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).
{ 0 comments }
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
{ 0 comments }
