false – about any of the other candidates; his was a very clean campaign. Here in Ireland, we are deeply proud of him.
Bythebay | May 02, 2012, 10:44 AM EDT
Higgins is a very good talker and obviously captured his US audience which he intended to do by telling them what they wanted to hear. He doesn't have the same effect in Ireland where his methodology is well known. He has years of political experience including many in the Dáil but he actually accomplished nothing. He won the Presidency because of false allegations against the favored candidate which were proven as lies after the election. Too late then of course for the election to be changed.
Murph46 | May 02, 2012, 09:49 AM EDT
Good for him,but it appears too late with massive Chinese influx,
like2tweet | May 02, 2012, 08:53 AM EDT
Higgin is proving a remarkably good choice I think