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To the people at the top, a short message to say that the reporting by one of your assets (TV3 Ireland) on the health of Irish Minister Brian Lenihan was perceived by the majority of Irish viewers as cheap, disrespectful, and tasteless.
Irish people on the whole tend to put a high value on life, and using information about someone’s personal state of health to report a so-called ‘scoop’ isn’t well received.
One wonders if there is pressure on TV3 to improve financial performance, and whether the UK model of moulding audiences into acceptance of lower standards is part of a strategy. Your address, Pall Mall, London, is historically associated with Gentlemen’s Clubs and Fine Art – that doesn’t sit well with what is perceived as a crude tabloid style.
(In case you are unaware of what you are associated with).
If Doughty Hanson want to make profit from the Irish market we’d appreciate it if you could ensure your media assets offer consistent value and decent standards to Irish society in return. If you want to be gentlemen you might ask your Director of News at TV3 to issue a sincere apology to Mr Lenihan and his family.
NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is probably the most technically advanced tracking facility in the world. If someone wants to know what’s happening in the air, or in space, NORAD provides the answers.
The full might of the organisation has been on ‘red’ alert over the last few hours as they monitored unusual airborne activity – the worldwide delivery of Christmas presents by Santa himself!
Here at diaspora headquarters we managed to break through their defence systems and download data about Santa in Ireland! Here is what we found…
Timecheck : GMT – 00:20 – Santa arrives in Ireland from Iceland having delivered 1,362,948,863 presents so far….
Timecheck : GMT – 00:21 – Santa leaves and heads off towards the Azores having now delivered 1,363,054,183 presents…
We fed these figures into our super-dooper data analysis machines and can confirm that Santa brought 105,320 presents to our little Island. He’s a lovely man, but we’re a bit confused as to why he dropped them all off in Shannon! Only NORAD and Santa himself can answer that one!
Update: NORAD have confirmed that some of Santa’s Elves worked tirelessly through the night visiting all the houses in Ireland – so hopefully lots of happy little people this morning (and some big ones too!)
Merry Christmas all – and a happy new year.
A strange article for diaspora.ie? maybe not…
Last week we had the pleasure of listening to Michael Kelly talk to a room full of people whilst waving a vegetable in the air. That was the day I realised a Cork grown Irish garlic wouldn’t be a strange thing at all!
Michael worked for ten years in the IT industry in Dublin, but these days lives life as a freelance writer, bestselling author and broadcaster. One of his books, ‘Tales from the Home Farm’, is a guide to producing food in your back garden, and it was the passion he expressed about self-sufficiency that caught me.
 GIY Ireland was started by Michael and it’s all about bringing people together and giving them the confidence and ability to grow their own food. The website is a focal point for sharing information, and the story centres round the 40 GIY groups that have already established themselves in various parts of Ireland over a few short months.
It’s a great venture that benefits everyone who gets involved, and i’d recommend you visit the GIY website and have a read yourself.
Here? well i’m already been doing a bit of learning and 2010 will see the advent of prize winning Ballydehob garlics!
And the diaspora..?
Michael is racing round Ireland helping groups get set up so jumping on planes could be tricky (but hey, you could always ask him!). What you might do though is see what he’s up to and think about whether it’s a model that could work where you are.
Well done Michael, and I suspect if you thought 2009 was busy….!
The 23rd United States census takes place on April 1st 2010.
The census has many objectives, such as deciding the number of congressional seats allotted and the amount of federal money allocated to each region, but our main interest is obviously the Irish aspect.
America’s ethnic make-up is changing, and there’s some debate about whether the sense of one’s Irish heritage is weakening or in fact getting stronger.
The next US census may help clarify the picture.
Previously recorded numbers of Irish race were as follows, and whilst there’s an overall dip it will be interesting to see if 2010 produces results nearer to the 2000 census or (as maybe more likely?) the numbers recorded in 2008.
- US Census 1990 – 38,735,539
- US Census 2000 – 30,524,799
- American Community Survey 2006 – 36,495,800
- American Community Survey 2008 – 36,278,332
The latter two surveys do not include Scots-Irish ancestry, who are counted separately, and who account for at least five million additional Americans. (I’m not sure if the Censuses follow the same rules but will update this post if I find out, or if someone can let me know.)
There’s various factors involved here:
- The changing political scene in Northern Ireland over the last decade,
- The current initiatives from a range of Irish political parties to engage with the diaspora,
- The stronger online presence of Irish-American communities (e.g, IrishCentral.com),
- The possibility of a Global Irish Network and increasing business links,
- The discussion about the ‘undocumented Irish’,
- and more recent emigration being some obvious examples.
How these impact on the ‘ebb and flow’ is hard to quantify but maybe trends will give some indications.
 In one way it would also be interesting if generational levels were recorded as it would be good to see how many 3rd 4th and 5th generation Irish see themselves as such. On the other hand it’s positive that this isn’t differentiated and that one’s right to a sense of heritage isn’t challenged.
If you’re Irish-American what do you think. Do you feel your heritage is still as important today as it was in the past?
The national flag of Ireland is a vertical tricolour of green, white, and orange, and it’s proper proportions are 1:2 (the width is twice the height). It has no formal meaning in the Irish Constitution however is generally perceived as the green representing Catholicism, the orange Protestantism, and the white an enduring truce between the two.
It was presented as a gift to Thomas Francis Meagher in 1848 by a group of French women sympathetic to the Irish cause, however it was not until the 1916 Easter Rising when it was raised above the GPO in Dublin that it came to be regarded as the national flag.
It was adopted in 1919 by the Irish Republic during the war of independence, and subsequently by the Irish Free State (1922–1937), and gained official status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.
The Department of the Taoiseach takes responsibility for the flag in an advisory role and specifies the guidelines for it’s use. They also specify the exact colours however you occasionally see different variations of the green and the orange!
The Irish Flag as it should be…
For those of you who use image editors the hex codes for the colours are as follows:
Green – #009B48 (Pantone: 347)
White – #FFFFFF
Orange – #FF7900 (Pantone: 151)
Feel free to copy and use wherever you like.
 The Green Flag and the Irish harp.
The Irish harp first appeared on a green flag in 1642 when Eoghan Rua O’Neill, leading the armies of Ulster, was waging a rebellion against English rule. The Society of United Irishmen proclaimed the harp as Ireland’s national symbol through its use in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and with the passage of time the green flag and the golden harp became a symbol of the Irish nation.
And if you’d like to know more… Wikipedia Flagspot.net
 I’ll write more about Chuck Feeney and The Atlantic Philanthropies another time (a story that deserves justice), but for all our friends across the pond just a brief note that Mr Feeney is planning on making $100 holiday vouchers available for up to 50,000 people visiting Ireland from the US next year (source: The Sunday Times).
Tourism minister Martin Cullen was contacted by Mr Feeney after the Global Irish Economic Forum in September when he offered to match government funds for boosting tourism.
This is a great gesture and sits well with other efforts in the pipeline, e.g, the plan to offer older visitors free off-peak rail travel all over Ireland.
We’ll keep an eye on these initiatives and post more information when details are available.
In the meantime a simple thank you to Mr Feeney for his kind generosity.
On an optimistic note that starts to put meat on the bone, developments are starting to flow from the Farmleigh conference that took place earlier this year.
The report from the conference is available here, and in a statement yesterday Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin, announced that an immediate €2.3 million will be provided towards the construction of a new Irish Arts Center in Manhattan, New York.
It appears the initiative stems from a governmental Strategic Review of Ireland U.S. Relations, published last March, and that further impetus was given to the project following Farmleigh. This moves that occasion beyond what was termed by some as a ‘talking shop’, and into the early stages of a concrete action plan.
In what can be described as true partnership the City of New York is providing a site valued at $12 million and a further $8 million in capital funding, and New York City Mayor Bloomberg, Christine Quinn and Gabriel Byrne were recognised for their support and efforts in helping bring this initiative to fruition.
‘The new Center will project a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America across the U.S.; it will facilitate extensive Irish-related cultural, business and community programs; will showcase quality contemporary Irish theater and art; and will also provide an invaluable resource for the Irish emigrant community in the U.S.’
Minister Martin indicated this is just a first step in the diaspora programme and that he will be making further announcements in the new year. These may include:
- A new Global Irish Network
- Establishment of an Irish innovation center in Silicon Valley
- A Gateway Ireland portal (promoting Ireland and engaging with our global community)
- Expanded educational exchange and scholarship programs
- A new Farmleigh Overseas Graduate Program
He said projects being considered by other departments may also be in the pipeline, and that the private sector were also active in formulating initiatives that would have the support of the government.
So, early signs are positive, and we’ll try and keep up to date with developments as they transpire.
How about...
'A Fair Deal For Ireland'?
This Wednesday Ireland will learn the outcome of one of the most important budgets in decades, and it won’t be pretty.
The talk will be about €4 billion of cuts and €72 billion of national debt, so what about the €420+ billion worth of natural resources off the west coast of Ireland – isn’t that worth another look.
Why?
Because those resources are going to an oil company in what’s described as one of the biggest giveaways in history…
- There are a series of gas and oil fields extending along the west coast of Ireland
- These include the Dunquin, Porcupine and Corrib fields
- The combined value is somewhere between €420 – €540 billion
- The value of the Corrib is somewhere between €10 – €50 billion
Shell to Sea will be one of the groups protesting outside the Dail next week, and regardless of perceptions (or portrayal) they have a point. Shell hope to be pumping Corrib gas by the end of 2010 / start of 2011. Ireland will still be suffering from the recession and seeking ways out of debt.
Ireland’s purse will not see a fair reward, so where has it gone wrong?
1967 – Ireland gave the rights for gas and oil in shallow waters to Marathon Oil.
1971 – the licenses to develop the Kinsale field were sub-let to the same company.
1975 – Ireland agreed a 50% tax on profits, a 50% shareholding, and royalties of 6 to 7%.
So far so good, but…
1984 - Minister Ray Burke renegotiates the agreement with Enterprise Oil (a British company headquartered in London), and against Department advice drops the 50% right to shareholding and discards the right to royalties.
1992 - the Government reduces the tax levy from 50% to 25% – the worlds lowest at the time, builds in a 100% write off for capital investment costs, and backdates the scheme for 25 years arguing that the changes will encourage exploration. However international experience shows that oil companies will pursue exploration anyway if the potential for profit exists.
The Corrib field then gets sold to Marathon Oil who enter into a consortium arrangement with Enterprise Oil. The rights for other fields are disposed of, and in 2002 Shell successfully exercise a hostile takeover of Enterprise Oil.
And what does this mean for Irelands Corrib resources now?
Shell will…
- Own 100% of the gas
- Pay no royalties to the Irish State
- Can write off 100% of their costs against tax
- Have profits taxed at 25% (the international average is 68% for oil-producing countries)
- Be able to export the gas outside Ireland
- Can choose whether or not to sell the gas back to Ireland at full market rates
Thus the only apparent benefit to the Irish State is a 25% corporation tax once all the corporations’ exploration and development costs are paid, including the anticipated costs of closing down their operations.
In 2007 Minister Eamon Ryan introduced a new ‘profit resource rent tax’ which will add a maximum of 15% tax on a graded basis of profitability. However this will only apply to the most profitable fields and crucially, as it’s not retrospective, will not in any way increase the potential takes on existing licenses, such as Corrib Gas and the much larger Dunquin and Lough Allen finds.
“No country in the world gives as favourable terms to the oil companies as Ireland”
Mike Cunningham, former director, Statoil E&P Ireland.
It’s fair to say that as it stands, 100s of €billions worth of Irelands natural resources will be inflating energy companies private bank accounts over the next 20-30 years, with very little for Ireland in return.
Can Ireland really afford to be so generous?
Most governments would be upbeat about the benefits of natural resources to their country, but in Ireland this arrangement has turned it into ‘one of those things we don’t like to talk about’.
The government is concerned that any alteration would damage our reputation abroad, however it has been done before. Yep there’d be a big row, but right now we look like a soft touch, and if we want to convince the international community that we’re sorting out our finances then surely getting a fair deal for our natural resources makes sense.
Here’s the Shell to Sea Info Pack – I may even have understated the case and there’s other factors involved (such as siting the refinery on a bog) so it’s well worth a read.
Now focus on the economics for a moment and put the reporting of Rossport to one side. We’re in recession, making cuts, emigration is on the up, and giving away resources so cheaply doesn’t seem right. Shell made €28 billion in profits last year, Ireland didn’t. The Minister of Finance has warned of a possible €160bn of debt by 2013.
This opportunity won’t come round again and we should be looking at a renegotiation, or at least a change in the tax levy, well so it seems to me anyway.
Mick (diaspora.ie)
Dunmanus Bay is one of the most beautiful in West Cork, and possibly in all of Ireland. It changes from minute to minute and you never know what the colours will be like until you get there. The bay lies between Mizen peninsula to the south and Bantry Bay to the north, with the small village of Durrus at its head.
We were out the other evening, Bernadette had the camera in the car, the sun started to set, and this is what she caught…
 
and to finish the evening, turf on the fire, some delicious Durrus cheese, and a nice hot port!
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Give us the news and we’ll pass it on… If you have a story to tell, launched a new business, got an initiative off the ground, landed on a foreign shore and getting your foot on the first rung, or just have some good news with an inspirational nature let us know and we'll pass it on. The Irish in Britain 
By Ultan Cowley. |
