Tag: Ireland

Commentary: 10 Things to Know About the Real St. Patrick

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Saint Patrick

On March 17, people around the world will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by parading in green hats, sporting images of shamrocks and leprechauns – tiny, grinning, fairy men – pinned to their lapels. Patrick’s picture will adorn greeting cards: an aged, bearded bishop in flowing robes, grasping a bishop’s staff and glaring at a coil of snakes.

The icon refers to one of Patrick’s legendary miracles in which he is said to have prayed to banish all snakes from Ireland. However, as a historian of medieval Ireland, I can assure you that the real St. Patrick, who lived and worked in the fifth century, never saw a snake or wore a shamrock.

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Pens Letter to Irish Ambassador Regarding ‘Authoritarian,’ Anti-Free Speech Legislation

Kaitlin Housler

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) sent a letter to Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason on Tuesday expressing his concern over a bill in the Irish parliament.

The bill, introduced last year, would combat “hate speech” by amending Irish law “relating to the prohibition of incitement to violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of certain characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics) of the person or the group of persons.”

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European Country Fines Instagram $400 Million

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The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Instagram  €405 million ($403 million USD) Monday over child privacy violations, according to Business Insider.

The fine for failing to protect the privacy of minors stemmed from a variety of default settings for minor-operated accounts that the data watchdog considered improper, according to Business Insider. Children were allowed to operate business accounts, receive messages from adults and had their accounts set to “public” by default, according to Business Insider.

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Commentary: The History of How Saint Patrick’s Day Played a Key Role in Irish Nationhood

Admin

Traditionally, March 17 was a day to remember St Patrick, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the 5th century. But over time, the day has evolved to represent a celebration of Irish culture more generally. Today, as with Halloween and Christmas, the true meaning of the celebration has been watered down even further. Now, it is just as likely to be marked by non-Irish people who use it as an excuse to consume large quantities of alcohol and dress as leprechauns.

Read the full story

Commentary: The History of How Saint Patrick’s Day Played a Key Role in Irish Nationhood

Admin

Traditionally, March 17 was a day to remember St Patrick, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the 5th century. But over time, the day has evolved to represent a celebration of Irish culture more generally. Today, as with Halloween and Christmas, the true meaning of the celebration has been watered down even further. Now, it is just as likely to be marked by non-Irish people who use it as an excuse to consume large quantities of alcohol and dress as leprechauns.

Read the full story

Commentary: The History of How Saint Patrick’s Day Played a Key Role in Irish Nationhood

Admin

Traditionally, March 17 was a day to remember St Patrick, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the 5th century. But over time, the day has evolved to represent a celebration of Irish culture more generally. Today, as with Halloween and Christmas, the true meaning of the celebration has been watered down even further. Now, it is just as likely to be marked by non-Irish people who use it as an excuse to consume large quantities of alcohol and dress as leprechauns.

Read the full story

From Prisoner to Saint: The Unexpected Path of Ireland’s Best-Known Missionary

Admin

Saint Patrick’s Day is here, and so it goes we join millions across the globe to don our best green garb and imbibe in a panoply beverages from the unnaturally verdant Shamrock Shake to the local pub’s green draft – all in a joyous tradition to cheer one another in the name of a spiritual hero of Ireland. But did you know the true-life story of the man who would become St. Patrick is as harrowing as any high adventure you might find in the pages of a Batman comic? Here are 6 facts you might not have known about the life and times of St. Patrick: (1) St. Patrick was not Irish. St. Patrick’s only known name prior to his canonization is “Patricius.” He was a born late in the fourth century in Roman Britain – most likely the modern Wales region, although some scholars say it was Scotland. Like many Romans of that era, his family were devout Christians. His father, Calpurnius was a deacon, and his grandfather Potitus, was a priest. (2) St. Patrick did not share his family’s faith, and was a skeptic. In his book, Confessio, St. Patrick writes that as a boy, he was not…

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Congress Wades Into Britain’s Brexit Drama

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With Britain deadlocked on negotiating its divorce from the European Union, an unexpected side-front is emerging, the U.S. Congress. Conservatives who pushed the June 2016 referendum that ended in the shock decision to leave the 28-member bloc dangled the prospect of a free trade agreement with the United States as proof that Britain would not be isolated. But while nationalist-minded President Donald Trump has welcomed Brexit, the main hitch to Britain’s exit has raised alarm among key U.S. lawmakers — the prospect of the return of a physical border that divides Ireland. The elimination of the border between the Republic of Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland was a key component of the Good Friday agreement of 1998, brokered with the United States and made possible through the fruition of the integrated EU, which largely ended three decades of conflict that killed around 3,500 people. Unified Ireland Representative Peter King, long one of the highest-profile supporters in Congress of a unified Ireland, warned at a recent event in Washington that the direction of Brexit would be critical to any future U.S. trade deal. “It’s important for we, as Irish Americans, to make clear when we deal with the British that this…

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Report, Based on Unverified Documents, Claims Irish Subsidiary of Randy Boyd’s Company Is a Tax Haven

Tennessee Star Staff
Randy Boyd

The Tennessean reported on Monday that the Irish subsidiary of Radio Systems Corporation, the company founded and majority controlled by Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, is a tax haven that enables Boyd’s Knoxville-based company to significantly diminish its U.S. tax obligations. The report is based on documents The Tennessean says are Irish tax records of Radio Systems Corporation. The Tennessean has failed to publish, produce, or explain the legal provenance of those alleged documents. “From 2014 to 2016, the company sheltered millions of dollars in European profits from any taxes because of this corporate structure, according to two experts who analyzed Radio System’s Irish tax records obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee,” The Tennessean reported on Monday. One of those experts was University of California-Irvine School of Law professor Omri Marian. “Analyzing the company’s tax records, University of California-Irvine School of Law professor Omri Marian estimated the company paid an effective tax rate of a little more than 1 percent,” The Tennessean reported. The Tennessee Star contacted Professor Marian, and asked him four questions about his comments. You can read The Star’s questions and Professor Marian’s responses below: 1.Can you confirm that the Irish tax records for Radio Systems Corp you…

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Ireland ‘Approved Grant Assistance’ to Randy Boyd’s Radio Systems Corporation

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

When Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s Knoxville based company, Radio Systems Corporation, announced in 2012 that it would be locating its European headquarters in Dundalk, Ireland, press reports at the time indicated that the government of Ireland would be providing financial incentives to the company as part of the deal. In a September 25, 2012 press release, Boyd’s company acknowledged and expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the government of Ireland: Expanding global pet product expert and manufacturer Radio Systems Corporation, has today announced the opening of a new European head office in Dundalk, Ireland following comprehensive market research and evaluation. The opening opening of the new head office will result in the creation of 56 new jobs over the next three years. The investment is supported by the Irish Government with the aid of IDA Ireland. From January 1, 2013 Radio Systems PetSafe Europe Ltd will be fully operational and will base its European multilingual customer services centre, finance, order management, supply chain and human resources departments in Dundalk. Of the 56 jobs being created over the next three years 25 will be hired by the end of December. “As our business continues to grow internationally, Radio Systems Corporation plans to…

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Google Suspends Advertising Related to Irish Abortion Referendum

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Fetus on Health

Google is suspending all advertising connected to Ireland’s abortion referendum as part of moves to protect “election integrity,” the company announced Wednesday. The move came a day after Facebook banned foreign-backed ads in the Irish campaign, amid global concerns about online election meddling and the role of internet ads in swaying voters. Google said that starting Thursday, it would no longer display ads related to the May 25 vote on whether to repeal Ireland’s constitutional ban on most abortions. The prohibition on ads connected to the Irish vote applies to both Google and YouTube, which the company owns. The online search leader, which is based in Mountain View, California, declined to say how much advertising revenue it was giving up because of the decision. Russian role The role of online ads in elections is under scrutiny following revelations that Russian groups bought ads on leading services such as Google and Facebook to try to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Many of the ads were designed to sow confusion, anger and discord among Americans through messages on hot-button topics. Karin von Abrams, a London-based analyst with the research firm eMarketer, said banning ads represented a short-term safeguard from potential backlash…

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6 True-Life Facts About St Patrick to Impress Your Friends (and Deepen Your Faith)

Christina Botteri
Tennessee Star

  Saint Patrick’s Day is here, and so it goes we join millions across the globe to don our best green garb and imbibe in a panoply beverages from the unnaturally verdant Shamrock Shake to the local pub’s green draft – all in a joyous tradition to cheer one another in the name of a spiritual hero of Ireland. But did you know the true-life story of the man who would become St. Patrick is as harrowing as any high adventure you might find in the pages of a Batman comic? Here are 6 facts you might not have known about the life and times of St. Patrick: (1) St. Patrick was not Irish. St. Patrick’s only known name prior to his canonization is “Patricius.” He was a born late in the fourth century in Roman Britain – most likely the modern Wales region, although some scholars say it was Scotland. Like many Romans of that era, his family were devout Christians. His father, Calpurnius was a deacon, and his grandfather Potitus, was a priest. (2) St. Patrick did not share his family’s faith, and was a skeptic. In his book, Confessio, St. Patrick writes that as a boy, he was…

Read the full story