An American in Ireland

The Celtic Tiger has given way to the "Celtic Zombie." Oh, that name isn't making the rounds, but the word "zombie" seems to be a regular feature in any report on Ireland's economy these days.

Today Bloomberg carries

The "next Susan Boyle", how many times have you heard that? This week the British press was full of that with regards to Mary Byrne from Dublin, a 50-year-old supermarket check-out clerk whose audition for Simon Cowell & friends was scheduled for tonight.

Well, I just watched Mary's audition for the British X-Factor and the truth is I'd rather watch and listen to Mary {photograph} over Susan Boyle any day. Is she a better singer? I don't know, but based on this one 3 minute song Mary is a much better performer than Susan Boyle.

Maybe this will irk or even anger a few of you, but I find it very hard to watch Susan Boyle. Can she sing? Sure, but to me there's always something missing from her performances. I find it even more glaring when I watch her. I couldn't tell you what it is exactly, but I just don't enjoy watching Susan Boyle perform.

Back in June of this year the new highway going through the area around the Hill of Tara was opened to traffic. From what I saw on Tuesday during my first journey on the road, they shouldn't have bothered.

The

Over the weekend I had an experience that many of you have had before: assembling furniture bought at Ikea.

I had never been to Ikea before and, well, we'll see if I ever go back. This weekend's experience was not a good one.

First, let me own up. I'm not a natural when it comes to fixing or making things. In fact, my brother - cruel person that he is - often mockingly refers to me as My lack of prowess with power tools has nothing to do with Ikea, however. In case you don't know, Ikea furniture comes flat-pack, which means all the pieces are there and all the holes are there and all you have to do is assemble it. Should be easy. Truth is, I've assembled other things following the instructions and generally I'm pretty good at it (so long as nothing more challenging than turning screws and hammering nails is required).

I've often found myself talking to people and the question of "What was the first record you bought?" arises. I've always been able to answer that question (Elton John's

In June 2004 the Irish people voted to amend the Constitution to change the laws on citizenship and eliminate the automatic right to citizenship for anyone born in Ireland. I would have completely forgotten about that vote if I hadn't been seeing so much comment on the so-called "anchor babies" in the American media, including from When the votes of that referendum were counted, 79% of the electorate approved the 27th amendment to the Irish Constitution (see article 9.1) and ended Ireland's "anchor baby" issue.

The campaign wasn't all that contentious (or it would have been more memorable). The two biggest parties were in favor of the change, but some of the smaller parties were opposed and there was some debate in the media and we had the usual election poster slogans to try to energize the voters.

In the early years of this decade there were many stories in the media about "non-national" women coming to Ireland to have their babies here in order that their babies have Irish (and, thus, EU) citizenship. We didn't have the phrase "anchor baby" – "maternity tourism" was tossed around a bit – but the basic premise was the same: women were coming to Ireland to have babies so that they could stay in Ireland or any other EU state.

From September 8 anyone who holds a passport from one of the 36 The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program was introduced in 2008 and made mandatory last year. The program was intended to provide an extra layer of security. Intending travelers provide their details to the Department of Homeland Security in advance of their travels, which gives the American authorities time to check the intending traveler's name against the 'no fly' lists and other terrorist databases.

I don't have a problem with the requirement that people who want to visit the United States should provide this information to the government. Ideally the government wouldn't need to know anyone's travel plans and wouldn't need to maintain a database of names, passport numbers and other facts, but information is a key element in the defense against a second September 11 type attack. So it has to be this way.

I do think, however, that asking someone to pay $14 to have their background checked by government officials is, well, not all that welcoming. Remember this charge comes on top of recent additional security measures like finger-printing and photographing all visitors.

Yesterday I received a newsletter from our garbage company that contained a small item about a new product they were offering for sale: a hidbin. The hidbin is basically a fake bush front & top for your garbage can.

If asked most Irish-Americans would probably point to the day John Kennedy was elected President as the day that that they knew the Irish had 'arrived'. But what about the day that Irish-Americans first glimpsed the possibility of acceptance and respectability in America?

I'm sure some of you might argue otherwise, but for me that day was December 13, 1862. On that day the Irish Brigade marched up hill into a storm of bullets and shells in what was an effort to break the Confederate troops dug in behind a stone wall on Mayre's Heights on the hills outside Fredericksburg, VA.

The Irish weren't the only Union troops to die valiantly, but futilely, that day, but the ability of those Irishmen to do their duty, to march into what they knew could likely be death, to persevere and endure what they did for their new country did not go unnoticed. After the battle the northern press was full of stories about the exploits of the Irish, of their gallant charge.

I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago and went to see the Nationals. I love going to baseball games and I knew I wouldn't be able to see the Mets this summer for the first time in years (and it doesn't look like they'll be drawing me back in late October for any big games) so I was looking forward to this one.

The Nationals have a new ballpark and it's nice, I guess. There's a part of me that recoils at the shopping mall/food court model of modern stadiums. I've been to Citi Field in New York and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and those are nice stadiums too. Actually, both of those are better than Washington's park, but maybe only marginally so.