Boston Irish Commentary
The Jan. 19 election to succeed Paul Kirk - and Ted Kennedy - in the United States Senate was supposed to be the tripwire. The vote that launched a thousand domino campaigns, Democrats vying against Democrats for seats long held safe by Democrats, and... Read more
One of the more substantive heroes of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, Cardinal Cahal Daly, died in a Belfast hospital last month at the age of 92. A saintly man of small stature, the cardinal was trusted by Protestant church leaders on all sides. A... Read more
Declan Kelly describes himself as "a salesman for Northern Ireland" and like any good salesman, he comes to the job armed with facts and figures - and brimming with energy, determination, and ideas.
Kelly also has the great advantage of selling a product... Read more
The view is serene from Stephen John Murphy's office on the fifth floor of Boston City Hall. It overlooks Faneuil Hall and a swath of Boston Harbor in the distance on this promising late January day when the sun is a bit higher in the sky and the... Read more
When Maureen Gates received a phone call asking if she would like an intern from Ireland, she didn't waste a moment to jump at the opportunity. Gates works on the EagleEyes project at the Boston College Campus School and for the past decade she has helped... Read more
Every once in a while we have to be told to "slow down, you are going too fast; stop and think." Sometimes it is a speeding accident, or an exciting idea gone wrong, or a personal excess that should be controlled.
In Ireland's case it was the soaring... Read more
First came the startling news that the republican leader's brother, Liam Adams, was on the run, charged with having sexually abused his daughter for an eight-year period that began when the girl was 4. He was reported to be hiding in the Republic of... Read more
Baseball has long carried the day when it comes to locutions that insiders and true fans use as a second language - the hot corner, a can of corn, the cycle, suicide squeeze, ribbie, Ks, the nickel curve, and the slider, to name just a few. Then there's... Read more
An innovative program to encourage students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) is attracting thousands of students to Syracuse, N.Y.
USAGraduate is a 10-week interactive internet-based quiz program that offers... Read more
Tom Martin took to ice as a young boy as cod take to the sea. It was his lifeblood. In high school, he used to run to his Cambridge home backwards from Harvard Square, practicing the art of a pivot so he could perform the difficult maneuver without... Read more
Paris is known for many things - wonderful walks along the Seine, breathtaking views from the Eiffel Tower, and relaxing afternoons in the city's innumerable cafes.
But for Irish soccer fans, none of that matters. Liberté, égalité and fraternité? Forget... Read more
On the lip of a historic and yet contentious vote in the U.S. Senate on a health care reform bill that would extend health benefits to about 31 million uninsured Americans, James W. Hunt Jr., longtime president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of... Read more
In broad state government terms, this year so far has been largely about corruption allegations, and their fallout. Such outbursts are often cyclical, play themselves out, and fade away for a while.
But there's a larger, more fundamental alteration going... Read more
For decades, Peter Robinson was the man in the background, a key player in the world of hard-line unionism but almost entirely obscured by Ian Paisley's epic shadow.
In 1979, at the tender age of 29, Robinson was elected to the British parliament,... Read more
While they are striving mightily to attract new business investment to Northern Ireland and are encouraging tourists to visit, authorities, both elected and appointed, seem unable to stop the new terrorists (also called dissidents) and their many acts of... Read more
The recounting of his tenure as a United States senator in the media's compelling coverage of the death of Ted Kennedy and the current successor campaign is more than the story of one man's growth and influence in that body; it is also the latest... Read more
Though the general economy in Ireland is causing severe problems today, two to three years from now we may be looking at a far stronger country than would be the case if the Irish had not gone through these difficult times.
Perhaps Ireland grew too fast,... Read more
It could be, as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown puts it, "the final piece in the jigsaw" puzzle. And, in this case, it is a rather expensive piece, indeed. If it is, however, the piece that makes the whole Northern puzzle knit together, then it will... Read more
In a perfect world, one might assume that when he was growing up, the celebrated Boston Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy played catch with his dad every summer day and went to Fenway Park so often that the crease in his pants ran sideways. But... Read more
Michael Lonergan, Ireland's new Consul General to Boston, began his tenure here in a way none of his predecessors in the post had experienced. In an interview at the Consulate, he sat down with the BIR to talk about his memorable first days on the job,... Read more
