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IRISH AMERICANS LIVING in Georgia, one of the key swing states in the US, say the build up to next month’s election is unlike anything they’ve experienced before.
“It’s really hard to put into words because I can’t fully comprehend the intensity of it. There’s a lot of tension,” Delia O’Malley explained.
“It’s fascinating to see how people can be so divided.”
Delia was born in North Carolina in 1996 to an American mother and Irish father. Her family moved to Ireland in 1998 and she grew up in Kildare.
“I’m Irish-grown, very much identifying with being Irish more so than American, but I am both at the end of the day,” she explained.
Delia, her mother and her sister all decided to relocate to Atlanta in recent years. It’s quite a liberal city, but the wider Georgia state typically votes Republican.
Joe Biden turned it blue in 2020 by just 12,000 votes out of some five million cast.
Two weeks out from the election, nationwide polls place Donald Trump and Kamala Harris neck-and-neck with a handful of swing states like Georgia set to decide the outcome.
Many voters in the key battleground state remain undecided. Individual polls have generally given Trump a lead of between one and six points in Georgia, with most polls putting his lead within the margin of error.
During a recent trip to Atlanta, The Journal met Delia and her mother Amy.
If they look familiar, you may have seen them on First Dates back in 2019. They both moved to Atlanta in 2021.
Delia said many people in the US see their political allegiance as a major part of their identity, in a way that is typically less common in Ireland.
In Ireland, we’re proud of our political views at times. But it’s not our identity.
“People (in the US) hold their political views so dear to them, it’s their identity, they have stickers on their car. Have you ever seen a Fianna Fáil sticker on the back of someone’s car?”
Ahead of relocating three years ago, Delia spent time in the US in the lead up to the 2016 election – where the eventual winner Donald Trump was then running against Hillary Clinton.
Delia said this was also an “intense” time, but the divisions between right and left run much deeper now.
The last election Amy was in the US for was the 1996 runoff between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. She said she had been “dreading” the current election campaign.
Delia and Amy are both members of the Irish Network Atlanta, a group that has been growing in numbers since it was established in 2016.
Annie Greenwood, the president of the network, said the Irish community in Atlanta is “so much bigger than anyone would think”.
The St Patrick’s Day parade is one of the longest-running events in the city – 2025 will mark its 141st year.
Annie was born in Boston, but her father’s family is from Cork and she has been to Ireland a few times.
She told us Atlanta is still finding its footing as an “Irish stronghold”, but many expats have lived there for years.
Others who previously lived in New York or Boston, cities with well established Irish communities, are choosing to move south because it’s a cheaper alternative.
“There’s a massive number of Irish in the southeast in general. The southeast is one of the fastest growing regions for Irish businesses to come over and set up shop,” Annie said.
Speaking about the political climate, Amy said Trump has, for many people, changed “what the American flag means”.
“I wouldn’t fly the American flag in front of my house right now.”
She is not a fan of Trump for several reasons, but cites his views on women’s equality and reproductive rights as a major factor.
Delia said it was somewhat strange to move from Ireland – a historically Catholic country which has become more liberal, voting in favour of marriage equality and abortion rights – to the US, a place where some of these rights are being stripped away.
Earlier this month, a judge in Georgia lifted a six-week abortion ban after the deaths of two women who couldn’t access medical care. The lifting of the ban would likely be reversed if Trump is re-elected.
There are also concerns that rights granted to the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as IVF legislation, could be rolled back.
“I’m queer, I don’t know if I’m going to marry a man or a woman,” Delia told us.
“I do know that I would love to be a mother one day. Whether it’s biological, adopted, I know that I want to be viewed legally as that child’s mother.”
Delia wanted to move abroad for better opportunities, noting she is “very fortunate to have dual citizenship”.
She is somewhat “nervous” about coming back to Ireland for Christmas – she’s excited to see her family, but many of her friends have emigrated.
I have more friends now in Australia and London than I do in Ireland.
When asked why they left Ireland, she said: “Better opportunities, more money, we can’t afford houses.”
Both Delia and Amy work in the disability and inclusion sectors. Delia works at a school for children who are neurodivergent.
She loves her job, but said one of the most difficult aspects of it is the fact she has to take part in monthly active shooter drills – where staff and pupils practice what they would do if a school shooting takes place.
Shortly before we met last month, four people were killed in a school shooting in nearby Winder.
Delia said shooting drills are particularly difficult because many of the children don’t understand what’s happening.
“I have to fully fake it and make sure they think everything is okay. I was like, ‘Alright guys, we’re gonna play a game. And the game is we’re going to be really, really quiet’.
I’m sitting here looking in this little eight-year-old’s eyes while she’s verbally swimming and shaking her hands and doesn’t understand what’s happening, thinking to myself – what if this was real?
Delia said the prevalence of mass shootings weighed heavily on her mind when deciding to move to the US. She said it will also play a factor when deciding whether or not she will raise a family there.
“My biggest worry going to school when I was growing up was whether I had done my homework from the night before, not whether I was going to make it home or not.”
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