An Open Letter to Bertie

Niall O'Dowd, The Irish Star (Feb 22, 2008)

Dear Bertie,

I saw your interview on RTE last night where you talked about what a great honour it will be to give an address to a joint session of the US congress on April 30.

I couldn't agree more. You deserve the honour on your own behalf and for all that Ireland means to the United States.

Your work on the peace process and creating the Celtic Tiger will be your legacy and Americans deserve to know of the accomplishments that Ireland and you have achieved in the past decade or so.

You talked about many things in the interview, the impact of American investment and now Irish investment in the U.S. and the extraordinary ties that bind the US and Ireland.

You also mentioned the amazing contribution to the peace process of the Clintons and Senator Kennedy to name a few.

I was disappointed that you never mentioned the Irish undocumented issue in your remarks though. I know the joint address will be to a packed Congress and will need to be upbeat, but it is important for you to know that thousands of Irish undocumented emigrants in America will be watching and listening too.

You see you are their last real hope of achieving legal status in the United States.

I have had the good fortune to discuss the situation of the undocumented Irish with you on many occasions and have always been struck by your sure grasp of the plight they find themselves in.

Which is why we were all disappointed when you spoke to the Dail a few weeks ago and basically stated little could be done for the undocumented.

We happen to disagree with that and have put forward proposals to the contrary. What it boils down to is we believe the Irish government with a lot of help from those same power brokers you praised for their help on the North could fashion a solution to the problem.

Now I know some people have said to you that the Irish have no right to seek a solution for their own. To that I say poppycock or some such word.

This week the the Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, announced that he was seeking a bilateral treaty for his countrymen in America with the U.S. government. Australia, Singapore and Chile all succeeded in getting their own deals. None of them enjoy the clout you do in the United States.

I hope Calderon succeeds. His people have suffered during this anti-immigrant era. Irish people have suffered to. Just last week a young Irishman in Boston died of pneumonia because he was afraid to go to hospital to be treated because he was illegal.

I know you to be a humane and decent man who has spent your life in unselfish service of your country. I can't tell you what it would mean to thousands of Irish here and their families at home if you really took up their cause to become legal.

As I'm at it I'd love to mention one more thing. There were wonderful pictures from Dublin of Americans voting in their own elections over the Super Tuesday period. We have also seen pictures of Poles and others voting in their own election while living in Ireland.

Wouldn't it be great and it would mean so much to Irish abroad if there was a way of recognizing them too in Irish elections? Maybe an emigrant senator to deal with their concerns? Just a thought Bertie and hope to see you when you are here.

Sincerely
Niall O'Dowd