ILIR Seeks Ahern Meeting as Fury Mounts

Advertise • Help • Contact Us • Permissions

Discussions Groups Events Blogs Photos Premium Irish Circle

Edit Profile Friends Requests Messages Updates

Discussions Groups Events Photos Blogs Irish Pubs Local Networks Expat Info GAA Clubs Rugby Clubs Dating Worldwide

Working in Ireland Working Abroad Currency Converter Jobs Ireland Banking Ireland Irish Sites

Info Ireland Vacation Packages Hotels Car Rental Golf Ferries Hostels Day Tours

Irish Name Register Passenger Lists Screensavers Advice & Resources

Irish News Music & Songs Recipes Proverbs e-Postcards History & Archaeology Heritage & Culture Mythology Irish Studies Literature Gaelic

Gifts & Jewellery Books Music Food Heraldry Clothes Other

Irish Voice

Columnists

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Read newsletters

Enter your e-mail address to receive our weekly e-Newsletter:

Irish Voice News

ILIR Seeks Ahern Meeting as Fury Mounts

March 26, 2008

By April Drew

IN response to the outrage within the Irish community over comments made by Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern claiming Irish undocumented are seeking an “amnesty” deal, the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) has requested a meeting with Ahern during his visit next month to the U.S. where he will address a joint session of Congress.

Ahern, who claimed he wanted to be “honest,” told reporters in Washington, D.C. during his St. Patrick’s Day visit last week that the Irish government were not going to seek an “amnesty” for the undocumented Irish living in the U.S. “The concept of an amnesty, wiping the sheet clean, is just not on,” he said.

Kelly Fincham, executive director of ILIR, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday that a formal request has been made for a meeting with the taoiseach through the Irish Consulate in New York.

“We believe it is vitally important that the taoiseach is in full possession of all the facts pertaining to the current undocumented issue and future problems involved in continuing Irish access to America,” said Fincham, who pointed out that ILIR has received numerous calls from coast to coast in support of its stance.

Fincham said ILIR never asked the Irish or U.S. government for an amnesty, but requested a fair bilateral agreement that is enjoyed by several other countries including Chile and Australia to name but a few.

“We believe there are a lot of mixed messages coming from the taoiseach’s camp. He is talking about amnesty. We have never sought an amnesty,” said Fincham.

“It does seem that the taoiseach had been completely misinformed on the issue and we would like an opportunity to raise these matters directly and honestly with him.”

Fincham added that ILIR will be requesting explanations why Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern announced that the Irish government would be seeking a bilateral deal to legalize the Irish at the Louth dinner dance nearly two years ago, and why he repeated that promise again at an ILIR Friends and Family rally in Dublin last April.

“We are seeking an urgent explanation of the gap between what he has told us, and what the taoiseach has said,” Fincham said.

Irish undocumented and their supporters expressed their upset regarding the taoiseach’s comments and what some call “giving up on the undocumented Irish.”

Jimmy, who has been living in the U.S. for nearly a decade, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday that Ahern’s statement was a “gratuitous slap” in the face of the undocumented.

Ancient Order of Hibernians board chairman of immigration Dan Dennehy told the Irish Voice that Ahern’s statement was not going to prevent the Irish from finding a solution for the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented in the U.S.

“It appears that after meeting with President Bush on St. Patrick’s Day, Bertie Ahern has borrowed a few ‘shock and awe’ tactics. Irish Americans have never taken any administration’s — American, Irish or otherwise — final word on something that adversely affects us or that we feel strongly about and we are not going to start now,” Dennehy said.

Rose, who has been undocumented for several years, advises others in her situation to “turn a blind eye” to Ahern’s “ill-mannered” comments.

She also urges Irish undocumented to stay positive and remain focused on the words of Senators Chuck Schumer, John McCain and Hillary Clinton, former Congressman Bruce Morrison and ILIR, all of whom have been long time supporters of comprehensive immigration reform.

Deirdre, who has resided in Queens for the past 10 years, five of which she has been living out of status, said, “Bertie’s choice of words and his insinuations were very pointed and deliberately divisive. His remarks are proof that the Irish government has only been paying lip service to the undocumented and have been less than truthful in their dealings with both the undocumented here and their families in Ireland.”

Angry with Ahern’s Fianna Fail party, which Deirdre claims is ignoring the fact that there is a viable solution in terms of a bilateral agreement, she said the taoiseach and his party are ignoring the option.

“Instead, the taoiseach and the rest of his party choose to do nothing in their own arrogant, inimitable way,” said Deirdre.

Orla Kelleher, executive director of the Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers, said it was her personal opinion that Ahern’s comments were “insensitive, inaccurate and insulting.”

Kelleher feels that Ahern and the Irish government have turned their backs on the Irish undocumented.

“It now seems clear that seeking a solution for thousands of undocumented Irish people is not important in the eyes of the Irish government. Rather than putting their shoulder to the wheel, they have turned their backs on us,” she said.

Kelleher describes Ahern’s new visa proposal, in which the taoiseach said last week that if agreed, Irish and American citizens between the ages of 15 and 35 could apply for a 15-month visa with the option of renewing once, would be like putting a “bandage on a tumor.”

Fincham agrees with Kelleher and noted that the Irish American community is still dealing with the problems caused by the current J program, as thousands of Irish people have already overstayed their J visa.

“The super-Js, as Ahern’s program is being called, will be like putting a band-aid on a broken leg,” said Fincham.

Fincham feels the only reason the Irish government is considering the new visas is due to the “work done by the undocumented Irish over the past two years,” referring to the thousands of Irish who have come out in support of finding a solution for the undocumented.

Kelleher points out that since October there has been an influx of new Irish men and women arriving on the immigration center’s doorstep after emigrating to the U.S.

“Their main reason being that they found it increasingly difficult to see a future in Ireland based on the present and forecasted economy,” she said.

Celine Kennelly, executive director of the San Francisco-based Irish Immigration Pastoral Center, has also hit back at Ahern’s comments, saying that for the past three years immigrant activists and supporters have been campaigning hard on Capitol Hill in support of comprehensive immigration reform, and they were “not on bar stools.”

Kennelly explained that the proposed bilateral visas had the backing of many influential American politicians.

“For the Irish government to do an about face and call such a plan an amnesty for the undocumented Irish is nothing short of a travesty and an injustice to us all,” she said. “It is a pity that we seem to be unable to educate the taoiseach and his advisers and they are unwilling to listen. But we’ll keep trying, as 50,000 of us are not going away.”

ILIR’s website has been inundated with people, some undocumented, expressing their disgust and disappointment with Ahern’s statement last week.

One man, who asked to remain anonymous, advised the Irish undocumented in the U.S. to ignore Ahern’s comments and continue with their lives in the U.S. until a solution is found.

He wrote, “I am now living back (Ireland) a month and have never seen so many people out of work in the building industry. It has stopped over the last six months so the knock-on affect is just happening in other sectors.”

Other grievances the author had with Ireland was its lack of health care, it’s half-built motorways – “you still can’t take one road from Dublin to Galway without going into small towns” — and it’s shopping centers with no customers.

To experience what he is experiencing currently in Ireland, the writer advises the undocumented Irish thinking of coming home to live on $150 a week, and carry an umbrella with you everywhere you go.

“When you get used to that then you will be ready to move back. Alternatively, stay there and marry an American to get a green card,” he suggests.

The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers (CIIC), based in Boston, issued a press release on Tuesday outlining their frustration at the lack of resolution in sight for the undocumented Irish in the U.S. It said the failure to pass a comprehensive immigration bill last year has left the Irish more vulnerable than ever.

“The disappointment in Irish communities across the U.S. is palpable after hearing the taoiseach’s comments that indicate that the Irish government has given up on any hope of reform that will benefit this segment of the diaspora,” said the statement.

Taking offense to Ahern comment that immigration reform activists are “sitting in bars and talking nonsense,” the CIIC said such use of words downplays and degrades the work that has been done over the years to improve the situation of Irish immigrants across the U.S.

“(Immigrants) left Ireland before the Celtic Tiger. They established themselves and built a life here. The option to uproot themselves and their families and return to Ireland is not realistic.

“Those who stay in the U.S. are condemned to a life in the shadows, with few rights, as members of an underclass of 12 million undocumented immigrants. Those who go home, as the taoiseach suggested, will set off a 10 year bar which will affect them if they attempt to re-enter to visit family or to apply for any future legalization scheme,” said the release.

The CIIC is urging the Irish government to “put their shoulder to the wheel” and remain at the negotiating table until a resolution is found that will allow undocumented immigrants and their families to live here without fear.

Share this story: digg this | Add to del.icio.us

Print Save Discussions

Discuss

Email a friend