Going home?
I’ve recently moved (yes, AGAIN) to Astoria, Queens. A few days ago, when I left my building, I decided to ask a passerby whether the N train was running properly, since that would determine if I should take a right at the end of my street, or turn left and walk an extra 15 blocks. … Continue reading
One small island
In the last guest post on the Irish economy, advocate Noreen Bowden takes us through the politicians’ faux pas and failings regarding one of the biggest problems facing a new generation — the need to emigrate — and asks why citizens abroad are still denied the vote. For more information on Noreen’s work with the diaspora … Continue reading
Ireland, the ruby isle
This penultimate guest post about Ireland’s economic meltdown features Stephen Tucker, from Roscommon, who blogs about style, etiquette and other things at Myopic Psychotic. Here he looks back at the history of the Celtic Tiger. “Ireland, fondly referred to as the Emerald Isle, may just as well be renamed the Ruby Isle, the nation very much in the … Continue reading
Leaving Ireland, but through choice
The third guest post in this series on what Irish people think about the country’s economic turmoil comes from Fionnuala Barrett (22), an undergraduate student from Dublin. She plans to move to London after graduation next year. Her blog, about music, books, film, craft and other things, is called Basil Exposition. “It’s one thing to … Continue reading
The big boys are in town
The second in a series of guest posts by Irish citizens about what they’re thinking in the economic crisis — this one is from Padraig McLoughlin (32), a scientist who lives in Dublin. “I started writing this piece a week ago last Sunday, and in the short time since, events have really overtaken it. During … Continue reading
Whither Ireland?
A few days ago I attended a meeting about how to resuscitate Ireland’s economy (not quite in those words). The people in the room were influential ex-pats and second generation Irish Americans, and one thing about them was striking: most of them were over sixty, and most of them were male. I was present as … Continue reading
Hobnobbing at the Consul’s residence
The Irish consul lives on the 52nd floor of a gorgeous apartment in Mid-town. I’ve been in a few nice Manhattan apartments, but this one takes the cake — a two-storey apt. with terrace views overlooking the city. It never rains when you’re there, as if the weather cooperates, and there’s little sense of the … Continue reading
The Famine in New York
Do Irish people really understand hunger in Africa because of the Famine? Or is this a self-serving, cynical use of a historical event that was, of course, genuinely tragic?
Will work for change?
NEW YORK — New York today, Septemer 12, is grey and grim. I’m just back, and though it’s marginally warmer here than it was in Ireland, I’m huddled in my room, listening to the rain dripping through holes in the ceiling of my converted-factory abode in Brooklyn. Having spent a month in Europe, I fear … Continue reading
Leitrim’s secrets
Leitrim is known for being lovely — “Lovely Leitrim” was a song my grandmother used to sing — but for me as a child, it was a place of what I called ‘the lonely roads.’ There were no streetlights, and when we drove there to visit my granny, I’d look back from the car into … Continue reading
An Irish Girl Abroad 