Charles Lindbergh meets my Kerry cousin, a true story from way back when

Charles Lindbergh

While recently in Dingle for a family gathering my Kennedy cousins from Baile Na Boc, a tiny village outside the town, told me a relative of mine had written a book about his life.

It is one of the marvelous aspects of The Gathering that family occasions such as our Kerry gathering greatly adds to the store of information on the family heritage.

In this case there is a direct reference in the book to my grandmother who I hardly knew, which was a wonderful bonus for me, especially as it happened on a magical day in Kerry long ago.

My relative’s name was Tomas O Cinneide and the book, entitled “The Wild Rover” published by Mercier Press covers an amazing life story from life in the little townland in West Kerry to his travels all over the world.

He was a lieutenant in the Irish army, a teacher, fisherman, a postman, and hard drinker who left Ireland at the age of 38 for a life of adventure in California.

He worked hard, was clearly a character and fell on some hard times. There are wonderful descriptions of his take on Haight Ashbury in San Francisco when the hippy movement started in the 1960s, a sad chapter on his decline into drinking and a restorative chapter at the end where he returns home, using the beautiful analogy of the salmon who always go back to die at the place they were spawned.

After his return he became a local character in West Kerry sought out by many students for his wonderful command of Irish.

A few paragraphs at the beginning of the book however, really caught my eye.

He is describing a day in May 1927 when he was visiting his aunt, my grandmother in the nearby village of Kilcooley. She and her husband Michael were raising 14 children on a small farm there.
That long ago day became very memorable to Tomas, one for a very personal reason, his first bike, the second for an earth-shattering world event that he witnessed.

He writes: “One day when I was about 13 or 14 I went off walking to the parish of Keel to visit my aunt, a sister of my father’s.

“She was married there to an O’Dowd man. A son of hers was studying for the priesthood in Louvain in Belgium at the time.”(That would be my uncle Father Patrick O’Dowd who spent his entire priestly ministry around Rapid City, South Dakota.)

“When I was getting ready to come home she called me aside and said to me “Tomas there is an old bicycle belonging to Padraig inside here and I don't think anyone will make use of it...take it away home with you. My heart leaped with joy.” But on his way home something extraordinary happened.

“I threw the bicycle up on my shoulder because it had only one wheel. Before I reached home I heard a noise to my right and heard a queer sound up in the sky that I had never heard from anything.

"Out in the distance I saw a bird. I stopped in wonder and gazed and gazed.”

It was no bird it was Charles Lindbergh on his epic flight on the Spirit of St Louis to Paris. Tomas said he passed so close overhead he could see him clearly waving.

It was May 20, 1927 the day my relative got his first bike from my grandmother -- and the day  Charles Lindbergh flew almost directly over his head in perhaps the most historic flight ever.

What a family memory brought to life!

Why I think major immigration reform will happen this year

Congress Speaker John Boehner, surrounded by other Republicans, who might find a week in
2013 to talk about immigration reform.

Washington: Don’t count out immigration reform just yet in this most troubled of political seasons.

Republican insiders here believe that there may be an opportunity between Thanksgiving and Christmas to devote a week to political debate on the House floor to discussion on a House version of the Senate immigration bill.

At stake for Ireland is the fate of 50,000 or so undocumented and a future flow of legal Irish immigrants to America under the E-3 visa bill.

While the media here is widely dismissive of any move from the politically torn GOP, there is private evidence that such is not the case.

There are well meaning and moderate Republicans that realize they need to get to grip with immigration reform if they are ever to win back a decent share of the Hispanic vote.

This week a delegation of Irish parliamentarians met with top figures on the GOP side and emerged hopeful that a bill could pass.

It is clear that the House leadership, led by Speaker John Boehner, accept the necessity of reform. The Chamber of Commerce, the giants of Silicon Valley, the Republican establishment, Wall Street Journal, and the churches, both Catholic and evangelical, are all pushing hard.

The most negative Republican chorus parrots the line that Hispanics will automatically vote for Democrats anyway so why legalize them.

But George W. Bush, not to long ago, won close to 40 percent of the Hispanic vote because of his outreach to them.

While politically liberal they are socially conservative and would have lots in common with a moderate GOP agenda.

The GOP need only to look at California where they have been essentially wiped out in large part because of their anti Hispanic rhetoric going all the way back to Governor Pete Wilson and the odious Proposition 187 that sought to bar education to children of illegal immigrants.

Since then the California political landscape has been a disaster for the GOP.

Smart folks in the GOP today recognize that fact on a national scale. While the press is nay-saying immigration reform for this year I retain confidence that a major effort will still ensue.

I believe it will happen.

Outrageous actions by Irish authorities seizing two children from parents

Loredana and Iancu, parents of Iancu Jr (2) and his sister. 

Something utterly outrageous happened in Ireland these past few days that should make everyone deeply concerned over civil liberties there.

Two children, one in Athlone aged-2 and one in Dublin aged-7 were taken from their parent’s arms and held in custody by police while their DNA was verified. The involuntary taking of children occurred after a case in Greece, where a child was discovered who was not the natural offspring of the Roma parents.

The Irish kids happened to be blond and blue-eyed and because their families were Roma gypsies there was deep suspicion that they had been kidnapped at a much younger age.

But suspicion is not fact and for the state to intervene based on accusations from neighbors was clearly behavior beyond the pale. Heads should roll.

Irish police were acting on tip-offs that the two kids did not seem to be the children of their parents.

Imagine that.

Hello Big Brother.

In both cases the Irish state moved against the families and sent their police force in to grab the screaming children.

It was an act so irrational and so thoughtless and so damaging to the children and parents that it defies description.

The mother of the seven-year-old did not eat for three days, according to her older daughter, and was distraught.

The two year old boy was also distraught and “crying for his mother” when police came to take him away.

Every big government opponent in America from the Tea Party on down could feel emboldened by this dreadful act. Both children it turned out, after DNA testing, were the natural born offspring of their parents.

The state acted - despite the parents' tearful protests and the screaming children - in near fascist fashion and removed the kids from their parents.

One can only imagine what the kids went through, the fright, the terror the isolation

What should have been done, obviously if there were sufficient grounds for suspicion, was a quiet visit, a request for a DNA test, a result of that test and a quiet apology.

Instead we had screaming headlines and a Roma community, already suffering from racist perceptions, being scapegoated by the state itself.

Many years ago author Brinsley MacNamara wrote a book called “The Valley of the  Squinting Windows” about the vicious gossip in a small country town later identified as Devlin, County Westmeath.

That vicious gossip survived into the present, obviously, and it resulted in the state taking action against the most vulnerable citizens in a harmful and deeply hurtful way.

This was not Ireland’s finest hour by a longshot.
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The day Irish hurling and history came to Notre Dame

Hurling comes to Notre Dame

South Bend Indiana: Fighting Irish fans arriving early for the USC game who happened to walk by Arlotta Stadium, usually home of the Fighting Irish lacrosse team, witnessed a unique moment.

Arlotta is a stone’s throw from the main stadium and the puzzled looks soon turned to  excitement.

5,000 or so spectators were packed like sardines into the venue to watch the first-ever exhibit of hurling, Ireland’s most ancient game, at the Mecca of Irish American sport. Among them was Irish Ambassador to the U.S. Anne Andersen making her first visit to Notre Dame.

Twenty-two of Ireland’s finest players were doing battle in a modified form of the game called Super 11 where only goals count. The teams from Leinster and Munster were renamed for the occasion as Ireland versus the Fighting Irish. Ireland won but that was not the point.

NBC, CBS and ireland’s broadcasting network RTE were along to show the Americans and the folks back home the world’s fastest game on grass.

And exciting it was. The sheer speed of the game, the clash of the ash as the hurleys met, the incredible split-second skill of the players, enthralled the spectators, who gave both sides a standing ovation at the end.

Unlike the typical exhibition game, the two teams went at it hammer and tongs and some of the physical clashes drew gasps from the crowd. It is not a game for the faint-hearted with the ball flying in the air at well over 100 miles an hour and players fighting for possession like their life depends on it.

Hurling is is also the oldest field game on earth. According to Notre Dame historian Professor Kevin Whelan, the Irish language is the third oldest on earth after Greek and Latin and hurling is mentioned in the earliest texts meaning it precedes even the Christian age by centuries. Whelan calls it “the Riverdance of sport, poetry in breathtaking motion, the fastest, most exciting field game in the world.”

He’s right. But there had never been an official hurling game at Notre Dame between Ireland’s top players, an astonishing oversight when you consider the incredible connections between the two entities.

That was remedied on Saturday by the initiative of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), an organization originally formed by the Irish hurlers and footballers themselves, which looks after the all-amateur players' welfare as well as seeking to spread the game worldwide.

The GPA has a social mission to help those players who have difficulty post career. They also seek to combat depression and suicide among young people in Ireland by seeking to get them involved in sports and appointing sports figures as community leaders. In the Ireland of today their work is badly needed.

Yesterday, thanks to the efforts of GPA and Notre Dame luminaries such as Don Keough and Martin Naughton who make up the power behind the Keough-Naughton Institute of Irish Studies, the historic game went ahead on playing fields on a campus that has been a Mecca for Irish Americans for generations.

It was yet another unique moment in the relationship between Notre Dame and Ireland. Last year’s game in Dublin between Navy and the Irish was a massive success. This year the hurlers of Leinster and Munster made their bit of history at Notre Dame.

Wonderful hurling and Notre Dame went on to eke out a win over USC.

A great day for the Irish whatever side of the Atlantic you were on.

It’s time for emigrants to have a voice in the Irish Senate

Senator David Norris celebrates the defeat of the referendum that sought
to abolish the Irish Senate earlier this month

The recent defeat by the Irish electorate of the proposal to shutter the Irish Senate offers a new opportunity for diaspora representation in Ireland.

The defeat was a major blow for the Irish government, but it has opened up new vistas for emigrant rights.

The Irish Constitutional Convention, assuming that the Senate would be abolished, had recently come out in favor of votes for emigrants and Irish passport holders, but in presidential elections only.

This new development allows for a much broader reach and access for Irish emigrants, especially in matters that concern them.

For too long the words “lip service” and “diaspora” have belonged together, but there have been encouraging signs in recent years, especially with the diaspora economic forums in Dublin, that change was coming.

But the Irish government needs to tackle the image that they are only interested in what emigrants can contribute financially.

Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Enda Kenny has stated that he will make changes in how the currently hopelessly elitist Senate is chosen, and emigrant representation should be at the top of his list.

The fact is that on matters of representation the Irish abroad are still left without a voice in Irish politics.

We are alone among European Union countries in that regard and there are over 100 countries around the world that allow their emigrants to vote.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good and the reality is that the Senate's survival could be a boon for diaspora groups, who have long sought a voice.

The Irish in Britain group have already put forward a proposal that three emigrant senators be voted for by emigrant populations.

Jenny McShannon, who runs the Irish in Britain, a leading Irish organization, stated, “I believe a reformed Seanad (Senate) would benefit from establishing a new diaspora panel of three senators elected by citizens resident overseas.

“Given a commitment to change and sufficient political will to make it happen, I believe this can be accomplished reasonably quickly. I believe this proposal will be popular and seen to make sense by a clear majority of citizens overseas and citizens at home.

“Through our Diaspora Voice campaign initiative, Irish in Britain will be encouraging discussion, listening to our community and pressing politicians for positive support.”

I think the Irish in America could get behind the same initiative.

A senator each for Britain, the U.S. and Australia would make perfect sense, giving the Irish in those countries the opportunity to have a say especially when it comes to immigrant affairs.

The British suggestion is one that should be followed up in the U.S. and Australia as a matter of major importance.

The flood of emigrants from Ireland these past few years, and the issues that arise for many of them while abroad, are important ones that should occupy any Irish government.

While emigrant groups on the ground and Irish government representatives do an excellent job in working with such groups, giving them a voice in Ireland’s Upper House would be a very important psychological boost for all Irish.

It is time the government stopped being fearful of emigrants and embraced what they can help achieve.

The Gathering event certainly proved that mobilizing the Irish abroad can be very good for Ireland. Making emigrants feel more a part of the Irish state would be the next important step.

Montreal first to announce 2014 St Patrick's Parade Grand Marshal

Canadian Irish giving it loads at the Montreal St Patrick's Day Parade

It just gets earlier and earlier!

It is only October but the first Grand Marshal for 2014 has now been announced for St Patrick’s Day.

It is from the good folks at the United Irish Societies of Montreal, who in typical Canadian fashion are all organized and prepped up well in advance of their American cousins.

There it was, the announcement  in my inbox on Wednesday, October 16th.

“On October 6th President Beverly Murphy announced the dignitaries for the 2014 parade:

 - Grand Marshal: Mr William O'Donnell
 - Chief Reviewing Officer: Mr. Brian MacKenzie
 - Simon McDonaugh Humanitarian Award: Mr Francis Baddeley
 - Liam Daly Heritage Award: John Gilroy

Congrats to all.

They also inform me that this November 2 the United Irish Societies of Montreal will be celebrating its 85th anniversary as organizers of the Montreal St Patrick's parade. Details can be found on their Facebook page.

There are 500,000 Quebeckers with Irish heritage.

I spent some time up in Montreal a few years back and spoke to the major Irish society there. They have had nothing like the level of emigration that other parts of North America have, but they have a wonderful Irish community nonetheless. Who can ever forget the kindness of Canadians, who adopted thousands of Irish orphans off the Famine ships? Or those who died at the Grosse Isle quarantine station on the St Laurence river helping those same desperate Irish?

There is a great Canadian School of Irish Studies at Concordia University headed by Professor Michael Kenneally.

Michael was at the Global Diaspora Forum recently in Dublin and talked eloquently about the enormous Irish contribution to Canada, something often overlooked because of the focus on the United States.

Doesn’t it seem like stuff is getting announced earlier than ever? There is a house in my neighborhood that has its Christmas lights up as of last week. I kid you not.

What next, July 4th on New Year’s Eve?

Lack of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland from Obama is called 'a disgrace' by Irish leaders

President Barack Obama and former Ambassador to Ireland Dan Rooney

The lack of a U.S. Ambassador to Ireland since December 2012 has been bitterly criticized by leaders in the Irish American community.

“In my opinion it is an absolute disgrace and a real and total disrespect to the Irish American community,” said prominent New York lawyer Brian O’Dwyer, head of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, and a long-time Democratic party activist.

“This is an insult to those many Irish Americans who were so much in support of Barack Obama and now have every reason to feel betrayed.”

The head of Irish American Democrats, Stella O’Leary, has also called for  the immediate appointment of  the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland pointing out that the job has been left vacant far too long.

Since Dan Rooney’s departure last December 14 the job has not been filled and Ireland  is now among just a handful of countries out of almost 200 embassies who do not have a serving U.S. Ambassador. From the  time of an announcement to hearing and approval it could well be March 2014 before the person is officially appointed.

“It’s very puzzling that we do not have an ambassador, O’Leary, a powerful Irish American power broker in Washington, stated. “There is no shortage of qualified Irish Americans for the job."

“There has been no communication, no reason given for the delay and this has been to the severe disadvantage of Irish America and Ireland,” she said.

“On issues such as business, trade, immigration reform it is very important that an ambassador is in place," she said. “I strongly believe this needs to be a priority for the State Department and the administration.”

America has ambassadors in close to 200 countries but Ireland, along with Belarus, Bolivia, Comoros, Lesotho and Romania, is one of the few vacant ones, according to a State Department website.

It is believed that former Missouri Congressman Russ Carnaghan, 55, was the first choice of the administration but that he withdrew. Carnaghan had lost a primary election in 2012 when he was redistricted.

Many names have been floated, most notably Washington attorney Mark Tuohey and his brother-in-law Bill Daley, who recently pulled out of a governor's race in Illinois. However, inter party tensions between some Obama backers and the Daley family are said to have caused major problems.

When will we see an Ambassador? That remains a guessing game at this point.

Why Megyn Kelly the new star of Fox News is not for me

Making great ratings for Fox Irish American host Megyn Kelly

As a registered Democrat I decided to drop in on Megyn Kelly on Fox News the other night, intrigued by the huge ratings she is drawing and the fact that she managed to displace Sean Hannity from his prime time slot.

Maybe there would be a new Fox News type anchor I thought, less shrill, more open to constructive debate, more watchable.

I dislike Hannity’s shrillness and much prefer Bill O’Reilly who is far more nuanced in his opinions, does not take himself as seriously and has a show I can actually watch.

I am also influenced by interviewing and meeting O’Reilly on several occasions and quite liking the off-screen persona.

 I don’t want one-sided dialogue, which is why I don’t watch lefty Rachel Maddox with her interminable ego trips on the left or Hannity sitting in the lap of every Tea Partier on the right asking why they are so wonderful.

So I approached the Megyn Kelly phenomenon with great interest.

Unknown to itself, Fox News is serving as an affirmative hiring Mecca for Irish Americans with Van Sustern (100 per cent Irish and proud on her mother’s Conway side) O’Reilly, now Kelly and then Hannity as their nightly line up.

Oh Megyn was I disappointed! First up was Duncan Hunter a congressman from California calling for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, a moderate Republican, to resign over some non-existent slight to veterans.

Next up was a 350 pound guy with a massive American flag sweater plastered to him like a fly to flypaper shouting about bringing 50 trucks to Washington this weekend to shut down the government by blocking the highways. (I thought the government was already closed).

His reason? Because the government was out of control.

Megyn was right on with both of them, encouraging and asking puffball questions, clearly praising their mad right efforts. Even Ed Farnan my conservative fellow columnist here at Irish Central would have found that too much (I think).

After which I said to myself “Bring back Hannity, at least he doesn’t have a frozen smirk plastered on his face and a helmet of bottle blond hair plastered to his skull that makes him look like Newt Gingrich’s wife.”

Not does he have a son or daughter (not sure which) called Thatcher after the Iron Lady.

So Megyn dear, you are not for me. I’ll continue to watch O’Reilly and Anderson Cooper who trumps the lot.

 I’ll even watch Piers Morgan who has gotten better lately. As for you? I’ll bet folks will be singing “Has anyone here seen Kelly” in a few months if your show continues on its current vein.

Time for Notre Dame to lose the leprechaun in light of the Washington Redskins?

Notre Dame's Leprechaun eyes the championship trophy in the second half.
(Credit: Robert Duyos / Sun Sentinel / January 7, 2013)

With all the brouhaha around the Washington Redskins, is it time that Irish Americans looked again at the Fighting Irish leprechaun?

Notre Dame symbolizes Irish for millions worldwide but the symbol is outdated, disrespectful to Irish Americans and frankly, old fashioned.

Let’s face it, the fighting Irish leprechaun hardly reflects well on the Irish no more than the dreadful term “redskins” reflects on American Indians.

The Redskins may be about to have their day.

As Maureen Dowd wrote in the NY Times on Wednesday, “At the end of the N.F.L. fall meeting here on Tuesday, (NFL Commissioner) Goodell told reporters that he grew up in Washington rooting for the Redskins and never considered the name “derogatory.” But, he added, “we need to listen, carefully listen, and make sure we’re doing what’s right.”

Sounds like the Redskin name is about to be scalped - hooray for that.

Now to the leprechaun.

The leprechaun himself is angry, with his fists up, representing a stereotype as old as the Irish themselves for an alleged proclivity to argument and alcohol.

I’m sure there are many at modern day Notre Dame and its followers who would prefer an Irish wolfhound or Celtic chieftain as a more dignified representation of the Irish image.

I’m one of them. I love the campus, serve on the Keough-Naughton Irish Institute Board there with great pride, go to two or more Notre Dame games a year -- but can’t stand that ugly leprechaun.

When he parades up and down the sideline looking like he’s looking for a fight I feel like turning a water hose on him.

When the cameras flash to him after every Notre Dame score I cringe.

Yes I know the underdog history and how vital that image is to the football team today, but it does not reflect modern Irish America or the Irish identity.

Notre Dame has done marvelous work in recent years, rekindling the Irish link, thanks mainly to Donald Keough, former Notre Dame board chairman, and Martin Naughton, the Irish businessman/philanthropist.

The game in Dublin last year when 35,000 traveled from America was an incredible boost to the Irish economy in tough times.

The Notre Dame campus in Dublin is among the finest of any college in Europe.
College president Father John Jenkins has done a remarkable job gearing up Notre Dame for the new century.

Except for that darn leprechaun.

I vote we fire him from a cannon at the next home game (USC, I’ll be there) and bid him farewell as he sails into the night sky.

Then present the new symbol (Celtic warrior, Irish wolfhound, suggestions welcome). Time for the green goblin to go!

Here's the MSNBC's "The Ed Show" on the topic of the Redskin's name:




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Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams blameless in brother’s incest case conviction

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams speaking to the press outside Ireland's parliament
(Photo: Newsletter.co.uk)

Aine Adams, niece to Gerry Adams, was horrifically abused by Liam Adams, brother to Gerry Adams, when she was still a toddler.

Liam Adams was found guilty of the abuse by a court in Northern Ireland last week.

The media focus since then has been on Gerry Adams and what his role in his brother’s attempt to cover up his crime was.

The issue has become highly politicized and Adams yesterday accused his political opponents of trying to make capital out of it. He called them a “despicable lobby”.

He is right.

A young woman showed great courage in exposing her father’s crimes years after they occurred. In the first trial that collapsed Gerry Adams gave evidence against his brother. He was not called in the second trial.

There can be few moments as horrific as finding out that incestuous sex abuse is running rampant in your family. Gerry Adams discovered it about his own father and later of his own brother. In both cases there is no question but that he acted correctly.

In his brother’s case his niece went to the police in 1987 to report the charge of incest. They allegedly instead tried to turn her informer against Adams and other members of her family. She withdrew her case.

In March 1987, Aine, Sally, Aine’s mother, and Gerry Adams went to Buncrana, Co Donegal, to confront Liam over what he had had done, but Liam denied raping Aine.

Liam Adams later admitted a single incident in 2000. Because of the earlier experience, going to the police was simply not an option. Adams tried to sort it out within the family.

What had also come up was his father’s abuse of his children. As Gerry Adams stated, "I immediately brought all my siblings together and we tried to deal with that as a collective. And then I went and spoke to my father about it. I confronted him", he said before adding, "It was physical, it was psychological, it was emotional and it was sexual. And for me one of the big questions is why didn't I notice it."

Referring to the abuse issue he stated, "Hindsight is a great person to have at any meeting. All I know is that my concern was to make sure that no one else was being abused; to ensure that those who were abused had every assistance and support.

"And as they were adults dealing with historic crimes that they had the right - it wasn't up to me to decide what course of action they had to take - that they had the right to take their own decisions," he added.

Aine Adams has now been vindicated in a court of law and Liam Adams is going to jail. The Adams family has to deal with the dreadful aftermath of all that. Trying to scapegoat Gerry Adams for the sins of his brother is a pathetic attempt to politicize a dreadful family tragedy.

“Heartbeat of Home” a pounding success in its world debut in Dublin

"Heartbeat of Home" debuted in Dublin this week.

“Heartbeat of Home” is “Riverdance” for the millennial generation, a souped-up, blink and you’ll miss it, dance extravaganza that will thrive in the age of Twitter and Instagram.

“Riverdance” was a Mercedes, smooth as silk; this is an amped-up Ferrari roaring through the stage from the moment the curtain rises

The world debut is taking place in Dublin this week and I was delighted to catch the Saturday night show, which played to a packed house at the Bord Gais theater.

The tale of emigration unfolds first on the Ocean of Dreams after Famine times with spectacular background effects of the wild Atlantic ocean.

Later in modern day America there is a sudden shift to rap and salsa and tango and cuban dance intertwined with what I can only describe as violent Irish dancing.

John McColgan and Moya Doherty, the creators of “Riverdance, “ have done it again and while there will never be another “Riverdance,” “Heartbeat of Home” will appeal to a whole new generation.

There is one truly magical moment in the show, early in the second act, where you are transported on a beam carrying Irish and other workers, based on that famous shot of 11 men having lunch atop a skyscraper.

The visual effect of how this scene is created is truly stunning and the audience was held rapt as you almost felt your were suspended in space like in the original photograph.

Right after there is a long dream sequence where the background camera pans across the American continent following the flight of a sea eagle. The impact after the previous driving New York skyline scene is hypnotic.

“Heartbeat of Home” also plays fast and loose with the band, not hiding them away in a pit or off to the side, but having them mingle and perform alongside the dancers so several times you think a high kicking dancer will surely kick the trombone player by accident. More than I have seen, the band is the match for the dance performers on the night too

It is hijinks, high energy and high kicks. The second act, in particular, is worth the price of admission alone with a dizzying series of interlocking scenes that bring us to modern day America, a street party, the men on a beam scene, the wild blue yonder scene a wedding, a solo song called “The Night I Danced with You” that will surely be a hit and a hardshoe acapella that is better than anything I have ever seen.

The crowd was roaring and stomping along at that point and just when you thought the show was over the band returned for an exuberant after-hours session that sent the punters home very happy.

The show will come to Chicago and North America in the New Year and is sure to take off here I think. I was wary of a “Riverdance” Mark 2 which was sure to pale in comparison but this resembles the hit show “Stomp” more that “Riverdance,” especially in that hectic second act.

Catch it if you’re Irish or even American.

Diaspora Irish answer Ireland’s call at Global Forum in Dublin

Prime Minister Enda Kenny

The Grand Hall at the former Kilmainham hospital in Dublin is a relic of British times, a beautiful piece of architecture that conjures up colonial Dublin from centuries ago.

The lords and ladies who graced the dance floor of long ago must have turned in their eternal sleep last night as Irish from all over the world gathered to hear President Michael D. Higgins and Prime Minister Enda Kenny address the Global Irish Forum over dinner. James Galway added a music interlude after dinner that was the melody of angels.

Kenny outlined the Irish abroad role as similar to the “meitheal” the old coming together of farmers and farmers’ sons to help a local farmer who was in need in rural Ireland.

The expatriate Irish were again answering Ireland’s call,  Kenny told the assembled crowd, from Seattle to Singapore to Sydney they had showed up and Argentina and  Vancouver and Turkey too.

Practically every minister in the government, including foreign minister and Deputy Leader Eamon Gilmore, showed too, a sure sign of how seriously  the government was taking the foreign friendly invasion.

Ministers sat hosting each table. The dinner was four and half hours long -- only in Ireland murmured one Irish American, but no one was leaving.

President Higgins was no less eloquent, welcoming the global family back home and saying wherever they were from in the world there was a great welcome for them.

Earlier in the day the meitheal had split into various working groups discussing issues such as tourism, youth unemployment, investment, small business and much else. Ireland is in trouble still, paying off massive debts but the arrogance of old is gone and a deep connection to their expatriate tribe is now evident.

From the initial Gathering sprang the first seeds of the actual gathering in 2011. That has proven a tremendous boon for the tourism industry and the small businesses that thrive on it.

Also, from the last forum, came the Connect Ireland initiative which pays individuals to seek out and direct potential investors to Ireland. At the conference it was announced that 83 further jobs had been added to the hundreds already created.

What will be the big idea to emerge from this Forum? No one knows yet and the final day sessions will reveal many potential initiatives that could into great acorns grow.

Friday was a good day for the Irish abroad, paid the utmost acknowledgment by the state so many feel such deep connections to. Only good things can happen as a result.

"No blacks, no dogs, no Irish" era recalled at Global Irish Economic Forum

A mural on the Falls Rd in Belfast

An extraordinary speech by a retired Irish emigrant to Britain was the highlight of the opening session of the Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin, attended by 250 delegates from all over the world.

Mary Higgins recalled "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish" signs when she reached London in 1960. She was a trained nurse who had received a warm welcome in Glasgow when she first moved there from County Galway.

However, when she arrived in London she found a very different atmosphere.

She recalled being afraid to speak on public transport and being threatened when people heard her Irish accent. She said it was particularly bad after IRA bombings.

“We were told to keep our heads down and don't talk,” she remembered.

The greatest thing that happened to the Irish in England was the peace process, she said.

She said the Queens visit to Ireland last year and her acknowledgement of the Irish in Britain was one of the happiest days of her life.

Since retiring she has helped with the Forgotten Irish programme, funded by the Irish government, which helps elderly Irish in need.

She told the crowd there are massive issues among Irish emigrants in their 1960s and 70s who were growing old in Britain after years of exploitation on construction sites.

She described one emigrant they found living under a highway underpass who was destitute and illiterate. The program found him a home for the first time in his life.

The new era of Irish helping out those abroad was vital, she said.

"We always thought we were on our own but now we know otherwise," she said, referring to the Irish government's help.

Her speech was a highlight of the opening session as she wowed the businessmen and women gathered for a global conference.

The era of "no blacks, no dogs, no Irish" is over but it should never be forgotten, she told the crowd.

To forget the past is to be condemned to repeat it.

Writer Tom Clancy was a proud Irish American but very anti-IRA

Tom Clancy, author famous for books like "Patriot Games" and "Hunt for Red October" dies aged 66

I heard from the late Tom Clancy once. It was back in 1988 after our magazine, Irish America, took him to task for his blatant anti Irishisms in “Patriot Games,” his best-selling book and movie. (You might remember Harrison Ford in the lead role).

Among the issues we were upset by was the description of Jack Ryan, his Irish American hero, and his meeting with the Queen.

“Ryan found himself captivated by the woman’s humanity...but the crowning glory was yet to come.

“You will henceforth be known as Sir John Ryan.” Ouch!

Clancy also blamed the IRA for the 1972 Derry Bloody Sunday shootings in the book.

“Were you one of the guys who stage managed the provocations?” Ryan asks of an IRA figure.

The paratroopers (who shot dead 13 people) Clancy says, “claimed they had been fired on from someone in the crowd and merely returned fire to defend themselves.”

Right.

Clancy also had his hero Jack say, “Why not keep the b****rds out of the country,” when the suggestion was made that a Sinn Fein group come to America.

You get the gist – this was back in 1988 remember and The Troubles were a daily reminder.

About a week after the critique was published I received a very irate call from Clancy himself.

He strongly disputed that he was anti–Irish and declared himself a proud Irish American. We argued back and forth and he asked for right of reply. The following day it arrived via express mail. (No Internet back then!)

It was a statement of about a 2,000 words with a lengthy review of Irish history. Finally he got to the point.

“The only possible solution to The Troubles is political of course and that solution is the unification of Ireland,” Clancy wrote.

There was lots more to the statement but Clancy’s essential point was that he was anti-IRA but believed in a United Ireland.

Fair enough.

I will remember him then as a proud Irish American and a great novelist and man who took the time to set the record straight when he was a very famous man indeed.

May he rest in peace.

Congressman Peter King gets his Irish up against fellow Republicans

Congressman Peter King (Credit: AP)

When you go looking for a courageous politician in Washington during this current budget crisis you will find the name of Congressman Peter King.

He appears to be the only one of that rare species these days. Ronald Reagan would be proud of him.

Politico reported that on Monday, as the wild men of the Republican right cheered on their breakneck race to shut down the government, King alone stood up in a packed party meeting and said they were heading in the wrong direction.

He later voted against closing down the government, one of just a handful of Republicans to do so. The Co-Chair of the Irish Caucus in congress had his Irish up.

In a front page article on Wednesday the Washington Post named him “A lonely voice in the right-wing wilderness”

The head Republicans were bent on a mighty showdown with their version of magical thinking that would make Obamacare just disappear into a fairy mist.

King, on the other hand, understood the destructive nature of what they were doing, to his beloved party as well as his country.

As Politico noted, King effectively stood alone but that would not be a new or unique role for the Long Island congressman.

He refused to vote for the impeachment of President Clinton for instance.

That impeachment looks laughable now given that Newt Gingrich, who led that charge, was himself leaving his cancer-stricken wife for another woman.

Pete warned then, as he is warning now, that the GOP is overreaching and will only damage its future prospects even more.

America is essentially a moderate center right country. The Tea Party has dragged the GOP to the extremes.

Years before that King stood alone on the issue of Northern Ireland, telling anyone who would listen in Washington that talking to Sinn Fein, not banning them, was the way forward. He was proven spectacularly right on that one.

He was also, last week, asking the tough questions of the Tea Party and their senate siren Ted Cruz who he called “a fraud.”

When was the last time you saw Speaker Boehner or any of his acolytes ask some tough questions of the Tea Party caucus about how exactly they expect to retain power when they refuse to recognize basic reality?

That reality is that Obamacare passed both Houses of Congress and was vetted and approved by the U.S. Supreme Court. The argument is over, finished, complete.

Mitt Romney ran against it and got his head handed to him in the presidential election, but like Japanese soldiers fighting the long over war, the GOP Tea Party folks insist that the fight goes on.

When I was in Washington a few weeks back for the Paul Ryan immigration breakfast hosted by the Irish lobby groups, I was amazed to learn that almost 50 per cent of the Republicans in the House have only a few years experience of Congress.

Contemptuous of the old guard like King, they want the new rules to be their way or the highway. They have the attention span of gnats and have never made the slightest attempt to stand in the other side’s shoes.

Believe me there are lots of problems on the Democratic side but I have not seen them try to revisit long ago battles like old soldiers who want to endlessly re-fight the war.

There is political fever on the Potomac these days and when it breaks and people see the consequences, it will, in my opinion, leave Republicans at a huge disadvantage.

Peter King retains that innate political ability to see that and to understand the long-term harm to his beloved party. Alas, the Tea Party crowd can hardly see over their teacups filled with bitter brew.

It is the country that will suffer, not the patronizing politicians who mouth the same old guff we are all truly sick of.

I have a strong feeling the electorate will throw the bums out in the next election. As for Peter King he is shaping-up as the voice of conscience and foresight in a party that sadly seems to lack one these days.