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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.

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Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 12:55 PM


A story begging for Hollywood - surviving the mid-Atlantic plane crash

 

Until yesterday I'd never heard the story of Flying Tiger 923, a flight from New Jersey to Frankfurt, Germany that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean 500 miles off the Irish coast on September 23, 1962. What makes the story remarkable is that of the 76 people on board 48 survived.



Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 01:55 PM


Ireland needs to "drill baby drill"



Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2012 at 08:59 AM


Galway's shameful proposal to honor Che Guevara



Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 09:10 AM


Athletes are not heroes, but Gary Carter was



Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 10:18 AM


Why on Earth is London hosting the Olympic Games?



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.





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