From Patrick O'Sullivan




The latest issue of the Newsletter of the British Association for Irish
Studies (BAIS), Issue No. 19, July 1999, is being distributed.

The Newsletter is edited by Jerry Nolan, who asks that copy and/or
disks (Word 6/95) for the next issue, No. 20, be sent to him, by October
1, at 8 Antrobus Road, Chiswick, London, W4 5HY.

For further contact information see the British Association for Irish
Studies website at:
http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/hum/bais/index.html

The July issue begins with one of the thoughtful interviews by Jerry
Nolan that are becoming such a feature of the BAIS Newsletter. Jerry
interviews Ray Stagles.

Joan and Ray Stagles, The Blasket Islands: Next Parish America, 1980,
reissued 1998, collected much knowledge about the Blaskets, from
surviving islanders and other sources, giving a background to the Irish
language works of Tomas O Criomhtain, Peig Sayers and Muiris O
Suilheabhain. The whole history of the Blasket Islands is a case study
of the power of texts.

Joan died in 1978 and her ashes were scattered on the Blaskets.

Ir-D list members based in Ireland will know that Ray's wish - expressed
again in this interview - that the Blasket Islands become a National
Park has again been thwarted. Mr. Haughey's legislation has been deemed
unconstitutional by the Irish courts - because it created two sorts of
landowner on the islands, in almost 'racial' terms: descendants of
original islanders and 'incomers'.

Also in this Newsltter... Brian Griffin reports on the Conference of
the Society for the Study of C19th Ireland, April 1999; Malcom Ballin
reviews Fallon, Age of Innocence, and Cunningham, British Writers of the
30s; Sean Hutton protests that there has not been enough
acknowledgement of the work, in developing study of the Irish language,
by BAIS members Siobhan Ui Neill and Cait Thompson.

We also get the full programme for the forthcoming BAIS Conference,
Bath, 10-12 September. Looks good.

And we hear of the award of the first BAIS Postgraduate Bursaries. The
successful applicants were Ivan Gibbons (working on the establishment of
the Irish Free State), Craig Bailey (Irish Middle Classes in London),
Marcella Edwards (Poetic Practice in Ireland since 1967), Yvonne McKenna
(Migration of Irish Women's Religious Orders). So, good representation
of Irish Diaspora Studies there. Each gets 1000 pounds, to help keep
them alive. I am told that the committee which assessed the applicants
for the bursaries were quite shocked to learn of the straitened
financial circumstances and the sacrifices made by postgraduate
scholars.

P.O'S.
- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
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Irish Diaspora Research Unit
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Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan





Forwarded on behalf of the University of Melbourne.

Please circulate widely.

[Note: the University of New South Wales is also planning to create a Chair in
Irish Studies - but is unlikely to have anything in place for a year or more...]

P.O'S.



The University of Melbourne (Australia)
Gerry Higgins Chair of Irish Studies

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The University of Melbourne, recognised internationally for excellence in
teaching and research, is located centrally in Melbourne, a vibrant centre
of Australian intellectual and cultural life.

The Position: This new Chair is located in the Department of History,
Faculty of Arts. The appointee will be expected to provide leadership in
teaching and research in the field of Irish Studies, and to support the
educational activities of Newman College, an affiliated residential college
of the University.

The person: You will have a distinguished international record in a field
of Irish History. You will have a demonstrated capacity to give leadership
in Irish Studies, teaching and research and in the development of Irish
Studies in the University and wider community.

The Benefits: The remuneration package is approximately AUD120,000
including superannuation. In addition, provision exists for four weeks
annual leave and for study leave.

Duration: This Chair is offered on a continuing basis, subject to
satisfactory performance. This appointment will be available from 1
February 2000

Contact: Academic enquiries to the Dean, Faculty of Arts, telephone: 61
(3) 9344 5242; secure facsimile: 61 (3) 9344-4938; e-mail:
arts.dean[at]arts.unimelb.edu.au Further information about the position,
including details of the application procedure, conditions of outside work,
superannuation, travel and removal expenses, housing assistance and
conditions of appointment, is available from the Registrar. Please contact
Ms Lydia Simonow; telephone: 61 (3) 9344 7528; secure facsimile: 61 (3)
9344 6897; e-mail: l.simonow[at]execserv.unimelb.edu.au. This information is
also available on the internet:
http://www.unimelb.edu.au/ExecServ/Seniorapp/index.htm



- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

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Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish Historical Studies, Vol XXXI, No. 123, May 1999

An interesting issue of Irish Historical Studies is now being
distributed - of interest to Irish Diaspora Studies not least because it
contains David Noel Doyle's Review Article, looking at recent
publications in our field.

Articles

Vincent P. Carey
'John Dericke's Image of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, and the massacre at
Mullaghmast, 1578'
This is a very well done, cogent piece of work, covering not only
Derricke's rhetoric, of the woodkerne, but the place of the massacre in
Daniel O'Connell's nationalist rhetoric. Concludes: 'Government-
sponsored slaughter was a fact of the English colonial experience in
Ireland...'

Neal Garnham
on the trials of James Cotter and Henry, Baron Barry of Santry, 2 case
studies of the administration of justice in C18th Ireland

Ben Novick
'Postal censorship in Ireland, 1914-16'

Emmet O'Connor
'Jim Larkin and the Communist Internationals, 1923-9
Makes use of newly released documents in the Communist archives, Moscow,
to clarify Larkin's relationship with Communism, showing him resisting
control from Moscow and London.

Alan Greer
'Sir James Craig and the construction of Parliament Buildings at
Stormont'
A timely exploration of the construction - and the meaning - of that
vainglorious edifice...

Review Articles

Eunan O'Halpin revisits Macardle, The Irish Republic, 1937
'remains a crucial source...'

Ian McBride
Review Article: 'Reclaiming the Rebellion: 1798 in 1998'
Reviews 6 books. Concludes: 'Taking the pain out of '98 may be good
tourism; it may even be good politics; but is it good history?'

David Noel Doyle
Review Article: 'Cohesion and diversity in the Irish diaspora
Reviews
Patrick O'Sullivan, ed., The Irish World Wide: History, Heritage,
Identity, 6 vols., 1992-97
Blethen & Wood, eds, Ulster and North America: transatlantic
perspectives on the Scotch-Irish, 1997
Bayor & Meagher, eds, The New York Irish, 1996
Glazier & Shelley, eds, The Encylopedia of American Catholic History,
1997.

This is, of course, an important article for Irish Diaspora Studies -
and especially important for me personally, since it is the first
published review of the entire Irish World Wide project. I know from
David that it was a hard article to write - and its perspective floats
between majestic overview and tiny matters of detail.

I don't think that there is much here with which I would strongly
disagree. 'His reach is less novel than his intent...' - too right,
cobber. There seems to be an underlying assumption, perhaps
understandable in Irish Historical Studies, that study of the Irish
Diaspora is a matter only for historians - when part of the importance,
and the fun, of our work for me is that it must be inter-disciplinary.

The article makes significant connections between the 4 works reviewed
and previous studies in our field. I will negotiate with David and see
if we can find some way of making the complete text available to the
Irish-Diaspora list.

Other Reviews
Brendan Bradshaw on Ellis, Tudor frontiers - 'vitiated by a false
ecumenism...'

Liam Irwin on Doherty, Williamite Wars

David Dickson on Hill, From patriots to unionists

Raymond Gillespie on Cohen, ed., The warp of Ulster's past...the Irish
linen industry - editor's introduction provides a 'masterly summary of
the historiography'

Maura Cronin on Prunty, Dublin Slums

Alan O'Day on Davis, William Smith O'Brien

James Loughlin on Legg, Newspapers and nationalism

Patrick Joyce on Hoppen, The mid-Victorian generation

P.O'S.


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Forwarded from the H-Ethnic list...

------- Forwarded message follows -------
complete text will eventually be online at
http://pro.harvard.edu/abstracts/007/007003LawAnna000.html

Abstract
Law, Anna O.. "Shifting Ethnic Alliances--The Politics of American
Immigration Reform." Paper prepared for delivery at the 1999 Annual
Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Atlanta, Ga.,
September 2-5, 1999.

Abstract:

This paper utilizes the politics of immigration policy as a lens to examine
the effects of race and ethnicity on political participation within the
American pluralist system. I explore two dueling paradigms of assimilation
and political incorporation, the racial paradigm and the ethnic paradigm, and
the manner in which they play out in immigration policy. Using letters of
support to President Lyndon Johnson from different ethnic groups during the
debate surrounding the Immigration Act of 1965 and Subcommittee Hearing
Reports and other records from the Immigration Act of 1990, the data reveals
that white and non-white immigrant ethnic groups adopt two different models
of political participation by 1990, namely the constituent politics model and
the identity politics model respectively. The data also shows that the
realignment of ethnic interests that takes place between the passage of the
1965 Act and the 1990 Act ultimately illustrates the salience of
race/ethnicity that is tied to different historical patterns of immigration
of these groups. The racial and ethnic paradigms of political incorporation
are found to correspond with the constituent and identity politics models of
participation and the resultant differential in success within the policy
arena.

From Patrick O'Sullivan


Extract from...
THE IE BOOK REVIEW

_______________________________________________________________________
Editor: Pauline Ferrie July, 1999 Issue No.48
=======================================================================

This monthly supplement to the Irish Emigrant reviews books recently
published in Ireland, and those published overseas which have an Irish
theme. Back issues are on our WWW pages

=======================================================================

THE IRISH IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN - Ed. SWIFT & SHERIDAN
- - This, the third volume on the subject of the Irish in Britain by the
same editors, includes contributions from academics in a number of
different disciplines and covers a wide spectrum. In addition to the
obvious centres of Irish immigration, such as Liverpool and London,
we also learn of the experiences of the much smaller number of mainly
Munster people who settled in Cornwall, where they found employment
in the tin mines. Marie McLelland, a lecturer in Education at the
University of Hull, has contributed an informative account of the
development of Catholic education in the city and the setting up of
the only Order of Mercy teacher training college in the country.
While many of the immigrant communities were to be found in the
poorest districts, the gradual upward progression of some of them is
noted in John Belchem's paper on the Irish middle class in Liverpool.
Here he identifies publicans and shopkeepers as examples of
immigrants who could, through enterprise, rise to the ranks of the
middle class. The position and influence of the Catholic Church on
the lives of Irish immigrants is a recurring theme in all the centres
of population featured in this collection, which include Birmingham,
Stafford and South Wales.
(Four Courts Press, ISBN 1-85182-444-8, pp320, IR17.50)

From Patrick O'Sullivan

We thought that this Call for Papers might interest some Ir-D list members.
We hear less nowadays about the Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland border as
a 'cultural divide'. It remains a case study of the cultural consequences of
a political division - I am, not alone in believing that major influences on
the development of poetry in Northern Ireland have been the British
examination system and its English Literature syllabus...

P.O'S.


------- Forwarded message follows -------
Call for Papers: The Future(s) of Border Studies
Essay Collection
Deadline: 1 October 1999

Interest in border studies has exploded across academic disciplines in
recent years: artists and scholars in the fields of anthropology,
philosophy, cultural studies, Chicana/o studies, American studies, and
literary/postcolonial theory have begun to look at how the U.S.-Mexico
borderlands and its subjects are mapped in various literary, filmic,
and
political discourses. As a site of increased transnational flows
associated with globalization, the "border" has become a term of
translation for imagining connections between a U.S.-Mexico border
culture, other historical and cultural zones such as the "Black
Atlantic,"
and emerging diasporic communities. In this view, the border has
become a
synonym for a surge in postnational diasporic public spheres that
challenge and further contest nationalist U.S. discourses.

But while the transformation of the border into a cross-cultural
metaphor
has emphasized anti-nationalist notions of cultural hybridity and
transnational coexistence, it has not yet sufficiently traced the
specificities and inequalities of cross-border contacts. We are
looking
for essays that challenge what Aijaz Ahmad has called the
"globalising-hybridist anti-histor[ies]" that have been written under
the
aegis of border and postcolonial studies. We are especially interested
in
papers that explore the material specificities of transnational border
cultures, not only along the U.S.-Mexico boundary but also in other
geopolitical border zones. We envision a collection of essays that
draw on
methodologies and materials from a number of academic
disciplines--including, but not limited to geography, anthropology,
political science, sociology, environmental studies--as well essays
grounded in literary and cultural studies.

Please send (by 1 October 1999) completed essays or detailed abstracts
by
email or regular mail to both coeditors:

Claudia Sadowski-Smith
Department of American Thought & Language
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1033
cssmith[at]pilot.msu.edu

James D. Lilley
Literature Program
University of Arizona
Modern Languages 445
Tucson, Arizona 85721
jlilley[at]u.arizona.edu

From Patrick O'Sullivan



Those who have been following the Galway Film Fleadh (the Galway Film
Festival) will know that 4 much acclaimed new movies had Irish Diaspora themes
- - and, indeed, one was set here in Bradford. I have dug out the following 4
reviews from the Irish Emigrant Newsletter. Note the use of the code word
'exile'...

P.O'S.


======================================================================

The IE Arts Review

______________________________________________________________________
Editor: Miriam Stewart July, 1999 Issue No.17
======================================================================

The IE Arts Review is a monthly publication from the Irish Emigrant
containing news and reviews of the latest in Irish theatre, cinema,
visual art, performance and much more. Comments and questions are
welcome by email to . It can also be viewed on our
web pages at .

Due to the recent Galway Film Fleadh, the reviews are concentrating on
new Irish movies (and a documentary). August will return to the usual
format.

REVIEWS:
Film:
- "Characters"
- "Exiled"
- "East is East"
- "I Could Read the Sky"

"Characters"

Dir.: Bryan Baker
Pro.: Antony M. Davis
Cast: Bryan Baker, Ed Beausang, Whitney Oelerich

Introducing his film debut to the audience, Bryan Baker described it as
the "lowest budget movie ever", being made in nine months and shot in
twelve days. What he neglected to mention was that "Characters",
through winning the Best Drama award at the New York Independent Film
Festival, has received international recognition (and respect) that
many blockbusters struggle, or fail to achieve.

"Characters" is an entertaining jaunt in film; it tells the tale of
Bryan (Bryan Baker) and Ed (Ed Beausang), recent immigrants to New
York, and their quest for love and happiness. Bryan is a wise
cracking, fast talking barman, whereas Ed is a sober (but mostly
hungover) social worker. Both while the night hours away drinking and
their incoherent speeches fail to impress women. Despite their
continual hangovers, life could not be better, until their romantic
attachments become tangled. Receiving an "Are you okay?" talk from his
Supervisor regarding his drinking, Ed confuses her empathy and concern
with love. Meanwhile Bryan has fallen for the feisty girl (Whitney
Oelerich) in the video shop, who is being secretly "minded" by two
inept petty crooks at her uncle's behest. Will true love triumph over
such odds?

"Characters" works well as a spoof comedy. The boys lurch from bar to
bar and stagger into work, and conduct a verbal slanging match. The
young aspiring gangsters do the same, plus they wave guns about. But
it is through the verbal quickfire between Ed and Bryan that
"Characters" excels; some of their quips are almost unbearably funny.
Sometimes, however, the joke goes on too long; an example is the
morning after scene at their house, when Ed is getting sick. Repeating
Bryan's teasing is irksome for the viewer.

"Character' is a fine film, and refreshingly funny in places. All
right, so it could do with a little editing and polishing, but with the
film's budget and time frame it represents a remarkable
achievement...hopefully this is not the last to be heard from Baker and
Davis.

*****

"Exiled"

Dir. Bill Muir
Pro. Brian Tucker, Bill Muir, Janice Kambara
Cast: Paul Ronan, Ronan Carr, Paul Clarke, Jenny Conroy
World Premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh

At first sight it seems that "Characters" and "Exiled" have the
potential to be quite similar. Both deal with immigrants as the
central figures, and even their scenery is alike (Sunnyside, Queens).
But there the similarity ends; "Exiled" is a much deeper, darker film.
Set in 1991, Brendan McDonagh (Paul Ronan) arrives in America, exiled
from Ireland through his part in an armed robbery. He settles in with
his Northern Irish cousin Sean (Ronan Carr), who quickly shows him the
ropes, even procuring a job and a possible green card for Brendan in
the local bar and introducing him to his friends.

But Brendan's optimism for his new life is soon dashed when he
discovers that Sean and his friends are involved with the IRA.
Although supportive of their ideals, he refuses to get involved,
believing that Sean's view of Ireland is one of soured nostalgia. He
also begins to fall in love with one of their wives (Jenny Conroy).
Sean, smuggling arms into Ireland, asks Brendan to help with a
"delivery". When he declines, Sean insists that Brendan would be
doing him a personal favour. Brendan eventually agrees, but then his
past catches up with him, and he is faced with a dilemma. Will he act
as an informant and send his cousin to jail, or return to Ireland and
face his charges there?

"Exiled" works well in exploring the ties that bind families and
friends; at what stage does loyalty end and betrayal begin? Which is
more important, ideals or reality? Is it political or personal ties
that really bind? These themes are explored well in "Exiled" but I
found the relationship between Brendan and Sinead a little
unconvincing. All in all, it certainly is a strong, thought provoking
film with a shocking, unexpected ending. The acting is good with fine
performances from Conroy and Ronan. I would recommend seeing "Exiled"
if you get the chance, it will linger with you.

*****

"East is East"

Director: Damien O'Donnell

Reviewed by Eoghan Ferrie

East is East is the film adaptation of a play by writer Ayub Khan-Din
which is based on his life in a Mancunian-Pakistani family. The main
theme of the film is the culture gap between George Khan, a native
Pakistani, and his seven children who were all raised in Salford by
their father and his English wife. They see themselves as English and
have no time for the beliefs and practices their father tries to instil
in them. His attempt to raise his children as Pakistanis and their
refusal to adopt a culture to which they feel no affiliation is the
vehicle used to extract side-splitting laughs and shocking scenes of
domestic violence. First-time director (of a feature film) Declan
O'Donnell manages to balance these two emotional opposites without
taking from the effectiveness of the film.

The story begins with the arranged marriage of the eldest son. Rather
than seeing it through he runs out of the wedding and heads for London.
The perceived shame brought onto the family and in particular himself
causes Mr Khan to disown his son and live his life as if he never
existed. In an effort to improve his standing in the Pakistani
community George doubles his efforts to rear his other children in the
tradition of his people but this only causes them to rebel more. The
tension between George and his English wife Ella, played by Linda
Bassett, increases as the film progresses as she is torn between being
loyal to her husband and looking after the best interests of her
children. Time after time she submits to the will of her husband and
it seems that she is going to bend to his will again when his actions
turn violent towards her and her children in an attempt to marry off
two more sons to the daughters of a respectable butcher from Bradford
(Bradistan). But the force of the reaction of one of the sons makes
her realise that her children have a right to determine their own path
in life. The final scenes where the mother and children band together
to convince the Bradford butcher that this is not a family he wants his
daughters to be marrying into is a hilarious finish to an often
hilarious and sometimes shocking film.

Declan O'Donnell approaches the film is a straightforward fashion. He
uses simple visual imagery to portray the contrasting cultures; the
dialogue, while sometimes a little difficult to understand, is concise
and to the point; and there is a happy ending. George Khan realises
that his children are English and that in a way he has been anglicised
himself - he does have an English wife and a fish and chip shop after
all.

*****

"I Could Read the Sky"
World Premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh

Dir. Nichola Bruce
Pro. Janine Marmot
Cast: Dermot Healy, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Stephen Rea

"I Could Read the Sky" is Nichola Bruce's adaptation of Timothy O'Grady
and Steve Pyke's 1997 photographic novel of the same name. The novel
and the film explore the life and memories of an old man living alone
in Kentish Town, London. He narrates his life as an unskilled labourer
in Britain, his travel from job to job, his relationships with friends,
work mates, and his wife (Maria Doyle Kennedy).

The Narrator (Dermot Healy) is never named; he could be any of the
nameless Irish labourers of the 1950s who emigrated and were only
remembered by those who were left behind. But now it is his turn to
remember, to recall even the painful memories of home and its music
which have haunted him for years.

Bruce's film marks a turning point in an adaptation of the Irish novel.
It doesn't follow a linear narrative, but rather reflects the
meandering memories of the old man who reconstructs his life through
recollection, stories and old conversations. This is a film about
memory; presenting the remembered world as it is remembered or evoked
by a certain item, smell, emotion, or visual aspect. In this sense the
film is almost tactile; you can sense the man's memories, see them as
they are remembered. One that stood out for me was a memory from his
childhood, when he remembers the whorl of hair on the back of his
brother's head, which triggers another memory. In an interview with
"Film West" Bruce herself said the film was "...like making poetry for
me, making image poetry".

Dermot Healy is captivating, giving his role an earthy, credible feel.
The film includes cameos from Stephen Rea, Mick Lally and Iarla O
Lionaird, who also provides some of the music. Needless to say the
music is evocative and spellbinding; others providing it include
cellist Caroline Dale, Sinead O'Connor and fiddler Bobby Casey. This
film, with its layers of narrative, may not be everyone's cup of tea,
especially to audiences used to no longer needing their imaginations
when watching films. Watch it twice if you have to; explore the
beautiful imagery and creativity of this film.

From Patrick O'Sullivan

Best wishes to the 5th Annual O'Sullivan/Sullivan Seminar, which will
take place from the evening of Friday October 1 1999 to the evening of
Sunday October 3 1999, at the Trellis Garden Inn, 107 South Main Street,
Statresboro, Georgia 30458, Georgia, USA.

The contact person is Eileen A. Sullivan
Executive Director, Irish Educational Association Inc., 6412 Northwest
128th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32653.

If Irish Diaspora Studies can fairly be described as the study of the
history of the universe - from the Irish point of view... Then the
O'Sullivan/Sullivan Seminars offer similar, but even more specialist,
delights - with, this year, papers on the Brehon Laws (as they affect
the O'Sullivans), John L. Sullivan, the Sorohans and Soroghans (in
Ireland the more common names tend to gobble up the less common), Fort
Sumpter and Sullivan Island, etc. Plus papers on and displays of Irish
music, dance, poetry and the other arts. All in all, an intriguing way
to map developments in Irish Studies.

And I can say this without demonstrating any partiality whatsoever...

Patrick O'Sullivan

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
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Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan


Those interested in Henry George - see, for example, the chapters by
Brundage and by McKivigan & Robertson in Bayor & Meagher, The New York
Irish - might find useful the Web site of the Henry George Institute...

http://www.echonyc.com/~hgi/

They have even displayed the full text of Poverty and Progress.

P.O'S.
- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan


At this Web address...

http://www.thp.org/reports/sen/sen890.htm

there is the full text of a lecture

PUBLIC ACTION TO REMEDY HUNGER
by Amartya Sen

This is the text of the Arturo Tanco Memorial Lecture given in London on
2nd August 1990, arranged by The Hunger Project and CAB International,
in association with The Commonwealth Trust and The Royal Institute of
International Affairs. The lecture draws on Sen's joint book with Jean
Drèze (a study for the World Institute for Development Economics
Research, WIDER), Hunger and Public Action (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1989), and on the material presented in the 1987 Lionel Robbins Memorial
Lectures at the London School of Economics and the 1989 Annual Lectures
at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

Earlier on the Irish-Diaspora list we commented on the significance of
the award of the Nobel prize to Sen. Here, in this lecture, is a very
good - brief, instantly available and fully referenced - introduction to
Sen's thinking on famine and famine prevention, helping to put the Irish
Famine in a wider context, and giving some background to my own chapter
on famine theory and famine policy in The Irish World Wide, Volume 6,
The Meaning of the Famine.

Here is an extract from Sen's lecture, which will, I think, strike
chords for Irish specialists...

EXTRACT BEGINS>>>

"Does not this weather frighten you?" wrote James Mill, the utilitarian
philosopher, to David Ricardo, the pioneering economist, in the troubled
English summer of 1816. "There must now be of necessity a very deficient
crop, and very high prices - and these with an unexampled scarcity of
work will produce a degree of misery, the thought of which makes the
flesh creep on one's bones - one third of the people must die - it would
be a blessing to take them into the streets and high ways, and cut their
throats as we do with the pigs." David Ricardo did not dissent from
James Mill's paralysing gloom, and in a later letter assured him that he
was "sorry to see a disposition to inflame the minds of the lower orders
by persuading them that legislation can afford them any relief."6

The unquestioning fatalism that characterizes this exchange between two
of the leading minds of nineteenth century Britain remains distressingly
common even today. And yet famines are nearly always avoidable, even
after gigantic natural disasters. Sensible public action, including
appropriate legislation, can systematically eradicate large-scale
starvation altogether. The inflamed minds of "the lower orders" had got
the picture more nearly right than two of the foremost intellectuals of
Britain.

EXTRACT ENDS>>>>

P.O'S.
- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan



Resurgent Irish Immigration to the US in the 1980s and early 1990s: A
Socio-demographic Profile
International Migration, June 1998, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 257-280(24)

Lobo A.P. [1]; Salvo J.J. [1]

[1] Population Division, New York City Department of City Planning, New
York

Abstract:

Irish immigration to the US has been motivated traditionally by a lack
of employment opportunities at home. With the passage of the US
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, however, Irish immigrants were
no longer explicitly favoured. Family reunification became the primary
path of entry, which worked against the Irish who had lost their
immediate generational link with US residents.

During the severe Irish recession of 1980?85 a resurgence in Irish
outflows resulted in a large undocumented Irish population in the US.
Most of this population was later legalized as a result of special
legislation that targeted the Irish. There have been concerns in Ireland
that the outflow in the 1980s, unlike prior flows, included a high
proportion of skilled persons, leading some to characterize the outflow
as a ?new wave?.

This article uses US immigration data to assess how the occupational
characteristics of recent Irish immigrants compare with prior immigrant
cohorts and also examines how Irish immigrants are incorporated into the
US economy.

Recent Irish immigrants to the US spanned the occupational spectrum:
accountants, engineers, nurses and other professionals found a booming
job market in the most advanced sectors of the US economy, while less
skilled immigrants found jobs in the informal economy. While the number
of entering Irish professionals increased, flows of the less skilled
increased even more dramatically, resulting in an overall decline in the
occupational selectivity of Irish immigrants.

The 1980?85 Irish recession has been followed by robust growth for more
than a decade. Ireland is now experiencing a net inflow of persons,
including many Irish professionals returning from the US. However,
Ireland continues to experience a net outflow of the young and less
skilled which may once again result in a large undocumented Irish
presence in the US.

Language: English Document Type: Research article ISSN: 0020-7985

Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford, UK and Boston, USA

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: "Edward O'Donnell"


I noticed your mention of Henry George sources. Please allow me to
be so bold as to mention the following:

My social biography of Henry George will be published by Columbia University
Press in 2001. It will be the first major bio of George since 1955. It
mainly focuses on the years 1877-1887 -- the writing of _Progress and
Poverty_, his activism in the Irish Land League, and the legendary Labor
Party run for Mayor of New York City in 1886. I leave the Single Tax
movement (post-1887) to others to make sense of. Between now and 2001 it
is available in dissertation form (Columbia University, 1995), though be
advised that it has undergone several revisions since then.

Those interested might also check out David Brundage's book regarding miners
(mostly Irish) in Colorado which deals in part with the Land League -- _The
Making of Western Labor Radicalism : Denver's Organized Workers, 1878-1905
(Univ. Ill Press, 1994).

Ed O'Donnell
Hunter College, CUNY

- -----Original Message-----
From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Date: Sunday, August 22, 1999 5:31 AM
Subject: Ir-D Henry George Institute


>
>>From Patrick O'Sullivan
>
>
>Those interested in Henry George - see, for example, the chapters by
>Brundage and by McKivigan & Robertson in Bayor & Meagher, The New York
>Irish - might find useful the Web site of the Henry George Institute...
>
>http://www.echonyc.com/~hgi/
>
>They have even displayed the full text of Poverty and Progress.
>
>P.O'S.

From: Eileen A Sullivan

Dear Paddy,

You have done extremely well on publicizing the O'S/S seminar from an
unbiased view, of course.

I have almost recovered from the IASIL conference and the post tour in
Spain, then the hop, skip, and the jump from Barcelona to Brussels to
Belfast to Tyrone for the Carleton Summer School. Both meetings were
well conducted; more info scattered about than could be picked up.

While in Belfast, I picked up a little bio sketch, 98 pp, on Barry
Sullivan by W.J. Lawrence, London: Baird, 1893. This one shilling book
was sold for 10 pounds and is in poor shape. However, it will give me
another name to the illustrious group of ancestors. The author stated in
the preface that the sketch was written "from a very considerable mass
of Sullivana." I learned a new word! Thomas Barry Sullivan was born in
Birmingham, 1824, and died in Hove, Brighton, 1891. His body went to
London and finally to Dublin where he was buried at Glasnevin. Among the
many mourners was T.D. Sullivan. M.P. Barry was a great actor who
performed in Ireland, England, Australia, and the States.

All for now.
Eileen A. Sullivan Tel # (352) 332 3690
6412 NW 128th Street E-Mail : eolas1[at]juno.com
Gainesville, FL 32653

___________________________________________________________________
Get the Internet just the way you want it.
Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month!
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From Patrick O'Sullivan

This Irish Times item is attracting some comment amongst the chat rooms
of the Irish Diaspora...

STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND
Kathryn Holmquist on why some returning emigrants feel like aliens in a
place that should feel like home...

http://www.ireland.com/dublin/living/emigrants1808.htm


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

Forwarded on behalf of dam[at]aber.ac.uk (Dr. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe)

Dear Colleagues,

In autumn I will launch an internet-based journal on Consciousness and the
Arts and Literature. My department wants to support this initiative by
funding a Ph.D. student as Editorial Assistant. Please mention this
opportunity to suitable candidates.

Applications, addressed to me, should comprise a CV, with special emphasis
on any experience in
administrative / editorial work
creating web pages
as well as a solid Ph.D. proposal.

Deadline is Friday 10 September 1999

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed soon after the deadline
***************************************************************
Dr. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe
Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
University of Wales Aberystwyth
1 Laura Place, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 2AU, UK
Tel. ++44 1970 622835 Fax ++44 1970 622831 email: dam[at]aber.ac.uk

From Patrick O'Sullivan


Those who have been following the Ronnie O'Brien saga might be
interested in this item from the Irish Times. Similar items are
appearing in newspapers throughout the world.

Basically, this is what the world-wide Irish Diaspora on the World-Wide
Web does in its spare time. First, Ronnie O'Brien, footballer, is voted
Juventus most promising newcomer. Then, Ronnie O'Brien is voted Time
magazine's Person of the Century, overwhelming JFK, Einstein...

Next, world peace and the eradication of injustice...?

P.O'S.

------- Forwarded message follows -------



Irish footballer voted Person of the Century

By Emmet Oliver

What do Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill
have in common? Well, according to readers of Time magazine,
their positions in history are not sufficient to make them more
important than one of our own.

If only they had played for Middlesbrough FC, come from Bray, Co
Wicklow, and had lots of friends with computers they might have
come ahead of one humble Irishman, voted by Time readers as
provisional Person of the Century.

Whether it was the absence of playing experience in the English
Premiership or something else, Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins
and Mary Robinson couldn't compete with one . . . Ronnie O'Brien.

Ronnie who? Well, John F. Kennedy may have been the first Irish
Catholic in the White House and John Paul II may have inspired his
flock around the world, but neither played for Juventus and neither
has thousands of Irish friends with access to the Internet.

The 20-year-old may have some fame in his hometown of Bray,
but to scoop one of the most prestigious accolades bestowed by
any magazine in the world looks like being an honour too far.

The young footballer has signed for Juventus, after being let go by
Middlesbrough last year, and while making good progress there it
could be argued he is only a household name in his own household.

Not so, say his friends who have spent the last few weeks sending
thousands of e-mails to Time magazine's Website proclaiming him
not just a decent footballer but a major figure of the 20th century,
eclipsing luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Yitzhak Rabin, Bill
Gates and Gandhi.

However, despite agreeing that other candidates like Elvis were
never good crossers of the ball, the magazine has ordered an
inquiry into how O'Brien was provisionally voted Person of the
Century.

Considering that his electronic friends registered more than
57,000 votes for him, their suspicion that "multiple voting" took
place may be justified.

The huge support for O'Brien started when his friends decided to
help raise his profile on the English-language Juventus Website.
When they were finished, he was voted the club's "Most Promising
Newcomer".

However, this wasn't enough and the chance to make the Bray man
Time magazine's most important figure of the 20th century proved
too tempting. As one friend told the rest of the O'Brien fan club:
"Right, lads, don't underestimate the power we have on this list.
Let's do it for Ronnie again. Pass the e-mail on to all and sundry."

After more than 12 hours as provisional Person of the Century,
O'Brien was withdrawn from top spot and relegated to the alsorans.
Additional reporting by Reuters




- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan


We have been thinking for some time that we ought to try to develop a
project to look at the Irish language outside Ireland.

Anyone who wants to receive a copy - as a quite long email - of my
Discussion Paper about this should send me a personal email to
Patrick O'Sullivan
The Discussion Paper is just a bit too long to post directly to the
Irish-Diaspora list.

The theme of the Discussion Paper is that the focus on the Irish
language as (to quote the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland) 'the
national language' and 'the first official language' has distracted
attention from Irish as an international language, with an international
presence and an international literature.

We thought we should first see if we can develop an Anthology of the
Irish Language Literature of America. The background and full details
are in the Discussion Paper.

I have posted, as a separate email to the Irish-Diaspora list, an
example of the kind of message that is now coming in - really with not
too great an effort on our part. It begins to look as if there are real
possibilities here.

Patrick O'Sullivan
- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Patrick O'Sullivan


Forwarded with the permission of William Mahon...

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Dear Patrick,

Dr. Paul O'Leary relayed your message re: the Irish Language Literature in
America project. I am at present finishing a biography of Thomas Griffin
(1829-96), a native of Corca Dhuibhne who settled in Lawrence,
Massachusetts, in the 1850s. He was active in the Philo-Celtic movement and
composed some poetry (eight items or so) dealing with (a) memories of his
youth, (b) the Irish Language, and (c) the Free Trade controversy of the
1880s. My book will inncude an edition of the poems.

Bill Mahon


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/

Personal Fax National 0870 0521605
Fax International +44 870 0521605

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: "Elizabeth Malcolm"

Irish Language Literature



Paddy,

A slightly frivolous contribution to your Irish language diaspora
project. Last Christmas I read an entertaining travel book by an
American journalist, who had studied Welsh at Lampeter University
College and then proceeded to travel round the world talking with and
describing Welsh-speaking communities. She started off in Norway and
ended up in Argentina, taking in about a dozen other countries on the
way. I didn't exactly warm to her as a person, but she paints an
interesting picture of the role of language in an emigrant community. It
struck me that one could do something comparable, though perhaps rather
more scholarly, for the Irish-speaking diaspora. For anyone who's
interested, the reference is: Pamela Petro, 'Travels in an Old Tongue:
Touring the World Speaking Welsh', London: HarperCollins, 1997.

Elizabeth Malcolm
Liverpool

From: "Jill Blee"
Organization: University of Ballarat
Subject: Through Irish Eyes Conference


Thank you to everyone who has sent an abstract for the Through Irish
Eyes Conference. We intend publishing the conference timetable, and
the abstracts of the papers to be given, in the next few weeks on our
website: http://www.ballarat.edu.au/bssh/asc/throughi.htm

Full details of the Conference Programme, together with booking
and accommodation information can also be obtained from our website.

For any additional information, please contact the Convenor
Jill Blee
School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities
University of Ballarat,
PO Box 663
Ballarat
Victoria 3353
Telephone: 0353 27 9710
Fax: 0353 27 9840
email: j.blee[at]ballarat.edu.au