By Jack Thomas 
 Jim Carmody is manager of the elegant Seaport Hotel overlooking Boston Harbor, and from the Irish enclave in Dorchester, where he grew up in a lower middle-class two-decker as one of eight children in a family living paycheck to paycheck, the distance, geographically, is a 14-minute drive, but culturally, it’s about a million miles. 

Viewed as Boston’s Welcome Center for immigrants and refugees, the Irish International Immigrant Center (IIIC) celebrated 30 years of supporting families from around the world at its annual Solas Awards last month. The event honored Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and Tony Rodriguez, a Boston Public Schools student.
Surrounded by community support, the Awards event raised a total of $725,000 for the IIIC’s vital work, and through the contributions and pledges of the 500 guests, the IIIC raised more than $80,000 that evening.

Steven M. Rothstein will step down from his position as executive director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation at the end of the year and will be succeeded by Deputy Director Rachel Flor, who will begin transitioning into the role next month and assume full responsibilities in January 2020, according to a statement released by the foundation last Friday.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pressed ahead Sunday with plans to try to win parliamentary backing for his new Brexit deal even as the European Union began considering his grudging request to extend the looming Brexit deadline.