9/11 not worth remembering as victims set to suffer even more ---Nothing good came out of horrible catastrophe

I dread the upcoming September 11th tenth year anniversary.

I am not alone. I know several families of those killed on that day that feel the same way.

I wrote a book in 2002 about the families of Irish American cops, firemen and ordinary working folk who died that day entitled ‘Fire in the Morning’.

They impressed me back then with their incredible courage and fortitude in the face of losing loved ones.

They impress me now with their determination to move on and not let that horrific day dominate their lives.

Sure, we will have all the usual pomp and ceremony from the politicians and lots of remberances of that awful day.

But why should we remember it? Nothing good ever came of it. Do the Poles remember the day the Nazis took over?

We had Iraq and Afghanistan and missing WMD’s and an aftermath of death, destruction and billions of dollars spent that stretches right to this day.

The families I have spoken with feel as I do we are just going over old ground.

The dead should be left in peace, their sacrifice never forgotten. The living must be allowed to get on with their lives.

I have stayed close enough to some of the families to know how difficult and how awful September 11th every year is for them anyway.

The tenth anniversary promises to be the worst of all.

Every square inch of newspapers, every television screen will be dominated by the coverage.

Imagine if the death of your loved one was played endlessly on television on one day every year.

ABC news is trumpeting they have new footage of the first plane crashing into the towers.

How does that make the families of the victims who died horribly there feel?

We will have all the professional 9/11 hucksters back on our screen telling us what it all meant. We know what it meant—the worst day in America since Pearl Harbor.

We know that hundreds of thousands including thousands of Americans have died since in the aftermath of that awful day.

I say lets commemorate the day Bin Laden got wiped out instead.

Now that’s day to remember for anyone who wants peace in this world.

Listen to Niall O'Dowd speak on RTE's "Morning Ireland" radio show about Michele Bachman's views of Ireland 

Hurricane Irene teaches us a very valuable lesson ---don't take modern life for granted

The late and unlamented Hurricane Irene has departed our shores, never to return but has left some vital lessons behind.

Authorities were right to hype it in the end.

One in two homes in Connecticut, 40 per cent of homes in Long Island without power is a grave crisis in itself.

Major highways and bridges closed after flooding, all mass transit ceased , is a clear sign that this storm deserved the attention of the public totally and completely.

We can only imagine what damage it would have done if it were category two or three, or heaven help us four or five.

When you have tens of millions of people living cheek by jowl along the North East the potential for massive catastrophe is very real.

Whether we all like it or not we are part of a fragile ecosystem that is utterly interdependent and dependent on nature's good will.

A massive hurricane, which fortunately, Irene was not, would have catastrophic consequences for not just the North East but the US itself.

Nature's power teaches us humility and how much we take for granted electric power, light, water, air conditioning etc.

On Sunday morning millions were catapulted back to the MIddle Ages and it was not a pretty prospect.

No laptop, no phone or ipad, no freezer, no gas , no traffic lights no mass transit, no nothing.

Thank you Irene for making us aware of the sober lessons that nature's havoc can wreak.

And just let's be thankful it wasn't a whole lot worse.

Listen to Niall O'Dowd speak on RTE's "Morning Ireland" radio show about Michele Bachman's views of Ireland

Notes from the eye of Hurricane Irene ---Goodnight Irene, be on your way

Driving back to New York yesterday from upstate New York it was clear that most of the traffic was departing the city, not heading towards it.

I made it down to the city in record time, empty bridge approaches, no heavy trucks, a compete absence of highway patrol as I motored along around 75 miles per hour.

I had left Saratoga Springs about 180 miles from New York on a balmy late summer morning but as I approached the city the clouds darkened and the first squalls began to manifest, driving microbursts of rain that came and went with astonishing speed.

The overhead highway signs were all illuminated 'Evacuate if you live in a coastal district of New York City' is essentially what they said.

At the bridge crossings there were warnings that if the wind got up over 60 miles an hour the bridges would be closed.

The last time that happened was after September 11th and the same eerie sense of looming disaster prevailed.

I counted about four other cars on the Throgs Neck bridge, usually crammed with vehicles.

A silly line from a Jonathan King song replayed in my head 'Everyone's gone to the moon"

Arriving home, we ate out at our favorite restaurant, amazingly half -empty on a Saturday night. The hurricane rum punch bowl special was the advertised special drink.

Back home a friend called to say their dog was acting very strangely.

Animals have a sixth sense about weather and natural disaster events. Before the tsunami in Thailand animals fled to the higher ground.

My friend's dog was hiding under the bed and would not come out.

He didn't need the all news, all the time 1010 Wins radio station to tell him something bad was happening.

Speaking of which, the sense of impending disaster on the TV reports finally got to me and I switched them off.

I can understand the concern but the hype for a category one storm as against, say a category five, was ridiculous.

No Virginia or Mr. Weather Channel man, standing just ankle deep in water, the world is not coming to an end.

But my major concern is a wonderful big tree in my garden, beloved by all, that provides, summer shelter and winter wonderland when covered in frost and snow.

It is tall, very tall and it could fall directly on the house in a hurricane I reckoned.

It has stood for over a 100 years a neighbor has told us and may it last another century.

A smaller version of it nearby came down in a storm a few years back so my concerns are not unfounded.

As a precaution we are moving to the part of the house as far away as possible from it.

The other is power. As I write this the lights flicker again.Worrying about this is weird.

Usually it is in the midst of a winter snow storm that it becomes a concern. But in August?

My head as usual is a jumble of weird facts. Did you know there was another Hurricane Irene, back in 1999 that slammed into Florida? Did you know as a friend told me, that a major hurricane is threatening the Philippines right now and not a word of coverage?

I have heard on Facebook from many friends complaining about the incessant coverage of New York on reports while other areas affected are ignored.

I guess it's too good a story to pass up, the disaster movie everyone wants to make. Wall Street under Water! New York evacuates!

It looks like Irene may have lost enough of her punch to be less fearful than thought as I write this in the early morning.

I hope so. I loved that sign 'Goodnight Irene' some plucky American posted on the plyboard covering up his windows.

Good night indeed, and don't stay too long Irene. Like an unwelcome guest or a one night stand here's your hat, now where's your hurry?

Listen to Niall O'Dowd speak on RTE's "Morning Ireland" radio show about Michele Bachman's views of Ireland 

The death of Britain’s leading Irish newspaper, The Irish Post

Shane MacGowan

The death of a newspaper, especially in these tough economic times, is always a source of deep regret, but the closure of the Irish Post in England is a truly awful event.

The announcement that Britain’s leading Irish newspaper was about to close down was a shock to the system.  How at a time when tens of thousands of Irish are streaming into Britain again could their main newspaper be closing?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but its closure is a tragedy for the Irish community in Britain.

I can only imagine what the Irish Post founder, the late Brendan Mac Lua, would make of what has happened to his brainchild, I speak personally here.

Mac Lua provided much of the capital for the start up of Irish America magazine, was an investor in the Irish Voice and was a hugely encouraging friend to me in those early days of Irish American publishing.

I returned the favor for him years later by introducing him to the Jefferson Smurfit Company, which subsequently bought the Post and then sold it on to the Irish Examiner, the company that was managing the paper when it closed down last week.

Mac Lua established the Irish Post in 1970 in the teeth of rampant anti-Irish sentiment in England, mostly brought about by IRA bombings and a spate of comedians making Irish people the butt of all their jokes.

Mac Lua was fearless, however.  He was so effective in standing up for the Irish that the Irish government of all people started a newspaper trying to close him down. It quickly failed.

His advocacy on behalf of the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six, and his outspoken statements on shoot to kill policies in Northern Ireland, were all regarded by Irish governments at the time as being highly inconvenient, as they tried to forge an united front with the British government against Irish Republicans who they saw as the root of all evil.

The government was mistaken in that belief as Mac Lua pointed out, and he was more than vindicated by the Irish peace process and how enlightened Irish leaders such as Albert Reynolds forged alliances with Irish Republicans and the Irish diaspora to help bring about peace.

But the Post was much more than about politics. It covered a vast and sprawling Irish community from Glasgow to Cornwall and wrote about their local activities, dances, fundraisers, sports events and community happenings.

The Post was the vital hub of the Irish community when I lived in Britain during the 1970s, an eagerly awaited weekly insight into the happenings in the community that was a vital lifeline for so many.

Mac Lua also forged a relationship with then Greater London Council leader Ken Livingston, who ensured that Irish cultural activities received funding same as any other ethnic group.

That was a massive breakthrough, and allowed the Irish community to show how important and deep their historical ties to Britain were.

When you think of the Irish in Britain you have to think of Shane MacGowan, Martin McDonagh and the Gallagher brothers of Oasis as just a few examples of how deeply influenced young Irish in Britain were by their Irish/English roots.

The survival of that community as a cohesive group is threatened by the downfall of the Post.  It is a sad end to a publication that saved a community and allowed them to embrace their Irishness.

Boston College played major role in witch hunt against Gerry Adams - Hired anti-Adams researchers to lead oral history project

There is something rotten in Boston College where the latest push by Northern Irish authorities to gain access to oral histories by IRA participants has moved up a notch.

The Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen correctly identified this latest effort as a witch hunt against Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in an attempt to link him to a 1972 murder in Belfast.

The college has been vainly protesting that it will not reveal the oral histories to feds, acting on behalf of the British government but they have very little credibility on this issue.

It appears obvious now that the oral histories were given under a guarantee of full confidentiality and for use by future historians but that was not worth the paper it was written on.

The recollections of Brendan Hughes, one of the IRA men in the oral history project, formed a major basis of the 2010 book by author Ed Moloney called ‘Voices from the Grave.”

Moloney, a former journalist in Northern Ireland, was director of the Belfast project for Boston College and apparently the rule of confidentiality or immediate release of information from sources did not apply to him.

Moloney has written repeatedly in hostile fashion about Adams a fact that BC conveniently ignored when they hired him.

In his book Moloney quoted Hughes as saying that Adams was certainly in the IRA and ordered many killings. That was later the basis of a major documentary on Irish television and worldwide stories about the case.

The story broke around the time Adams was running for a seat in the Irish parliament and was widely viewed as an attempt to damage him.

Professor Thomas Hachey, executive director of the Irish Studies program at BC, helpfully wrote the introduction for Moloney’s book very much tying the college into its conclusions.

Moloney clearly felt he was entitled to quote from the confidential archives at length in what seemed a vain attempt to link Adams to the 1972 Jean McConville murder and Boston College went right along with it.

It gets worse, Moloney’s lead researcher and interviewer was Anthony McIntyre, a leading dissident republican who also had a deep loathing for Gerry Adams and conducted the interview with Hughes.

Was this the kind of unbiased historical perspective and information gathering that Boston College should have insisted upon?

No, of course not, right from the beginning the aim was clearly to try and get negative information on Gerry Adams and Boston College played a full role, however unwittingly or wittingly perhaps.

Now it has landed them in a hornet’s nest worth of trouble. No doubt seeing what Moloney and McIntyre were able to put together, some key security figure in Northern Ireland wanted their attempt to get at Adams too, and settle some scores.

They now have the US Attorneys office doing their bidding and seeking to get all tapes released, from Republican sources.

What exactly the Obama administration is doing aiding and abetting this witch hunt is material for another column

Boston College is now spluttering that they should be allowed hold the tapes confidential—even though they allowed the release of Hughes’s testimony to Moloney.

In an ironic twist Moloney and McIntyre wrote an op- ed in the Boston Globe Tuesday saying release of the tapes could damage the peace process.

Stable door and bolted horse come to mind. Boston College certainly have a case to answer and have shown how not to do a professional oral history of the Troubles-- and endanger the peace process in the process.

Samantha Power proven right on Libya intervention - Irish-born Obama advisor now a likely Sec. of State

The downfall of the Gaddafi regime in Libya is a huge success for Irish-born Samantha Power, a key member of the president's foreign policy inner circle and the leading advocate of the NATO intervention in Libya.

With Hillary Clinton's almost certain retirement after one term,I predict if Obama is re-elected Power will now be in with a real shot at becoming Secretary of State.

She is currently Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council.

With the Gadaffi regime crumbling, Power's insistence five months ago that the president order the American intervention and set up the NATO support for the rebels makes her a big winner in the White House.

The Libyan intervention fell into her insistence that American foreign policy have a major human rights dimension and that dictators can not be allowed free rein.

The New York Times identified Power as the key figure in the White House behind the Libyan intervention.

“She is clearly the foremost voice for human rights within the White House,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told The New York Times “and she has Obama’s ear.”

She has had that ear since Obama, then a freshman senator sought her out in 2005 after he read her book on genocide and persuaded her to come and work for him.

The relationship had its ups and downs.

After Power made several insulting remarks about Hillary Clinton during the 2008 campaign Obama was forced to demote her. However, she has not fully regained his trust

Power was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1970 but emigrated to the US with her family in 1979, settling in Georgia. She later became a journalist and covered the Bosnian conflict.

She won a Pulitzer Prize for her 2002 book on genocide, entitled “A Problem from Hell,” which examined the U.S. foreign policy response to genocide.

The book argues that the Armenia, Nazi Germany, Cambodia and Rwanda genocides occurred because of government authorities averted their eyes and individuals made the choice not to intervene.

“The most common response,” Ms. Power wrote, “is, ‘We didn’t know.’ This is not true.”

In the case of Libya, the foreign policy realists in the Obama administration saw little strategic value in intervening there.

Power persuaded Hillary Clinton, who she now enjoys a warm relationship with, to insist on American intervention.

The quick payoff of the policy has now arrived, creating a clear perception that Power got it right and other foreign policy strategists got it wrong.

Now she my well be on the way to a top job if there is a second Obama administration.

The summer place to be - historic town of Saratoga Springs

Readers, if you have never been to Saratoga Springs in upstate New York you are missing a great experience.

I recently went for my annual vacation in this historic town nestled in the foothills of the Adirondacks.

It became famous in the 19th century because of the restorative power of its springs which cured everything from baldness to lumbago to rheumatic pains by all accounts.

It was once one the most popular tourist destinations in the world.  Back in the 19th century it had massive hotels capable of hosting 1,500 people a night. Before the age of air travel Saratoga Springs was the place to be for New York's and Boston’s wealthiest.

Among the celebrities who haunted the place was President Ulysses Grant, who died in a cottage not far from town having just completed his memoirs which saved his family from bankruptcy.

Irish American Diamond Jim Brady, one of the greatest and richest railroad men of all time, and his girlfriend Lillian Russell, a star of stage and music halls, are still remembered in the town, her with a famous restaurant called Lillian’s, he with a square named in his honor.

Brady was also a massive gambler who helped keep open the many casinos Saratoga ran in those days. He is a portly chap in the photographs.

No wonder. Here’s a description of his daily diet, as described in a biography:
“Jim started things off in the morning with a light breakfast of beefsteak, a few chops, eggs, flapjacks, fried potatoes, hominy, corn-bread, a few muffins, and a huge beaker of milk.

“Luncheon was apt to be a bit heavier than breakfast.  It generally consisted of more oysters and clams, a deviled crab or two, or three, perhaps a pair of broiled lobsters, then a joint of beef or another steak, a salad, and several kinds of fruit pie.  Jim also liked to finish off this meal with the better part of a box of chocolate candies.  It made the food set better, he figured.”

Whew.

Famed writer Damon Runyon wrote unforgettable stories about local gamblers and the sharks and conmen who inhabited the track, like Harry the Horse who stayed there every summer.

Until Jimmy Breslin nobody wrote like Runyon, a Broadway reporter and writer whose stories were the basis of Guys and Dolls.  He knew every gambler, hoofer, rumrunner and skirt chaser in New York.

“If I have all the tears that are shed on Broadway by guys in love, I will have enough salt water to start an opposition ocean to the Atlantic and Pacific, with enough left over to run the Great Salt Lake out of business,” he wrote.

“But I wish to say I never shed any of these tears personally, because I am never in love, and furthermore, barring a bad break, I never expect to be in love, for the way I look at it love is strictly the old phedinkus (nonsense), and I tell the little guy as much.”

The magical waters at Saratoga led to a massive exodus from New York and environs northward to Saratoga ever summer.

The springs were only part of the attraction. There was gambling, lots of it. As usual there was an Irishman deeply involved.

John Morrissey from Tipperary, a former prizefighter, decided that a racetrack would be the perfect location for the high and mighty and low and hungry.

He kicked it off in 1863. Now Saratoga Race Course is the singularly most successful racetrack in the U.S. with its seven-week season in high summer featuring the best horses from all over the country.

These days much of the frontier charm of those early days has been retained in the town center. Historical buildings on Broadway abound and the racetrack still dominates the economy and the mental space of the town.

You step back a little in time on every visit, a magical place still faithful to the old traditions but also embracing the new.

HIllary Clinton nostalgia grips leading Democrats as Obama fails and fades

Hillary Clinton is looking more and more like a lost leader for the Democrats as Obama continues to flail.

There was more bad news for the president yesterday with an opinion poll showing that only 26 per cent of Americans approved of his job on the US economy.

It is not hard to see why that number is so low.

Americans are hurting in record numbers and Obama seems strangely lackluster and unable to come to grips with the problem

Obama seems increasingly like a one-trick pony. His repeated cries about why can't we all get along has been flung in his face by Republicans.

Now like the little boy who has tried but failed to settle an argument by being the smartest kind in the room, he seems totally deflated.

Compare him to new Irish leader Enda Kenny.

Kenny was a long time opposition leader who, when he got his shot at power,grabbed it.

In opposition, unencumbered by power, he clearly developed a knack of knowing what ordinary people were thinking.

Thus, when yet another another scandal in the church blew up, Kenny spoke out in one of the most remarkable speeches ever made by any Irish leader.

It was brave, it could have rebounded, but it came across as a stroke of genius.

Obama in a similar situation would no doubt have parsed and analyzed the church crisis to death without saying one straightforward word in case he offended someone.

But let's forget about Obama and Kenny.

More and more the question is asked WWHD, What Would Hillary Do?

A better job I suspect

The Daily Beast web site and The New York Times have had two articles in recent days on the issue. The conclusions of the Daily Beast one can can be capsulated by a quote from one Obama supporter;

" Looking as if she were about to cry, an 83-year-old Obama supporter shook her head. “I’m so disappointed in him,” she said. “It’s true: Hillary is tougher.”

The New York Times is not sure Hillary would do much different as president but I beg to differ.

Certainly on the debt ceiling crisis which triggered the latest financial crisis and first-ever downgrade, her husband pointed the way out for Obama,

That was to interpret the 14th amendment as stating that he had the constitutional right to raise the ceiling and let the Republicans sue if they wanted.

On dealing with Republicans, Clinton would have no illusions. She was steeled by what she saw during the impeachment battle her husband undertook.

Paradoxically, she was one of the most bipartisan senators in the senate when she served there.

That combination of knowing her enemy but also being able to find compromise would surely have served her well as president

Richard Benedetto over at Real Clear Politics says the solution is to have Hillary replace Biden as VP,

"Clinton would add some much-needed pizzazz to a tough campaign that [Joe] Biden does not. More importantly, she would shore up a shaky Democratic base, a huge part of which consists of disappointed women who still believe the secretary of state should have been president and would have done a better job than Obama,"he wrote

I don't think that works for many reasons but there is still a glimmer that Hillary might get in the race if some other candidate bloodied up Obama sufficiently in the early primaries.

It's a long shot but it may ultimately be all Democrats have if Obama continues to drop in the polls.

Obama no longer a shoo-in for Democratic nomination in 2012

Barack Obama may be no shoo-in for the Democratic nomination in 2012.

The latest opinion poll shows Obama has only 70 per cent support from Democrats to be that party's nominee in 2012.

That's down about 20 points in the past few months alone.

While it is still very difficult to see anyone beating Obama for the nomination, it seems clear that even hard core base Democrats are tired of his inability to take the fight to Republicans.

There was a discussion on Anderson Cooper on CNN last night about the possibility of a challenger to Obama last night, an unheard of scenario just a few months ago.

It is easy to see why however.

Gallup has his popularity sliding down around 39 per cent, lowest of his presidency while the Republicans mop up the media agenda with the swirls and currents of their own primary race.

Obama in Iowa yesterday seemed to have little to offer, the same tired old bromides about job creation and blaming Congress.

He should really look in the mirror if he wants to blame anyone for the paralysis.

Right after killing Bin Laden his approval soared and he had every opportunity to capitalize.

Instead he rolled over and played dead on the debt ceiling issue, I believe a pivotal moment in his presidency.

It was beautifully encapsulated in a cartoon at the weekend when Obama was shown trying to negotiate to get his dog Bo off his bed.

The negotiation ends with Bo on the bed and Obama sleeping on the floor saying 'OK that's a good compromise.'

That's how many Democrats believe he handled the debt issue,

A challenger from the left, ala Eugene McCarthy in 1968 in New Hampshire next year could make it very interesting.

Not saying it will happen, but the specter has now been raised.

Gay Byrne will be Ireland's next president if he runs -- looks more and more likely that he will - VIDEO

The news that Ireland's most famous broadcaster, Gay Byrne, will likely run for president of Ireland finally injects some real stature into the race.

Byrne is quite simply Ireland's greatest broadcaster, but much more, a champion of the little guy and girl and their concerns in Irish society.

His voice would be badly needed in a country where the divisions between have and have-nots have never been more evident.

Sure he is now 77, an age when most people are considering the quiet places and withdrawal from public life, but Byrne has never fitted that mold.

He has expressed his interest in running and will decide this weekend by all accounts.

My money is on him running.

If he does I think he will easily win.

His impact on Irish society is hard to imagine in these days of multiple media voices and outlets.

Way back in 1986 or so I was invited on 'The Late Late show' in Dublin to talk about my new magazine Irish America and about illegal Irish emigration - yes, it was happening even then.

It was like an invitation from Mount Olympus. Gay Byrne the host was the Johnny Carson of his day but much more. He tackled the kind of topics Irish people were only trying to get to grips with.

A well known politician remarked in the 1970s that there was no sex in Ireland before television.

He was referring to 'The Late Late Show' which was the first to broach topics such as divorce, naughty sex issues such as honeymoon quizzes which drove the clergy mad and deep social issues that were only surfacing in Ireland at the time.

My mother rarely asserted herself in my house, with four sons and three daughters but on Saturday night, despite her sons thirsting for "Match of the Day" soccer highlights on the BBC she insisted on "The Late Late Show" and woe betide anyone who switched the channel

Byrne was brave and fearless and his show was incredibly popular, especially among women

It was so popular that my mother wouldn't watch me on the show that night long ago she was so nervous. Gay Byrne was simply her God and her son being on his program was an incredible source of pride.

To the day she died she put it right up there with introducing her to President Bill Clinton which I did a few years later.

The following day after being on the show I remember going to a race meeting and perfect strangers coming up by the dozen and shaking my hand . "The Late Late Show" was Ireland's community gathering where, before cable and myriad stations simply everyone listen in.

After he retired from "The Late Late", Byrne hosted a radio show which became a voice for the forgotten in Ireland, where housewives poured out their problems with drunken husbands, errant children and much more.

If Byrne runs he will draw on that massive residue of support from ordinary people he has retained after all these years.

It is hard to see anyone else in the field defeating him.

If he runs we are almost certainly looking at President Byrne. Ireland could do an awful lot worse.



Listen to Niall O’Dowd on Ireland’s Newstalk 106 on In Discussion with Eamon Dunphy here (31st July and 7th August)

US State Department warnings on Dublin crime ridiculous - Striking fear into tourists with tabloid headlines

Dublin's busy Temple Bar by night

The U.S. State Department has really overstepped the mark in their new warnings to American tourists in Ireland.

The government is warning Americans to be aware of gangs "roaming the streets" of Dublin.

I've gone to Dublin, oh maybe 20 times these past four years and have yet to encounter a "roving gang".

No one else I have spoken to has either.

That is nonsense and a sensationalist approach more fitted to tabloids than serious government warnings.

The State Department also warned visitors to be on the lookout for criminals using electronic "skimmers" at ATM's, to be aware their drinks could be spiked, and to be especially vigilant around tourist attractions.

The warnings make Dublin sound like Tijuana,Mexico with drug dealers,killings and mayhem everywhere.
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Yet they qualify the language quickly;

"There have been a limited number of assaults on foreigners and tourists, including violence towards members of racial minority groups," the Dept of State said in an updated crime assessment.

"There have also been several reported assaults in Dublin by small, unorganised gangs roaming the streets in the early morning hours after the pubs close, and a high incidence of petty crime in major tourist areas, mostly theft, burglary and purse snatching."

This is inflammatory nonsense of the worse kind. The number of American tourists attacked in Dublin or ripped off is minuscule and I'd bet far lower than many other capitals.

The State Department is really gilding the lily here at a time when such loaded language seems intent on scaring away much needed tourists.

Are there gangs and scammers in Dublin? Of course. like any other city in the world.

Are they running rampant through the streets/ No, definitely not.

Are they uniquely likely to attack American? No, not unless the American is very unlucky.

I don't know here the State Department gets these hysterical headlines from but they need to get a grip.


The State Department recommended that visitors leave their passports in a secure location "in case an incident occurs."

The department said that scams involving email, chat rooms and dating/social networking sites were on the rise in Ireland.

Visitors were also advised not to buy counterfeit and pirated goods and to not to break Irish laws, "including its tough drunk-driving rules."

All fine and well but turning what is routine crime into some kind of lurid emergency warning is pretty far over the top.

The State Department should know better.

Listen to Niall O’Dowd on Ireland’s Newstalk 106 on In Discussion with Eamon Dunphy here (31st July and 7th August)

A guide to the gays in the Irish presidential race.

Never have so many Gays competed for the same job in Ireland.

But first you must know that Gay is an abbreviation of Gabriel and long before gay became the in-term to describe gays, Irish men called Gabriel often had their names shortened to gay.

So, if you were still with me, here is an idiot's guide.

Gay Mitchelll, the candidate of the ruling Fine Gay(le) party -just kidding Fine Gael --. Not favorable to gays in general and seen as a right wing Catholic candidate.

Gay Byrne (1) Former national television host of the incredibly popular' Late Late Show' which broke the mould in Irish politics.

He is now 77 but still a powerful force in Irish life and is considering running for president.

Gay Byrne (2) that would be actor Gabriel Byrne, who the Sunday Independent newspaper has urged to run. He is better known as Gabriel however and has given no indication of interest.

David Norris,(pictured), whose name is not Gay but is gay if you follow what I mean. He has been forced to withdraw after revelations he wrote letter in support of a sex offender in Israel.

The word gay for gays has actually been around a long time, the 1635 Oxford Dictionary has a reference to it and the term 'Gay Blade' was used widely in the 19th century.

Will Ireland end up with a gay president one way or another? Who can tell?

After all Britain have a senior opposition leader called Ed Balls so who knows.

Luckily his first name wasn't Gabriel.

Listen to Niall O’Dowd on Ireland’s Newstalk 106 on In Discussion with Eamon Dunphy here (31st July and 7th August)

How Hillary Clinton might run in 2012 against Obama

I was asked on a radio show in Ireland yesterday was there any way I could see Hillary Clinton running for president in 2012.

No, I said, with one small exception.

That is a 1968 scenario where a deeply unpopular president, Lyndon Johnston was forced out of the race after a complete outsider, Senator Gene McCarthy,ran him close in the New Hampshire primary, 49 per cent to 42 per cent.

Soon after, Johnston, wearied from the Vietnam War debacle, announced he was not running,

Hillary is not Gene McCarthy in that scenario, rather she is Bobby Kennedy, who tragically, saw the McCarthy opening as an opportunity for him to jump in, a quest that ended tragically with his murder in California later that year.

If the economy continues to tank and Obama continues to roll over for Republicans then a McCarthy scenario becomes more likely.

Last week's crisis revealed Obama as a show horse rather than a workhorse,searching only for a deal to mollify the Republican right.

He did not stand up and fight for the people who elected him who will now be hit with the trillions in cutbacks.

As a result there is now a profound unease about him in Democratic party circles.

Thus,a New Hampshire opponent is not as unlikely as it might have been a few weeks ago.

There is an obvious McCarthy-type person, Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders from a neighboring state who has been deeply critical of what Obama has been doing.

He'd have to change his affiliation and there is certainly no guarantee that he would fare anything like as well as McCarthy did.

But with the economy tanking by the day and Obama seemingly in professorial mode listening only to the Harvard clique surrounding him it is not impossible.

He seems deaf to those who elected him, and they may take a measure of revenge.

In which case Hillary might well be back in the game.

Listen to Niall O’Dowd on Ireland’s Newstalk 106 on In Discussion with Eamon Dunphy here (31st July and 7th August)

David Norris would have made a fine president of Ireland -- An independent voice that Ireland badly needed

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

With those words from Samuel Beckett Senator David Norris eloquently bid farewell to his hopes of becoming president of Ireland.

He would have been a good one. Having dipped a toe in that water myself I marveled how much Norris had inflamed the imagination in Ireland, especially of young people and was easily leading in opinion polls .

The presidency has become a barometer of social change in Ireland, the two previous incumbents, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese defined a new era in ireland.

For those who say the presidency is largely symbolic that is precisely the point. Robinson was the first woman, McAleese the first person from Northern Ireland.

They brought impressive credentials and delivered on them.

Over two decades they transformed what had been a sleepy backwater job populated by aging time servers into a dynamic expression of the new Ireland

I'm sure Norris would have done the same.

He had an inclusive and independent vision for Ireland, badly needed post church scandal and economic collapse.

I feel he should have been allowed to run even though I don't think he would have won, The political parties are too powerful, can raise the $1 million dollars or so easily and have troops on the ground to get out the vote.

Norris would have been starting from scratch in all those areas, akin to running against Republicans and Democrats for American president

Unfortunately, the qualification process for him to take part had more hurdles than the British Grand National horse race, cleverly placed there by the incumbent parties.

Twenty members of the legislature or four county councils have to approve you before you can put yourself before the people.

It is hardly a jury of the righteous .The county councils are stacked with many men and women who blithely gave planning permission to every cowboy developer in the country. The parliament and seanad are stacked with party loyalists who will do their leaders bidding.

That made it very difficult for Norris to begin with, because he was running as an independent and not one with deep pockets either.

Despite leading in every opinion poll he could never tie down those twenty votes and then came the two scandals.

The first was explainable, a loosely worded commentary on gay sex in ancient Greece, delivered over a decade ago.

The second was more serious, a letter supporting his former partner, who was found guilty of child sex abuse in israel.

It transpires that many politicians in Ireland have written such letters. Fine Gael presidential candidate Gay Mitchell wrote one to the governor in Florida pleading for the life of a man who murdered an abortion doctor.

But Norris' personal connection made this one fraught with difficulties. Suddenly the dam burst and independent politicians who had slowly been warming to his candidacy fled his camp.

Norris had no option but to end his run.

With him gone it becomes a far more drab contest. A Guardian writer wrote recently that he was one of the most impressive candidates they had ever covered.

I was deeply impressed after meeting him too.

But it was not to be. Norris was still too flamboyant a figure with a troubling indirect connection to the issue of child abuse that is hot as a pistol in ireland right now.

He would have made a great candidate, almost definitely a fine president, an independent voice at a critical time.

But it was not to be.

Gabby Giffords' inspiring appearance at a time of 'ridiculous' debate ---Showing what is important to the American people

The appearance of Gabby Giffords on the floor of the house last night was an inspirational moment for the ages.

It occurred at a moment when Congress had torn itself apart over a debt ceiling debate that has plummeted the popularity of Congress even lower than usual which hardly seems possible.

A Pew Research poll showed that 66 per cent of Americans used the word "ridiculous" when asked to describe the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on the debt ceiling.

As Willie Nelson told Paul Begala of CNN, folks should be worried about the ceiling over their head not some mythical debt ceiling

But amid the bloviators, the faux patriots, the preening there was a genuine moment of sheer drama, greatness and goodwill.

Gabby Giffords on the arm of her husband Commandant Mark Kelly limped gingerly onto the House floor to the kind of welcome that would be unimaginable for any other member of congress.

Anderson Cooper on CNN called it 'a breathtaking moment' and indeed it was , as we saw what American nobility, bravery and tenacity is all about.

Just months after taking a bullet to the brain the Arizona congresswoman walked back into her old workplace and stunned a watching nation.

Though rail thin and clearly affected on her right side she nonetheless looked composed and positively glowing as she responded to the applause and cast her vote .

During a few months when the hot air, even for Washington, reached epic levels it was wonderful to welcome true heroism.

"Throughout America, there isn't a name that stirs more love, more admiration, more respect, more wishing for our daughters to be like her, than the name Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords," Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Rep. Bill Flores, a Republican from Texas, said it was "a remarkable moment" to see Giffords walk onto the House floor.

So remarkable that for a brief moment it conjoined the two parties who have been treating each other with such contempt and ill will.

Maybe what America needs is Gabby Giffords back at her job, just to show the politicians what is really important in life, that triumph over adversity and goodness in the face of evil is what this country is also about.

May the road rise with you Gabby.