Proposal to Make It Easier to Claim Irish Citizenship

The New York Times reported on March 15, 2009 that the Irish Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, in a speech at the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, proposed measures to make it easier for Americans to claim Irish citizenship, reversing a restrictive course the Irish government took in 2005.

“The connections between Ireland and America remain strong,” Mr. Cowen said, “but we cannot take them for granted.”

Mr. Cowen proposes to ease naturalization by allowing Americans whose nearest Irish ancestor is a great-grandparent to qualify for citizenship, provided that they have spent considerable time studying or working in Ireland. Under current law, the most distant forebear an American could claim and still qualify for Irish citizenship is a grandparent.

“There’s an awful lot of Irish-Americans who feel very cut off by the ‘grandfather rule,’ ” said Niall O’Dowd, the former chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and a founder of the Irish Voice newspaper in New York as well as of a new Web site, Irishcentral.com, that started Sunday night. “This would open up Irish citizenship to a whole new generation of Irish-Americans.”

The number of Americans with Irish ancestry has been estimated to be as high as 40 million, and millions of those people have no closer blood tie to Ireland than a great-grandparent.

The immigration proposal grew out of a “strategic review” of Irish-American relations Mr. Cowen ordered up last year, the first such review performed by the government since the 1930s, he said.

Dublin's Country Mix 106.8fm to host new family history / genealogy programme with John Hamrock presenting:

John Hamrock will be presenting a family history / genealogy programme on Dublin's Country Mix 106.8fm from May 1st 2009 on a weekly basis. Dublin’s Country Mix is a Country and Western/Easy listening style Radio Station. From time to time the Station features articles on air that are of special interest to listeners. For example Gardening, Wine, Books etc.

John Hamrock will present from the studio once a week to instruct the listeners on how to trace their ancestors with hints and tips to help them. This will be of great interest and practical value to Dublin’s Country Mix listeners interested in how to trace their ancestors.

Country Mix's flagship programme has one of the most professional and experienced female presenters in mainstream radio today, Lynsey Dolan. Lynsey hosts two hours of chat every morning from 9am - from major topics of the day to what’s what in Entertainment and now Genealogy will join the list of those topics of interest to radio listeners.

John Hamrock appointed to Ireland Branch Committee of Irish Genealogical Research Society

At the Ireland Branch of the Irish Genealogical Society Annual General Meeting held on Saturday, 4th April, 2009 at Dublin City Library and Archive, John Hamrock was elected to the Branch Committee for the 2009/2010 year.