Families of Undocumented Rally in Dublin

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Families of Undocumented Rally in Dublin

November 7, 2007

By April Drew

OVER 30 members of the Families and Friends of the Undocumented Irish group, an Irish-based support organization, lobbied outside the Dail (Parliament) on Tuesday in an effort to highlight the issue of the estimated 50,000 Irish undocumented currently living and working in the U.S.

Many delegation members, who traveled from all corners of Ireland, also attended the Dail evening’s proceedings, which were set up by the leaders of chief opposition party Fine Gael to press the matter of the undocumented to the Irish government.

The Families and Friends of the Undoc-umented Irish, who held placards up high calling on Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern to bring home their children and siblings, was formed after a jumbo rally organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) in Jury’s Hotel in Dublin last April where over 1,000 people attended.

Kate Hickey, volunteer press officer for the support group, told the Irish Voice on Tuesday that it’s time Irish politicians stood up and did something for their Irish abroad.

“We really need to let our politicians know that their help is essential at this crucial time in the lives of the undocumented,” she said.

Hickey, whose undocumented sister is currently an active volunteer member with ILIR, is going to continue to keep the pressure on her local politicians and on the government itself.

“We will be there to demonstrate a sign of support and a reminder to Irish politicians that we are the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves in Ireland and can’t come back to Ireland. We want to remind our politicians that there are brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers over here that will fight their corner and make sure that it will get done for sure,” said Hickey.

Hickey, along with fellow volunteers Beverly Stafford and Michael McMahon, have been working tirelessly on behalf of the undocumented in the U.S.

“We have gotten great feedback from the Irish media to date both national and regional and the support out there is really positive. Our main message is that anyone on the ground can support the cause by getting on to their TDs and not allow them to let the issue slide,” he said.

Hickey promised that this was just the beginning for the organization. “We are here to stay until we can get something done. We will be the group that the politicians have to contend with this side of the water. We want our family to be able to come home and visit,” she said.

Dermot and Lilly Handley, who attended Tuesday’s rally, have a son who is undocumented living in Florida.

“We have both a daughter and a son in Florida. Our daughter Lisa has a green card but Dermot our son doesn’t. This puts a huge strain on the family as Lisa is free to travel back and forth to Ireland as she pleases leaving her brother behind.

“He’s a big lad but he still gets so homesick. I just wish he could come home, just for a quick while,” said Lilly in a press statement released after the rally.

Speaking at the rally outside the Dail, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny requested an all-party agreement on an immigration deal between the U.S and Ireland. He said his party’s proposal “offered a reciprocal arrangement which would also benefit U.S. citizens who want to work in Ireland.”

Fine Gael’s community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs spokesperson, Michael Ring, who recently met with Irish undocumented on a visit to New York, said the motion proposed in the Dail would pressure the government into securing a bilateral agreement between both countries.

“Fine Gael believes a bilateral agreement on immigration would encourage deeper economic and social ties between Ireland and the US and facilitate American citizens, including Irish diaspora, who wish to live and work in Ireland,” Ring said.

In Co. Kerry, the Kerry County Council are currently in debate whether or not a motion should be drafted to send a delegation of councilors to Dublin to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern on behalf of the undocumented Kerry people living all around the U.S.

The debate is a result of a heartfelt letter from Kerry native Joan Henchy who outlined in several paragraphs the difficulties of the undocumented in New York.

Henchy, who was born in Tarbert and now lives in Yonkers wrote, “Please hear the pleas from the brokenhearted families who are without loved ones for family gatherings. Think about sitting down at Christmas and an empty chair looking back at you as you wait for the phone to ring to hear the voice of that one person who is missing, wishing they were here but understanding why they are not. I could go on about how hard it is because I see it first hand every day.

“The Irish community is very close here and we will continue to fight for our own, but it’s getting harder. So many have returned to Kerry and Ireland as a whole but they are struggling to fit in. They desperately want to return to the only life they have known but over staying a visa puts them at risk for. But I choose to end on this note. You can help!”

Asked by the Irish Voice why she didn’t write the letter directly to Ahern Henchy said there was only one way to get the attention of those at the top. “We have to start at the grassroots level. The councilor will listen to their people and the TDs in the Dail will listen to the councilors.”

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