You were a crap player and you are a crap manager. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country and you’re not even Irish, you English c**t.”
Allegedly, with that parting shot, Roy Keane walked out of the Irish team at Saipan in 2002.
But Roy had used the word that can never be spoken in polite society. He used the E-word. He called Mick McCarthy ‘English’ and in so doing, opened up the debate about what constitutes an Irishman.
Is it enough to have Irish blood or do you have to be born here? What about those who live in an Irish area of Queens or London, have Irish parents and relations, feel themselves to be Irish, sing ‘The Fields of Athenry’ yet sound Scouse, Bostonian, Cape-Townian, Cockney or Canadian?
Is the Diaspora truly Irish? Have we, the Irish born here, forgotten that these people are the Irish footprint around the world?
The best Irish football teams, the most successful ones, were those in the Charlton era who represented a widest-possible definition of Irishness. At the time many soccer commentators lamented the fact that there were so many of what was termed derogatorily ‘PlasticPaddies’ on the team.
But these men were the demographic echo of the 500,000 Irish emigrants who left for Britain from 1949-1961. The Kevin Sheedys, Ray Houghtons and John Sheridans were the sons of men and women who were driven out by de Valera’s economic nationalism. They pulled on the jersey and, as far as we were concerned, they were as Irish as anyone else
The sons of exiles added enormously to the potential of the team, giving it options and talents that we would not otherwise have had. This was a post-nationalist, national soccer team, the very essence of globalisation.
Now think about the potential economic impact of the Irish Diaspora. This is one thing we have that so few other countries have. This is our biggest and most unique resource and yet we don’t appreciate its value.
The key to economic success in the future is to invest in people and brain power rather than property. In the years ahead the countries with the best networks, contacts and brains will win. This is termed “soft power” and the key to soft power is people.
In the Diaspora we not only have the people, but we have a ready made global network of talent. It is before our very eyes and yet we don’t see it.
So for example, JFK — the most famous Irish-American of all — would not be eligible for an Irish passport under our present laws. This makes no economic or historical sense.
Many of us are, if not hostile, not particularly welcoming to the exiles but all our great-grandparents are from the same root. And as Jack Charlton revealed they are our secret weapon.
Now, four generations after the Famine, it could well be that the history and culture of the Irish people, one of the world’s great clans, is about to fuse with the demands of the Irish State to ensure that we remain one of the world’s most successful economic jurisdictions. This is the next part of the Irish story: a 21st-century economic narrative conceived in the demographics of 19th-century emigration.
Sheila and Eileen Geoghegan turned up at the Irish Embassy in Buenos Aires in 2002, just months after the collapse of the Argentinian economy. The sisters, aged 18 and 20, wanted to claim Irish citizenship through their great-grandparents. They wanted to come home.
Sheila and Eileen have Irish blood on both sides going back to their eight great-grandparents. As far as they are concerned, Ireland is their homeland. They can trace their ancestors back to Co Westmeath. English is their first language. They were taught by Irish nuns and priests. Their parents still speak with Midlands accents. They are part of a 500,000-strong Irish Argentinian population.
Yet these sisters were refused entry visas. They were one generation too late. Had their grandparents been born here, they would have qualified, but as their grandmother, Mabel Ryan, who speaks with a flat Mullingar accent, was born in Argentina, the family were not Irish enough.
We refused entry to two young women, educated, sophisticated, willing to work, with invaluable ties to Latin America, fluent in the second-most-widespread language in the world and, most crucially, committed emotionally to Ireland. If brain power is soft power, then surely this refusal makes no sense.
These are the people who keep the Irish flag flying in the remotest parts of the world, the people who suffered most under our colonial past, who sent money home to Ireland when we hadn’t a bean and who took other destitute Irish into their communities when wave after wave arrived on the docks in Argentina. They are emotionally drawn to us, they are our history and yet modern Ireland gives them the cold shoulder.
It is time to see the island of Ireland in the 21st century as the cradle of a global nation.
This nation extends all over the world, gelled together by the shared experience of previous generations.
We should institute a “right of return” policy and extend citizenship to people of Irish decent, extending beyond the present cut off point of two generations.
This would create a strong bond between the tribe and the mother country. The exiles could boost our labour force and in the new, soft world, their brains are invaluable.
There is a feather-light economic army of grey matter and these people could be at our disposal. All we have to do is imagine a New Hibernia.
It is time now to focus on the future rather than our endemic obsession with the next few months. We need, once more, to re-imagine Ireland and to use all the resources at our disposal to take advantage of the new globalised world.
In a sense, we need a post-nationalist, national project.
Not only does embracing the Diaspora make sense from a future economic perspective, it is also the right thing to do.
For years Ireland survived on emigrants’ remittances. The Irish balance-of-payments figures in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and into the late-1960s, reveal that the cash inflow from emigrants sending money home kept this country afloat. It is only right that we repay the children of these people who gave so much to us while in exile. In addition, embracing the prodigal sons would be a true sign of Irish economic success and maturity.
As the returning Jews have done in Israel — who extend citizenship to every Jewish person around the world — the returning Irish exiles would inject vibrancy and enthusiasm into both our contemporary and traditional culture while at the same time opening up economic opportunities all over the world.
Anything that makes the tribe stronger makes the homeland stronger. In time the relationship becomes symbiotic.
Internationally, we would be pushing on an open door because, unlike the Israelis, we have no enemies. We are neutral, we didn’t take anyone’s land and we didn’t invade anyone’s country.
Who could object to the Irish State seeking to look after the global Irish tribe who supported us for so long? This idea threatens no-one. Our present EU commitments mean that the door would still be open to European workers. It is not an “either/or idea”.
If we do this, globalisation could be the golden era of the Irish. We can turn our historical defeat into a future victory.
Do you envisage a Celtic Tiger Mark 3 as a result of this move? If the benefits are that immense, we surely will experience far higher rates of economic growth and development as this ‘soft power’ makes its presence felt?
David excellent points raised here, I thought about how the government could be compelled to do something more; In the Good Friday agreement Article two talks about “chersishing the special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad”. taking into consideration the constitutional amendment made a while back is it not time for another amendment which would have the effect of widening citizenship?
Extending Irish citizenship in this way could become a gapping back door for millions to enter the EU. Why not create a points-based working visa system in which those of Irish descent would be given preferential treatment? If they stay long enough, they will be able to become Irish citizens through normal naturalization avenues anyway.
I think Italy grants dual citizenship to Argentinians. That’s why Italy’s rugby team has done fairly well!
David, You seem to be deliberately coy about how you envision all of this working. The ideas you put forward about immigration and co-option of the Diaspora are very interesting, but the implication in your writing is that we need to curtail immigration from Eastern Europe and beyond, and take complete control over our immigration policy. There is no other way to achieve this other than withdrawing from the EU. You do not explicitly call for such a move in your book and I have seen a number of questions to you about that issue posted on your forums without… Read more »
Hi Joe, I think we now face a similar dilemma to the one we faced in the 1960s. Back then, we had no capital then and lots of people, now we have lots of capital but not enough people. Soft power – ie the power of networks, contacts, brain power, entrepreneurial spirit, risk taking and creativity is where, I believe, we have a shortfall. So let’s see how we can attract these types of people. One avenue is the Diaspora idea. We have a ready-made potential workforce both as pioneer immigrants back to Ireland, as well as an enormous network… Read more »
David, I think you might be barking up the wrong tree on this one! Do the current weaknesses in Ireland not have more to do with the bad use of our capital rather than how many people we have in the country? I’d imagine that we’ve probably had the highest amount of immigration per head in recent years and one of the major thing that it’s made apparent is how badly behind our whole infrastructure is. I’d hate to think how it would cope if we started encouraging millions more to join us.
David, I’d like to take up the following point you made We are a nation that has dropped our language, religion and articles 2 and 3 – supposedly core values – when it suited us. I’m not too sure that we won’t drop the EU if we feel that it suits us.. I don’t think exiting the EU can be compared to the disappearance of Irish and the removal of articles 2 and 3. First the language. The most spectacular death of the Irish language occured in the 19th century. At the time, and in truth even still, it never… Read more »
David, The type of Immigration policy you envision would need to be discriminative. There is, as you rightly point out, nothing wrong with a discrimination in terms of immigration. A discriminating immigration policy would still allow us to accept and attract Central and Eastern Europeans, high value workers from China and India, the diaspora, and any other group that we deem to be beneficial to Ireland in terms of adding to our cultural and economic growth, including asylum seekers. What I am struggling to understand is how we could balance attracting back the diaspora while remaining Part of the EU… Read more »
Hi Joe, I think that in its present guise, we would have to seek a derogation from the EU to pursue the Diaspora idea. This would not be new. And as for the four freedoms of the EU, what is in the Treaty of Rome and what the EU actually does, can in many instances be two different things. The crux of the issue here is that we can do whatever we like with Irish citizenship and the EU can/will/should do nothing. It is when we start to ban certain EU citizens from coming here that we have a problem.… Read more »
David, I totally agree with you. Calling back the tribe is the right thing to do and it’s the smart thing to do in terms of our future. Perhaps I misunderstood what you were getting at in the generation game. It seemed to me that the logical implication of your vision was that we should ban or limit immigration from certain EU states (which could only practically be achieved by leaving the EU) in in favour of the the diaspora. If I understand you correctly, then what you are suggesting is that we pursue the diaspora in addition continuing to… Read more »
I agree with the last few postings I think it is an “either/or idea”. I think that the reason we have distanced ourselves somewhat from the diaspora is precisely because we have joined the EU. We saw the EU as our future and the diaspora and emigration as our past. It is similar to the way Britain distanced itself from its colonies after it joined the EU and also the reason why countries like australia and canada no longer granted automatic residency to british citizens (and also to irish by extension). The australians were not that happy at the time… Read more »
Totally agree. Here in Switzerland it takes 12 yrs + to get citizenship (5+ after marriage) but is retained for four generations.
With a similar size and less land to use it has twice the Irish population.
Ireland a small country? Try Liechtenstein for small.
As a second-generation Irishman living in Ireland, it is a relief that the recognition of the diaspora is being raised again, which Tim Pat Coogan and many others have picked up on in the past. The talk of a selective immigration policy, which can’t happen, distracts people away from a long-running debate: when are you Irish enough. People I know have to talk at lengths to feel accepted by your fellow Irishmen – believe me, second or third generation Irishmen and women feel under pressure to prove their Irishness which is more important for some than it is for others.… Read more »
Changes to citizenship laws Sunday, December 24, 2006 – Under Irish nationality law created in 1956, anyone with a great-grandparent, grandparent or parent who was from Ireland was eligible for citizenship by descent. However, the law was changed in 1984 and members of the Irish diaspora whose closest link to Ireland was a great-grandparent no longer qualified for citizenship by descent. As the years go by, fewer and fewer members of the Irish diaspora will have grandparents who were born in Ireland. Today, the Republic of Ireland is allowing huge numbers of foreigners to come to Ireland, but current citizenship… Read more »
I agree with Eric’s proposal that the law be reverted to allow citizenship by descent to be claimed by those with an Irish great-grandparent. However I think that some of our best immigrants are Polish and as citizens of the EU, they have as much right to live and work here as anyone else. There appears to be a grey area with regard to immigrants coming to Ireland from China and India, ostensibly as students, but if this is the case why do they all seem to be working? I don’t doubt that they have tremendous energy and resourcefulness in… Read more »
While there are ideas here that are not unreasonable, I think its extraordinarily naive. At one point, when I was on the verge of being down and out in London many years ago, I found myself at the Irish Centre in Camden. The other people there were a sorry collection of long term emmigrants – people who had so long been in states of woe and misery they’d made a career of their victimhood, and would never become anything but a sore on the butt of society, moaning of their sorry lot in life. But David – you assume 2… Read more »
David, I read this column and another one recently published in the Irish Echo with great interest. I am a second generation Irish-American on one side, with three other grandparents being second or third generation Irish themselves. Yet, as the laws now stand I cannot claim citizenship. My grandfather was born in the USA while my great-grandparents were living in Los Angeles for a brief time. They returned to Ireland with my new born grandfather before he turned 1. My grandfather was raised in Longford and later attended Clongoweswood College and was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons before… Read more »
I am an Irish Catholic Canadian and have traced my roots back on every familly line to Ireland.A few yrs ago my father was let go from his work of 27 yrs from bell canada due to cutbacks.He was 48 yrs old and retired.He was very qualified fiber optic splicer so had no problem working in the pre 911 USA and did so until work dried up for non americans after 911.I then brought to my Dads attention that his GrandFather had come over from Ireland on a wind jammer just after the famine.I looked into him getting his irish… Read more »
To: EH, Sean Summers & Kevin Higgins. Overall our future with the EU doesn’t look promising, our soverignty will erode with this new treaty and we would be more like a soviet republic than the unique social, political and you could say ethnic entity (merged over hundreds of years) that is Ireland. I would suggest you and many others like your goodselves to write a petition to the Irish Government (Foreign Embassies and to Leinster House, the Justice Dept, Our Taoiseach & Foreign Affairs) demanding that the law be changed to include yourselves as Irish citizens proving that you have… Read more »
David, After reading your post and the comments after, I see that there is an issue being overlooked by many. I do not believe that granting members of the tribe access to the country will lead to a deluge of “plastic paddy’s” turning up at our ports demanding access, jobs, housing, etc. Economics will always seek to control the numbers that we can suitably house in Ireland. In the 70’s & 80’s many of our population went abroad in search of a better life. We, in effect, had nothing to offer and people became economic emigrants as a result. The… Read more »
David i feel your ideas on the Diaspora are very short sighted. In terms of accommodation of the lost members of “our tribe”, where are we going to house them? In accordance with planning policies and the increase in apartment sizes which was recently published Dublin’s housing stock which might not be sufficient certainly isn’t affordable. Perhaps adopt a “to hell or to Connaught approach” in trying to sustain the necessary population required for development of gateways under the NSS? Consider infrastructure which is only begining to catch up with the huge increase in our housing output in the last… Read more »
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