Over the recent Easter commemorations to Irelands’ fallen patriots, Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein outlined the Sinn Fein strategic plan to achieve reunification. This is the broad stroke message to Sinn Fein activists, supporter and voters in both Ireland and abroad. It is certainly a message of engagement, reconciliation, fairness, discussion and debate. Have a read of it for yourself:

Strategic plan to achieve reunification

“This is Sinn Féin’s starting point – a belief in a new union – a cordial union of all the people of this island. Built through reconciliation. To achieve reunification will require the consent of a majority of people voting in referenda North and South.

To secure this Republicans need:

* To popularise reunification as viable, achievable and in the best interests of all and to build consensus for this.

* To encourage all non-unionist political parties and sections of civic society to become persuaders and actors for reunification.

* To convince a section of unionist opinion that their identity, self-interest and quality of life will be best served, secured and guaranteed in a united Ireland.

* To challenge those who would seek to maintain the status quo.

* To ensure the Irish Government act on the constitutional imperative of reunification.

* To encourage the British Government to become persuaders for

reunification.

* To build on international political and practical support for reunification, drawing in particular on the support and influence of the diaspora.

“Ireland north and south is changing. We are an island people in transition. The north is particular has been transformed in recent years. In this state more and more people realise that we do not have a real republic,” Mr Adams said.

“Uniting Ireland makes economic sense. It will bring jobs, create prosperity and deliver a better standard of living for this and future generations. The people of Ireland need to plan responsibly for the future direction of politics on the island.

To do that we need a fully inclusive and rational debate.”

Noreen O’Keefe Costello has been named as the Grand Marshal of the Long Beach Irish Day Parade. Noreen is a well respected community member of high standing. Noreen serves as the Assistant Corporation Counsel of the city of Long Beach, and President of the Spirit Rider Regatta.

She will be aided by Donna Jocobellis (LAOH Div 17), John Gallagher (AOH Div 17), Eamon Donohue (AOH Div 17), Dan McKee (AOH Div 17).

Two issues came to mind for me when I read the following article from “The Irish Emigrant”. Firstly, given Australia’s forward looking policy, I was wondering what the Congress was doing to attract some of this young Irish talent into the US. After all, this new generation if Irish immigrants is highly educated, young and English speaking. They are only taking flight because those that hold power messed up their country so much there is now a scarcity of opportunity and work for the young Irish to do.

Secondly, and just to add insult to injury, the saddest part of the story is when these young Irish kids leave Ireland, the power hungry politicians take away their right to vote. That’s right, the kids can no longer vote in their country of birth. I know here in the US the right to vote is not something that is within the remit of any Government to take away. It is a birth right, a right of citizenship, no residency or taxation restrictions accompany our right to vote; it is a fundamental building block of any healthy democracy. By disenfranchising those that do not benefit from the system the powerful in Ireland silence the voice of the powerless.

This young demographic is one of the groups most likely to vote for change in the system. By disenfranchising the diaspora, the values and belief systems of the dominant social, political and financial elite are re-enforced in Irish socitey. The voices of hundreds of thousands (if not millions over generations) of Irish emigrants are deemed worthless, struck off the register, put on a plane by a greiving parent and promptly forgotten about by Biffo and his ilk. No wonder Fianna Fail and Fianna Gael have been in power for so long. It’s not just Mubarak in Egypt who is prepared to do what ever it takes to keep holding on to power.

You can read the article here

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Yes, Ireland had it good for a number of years, but the government became complacent and greed eventually turned a good thing into trash. They couldn’t even afford to give the Cetic Tiger a decent wake.

In comparison to Britain, it’s nearest competitor, the Irish government had positioned the country very well back in 1987 to attract FDI from the US. Like the British the Irish had a young, English speaking, well trained and highly educated work force. But unlike Britain, Ireland was a full participant in the Euro zone, eventually adopting the Euro as it’s national currency. Ireland knew that US companies were not interested in Ireland’s paltry 6 million consumers (all 32 counties) but were looking to the 360 million consumers of the European Union. Having the Euro eliminated the prospect of currency fluctuations, an advantage the British and their Pound Sterling did not enjoy as it would continue to fluctuate against other currencies including the US dollar and the Euro. The bottom line for business people who don’t like uncertainty and look to reduce risk was that the Irish seemed a safer bet than the British. And they were.

To compound the advantage the Irish offered a 12.5% corporation tax, significantly less then their British competitors. All this obviously interested US corporate investors, particularly in the technology sector, with companies such as Yahoo, eBay, PayPal, Google, Amazon and Facebook making Ireland a significant hub for their European operations.

But the Irish government blew it. They mismanaged the economy to the extent that it wasn’t even a “crash landing” or a “jobless recovery”, it ended in a complete train wreck. They destroyed a good thing and now Ireland’s children are leaving again in droves. They are mostly young college graduates or skilled workers, well educated and English speaking but with little prospect of work in Ireland where unemployment is now 13%. Unemployment figures would be even higher if the Irish government did not have the safety valve of emigration. And when they do emigrate the Irish government denies these young people their right to vote in Irish elections, out of sight out of mind, disgraceful. But they won’t be coming to the US. It is virtually impossible for them to find sponsorship or even legally navigate US immigration legislation. First hand reports show that Australia is where the young Irish are going this time. This is a shame because in my humble opinion the US would benefit greatly if we could accommodate some of the new Irish diaspora.

Long Beach Irish Day will take place again this year on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010. Folks will again start gathering around 10am and the parade begins at 12 noon. As always there will be live Irish music in all the bars and a plethora of Irish goods and merchandise for sale all along the parade route.

The Irish vendors must close at 5pm but the pubs and clubs will remain open till the “wee” hours. Please drink responsibly