February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Richard Egan, is gung-ho over the U.S.-Ireland Business Summit, set for Washington, D.C., in early September.
Egan, who has made millions in the computer technology field, met with summit organizer Susan Davis and Rep. Jim Walsh, in Ireland recently at the head of a visiting congressional delegation.
“Jointly, U.S. and Irish companies are working together to create jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly in the areas of high technology and biotechnology. The summit will go a long way to further our mutual efforts,” Egan said after the meeting.
AOH to honor 9/11 hero
The Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 14 in Nassau County will this Sunday honor Richard Fitzsimons of Lynbrook, a member of the order who died on Sept. 11.
Fitzsimons was working security in the World Trade Center on the morning of the attack on the trade towers.
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His name will become part of the division’s name. The naming ceremony will be part of the division’s annual picnic Sunday, July 21, from noon to 6 p.m. at Greis Park, Lynbrook. For tickets or details, call Bill O’Hara at
(516) 593-4506 (bill817@optonline.net) or Caroline Butkiewicz at (516) 485-6703 (SkyTurk@AOL.com).
Cindy shoves Lingus
What’s a girl to do? In the case of New York Post columnist Cindy Adams there always the option to go ballistic.
And that the gossip queen did in the Post last week after her luggage went one way and she the other, courtesy of Aer Lingus.
“Avoid their national airline, Adams wrote in a column about a recent visit to Ireland that included mentions of counties “Slygo” and “Wicklowe,” among others.
“I made two short hops on Aer Lingus, which is Gaelic for ‘take your luggage and shove it,’ ” Adams wrote.
“They lost my luggage both times. The stuff had much better trips than I did. They probably stopped in Bucharest, Johannesburg, Rio and Cincinnati because, each time, it arrived days after I did.”
Adams flew to Ireland after first flying from New York to London on Virgin Atlantic. She connected from London to Shannon on Lingus but her luggage lagged.
Later she flew to Berlin with the same result.
An Aer Lingus spokesman said that the matter was being investigated, although it was unclear whether the initial loss was the responsibility of Aer Lingus or Virgin Atlantic.
Groups merge, sort of
Two of the most prominent Irish American activist groups are joining forces. Well, sort of.
The Irish American Unity Conference and the American Irish Political Education Committee have agreed to “formally interact cooperatively,” according to a joint statement published in the July issue of the PEC’s monthly newsletter.
The two groups would remain “independent but sister organizations” working to meet the “mutually agreeable goals and missions of each organization.”
The statement was signed by PEC president John Finucane and IAUC president Jim Gallagher.
Under the new arrangement, Finucane would carry the title of founder and president emeritus of the PEC, the full formal title of which is the Political Education Committee of the American Ireland Education Foundation.
The statement hinted at an eventual full merger in stating that the two groups would engage in a “transitional approach” for one year.
“During this period, there should be no noticeable or significant changes in operations, appearances or identities of either organization as far as respective members are concerned,” the statement said.
Fond farewell
Massachusetts bid a fond farewell recently to departing Irish ambassador to the U.S. Sean O’Huiginn. But the au revoir was delivered in Washington, D.C.
Two Bay State legislators, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Richard Neal, a co-chair of the congressional Ad Hoc Committee for Irish Affairs, hosted a farewell gathering for O’Huiginn in the Capitol Building. O’Huiginn is departing Washington next month for his next ambassadorial posting, in Berlin.
Bulger honored
University of Massachusetts president William Bulger has been conferred with an honorary law degree by the National University of Ireland.
The ceremony took place at University College Galway.
“With his South Boston background and his commitment to education, Billy Bulger became a street-smart classical scholar,” NUI-Galway president Dr. Iogn_id O Muircheartaigh said in presenting Bulger with his honorary doctorate.
Bulger, former president of the Massachusetts Senate, was a man who could straddle two vastly different worlds, local politics and the highest level of government and social activity, O Muircheartaigh added.