For the Defense
If political power can be judged by how an individual influences society and changes its laws, then there’s an...
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Politics & Public Service Archives
In This Issue
Thatcher Considered Cromwell-type Removal of Catholics from North, New Book Reveals
A new book by a former British Ambassador to Ireland reveals shocking examples of Margaret Thatcher’s ignorance on Irish issues. By Niall O’Dowd, Publisher Margaret Thatcher...
MoreNew Files Reveal Secret British Battle to Defeat Irish America
Documents reveal the British thinking in relation to the IRA ceasefire, the Adams visa, the MacBride Principles, and appointment of Mitchell as special envoy. By Niall O’Dowd,...
MoreWhy Biden Should Appoint a
U.S. Envoy to Northern Ireland
By Niall O’Dowd, Publisher Irish America and President Joe Biden urgently need to reach out to unionism and loyalism in Northern Ireland to help bring political stability and repeat...
MoreFrom Ireland: Politics, Health, Security, and Recognition
By Deaglán de Bréadún Certainty is always a rare commodity in Irish politics but it has rarely been so scarce as it is these days. Like many other places, we don’t know for sure how things...
MoreDNA Links President Biden
to Galway
Galway joins Mayo and Louth as an Ancestral Home Ireland loves to claim her own, so President Biden – who’s conspicuously proud of his 5/8 Irish ancestry – is a source of pride for many in...
MoreGrowing Unrest in
Northern Ireland
April 17, 2021 By Deaglán de Bréadún Concern has been growing in Ireland, north and south, that the Troubles which caused so many deaths and injuries for thirty years from the late Sixties...
MoreMarty Walsh is Confirmed as U.S. Labor Secretary
By Michael Quinlin Congratulations to Martin J. Walsh, who was confirmed on Monday, March 22, 2021 as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. The U.S. Senate approved his nomination 68-29. Walsh has been...
MoreIrish American
Heritage Month 2021
A Proclamation on Irish-American Heritage Month, 2021 On Monday March 1, 2021 President Joe Biden proclaimed March as Irish American Heritage Month to honor the achievements and contributions of...
MorePennsylvania’s Irish and the
Founding of the State
Joe Biden’s nail-biting Pennsylvania win was just the latest episode in Pennsylvania’s rich Irish American history. BY TOM DEIGNAN You can take the boy out of Scranton. But...
MoreUnderstanding the 25th Amendment and Impeachment
By Tom Deignan For five decades, John Feerick has done his best to make sure America can deal with things at their worst. If you read the headlines this week, you saw angry debates about...
MoreBiden Country
By Darina Molloy Mayo on the west coast and Louth on the east, boast some of the most historic sites in Ireland, and now locals living in the area of the Cooley Peninsula and Ballina can...
MoreFrom Space to Washington –
Captain Mark Kelly Takes on a New Endeavour
Mark Kelly is the new Senator-elect for Arizona, filling the late Senator John McCain’s seat. Mark Kelly – just elected to the U.S. Senate – had already lived quite a life. He’d...
MoreNew Concerns over Brexit as UK Tries to Soften the Protocol on Northern Ireland
By Deaglán de Bréadún Combining the words ‘British’ and ‘exit’, the United Kingdom process of withdrawal from the European Union known as Brexit began with a referendum in June...
MoreReagan Democrats, Biden Time, and The Irish Swing Vote
From left: House Speaker Tip O’Neill, President Ronald Reagan, John Hume, senator Ted Kennedy and then Irish minister for foreign affairs Peter Barry, on Capitol Hill, Washington DC, in 1984.
Photo: Irish Times
Photo: Irish Times
If things were never simple they are even more complicated now, when we talk about the “Irish vote” as the 2020 presidential election nears. A 2017 Newsweek headline put it bluntly: “Why are...
MoreCrossing Over
U.S. Senator Susan Collins (ME), Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Senator Tom Kaine, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan,
Former Vice President and Presidential candidate Joe Biden, retired U.S. Marine Corp Lieutenant Colonel and Senate candidate Amy McGrath (KY).
Former Vice President and Presidential candidate Joe Biden, retired U.S. Marine Corp Lieutenant Colonel and Senate candidate Amy McGrath (KY).
Beginning in the 1930s, the Irish became more visible in the ranks of Republicans, disrupting decades-old loyalties writes Robert Schmuhl From the time of the Great Hunger through the early...
MoreLincoln’s New Party, Anti-Irish and Anti-Slavery
In celebration of Juneteenth on June 19th, which commemorates the end of slavery, we bring you this excerpt from Lincoln and the Irish: The Untold Story of How the Irish Helped...
MoreFiery Joe Biden
A 1987 interview with the then U.S. Senator from Delaware, now presidential hopeful Joe Biden gave his first ever interview to an Irish publication in April, 1987 when he talked to Niall...
MoreNews: Sinn Féin Surge
in Irish Election
The Irish people went to the polls on February 8 to elect a new government. Almost a month later, that government has yet to be formed. Why is this and what does it mean? In order to form a...
MoreA Tale of Two Flags
Back in 1974, City Council President Paul O’Dwyer introduced a bill that would change the date on the New York’s flag and seal from 1664 to 1625. The move was an effort to set history straight...
MoreSláinte! The Irish & the Oval
In 2020 you can safely bet that the biggest topic of news and conversation is going to be the presidential election. And until midsummer, the hottest sub-topic will be “Who will the Democrats...
MoreCorey Johnson:
Lightning in a Bottle
Corey Johnson zoomed into New York like a comet and burst onto the political scene. In just a few short years he became speaker of the city council. He’s smart, articulate, high-energy, and the...
MoreClimate Change: A Mum’s Mission
Trócaire’s Lorna Tevnan Gold on saving the future from the present. ℘℘℘ Dr. Lorna Tevnan Gold of the Irish humanitarian organization Trócaire has been working to change environmental policy...
MoreIrish Power, U.S. Politics
U.S. Rep. Richie Neal Talks to Niall O’Dowd
Richie Neal’s extraordinary journey from a working-class neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., and one of the most powerful jobs in American politics as the chairman of...
MoreJames Connolly Visitor
Centre Opens in Belfast
At a ceremony on Friday, April 19, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins officially opened Áras Uí Chonghaile, the new James Connolly Visitor Centre, providing a new space for discovery,...
MoreWild Irish Women:
A Most Sorrowful Mystery
Oh! star of Erin, queen of tears,Black clouds have beset thy birth,And your people die like morning stars,That your light may grace the earth. – “Stars of Freedom,” 1981By IRA volunteer...
MoreWindow on the Past:
Manifest Destiny
Two words from one Irishman who trumpeted the world’s superpower. ℘℘℘ “Manifest destiny…” These words, placed together, command one’s attention. They sound important, almost...
MoreBrexit Uncertainty Makes Ireland More Attractive
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has relocated its main EU banking arm from London to Dublin, months ahead of the earliest possible date of the UK’s exit from the EU. They are one of the first banks...
MoreIrish Favor Birthright Citizenship
As other western countries are endorsing populist agendas on tightening immigration policy, Ireland is voicing its opposition to such restrictions, overwhelmingly in favor of reinstating birthright...
MoreMichael D. Higgins Re-Elected
Irish President Michael D. Higgins has been re-elected for a second term after receiving 56 percent of the country’s vote on October 26. He was first elected in 2011 and will now serve another...
MoreEuropean of the Year
Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. was named European of the Year by European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland) at an event sponsored by Uniphar in Dublin on June 11. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, in presenting...
MoreIreland Considers Legislation to Restrict International Travel by Convicted Pedophiles
T.D.s and Senators have been urged to support a new bill – the Sex Offenses (Amendment) Bill 2018 – introduced in Dáil Éireann by Maureen O’Sullivan, T.D., which proposes to restrict the...
MoreTwenty Years Later:
Reflections on the Good Friday Agreement
Signed on April 10, 1998, the landmark Good Friday Agreement helped to bring to an end the 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Twenty years on, Deaglán de...
MoreMcGuinness Principles Launched in U.S.
In honor of the Good Friday Agreement’s 20th anniversary, the McGuinness Principles were launched from New York in April. The principles, named after Northern Ireland’s former deputy first...
MoreEunice and Eileen
Eunice Kennedy was an amazing woman who changed the way people with disabilities are treated and viewed. Who better to bring her story to light in a new biography than Eileen McNamara, another...
MoreGeorge Mitchell: A Keystone of the Good Friday Agreement
To mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998, we are look back on Deaglán de Bréadún’s profile on former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who...
MoreJoe Kennedy III:
Why the Dream Will Never Die
Congressman Joe Kennedy is carrying on his family’s legacy in politics and making a name for himself as a champion of the underdog. On Tuesday, January 30, he will deliver the Democratic rebuttal...
MoreNew Irish Prime Minister Willing to Work with Trump
Leo Varadkar made history in June when he was elected taoiseach, becoming the first openly gay prime minister of Ireland as well as the first prime minister of Indian heritage and the youngest ever...
MoreBrian Burns Named New Irish Ambassador
Philanthropist, businessman, and Irish America Hall of Fame member Brian Burns was officially announced as President Donald Trump’s appointment for ambassador to Ireland in January. He was tapped...
MoreNorthern Ireland Undergoes Historic Election Shift
For the first time in history of Northern Ireland there will be a nationalist majority in the national assembly at Stormont. A short 10 months after the previous Northern Ireland Assembly election,...
MoreTim Kaine’s Irish Roots
Just how Irish is the Democratic vice-presidential nominee? And what does Tim Kaine’s family tree have in common with Downtown Abbey? ℘℘℘ No sooner had Hillary Clinton announced Tim Kaine...
MoreContinuity and Change: The Irish Role in American Politics
For the second straight White House election, the Democratic and Republican candidates for vice president grew up in strong Irish American and Catholic families. Eyebrow-arching in itself, the fact...
MoreWhat Are You Like?
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson made history as Ireland’s first female president, in office from 1990 – 1997. She has since devoted her life to human rights on a global scale, serving as United Nations High...
MoreIrish Aid for Europe’s
Refugee Crisis
On September 3rd this year, the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian three-year-old whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach, ran across the front pages of newspapers world-wide, putting a...
MoreLast Word: The State of Play
Why women are still fighting male chauvinism on the greens of Ireland. ℘℘℘ Ireland is now a rainbow nation. With the passing of the referendum on same-sex marriage in May, all...
MoreThousands Mourn
a Fallen Officer in Queens
Family members, friends, neighbors, and thousands of police officers from across the country, gathered at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford, New York, on Friday, May 8, to pay their last...
MoreEdward M. Kennedy Institute
Opens in Boston
A new institute honoring the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy opened in Boston with a historic ceremony featuring President Obama, Vice President Biden and other dignitaries. Chilly weather...
MoreWhen It Comes to Irish Peace,
Hillary and History Rhyme
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s role in the Irish peace process is often underestimated but there were few people more important. In retrospect it all seems so obvious. Once an American president focused...
MoreVote Referendum Tabled
Outrage was sparked when the Irish government refused to hold a referendum to extend the vote in Presidential elections to Irish citizens living in the North and elsewhere outside the Republic of...
MoreGina McCarthy: Friend of the Environment
When Irish America interviewed Gina McCarthy in July, 2014, she already had a 30+ year career in the health and environmental sector, and was serving as the head of the EPA. During her term...
MoreBoston’s Man of the People: Marty Walsh
There was world renowned musician Yo-Yo Ma on center stage, playing an audacious solo of Danny Boy on his cello before 8,000 enraptured listeners. Mid-way through the performance and without missing...
MoreA Thousand Days of Grace
As we mark the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination Michael Quinlin reflects on Kennedy’s vision, his desire for a united Ireland, his love of poetry, and what his presidency meant...
MoreWhen It Comes to Health, Kathleen Cares
A leading expert on national and global health issues Kathleen Sebelius (née Gilligan) served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services for five years (2009-2014), currently Sebelius is the CEO...
MoreDid President Kennedy Have Celiac Disease?
Dr. Peter Green, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, suspects that JFK was the victim of an undiagnosed...
MoreThe American Cousin: Memories of JFK’s Trip to Ireland
In June 1963, President John F. Kennedy made a series of state visits throughout Europe. To Germany, where he made his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech; to Italy; to England; and to Ireland, the...
MoreJoey From Scranton:
VP Biden’s Irish Roots
It’s well known that Vice President Joe Biden spent his early years in the very Irish city of Scranton, Pennsylvania. But what about his ancestors? Genealogist Megan Smolenyak, who also traced...
MoreI’ll Be Back In the Springtime – JFK in Ireland
Sean Reidy, CEO of the JFK Trust, looks back on President Kennedy’s visit to New Ross in 1963, and forward to celebrations on the 50th anniversary of that visit. “I’ll be back in the...
MoreWhat Are You Like? Mary Robinson
Ireland’s first female president answers questions about her life and work. Mary Robinson made history as Ireland’s first female president, in office from 1990 – 1997. She has since devoted...
MoreHillary Clinton Visits Ireland and Northern Ireland
Clinton included the Emerald Isle in her final visits as Secretary of State. As part of one of her last international trips as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton spent two days in Ireland at the...
MoreA Young Kennedy Returns to His Roots in Ireland
Bobby Kennedy III travels to New Ross, Co. Wexford for the Irish America Hall of Fame inductions of Robert F. Kennedy and Eunice Shriver Kennedy, and the inaugural Kennedy Summer School. The...
MoreHealing Hearts on Rockaway Beach
The eighth annual Wounded Warriors Weekend in Breezy Point, NY. Eight years ago, Rockaway Beach resident Flip Mullen, who served 18 years with the FDNY, his wife, Rita, and a group of former firemen...
MoreWhat America Can Learn From Ireland
The Last Word: Birth Control is a Medical Issue, Not a Religious One The Irish, a fiercely independent people ruled by another country for centuries, have a unique appreciation for irony. As an...
MoreIrish Army Archives to go Public
The Irish Armed Forces is about to make a huge volume of historical documents available to the public by putting them online for general access. Lieutenant General Sean McCann, Defense Forces’...
MoreChuck Schumer’s Irish Bill
New York Senator Charles Schumer has gained a great deal of support from the Irish in America since mid-December, when he introduced an Irish visa bill to the Senate. The bill, co-sponsored by...
MoreTen Years after 9/11
An estimated 1,000 of the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11 were of Irish descent or birth. On the 10th anniversary of the attacks, we look at the “living” memorials such as the scholarships...
MoreRebuilding the Skyline
The heroism and sacrifices of Irish Americans on September 11, 2001 have been well documented. What has not been discussed nearly as much are the contributions Irish Americans are currently making to...
MorePresidential Visits to Ireland
President Obama’s visit brought the number of U.S. Presidents who have visited Ireland to seven. Tom Deignan looks back at some memorable visits and some that barely registered. Ollie Hayes...
MoreThe Last Word:
The Walk of a Queen
Reflections on Queen Elizabeth’s historic trip to Ireland. The recent four-day visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland – the first by a reigning monarch in a hundred years – was a stunning...
MoreIreland’s New Prime Minister on the Way Forward
On his recent trip to New York, between visiting Ground Zero and being welcomed at an Irish American community reception, Ireland’s new Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, spoke with Patricia Harty about...
MoreThe Irish Brigade:
Heroes of The Civil War
As we commemorate the 157th anniversary of the start of The Civil War, Matthew Brennan remembers the shining role of The Irish Brigade. ℘℘℘ Irish American actor Martin Sheen commented in an...
MorePresident William J. Clinton:
Irish America Hall of Fame
Politician, peacemaker, and hero to millions of Irish. As a major supporter of the Irish peace process, Bill Clinton moved mountains. The 42nd President of the United States took the strongest...
MoreJean Kennedy Smith:
Irish America Hall of Fame
Activist, humanitarian, diplomat. Often referred to as the shy Kennedy, Jean Kennedy Smith has quietly blazed her own trail while still holding true to the family legacy of public service. The last...
MoreWhen the Men are Gone
Tom Deignan talks with author Siobhan Fallon about her writing, her Irish-American upbringing, and being an Army wife. Siobhan Fallon attended school in England, traveled widely in Ireland (where her...
MoreTed Kennedy, History Buff
As the first anniversary of Ted Kennedy’s death approached on August 25, 2010, Thomas Fleming recalled the late senator’s fascination with American history and his desire to share that love...
MoreFighting Irish Girl:
Maureen Dowd
Her mother was an Irish rebel, and her father a good cop who could spot a phony a mile away. These inherited traits turned Maureen Dowd into an award-winning columnist and author. Somewhere in...
MoreThomas Cahill: Civilization on Trial
I first encountered Thomas Cahill in the reading requirements for ninth grade history, where Mr. Dachille’s designation of Cahill’s book The Gifts of the Jews as a substitute for the dry...
MoreJane Sullivan Roberts on Family, Heritage and Faith
Her husband may be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but Jane Sullivan Roberts is an amazing success story all her own. Jane Sullivan Roberts, 54, is one of those rare Washington women who...
MoreObama’s Irish Roots: A House in Black, White & Green
When Barack Obama enters The White House as the 44th U.S. President, he will find that the Irish and African-American strands of his ancestry have been linked in many other ways throughout the...
MoreSecond U.S.-Ireland Forum a Success
Over 400 delegates attended the second annual U.S.-Ireland Forum hosted at University College Dublin in early November, which was yet another extraordinary success. The delegates were drawn from...
MoreInside the Kennedy White House
When Barack Obama moved into the White House, many felt a sense of optimism despite the vast challenges facing America. Such feelings, naturally, recalled January of 1961 when, on a bright, frozen...
MoreA New Dawn in America
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday, November 4, after he defeated Republican candidate John McCain. On a night of high emotion across the country and...
MoreThe Real Bill Maher
Bill Maher gets real with Kelly Carlin-McCall about life, work and religion. Smart, funny, bold, proverbial line-crosser – all of these words could be used to describe Bill Maher. They also could...
MoreThe Conventions
Ireland was in the background at this year’s Democratic and Republican National Conventions, but it was there. On the eve of the Democratic Convention in Denver, Senator Barack Obama appeared in...
MoreThe Battle Over Ulysses
The court case that changed the way Americans read. During a first-season episode of the excellent AMC TV series Mad Men, set in the New York advertising world of the 1960s, several secretaries are...
MoreA Letter to the Editor: Mission Possible
I felt compelled to write you and say thank you for unintentionally helping my family. Because you put a group of wonderful people in the same room (for the awards ceremony of your “Top 100 Best...
MoreThe First Family of Irish America
Back in July, Bronx Irish Catholic Edwin F. O’Brien, after a 40-year career as a priest, military chaplain and aide to two cardinals, was named the new Archbishop of Baltimore. The archdiocese...
MoreGovernor Martin O’Malley’s March
Youngest mayor of a large city at 37, governor at 43; it’s possible that Martin O’Malley, fueled by family, Jesuit ideals and Irish history, will march all the way to the White House. Martin...
MoreFaces of the Fallen
The Faces of the Fallen exhibition, which commemorated the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, recently closed. The story of Faces of the Fallen...
MoreCommodore John Barry
From Irish immigrant to Commander of the American Navy, John Barry is a hero to remember. There are many Irish men and women whom one could declare a hero of our time but none is so profoundly...
MorePeace at last in Northern Ireland?
Though political tensions linger, the Northern Ireland Assembly is up and running and both communities are working together for the future. The Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist...
MoreDe Valera’s “Tree of Liberty” at Notre Dame
Captured in May 1918 and imprisoned in Lincoln Prison, England, Eamon de Valera, Ireland’s future president, escaped in dramatic fashion on February 3, 1919. Fearing the propaganda boost his...
MoreThe Prosecutor Goes to Dublin
Fresh from securing a conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby, Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appeared in Dublin the day before St. Patrick’s Day to...
More1916 Anniversary Sparks Debate
On the eve of the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising, mainstream political parties are actively competing for the legacy of Ireland’s historical revolution. The government has already...
MoreNews: Fresh Talks to
Kick-Start Assembly
Political parties in Northern Ireland are gearing up for September talks in England at Leeds Castle in an effort to restore the dissolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Arms decommissioning, policing,...
MoreThe Irish Issue
As the 2004 United States Presidential Election Approaches, Irish Americans want to be informed of the candidates’ policies on Irish issues. Deanna Turner approached President George W. Bush...
MoreBush Greeted with Antagonism in Ireland
There was no Céad Mile Fáilte for President George W. Bush when he made his first visit to the Irish Republic. Thousands of soldiers and police were drafted in to keep protestors away from the...
MoreThe Not So Great Escape
Ten years after robbers emptied an armored security van of $7.4 million at gunpoint, a former I.R.A. member has admitted in a memoir that he masterminded the heist. ℘℘℘ Sam Millar rues the fact...
MoreThe Reagan Democrats
Say what you will about Ronald Reagan, but it can’t be denied that he changed the face not of just American politics, but Irish-American politics. Since the time of the Famine, when shrewd...
MoreTroubled Images at
Boston College
A powerful new exhibit of propaganda posters from the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland kicks off an international tour in Boston this March. Boston College’s John J. Burns Library of Rare...
MoreMitchell Honored by
Northern Women
Former Senator George Mitchell was honored for his tireless work for peace in Ireland at the Northern Ireland Women’s Initiative (NIWI) January 21 in New York. NIWI founder and president...
MoreRe-Imagining Ireland Conference
Frank McCourt, Roddy Doyle, Mick Moloney and Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd will be among the Irish writers, artists, and historians to converge in Charlottesville, Virginia in May for a...
MoreIreland’s Ambassador to Washington Welcomed by President Bush
President George W. Bush formally welcomed Ireland’s newest dignitary to the U.S. recently. Ireland’s new ambassador in Washington, D.C., Noel Fahey, accompanied by his wife, Christine,...
MoreNorthern Ireland’s Political Crisis Deepens
The political crisis in the North looks set to continue in the coming months. It seems that both Dublin and London are now resigned to the fact that it will take a lot of work to re-establish some...
MoreIrish Government
Faces More Fallout
The Irish Government is bracing itself for more fallout from the Flood Tribunal — the statutory inquiry set up to investigate political corruption in Ireland. The Tribunal’s first report...
MoreEndgame: The Road to Peace in Northern Ireland
“This is the first time the inside story of the Irish peace process has been told by so many of the major politicians and paramilitary leaders who helped shape it.” – WGBH executive...
MoreIRA Dispose of Weapons
An historic breakthrough was made in the Northern Ireland peace process at the end of October when the first IRA arms were put permanently beyond use in a move monitored by the International...
MoreThe Last Word
The last time it happened…The Irish were to blame. ℘℘℘ The election results are in. The presidential candidate of the incumbent Democratic party has won the popular vote but lost...
MoreMartin McGuinness: The Man, The Myth, The Minister
The evolution of Martin McGuinness – from high school dropout and IRA man to political leader seeking an end to violence and, finally, his emergence as Northern Ireland’s Minister for...
MoreSinn Féin Under Pressure
Sinn Féin has come in for scathing criticism in the past weeks, with many blaming the party for the deadlock in the peace renegotiations, after the Stormont Assembly was suspended at the beginning...
MoreFor the Defense
If political power can be judged by how an individual influences society and changes its laws, then there’s an arguable case for British defense lawyer Michael Mansfield being one of the most...
MoreNew U.S. Ambassadors to Ireland
Richard Egan, the ninety-ninth wealthiest person in America, was nominated by President Bush as the new U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. Egan, one of Irish America’s Business 100, holds an Irish...
MoreFuror Over RUC Recruitment Campaign
Belfast: Republicans and nationalists have attacked Royal Ulster Constabulary chief Sir Ronnie Flanagan for launching a new recruiting drive before outstanding police reforms are completed, Brendan...
MoreReid Takes Over as Northern Secretary
The departure of Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson in late January caused few tears in Ireland. Mandelson, whose tenure in the North was supposed to restart his political career, left...
MoreChris Patten Endorses Police Bill
The Republican and Nationalist communities suffered a blow in their efforts at police reform when Chris Patten, chair of the Patten Commission, endorsed the controversial Northern Ireland Police...
MoreBritish and Irish Governments Seek U.S. Ban on Real IRA
The Irish and British governments have asked the United States to designate the Real IRA as a terrorist organization, a step that would prevent the organization from raising funds in the U.S. The...
MorePolice Seize de Valera’s Love Letters
The Gardai (Irish police) have seized 18 letters written by Eamonn de Valera to his wife, Sinead, between 1912 and 1920. Some of the letters were written while he was imprisoned for his part in the...
MoreThe Last Hurrah
President Bill Clinton’s third, unprecedented and final visit to Ireland as President had all the feelings of a homecoming. And why not? No other American President has devoted as much time,...
MoreDeportation Proceedings Dropped
The Department of Justice announced in the beginning of December that it would stop all deportation proceedings against six men with past connections to the IRA. The decision is the culmination of a...
MoreWomen in Northern Ireland Politics
In war-torn Northern Ireland, for women to fight for equal rights would have been seen as a betrayal to the Nationalist or Unionist cause, Anne Cadwallader examines the position of women on the...
MoreThe Other Kennedy
For the last 40 years, Americans have been fixated on the trials, tribulations and tragedies of the Kennedy family. Yet as the nation has kept its eyes focused on the Bobbys, Teddys and John-Johns...
MoreTrimble Wins Reprieve And Jeopardizes Good Friday Agreement
Another political crisis in Northern Ireland was narrowly avoided and a new one born when at the end of October Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble won his party’s confidence vote,...
MoreEducating Martin
How Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness is adjusting to his new role as Northern Ireland’s Minister for Education. ℘℘℘ Unusually for a politician, Martin McGuinness is early....
MoreIndependent TDs Demand Abortion Referendum
Kerry South TD (Member of Parliament) Jackie Healy -Rae has changed his tune and added his voice to those of the three other independent TDs, whose votes the government has counted on for support in...
MoreNews from Ireland:
The Marching Season –
Less Violence This Year
For the first time in many years, the marching season in Northern Ireland occurs against a backdrop of relatively stable political institutions. Yet as with other years, the marches erupted into...
MoreNews from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
A feud between two Loyalist paramilitary groups has brought British troops back to the streets of Belfast. Fighting between the Ulster Defense Association (U.D.A.) and the Ulster Volunteer Force...
MoreHibernia: O’Neill Was
a Key Figure on North
New papers show influence with Reagan. ℘℘℘ Newly released files from the Reagan White House papers show that the Irish-American president was persuaded by a personal appeal by then House...
MoreHibernia: Kennedy
and Dodd Push Patten
Senators Edward Kennedy and Christopher Dodd added their voices to the growing Irish-American demand that Britain implement the recommendations in the Patten Report on Policing in Northern Ireland....
MoreGerry Adams
The Leader
Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Féin, is the most well-known Irish politician outside the island of Ireland. As a civil rights activist in Northern Ireland in the late sixties, a victim of...
MoreWilliam Brennan
Champion of Justice
During his 34 years with the Supreme Court, Justice William Brennan, Jr. (1906 – 1998) was widely recognized as one of the primary architects of public policy in the country. ℘℘℘ On...
MorePaul O’Dwyer
Civil Rights Champion
Since his childhood in Mayo during the worst of the Black and Tan atrocities, Paul O’Dwyer has been a fearless champion of human rights. During the Red Scare and the civil rights movement he...
MoreBaltimore’s Pied Piper
New Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley is renewing this harbor city’s long Irish ties not only by his stunning election in a predominantly African-American city but also as leader of the...
MoreOur Jack
Pete Hamill on JFK
Somewhere in the shadowy land between myth and history lies the domicile of John F. Kennedy. The first United States president of Irish-Catholic descent, Kennedy was a man of many faces: war hero,...
MoreThe Dawn of a New Peace
HISTORIC NI AGREEMENT GIVES HOPE FOR FUTURE: Deaglán de Bréadún, Northern Editor of The Irish Times, describes an epic week in the history of the North of Ireland culminating in the historic...
MoreUlysses S. Grant
The Irish Visit, 1879
Ulysses S. Grant, in his visit to Ireland in 1879, covered much the same territory as President Clinton did on his visit in 1995. ℘℘℘ Ulysses S. Grant was not actually president of the...
MoreHibernia
Brexit Uncertainty Makes Ireland More Attractive
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has relocated its main EU banking arm from London to Dublin, months...
Irish Aid for Europe’s
Refugee Crisis
On September 3rd this year, the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian three-year-old whose body...
Bush Greeted with Antagonism in Ireland
There was no Céad Mile Fáilte for President George W. Bush when he made his first visit to the...
Northern Ireland Undergoes Historic Election Shift
For the first time in history of Northern Ireland there will be a nationalist majority in the...
Michael D. Higgins Re-Elected
Irish President Michael D. Higgins has been re-elected for a second term after receiving 56 percent...
James Connolly Visitor
Centre Opens in Belfast
At a ceremony on Friday, April 19, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins officially opened Áras...
European of the Year
Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. was named European of the Year by European Movement Ireland (EM...
The Conventions
Ireland was in the background at this year’s Democratic and Republican National Conventions, but...
Vote Referendum Tabled
Outrage was sparked when the Irish government refused to hold a referendum to extend the vote in...
McGuinness Principles Launched in U.S.
In honor of the Good Friday Agreement’s 20th anniversary, the McGuinness Principles were launched...
News from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
A feud between two Loyalist paramilitary groups has brought British troops back to the streets of...
Irish Favor Birthright Citizenship
As other western countries are endorsing populist agendas on tightening immigration policy, Ireland...
Independent TDs Demand Abortion Referendum
Kerry South TD (Member of Parliament) Jackie Healy -Rae has changed his tune and added his voice...
Faces of the Fallen
The Faces of the Fallen exhibition, which commemorated the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces...
Mitchell Honored by
Northern Women
Former Senator George Mitchell was honored for his tireless work for peace in Ireland at the...
The Prosecutor Goes to Dublin
Fresh from securing a conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff Scooter Libby,...
News from Ireland:
The Marching Season –
Less Violence This Year
For the first time in many years, the marching season in Northern Ireland occurs against a...
Brian Burns Named New Irish Ambassador
Philanthropist, businessman, and Irish America Hall of Fame member Brian Burns was officially...
Re-Imagining Ireland Conference
Frank McCourt, Roddy Doyle, Mick Moloney and Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd will be...
Chuck Schumer’s Irish Bill
New York Senator Charles Schumer has gained a great deal of support from the Irish in America since...
The Last Hurrah
President Bill Clinton’s third, unprecedented and final visit to Ireland as President had...
Ireland Considers Legislation to Restrict International Travel by Convicted Pedophiles
T.D.s and Senators have been urged to support a new bill – the Sex Offenses (Amendment) Bill 2018...
Second U.S.-Ireland Forum a Success
Over 400 delegates attended the second annual U.S.-Ireland Forum hosted at University College...
Troubled Images at
Boston College
A powerful new exhibit of propaganda posters from the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland kicks off...
Hibernia: O’Neill Was
a Key Figure on North
New papers show influence with Reagan. ℘℘℘ Newly released files from the Reagan White...
New U.S. Ambassadors to Ireland
Richard Egan, the ninety-ninth wealthiest person in America, was nominated by President Bush as...
Hibernia: Kennedy
and Dodd Push Patten
Senators Edward Kennedy and Christopher Dodd added their voices to the growing Irish-American...
Thousands Mourn
a Fallen Officer in Queens
Family members, friends, neighbors, and thousands of police officers from across the country,...
A Young Kennedy Returns to His Roots in Ireland
Bobby Kennedy III travels to New Ross, Co. Wexford for the Irish America Hall of Fame inductions of...
For the Defense
If political power can be judged by how an individual influences society and changes its laws,...
A New Dawn in America
Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday, November 4,...
News: Sinn Féin Surge
in Irish Election
The Irish people went to the polls on February 8 to elect a new government. Almost a month later,...
Healing Hearts on Rockaway Beach
The eighth annual Wounded Warriors Weekend in Breezy Point, NY. Eight years ago, Rockaway Beach...
A Tale of Two Flags
Back in 1974, City Council President Paul O’Dwyer introduced a bill that would change the date...
Edward M. Kennedy Institute
Opens in Boston
A new institute honoring the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy opened in Boston with a...
New Irish Prime Minister Willing to Work with Trump
Leo Varadkar made history in June when he was elected taoiseach, becoming the first openly gay...
De Valera’s “Tree of Liberty” at Notre Dame
Captured in May 1918 and imprisoned in Lincoln Prison, England, Eamon de Valera, Ireland’s future...
Ireland’s Ambassador to Washington Welcomed by President Bush
President George W. Bush formally welcomed Ireland’s newest dignitary to the U.S. recently....