Checking out Westport, winner of Ireland’s best place to live - Exploring why Mayo town won The Irish Times' coveted award

The Mayo town of Westport lies hard by the Atlantic Ocean almost as far westward as you can go, next stop America.

It was recently voted Ireland’s best place to live after a fierce competition in which Irish Times judges visited hundreds of spots around Ireland to compare to each other.

What is fascinating is how little dispute there was that Westport had won.

Beauty spots like Killarney and Dingle, hip urban enclaves like Rathmines in Dublin and many other long revered locations never seemed to come close.

I had never been to Westport, though my brother-in-law hails from there, as you almost have to be going there specifically, as against a spot you may pass through.

On a recent visit I decided to check out what all the fuss was about. The Irish Times criteria was not just beauty, but also community spirit and drive, affordability, good dining, cleanliness etc.

What I saw in Westport was lots of all those features.

At first glance the town has a San Francisco feel, with the houses and businesses located among several fairly steep and picturesque hills.

The riot of color and different paint hues is immediately apparent. Far too many Irish towns are dull and grey with little attempt to spice them up.

Westport is the very opposite, a kaleidoscope of different hues of colors that set off against the summer sky and give the impression of a little Shangri-la.

One of my immediate tests of how good any town is to check out the number of bookstores, which I believe sends its own message about culture and access in a town.

Westport certainly measures up, and books focused on local knowledge and topics certainly abound.

In one small store we found old editions of the works of Dylan Thomas and Jonathan Swift, both incredibly well-priced. It was a good omen.

The main streets might remind American visitors of The Hamptons in New York with lots of upscale little stores selling baubles and antiques of all descriptions -- a browser’s delight.

The people staffing the stores were universally friendly and keen to chat, giving that west of Ireland propensity to accept the proverb that when God made time he made plenty of it.

An old town clock, a winding river, a feeling of a close-knit community going about its business makes Westport feel special.

Matt Molloy’s pub in the centre of Westport is a well-known landmark. Owned by the famed Chieftains musician, it has a wonderful old feel to it, an authentic Irish pub in a world full of poor imitations. Though we visited during the day there were several present and a music session was promised for that night.

We stopped in a local bar/ restaurant where the seafood chowder had just won an international award and the smoked salmon and brown bread was to die for. If it is seafood you want, Westport certainly has it.

We took a drive out the coast road toward Louisburg with the mighty Atlantic to our right and the small villages that dot this part of Mayo to our left. In the distance the small islands that dot the coastline were visible on a clear summer day. It was an uplifting and scenic drive.

Two points of negative note. The traffic jam in the town on the way back in was of epic proportions, and looking at the price of property it is clear that living in this little paradise doesn’t come cheap even with Ireland’s property collapse.

After a day spent there it looked to me like the Irish Times jury picked wisely. Well worth a visit if you get the opportunity.

Queen Elizabeth has met bloody dictators and has blood on her own hands -- Alleging meeting Sinn Fein is dreadful for her is ridiculous

Queen Elizabeth will meet with Martin McGuinness later this week.

Queen Elizabeth once met with Idi Amin, the butcher of Africa, who is believed to have been responsible for 300,000 deaths in his native Uganda.

She said nary a word at this meeting about the alleged atrocities, stories of which were circulating at the time, in 1971.

Contrary to popular revisionism, Nelson Mandela was not leader of a peace loving organization called the ANC when he met Queen Elizabeth. Indeed the ANC had quite a reputation for ruthless violence at its height.

Those are just two of the leaders Queen Elizabeth has met who had blood on their hands.

Some would argue that Elizabeth herself, both historically and during her reign, had a fair amount of the red stuff spattered on her royal arms as well, given the many nasty colonial fights her country entered into in her name.

All of which is to debunk the shrieks of horror and awe in Britain and partly in Ireland now that the Queen will meet Martin McGuinness this week.

Even the Guardian that naturally Republican minded newspaper (in the British sense) newspaper had sympathy for the Queen’s plight.

The Sunday Times had its usual monarchical nonsense. Their editorial stated “Grit your Teeth Maam” and said that the queen “has to do so many unpalatable things for the good of her subjects”.

Don’t you love that word subjects? Not citizens? We in America fought a successful war to escape that designation.

The Martin McGuinness quarrel with the Queen was quite naturally that designation and that he and 500,000 other Irish were made unwilling subjects of the Queen by the utterly unjustified partition of Ireland in 1921.

That quarrel has been resolved and a fair-minded solution all around found for the present and most likely any future changes will be done peacefully.

So quite naturally, as representative of his people freely elected, Martin McGuinness should meet the queen. Both McGuinness and the Queen suffered grievous losses in the years of “The Troubles”.
It is a sure sign of the New Ireland that they can now meet as equals, both representing their people, though one is elected and one is not.

She should be happy to greet him as a symbol of the New Ireland where peace and equality will reign
It is nothing more dramatic or different than that – the British media notwithstanding.

American Ireland Fund considers new strategies to aid recovery

American Ireland Fund CEO Kieran McLoughlin

As the American Ireland Fund approaches the half billion dollars mark in total money raised, it is also re-examining its role in light of the growing crisis in Ireland.

Proposals put forward by CEO Kieran McLoughlin and Chairman Loretta Brennan Glucksman at their annual conference in Cork would mean major changes for an organization that has come to define the best in the Irish Diaspora.

McLoughlin briefed delegates on a new strategy that would see the Fund adding philanthropic programs to exiting portfolio of grants to small businesses starting up in Ireland in an attempt to stimulate economic activity in the devastated Irish economy.

Using philanthropy to stimulate economic activity is not a new phenomenon.

Koret Israel Economic Development Funds (KIEDF), managed in Israel by former attorney and investment banker Carl Kaplan, pioneered philanthropy for economic development by using a portion of the Koret Foundations endowment.

In the process, Koret has become a model for worldwide programs that help philanthropic organizations stimulate economic activity. In Israel, Koret has provided new small businesses with much needed start-up funds.

The American Ireland Fund move is a bold one but not unexpected for an organization that has come to play a much larger role in Irish philanthropy.

Under Glucksman and McLoughlin, the organization has swept away the old fuddy-duddy image, built a vibrant Young Leaders division and created a major new outreach to celebrities, business people and those keen to help Ireland.

The presence of former President Clinton and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney at the Cork dinner and a lavish reception at the home of Michael Flatley the night before the dinner was just another example of their ability to reach out and deliver major figures in the world of politics, entertainment, and the arts.

The latest step to move away from just strict philanthropy is an exciting one and one that can help small businesses in Ireland significantly.

Another development to come out of the Cork conference is that while the Fund is closing in on its $500 million mark since its inception in 1976 its future is as an endowed institution.

As the conference heard, it is no coincidence that universities represent the vast majority of institutions that make it from one century to the next because of alumni or other major endowments.

That is likely to be the Ireland Fund goal to secure its future.

It is also likely to speak out or have members speak out on Irish related issues. Many at the conference bemoaned the negative image of Ireland that has become prevalent in the American media since the economic crisis hit.

Counter viewpoints are poorly represented, and the Ireland Fund now sees as one of its priorities to provide that needed balance. A recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal by member David McCourt taking issue with Ireland’s depiction was just one example used.

All in all, new times and new opportunities for the Ireland Fund which will soon find itself as Ireland’s major philanthropic organization as Atlantic Philanthropies winds down.

Based on the evidence in Cork, it gives every indication of being ready to step up to the plate.

Bill Clinton invades a tiny Irish village and the locals go gaga - A serious message for Ireland amid all the fun and celebration

Bill Clinton came to a little village in East Cork last night and the locals loved it.

It was early evening when the tiny village of Shanagarry gathered to witness the arrival of the 42nd president.

Sleepy hamlets in East Cork do not get many days like this.

Clinton was guest speaker at the Worldwide Ireland Fund dinner attended by over 200 delegates from 12 countries.

It was held at Ballymaloe House, the epicenter of the slow food revolution in Ireland where  the Darina Allen family has established a worldwide reputation for fine cuisine.

The little meeting center where the event was held was more used I’m sure, to local parish functions and the occasional wedding.

Alongside the president was Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny making it a spectacular night for the East Cork speck on the map.

Throw in Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney who accepted a lifetime achievement award and dance legend Michael Flatley and you have a perfect alignment of stars.

The buzz all day at the Ireland Fund event was the decision by Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness  to meet with Queen Elizabeth in Belfast next week.

Bill Clinton called it a “terrific” moment in his speech and there is no question that we may witness the last great historic moment of the Irish peace process next week.

As Ireland Funds CE0 Kieran McLaughlin noted, the process that has become so mundane would never have happened without Clinton’s intervention.

As he is wont to, Clinton’ s remarks weaved across many tapestries, his time in office, the upcoming election, but mostly the Irish economy and how to get out of the mess they are in.

“Creative cooperation” is Clinton’s buzzword these days and he points to the US states that are doing best as examples of it, where opposing parties get together for the good of the state.

Unspoken was the reality that there is no creative cooperation in Europe at the present over the Euro which has led to the mess to begin with.

Come to think of it it was exactly creative cooperation which got Queen Elizabeth and Martin McGuiness to agree to meet next week. As Clinton noted, Elizabeth is long enough on the throne to make her own decisions and obviously she wants it as part of her legacy.

Enda Kenny was also in rare form. Clinton gets every politician alive to up their game, though as Kenny remarked appearing after Clinton and before a
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, is a tough business indeed.

Heaney was introduced by Ireland Fund chairman Loretta Brennan Glucksman who recited a wonderful poem Heaney had written for her after her husband’s passing.

Heaney got the largest ovation of the day and deservedly so. He is one of Ireland’s greatest national treasures, one of a handful who bestrides the world with no equal.

Once he wrote “no glass of mine was ever raised to toast a British queen.”
I’d bet he, like so many Irish these days, would say that is in the past now.

And indeed it is. As he flew out from Ireland last night, Bill Clinton knows that his work on Ireland is the gift that keeps on giving, as peace continues to break out and a former top IRA commander meets a British queen.

As a Shanagarry local has likely never said “Who wudda thunk it”?

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams as Ireland’s next Prime Minister? -- New poll makes it a possibility after the next election

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams as Ireland’s next prime minister may not be as fanciful as many think.

The real prospect of Sinn Fein leading the next Irish government is now apparent.

The latest opinion poll in the Irish Times shows Sinn Fein leaping to 24 per cent support with fellow opposition members Fianna Fail at 17 per cent and independents at 15 per cent.

Gerry Adams is now the most popular party leader after an eight point jump put him ahead of Enda Kenny
That combined total of opposition votes puts them at 56 per cent, well ahead of the governing coalition of Fine Gael and Labor who amass only 42 per cent of the vote.

It is clear that Sinn Fein are having the Labour party for lunch, the Labourites are down to 10 per cent with the vast majority of their voters shifting to Sinn Fein.

Even Fianna Fail, architects of the economic mess, are making a comeback because they are in opposition

It is inevitable in a massive economic downturn that the government parties take the heat. But the Labour Party is especially being decimated.

It is always thus it seems. Minority parties in governments --see Liberal Party in England, are usually the ones who take the brunt of the criticism.

The poll is yet another milestone for Sinn Fein who have commenced an inexorable march towards power in Ireland North and South.

While the shadow of the North’s war loomed large even in the recent presidential election, as time passes such concerns will disappear.

The next election is not due until about 2015, by which time Sinn Fein will have had several years to consolidate power.

They happen to be very good at that and are finally luring good young candidates in the Irish Republic to match the calibre of their leaders in Northern Ireland.

The European treaty poll this week should pass, according to all the experts and polls but one wonders if there is not a hidden no vote lurking in the undergrowth.

Certainly, given the statistics of this latest poll, if anti-government voters turn out in numbers they could easily defeat it.

There will be many nervous faces until the votes are counted.

Denis O’Brien, a billionaire with a mission not just to make money-- Irish businessman praised by Clinton, NY Times, seeks to make a difference

Denis O'Brien (Credit: Forbes)

The O’Reilly family’s stranglehold on most of Irish journalism is over and that can only be good.

I’m delighted that businessman Denis O’Brien, much admired here in America, is taking over effectively as the chief shareholder of Ireland’s largest newspaper group, Independent News and Media.

I know O’Brien and consider him as one of the great business talents to emerge from Ireland in the past half century.

He is a straight talker, and is one of the few who avoided the calamity of believing their own propaganda, that they walked on water, based on nothing more than a property bubble and a backslapping media.

I remember discussing the issue of the plight of the Irish undocumented with him a few years back and he cast his mind back to the time he lived in the US as a penniless student and the problems he encountered then.

He asked what he could do to help on the Irish undocumented and he has done so ever since.

He chaired the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland. It was the first time the Summer Games were staged outside the US with teams from 160 countries and over 30,000 volunteers. The 2003 Summer Games were the most successful in the history of the Special Olympics.

He also remains very active in Concern where he serves on the board of the international charity.

Denis O’Brien will bring a very different set of values to the newspaper world in my opinion.

He is a creator not a destroyer, who has pumped tens of millions of his own funds into Haiti and other impoverished countries where his company Digicel does business.

As The New York Times recently reported, he built 50 new schools in Haiti since the massive earthquake and has plans for 80 more. He is not involved in such work just for the photo-op, a fact he made clear to the Times.

“It’s all about project management,” Mr. O’Brien (53) said in an interview at Digicel’s offices there.  “Everyone’s on hand for the photo op, but where are the 100 houses that were promised after the
cameras are gone? I’m the guy who’s going to count them.”

Bill Clinton is another person deeply appreciative of what O’Brien has done in Haiti

“What is striking is how deeply he has embedded his Haiti work into both his business and personal life,” Clinton told the New York Times.

“Because he cares so much, it’s easier for him to motivate and hold accountable other network members.”

Back home in Ireland, as he’s a big fish in a small pond, O’Brien causes controversy because he is outspoken and direct.

He first came to prominence when he acquired the second Irish cell phone license in controversial fashion. It was a time when a Wild West atmosphere prevailed in Ireland with unregulated political and financial dealing.

O’Brien saw his chance and he took it. He turned the license into a hugely successful venture, unlike those who ended up with Eircom, the main mobile license, and bankrupted it.

O’Brien sold ESAT Digicel for $3 billion and created thousands of jobs since. O’Brien has used his money wisely. He has exercised major philanthropy and injected funds into University College Dublin and other campuses.

Many crocodile tears are being shed this past week over the issue of media monopoly because he also owns radio stations.

Yet when Sir Anthony O’Reilly owned the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent, the Sunday World, the Evening Herald, the Irish Daily Star, the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, 13 local newspapers and also one of the largest newspaper and magazine distribution agencies, Newspread, and several of the largest print works on the island, those same critics hardly offered a bleat of criticism.

O’Brien has his critics and his drawbacks but he is a fundamentally decent man, trying to do good.

On that I’d bet my bottom dollar.

New questions about Father Michael Kelly's guilt or innocence -- Case seen as similar to story of priest accused in the movie "Doubt"

Father Michael Kelly

I had occasion to speak to a person from California who is a long time friend of  Father Michael Kelly, the California-based priest who flew to his native Ireland after losing a civil case against him on an abuse charge.

Yesterday we wrote that Kelly was found liable on the civil charge despite the fact that the accusations against him by a 37-year old man, a pilot for Southwest Airlines, were based on “recovered memories” a highly dubious method as recent history has shown in cases such as the McMartin preschool case.

The man alleged that Kelly abused him when he was a young altar boy back in the mid 1980s.

The person who knows Kelly for over twenty years says they believe that Kelly was likely innocent but they could not be absolutely certain.

The person told me that Father Michael Kelly is straight out of the John Shanley play and movie ‘Doubt’ where an unproven charge against a priest results in his removal from a parish.

“Father Flynn of that movie” the person said, “is exactly like Kelly. “There is suspicion but no outright proof and he has plausibly and extensively denied it.”

This is no open and shut case.  Kelly passed two lie detector tests, has hundreds of his former parishioners still siding with him and an extensive inquiry by the diocese of Stockton found him not guilty.

His flight to Ireland was not illegal. He is not under any prison sentence, he lost a civil case.

My informant also told me that the plaintiff’s attorney John C. Manly who is a specialist and who has won hundreds of millions against the church in such lawsuits, easily outsmarted the Kelly attorneys who were not in the same league. “They were no match for Manly” the person said.

There is said to be another case against him dating to 2002 but the fact that it has never been to court suggests it never will rise to the burden of proof needed to prosecute.

Parishioners still flocked to him and they turned out in large numbers for him despite the guilty verdict.
Kelly is left in a no man’s land, half priest half accused felon.

According to local reports he can no longer publicly perform priestly duties.

Kelly cannot invite people to participate in privately held events, but individuals can invite him.
Kelly did participate in a privately conducted Easter vigil at a rural Lodi-area residence.

Local Bishop Stephen Blaire is required to write a formal report to a Vatican body called the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which is responsible for dealing with clergy sexual abuse crises within the Catholic Church.

"They will advise me back what action they believe should be taken," Blaire told the Modesto Bee.
That could mean they defrock Kelly.

But the question will always remain--- is he innocent or guilty?

Australia replaces real estate as the main topic of Irish conversation -- Land Down Under beckons for a new generation as economy fails

Sydney Opera House went green for St. Patrick's Day.

Dublin -  If you came to Ireland a few years back the topic of conversation inevitably turned to real estate, no matter whom you talked with.

Now that topic is Australia.

Nothing signifies the shift in Ireland’s fortunes more than the new reality that emigration to Australia in particular is on the minds of millions of Irish.

Everyone seems to know someone who has a family member who has emigrated there or is about too.

In a restaurant in Meath on Friday an overheard conversation went like this.

“Not gone yet Down Under?” addressed to a mid-twenties young man.
“No off next week, thanks be to God.”

And so it goes.

 The mining boom in Western Australia in particular has meant that the geography of cities like Perth are discussed as intimately as Cork or Dublin.

A few years back the topic was the number of houses someone owned, how much they had escalated in value, and the latest overseas hot place to buy a second home.

The place to be seen was the latest housing expo featuring properties in Spain, Turkey, or pick your spot in America, especially Florida.

Now tens of thousands line up for hours waiting to enter job fairs for Australia and Canada, which finishes a strong second.

Some of the stories emerging from those fairs are tough to read with families splitting up, people re-emigrating, and especially older intending migrants, their lives in ruins after the bust in Ireland, getting out.

In a local paper here, a vox pop asked a dozen people what they would do if they won the lottery. Three said they would visit Australia to reunite with their sons and daughters who had moved there.

When my nephew Rory recently passed away he was prayed for in Sydney and Melbourne at masses there because of extended family connections there.

It is all part of the new reality or should that be the old reality?

I have often written that emigration waves from Ireland come every thirty years, the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and now again.

What I never predicted was that Australia would be the fulcrum of the new exodus.

Neither Britain nor America seems the focus this time. The British economy is only marginally better than Irelands and visa laws make it difficult to access the US.

Australia and Canada, because of restrictive banking laws, are also the only two major industrialized countries that avoided the worst of the banking and real estate boom and bust. Both countries also have massive natural resources.

China’s demands for natural resources and raw materials has fueled the mining boom in Australia and the Irish in search of work have gladly settled there.

Centuries ago the worst fate was to be deported from Ireland to Van Diemen’s Land and forced to work at penal labor. Read Robert Hughes’ classic account ‘The Fatal Shore’ to see just how awful conditions were for the Irish who were sent there.

Now they are leaving on jetliners by the planeload. Sometimes plus ca change.

Belfast's ugly peace walls are better left standing - US funding for effort to take them down is misguided

Peace wall, Belfast

The International Fund for Ireland (IFI) has allocated $3.8 million to take down the peace walls in Northern Ireland.

Bad idea.

The IFI money comes mainly from American taxpayers and this use of their hard-earned dollars makes me wonder what planet they are living on.

Northern Ireland is still decades away from being a totally normal society.

Yes, it is horrific that walls still have to be erected between warring communities, but hardly surprising.

Just last week a young Catholic man was almost murdered when he was beaten and chased when he found himself in a Protestant neighborhood.
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The peace walls serve a real purpose, dire though they might look and seem.

Northern Ireland has come a very long way. There are almost no deaths now attributed to The Troubles. A civil society is slowly growing up as well as a cross community government.

Those are magnificent achievements and the peace walls have played their part, ugly as it may seem.

Anyone who has spent time in Belfast knows how closely many of the warring communities live in close proximity to one another, especially in Belfast.

A wrong turn and you can find yourself, like the young Catholic man last week in hostile territory indeed.

On many of my visits there I relied on the graffiti and color of the curbstones, red white and blue in Protestant areas, to warn me if I had strayed.

The peace walls also protect during the marching season when the annual rush of blood to the head among Protestant marchers occurs and violence spikes.

Some day in the future the walls will come down but it it not imminent.

Which is why this is a waste of American taxpayer's money in my opinion.

The intent to do good is very clear and should not be denigrated.

But it clashes with the still sad reality in my opinion.

Sectarian killings could increase and tensions rise if the walls come down prematurely.

IFI money far better spent on cross community projects that will breed understanding and eventually friendship for the next generation.

New research shows Catholic majority now likely in Northern Ireland - New figures show trend is continuing and now inevitable

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, First Minister Peter Robinson, Taoiseach Enda Kenny (Credit:  NGNS)

In a stunning column that turns the future on its head, Irish Times columnist Gerry Moriarty has shown that a Catholic majority in Northern Ireland will occur much faster than had previously been thought.

There has been a clear and inexorable pattern of Catholic population increasing while the Protestant population declines.

However, Moriarty presents it in a new and stark way and asks several critical questions.

Key of course is what will the upcoming Catholic majority mean for Northern Ireland?

But first to the facts and figures.

Moriarty opens his column by saying:

"The British and Irish governments and the people of Northern Ireland are facing the prospect – and sooner than most people might think – of how to manage a transformed constitutional situation where the majority in the North are likely to be from a Catholic background."

He goes on:

"The figures are revealed in the statistics: there are now significantly more Catholics than Protestants in nursery, primary, second- and third-level education in Northern Ireland. If that trend continues, and it’s difficult to see a reason why it should not, then in another generation or so the majority population should be Catholic or from a Catholic background – people of voting age, most of whose immediate antecedents are nationalist in their political outlook.

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He pointed out that figures from Northern Ireland’s Department of Education for 2010/11 show 120,415 Protestants and 163,693 Catholics in the North’s schools.

Those figures that is a breakdown of 57.6 per cent Catholic, 42.4 per cent Protestant.....figures for 2009/10 obtained from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that at university level the trend has continued

"In total... at third level there are 20,995 students (59.3 per cent) from a Catholic background and 14,410 (40.7 per cent) from a Protestant background." Moriarty writes

In the 2001 census the figures showed Protestants at 53.1 per cent and Catholics at 43.8 per cent. The 2011 census is expected to show that gap is much narrower.By the 2021 census the change will be dramatic

In the last election 48 per cent voted for Unionist parties and 42 per cent for nationalists. The rest voted cross community, mainly Alliance.

Of course, there is no certainty that Catholics would vote for a United Ireland, indeed, many say they would not.

However, with Scotland trembling on the edge of major devolution and conceivably outright independence, the old United Kingdom is not what it once was.

One could say the same about the Irish Republic of course, and many Catholics, now that they share power in Northern Ireland would hardly want to join up with a country in the throes of a terrible economic malaise.

But how a Catholic majority would work out is unpredictable. But it seems certain that it will happen within a generation.

The Protestant state for a Protestant people created against the wishes of Catholics corralled in 1921 into the new state may find itself on the ash heap in the future.

As Yeats might have said, All changed, changed utterly.

Top ten stories for 2011 - what a year it was

Barack Obama

Here are my top ten stories for 2011. It was quite a year, both good and bad, with many indelible memories.

1. Queen’s visit to Ireland:

It was an incredible occasion which ended centuries of mutual loathing and dislike. The Queen’s words of Gaelic at the Dublin Castle State Dinner were my personal highlight. It was an amazing occasion for the Irish and British people and a tribute to the effect of the peace process.

Read more: President McAleese says Queen Elizabeth’s visit was 'happy and healing'

2. President Obama’s visit to Ireland:

It had to be a stellar event to overtake the visit of an American president to Ireland but the Queen’s visit did that.

Obama was also deeply impressive, loose and relaxed in Moneygall with his ancestral relatives and flowing and on his game during his remarks outside Trinity College.

Read more: Obama visit to Ireland a good political move

3. Irish presidential election:

It was the election that had everything from a last second October surprise that utterly upended the expected result, to allegations of attempted murder, incest, boy pedophilia, IRA involvement. The final TV debate where Martin McGuinness finished Sean Gallagher’s campaign was an extraordinary live moment.

Read more: Dana Rosemary Scallon’s brother accused of molesting sister’s child

4. Fianna Fail collapse in Irish general election vote:

Blamed for the Irish recession. they went from the longest party in government in Europe to being practically wiped out. Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael party cruised to victory and Irish politics will never be the same again.

Read more: All changed utterly in Ireland after this utterly dramatic election

5. Enda Kenny speech on child abuse:

Seeing an Irish leader stand up and take on the dreadful wrongdoing in the Catholic Church on child sex abuse was a remarkable moment for the country and the world.

Read more: NY Times Maureen Dowd calls Irish leader's speech ‘breathtaking’

6. Bill Clinton speech at Irish America Magazine Hall of Fame awards:

A remarkable speech on the origins of his interests in Ireland and where he felt Irish America and Ireland needed to go next from the most important Irish American political figure ever.

Read more: Former President Clinton worries about Irish suicide numbers - VIDEO

7. Second Irish Diaspora conference in Ireland:

A gathering of the far flung tribe featuring 300 business leaders from all over the world discussing the way forward for Ireland. At last the Irish government seems to get the power and potential of the Diaspora

Read more: Bill Clinton's warning about Irish economic prospects

8. The winter from hell:

US East Coast and Ireland suffered bitter winters, the worst in Ireland for over sixty years while the Christmas to New Year storm in New York was the worst on record

Read more: Further heavy snowfall expected as big freeze continues in Ireland- SEE PHOTOS & VIDEO

9. Green Card moves by China, India, Mexico and Filipinos:

Once upon a time there was an agreement that it was comprehensive immigration reform or nothing. The Irish were especially criticized for even suggesting anything else. Then a group of countries broke away and are currently trying to get their own deal. Lesson learned I hope.

Read more: Irish frozen out of a new green card bill in Congress

10. Lennox the condemned dog:

I know it’s a weird one but on out website out readers could not get enough of the pit-bull called Lennox condemned to death in Belfast for being a pit bull.

Read more: Frantic efforts continue to ‘Save Lennox’ the Death Row dog in Belfast

Why David Drumm's allegations ring true - Says Irish state knew far more about Anglo collapse than they let on

Former Anglo Irish banker, David Drumm

READ MORE: David Drumm: ‘There is a witch hunt ... I convince myself that this will pass’

Are the Irish in denial over what happened during their banking and economic crisis?

Yesterday we published an exclusive interview with David Drumm, former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank, which made clear Drumm's belief that at key moments in that crisis the entire leadership of the Irish state were in cahoots to prevent a collapse at any price.

That may well have involved highly dubious actions, including one where Anglo Irish Bank loaned some of its best customers tens of millions of dollars to buy the bank's own stock as it began a freefall.

Drumm claims that such actions were clearly agreed to and known about by the key figures in the Irish banking , government and bank regulation world.

It is a sensational claim, making it clear that in the midst of a crisis extraordinary and possibly extra legal decisions were being made.

He cites a recent affidavit from a top bank official which shows that a working group of many leaders in those fields were meeting daily and agreeing strategy as the economic collapse began.

As Drumm describes it, everyone was working together until the collapse became inevitable and then "the scattering began"

Drumm feels that he and Anglo Irish have taken the brunt of the hatred in Ireland for the economic collapse.

He says he is prepared to accept some of the blame but that many of the other key players have got off Scot free.

It will be interesting to see the impact of Drumm's words over the next few weeks.

He is currently in bankruptcy proceedings in Boston and may well have cause to call on some of the same people now denying any knowledge of what was happening as the Irish banking collapse began.

Those were deeply murky times as the banks began to collapse and a panicked government and Irish superstructure tried to prevent it.'What they did in the end, guaranteeing the banks has comeback to haunt the Irish taxpayer.

What David Drumm says has the ring of truth in my opinion, It will be very interesting to see where it leads.

READ MORE: David Drumm: ‘There is a witch hunt ... I convince myself that this will pass’

Potato is dying out in Ireland reports New York Times ---Pasta the new potato as busy parents prepare it quicker

The potato, the humble spud formerly and Irish favorite

Never thought I'd see the day but ....the potato is dying out in Ireland as pasta takes over according to The New York Times.

My father and his generation are surely turning in their grave.

My Dad was a spud specialist, a man who could tell with one bite what part of Ireland a potato came form and what kind it was.

It was the Irish equivalent of a French wine connoisseur, and he was noted for it.

He was not alone, for most of the last century before new-fangled food like pasta came in the spud was the common denominator a in every Irish household rich or poor.

Now it seems the spud is on its way out --along with the pub, the Catholic religion etc.

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These are distressing times!

Irish families in the modern world are preparing pasta which takes about ten minutes rather than potatoes which take far longer the newspaper reports.

The paper quotes Bord Bia the Irish food marketing board as stating that potato consumption has dropped 25 per cent in Ireland.

“We believe that, emotionally, most Irish consumers still love to eat their potatoes, but several key issues negatively impact on their consumption,” the board said
Irish mostly believe potatoes are fattening which is also a myth but the Atkins diet has remained very popular and that forbids potatoes.

“In terms of overall nutrition and including vitamin C, the potato is head and shoulders above pasta and rice,” said, a Paula Mee a Dublin dietician “But pasta will often win out, particularly when you’re busy. I don’t know any child who doesn’t eat it. The packaging is more colorful, you don’t have to peel it, and it’s quick and fast to prepare.”

“There is a legacy attached to the potato, and it obviously isn’t a happy one,” she said. “It is in our DNA to regard the potato as a peasant food linked to a past we would obviously all rather leave behind us.”

Vicky Leahy, a lecturer and single mother said spuds simply didn’t cut it any.
“To state the obvious, spuds take half an hour to prepare, while pasta takes 10 minutes and rice slightly longer,” she said. “But it’s deeper than that. Potatoes personify the Ireland of my father’s generation, where meat and two vegetables were on the table at 6 o’clock every single night. That’s what I associate them with, but we’ve all traveled and we’ve moved on.”

Liam Glennon, president of the Irish Potato Federation, said potatoes have a poor image.

“We have to tackle the ‘poor relation syndrome’ where potatoes are associated with the pre-Celtic Tiger times,” he said, referring to Ireland’s decade-long economic boom that began in the mid-1990s. “I would hope we are not in terminal decline — and I don’t believe we are. Because potatoes are so strongly associated with Ireland, such a scenario would be unthinkable.”
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Shock closure of Irish Embassy in Vatican Announced -- Further evidence of deep problems between Ireland and Holy See

Plaque outside the Irish Embassy in the Vatcian

The closure of their embassy at the Vatican by the Irish government is a startling move.

While they couched it in terms of it saving money, the fact is that the Vatican posting, in particular, was considered one of the most high prestige posts in the world.

It is easy to see why. The Papal Nuncio, the Holy See Ambassador in Dublin, was always considered dean of the diplomatic corps there and given extra respect and access.

It would have been inconceivable a few years ago that Ireland would turn its back on its Vatican outpost.

It is a measure of how sadly diminished the Catholic Church is in Ireland that a government now feels enabled to take this step.

Eamon De Valera even enshrined the church's special position in the Irish constitution.

Years ago such a move would have resulted in a belt of the crozier sufficient to put the government back in line very quickly.

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There will be no such threat this time.

The Vatican has previously withdrawn their Nuncio in Dublin, Giuseppe Leanza, after the Irish government had criticized them over the sex abuse scandals.


New Prime Minster Enda Kenny quickly made his mark when he accused the Vatican of taking part in the cover up over abusive priests.

He was applauded by a scandal weary nation for doing so.

Those abuse cases have sucked the fight out of the church.

A recent survey conducted by a religious group showed that 50 percent of the Irish people no longer trusted the church.

That is an incredible number for a church that once had over 90 per cent mass attendance and the ear of every major politician.

The closure of the embassy is another extraordinary step in the evolving relationship between Dublin and the Vatican.

The Holy See will not be pleased at this move, signaling as it inevitably does a lessening of their influence in Ireland.

It will be interesting to see their response.

Sensational end to Irish presidency race as Martin McGuinness and Sean Gallagher get down and dirty

McGuinness and Gallagher stand off

If you haven't seen it, I urge you to watch the accompanying YouTube video of the key moment in the Irish presidential race.

It is when Martin McGuinness delivers a hay-maker to front runner Sean Gallagher which has thrown the Irish presidential race into severe doubt once again.

Amazingly, what the Sinn Fein candidate accused Gallagher of was nothing criminal or even underhand.

It was of receiving a check for a fundraiser for the then Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen.

In the context of the time in 2008, it was a completely unremarkable act

It is the context of today which has produced a media frenzy.

The Fianna Fail brand in Ireland nowadays is as popular as Gadaffi in Libya.

The financial collapse brought with it a withering indictment of their pay to play and see no evil mindset.

It made many of their insiders rich and impoverished so many now who are left to pay the debts.

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Sean Gallagher is a former party member who had successfully distanced himself from the Fianna Fail brand throughout the election.

But McGuinness charged that he had accepted checks on their behalf up to three years ago despite Gallagher's pledges that he had not.

Gallagher has denied he took the check but the damage was done in terms of igniting a media frenzy.

He has claimed a Sinn Fein conspiracy to tear him down. They have claimed he was hiding his Fianna Fail past and misleading people about it.

Gallagher's cause was not helped by another moment in the final debate when a woman in the audience slated his explanation of how a check that was supposed to end up in his company's bank account was assigned elsewhere.

The clear underlying accusation was tax evasion.

So Gallagher was suddenly firefighting massive flames on two fronts.

Yet he is still a likely winner.

He held a 15 point lead in polls going into the final weekend over Michael D. Higgins in second place.

Whether that size of a lead could evaporate overnight remains the unknown question.

My guess is it won't-- but it may be a very close run thing.

Either way an extraordinary end to an incredible presidential campaign.

Tom Kennedy, a trailblazer and great Irish gentleman, passes

Tom Kennedy, one of the great gentlemen in the Irish American community, has passed away at age 90.

Kennedy was Public Relations & Advertising Manager for Aer Lingus for many years, but he was so much more.

He was a peacemaker, devoting many years of his life after Aer Lingus to the work of the American Ireland Fund, which played a key role in the Irish peace process.

He brought the same affability and charm to his work with the American Ireland Fund as he did to his time with Aer Lingus. He played a key role in the construction of the success story of both those great Irish institutions in America.

Back in the days when airlines emphasized friendliness and service, Kennedy exemplified both. There were no hard edges, just a sense of always putting the customer first and dealing with clients as diverse as Irish President Eamon de Valera when he came to America, to many other heads of state.

Kennedy was courteous, professional and always quick with a joke and a smile and a word of advice for newcomers.

I had two personal encounters with Tom that give the measure of the man.

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When I was contemplating moving from California to New York to start Irish America magazine, he was one of my first ports of call. He was head of Aer Lingus public relations and advertising at the time.

He gave me a great welcome and extensive advice, and immediately put the airline down for advertisements in the new publication. It was a gesture of support I would never forget.

Several years later at one of our Business 100 events at Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York, Tom was present when the Waterford Crystal trophy to be presented to Jean Kennedy Smith as Irish American of the Year shattered into a thousand pieces after it fell off the stand.

We stood around aghast -- except Tom.

He left the event, went to his home, picked his most choice piece of Irish crystal and came back with it, all in enough time to save our blushes as we had, once again, a wonderful trophy to present to Jean Kennedy.

It was a typical act of the man.

I last saw him at the American Ireland Fund dinner earlier this year, accompanied by his charming wife Val as always.

He was still the same dapper Tom, goatee neatly trimmed, ready with some Irish wit, the latest gossip and the news from Ireland.

That is how I would like to remember him, as an Irish gentleman of the greatest kindness and distinction.

Brendan O’Kelly a colleague and friend during all his time in Aer Lingus had the following to say about Tom on Friday.

O'Kelly said "Tom has been my friend and colleague for over 50 years.  We both joined Aer Lingus in NY in the late 1950s – he as Advertising and Public Relations Manager and I was part of the Sales Department. 

"He came to Aer Lingus after stints at the NY Times and the Hudson Meyer Company, one of the top PR firms in New York.

"He was perceived by the airline industry as one of the best in the business and enjoyed the respect and esteem of us all.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and as I think of him now the word laughter comes to mind – he was great company and I ache with the pain of knowing he’s gone. "

May he rest in peace.

Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange could help peace process -- prisoner releases were a cornerstone of Irish peace

Gilad Shalit

The release of Gilad Shalit and the corresponding release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners is a similar tactic to what was used in a critical stage of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Owen Bowcott writing in the Guardian newspaper today calls Irish prisoner releases a cornerstone of the Irish peace process.

It was a step at the time that was noted in Israel and several commentators urged Israel to do the same to kick start negotiations.

The New York Times noted that the swap today 'could shake up regional politics."

Though there are obvious differences with Ireland that may now be the starting point in the process there too.
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Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in 2005, Dr. Alina Korn, a criminology lecturer at Bar-Ilan University, said: "It is worth learning from the experience of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

"There, the British and the Irish governments … agreed to release most of the political prisoners, even those with 'blood on their hands', and took advantage of their release to promote broad support for the political process.

"… There is something about the release of prisoners that benefits those who release them as well … Opening the gates can make it clear to Israelis, once and for all, that there is a connection between Palestinian happiness and Israeli peace and quiet."

The Northern Irish prisoners on both sides were released in the critical days of the peace process not long after the Good Friday Agreement was agreed.

It led to an unprecedented sense of progress in those communities hardest hit by the Troubles where hundreds of men and women had spent their adult lives behind bars.

Many of those prisoners became linchpins of the peace process, selling it in their communities.

The hope is that both sides in Israel and Palestine may see it in the same way-- that peace and security depends on both sides dealing and negotiating with each other and that real progress can flow from concessions from each side not just hard lines drawn in the sand.

'Occupy Dame Street' protesters are speaking truth - Irish Central Bank caused economic collapse - VIDEO

Speaker takes the stage on Dame Street

Now that the occupied Wall Street protest has spread to Ireland there is no doubt that further demonstrations will take place in Dublin given the size of the crowd who attended the first weekend.

There is no question that Ireland has suffered more than its share of economic misery in the past two years and the large number of demonstrators who showed up on the weekend clearly reflect that.

The choice of the Central Bank building in Dame Street is particularly important it was Central Bank mismanagement that triggered the original crisis.

They appear to have had no clue that the economy was dramatically overheating and that the construction industry in particular was entering a massive bubble phase.

The fact that Anglo-Irish Bank was allowed to lend so recklessly and that other banks soon tried to emulate them in a cascading house of cards is at the core of the Irish financial scandal.
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The Central Bank proves itself utterly inadequate in its most important role overseeing and managing the economy , the bank regulator who was given the direct oversight was a complete joke and seemed to have no idea what was really going on in the Irish banking system.

Now the 'Occupy Dame Street' people are on their doorstep, laying the blame precisely where it should have been placed, but never was.

The Irish crisis is unbelievable in terms of the impact it has had on the country there.

Last year 40,000 people emigrated to the 4 corners of the world and a recent poll in The Irish Times indicated that 66 per cent of Irish people did not expect the emigrants to return in any major numbers.

One can only imagine the sadness in the many homes as families bid farewell to cherished sons and daughters as they experience how deep that wound of forced emigration is.

What is hardest to understand is how unnecessary it really is.

Economies like Canada and Australia did not founder because they had strict regulation of banks and competent oversight of the institutions.

Ireland had none of the above.

The protesters at Dame Street are sending a powerful message that is also timely.

A further €3.7 billion will be cut from the Irish economy and taxpayers pockets in the next few months. The hard pressed taxpayer is being squeezed like a dry lemon.

By pointing the finger of blame at those who allowed the financial Armageddon to occur, the Occupy Dame street people are doing the entire nation a service.

The Irish Times speaks to the protesters: