Congratulations to Tara Talbot from Queensland, our new Rose of Tralee 2011. She was the bookies favourite and you can see why; attractive and intelligent, and with a good singing voice to boot, a natural winner who’ll wear the crown beautifully.
Tara Talbot Queensland
Dáithí Ó Sé is in the ‘hot seat’ again this year as he hosts the TV finale for 2011, but no prob we’re sure he’s had plenty of tips from his bride to be, the 2008 New Jersey Rose Rita Talty (congratulations to you both sir!)
The festival has surged in popularity in recent years, and in 2010 RTE viewing peaked at over one million and averaged 916,300 – the highest in more than a decade. That popularity is also reflected by what must be an avalanche of visitors to the official website, slower tonight as it tries to keep up with a huge demand, so here’s the girls for 2011…
The Rose will be crowned tomorrow evening, August 23rd, and as usual we remain unbiased – wouldn’t be too upset though if it turns out to be Corks year this year!
The Ireland Reaching Out project launched its first Week Of Welcomes this week, and it looks like it’s going well. Impressions from here are that it appears to be rewarding for all involved and hopefully everyone is enjoying themselves.
The week is only halfway through but here’s a couple of videos from the organisers giving a flavour of things so far…
David McWilliams is obviously still in the stages of introducing the principles behind the project, but hopefully as things progress and the programme expands we’ll get past this initial hurdle. It will also be interesting to hear peoples thoughts once the week is over, how they felt it went, and in a broader sense whether the proactive engagement at a personal level is helping move the relationship to another level.
President Barack Obama’s great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, left Ireland in 1850. He was following in the footsteps of family members who had departed for the United States as far back as the late 1700s and who, as described by Steve MacDonogh (the late author), were highly representative of the people who developed the frontier regions of the US.
Destined for Ohio where a relative had left property in his name he later married, had 10 children, and settled in Indiana where he worked as a farmer. Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, was a descendant of one of Kearney’s daughters, Mary Ann Kearney, and Jacob William Dunham. Now, some 161 years later, Barack is returning for a visit in May of this year that will take him to his ancestral home in Moneygall, a village of approximately 300 people in County Offaly, and possibly also to Shinrone – the townland with the earliest recorded connection to his Irish ancestors.
There’s sure to be a warm welcome and it’ll be interesting to see in which of the two Moneygall bars (it’s a small place!) he has a drop of the black stuff. Not to worry about ‘drinking on the job’ either, you’re allowed a moment here!
Looking forward to your visit sir, céad míle fáilte.
Live update! Slainte sir, and some truly amazing scenes from Moneygall – wonderful to see.
The state of Pennsylvania, USA, has a history of Irish immigration dating back to the early 1700s. As was common in those days the new settlers had many challenges to overcome, but in good old Irish style they battled through. Initially concentrated in counties such as Chester, Lancaster, Northampton and Northumberland, and along the Maryland line, they eventually began spreading west or south-west and by 1975 the migration of Irish across the state was complete.
Further waves of immigration occurred over the following centuries, culminating in the strong Irish communities that exist there today.
In 1987 Sandy Sheerin and her three sisters left Ireland as young girls and settled in a small rural town in Pleasant Mount, Pennsylvania. Now in their 30s the girls are very aware of how those in Pennsylvania and beyond cherish their heritage, and have embarked on a venture to bring the country of Ireland closer to those communities.
Introducing GAELIC GIRLS, a television production based on the four girls travelling back to Ireland to re-discover it. Each with their own personal interest:
Culture :
The history/heritage and culture of the island.
Luxury :
The wonderful resorts/retreats/getaways in Ireland.
Fun :
The festivals/events/pubs that are a must-see here.
Shopping :
The talented Irish designers with quaint boutiques and shops.
Sandy has been working hard to get this project off the ground and has :
achieved approval from 5 PBS Television stations in the U.S who love the concept
gained the support of various companies who have offered free services for the project
gathered a range of volunteers willing to offer their time and skills.
Her efforts so far have managed to trim $100,000 off the overall budget, and without any drop in quality. Her new challenge – the original funders for the project have pulled out due to difficulties caused by the current economic climate.
I like this project for reasons beyond the obvious tourist benefits, however let’s look at it from an economic perspective for the moment:
- The required budget to make this production is $150,000 - If, let’s say, it results in 200 additional tourists next year it will have more than paid for itself.
The fact that Sandy and her sisters have lived in the USA most of their lives also means they know how to engage with their audience, and how to capture their interest and imagination.
So, if you’re reading this and have involvement, contacts, or influence with any state agencies, or know of any avenues that Sandy can pursue to move the funding forward, she’d really appreciate it if you got in touch with her. The project has recently received a commitment from Tourism Ireland so the seeds are sown, it now needs to come to fruition.
Sandy can be contacted by email at sandrasheerin@gmail.com. She’s very easy to talk to, warm, professional, determined, she has a great project here and it deserves all the support it can get.
Back in August this year the Department of Foreign Affairs announced a grant awarded to something called the South East Galway Diaspora Project. Very little information was publicly available, but today an article appeared in the Irish Independent clarifying what this project is about.
In essence the initiative turns the diaspora strategy of recent years on it’s head. Rather than seeking ways of encouraging the diaspora to re-engage with Ireland, the SE Galway project reverses the approach and looks to reach outwards, from Ireland. The basic principle is that each local parish community will ‘research its genealogical past and identify those people who are of its own flesh and blood and reach out and engage their interest’.
The pilot stage is being launched in Loughrea tomorrow evening (Thursday 28th October), and 30 local parishes have been invited to participate in the project. Their target – to find 44,000 of the diaspora with a family link back to the Loughrea electoral area, and to attempt to attract 25-30 of those back for a visit to their ancestral parish or townland next year.
The third goal of the pilot moves more towards the economic sector in that it aims ‘to identify, among the 44,000, approximately 500 enterprising members of the Tribe who can be buyers, advisers, investors and influencers for the benefit of not just the locality but the Irish nation as a whole’.
Personally I find the concept of this project a complete breath of fresh air. Hats off to David McWilliams, Mike Feerick, and the others involved for realising that the relationship between Ireland and it’s diaspora is a two-way street and doing something about it.
The diaspora has always had a sense of Ireland and it’s relevance to their heritage, and with projects like this we may yet reach the stage where 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generation Irish visiting Ireland truly get the feeling they are being welcomed home.
If you have a story to tell, launched a new business, got an initiative off the ground, or just have some good news with an inspirational nature let us know and we'll pass it on.
So, if you’re reading this and have involvement, contacts, or influence with any state agencies, or know of any avenues that Sandy can pursue to move the funding forward, she’d really appreciate it if you got in touch with her. The project has recently received a commitment from Tourism Ireland so the seeds are sown, it now needs to come to fruition.
