Obama Missing Out on Irish

STRONG words from Irish Echo columnist and famed musician Larry Kirwan last week about the failure of the Obama campaign to reach out to Irish Americans.

Kirwan was voicing what several Irish Americans have been saying privately, that there seems to be almost no effort by the Obama camp to work with Irish Americans on issues of concern.

He has given no indication he will attend the Irish American Presidential Forum organized by John Dearie and, as Kirwan pointed out, passed up several opportunities over the St. Patrick's Day period to take part in St. Patrick's parades.

Kirwan wrote, "The senator from Illinois may have problems himself with the color green. No doubt his advisers will eventually prod him into attending a forum on Irish American issues, but he may have already lost the upcoming primary in Pennsylvania after Senator Clinton wowed the quarter of a million Gaels who turned out for the Pittsburgh St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"I happened to be playing Steel City that night while on maneuvers with the infamous Irish-American terrorist group, Black 47, and can testify that the streets were literally humming to the name of Hillary.

"I had to wonder about Obama's absence, not to mention his political instincts. Does he know or care that there is an Irish-American working class vote? He sure as hell will do around 9 p.m. April 22."

On the Irish for Obama website there are several other subgroups of Irish listed, included Fighting Irish for Obama, but none of the groups appear to have any significant membership, or indeed, any policies that are Irish-specific apart from the general Obama policies.

The name most frequently mentioned as an Obama supporter is Trina Vargo of the US-Ireland Alliance, infamous in the Irish American community for comparing efforts at achieving immigration reform for the Irish to "putting lipstick on a pig." It's hardly the type of endorsement Obama seeks as he struggles with white working class ethnics.

Kirwan, an Obama supporter, may well be on to something there, that the Obama camp is showing its own form of elitism in ignoring any effort at a grassroots Irish organization such as both Senator John McCain and Clinton both have.

Robinson Denies Abuse

RUMORS about Northern Ireland's next first minister Peter Robinson and his alleged abusive relationship with his wife have been around for a very long time in the North.

Last week his wife, Iris Robinson, also an elected politician, took on the rumors directly and blamed the British security services for spreading them.

Nationalists have long claimed a history of black operations by MI5 in Northern Ireland, but Iris Robinson's pointed remarks make clear that such allegations were being spread across her community too.

Mrs. Robinson stated she wanted to end the whispering campaign that has become widespread again since her husband was elected to succeed the Reverend Ian Paisley.

"This malicious rumor was started by the (British) government in an attempt to blacken Peter's name when he was protesting at the Anglo-Irish Agreement. It took root because I was in hospital 17 times during that period with gynecological problems," Robinson told the Sunday Tribune newspaper.

It was an extraordinary statement by the wife of the incoming first minister, and reveals a deep concern among Robinson's backers that the rumors had begun to get out of control. There is no more devastating story line than "When Did You Stop Beating Your Wife?"

Such allegations were also thrown at outgoing Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Bertie Ahern a few years and were equally baseless.

Iris Robinson is a formidable politician in her own right and is the Westminster MP for the Strangford area. She says she will leave the heavy lifting on running Northern Ireland to her husband, however.

"I recognize that I'm not the brightest light in the chandelier when it comes to debating constitutional issues, I leave those to Peter. My forte is helping people. I fight for my constituents like my life depended on it," said the mother of three.

Incidentally, after the Chuckle Brothers, the nickname for the Ian Paisley/Martin McGuinness tandem because of how well they got on, comes the Brothers Grimm to describe the McGuinness/ Robinson pairing that will soon take over. Nice one that from The Belfast Newsletter.

Irish Peace Forum for D.C.

A FORUM on "Lessons Learned: The United States and the Northern Ireland Peace Process" will take place on Thursday, May 1 in the U.S. Capitol building, Room H 137, at 9:30 a.m.

The event is sponsored by the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin, the United States Institute of Peace and Cooperation Ireland.

Among those who will attend are Irish Foreign Minster Dermot Ahern, Congressmen Peter King Congressman Joe Crowley, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Jim Kenny, Congressman Richie Neal, who heads the Friends of Ireland, Congressman James Walsh, former head of the same group, former Congressmen Ben Gilman and Bruce Morrison and Niall O'Dowd, publisher of the Irish Voice.

The forum will mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and will focus on the roles of Congress, the White House and non-governmental groups and individuals. It will consider the lessons that may be learned about the interactions of these agencies as a model for resolving conflicts in the wider world.