Peace in Their Grasp
We have been here so many times before that we inevitably react cynically when asked to once again carry our hopes of a final settlement in Northern Ireland forward for a while more.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 December 2004
|
McCabe Case Still Haunts
The killing of Garda (Police Officer) Jerry McCabe has once again moved center stage in the Irish political debate over the peace process.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 December 2004
|
Notre Dame Fires a Coach
For generations of Irish Americans the Notre Dame football team has become symbolic of all that the Irish experience in America meant, gritty, hard-charging underdogs who eventually succeeded in spite of all obstacles.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 December 2004
|
The Irish-Born Governor
You know that you are in California at 6 a.m. when you switch on the television and the weather forecaster tells you breathlessly that today will be one of the coldest days on record.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 December 2004
|
Anti-Immigrant Hysteria
The anti-immigrant strain in American society has suddenly started to surface, especially in the wake of the recent election.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 December 2004
|
Paisley the Peacemaker?
Who would have thunk it? Ian Paisley, the dark star of Northern Ireland politics for so many years, may turn out to be the man who finally puts a peace deal together to permanently copper-fasten the Good Friday Agreement.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 December 2004
|
Why Not Joint Authority?
The leader of the Irish Labor Party, Pat Rabbitte, recently opined in the Irish Times that joint authority, the sharing of rule over Northern Ireland by the British and Irish governments, was not a possibility because of legal reasons.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 25 November 2004
|
A Thanksgiving Toast
To those we lost, especially Frank Carvill, (1953-2004) a sergeant in the New Jersey National Guard who was killed in Sadr City Baghdad on Friday June 4, 2004.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 25 November 2004
|
A Center for All Irish
There's a lot of doom and gloom around the Irish American community at the moment. The mood was crystallized in an article in The New York Times last week which painted a picture of thousands of Irish moving back to Ireland because of sweeping crackdowns on illegal immigration here and the greatly improved economic situation in Ireland.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 18 November 2004
|
The Battle for Immigration Reform
Signals from the White House last week that immigration reform might be high on the agenda for the new administration could not have come at a better time for the Irish undocumented.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 18 November 2004
|
Election Night in Dublin
It is impossible to describe the doom and gloom that settled over this country when the news came though that President George W. Bush had been re-elected handsomely.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 11 November 2004
|
Bush Must Reach Out on North
PRESIDENT George W. Bush certainly defied many of the pundits when he won re-election quite easily in the end last Tuesday.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 11 November 2004
|
Periscope - In Each Other’s Shadow
DUBLIN — It would be hard to overestimate the incredible amount of attention that the 2004 American presidential election has received here.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 4 November 2004
|
Periscope - SDLP Should Quit Police Boards
SINN Fein leader Gerry Adams is due back in the U.S. this week for a round of fundraising and political consultations. He will find a state of flux given the presidential election, but the reality is that...
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 4 November 2004
|
Periscope - Why Your Vote Counts
WHEN a presidential election is as close as the current one, it makes it all the more important that registered voters turn up at the polls.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 28 October 2004
|
Periscope - On the Campaign Trail
PITTSBURGH — When the media talks about record level interest in this year’s presidential election it is hard for most of us, especially those in solid red or blue states, to comprehend what they are talking about.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 28 October 2004
|
Let Him Without Sin
I REMEMBER Fox News star Bill O’Reilly during the Clinton impeachment trials and how vicious he was towards the ex-president and his sexual shenanigans.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 October 2004
|
Kerry for President
IT is the mother of all battles, the 2004 presidential race that will keep every Americans on edge right through November 2 — and perhaps beyond.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 October 2004
|
Periscope - Bishops Are All Wrong
MANY Catholic Bishops across the country have come out for President George W. Bush in the upcoming election, according to a report on Tuesday in The New York Times.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 13 October 2004
|
Periscope - Rebel With a Cause
GEORGE Harrison, 90, who passed away last week, never met a revolution he didn’t like. There are so many stories about George showing up to protest outside a variety of embassies, leaving the occupants...
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 13 October 2004
|
Periscope - The South’s Awake!
PHILADELPHIA — You could feel the wave of euphoria washing over this gathering of 200 Irish American Democrats on Saturday in the wake of the first debate, when the polls showed that John Kerry had defeated President George W. Bush.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 5 October 2004
|
Urgent Change Is Needed
LIFE for undocumented Irish has become increasingly difficult post-September 11, and recent events have conspired to make things even worse.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 30 September 2004
|
The South’s Awake!
When you come to the capital of the south you don’t expect the same Irish buzz as you get in, say, New York or Boston — but that is quickly changing.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 30 September 2004
|
Periscope - Truth About Typhoid Mary
ON Friday, October 15, Public Television will broadcast a special documentary entitled “The Most Dangerous Woman in America.” It’s about Co. Tyrone-born Mary Mallon, a/k/a “Typhoid Mary.”
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 September 2004
|
Periscope - Time for Plan B
THE usual plethora of statements expressing disappointment that no final solution was made at the peace process talks last week should not be taken as another indication of failure...
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 September 2004
|
Periscope - Another Finucane Cover-Up?
WHEN it comes to covering their tracks there is none more skilled than the British military establishment which may have pulled off one of their most audacious coups yet by getting a confession....
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 17 September 2004
|
Periscope - Chance to Make History
THE most important week since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 begins in Leeds Castle in England this week as the Northern Irish political parties meet with the Irish and British
...
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 17 September 2004
|
A Pro-Bush Backlash
THE general view among many Irish Americans is that anti-Bush sentiment is a matter of faith in Ireland, but like all suppositions there is another side to the argument.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 September 2004
|
They’re Off
HARD to believe, but once upon a time Labor Day was the official start of presidential campaigns, and the candidates went hell for leather from then until Election Day.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 September 2004
|
Periscope - Inside Convention Hall
THE Republican National Convention is literally a showstopper in New York this week. The city is deserted, Broadway might as well be dark, and the only game in town is occurring at Madison Square Garden.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 1 September 2004
|
Periscope - The Ceasefire Ten Years On
AUGUST 31, 2004 marks the 10th anniversary of the IRA ceasefire, which has transformed the Irish American world as we know it.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 1 September 2004
|
Dreadful Olympic Coverage
"I FIND the incredibly parochial coverage of the Olympic Games, the greatest sporting spectacle on earth, to be utterly frustrating..."
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 26 August 2004
|
A Nasty Business
JUDGING by the latest charge and counter charge, we are in for a very rocky road between now and the November election when it comes to the presidential race.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 26 August 2004
|
Convention Woes
MANY of the Irish businesses in the Madison Square Garden area are bracing themselves for a very difficult week, next week, when the Republican convention arrives.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 26 August 2004
|
Reality of the Irish Vote
Is there an Irish American vote, and who is more likely to gain it
in this year’s presidential election?
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 August 2004
|
McGreevey’s Fatal Flaw
NEW Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey was a frequent attendee at Irish
events during his time in office, and also made a couple of trips
to his ancestral land...Yes there were rumors, and widely circulated
too, about gay encounters...
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 August 2004
|
A Dark Star Fades
THE word in Belfast last week was that the Reverend Ian Paisley was
back in the hospital with an undisclosed illness.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 12 August 2004
|
A Statement of Great Importance
THE prospect of a lasting peace in Northern Ireland was given an historic
boost last week by the statement of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams that
the potential now existed for the IRA to go out of business.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 12 August 2004
|
Periscope - Passing of a Legend
TO my mind they were the two greatest influences on Irish America in the past half-century or
so: one was Paul O’Dwyer, and the other was Dr. Eoin
McKiernan.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 July 2004
|
Periscope - Kerry Statement Is Nonsense
THE platform statement on Ireland for the Democratic Convention next week is a grave disappointment.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 July 2004
|
Periscope - Passing of a Legend
TO my mind they were the two greatest influences on Irish America in the past half-century or
so: one was Paul O’Dwyer, and the other was Dr. Eoin
McKiernan.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 July 2004
|
Periscope - Kerry Statement Is Nonsense
THE platform statement on Ireland for the Democratic Convention next week is a grave disappointment.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 21 July 2004
|
Periscope - Inside the Kerry Campaign
THE first thing you notice when you walk into Senator John Kerry’s Washington office on 15th Street, just a short distance from the White House, is how young everybody looks.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 July 2004
|
Periscope - Croppies No More
THE scenes from North Belfast on July 12 were disturbing, but all so
predictable.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 July 2004
|
Deep Divisions on Iraq
“AMERICAN people of Irish heritage are absolutely taken aback by what they are observing. People say, ‘It’s not an anti-American thing, it’s an anti-Bush thing,’ but they forget that he’s our president.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 July 2004
|
Good First Step
AMERICAN envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss was in Northern Ireland last week and finally got down to some tough talking with the major Unionist party, the Democratic Unionists.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 July 2004
|
Farewell, Fr. Campbell
THE Irish Apostolate in the U.S. has been truly blessed by the cadre of dedicated priests who have enlisted in the program over the years.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 July 2004
|
When George Met Bertie
THE sight of President George W. Bush and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern strolling together through the grounds of Dromoland Castle, as if they hadn’t a care in the world, was the dominant image from the ballyhooed European Union/U.S. summit.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 July 2004
|
A Time for Fresh Thinking
THE decision by the British and Irish governments to postpone efforts to finally resolve the outstanding issues in the peace process until September is disappointing but probably an inevitable step.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 July 2004
|
Book Is a Must Read
THOUGH it is mainly anecdotal and does not go into much of the internal White House decision makings about Northern Ireland, former President Bill Clinton’s new memoir, My Life, is still a must read for Irish Americans interested in the peace process.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 23 June 2004
|
Bush Goes To Ireland
PRESIDENT George W. Bush will be in Ireland at the end of this week, taking part in an U.S./European Union summit and seeking to rebuild the alliance that has so badly fractured over the war in Iraq.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 23 June 2004
|
My Life as a Politician
FOR my sins I recently spent a night canvassing for votes in Ireland’s local elections in the town of Drogheda, (pronounced draw-hid-a) Co. Louth, just 30 urban sprawl miles north of Dublin.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 June 2004
|
Sinn Fein On the Rise
THE election results from Ireland north and south once again highlighted the extraordinary development of Sinn Fein in the course of a few short years.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 June 2004
|
Attacking Bush On the North
“GEORGE Bush has not done a damn thing for Northern Ireland . . . they would have Irish Americans believe that this administration has somehow been supportive. That’s embarrassing and Irish Americans will not be fooled.”
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 9 June 2004
|
Remembering Reagan’s Visit
IT was the night that Secretary of State George Schultz sang “Galway Bay” and Michael Deaver, special assistant to the president, sang “Danny Boy.”
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 9 June 2004
|
An Irish Rose By Any Other Name
IT’S not Miss World or Miss Universe, but Ireland’s annual Rose of Tralee festival is the closest approximation in terms of interest and excitement.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 June 2004
|
Ireland’s Enrons
ANYONE who has ever done business with Irish banks will know the feeling, the sheer arrogance of the institutions and the failure to comprehend what many little guys go through because they are so busy catering to the privileged few.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 2 June 2004
|
Hope in the north
THE darkest hour often comes before the dawn and it appears that there is now a glimmer of daylight in the Irish peace process.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 26 May 2004
|
A Total Disaster
It is a sad experience for an Irish American to go to Ireland at present. The level of vitriol aimed at this country and President Bush has to be experienced to believe.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 260May 2004
|
Going Home
THE evidence from this week’s Irish Voice lead article is that the Irish-born community in America is shrinking as various factors begin to impinge on them.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 20 May 2004
|
Is God a Republican?
IS God a Republican? That would seem to be the finding of Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, who announced last week that Catholics who voted for any candidate who favors of abortion, stem cell research or euthanasia should not receive Communion at Mass.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 20 May 2004
|
The Guinea Pigs
WHEN John McGuffin wrote his seminal book The Guinea Pigs in 1974 about torture of inmates in Northern Ireland during and after internment it was met with widespread shock and disbelief, especially in Britain where the reputation of the armed forces was at an all-time high.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 6 May 2004
|
The Greatest Pioneer
OMAHA, Nebraska – Here in a quiet cemetery far from bustling downtown Omaha lies the grave of one of the greatest Irish Americans who ever lived.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 6 May 2004
|
No Military Solution
I AM struck by the similarities between the British occupation in Northern Ireland during its early stages and what is happening in Iraq at presen
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 29 April 2004
|
Confusion on Colombia Verdict
NOTHING is as it seems in Colombia. That became evident once again when a judge there announced on Monday that the Colombia Three, the Irishmen held on terrorist charges, were not guilty.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 29 April 2004
|
A Need for Fresh Thinking
THERE were two major developments in Northern Ireland this week. In the first the British and Irish leaders announced that they were postponing political talks to be held over several days between all parties designed to break the deadlock.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 April 2004
|
A Letter from Iraq
MY cousin, Father Ed Salmon in Chicago, was a Marine chaplain for 12 years. He feels a special kinship for his force, especially as the war in Iraq rages.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 April 2004
|
Losing Hearts and Minds
THERE are few Irish Americans as qualified as Sean Mackin to address the issue of Northern Ireland and the impact of the peace process there.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 April 2004
|
John Kerry, Bad Catholic?
IT appears that some Catholic bishops are intent on “disciplining” Senator John Kerry because he does not agree with the church’s teaching on a number of issues, including stem cell research and abortion rights.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 16 April 2004
|
Remembering the Alamo
"WITH a new movie due out this week on the legendary events at the Alamo in the spring of 1836, it is worth remembering the Irish role in one of the most storied battles in American history..."
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 April 2004
|
Cover-up About British Collusion
THE British government’s refusal to allow an inquiry into the Patrick Finucane case merely sets in concrete what we have known for some time. When it comes to covering up there is none more brazen than the British security forces and the British government.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 April 2004
|
Ireland’s Greatest Sportsman
HE’S Michael Jordan, Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky rolled into one. D.J. Carey is Ireland’s greatest sports figure, and he doesn’t earn a dime for that honor.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 March 2004
|
Sad to See This Bigotry
IT is sad to read the comments by James Barker, executive director of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade, regarding gays and their insidious impact that he claims is similar to that of pedophiles on children.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 March 2004
|
Patrick the Superman
BRITISH by birth, Roman by education and Irish by adoption, St. Patrick lit the lamp of learning for the Irish nation and created a legend which has endured ever since.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 11 March 2004
|
Parading Off the Beaten Path
WE are all familiar with the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the St. Patrick’s parades in all our major cities, but it is tempting every now and then to look beyond the big occasion and see how the rest of America is celebrating, and how they did so it in times gone by.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 11 March 2004
|
IRA Should Quit
THE hostility towards Sinn Fein in the Irish government and among the media in Ireland seems to be at fever pitch at present. Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has even used the term “vomit inducing” to describe what he claims are the weasel words of Sinn Fein as it seeks to avoid blame for the peace process slowdown.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 4 March 2004
|
Sexual Abuse And the Church
IT was the week when the eyes of the world were on the extraordinary success of Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of The Christ. However, a far more important development in religious affairs was the release of the long awaited report on priestly sexual abuse of young people in the U.S.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 4 March 2004
|
A Farewell to Hume
WHAT is the measure of a politician? Is it the achievements he leaves behind him, the lives he has helped change, and in some cases, the lives he has helped save?
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 Feb 2004
|
A Media Run Amok
AN Irish American friend who held a reasonably prominent job in the Clinton administration recounted a conversation he had with a reporter for a leading newsmagazine the other day.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 19 Feb 2004
|
Blair on the Ropes?
THE hue and cry in Britain over the last week or so over the Hutton report which exonerated Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government and castigated the BBC over Iraq and weapons of mass destruction coverage hardly comes as a surprise.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 12 Feb 2004
|
Paisley’s Surprise Peace Proposals
THE Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland took many by surprise last week when they submitted a comprehensive set of proposals for restarting the stalled peace process.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 12 Feb 2004
|
I Have a Dream . . .
I HAD a dream last night. I was marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City in my underwear but nobody noticed.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 6 Feb 2004
|
Kerry’s New Statement
SENATOR John Kerry’s new statement on Ireland is possibly the most comprehensive and thorough of any ever released by a candidate running for president of the U.S.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 6 Feb 2004
|
Getting Past New Hampshire
EVERYONE should visit New Hampshire just once in a presidential election year to witness the flowering of democracy deep in the heart of a bitterly cold New
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 29 Jan 2004
|
Reality of Smoking Ban
IRELAND is expected to introduce its smoking ban in early March, and the reality of what it will do to the bar and restaurant business there has yet to hit home.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 29 Jan 2004
|
It’s All to Play For
THE results from Iowa have tossed the Democratic nomination race into the air, and no one is brave enough to speculate where the pieces will eventually land.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 Jan 2004
|
Deportees and the Election
THE release by the Wesley Clark campaign last week of their candidate’s Irish statement begins the process of winnowing out where all the remaining candidates stand on the issue.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 22 Jan 2004
|
The New Belfast Nazis
IN Ireland at Christmas, I was told that one of the breaking stories in Northern Ireland did not involve sectarian violence, but rather racist violence by Loyalists against ethnic minorities.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 15 Jan 2004
|
Half a Loaf
THE reaction to President Bush’s proposals on illegal immigration have been predictable so far, with business groups welcoming them and many unions, immigrant groups and Democrats saying they do not go far enough.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 15 Jan 2004
|
Dublin Can Be Heaven
DUBLIN – This is the best time of the year to be here. Sure it is cold, and it rains a lot, and the light fails around 4 p.m. and dawn is close to 9 a.m., but there is almost no traffic.
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 Jan 2004
|
Jeffrey Bolts the Party
TO no one’s surprise, Jeffrey Donaldson bolted the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in order to line up behind the Rev. Ian Paisley in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
more...
|
(Irish Voice) 8 Jan 2004
|
