Q. I’ve been in a serious relationship with my partner, and we recently got engaged. I am a US citizen and live in the US, but my partner lives abroad and is not a US citizen. What makes sense for us to do?
David Badejo began his visa journey in January of 2023 with a bit of a rocky start. He shared with us that initially there was a misconception about the timeline, but with the support of individuals like Jude and Nora at the Rian Immigrant Center, he was able to successfully secure his visa by February. It was a remarkably quick turnaround time!
By James W. Dolan, Special to BostonIrish February 29, 2024
James W. Dolan, Special to BostonIrish
Having reached the final chapters of my life, I think back on all I have absorbed within the context of my professional career as lawyer, judge, and, in retirement, as an arbitrator, mediator, and occasional columnist.
Unfortunately, I am not as confident as I once was. My faith in a benevolent, all-knowing deity, a creator that oversees the universe and guides a flawed humanity to truth, love, understanding, justice, compassion, and mercy, is diminished, due in part to my work, which is largely based on analyzing evidence upon which a sound, coherent judgment could be based.
By Timothy Kirk, Special to BostonIrish February 29, 2024
Timothy Kirk, Special to BostonIrish
On Jan. 18, more than 170,000 public sector workers in Northern Ireland went on a 24-hour strike. The 17 trade unions representing nurses, teachers, ambulance staff, bus drivers, and road maintenance crews did so with the support of most of the people in Northern Ireland. According to the office of national statistics, there are 861,000 workers in Northern Ireland, which means the strikers constituted 20 percent of all workers in the six counties.
By Larry Donnelly, Special to Boston Irish February 29, 2024
Larry Donnelly, Special to Boston Irish
With a mixture of fanfare and cautious optimism, Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Stormont assembly finally is up and running after a two-year impasse. Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill is the first ever nationalist First Minister in the six counties and Emma Little-Pengelly of the Democratic Unionist Party is her deputy.
When my father declined to cross the Atlantic for my wedding in 1990, I understood why. Traveling from Dublin to Massachusetts and meeting so many new people would have been anxiety inducing for him. Although his decision did not upset me, it left me worried about my mother traveling solo and without a partner at a family event.
It was Christmas Eve Day 2023 and Ireland’s Consul General Sighlé Fitzgerald was on the beach at M Street in South Boston. The outside temperature was 5 degrees with the water temp in the high 30’s and she was there to join with a few other sturdy souls to take a mid-morning plunge into the waters of Dorchester Bay to help raise funds for the Irish Pastoral Centre.
“It’s a Lovely Christmas Eve Dip this morning with the Boston Irish Dippers…. and amazing post-dip catering,” she posted that day on her Facebook page.
By Peter F. Stevens, BostonIrish Contributor February 29, 2024
Peter F. Stevens, BostonIrish Contributor
In early March 1776, Gen. George Washington rode out to Dorchester and reined in at the farm of Captain John Homans, who lived in “the upper end of town.” Homans’s acreage was full of white birch, and Washington ordered his troops to cut down the trees so that “the citizens of this and the neighboring towns…could cart them…on the night of the 4th, to [Dorchester] Heights.”
The Heights were dotted by “nine dwelling houses on the Neck, now South Boston.” The American Revolution was about to arrive at the front doors of those nine Dorchester households.
Since 1901, Boston’s Evacuation Day/St. Patrick’s Day Parade has commemorated and celebrated the significance of the double holiday with a grand march through the streets of South Boston.