News Briefs: Nearly 1,600 said ‘let’s do’

That’s four times the number of applications received by Irish diplomatic offices in the U.S. last year.
The surge in filings was prompted by a change of rules in the way that a U.S. citizen married to an Irish citizen could obtain Irish citizenship.
Up to the deadline, a U.S. citizen married to an Irish citizen could still secure Irish papers while residing in the fifty states and simply making a “post-nuptial declaration.”
From now on, however, it will be necessary for such an applicant to be resident in Ireland for a specified period of time and to apply to the Irish government’s Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a certificate of naturalization based on marriage to an Irish citizen.
The change does not apply to other existing avenues to Irish citizenship. The requirement for Irish citizenship on the basis of Foreign Births Registration — an example being an application by way of an Irish-born grandparent — has not changed.
And children of Irish citizens are automatically Irish citizens even if they are born in the U.S. or another country.
The bulk of the 1,600 or so applications received before the deadline have been forwarded by the Irish Embassy in Washington and consulates in New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.
About 350 applications received prior to the Nov. 29 deadline were still being processed, a diplomatic spokesman said.

TATTOO CLUE
It’s happened again. The NYPD is investigating the death of a woman upon whose body were clear indications of possible Irish heritage.
In this case the Irish clue is a tattoo.
Additionally, there is jewelry of a design that also appears Irish.
The body of the woman was discovered in Brooklyn in the early hours of Nov. 18.
The body was outside a house in Snediker St. in the East New York section. The woman had been stuffed into a black plastic bag and wrapped in a blanket.
The tattoo, above the victim’s right hip, is of a shamrock filled in with the colors of the Irish flag. The body also had toe rings of a Celtic-looking design.
The woman has been identified but her name had not been released by press time.
A recent murder investigation on Long Island also involved investigators taking account of Irish jewelry, in that case a Claddagh ring.
And an ongoing investigation in Manhattan that centers on a murder dating back to the 1980s also involves one of the famous Irish love rings.

TRIAL DELAYED
The trial of a man accused of gunning down Monaghan native Eugene McMahon has been postponed until Dec. 15.
The trial of Taiquan Williams was set for Queens Supreme Court on December 1 but the prosecuting attorney fell ill.
The trial will open with jury selection should it go ahead as listed. However, there is now a possibility that it might also be pushed into the New Year.
Williams pleaded not guilty to several charges, including second-degree murder and robbery at his arraignment hearing earlier this year.
McMahon died from a single gunshot wound three days after a botched robbery that took place in Queens in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2002.
McMahon, a 46-year-old husband and father, was working as a night shift supervisor for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Water and Sewers and was in his official car when he was shot once in the head.

TIME’S UP
Irish hopefuls willing to take a long shot at a legal life in the U.S. will have to wait for another year to apply.
The application period for the annual “Schumer” diversity lottery concluded on Sunday, Dec. 4.
The application period, which began Oct. 5., covered the 2007 Diversity Visa lottery.
Successful applicants will eventually receive a notice of receipt from the U.S. State Department.
A total of 50,000 visas are available to applicants from a worldwide pool of eligible nations. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are considered separate for application purposes and both are in the eligible pool.
While only a few hundred Irish have obtained Schumer visas in recent years, the lottery remains just about the only way for Irish people to apply for legal residence in the U.s. outside job-related transfers and marriage to a U.S. citizen.
One immigration reform bill currently before Congress pledges to scrap the diversity lottery but backers including Senator Edward Kennedy have vowed to fight to preserve it.

HIBS HELP
The Ancient Order of Hibernians in northern Westchester County are in a giving mood this season.
Members recently presented more than $5,000 to Hospice Care of Westchester/Putnam. The presentation was made at the annual “Tree of Life” ceremony at the Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco.
Previously, the members presented a similar sum to the Rosary Hill Home in nearby Hawthorne.
Since 1992, the Mount Kisco-based Frank H. Fox Div.16 and Ladies Div. 16 have donated more than $120,000 to both facilities.