Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
I’m Irish. No, really. I am.
IT’S SOMETHING EVERY Irish person has heard said in an American accent at one time or another.
But if US Vice-President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan utter these words to the Taoiseach during this week’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations, they won’t have to delve too far into their ancestry to prove it.
Enda Kenny is on a whirlwind trip of the east coast of America this week (with some calling it the farewell tour – he has indicated he will outline a timeline for his departure as Fine Gael leader after 17 March).
While in the US, he is visiting Boston, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Washington and New York.
He’ll be meeting many high-powered American politicians on his travels, such as those mentioned above, as well as US President Donald Trump (of course) and a handful of governors and business people.
Irish roots
Just like his predecessor Joe Biden, former US congressman and governor of Indiana Mike Pence is central to this year’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
He is the 2017 guest of honour at the American Ireland Fund Gala in Washington DC (which commands $1,000 dollars a seat).
He will also be hosting a special breakfast for the Taoiseach at his residence on 16 March (the day Trump will be presented with the traditional bowl of shamrock).
Kenny had high praise for the vice-president last year on Twitter, something he was widely criticised for:
However, it makes sense that Pence would take a central role this week as he does have bona fide Irish roots.
Pence’s grandfather emigrated to the US from Tubercurry, County Sligo in the 1920s, and it is understood he passed through immigration inspections at Ellis Island.
His great-grandmother came from Doonbeg, County Clare, home to Trump’s famous Irish golf resort. Pence is believed to have been quite close to his grandfather, someone he says was a great inspiration to him.
The vice-president has returned to his ancestral home on many occasions over the years.
In 2009, he told the Irish Voice newspaper how he remembers spending summers in Ireland, cutting turf and saving hay in Clare and Sligo.
Irish Central reports that Pence also has relatives in Doonbeg in Clare and last visited with his family in 2013, showing up in Morrisey’s Pub on one occasion.
Although raised a Democrat by Irish-Catholic parents, Pence became a born-again Christian and shifted politically to the right.
Hailing from Kilkenny
While Pence is to be guest of honour at Wednesday’s gala dinner in the National Building Museum, the Taoiseach will also meet House Speaker Paul Ryan while in Washington.
Irish Central reports that Ryan identifies as Irish-American and even has a Kilkenny GAA jersey hanging in his office.
Clearly proud of his ancestry, he showed it off to Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan only last month.
Ryan claims his Irish roots go all the way back to the Famine, explaining that his relatives hail from Kilkenny.
His grandfather, James Ryan arrived in the United States in 1851, in search of the American dream, writes Niall O’Dowd of Irish Central.
What will they talk about?
The undocumented Irish is top of Kenny’s list of talking points during his visit.
With his Irish ancestry, Pence has a history of getting involved in immigration issues.
He was criticised by some Republicans in the past for meeting with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) during the immigration bill battle in 2009.
Whether he will discuss the issue with the Taoiseach – risking the same ire again – is yet to be seen.
The day the Taoiseach is due to meet Trump also happens to be the day the US president’s revised travel ban comes into effect.
The executive order bans entry visas from six Muslim-majority countries: Libya, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Kenny told TheJournal.ie that he will raise the issue with both Trump and Pence.
When his running mate first floated the idea during his campaign, Pence called the proposed ban on Muslims entering the US “offensive and unconstitutional”.
However, the vice-president has since defended Trump’s stance on the issue.
Flanagan has also raised the issue of Irish immigration with Ryan while on a recent visit to the US.
While Kenny will be spending a lot of time with the two Republicans, he will also meet with many Democrats.
The guest speaker at the American Ireland Fund dinner is Senator George Mitchell – a man who was instrumental in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The Taoiseach began his Stateside visit over the weekend, setting down in Philadelphia.
He attended the city’s 247th St Patrick’s Day parade, and a reception a hosted by GAA, the Brehon, Law Society, Irish American Business Chamber and the Immigration Centre.
While in Philadelphia, Kenny announced that a referendum would be held to extend voting rights in the Irish presidential election to Irish citizens living outside the State.
Kenny is meeting with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Governor Charlie Baker today, before making an appearance at a reception to mark the 100th anniversary of US President John F Kennedy’s birth in the JFK Library at Columbia Point, in Boston.
Tomorrow, he will enjoy an early business breakfast for the Boston College-Ireland Business Council Club, before stopping by visiting TF Green Airport to mark the commencement of new transatlantic routes operated by Norwegian Airlines.
The Taoiseach will make his way to Washington DC on Wednesday.
TheJournal.ie’s political reporter Christina Finn will be bringing you all the latest updates from Enda Kenny’s visit to Washington this week, including his meeting with US President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Stay up-to-date by following @ChristinaFinn8, @TJ_Politics and TheJournal.ie’s Facebook page.
“Paul Ryan’s grandfather arrived in US in 1851″ (166 years ago) Paul Ryan’s mother must have been very old having him. Leprechaun maths.
Paul Ryan’s grandfather arrived from Kilkenny in 1851. Seems unlikely. Maybe a great grandfather?
Hello, my name is Elizabeth, i was going through an article and found out about a man called Dr Bomoh. i have been suffering from breakup issues with different guys. i had to contact the spell caster. Steve was on the verge of leaving me for another woman. but i stayed positive and believe i could have him back and make him stay. lo and behold Dr Bomoh helped me. Steve and i are getting married soon. Dr Bomoh is such a nice man, he also helped me stop my cardiac arrest problem. Thanks to him and thanks to God for the gift given to him. If you have any problem whatsoever, contact him on this email: godbomohspirit@gmail.com
Contact him for the following and see the great work of Dr Bomoh:
(1)If you want your ex back.
{2}If you want to be very successful
(3)If you are searching for a job
(4)You want to be promoted in your office.
(5)You want women/men to run after you.
(6)If you want a child.
(7)You want to be rich.
(8)you want to get Marriage Spells
(9)Remove Sickness from your body Spells
(10)Business spell
(11)Lottery winning numbers
(12)Bring Back Lost Love
and many more…….
“The executive order bans entry visas from six Muslim-majority countries”. They’re also war-torn countries and contain some seriously dangerous people who want to destroy the US. There’s no ban on many other Muslim-majority companies. Talk about biased journalism.
Oops, *countries, not companies. I’m far from being a Trump supporter but I’d like journalists to be as neutral as possible unless they state otherwise.
Exactly, what also isn’t mentioned is that individuals from said countries have gone on something of a crime spree here in Europe. Some 400,000 crimes recorded in Germany alone since the migrant crisis began that can be attributed to migrants who are primarily from the banned countries.
@Jason Culligan – source?
@Mark Thompson:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7470/germany-migrants-crime
@Jason Culligan: Those individuals from those countries,were they vetted the same way that the Americans carry out their vetting? Also..let’s take Iran for an example :What improvements do you believe that the conman can make in the space of a few months?
Gatestone? Really? An alt right think tank is your source? OK, anybody seen this yet? https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.rawstory.com/2017/03/fired-us-attorney-bharara-was-pursuing-multiple-investigations-against-fox-news/amp/
Also Jason, your own source called the 400,000 a guess . from your source “Migrants committed 208,344 crimes in 2015″
Every Friday the Iranian Ayatollah yells “Death to America”, and then wants America to roll out the Welcome mat
You understand that he is not every person in Iran right?
Typical Kelly-Anne Culligan, post a lie and disappear
@Rosa Parks: But America already had the ‘welcome mat’ out to the many hundreds of thousands of students,doctors,,engineers & business people..Did you not know about this ?
The fact Pence is apparently a born again Christian is the most worrying thing I’ve read in some time. There’s a fair chance this guy will be president. Or maybe he just used it as an excuse.
And why was Kenny “widely criticised” for a tweet saying he spoke with Pence and Pence was well aware of the domestic issues in Ireland? Sounds like more hysteria for the sake of it.
I’d agree there. I know a few of them. They actually believe noahs ark was real that Abraham lived to be hundreds of years old that his wife gave birth at 100. That the world is young. That dinosaurs roamed the earth with us in a flintstones way. Crazy stuff
You don’t know Pence was a religious fundamentalist?
*didn’t
Like a drunk uncle on the dancefloor…here comes Enda to embarrass us all.
“And for the second time in a decade, Ireland has sent a prime minister who has had to quit due to CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS, but instead gets to go on this fabulous junket…” (Source: RTE, probably)
Entertain him ?
Are they doing a Punch and Judy show for him, or a song and dance routine ?
Tweedle dum and Tweedle dummer.
Dumb and dumber, dummie.
It’s more like the Benny Hill show
A very conservative and right wing Taoiseach will enjoy the company of other very conservative right wing US politicians. They will have shared values.
We don’t have any conservative parties all our politicians are centre or hard left….Read the journal on an average day none of the conservative opinions on welfare or emigration or even on the EU would even be mentioned by an Irish politician….Irish media would be horrified at such opinions….
@John003: very revealing.
Entertain Enda with a bee in a jar!!!
@Richard Deegan: three stooges reunited
Ahh tooora loorra laddeee…a tooorrah looorah lee…
Pence is only one impeachment away from the presidency…..and has the same problem as Kenny in that he has to bite his lip regarding The Donald and Trumpian Politics. Do you think Donald might try to hold Kenny’s hand if they come across a flight of stairs, ala Theresa May? Or will the Donald just be pleased that he’s able to hold on to the biggest pussy in Irish pilitics?
The set is complete. A pr!ck and a pair of bollox.
Which one were you missing Stephen?
Nothing like liberal condescension on a Monday morning.
“I’m Irish. No, really. I am. It’s something Irish person has heard said in an American accent at one time or another.”
Better said in an American accent than in a Richard Gere accent.
Or a tom cruise one
Have to say it’s wonderful to see so many Irish Catholics in the White House after 8 years of Islam.
Born again Christian, just as bad as a Islamic fundamentalist .
@lez ferguson:
Born again Christians don’t burn captives in cages on live cameras because they believe in a slightly different form of Christianity. Islamic fundamentalists, on the other hand, have no issues with such barbarity.
Nah , you’re right but Christians bury babies in septic tanks.Stay classy :)
Mike Pence tried to fund the torture of US citizens
Pence is Catholic.
Well done Rosa. He’s a born again Christian which is a form of catholicism which is a branch of Christianity
Puke
I don’t think kenny will get much attention. The irish americans weren’t a huge factor in this administration winning the election. Bit of an annoyance to Trump i’d say meeting kenny, he’s got more important things to be doing, political, business and economics things that kenny simply wouldn’t have a clue about. Same with Ryan and Pence.
ah full blown tour, milking it for all its worth. make the most of it you despicable being. says it all about this lot. how many are gone over?
The picture of 2016 is of Barack Obama and the caption says Paul Ryan. For goodness sake!
I have never supported our leaders push for amnesty for the past 30 years. I think there’s a case for those with deep roots in the US especially those who are elderly or infirm. But Irish politicians will get nowhere until they recognise that most Irish Americans these days vote Republican like White voters generally. It’s not wise to have all our eggs in the one basket. We need to build ties with the Republicans too. Otherwise forget about getting stuff passed in Congress that we want. As Speaker , Ryan decides what gets voted on in the House, and McConnell in the Senate.
I’ve never understood why people make broad sweeping statements about people’s voting habits based on race and ancestry
Help him get lost over there, they can keep him
I am so ashamed that An Taoiseach believes it is ok to meet with Mike Pence who believes that gay people can be ‘cured’ with ECT & Paul Ryan who is currently boasting about destroying access to healthcare to low income & poor people.
Hello, my name is Elizabeth, i was going through an article and found out about a man called Dr Bomoh. i have been suffering from breakup issues with different guys. i had to contact the spell caster. Steve was on the verge of leaving me for another woman. but i stayed positive and believe i could have him back and make him stay. lo and behold Dr Bomoh helped me. Steve and i are getting married soon. Dr Bomoh is such a nice man, he also helped me stop my cardiac arrest problem. Thanks to him and thanks to God for the gift given to him. If you have any problem whatsoever, contact him on this email: godbomohspirit@gmail.com
Contact him for the following and see the great work of Dr Bomoh:
(1)If you want your ex back.
{2}If you want to be very successful
(3)If you are searching for a job
(4)You want to be promoted in your office.
(5)You want women/men to run after you.
(6)If you want a child.
(7)You want to be rich.
(8)you want to get Marriage Spells
(9)Remove Sickness from your body Spells
(10)Business spell
(11)Lottery winning numbers
(12)Bring Back Lost Love
and many more….
have your say