As is the case for all other regions in Ireland, Waterford and the South East has its share of people living illegally in the United States. For the most part, the Irish in question work hard and make an enormous contribution to society there. However, in recent years, their status and plight has deteriorated hugely. It would appear that, in these suspicious post 9/11 years, the US authorities no longer give a certain amount of slack to the hard working Irish illegals.
The harsh facts were spelled out last week by New York resident, Joan Kiely Henchy, who is originally from Tarbert, County Kerry, and is closely associated with the Irish community in the Big Apple. Ms. Kiely Henchy says many Irish people are suffering great hardship and, at this stage, if they are to have any
chance of legal status, a groundswell of support must come from Ireland.
She says other nations have achieved deals and visas for their own people and there is no reason why the Irish cannot be treated the same if enough pressure is applied.
Ms. Kiely Henchy says the visa programme offered to the Irish is an insult because, in New York, a finished (qualified) carpenter, painter, electrician or plasterer is still classed as an unskilled worker. She says she knows of many who are facing serious difficulties through being undocumented and she tells of two recent instances in which she was involved.
The first concerned a young woman who returned home to Ireland after six years because of a pressing family situation. However, when she tried to return to her productive life in New York she was arrested, cuffed, shackled and treated like a terrorist before finally being deported. The second case concerned a young Irish man who had also overstayed his visa. He was arrested at a train station and, again, he was cuffed, shackled and placed in a high security prison for three weeks before being deported. Are we as a nation willing to let our people be treated in such a manner, asks Ms. Kiely Henchy.
The race for the White House is underway, she points out, but, for something to be done, the pressure needs to come from the Irish people, the Irish government and from individual politicians and influential business people. Let’s hope her
call will be heeded.
Problems for senior soccer in Wexford
It would appear that the ream of Wexford multi-millionaire businessman, Mick Wallace, to have top-class National League soccer in the Model County is under serious threat.
Earlier, this year, the Wexford Youths Football Club was admitted to Division One of the National League thanks mainly to the support of Mick Wallace, his time and his money. However, last week, Wexford County Council refused planning permission for the retention of certain developments at the club’s Newcastle-Crossabeg complex.
The main bone of contention appears to be the club’s floodlighting system which the local authority considers to be a public safety hazard. A County Council spokesperson said there were a number of problems but the biggest one was the floodlighting problem as the position and use of the soccer pitch’s lighting was causing a traffic hazard by virtue of glare onto the N11 national primary route.
Of course, a genuine traffic hazard cannot be permitted to continue on such a busy road but, all the same, there must be a way around the problem. Genuine people like Mick Wallace should be assisted in every way possible to establish Wexford Youths Football Club. He could very easily spend his money on a lot more glamorous pastimes but he has chosen to do something positive in his own county and there are not too many of his like around.
Maple Leaf wind-up
I enjoyed the story that emerged last week about a prominent Canadian politician who was led to believe he had received a fine in this country for a litter offence involving one of his campaign posters.
It was, in fact, a practical joke played by mischievous Achill lifeguard, Conal Dixon, and his friend, Stephen Murphy. It began when Conal was patrolling the beach at Keem and he spotted a large, plastic poster floating in the water that contained the message, ‘Elect Scott Simms, Liberal’. He and Stephen googled ‘Scott Simms’ into their computer and discovered he was a well known Canadian politician so, obviously, one of his election posters had floated all the way across the Atlantic.
For fun, Conal and Stephen emailed Mr. Simms informing him of their find and telling him there was a €500 offence in this country for any politician whose posters were not disposed of after an election and, subsequently, a fine had been issued to him as a result of his poster littering a beach at Achill.
Sitting in his office in onavista-Gander, Grand Falls, Windsor, Mr. Simms didn’t know what to make of the email so, like any good politician, he decided to get his retaliation in first and informed local reporters that he was in trouble in the Republic of Ireland, a country he had never been to. In the end, the lads owned up to their prank and it all worked out to everybody’s satisfaction. Mr. Simms says he doesn’t intend running for Mayo County Council come the next election even though his poster is now a permanent fixture in the lifeguard hut on Keem Beach.
Slack trade for publicans
I suspect the situation is the same all over the country but it was revealed by the Vintners Federation of Ireland last week that the pub business in Galway is going from bad to worse resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of pubs closing their doors during the daytime.
It was already the case that the vast majority of rural pubs didnâ€TMt open their doors until 7pm but now the owners of licensed premises in the larger towns and villages are following suit. Tuam pub owner and VFI spokesperson, Paul O’Grady, said there was no point in opening up because the most being sold was an occasional pint and a couple of cups of coffee. Even the traditional ‘‘after work” trade had dwindled greatly and was almost a thing of the past, especially in mid week. The situation was expected to deteriorate even further when the new drink driving laws came into force.
Mr. O’Grady said it was now virtually impossible for an owner to lease out a rural pub and even in the towns it was difficult. A good indicator of the situation was that the going rate to lease a pub in an urban area with a healthy turnover had now fallen to €800 per week and many were fetching less.
Remembering Frank
A man came out of the Granville Hotel at closing time on Saturday night last and, to his delight, managed to get a taxi straight away. ‘‘I just happened to be passing when you came out the door, you’ve got perfect timing, just like Frank”, said the taxi driver.
‘‘Really, and who is Frank”, asked the passenger who wasn’t remotely interested but decided to be polite.
‘‘Well”, said the taxi driver as he gave the dashboard of the car a thump with his fist, ‘‘Frank was one of those perfect guys, no matter what he did he made a success out of it.”
‘‘He was a great hurler and could have played for Waterford but he concentrated instead on golf where he was a scratch player. He was also brilliant about the house. He could mend any electrical device, he could paint and decorate like a professional and he was also a brilliant gardener.”
‘‘It sounds like he was one of the good guys alright”, muttered the passenger already sick to the teeth of hearing about Frank.
‘‘He was, he was absolutely wonderful”, said the taxi driver giving the dashboard another mighty slap of his fist, ‘‘he didn’t drink, wouldn’t dream of backing a horse and brought his wife breakfast in bed every morning.”
‘‘You obviously knew Frank very well. He must have meant a great deal to you”, said the passenger wishing to hell he was out of the car and in his bed.
‘‘He is nothing but a loody nightmare to me”, said the taximan. ‘‘I never knew him at all but I made the huge mistake of marrying his widow!’
