Reflections on the ‘Smack 47’ letter – Comparing it to the ‘Irish Cable’ of 1920 is flawed reasoning

By Peter F. Stevens
April 3, 2015
Peter F. Stevens

What does the recent furor over the 47 Republican senators’ missive to Iran’s ayatollahs have to do with the United States and Ireland?
Nothing – at least until defenders of the 47 started talking smack about the time 95 years ago when 88 members of the US House of Representatives sent a cable to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the British Parliament protesting the brutal treatment by the British of Irish prisoners who had been stripped of all rights and held without arraignment or trial.

Enough already, Mr. O’Dowd

By Trina Vargo
April 3, 2015
Trina Vargo

By Trina Vargo
The week of March 16 was so seven years ago. Irish America publisher Niall O’Dowd may be loud, but that doesn’t make him right, or representative of most Irish Americans.
In his never-ending need to ingratiate himself with the Clintons, he inducted Hillary Clinton into his Irish America Hall of Fame during that week. All that did was to remind everyone that when Clinton ran against Obama in 2008, she and her camp falsely claimed she played an instrumental role in the Northern Ireland peace process leading up to the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

‘Family Reunion’ at the White House: Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Kenny of Ireland at St. Patrick’s Day Reception

By President Barack Obama
April 2, 2015
President Barack Obama

Speaker of the House John Boehner, President Barack Obama, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny walked together down the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 2015. Photo courtesy White HouseSpeaker of the House John Boehner, President Barack Obama, and Taoiseach Enda Kenny walked together down the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 2015. Photo courtesy White House
President Barack Obama hosted 
Prime Minister Enda Kenny in White House on March 17. The two leaders offered the following remarks in the East Room that afternoon following their meeting.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Hello, everybody!  This is a good-looking crowd…. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody. 
There are too many distinguished Irish and Irish-Americans here tonight to mention, so I’ll just offer “a hundred thousand welcomes” to the White House.  But I want to offer a warm welcome to our special guests:  Taoiseach Kenny and his lovely wife, Fionnuala.  Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States, Anne Anderson; and her counterpart, our man in Dublin, Kevin O’Malley.  
I also want to take a moment to recognize those who do the hard work of waging peace.  Theresa Villiers, the UK’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, is here.  Please give Theresa a big round of applause.  As is America’s Consul General in Belfast, Greg Burton.  And Richard Haass, two men who helped bring the Stormont House Agreement to fruition, and we are very grateful to them.

CD celebrates awesome sound of The Burren’s Backroom Series

By Sean Smith
April 2, 2015
Sean Smith

Bill Clinton was president, Thomas Menino was in only his second year as mayor of Boston, and Bill Belichick was soon to begin the last season of an unremarkable tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Browns on the day in 1995 when Boston-area musician and West Clare native Tommy McCarthy took his friend, accordionist Sharon Shannon, to see the unassuming commercial property in Davis Square he and his wife Louise Costello had recently bought, and planned to turn into a pub.

‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’: A take on the mythology of what it is to be Irish

By R.J. Donovan
April 2, 2015
R.J. Donovan

The plays and films of Martin McDonagh could hardly be called light entertainment.  From “Lonesome West” and “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” to “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” “The Pillowman,” “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths,” the Irish writer often punctuates his dark comedies with brutality, gore, and the occasional murder.

Here and There

By Bill O'Donnell
April 1, 2015
Bill O'Donnell

Good News On Irish Economy – A number of factors have come into play that lend a rosy scenario to Ireland and its rebounding economy. The most important indicators by any standard are the recent numbers from 2014. They show robust economic growth of 4.8 percent, exceeding government forecasts. Ireland’s GDP last year far exceeded the previous year’s number, and follows a solid increase in domestic demand as consumers resumed spending.

Remembering the 1916 Rising: Irish parties have their differences

By Joe Leary
April 1, 2015
Joe Leary

It was a short rebellion. Only six days. According to the “Book of the 1916 Rising,” a 2006 publication by the Irish Times, 450 people died – 62 Irish rebels, 132 British soldiers and 256 civilians. Beyond that, the British Army imprisoned approximately 3,400 men and women in England and Wales, but soon released 2,000 of them back to Ireland.

Pages

Subscribe to Boston Irish RSS