We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
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.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
ST PATRICK WAS a migrant to Ireland – “a single, male, undocumented one”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said in a speech to the Irish-American community in Boston.
Speaking at the Boston Harbour Hotel, the Taoiseach highlighted the trope that is mentioned often when it comes to migration into Ireland. He said the the issue of migration is an “enormous” topic of debate in the US, but also back home in Ireland.
Boston and New England has been a “safe harbour” for Irish immigrants to the US, many of whom were escaping hunger, poverty and discrimination, he said, pointing out that they were “seeking better lives for their families”.
To applause from the attendees at last night’s diaspora event, Varadkar highlighted that the man who Ireland celebrates every year on 17 March was a migrant to the country.
The Taoiseach said St Patrick left his home by his own free will, stating that he was most likely British. Ireland was his “adopted home” – a home “which he brought some ‘dangerous foreign ideas’ such as the Roman civilisation and Christian religion.
“The story of St Patrick teaches us that migration is nothing new. It has always been
part of our national story,” he said.
Varadkar said nationality and identity “are far more complex and fluid than people often care to admit”.
The Taoiseach said it was important to reflect on the many Irish immigrant that came to the US for a better life, such as those that died on Deer Island in Boston.
In the 1800s, all famine ships due to dock in Boston Harbor stopped at Deer Island quarantine hospital, whereby Irish men, woman, and children suffering from disease were kept.
“It must have been truly heartbreaking, the prospect of a new life, almost in reach, definitely in sight, but sadly never to be realised,” said Varadkar.
A 16-foot Celtic cross overlooking Boston Harbor now honors the 850 Irish immigrants who died after arriving on Deer Island in the 1800s.
Varadkar also recalled the story of another migrant to the US, Patrick Collins from Fermoy, Cork, who travelled to Boston with his mother in the 1800s.
“Growing up he had an arm broken after an altercation with an anti-migrant mob here in Boston, who hated his very presence and what they believed was their country,” he said.
Collins went to Harvard, then the House of Representatives, and then back to Boston where he became the mayor in 1901. However, Collins never forgot the country of his birth, said Varadkar, stating that he often spoke Irish affairs.
“So as you all know, being Irish is one of the best things in the world. But it also brings certain responsibilities,” Varadkar said, adding:
“I think one of those is that we should have concern for others, we should seek to advance the freedom, the cause of freedom, and justice for all, and speak up for those who are silenced and oppressed. With our global Irish community, we can be a powerful voice on the world stage.”
The Taoiseach on a number of occasions on this trip highlighted how the world cannot stand by and watch what is happening in Gaza, with Varadkar telling reporters that Ireland will use it voice to call for peace.
Varadkar said he also hopes to raise the issue of undocumented Irish people in the US with the US President Joe Biden this week.
The number of undocumented Irish citizens in the US is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
“I hope we’ll have time to touch on other issues, including immigration.”
He added: “There are a lot of Irish people here who are good people but are undocumented. Many working very hard, have children here, are contributing a lot to society here.”
The Taoiseach is in the US for the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations. He is due to travel to Washington DC today, ahead of his visit to the White House on Friday.
Political Editor Christina Finn will be in the US throughout the week for the Taoiseach’s visit. Follow @thejournal_ie and @christinafinn8 for all the latest.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say