The Changing Faces of Ireland

Steve Song (formerly of Geary and now with George Fox University, Oregon), Merike Darmody (ESRI) and Naomi Tyrrell (Plymouth) are the editors of a new book on immigration in Ireland.

The Changing Faces of Ireland: Exploring the Lives of Immigrant and Ethnic Minority Children

“Before the economic boom of the 1990s, Ireland was known as a nation of emigrants. The past fifteen years, however, have seen the transformation of Ireland from a country of net emigration to one of net immigration, on a scale and at a pace unprecedented in comparative context. As a result, Irish society has become more diverse in terms of nationality, language, ethnicity and religious affiliation; and these changes are now clearly reflected in the composition of both primary and secondary schools, presenting these with challenges as well as opportunities. Despite the increased number of ethnically-diverse immigrant children and young people in the Ireland, currently there is a paucity of information about aspects of their lives in Ireland. This book is aimed at contributing to this gap in knowledge.

This edited collection will be of interest to researchers in the fields of migration studies, childhood studies, education studies, human geography, sociology, applied social studies, social work, health studies and psychology. It will also be a useful resource to educators, social workers, youth workers and community members working with (or preparing to work with) children with immigrant and ethnic minority backgrounds in Ireland.”

More details.

Revealed Preferences in Voting Behaviour

From RTE: Moriarty Tribunal report - The main points

Data on the Tipp North constituency from ElectionsIreland.org:

General Election 2011		Party	1st Pref Votes	Share	Quota
Michael Lowry Snr		Independent	14,104	29.22%	1.17
Noel J Coonan		Fine Gael	11,425	23.67%	0.95
Alan Kelly		Labour	9,559	19.80%	0.79
General Election 2007
Michael Lowry Snr		Independent	12,919	29.08%	1.16
Noel J Coonan		Fine Gael	7,061	15.89%	0.64
Maire Hoctor		Fianna Fail	7,374	16.60%	0.66
General Election 2002
Michael Lowry Snr		Independent	10,400	25.39%	1.02
Maire Hoctor		Fianna Fail	8,949	21.84%	0.87
Michael Smith		Fianna Fail	8,526	20.81%	0.83
General Election 1997
Michael Lowry Snr		Independent	11,638	29.13%	1.17
Michael O'Kennedy		Fianna Fail	9,895	24.77%	0.99
Michael Smith		Fianna Fail	6,999	17.52%	0.7

Next generation Ireland

This book looks interesting and has a nice cover: Next Generation Ireland (editors Ed Burke, Ronan Lyons) tackles the essential challenges confronting Irish politics and society, the economy, the environment, and Ireland’s relationship with the rest of the world. It brings together ten young Irish men and women to answer the fundamental question, 'What now?'
Ireland in the early 2010s stands at a crossroads. The ongoing change and crisis in institutions that once had our trust force us to ask, ‘What now?’
Next Generation Ireland brings together ten young Irish men and women to answer this very question. All are under forty and are emerging experts in their chosen fields. They have come together because they believe that, in this time of questioning, there exists a huge opportunity for the next generation to build the Ireland of the 2020s and 2030s.
The book tackles the essential challenges confronting Irish politics and society, the economy, the environment, and Ireland’s relationship with the rest of the world. Each writer proposes transformative policies in their respective areas that will renew and sustain the Irish state in the coming decades.
Urging reform and policy transformation, Next Generation Ireland marks the beginning of an interesting conversation. Do you wish to participate?

Contributors include: Eoin O’Malley, Michael Courtney, Stephen Kinsella, Michael King, Joseph Curtin, Aoibhín de Búrca, Neil Sands and Nicola White.

Diabetes In Ireland

This is purely for illustration (due to relatively small numbers (~750) , and I'm mixing data from two waves), but it at least seems that diabetes is more common in Leinster. The overall rate of 7-8% seems low to me, at least for this age cohort (over 50s). I've also broken down the rate by type of area. Again not to be taken too seriously, the confidence intervals are wide. The data is from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe see www.share-project.org. The full panel data set comprises over 30,000 individuals across Europe, has modules on too many domains to mention here, and is a fantastic resource for anyone interesed in social science. A summary of the Irish results from the first wave is available here. Data collection for a life history wave has just been completed.

Type Of Area Of Residence	Diabetes Prevalence Rate
A Big City	0.11
The Suburbs Or Outskirts Of A Big City	0.07
A Large Town	0.07
A Small Town	0.12
A Rural Area Or Village	0.06
Average	0.07

How to apply for IRELAND student visa properly-Irish Student Visa Requirements

Ireland Student Visa

Applying for an Irish student visa allows a foreign national the opportunity to immigrate to Ireland on a temporary basis in order to undertake a course of study in the country.

In Ireland, visas of this kind are issued as either a "C visa" for those applicants whose courses will last less than three months or "D visas" for those who wish to study in Ireland for longer than three months.


Whilst in Ireland, study visa status is not in its own right a route to permanent settlement in Ireland, the Graduate Programme will in some circumstance enable students to switch to an Irish work visa.


This may, in time, lead to the opportunity to apply for permanent residence and naturalisation as an Irish citizen.


Ireland also permits foreign nationals studying in the country to undertake a limited amount of work in order to help support themselves and any dependents.


In Ireland, immigration for candidates wishing to apply for an Irish student visa requires that the following criteria be met.


* A letter of acceptance must be provided demonstrating that an applicant has been offered a place on a full time course of study at a recognised Irish educational institution. The course must involve at least fifteen hours of study per week.
* Candidates must be able to demonstrate evidence of enough funds to support themselves and any dependents joining them in the country.
* It must be shown that the course fees have been paid in full.
* Private medical insurance must be arranged and documentary evidence of this must be provided.
* It must be the candidate's demonstrable intention to return to their own country at the end of their period of study.


In addition, although English is described in the Irish constitution as the second official language, the first being Irish Gaelic, it is nonetheless spoken far more widely and is the primary language in which tuition will be given.


As a result, candidates applying for an Irish study visa must be able to show proficiency in the English language to a sufficient degree to allow them to successfully pursue the course.


Successful applicants in possession of an Irish study permit are permitted to work in Ireland part time in order to supplement their income. Students may work part-time up to a maximum of 20 hours per week.
Spouse and Dependent Immigration:


In Ireland, visa applications for students may result in a successful candidate being in the country for a period of several years.


As a result, family immigration is permitted for the spouse and/or dependents of the primary applicant. Dependents entering the country under a family visa service of this kind will be permitted to reside in the country for as long as the principle applicant's course of study in Ireland.


Student visa holder's dependents will only be permitted to work full time with a valid Irish Work Permit.
Additional Information - The Graduate Scheme:


In Ireland, student visas are accompanied by the Graduate Scheme, which allows those candidates who successfully obtain a degree form a tertiary educational institution in Ireland to extend their stay by an additional six months.


Applicants may approach the Irish Naturalization and Immigration Service to obtain this extended grant of which the crucial benefit is the ability to seek and undertake employment.


If a candidate successfully finds an appropriate position, they may be able to apply to live and work in Ireland under an Irish work permit or by applying for an Irish Green Card.

Michael Lewis VF Article on Ireland

Philip Lane links to the VF article on Ireland. There wont be much in here that will come as a big surprise to readers who have been following the Irish situation for the last few years. However, it is a very well-written and evocative piece, with some brilliant cameos, particularly by Colm McCarthy.

BMJ: Judging Nudging

An article in the current issue of the BMJ asks whether nudging can improve population health.

It provides a good overview of the topic and interventions in the area of public health. It is largely positive but bemoans the lack of evidence on the effectiveness (and cost-effectiveness) of such interventions. The adjoined ed note attempts to explain the new political interest in nudge-policy in the UK, though this seems rather cynical. Without asserting anything about the motives of the current UK government, I believe they deserve credit for their willingness to engage with fresh thinking and approaches to age-old human problems.

Here in Ireland, although nudge philosophy and practice seems to have permeated some sections of social policy, most notably in the area pensions, there remains a complete dearth of such thinking in the health policy domain; which largely focuses on issues surrounding the delivery of emergency and restorative medical care. The idea that health and illness is fundamentally rooted in life outside of our hospital waiting rooms and GP clinics has never been given serious political, or media, attention. These innovative ideas of using policy to actively sustain, and maintain health in our everyday lives seems to have, so far, attracted little or no attention in Ireland.

Nov 18th: IMF Arriving at Terminal 2, Dublin Airport

(HT: Cathal G)

How would you like it done Sir? Harsh or Severe?

The UK government announced its austerity package today; it’s harsh. But how does it size-up to Irelands plans-in-the-making? Opposition members in the HOC were quick to point to Ireland and our governments belief that we could cut our way out of the economic problem; Brian Lenihan’s we’ve turned a corner speech last year was the focal point of their ridicule.

Such ridicule, if heeded, may be good for Ireland; it is becoming clear now that Ireland's "misguided austerity" could actually be a key thing that helps Ireland grow! albeit indirectly via less severe global austerity. In any event, I think it is interesting to place the newly announced UK austerity plan in an Irish perspective. In simple capita terms the UK is just shy of being 14 times bigger than Ireland. We can compute some basic figures off this fact to make some quick comparisons. I also think doing so will help put the fairly animated debates in the UK over their cuts into some perspective for us here.

I’ll just run some of today’s headline figures –

UK Public sector four-year austerity package in Irish terms: €7bn

UK Public sector job cuts in Irish terms: 35,000 jobs

UK Welfare cuts in Irish terms: €575m

UK Extra social care in schools in Irish terms: €165m

UK Axing quangos in business, innovation and skills sector in Irish terms: ~ 2 quangos; €30m

Is Ireland Inc. more than a tax haven?

Nobody will doubt the importance of multi-nationals to this country but the question of corporate taxation shouldn't be so sacred. I think it may well be positive to discuss this and consider our options and their implications.

Ireland's friendly enterprise environment drew massive foreign corporate investment here. Our english-speaking European isle with it's young under-employed workforce was an attractive product, and, in case the raw charm of our officials wasn't enough, the government threw in generous state aid and zero-to-low corporation tax. It worked - they're here and we would like them to stay, and invest more. But do we still need to smear ourselves in honey?

Unfortunately, the government seem to be fumbling this one. Ireland really needs to reassess its position and ask itself a few important questions. We're clearly not the backwater we were in the 70s but right now we seem to be squarely mired. We cannot afford to loose our paddles but we cannot sit still for much longer either.

Here's some questions the government should consider before the forthcoming budget: what is ireland's comparative advantage? how sensitive are MNC in ireland to marginal tax adjustments? what shape is the laffer curve here? how can the "four-year plan" be used to best order and communicate (frame) a possible tax increase to have least impact? how can ireland hold and attract foreign investment in the advent of a (~temporary) tax increase? how can ireland best harness and leverage the current agglomerative advantages it has built-up?

Since tax harmonization is an ultimate part of the European project - Ireland should really stop fooling itself about being able to hold Europe back on this issue. Consider our No votes to treaties in the past, at a time when we were must less obviously dependent on the Union. The country should prepare for the inevitable and start planning to compete on a level international playing field.

Ireland v France

A recent quality of life survey touted by the Guardian newspaper is a perfect example of the need to look behind the statistic headline. The headline reads the UK and Ireland are the worst places in Europe to live, and France is amongst the best. You can see how this might conjure some suspicion given Ireland's perennial heights in self-rated QOL surveys and France's perennial problem with strikes - as a case in point I believe the city of Paris is on foot today due to an all out train strike there! Interestingly, one aspect of the questionable index is age of retirement...

The index also magically (!) mixes together hours of work, holidays, GDP per capita, VAT rates, fuel-, alcohol-, tobacco-, and food-prices, life-expectancy and hours of sunshine.. but what really makes the caldron bubble is government spending on health and education. where more spending is unquestionably good.

Criticism on the complied score and resulting rankings aside, the scores on the individual aspects measured are new and provide an interesting and useful snapshot for quick comparisons.

ESRI Seminar: Stability of Economic Voting in Ireland

ESRI Seminar: "Stability of Economic Voting in Ireland"

Venue: The ESRI, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2
Date: 16/09/2010
Time: 4 p.m.
Speaker: Michael Marsh (TCD)

This paper takes a long run perspective to examine the stability of a popularity function and possible contextual reasons for that stability/instability. It uses new data to estimate a popularity function for the dominant Irish party, Fianna Fail, (FF) for the period 1974-2010, a much longer period than is covered in any previous analysis.

While FF has remained the dominant party over this period, the economy has run the full gamut from bust to boom and back again. The authors find that the effect of objective economic indicators and subjective perceptions of the economy is differential over whether FF is in government or in opposition.

More Details

Geography: Love and Lies

I've had a love for geography ever since I was toddler. One of my earliest memories is of my paternal grandfather's haggard world map. To help me learn the location of nations and to have some fun, my grandfather wrote onto tiny strips of paper the names of the major countries of the world. Starting around age 3 or 4, I was able accurately to locate nations such as the U.S., U.S.S.R., China, Japan and Australia on this non-political world map, pleasing him to no end.

My grandfather was born on a farm in Ireland -- County Cavan to be specific -- and came "across the pond" as a teenager. Ten years ago, I had the pleasure of tracking down his sole surviving sibling, his youngest sister Teresa (who was a toddler when he left for America, never to return), who still lived in the same village where the family grew up. To date, that was my sole trip to the magical country of Ireland and I will never forget it.

Sarah Palin has been to Ireland, too. Or so she says. Or so her spokesperson says. This "visit" constituted a refueling stop at Shannon Airport in County Claire. This "visit" was offered by the campaign to defend her foreign policy experience. What compelling evidence. Wow.

But wait ... there's more.

Geography whiz and First Lady wannabe Cindy McCain undoubtedly shoots for that blue triangle from the get-go during games of Trivial Pursuit. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, McCain defends Palin's foreign policy experience by noting that "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia." Take that, Joe Biden! (who must undoubtedly be an expert on Bermuda given Delaware's comparative proximity to that island).

Let me stipulate two things:

(1) A visit to an airport DOESN'T constitute a visit to a city or a country. I've been to the Detroit airport countless times (even slept on its floor once), but I've never actually visited the city of Detroit or the surrounding area in Michigan. Even with innocuous time-wasters such as TripAdvisor's Cities I've Visited on Facebook, I don't audaciously claim to have been to Detroit, to Cincinnati or Memphis--or other cities I've connected through. To base your qualifications to be vice-president on such a claim is downright pathetic. Frankly, it calls into question the judgment of the individual who invited you onto the Republican ticket and who wishes to be commander-in-chief.

(2) Proximity DOESN'T equal expertise. A math teacher who teaches in a classroom next to an English teacher isn't better equipped to teach English. A stock broker who lives next door to a mechanic doesn't necessarily know how to fix your carburetor. Living in the Madison, Wisconsin area doesn't make me qualified to lead walking tours of Rockford, Illinois.

What does this all have to do with education? Well, it seems to me that the McCain-Palin campaign doesn't think much of the intelligence of the American electorate by peddling this paltry defense of Palin's lack of foreign policy experience and nonexistent world view. On an intellectual level, I've got to believe that even Republican partisans can see through this flighty logic. If I'm wrong, then we're in some real trouble -- and not just from the potential results of this election.

I guess the moral of this blog post is that geographic literacy by itself isn't sufficient. Truth matters, too. Right, Cindy?

-----------------------------

BONUS: For those of you who haven't discovered PalinDrome yet, just like those MasterCard ads, it's priceless.