Half a Million Irish Visit U.S.

A WHOPPING 496,660 visitors came to the U.S. last year from Ireland, according to the latest figures from the Department of Homeland Security.

These numbers are a massive 60% increase on the 1998 figures when 310,007 visitor arrivals were recorded from Ireland. It once again shows the incredible attraction that the cheap dollar, shopping and the mystique of America has for so many Irish.

Unfortunately, the numbers of immigrant Irish have not kept pace with their non-immigrant brothers and sisters.

In 2006, just 1,906 legal Irish immigrants came to the U.S. out of a global total of more than 1 million. Most of those legal Irish gained green cards through marriage.

It is next to impossible for an Irish person to get a green card through family sponsorship, and Irish people are down to about 200 green cards a year through the annual diversity lottery.

Given the enormous demand to come to the U.S. from Ireland, it is astonishing that Ireland receives so few green cards. For example, the country with the closest arrival statistics to Ireland is Colombia.

They recorded 443,775 arrivals for 2006 and they received 43,151 green cards, which at 9.72% is roughly one-tenth of the visitor arrivals.

Using the same calculations, Ireland would be looking at 48,275 green cards a year. It might be wishful thinking, but it demonstrates just how far behind Ireland has fallen in its relationship with the U.S., and it makes absolutely no sense.

Ireland and America are arguably more interconnected by economics and history ties in the 21st century than at any other time since the first Irish person stepped ashore in the U.S. in 1548.

Between 1548 and 2005, almost seven million people emigrated from Ireland to North America, with most settling in what is now the U.S. The numbers may have ebbed and flowed with the tide of America and Ireland's fortunes but one thing has always remained constant - Irish people want to come to the U.S. and the U.S. says it wants Irish to continue to come.

Homeland Security says it cannot record unique visitors, and the numbers reflect the total I-94 travel documents handed in from Ireland. While some people may come in more than once, that's still a lot of traffic from one small island.

Losing the Generation Game

FIGURES from the 2000 U.S. census show that the Irish are the second largest ethnic group in the U.S. with 35 million Americans claiming Irish ancestry and almost five million claiming Scots Irish. The largest group is the German community with some 43 million.

However, the number of first-generation Irish Americans is shrinking, down from 250,000 Irish-born residents in 1980 to 128,000 in 2005. This number is expected to decrease further in the 2010 census, as fewer people are able to come in legally from Ireland.

As the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) and others have been pointing out, the effective death of the Irish-born population in the U.S. is a distinct possibility unless something changes.

"The figures for Irish-born coming here are truly scary," says Kelly Fincham, executive director of ILIR. "Unless something drastic happens an Irish-born green card holder will be as rare as a white moose."

This is probably why you'll find more Irish people in Woodbury Common shopping than in Woodlawn or Woodside this Christmas. And it's America's loss.

Joe on You Tube

CONGRESSMAN Joe Crowley, Democrat of Queens, a hit on You Tube? You bet!

According to The Washington Post, Crowley has "developed a cult following" with his rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac."

In the video he's featured with Nils Lofgren of Springsteen's E Street Band and Skunk Baxter of the Doobie Brothers at a USO concert last spring.

According to the Post, Crowley's video is "being linked like wild in e-mail chains on Capitol Hill" and elsewhere. He is even being referred to in certain circles as "the Boss."

Meanwhile, Crowley told the Post his secret dream is to be invited to jam with Springsteen. "That has been my dream ever since I saw his first concert at the Meadowlands in 1981," says the former wedding singer well known to blast out a few Irish ballads at the slightest invitation.

He jokingly says he could be like Courtney Cox, the then unknown actress invited onstage by Springsteen in 1984 to film the video for his hit "Dancing in the Dark," which launched her career.

New Newsletter Launches

THE Irish Consulate in New York has begun entering the information age with the issuance of a new Internet newsletter that highlights what the role of the Irish government is in the consular area.

Very well produced, the newsletter certainly adds an important component to the consulate's efforts to reach out to the Irish American community.

The first issue contains a variety of articles, including extensive coverage of Irish Foreign Minster Dermot Ahern's visit to New York and the United Nations as well as a more personal piece on a group of Northern Ireland schoolgirls who visited the consulate recently.

There is also a tribute to Irish American legend Bill Flynn, the chairman emeritus of Mutual of America who was recently honored at the consulate for his work on behalf of peace in Ireland.

There is also an account of the visit of Minster for Enterprise Micheal Martin to the area and coverage of a unique Irish music concert recently held.