Obama’s ties to, and interest in, the island of Ireland are ongoing

By  Frank Costello
May 5, 2016
 Frank Costello


 In his only visit to Northern Ireland – at Belfast Waterfront Hall, on June 2, 2013, and tied to his participation in the G8 Summit held in County Fermanagh – President Barack Obama pledged that the United States “will always be a wind at your back.”

In remarks that day, Obama noted the “wounds that haven’t healed, communities where tension and mistrust hangs in the air,” and “the walls that still stand.”

Given that during more than seven years plus of his presidency he has presided over an administration that has had to deal with the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and a domestic economy emerging from the global financial collapse while addressing health care reform and gun violence at home, it can be said that Barack Obama has kept his word.

THE PHONE CALL Speaking with the Other Side

By James Dolan
May 5, 2016
James Dolan

I was asleep when the phone rang. Who could be calling at this hour? I reached over to answer it and said: “Hello, who is this? “It’s me Joan,” came the reply. “Is this some kind of joke,” I said. “No! No! Don’t hang up; it really is me. Occasionally they allow someone to make contact and you know how persistent I can be.”

Ireland offers a model in how to secure solid foreign investment

By Joe Leary
May 5, 2016
Joe Leary

Our current presidential campaign will only intensify over the next six months. Speech after speech, newspaper articles, and radio and television news and commercials will be coming at us every day from many angles and interests. With the Democrats and the Republicans trying to put the best faces on their candidates, it will be difficult for us to understand what is being said and how best to react.

One thing we might concentrate on is America’s place in the world and, specifically for the readers of this newspaper, how the campaign rhetoric might impact Ireland.

Joseph Corcoran is choice for Robert F. Kennedy honor

By Ed Forry
May 5, 2016

Joseph CorcoranJoseph CorcoranJoseph E. Corcoran, the founder and chairman of the Corcoran Jennison Companies and a national pioneer in transforming failed public housing projects into successful mixed-income neighborhoods that offer community services to low-income residents, will receive the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps’ Embracing the Legacy Award at the JFK Library in Dorchester on May 20.
Corcoran is responsible for more than $4 billion in real estate developments nationwide, mostly in affordable housing. In 1986, by pushing for a change in federal tax credits – and getting vital help from the late US Sen. Ted Kennedy – he turned the downtrodden Columbia Point project site into the popular Harbor Point on the Bay.

Corcoran also has created a nonprofit, The American City Coalition, which works to revitalize entire inner-city neighborhoods into viable communities. “The purpose of American City Coalition is to expand what we did with public housing and apply it to an entire community,” he told award officials. “It was something similar that Robert F. Kennedy had started to do in New York. I have been blessed with a successful career, and RFK - and the entire Kennedy family - have inspired me to help those who have not lived the American dream.”

‘All Changed, Changed Utterly…’

By Peter F. Stevens
May 5, 2016
Peter F. Stevens


Fifth of five parts.
In Boston, as elsewhere in the United States, many Irish viewed the rebels as heroes from the first news of the revolt. At four minutes past noon on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic from the steps of the General Post Office, declaring Ireland’s right to exist as a free and sovereign nation.

Feeney brothers send young talent to college to study the gas industry

By Maddie Kilgannon
May 5, 2016
Maddie Kilgannon

The Feeney brothers, Greg and Brendan, who operate a private utility contractor company in Dorchester, have been investing in their work force through a training program conducted at Bunker Hill Community College. The two-year course, which trains students in every aspect of the gas industry, will graduate its first class this month.

The Gas Utility Technology (GUT) Degree Option Program gives graduates “more than just a piece of paper,” said Bill Egan, director of support services at Feeney Brothers Utility Services. “The program aims to give students all the tools they need in order to be safe and effective in the field. Our expectation, upon completion of these courses, is that graduates will be able to successfully complete gas specific performance skills and demonstrate the ability to work in teams to accomplish our objectives.”

“Riverdance”– 20 years, and still dancing strong

By R.J. Donovan
May 5, 2016
R.J. Donovan

It seems like only yesterday the international Irish singing and dancing phenomenon “ Riverdance” first blazed to life. Since opening in Dublin in 1995, the production has dazzled more than 25 million theatergoers across six continents. The milestone 20th Anniversary World Tour will be performing at Boston’ s Citi Wang Theatre from May 10 to May 15.

“ Riverdance” originated as a seven-minute dance number created for the 1994 Eurovision broadcast, the world’ s longest-running international television song competition. With a score by Limerick native Bill Whalen, the electrifying performance at Dublin’ s Port Theatre was an instant hit, bringing the audience to its feet.

Ironically, the extraordinary number was not part of the competition. Instead, it was meant as entertainment to fill an interval in the show. Based on the thunderous response it received, producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan saw the potential in developing a full scale stage production.

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