In Limerick, a group of sixteen local volunteers have joined together to prevent suicide. Over the last ten months, the CSR Suicide Prevention Team has been patrolling the River Shannon and four bridges in Limerick to rescue people who would otherwise attempt to throw themselves into the water. The volunteers patrol every Saturday from midnightRead more..
All they wanted was a chance for ten more days of football. Just before the end of the season, a quarter of the players and one of the coaches on the Xavier High School Knights had been forced from their homes when Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast. But when the displaced kids votedRead more..
On April 9, Pramerica Systems Ireland, Prudential Financial’s Irish branch, honored gold medal recipients Molly Gilmartin and Bonnie Shortall for their outstanding youth volunteer work at the sixth annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards in Derry. The two girls received engraved gold medals, €1000 for charities of their choice and all-expenses-paid trips to the U.S.Read more..
On Tuesday, February 15, President Barack Obama presented a Medal of Freedom to John Sweeney, the renowned labor leader. Sweeney was honored for his work as President of the AFL-CIO (1995-2009), bringing new life to the American labor movement and working hard to protect the American worker. Born in the Bronx, New York, to IrishRead more..
The rise in bully-related suicides in the United States, particularly among homosexual youths, has been no secret in the past few years. Dan Savage, of Chicago Irish stock, began the poignant campaign for youth called, simply, “It Gets Better.” Savage is openly gay, and though he identifies as “a wishy-washy agnostic” he still considers himselfRead more..
The last name Quinn derives from the Irish surname O Cuinn, or descendants of Conn, and means head, sense, reason, intelligence and freeman. A perfect fit for Christine Quinn, New York City Council Speaker. The first female and first openly gay Speaker, Quinn holds one of the most powerful positions in the city. She representsRead more..
Helen P. O’Reilly was among 2010’s chosen 30 to receive a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which honors the contributions that immigrants and the children of immigrants have made to shaping this country. Helen, the daughter of immigrants from counties Clare and Kerry, grew up in Queens, New York. From an earlyRead more..
Stella O’Leary had a political vision for Irish Americans and turned her idea into actions by founding the Irish American Democrats. O’Leary began the political action committee in 1996 to support the re-election of President Bill Clinton, who encouraged peace in Ireland during his first term. The main goal of the IAD is to supportRead more..
Police Sgt. Mickey O’Keefe laughed when actor Mark Wahlberg and director David O. Russell asked him to play himself in the critically acclaimed and Academy Award nominated film The Fighter. The real life mentor and trainer of both “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother Dickie Ecklund, O’Keefe agreed to audition after Wahlberg told him thatRead more..
The RTE show Secret Millionaire followed American hotelier John Fitzpatrick as he spent a week undercover in one of Ireland’s poorest communities. When Business 100 honoree John Fitzpatrick was approached by RTE (Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster) to appear on Secret Millionaire, he balked. “I thought someone was playing a joke. I was annoyedRead more..