Bertie Ahern quits and leaves a divided legacy---Celtic Tiger collapse and North peace

It is no great surprise but still a shock in many ways that former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has announced he will quit politics.

He announced on Thursday that he would not compete for his parliamentary seat in the next election expected in late March.

His star had fallen so far that there was a real question if he could retain it anyway.

He was leader of Ireland for ten years, an unprecedented time in the modern era and once thought his legacy would be the Celtic Tiger.

Instead that collapsed and much of the blame was laid on his shoulders.

It was certainly due in part to his own lax oversight of the banking system and the businessmen he was far too close to.

Though personally he never appeared to enrich himself, unlike his mentor Charles Haughey, he allowed corrupt practices to flourish in many aspect of Irish life and in the end it all came back to haunt him

He resembled the first Mayor Richard Daley, political power was everything to him and he turned a blind eye to many in his administration and what they were up to. He himself, however, lived modestly.

But in one area Ahern will long deserve praise and plaudits and that is the Irish peace process.

He was a key figure in helping end Europe's longest running guerrilla war.

I remember meeting him when he was out of power and about to win the general election of 1997.

He told me he was certain he could get the IRA to restore their ceasefire after their first one had broken down over decommissioning. Not too many people believed him.

He was as good as his word. He was elected June 6th and by July 20th it was restored.

It was a massive breakthrough.

By April 1998 he had played a major role in formulating the Good Friday Agreement which effectively brought the North's nightmare to a close.

Soon after he and Tony Blair were unlucky they did not get the Nobel Prize alongside the SDLP's John Hume and David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party for their efforts.

Barack Obama got it in 2009 for a lot less.

On a personal level, Ahern was affable, friendly and personable. But even close friends doubted if they ever really knew him. He was a very private man in a very public space.

I was present in Washington during his farewell address to the Joint Session of Congress in March 2009.

It was a victory lap for Ahern and his sense of pride of what he had achieved was palpable.

It all looks different now.

The stunning developments of the past 18 months on the economy will have caused him enormous heartache.

He knew it was time to go as his parting comments made clear

"Now it is time to stand aside, to pass on the baton and allow others to continue the race," the 59-year-old said.

"The next generation will build on our success and they will learn from our mistakes. It is not just that life will go on; I believe that life will get better."

Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who served with him as finance minister described him as "without question the consummate politician of our generation in this country".

That was true but as we are constantly reminded, all political careers end in failure.

For Bertie Ahern, after hitting such high points that reality must be toughest of all to acknowledge.

His beloved Fianna Fail faces a meltdown in the next election and he himself has to battle to keep his good name in politics and in history.

Yet, I feel when those books are written his role in the peace process will still be paramount.

A few months back I met him in Dublin when former president Bill Clinton was over. Even to a casual observer it was clear that he misses the political cut and thrust and hurly burly.

It is a sad end to a career that promised and delivered much but also left huge question marks.

In the end Bertie Ahern will be known as a flawed leader who did the state some service.

There are worse things than that.

Billy the Kid's Irish parents would welcome his pardon if New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson does the right thing

The news that the governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson is on the verge of pardoning Billy the Kid before he leaves office on December 31st is bound to cause waves.

Governor Bill Richardson set up an online poll to see how New Mexico residents felt about the Kid getting the pardon and more approved than disapproved.

As I wrote back here a few months ago a pardon for Billy the Kid would bring to a close a major chapter in Irish American history as well

When Pat Garrett finally tracked down and killed Billy the Kid in 181 a subtext of the killing was the Irish identity of the two famous protagonists.

Pat Garrett was the grandson of Irish immigrants while Billy the Kid was really William McCarty, both of whose parents came from Ireland.

As Wikipedia notes Little is known about McCarty's origins, but many reputable scholars of western history "contend that he was born on the eve of the Civil War in the bowels of an Irish neighborhood in New York City at 70 Allen Street)."

While his biological father remains an obscure figure, researchers have theorized that his name was Patrick McCarty, Michael McCarty, William McCarty, or Edward McCarty.

There is clear evidence that his mother's name was Catherine McCarty, although "there have been continuing debates about whether McCarty was her maiden or married name".

The most reputable accounts say , McCarty was born as William Henry McCarty, Jr., but his mother preferred to call him "Henry" because she did not wish him to be known as "junior".

It is generally believed that McCarty's mother was a survivor of the Great Irish Famine of the mid-19th century.

By 1870 Catherine McCarty had moved with her two young sons, Henry and Joseph, to Indianapolis, Indiana.

There, she met William Antrim, who was 12 years her junior.[13] In 1873, after several years of moving around the country, the two were married at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and settled further south in Silver City.

Antrim found sporadic work as a bartender and carpenter but soon became more interested in prospecting and gambling for fortune than in his wife and stepsons. Nevertheless, young McCarty often used the surname "Antrim" when referring to himself.

McCarty's mother reportedly washed clothes, baked pies, and took in boarders in order to provide for her sons. Although she was fondly remembered by onetime boarders and neighbors as "a jolly Irish lady, full of life and mischief", she was already in the final stages of tuberculosis when the family reached Silver City.

The following year, on September 16, 1874, Catherine McCarty died; she was buried in the Memory Lane Cemetery in Silver City.

She never lived to see her son become the best known outlaw in the West and a legendary figure in American history,one who has been wronged by that same history and is now , hopefully, about to finally receive a pardon

New York Winter storm ruins an Irish vacation

I was supposed to be in Dublin this morning, tucking into a traditional Irish breakfast at my hotel and getting ready for the annual round of family meet and greets. Mother Nature however had other ideas.

More is the pity. The after Christmas period is among my favorite times of the year.

The Irish still have the good sense to celebrate the week between Christmas and New year's as part of the vacation period.

You won't find Christmas trees thrown outside for garbage collection on December 26th like you do over here.

There are festival race meetings, family parties, good drink and good cheer.

Despite the bleak economy it is still one of the most joyous places to be over the winter break.

Dublin reverts to being the city of old,with no traffic problems and an ease to getting around that is amazing considering what it is like the rest of the year.

So we were all set to fly. Mother Nature had other ideas, however, socking New York with a winter storm for the ages. Rarely have I heard such ferocious winds and seen so much snow in a 24 hour period.

Ironically, we had fretted over Christmas Day that the weather had been so bad in Ireland that we would be lucky to get flying in.

As it turned out a massive thaw meant Ireland's snow vanished overnight but the unexpected storm on the Eastern Seaboard banjaxed our travel plans anyway.

I'm still waiting for news on whether we can fly tonight. More is the pity if we can't as we will have to cancel. Ireland is so special at this time.

Five best and worst stories for 2011--Prince William, Irish downfall, Miley Cyrus among them

Five stories I won't want to read about in 2011:

1. Prince William and Kate. Look out as the tabloids go ballistic close to the wedding and every living thing such as footmen, man servants,butlers,ladies in waiting-- men in tights all the little girl fantasy stuff is interviewed within miles of Buckingham Palace. Tiresome already. So much gushing, so little time.

2. Ireland is screwed, buggered, f..ed, bollixed, dead, dying, miserable, gone, etc. All true maybe, but enough already -- they may just surprise us.

3. Global warming is explained endlessly despite ever more bitter winters it seems. In fact the bitter winters we are told are precisely because of global warming Can't quite figure that one out.

4. Sarah Palin shoots a hedgehog and eats it live. She seems to have shot everything else that moves. Ok we get it, -- the pioneer woman thing. Next up rat tail soup

5. Republicans/Democrats continue gridlock in Washington. Like two kids fighting endlessly over an ever smaller pie.Enough already.

Five stories I am looking forward to reading

1. Irish election sweeps in new government. After being in power 22 out of 24 years and making a right bollix of it time for new faces and story lines.

2. Repubs and Democrats together pass DREAM act. To help those kids of illegals,who through no fault of their own were brought to America as kids and know no other land. Give these kids a break people.

3. Miley Cyrus hit on head with bong. Singing career over

4. Oprah channel bombs. Only so much touchy-feely us real men can take.

5. Fox news and MSNBC combine, Warm and fuzzy as Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olberman embrace and do joint 2 hour show every night. Now whose the pinhead or worst person in the world?

How Christmas was in my father’s time

My daughter wants a Wii for Christmas, my father walked barefoot to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve from his village to Dingle in Co. Kerry, a distance of seven miles.

Two different generations, connected through me, but the magic of Christmas holds in both cases.
I think my father got the better of it, though, and that is a reflection on modern times where Christmas has become about cash machines ringing, not sleigh bells.

The simplicity of life back in rural West Kerry around 1915 was total. I don’t want to draw a sentimental veil over the hardships, but there is no doubt there was a neighborliness and companionship that has all but vanished in most places now.

Christmas brought the best of that spirit together.

As I write this I am listening to my father, dead since 1978. Like me he was a writer, except he wrote in the Irish language, something I have tried and failed to do.

He recalled, most vividly, on numerous radio programs the Kerry he grew up in long ago.

One of the greatest gifts I ever got was when I was presented with his radio talks from long ago from the Irish radio archives.

It happened when my brother, Fergus, a politician in Ireland, and I were on the same station this Easter talking about families and brotherhood.

So I turn on and tune in. At first when I listened the sound of his voice upset me as I had not heard it since 1978.

Did he really have such a distinctive Kerry accent? Yes he did, and when he spoke Irish it connected me in a profound way to all the generations who came before him who used it as their first tongue like he did.

Kilcooley, his village, seemed like an especially magical place at Christmas. Christmas Eve was when they would walk with shoes tied around their neck to the little church in Dingle.

They would never let the townies in Dingle see them without their shoes on, so they begged and borrowed a pair from neighbors or whoever to make sure they looked the part.

Often times he remembered it rained on that journey into town and they would arrive, bedraggled and drenched, but happy in their childhood and shared experience.

He described the visiting to the various neighbor’s houses around Christmas time when there no distractions, neither radio or television, but just the old folks and the fairy and ghost stories and the talk of who was in America and when, if ever, they would return.

These days we talk about Facebook integration and the global community. What Facebook hopes to catch is what my father’s neighbors had all those decades ago, a tight knit, utterly integrated group of human beings whose lives were linked and interdependent.

“I Scath a cheile a maireann na daoine” says the old Irish expression, which loosely translates, “In each other’s shadow the people live.” That was how it was in West Kerry long ago, never more evident than at Christmas time.

I suppose I straddle both worlds, remembering a time when there was no television and a neighborliness that has long since vanished in most parts.

As for my daughter, what will she tell her grandchildren? Santa Claus will still be around to charm and to thrill, as will the feeling of warmth and appreciation that Christmas inevitably brings.

They never met, my daughter and father, but they have much in common, including a love of the spirit of Christmas, that surpasses all else. I like to think that somewhere out there he will watch her unwrapping her presents, seeing the magic of Christmas once again rekindled in her eyes.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

Allied Irish Bank worse than drunken sailors in blowing cash as govt. takes over

So the Irish government has nationalized Allied Irish Bank.

Shocking.

I grew up in Ireland at a time when Allied Irish Bank was as much a permanent feature of the landscape as government buildings.

The fact that it went broke it is an extraordinary development.

In every town and village there was a branch of AIB.

With relatively few banks to choose from it soon became the bank of choice for millions.

It expanded to Britain, America and Poland, it had a fancy branch on Park Avenue in New York

The idea of it failing was preposterous.

Your bank manager was a big man in town. If he deigned to speak to you you were deeply appreciative.

Now he's about as popular as a sexually transmitted disease

Lenihan minced no words that the bank would fail without the latest bailout when he made it official.

"We wouldn't have had an AIB on Jan. 1 if this injection wasn't made,"he told Irish radio.

The bank was on the verge of failure he said


Lenihan told state broadcaster RTE Radio that a "gradual erosion" of deposits had reached crisis point.

Allied Irish Banks had already got EUR3.5 billion in state aid in 2009.

How did it come to this?

How bad did the management have to be to condemn a bank which had about every second household in Ireland banking with it?

How reckless did they have to be with the bank's money to blow the billions that has now left it broke?

This bank gives drunken sailors a bad name.

Here is what Lenihan said "The markets are not willing to invest in Irish banks. They don't have confidence in them and that's the state the banks brought themselves to. We have to have a banking system in this country and it has to be brought into public ownership."

The stock is now at about 50 cents down $30 dollars a few short years ago. It is expensive at the price. Your golden retriever is worth more than this bank

Opposition spokesman Joan Burton aid it well , "Today's transfer of EUR3.7 billion from the National Pensions Reserve Fund to AIB represents the last act of a disastrous year for the government's banking policy."

Burton said the Fianna Fail-led coalition's policies have failed: "The cost to Irish taxpayers has escalated enormously and bank bailouts now leave a massive legacy of additional debt on the national exchequer which will have to be serviced at huge cost

N.Y. Times' Paul Krugman says Ireland is the poster boy for zombie economics

Ireland is the poster boy for Zombie economics, says Paul Krugman The New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics.

Zombie economics he says is "the strange triumph of failed ideas. Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever."

As examples he quotes current British Tory chancellor of the Exchequer “Ireland,” declared George Osborne in 2006, “stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking.”

"Whoops. But Mr. Osborne is now Britain’s top economic official." Krugman says

And he says Britain is now making the Irish mistake of cutting too severely. " In his new position, Osborne is’ " setting out to emulate the austerity policies Ireland implemented after its bubble burst." he notes

Krugman claims that is a dreadful mistake. " After all, conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic spent much of the past year hailing Irish austerity as a resounding success. “The Irish approach worked in 1987-89 — and it’s working now,” declared Alan Reynolds of the Cato Institute last June.

"Whoops, again." says Krugman

Ireland is one example of the rush to "empower bad ideas" Krugman states.

"But it’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas. When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain — and quite possibly your economy too."

Frequently Krugman has made Ireland the whipping boy for the European crash and has stated that they are making all the wrong moves to get out of recession.

He is certainly making some interesting points and I have a sneaking suspicion he is correct.

John McCain a sad figure as he loses all that made him great and an American original

Back in the day I hosted a fundraiser for Senator John McCain when he was truly a maverick, a Republican who had an independent streak on issues like immigration reform and gays in the military where he supported lifting 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'

On both issues he displayed a refreshing ability to get beyond the catch cries and actually study the issue deeply.

He reminded me somewhat of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who, while they were associated with one party, still managed to win friends across the aisle because they were such original thinkers.

America has far too little of that.

When I interviewed McCain for my magazine, Irish America, I found him a very refreshing change from the politics as usual, from whatever party.

He had retained a very human core, and was able to empathize with those in America who did not have people speaking up for them in powerful places I think in part because of his searing wartime experiences .

He was, in short, a remarkable man, true to his own vision of where true north was on his compass.

He could bring an audience close to tears talking about what he saw in the Arizona deserts where abandoned children were left to die by heartless smugglers and other such travesties.

This was a human being first, a politician second I always thought.

Then something happened.

The John McCain I saw yesterday voting against DADT and the DREAM act to help young kids who were brought here illegally to this country through no fault of their own, was not the John McCain I had known and respected. The humanity is gone.

In his place is this crotchety naysayer who has lost all track of his better self and his better angels.

Dan Milbank in the Washington post has a revealing article about McCain's antics on the floor as DADT passed.
Its at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/18/AR2010121802738.html?hpid=topnews

Milbank surmises and I agree that It must have been the defeat by Barack Obama that has set him off and it must really have devastated him.

Since then he has lurched to the far-right and is completely unrecognizable from the Barry Goldwater-type independent Republican he once was that we all admired.

Somewhere on the campaign trail John McCain lost his mojo and his soul and it doesn't look like it is coming back.

It is sad to see because for America's sake we need that independent voice.

Let's hope it is not too late for him to find it.

British seek once again to blacken Rep. Peter King -- his role in Irish peace process never forgiven

Congressman Peter King has been named 'America's worst congressman'by Scottish journalist Alex Massie writing in the Daily Beast. The story was also picked up by Salon.com.

King should consider it a badge of honor.

Massie points to King's role as a supporter of Irish Republicanism and says as a result, he's unfit to lead the House Homeland Security Committee.

King should indeed be very happy at the honor coming from a right wing- British writer who has regularly featured in publications such as the Daily Telegraph which consistently opposed the Irish peace process.

Massie writes that "For years, King, who represents a chunk of New York's Long Island, was in fact the terrorists' best friend. King wasn't merely an apologist for terrorism, he was an enthusiastic supporter of terrorism."

This is the old Britspeak of course. King was no such a thing. Alone among American politicians he stood up to the British and publicly challenged them on Northern Ireland, their very own Gaza Strip at the time.

Some British like Massie have never forgiven him for exposing what was really going on in Northern Ireland at a time when Her Majesty's government were desperately trying to put a clamp on it and hide it from prying eyes.

If toadies like Massie had their way that would still be the same situation in Northern Ireland,Britain's dirty little secret, instead of what it is.

Were it left to Mouthpiece Massie the peace process would never have happened.

The truth is an end to the long decades of violence would never have been achieved were it not for men like Peter King

He spoke for Irish nationalists in America and revealed issues such as the shoot to kill policy of British forces, the murder by British agents of Patrick Finucane, a lawyer who had the temerity to represent Republican suspects, and he led efforts to ensure that ten Northern Irish Republican prisoners would not starve to death on hunger strike,which the British allowed anyway.

But What Massie totally misses is Pete King was a voice for moderation, continually urging Sinn Fein to begin a political path and get away from the violence.

King leveraged his status as a respected American with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA to urge them strongly to pursue the then nascent peace process.

When Sinn Fein decided to take his advice and that of other leading Irish Americans, the situation was transformed by the IRA ceasefire and the beginning of the Irish peace process that today is a showcase to the world on how to resolve ethnic conflicts.

Peter King played a major role in achieving that and no Brit apologist will change that.

Consider it a badge of honor, Congressman, that the Brits are singling you out again

As for Mr. Massie, perhaps he might be better employed finding out just how far up the chain of command to Downing Street and Margaret Thatcher perhaps that the orders to gun down a defenseless lawyer called Pat Finucane in front of his young family went.

When it comes to terrorism the Brits have very little to learn from anyone.

Sinn Fein unprepared for sudden Irish Republic poll success

"Vote for the amateur bank robbers, not the professionals" is the suggested bumper sticker for Sinn Fein in the upcoming Irish election by Michael White of the Guardian newspaper.

It's tongue in cheek of course, but the IRA involvement in the bank robbery in 2005 that stole $40 million from Northern Bank pales in comparison to the daylight bank robbery of billions stolen by those in charge of the Irish banks or dispensed to cronies.

Sinn Fein has almost doubled its support form 8 per cent to 15 per cent in the latest Irish Times opinion poll, only two points behind Fianna Fail. That is the equivalent of the Communist party overtaking the Democratic Party in support.

Just a few years back Sinn Fein was at about 1 per cent in the Irish Republic, Fianna Fail in or around 50 per cent. Now they are within hailing distance of each other.

In the process Sinn Fein are taking votes in droves from the Labor Party which has lost eight points in the latest Irish Times poll.

The Labor party had a brief vision of being the largest party after the previous poll showed them ahead but the Sinn Fein surge has put paid to that.

But Sinn Fein may fall victims of their own sudden popularity.

It is no secret that the party in the south has poor candidates compared to their Northern counterparts, most of whom were forged in the white hot cauldron of Northern Irish politics.

In contrast, little attention was paid to the south, where few candidates had any opportunity at being elected and thus,few attractive candidates were nurtured.

Consider that Gerry Adams will run from Louth, a safe seat. he should have been running elsewhere to gain a seat rather than holding one.

In 2011 Sinn Fein were primarily focused on the Northern Ireland assembly elections, but now they find themselves with an extraordinary opportunity in the Irish republic.

They may find themselves, however, unable to fully capitalize on it.

Timeline : Dublin Airport departure lounge 10.45 Wednesday -- Once more leaving on a jet plane

I had noticed the two young girls in front of me in the U.S. immigration line at Dublin Airport were red eyed and teary. I got as close as I could when they reached the head of the line.

“Where are you heading girls?” asked the immigration inspector

“New York they said, “we have a one year work visa.”

Aha I thought the new ‘super J’ visas as it is called that allows persons within one year of completing a student course to spent 12 months working in the states.

"Why so soon before Christmas?" asked the inspector in a decidedly friendly fashion.

“Don’t remind me said the first of the two girls. “It is breaking my Mam’s heart”

Do you have job lined up yet?” he asked.

“Yes she said, “we have good prospects.”

A snapshot of Ireland today, another two young people taking the emigrant plane.

In the departure lounge at Dublin Airport you are reminded of the history of this leavetaking ritual.

The Famine ships and the people who created the Kennedy dynasty and Reagan presidency are all remembered here.

So too are the half of the Irish population who have left the country since 1840.

These days the departure halls are thronged again.

The two women whose brief exchange I had just witnessed must be pretty desperate I thought, to be leaving this side of Christmas, a sacrosanct holiday with so many Irish families.

On the radio on the way to the airport the story on the news was student teachers being asked to effectively teach for nothing for an intern year even after they had qualified.

A young woman trainee teacher, ready to qualify next spring asked the pertinent question “Why can’t I be paid as a professional for what I have trained three years to do,”

It is a very good question at a time when many such issues are being raised in a country where greedy Allied Irish bankers tried to hijack a $60 million bonus for themselves even though the bank is bankrupt.

Finally the government discovered the gumption to stop it.

The elephants are trampling the grass in Ireland these days, with bankers, politicians, developers at each others throats.

But the people getting hurt the most are the little people who have to accept the consequences of the greed of others.

Old age and blind pensioners had their allowances cut in the recent budget. The minimum wage was cut. The Irish Times reported that the poorest in society take the most savage cut.

And tens of thousands like the two young women I encountered take the emigrant plane.

Think of the money sent educating so many Irish to such a high standard and now all that training will go to help whatever country they are leaving for.

They will be very lucky to have them.

Ireland needs an honest man at the helm --They may have found it in Enda Kenny

He is very likely the next Prime Minister of the Irish Republic and he would come to office at a critical time for a nation battered by an economic storm as vicious as the winter tempests that have swept through Ireland in recent weeks.

Yet Enda Kenny,59, displays a calm serenity in the face of such a monstrous challenge.

A youthful-looking former schoolteacher with no personal wealth or ever a hint of corruption, Kenny may be exactly what Ireland needs at this juncture, an honest man, ready to lead a reform government which will restore the badly battered image of the country abroad and at home.

It is amazing that what was previously held against Kenny, his small town rural roots, his plain spoken persona, are now the very attributes that may well propel him to power.

The Irish have had enough of self styled experts, economic gurus and whizz kids who have collectively led them to ruin.A plain spoken everyman with the zeal of a genuine reformer now fits the bill.

Sitting in his opposition leader's office in Dublin's parliament building you get the sense of a man ready and willing to face any challenge the future brings.

He is a man with no airs and graces, utterly at ease with himself. When we first meet there is no entourage or minders, just Kenny strolling alone through the halls of parliament, with a quiet word for everybody.

On the wall in his office is Michael Collins memorabilia, as befits the man who has inherited the leadership of the Fine Gael party which Michael Collins helped create before his untimely death.

Kenny is also taking nothing for granted, despite the opinion polls showing an imminent collapse in the vote of the governing party, Fianna Fail, and their coalition partners the Green Party.

But Fine Gael have been the Washington Generals, the team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters and almost always loses, in Irish politics.

Fianna Fail have been in power almost 22 years out of the last 24. This massive financial meltdown however, threatens to take them down once and for all.

Kenny has painstakingly built up his party for over a decade now, after they suffered another calamitous defeat and they have increased their vote in every election since.

His big moment will come sometime in the next twelve weeks or so when an election is called.

He knows Ireland needs a reforming, corruption free government that will tackle the massive economic issues head on.

He intends to do so quoting one of his favorite American politicians, 'Give 'em hell' Harry Truman.

Kenny is a keen student of American politics, an admirer of the Kennedys and the rich Irish legacy in American politics.

He has an instinctive feel for the U.S. because of his small town Mayo roots.

Emigration was a fact of life growing up and he has relatives scattered throughout America, including in Montana and Ohio.

He knows the emigrant trails that so many from County Mayo took, to Butte,Montana for mining, to upstate New York for canal digging and so on across the country.

This background means that he will have a knowledge and insight into the emigration issue that will serve him well if elected in dealing with the Irish Diaspora.

He makes it clear that if elected he will pay close attention to Diaspora issues and to focus on developing the links between Ireland and its 70 million family abroad.


The task will not be easy for whoever takes over Ireland's government after the next election but Enda Kenny is certainly ready to answer the call when the votes are counted.

Thousands respond to Irish Central poll on attitudes to heritage, Ireland

You the readers have spoken and we hear you loud and clear.

A whopping 2,400 of you responded to our first ever readers poll, done in conjunction with Amarach Research, Ireland's premier market research company.

Yesterday in Dublin I was proud to launch the poll along with Amarach, attended by over 50 leading Irish business and political leaders and covered by RTE, Ireland's national radio and television station as well as lots of other media.

It was a little bit of history as to the best of my knowledge, no comprehensive poll of Irish American attitudes to Ireland has ever been launched before.

We had expected about 1,000 responses at best, instead you did us proud with 2,400 responding!

And you spoke to what makes you tick and come back again and again to Irishcentral.com

92 per cent of you who had traveled to Ireland said you had an overwhelmingly positive experience.

80 per cent of you say it was the most positive travel experience of your life.

Those numbers are off the charts.

It makes me realize what a treasure Ireland has in its Diaspora in America

You scored 8 out of ten in terms of your sense of closeness to Ireland and your heritage. You are most likely to live in New York, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois or Massachusetts.

However, 80 per cent feel that the cost of flights and cost of living in Ireland are the two most significant drawbacks.

You also don't like left hand drive, stick shifts and yes, the Irish weather, when it rains though the last statistic was way down the list.

You love Irish scenery, the people and the range of activities available.

When it comes to concern about Ireland unemployment figures rate highest as well as the recent bad economic tidings.

The North of Ireland was rated at only 24 per cent, a figure that is incredibly low compared to years ago I'd imagine.

Long live the Irish peace process!

Those of you with kids or grandkids over half would love to see them take a study course in Ireland.

And over half of you would take a distance learning course from an Irish university.

All of you would like to have more access to Irish products. When ti comes to those products, Waterford Crystal,Guinness Baileys and Jamesons are your favorite brands.

So raise a glass in your best Waterford crystal glass tonight and toast yourself as you have made a little bit of history with this survey.

You have proven that your heritage is still the tie that binds you to the island from whence your people came.

And we're just glad to be along for the ride at Irish Central.

For full details write to info@amarach.com for all the results.

And thanks again.

No more Celtic Tiger but most Irish seem unfazed --global success story never rang true for many anyway

Dublin: If you thought the Irish were overwhelmed and utterly focused on their economic crisis this week you would be mistaken.

Every major newspaper here on Sunday led not with the crisis, but the fact that radio shock jock Gerry Ryan had cocaine in his system when he was found dead last April.

While important news, it was hardly the stuff of wall to wall coverage but then the Irish were probably thankful for the diversion from the grim economic tidings.

Even the quality newspapers devoted page after page to Ryan despite a looming general election and continuing speculation about the IMF bailout and what it means.

If you had dropped in from outer space you might have wondered why was this Ryan man so important.

The answer is when it comes to bread or circus, the Irish prefer the circus for now thank you very much.

Meanwhile, life in Dublin goes on with a merry twinkle despite the hard times. A thaw in the recent harsh weather brought tens of thousands of them onto the streets on Sunday, not demonstrating but shopping.

The children lining up to see Santa and some Christmas animals outside the Mansion House in Dublin, home of the Lord Mayor, luckily didn't overhear the remark of one passer by.

"Look at that donkey" he said, pointing to the little animal shivering in the stable." He's perfect. We make an ass of ourselves and now the Lord Mayor has decided to show off his ass."

It was classic Dublin wit but with a grain of truth. This Christmas the Irish are feeling somewhat foolish as they survey the wreckage of what Queen Elizabeth would surely call an "Annus Horribilis"

But despite all the bad news I can report there is life in the old Emerald Isle yet. Grafton Street, the main shopping thoroughfare was thronged, the bookstores were crowded and a Christmas spirit like only the Irish can whip up prevailed.

My friend an eminent journalist has a theory. "we're not happy being happy, we're not happy being successful" he said.

"For eight hundred years and all that we had tyranny and jackboot and failed rebellions. Then we had a few happy years, but this is much more like our natural state."

He may be on to something. Many here remark on the lack of protest, no general strikes like in Greece, when the IMF moved in, no student riots like in England when the college fees went up.

The Irish seem happy enough in their bad fortune. That sounds like a paradox, but if you know the Irish psyche, whether it is the history of martyrdom, the powerful psychic appeal of such heroes, of defeat snatched from victory's jaws then it is not surprising.

There is the general expectation that as Daniel Patrick Moynihan once remarked, "To be Irish is to know the world will break your heart."

That is not to say that there is no anger, there is a deep and abiding loathing of banker's politicians, developers and everyone else who caused this mess.

But there is also a serenity which comes with the DNA and the realization that Murphy's Law has won out.

A political friend told me a recent focus group he observed just wanted to know one thing. "Is all the bad news out and if so, then let's get on with it."

That is the Irish way, pragmatic stoicism for want of a better term. The Celtic Tiger has become the abandoned cub, and in it's place is a bear-like depression.

Yet the Irish soldier on. The Grafton Street lights blink brighter than ever, the street buskers sing of a "Nation Once Again." and the nation hobbles forward.

Lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom as the psalm says

These are "no mean people" these Irish as Yeats once remarked.

He got that right.

President Richard Nixon slammed Irish as drunks who were mean in secret tapes

Richard Nixon made deeply disparaging remarks about Irish Americans new Watergate era tapes have revealed. (The video here shows Nixon in Ireland)

Nixon stated that the "Irish can't drink" because he claimed they "got mean", especially the real Irish from Ireland.

The tapes also reveal Nixon making racist comments about Blacks and Jews, but the Irish comments come as a complete surprise.

On other tapes, Nixon had been caught making anti Semitic and anti Black remarks, but this as the first time he had hit out at the Irish.

The remarks were revealed in 265 hours of recording that were released this week by the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

Nixon was speaking to senior advisor Charles Colson when he made the remarks.

"I've just recognized , that, you know, all people have certain traits." he said.

"The Jews have certain traits," he stated.

"The Irish have certain-- for example the Irish can't drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually ever Irish I've known gets mean when he drinks. Particularly the real Irish." he said referring to people from Ireland.

Nixon may have harbored animosity towards Irish Americans because John F.Kennedy narrowly defeated him in 1960 for the White House.

He himself had Irish background and visited his ancestral roots during a visit to Ireland during his residency

Gerry Ryan's sad death brought about by dreadful depression more than drugs

It has become completely obvious that Gerry Ryan, Ireland's best known media personality, was suffering a complete nervous breakdown when he died of a heart complication in April this year.

His death sent shock waves throughout Ireland.

Google just revealed that his death was the most sought after domestic story all year.

It seemed impossible that the cheeky, hilarious, glad handing Ryan -- think a slightly more reserved Howard Stern --- had died so tragically and so young at 53.

The sad part is that Ryan, despite all his wealth and power was unable to see what was happening to him, that he was in the midst of a profound depression.

Like so many other powerful people he seemed unable to address his own mortality and get desperately needed counselling as his world crashed down around him.

Ryan had been through a crushing separation from his wife, had financial problems and was also taking drugs -- cocaine was found in his system.

But, perhaps, because he was Gerry Ryan, he was unable to realize just how out of control his life had become.

Yet it is all there in the words of his new girlfriend Melanie Verwoerd


"He was extremely unwell and under an extreme amount of stress in the last few months, particularly in the last two weeks," she told the inquest.

"He was trying to sort out the terms of his separation."

She said he was under "enormous pressure from RTE and his work", as well as financial difficulties,

"He was under enormous financial pressure and it started to take a toll. In the last two weeks, he barely slept, ever."

She said he woke between 3am and 5am for the last 10 days of his life.

During those early morning hours , he "suffered heart palpitations and breathlessness. Bouts of dizziness began to affect him .

"I begged him to go to the doctor but he said it was just panic attacks."

Panic attacks?

Sounds more like a complete breakdown.

Gerry Ryan needed psychiatric care at that point, someone to help shine a light on his brain and see what was really bothering him.

"He'd go grey and complain of pressure in his heart," she said.


On his last night alive "He used a very Gerry phrase," she said. "He said, 'I'm totally banjaxed.'"

Banjaxed" is Dublinese for utterly kaput.

A few hours later his prophetic words came through and he died of an arrhythmia, likely brought on by stress and some cocaine use.

But perhaps her saddest words related to his state of mind "It is most important to remember that Gerry was a showman, that he wanted to keep the face up," she said.

How many Irish people could that refer to --- the need above all to save face to keep the show going.

Alas, for Gerry Ryan, his inability to seek top professional help may have cost him his life.

But hopefully others will listen and learn

And his needless death will accomplish some good.

Emmett O’Connell: A prophet before his time

Back in 1972 Emmett O’Connell, a Bronx–born businessman resident in Ireland, wrote a pamphlet entitled “Ireland and the EEC -- The Consequences of Monetary Union.”

It is an extraordinary document that has the power of prophecy as we look at the economic crash landing in Ireland today.

The European Union was the EEC then and Ireland was considering joining the European mainstream. The first few paragraphs of O’Connell’s pamphlet read:

“For the second time in modern history Ireland is debating whether or not to join an economic union. In 1800 full equality within the United Kingdom was offered in return for the sacrifice of Grattan’s parliament (which was the Irish Parliament at the time.) It was expected that free access to British and Imperial markets would bring such prosperity to Ireland that any nostalgia for Ireland would disappear.

“That economic union brought tragedy to Ireland, not prosperity, and the longing for self-determination did not fade away. In a few months the people of the 26 county republic will be faced with a similar offer, full equality within the EEC in return for the sacrifice of economic and possibly, political sovereignty.

“This time the parliament and outward trappings of a state remains -- the better to fool us with.”

Those were surely prophetic words given recent events, and O’Connell, still hale and hearty and as committed as ever, was in my New York office last week to expound further on them.

“I always knew the day would come,” he says now. “We bought a pig in a poke, that was always going to turn around and bite us.”

Here is more of what he wrote: “If the countries of the Common Market succeed in reaching agreement on final parity… of their currencies (i.e., what later became the euro) no Common Market country will be able to help itself through currency manipulation (i.e., devaluing ) in the event of disruption.”

Incredibly this is exactly what has happened. Ireland desperately needs to devalue its currency, raise it s interest rates and start making the country competitive again, but it cannot because it is locked into the euro.
Again from O’Connell’s writings: “If the planned monetary union succeeds, member countries will automatically surrender authority over their monetary and fiscal polices.”

The arrival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU officials to Dublin last month brought that prophecy home to roost in no uncertain fashion.

He also wrote: ‘The Central Bank of Ireland will not be permitted to increase the amount of credit available to Irish citizens to permit them to increase trade.”

This is exactly what has happened, as all fiscal policy and dole outs now come from Europe, apart from the Irish pension funds, which have been depleted by the IMF/EU bailout.

O’Connell completed his analysis by writing: “Why not work for a world where government and economics are under genuine human control because the size of such units are small, sensible and human scale.”
Is there anyone alive in Ireland who would disagree with that commentary now?

Back then O’Connell was looked on as a crank, as someone who was trying to turn back the tide. These days his boat has come in.

What would he do now? “Leave the euro. Several countries such as Britain and Sweden are not part of it but are still part of the European Union.”

Who will bet he’s wrong this time?

Not me.

Labor/Sinn Fein alliance --could Ireland elect an all left-wing government?

Could Ireland end up with a Labor/Sinn Fein/Left independents government after the upcoming election?

That may not be as farfetched as once was the case.

The combined left vote in last Friday's Irish Sun opinion poll was 40 per cent, 24 per cent for Labor, 16 per cent for Sinn Fein.

There was also a massive 11 per cent vote for independents, most of whom will be left- leaning.

If you do the math it gets awfully close.

The conventional wisdom is a Fine Gael/ Labor government which, on the numbers, Fine Gael at 31 per cent, Labor at 24 per cent would deliver a huge Dail majority.

However, Labor and Fine Gael are an uncomfortable fit in the latest realities of Irish politics.

The IMF/European Union bailout has divided the country strongly left and right and a deal between two partners from opposite ends of the spectrum may prove a lot more difficult than anticipated.

If Labor finish relatively close to Fine Gael in seat numbers they may well want a rotating Prime Minister situation which would be very difficult for Fine Gael to swallow.

Labor will know too, that the history of Irish politics in recent times is that the minority partner in a coalition gets crushed-- see the Progressive Democrats which no longer exists as a party and the Green Party which may not exist after the next election either.

All that will prove fodder for Labor leader Eamon Gilmore. (pictured)

For Fine Gael the only other alternative is to go in with Fianna Fail who are at 13 per cent in the poll. That, however, would rub their supporters completely the wrong way, as well as the country in general.

The popular mood is for Fianna Fail to spend a long time in opposition in return for the way they have fouled up the economy.

But Labor/SinnFein would also have its major problems. There is no love lost between many in the Labor party including Gilmore who came from the Offical Sinn Fein party that broke apart from the Provisional Sinn Fein.

The Officials versus Provos battle has continued unabated for many years now and it would likely resume after this election as both fight for the left wing vote.

All in all a confused situation, but while Labor/Fine Gael will likely paper over the cracks and form the government, the idea of a left wing go it alone government cannot be ruled out.

Professionals now rushing to leave Ireland to emigrate too

How bad is the mood in Ireland?

So bad that one of my oldest friends called me today to say he and his wife are emigrating.

"Can't take it any more" he told, "It has turned completely sour here, there seems no hope for at least a decade."

I was gobsmacked. If there was a definition of success he would be it. He and his wife and three grown kids were all successful Irish by any standard.

Now he is catching the emigrant plane like tens of thousands of others.

Soon as he sells up his house, south of Dublin, he is on his way he says.

I asked him was it just a temporary condition, this sudden urge, given the recent bad news and the dreadful weather over there right now?

No, he said, it had been brewing for several years, watching the "yahoos who run this country from the bankers to the politicians to the developers run the country into the ground."

He talked about the Irish narrative, how the country had moved forward starting in the 1960s and there was a continuous upward curve with everything getter better for each generation. Now that is all gone he says.

He knows his children will likely end up living abroad, even though they have professional qualifications.

"By leaving ourselves we will probably end up closer to them" he said.

It is a very sad reflection on the hard times over there. Not only do we have a drain of young people, but now it looks like a brain drain too.

Will the last person please turn off the lights.

Irish America's chieftain says it is time to back Ireland like never before

If you wanted an antidote to the gloom and doom that is pervading Ireland and its economic woes in recent weeks the Irish America Magazine Business 100/Hall of Fame awards were it. Irish America is our sister publication.

Overall, two hundred leading businessmen and women from all over the United States came to the New York Yacht Club in midtown Manhattan to celebrate their common heritage.

Former Coca-Cola president Don Keough,(pictured), was the inaugural Hall of Fame award recipient.

The Business 100 keynote speaker was Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks and President of Disney-ABC.

There is no greater advocate of Ireland that Don Keough, now the current Chairman of investment firm Allen and Company.

He is also the unofficial chieftain of Irish America, a man whose influence rekindled the lost link between Notre Dame and Ireland.

At Notre Dame he created the best Irish Studies program in the world, and has been at the forefront of every major Irish American initiative on Ireland over the past two decades. I have no doubt that Coca Cola would not have settled in Ireland were he not at the helm of the company

Prime Ministers and presidents of Ireland have included Atlanta on their schedule in part so they can sit and hear from him. Recently,when the Irish government decided to open heir first new diplomatic mission in America in over 80 years it was no surprise that they choose Atlanta.

So when Don Keough talk people listen and they were listening intently at the luncheon.

He said it was time for Irish America to stand up and be counted and get behind Ireland and do their level best to help the economy recover.

Irish America needed to be cheerleaders for Ireland he explained,like never before.

Ireland had what few other countries had he pointed out, access to a worldwide Diaspora, millions of which were ready and willing and able to help. to What Keough told them was simple.

In what was a remarkable speech Don Keough spoke about being a captain of optimism, of helping to lead Ireland out of despond.

This too will pass, is what he was telling the Irish government and Irish America will stand with you while it does. At a time when Ireland is being assailed on all sides it was finally a message of hope and commitment.

He was in good company with that statement. Also present was Chuck Feeney, the billionaire philanthropist, Brian Moynihan CEO of Bank of America, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith. In all 35 of the Fortune 100 companies were represented,all of them cheerleaders for ireland.

Sure, the talk was of the troubles in Ireland and the desperate times they suddenly find themselves in. But the feedback from Irish American business was pretty direct – don't look back, get on with it, we are with you.

What I love about business people is they just want to solve a problem not dwell on it or admire it as others often do.
There are massive recriminations underway in Ireland, obviously, over how the economy foundered so totally.

A prime example of moving on for me was former Irish Prime Minster Albert Reynolds who had a business background when he came to power. Reynolds tackled the Northern Irish situation which most ordinary politicians had run a mile from.

He cared little for the history or the grievances on both sides, he was looking for the pragmatic solution.
With a combination of bluster, compromise and business savvy he played a massive role in the resolution of it
You have the feeling that Irish America’s business leaders would feel the very same way today about Ireland’s crisis.

Anne Sweeney, the most powerful woman in television in America, possibly the world, addressed why those Irish roots were so important to her. She spoke of a letter from her grandparents to her parents when her mother was pregnant with her and the dreams that s they had for her.

That closeness of family saw them through hard times and Sweeney was saying that unique family bond of the Irish would help them cope with their latest crisis too.

We had gathered at a vital moment for the future of Ireland. Its' Diaspora remains one of Ireland’s greatest assets, as yet utterly underutilized. Perhaps its’ time has come