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American in Ireland


An American in Ireland

by The Yank
John Fay left New York one day for Ireland, which is why he's IrishCentral's "American in Ireland" blogger.

Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 at 11:22 AM


Ireland's leader Enda Kenny pays no price for bad-mouthing the Irish people

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. World Economic Forum
in Davos, Switzerland.

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny will be speaking at Harvard University on February 16 and if his past form is anything to go by, he will denounce the Irish people as a bunch of over-educated elitists in the hope of eliciting praise from the Harvard audience. Or something like that.

I can hear you from here. "This guy's nuts. No elected leader would do such a thing."



Posted on Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 01:34 PM


I'm a disappointment to Ireland's NFL fans



Posted on Thursday, February 02, 2012 at 09:57 AM


It may be a stereotype, but the Irish do great funerals

Nothing stays the same, even death, in Ireland as elsewhere. The traditional rituals and ceremonies surrounding an Irish funeral are not what they were 100 or even 50 years ago. Yet, as I learned this past week, death in modern Ireland, even in suburban Dublin, still retains many of the old ways.

When I was growing up an Irish wake was the subject of a joke built around a stereotype of Irishness. "What's the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish wake? One less drunk." Unflattering, yet my teen self often wondered what was so bad about a celebratory wake? Everything I knew about death seemed so forbidding and frightening that I kind of liked the idea of laughing in its face.
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Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 08:53 AM


Ireland's President Michael D Higgins says intellectual crisis is worse than economic crisis

Michael D Higgins

I suspect I'm the only person in Ireland taking new President Michael D Higgins seriously. Truly. That's the only way I can explain why his comments yesterday have received so little attention.

Yesterday in a lengthy (and tedious) speech Higgins said: "There is now I believe an intellectual crisis that is far more serious than the economic one, the one which fills the papers; dominates the programmes in our media."



Posted on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 07:33 AM


When Steve Jobs and Apple first came to Ireland



Posted on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:51 AM


America's losing out to Canada, Australia on luring ambitious Irish people

The government of Saskatchewan is planning a mission to Ireland to recruit workers to come work in the central Canadian province. Saskatchewan isn't the only Canadian province interested in recruiting Irish workers either. Nova Scotia and a few others are also keen. Western Australia and other Australian states are of similar minds.

Canada and Australia are both actively seeking Irish workers.Given the high unemployment and dismal projections of years of economic stagnation, Irish people are responding. They're heading to both places in their tens of thousands. Definitely, Ireland's loss is Canada and Australia's gain.



Posted on Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 08:29 AM


New Year's with Notre Dame football



Posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 09:21 AM


Ireland could use more snow magic this Christmas



Posted on Friday, December 09, 2011 at 08:38 AM


France and Germany now calling the shots in Ireland



Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 06:53 AM


Ireland's 'bagel tax' is a vote of no confidence in the EU

plate of bagels

Is a bagel bread? I say it is. The Oxford English Dictionary says it is ("a hard ring-shaped salty roll of bread"). From what I can tell Jewish people consider the bagel to be bread.

Truth is, I can't imagine anyone thinking the bagel is not bread yet, the Irish government does. As far as the government is concerned, bagels are not bread.



Posted on Friday, November 18, 2011 at 05:46 PM


Ireland's sovereignty is probably gone for good

Enda Kenny & Angela Merkel



Posted on Tuesday, November 08, 2011 at 07:03 AM


Ireland's cowardly government closes Vatican embassy

Last week the Irish government announced that it is going to close its embassy to the Holy See. Despite what everyone believes, the government claims that the embassy's closure has nothing to do with the souring of relations between the Vatican and the Irish government over scandals in the Catholic Church in Ireland. In fact, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny "reacted angrily" to the suggestion that the closure was due to anything other than budgetary constraints.

That Kenny and Tánaiste (Deputy PM) Eamonn Gilmore are willing to claim that the closing of Ireland's embassy to the Holy See is due to the need for the state to make savings says more about their cowardice than it does about the state of Ireland's finances. This decision is transparently NOT about saving money.



Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 03:11 PM


John Barry - Irish hero of the United States

John Barry, Irishman and "father of the American navy" seems to be finally getting some of the recognition he's long past due. The most important development is the decision of the United States Naval Academy to erect a memorial to Barry, thanks to the efforts of members of the local branch of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In addition, a recently published biography of Barry is the first in 72 years. I'd love to imagine that Barry will also receive some national attention in Ireland, where he is mostly known in his native Wexford.

I have visited Philadelphia many times and each time I've taken a moment to look at the statue of Barry. It's not hard to find. It's in Independence Square, right in front of Independence Hall.



Posted on Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 09:33 AM


Unforgettable - a year studying in Ireland



Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2011 at 09:05 AM


In Cork Steve Jobs found the perfect match for Apple

Parking lot at Apple's Irish HQ



Posted on Tuesday, October 04, 2011 at 07:50 AM


Israel gets no love from Ireland



Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 08:41 AM


Mets' Irish groundskeeper calls it a day after 50th season



Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 12:37 PM


Irish economy - back to the future with farming



Posted on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 11:38 AM


Pulsating Irish win over Australia in Rugby World Cup



Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2011 at 08:17 AM


Visiting Irish castles is popular for good reason



Posted on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 02:30 PM


Michelle Bachmann was praising, not attacking Ireland

Bachman wants US to
copy Ireland
Michelle Bachmann was not "attacking" Ireland when she spoke in Florida over the weekend. Rather, she was arguing that the United States should emulate Ireland, in particular with regards to its low corporate tax rate.

The New York Times said Bachmann was looking at Ireland as an example when she said, "There are over 600 American companies that have gone to Ireland because of the tax rate. Over 100,000 jobs. I want those 100,000 jobs back in the United States."

If you believe that 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' then it's more accurate to describe Bachmann's comments as praise. Bachmann believes that if the United States were to copy Ireland fewer American companies would feel the need to set up operations here. She believes that those companies would keep the jobs in America rather than send them overseas.
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Posted on Friday, August 26, 2011 at 09:58 AM


The Irish Catholic Church's fund-raising is not the business of politicians

Fine Gael TD Tom Barry Taking pot shots at the Catholic Church is probably the easiest way for an Irish elected official to garner a few positive headlines for himself, but I'm way past fed up with it.

Today's headline comes thanks to Fine Gael TD (MP) Tom Barry, who I'd never heard of until this morning. I don't know what his angle is, but Barry is quoted in the Irish Examiner as urging Irish Catholics not to contribute to any fund intended to bail out dioceses struggling with debts due to compensation payments to abuse victims.

Barry says that families should not have to pay for the hierarchy's failures. Well you know what? They don't "have to." Membership in the Catholic Church is optional. The amount any Catholic gives is at his own discretion. Nobody "has to" give anything.



Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 10:25 AM


Student's dream trip to Europe ends in nightmare on Dublin streets

The fight took place in the
Temple Bar area of Dublin. Ten days ago three French-speaking men came together late at night on the streets of Dublin. Words were exchanged, which triggered a violent altercation that has left a young doctor in a coma in a Dublin Hospital and a young student in jail.

The story is both sad and bizarre. Details are still sketchy, but the press here reported that the fight was the result of an argument over accents.

The doctor in a coma is 26-year-old Frenchman Guillaume Osterstock. Osterstock came to Dublin to study at Dublin's Royal College of Surgeons and is in Beaumont Hospital, where he had worked. His alleged attacker is 23-year-old Simon Mercier from Quebec City in Canada.



Posted on Monday, August 22, 2011 at 12:03 PM


Celebrating the Irishman who burned the White House

Major General Robert Ross I have often heard about the Irishman, James Hoban, who "designed the White House," but until recently I'd never heard of the Irishman who burnt it down 14 years after it was completed – Major General Robert Ross.

Ross was the head of the British Army that "burned Washington" in 1814. While the War of 1812 didn't feature prominently in my school lessons, I clearly remember learning about how President Madison and his wife had to flea the White House and Washington before the British marched in and torched the city's public buildings, including the Capitol Building and the White House. The man who led the British Army that day was General Ross from Rostrevor, County Down.

Last month I visited Fort McHenry in Baltimore, which was the center of an important engagement during the War of 1812. The British were thwarted in their efforts to capture the crucial port city of Baltimore. It was the victory in the Battle of Baltimore that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. It was also the battle where Major General Robert Ross was killed.



Posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 at 01:30 PM


Gift shop at Antietam is great for Irish Brigade gifts

Irish Brigade gifts at Antietam's gift shop I was watching a re-run of Fág an Bealach on the Irish language channel TG4 the other night (Links here still work if you want to watch) when I remembered something about Antietam that really surprised me, particularly as compared with Gettysburg.

As I mentioned, the gift shop at Gettysburg is massive, a Wal-mart of Civil War merchandise. Antietam's, by comparison, is a broom closet.

Still, Antietam has one line of gifts that Gettysburg does not – Irish Brigade merchandise. Lots of it. Books, tee shirts, baseball caps, posters, flags, pencils and other knickknacks all to do with the Irish Brigade.



Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 09:18 AM


Feast of the Assumption should remain a holy day, not a holiday

MLA John Dallat A member of the Northern Ireland Assembly has called for August 15 to be made a national holiday, north and south. SDLP member John Dallat feels that making August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, a national holiday would be an "opportunity for everyone to become involved in a celebration of the special relationship the Mother of God holds in the lives of Irish people."

By no means would I ridicule Dallat for his devotion or question his religious views. I went to Mass on the 15th myself.

It's just, well, I don't know, but when I read his comments this morning I was taken aback. I felt like I'd been transported back in time.



Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:10 AM


He aided the Nazis before he shaped the minds of Irish children

Schoolbook publisher Albert Folens
(Irish Independent)
Last night I got my first look at my daughter's booklist for the coming school year. One book in particular caught my eye - The United States & The World 1945-1989. My problem with this book is that it's published by Folens, a company founded by a man who aided the Gestapo in his native Belgium during WWII.

Albert Folens escaped from prison and made his way to Ireland under a false passport. Folens then got work as a teacher before setting up his publishing company.

Folens and his defenders claim that he was never in the Gestapo. His daughter says he only joined the Flemish Legion, which consisted of 300,000 men. One to two thousand is probably more like it. If Folens wasn't a Nazi he was one of their fascist first cousins.



Posted on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 10:52 AM


A student loan scheme - too optimistic for Ireland's government

Ireland's new government, elected in February, has been a little less guilty of making ridiculously optimistic statements about the Ireland's future than their predecessors, but they have hardly eschewed the tactic. Every so often they trot out a line or two about how the economy is improving, things will get better, etc.

Well, all of the government's manufactured optimism and bluster about the future was blown away in one remark by the Minister for Education in a statement about the return of college tuition fees. Ruairi Quinn announced that the era of tuition‑free college is coming to an end. Fees have to return because the costs of providing free college education are just too great for a state that is only a hair's breadth away from Chapter 11.

I can't argue with Quinn, although with one daughter in college and another soon to be going, I'd love for the tuition to remain zero for a while longer. However, tuition‑free college is one of the many luxuries that post‑Celtic Tiger Ireland cannot afford.



Posted on Monday, August 15, 2011 at 10:41 AM


Wanted in Ireland: one half-way decent presidential candidate

Gay Byrne – not interested in being President Candidate for the President of Ireland are falling like flies the past few days. First the leading candidate, according to the polls, David Norris withdrew after skeletons from his past came back to haunt him. Next up was Gay Byrne.

A week ago - who was it that said a week is a long time in politics - there were rumors that former television and radio talk show star Gay Byrne was going to enter the fray. "Uncle Gaybo" wanted to be President, we were told. For a few days there was a flurry of activity about a possible Byrne candidacy. Political analysts analyzed, commentators commented and one very foolish party political leader even endorsed Byrne, ignoring those in his party who wanted to run for the post themselves.

Mid-week Byrne tossed out a populist, anti-EU bombshell that had the analysts and commentators going into overdrive with their feverish speculation. Ireland was going to have a celebrity candidate.



Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011 at 09:09 AM


New US Customs operation means ugly luggage is "out"

Its day has passed "I have to have new luggage before I go to America again." So said my wife after her first venture through the new US Customs check at Dublin Airport.

She told me this three weeks ago in the departure lounge awaiting our flight to New York, but repeated it again yesterday. "I have to have new luggage before I go again."

You see, the trouble is, luggage is not something we ever invested much in. Although she'd rarely agree with me on such matters, she did go along with my view that luggage only has to be functional, not attractive. I pointed out that cases were tossed around and occasionally maltreated by airline and/or airport staff, so why I pay for something that looks good.



Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 09:55 AM


Stupid, stupid, stupid - free hat day at the Orioles

It's almost three weeks now and I'm still shaking my head at the stupidity of the Baltimore Orioles and the Miller Brewing Company. On July 22 I was with my family among the small crowd who showed up for the Orioles' game against the Angels. It was Floppy Hat night.

I knew we were going to be in the area that night so I got tickets to go to the game. When we arrived at the gate we discovered the Orioles were giving away free hats. Among the four of us the only one who cared was my 10-year-old son. He was keen to get his hands on his free floppy hat.

I was first through the gate and was handed my hat. My son was next. "Sorry, the hats are only for those 21 and over." Thanks to the fact that the hats were sponsored by Miller Lite they could only be given out to those of legal drinking age.



Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 09:01 AM


US State Department warned about dangerous gangs - in Ireland

Does any American considering a trip to any western European nation actually consult the State Department's travel warnings? I ask because just as London was exploding in waves of violent, riotous behavior the



Posted on Monday, July 18, 2011 at 07:42 AM


Why the Irish are suddenly great at golf

CBSsports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling



Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 12:33 PM


Winter trip to Ireland can be rewarding

I realize that visiting Ireland in the winter is not on many people's 'to do' list, but the other night as I was watching an American television show filmed here last winter I was reminded of just how beautiful Ireland looks in the winter.

I was watching the latest installment of the NBC series



Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 09:02 AM


Swimming in the Irish Sea – for the fool-hardy & the brow-beaten

Swimming in the Irish Sea is not for the fainthearted. I should know because I'm fainthearted and the Irish Sea is cold - really cold.

How cold? I don't know, but someone I know who has sampled both the waters off Maine and the Irish Sea says the two are about the same. What I do know is it sure ain't summer at



Posted on Wednesday, July 06, 2011 at 03:28 PM


Ireland and global warming – electric cars, but colder winters

In April 2010 the





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