Archive for September, 2009
Next Entries »Official stats on emigration due out on Tuesday
Thursday, September 17th, 2009The Central Statistics Office has announced on its website that it will be releasing its annual population and migration stats this Tuesday. This is the annual report that gives the emigration figures up to April every year. At last we shall know to what extent the anecdotal evidence of rising emigration is reflected in the official figures.
The figures are being released a little later than the last couple of years – perhaps the delay is due to the fact that this year, for the first time, the CSO has said that the nationality of outgoing migrants will be reported. This is a significant move as it will let us see to what extent any additional outflow is the result of migrants returning home, or to a third country.
This information will be useful for those interested in such topics as our housing market, as additional downward pressure on population is likely to reduce demand further.
Related website:
Literature of Irish Exile Autumn School: Omagh, 17 October, 2009
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009The Tenth Literature of Irish Exile Autumn School, held annually at the Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh, has been announced.
This year’s theme is “Moving Home: the legacy of Plantation in Tyrone and Fermanagh”.
From the organisers:
The focus of the Literature of Irish Exile Autumn School, now in its Tenth year, remains on how emigrants from Ireland have given expression in words to feelings of exile. The aim is to give members of the public a friendly opportunity to meet and mix with experts on some of the less well-known aspects of ‘exile’ in Irish literature.
Speakers
Peter Archdale is a retired Royal Navy commander with a wide experience of Oceanography. He serves on many agencies and trusts overseeing many aspects of Northern Ireland’s natural environment. He has a longstanding interest in the genealogy and history of his family and its association with west Ulster since the early seventeenth century.
Professor Kay Muhr is Senior Research Fellow with the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project, Department of Celtic and Irish Studies, Queen’s University Belfast. Chairperson of the Northern Ireland Place-Name Society, Kay has published extensively on early literature and language, oral tradition, place and family names and cartography which will form the main focus of her attention today.
Dr. Brian Lambkin and Dr. Patrick Fitzgerald are respectively founding Director and Lecturer & Development Officer with the Centre for Migration Studies, Ulster American Folk Park. Brian is currently Chairman of the Association of European Migration Institutions whilst Paddy has been teaching Irish Migration Studies at Masters level with Queen’s University Belfast since 1996. In 2008 they jointly authored Migration in Irish History, 1607-2007 (Palgrave, 2008).
The Tenth Literature of Irish Exile
‘Moving Home: the legacy of Plantation in Tyrone and Fermanagh’
Saturday 17 October, 2009
PROGRAMME:
10.30 Tea & Coffee in CMS
11.00 Peter Archdale: ‘The Archdales and the Ulster Plantation’
11.45 Dr. Kay Muhr: ‘The Plantation Mapmakers of Ulster in Fermanagh and Tyrone’
12.30 UAFP: Campbell and Mellon Houses
and Lunch (UAFP Café)
1.45 Depart for Ulster History Park: Plantation Bawn
2.30 Drs. Patrick Fitzgerald & Brian Lambkin: Ulster Scots, ‘Ulster English and Ulster Welsh’
3.30 Tea & Coffee (UHP)
Fee : £20.00 stg (£15.00 concession for students, unwaged and senior citizens)
Includes: registration, morning tea/coffee, lunch, afternoon
tea/coffee and drinks reception.
Contact
Tel: 028 8225 6315; Fax: 028 8224 2241 Christine.Johnston@librariesni.org.uk
Ireland Funds publish diaspora strategies report
Saturday, September 12th, 2009“A comparative review of international diaspora strategies” has been published by the Ireland Funds. The document examines a number of aspects of individual nations’ diaspora policies and makes recommendations for Ireland. Report authors Kingsley Aikins, Dr. Anita Sands and Nicola White build on a growing body of diaspora strategy work being done around the world, most notably by the World Bank and, in Ireland, by Mark Boyle, Rob Kitchin and Daphne Ancien at NUI Maynooth.
The report is comprehensive in its scope and exciting in the possibilities and initiatives it suggests. Among its key points:
- Ireland has the potential to join India and Israel in the top three nations for diaspora development; India and Israel can serve as valuable models for Ireland in proactively engaging with the diaspora, while Ireland can serve as a model for other nations.
- The report introduces the concept of “The Global Irish 1000″ – a small number of exceptional people that can make a key difference, but says that this concept and the fact that the communications revolution has enabled large-scale connections are not mutually exclusive.
- Ireland’s global knowledge network will be key to engaging the diaspora and allowing them to play a role in such initiatives as the Smart Economy and ‘talent acceleration’ programmes.
- Programmes allowing members of the diaspora to spend time learning in Ireland should be developed – not only for young people, but for older people as well.
- A certificate of Irish ancestry could give official recognition to those with Irish ancestry who are not eligible for citizenship, along with a number of privileges.
- A system of recognition should be developed to honour those in the diaspora.
- Ireland needs to develop its competitiveness in the global cultural arena – and needs to have a profile similar to those built up for other nations by organisations such as the British Council, Alliance Francaise, and the Goethe Institute.
If there’s any frustration that an engaged reader might feel while reading the report, it’s that some of these initiatives have been suggested many times over the last few years. The award system is one case in point: The 2002 Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigration recommended this, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern discussed it in the Dail in 2007, it’s recommended in this year’s strategic review of US-Ireland relations, and yet there has been no public proposal.
Much has been achieved since the Task Force, but there remain so many proposed initiatives waiting to be developed.
One point which is notable for its absence in such a comprehensive review is the notion of political participation by overseas citizens. With 115 countries allowing their non-resident citizens to vote, it seems inevitable that at some point this will become an issue in Ireland as well. The reports’ two favoured model countries, Israel and India offer interesting case studies on the issue: Neither allow their expats to vote currently, but the topic is becoming increasingly prominent in both nations – and not without controversy. (In Israel, a recently defeated proposal was favoured by the Right, who believe it will help them; in India the Prime Minister reportedly promised non-resident voting rights in 2006, while another government minister said more recently the issue of accommodating non-resident voting was under discussion.)
The Ireland Funds has been rebranding themselves to more fully showcase their changed their slogan to “The Global Irish Making a Difference Together”. They note the organisation is “a global leader in the area of diaspora philanthropy”, having raised over $300 million and funded over 1,200 organisations in Ireland and beyond. They add:
With such a track record, The Ireland Funds is now looked upon as a thought leader in the area of diaspora engagement and through a range of research, conferences, seminars and presentations is actively contributing to the body of knowledge in the field of diaspora studies, bringing a vital practitioner perspective.
Download the report from the Ireland Funds website.
Count me out, says O’Leary
Friday, September 11th, 2009Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, ever the provocateur, has said he has no interest in attending the upcoming Global Irish Economic Forum. The forum is taking place at Farmleigh House on 18 and 19 September, and is aimed at garnering ideas and enabling Ireland’s most successful global citizens to network for the mutual benefit of Ireland’s economy and the diaspora.
The Irish Independent recently ran a wide-ranging interview with the business executive turned Lisbon campaigner. O’Leary was his usual subtle self when asked about the forum:
Perhaps Michael might take the time to go to the Government’s upcoming Global Irish Economic Forum to pitch his ideas to save the country?
“No. I told them I wouldn’t show up to it. We got this invitation back in February for a three-day shindig of the great and the good who have nothing to contribute. I mean, Bob Geldof never created a bloody job in Ireland in his life. I’m not just singling him out, but you’ll have all the usual ‘come all ye’s’ and the social bloody partners and all it is, is a jolly. They’re even going to the All-Ireland final on the Sunday! I wrote back to Cowen and said this is all being hosted by Micheal Martin, and he’s a waste of space.”
So what would Michael O’Leary do to make things better?
“What you want to have is a group of business people with concrete ideas to take one day in the middle of November. Don’t make it a big media event where we listen to speeches from Bob ‘bloody’ Geldof and gobshites from Cori. They’re not the ones who deliver jobs. Take 20 or 30 sensible business people and we’ll give you the solutions. I’m not going to waste three days of my life farting around in Farmleigh, listening to all those bunnies waffling on in cliches before going to the All-Ireland bloody final! It’s a photoshoot for a Government that wants to look like it’s doing something. Frankly I have better things to do with my time, like growing Ryanair.”
In fairness to the organisers, the actual programme for the Global Irish Forum seems to resemble O’Leary’s vision of a chat with sensible business people far more than a session of come-all-ye’s.
Related Links:
- Irish Independent – Developers and banks should take the pain: O’Leary
- Global Irish Forum – official website
- Global Irish Forum progamme