Hi everyone
Many of you are accustomed to our emails/newsletters. Some of you are seeing this for the first time. If you do not have time to read our newsletter now, please print it out and read it later.
We would like to say that, since all Summer J1’ers will soon be heading back home, we at Failte 32 were very proud to have been able to offer them our support this Summer.
There certainly was a strong willingness to work among the students we came across. We think they were better prepared this year based on the experience of those who came over last year. Many seemed to have a fallback option of staying with or being employed by a contact from
home if all else failed, which was a smart strategy.
Although the current economic climate has made it more difficult to find work, the Irish can adapt very quickly and can be very creative, as demonstrated by the number of J1’ers who found employment in a number of different areas. This year and last, we found most if not all J1’ers to be highly motivated and great ambassadors for Ireland in the U.S. The fact that they made the move to the U.S. in these dire times indicates how self-motivated they are.
The Irish American community in NY reacted very positively this year to the influx of J1’ers. Many of our affiliated organizations provided job search support through their Summer events, contacts and other resources that helped put J1’ers in front of potential employers. This can only be complementary to the efforts of dedicated organizations such as the Aisling Irish Community Center and Emerald Isle Immigration Center which provide amazing support all of the time.
The New York Irish Center is again offering a special rate to J1’ers to its upcoming ‘Guggenheim Grotto in Concert’ event (details below). We would like to thank the Arts and Community Center, Axis-Ballymun, for offering a significantly discounted rate to J1’ers to its play in New York ‘the parting Glass’ by Dermot Bulger. Paul Hurley, owner of O’Casey’s, again this year provided weekly social evenings at O’Casey’s, offering free food and dollar beers to J1’ers, although it was not as well attended this year as last which might indicate that most J1’ers were too busy working, which is a good thing!
The Irish American media seemed to have had alot more coverage in their publications this Summer on the challenges J1 visa holders face, and advice on how to overcome these challenges. Since Failte 32 launched its unique community platform last year to try to broaden Irish American community involvement and engagement in providing job support for J1 and other visa holders, it along with the Irish Examiner USA (spearheading the Failte 32 media effort) seems to be providing value to the Irish American media on this issue, including longer established publications such as the Irish Voice who recently signed up for our Failte 32 newsletter, and requested feedback from us for one of their recent J1 articles. This is certainly testament to the important role Failte 32 has played since its launch only a year ago.
We will soon launch our new Failte 32 support fund, called the Shamrock Fund SM, to support longer-term J1 visa holders who may be finding it difficult to find employment in the U.S. The Fund will subsidize (or fully pay) the membership of long-term visa holders to influential Irish American business organizations in the U.S. Generally speaking, criteria for eligibility will depend on how long one has been seeking employment in the U.S., and a commitment from them to make full use of their membership by attending all of the organization’s events and proactively networking.
We thank those of you who have contributed to establishing this Fund which will have ZERO administrative costs i.e. the Fund will have no paid employees hence all of your hard earned donations will be fully allocated to supporting those in need, the intended recipients. However, at least initially, donations will not be solicited from the general population (inc. those of you on this mailing list) as we believe everyone has enough on their plates as it is, rather will be accepted on a discretionary basis from potential funders we have relationships with. Overtime, we plan to expand the purpose of the Fund to include supporting other worthy causes, while always keeping administrative costs at zero.
We have called the new fund the Shamrock FundSM (www.shamrockfund.org) after the famous Shamrock Fund that sought funds from Irish and Irish Americans in the U.S. in support of Irish servicemen in America returning to Ireland from the Western Front. Following is more information on its historical backround:
In November 1916, the New York Times reported that a Lady Kingston from Co Roscommon had arrived in the city to set up a fund “for a tuberculosis home for the men who have acquired the disease after having been gassed in the trenches and are incurable . . . and for the disabled soldiers who have no pension or an inadequate one”.
Her appeal was directed at Irish people living in New York “who ought to be glad to do something to help their own people”.
She had brought “a quantity of shamrocks to be tokens to those who make donations . . . paper ones with pins for small sums and finer ones of enamel: a button for the men and a pin for the women, for those who give $1 or more”.
The Countess of Kingston, who lived at Kilronan Castle, Co Roscommon, had been dispatched to New York by a committee in Ireland which had already commenced a major public fundraising effort.
The intention was to establish a specialist hospital for Irish soldiers and sailors who had lost limbs. For the first few years of the war, they were treated at hospitals in England .
The Shamrock Fund was one of many such European funds established in New York during the War and it attracted support from, among others, the American poet Margaret Chanler Aldrich.
It is not known how much money was raised in New York but back in Ireland subscriptions poured in.
Source Irish Times.
Ireland may be wounded now by the global financial crisis, but we believe that in 5 years or less, particularly with the help of Irish Americans, Ireland will again be back on track as one of the most successful economies in Europe. But we have to make sure that we support our next generation of business leaders by ensuring that our graduates gain valuable experience here in the U.S. which they can then bring back to Ireland to help heal its economic wounds.
For those of you whose companies are considering setting up international or European operations, when considering Ireland don’t base your decisions solely on short term economic data, instead meet with and ask any of the U.S. multinationals based in Ireland why they have decided to remain, and in some cases expand their operations over the past two years, in Ireland . Enterprise Ireland (www.enterprise-ireland.com) and the IDA (www.ida.ie) might have suggestions on how this can be facilitated.
Anyone with any foresight will know that Ireland, like for example New York in the 70’s/80’s where property prices were so depressed that they were almost giving buildings away (I’ll bet your kicking yourself now for not investing back then), will bounce back, and represents excellent value, particularly at present, as a European base no matter what industry you’re in. So take a more practical longer-term approach to investing in the future of your company. Ireland, particularly at the present time, represents a great opportunity for large, medium and small size U.S companies looking to new diverse markets.
Even if you’re considering investing in Irish companies, take a leaf out of Peter Lynch’s book, Manager of perhaps the world’s best known actively managed mutual fund, the Magellan Fund. He created the investment process commonly referred to as ‘Buy What You Know’. He applied a more practical common sense approach to making his very successful investment decisions. He would for example call into retail stores and observe over a period of time consumer traffic, customer service, product etc. He became aware of Taco Bell after sampling a burrito and La Quinta after spending a few nights on its firm mattresses.
Irish companies, even in this unpredictable global economic environment, have maintained excellent fundamentals in terms of the export potential of their products and their level of innovation, and has a highly educated workforce with excellent skills and a very strong work ethic. Ireland has always been an open economy and tends to be more sensitive to impacts in the global economy, but has developed down through the years the necessary political/business/Govt. skill sets which resulted in rapid economic growth between 1995 and 2007. This growth will occur again on a more sustainable basis. Just look at the tremendous growth in Irish exports last year.
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Continuing our efforts to broaden community involvement and engagement in supporting J1 and other visa holders, Failte 32 is delighted to hear that the New York Pan Alumni Group, under its new Chair, Aoife Butler, is, among other things, developing a new program to assist graduates, including J1 visa holders, find employment in the U.S. If you are a graduate, and are looking for employment in the U.S., please let us know so that we can connect you with Irish third level graduates here in NY. Aoife recently served on the board of the Irish Network-NYC, and played a leading role in setting up the Irish Network-USA, the umbrella group of all the Irish Networks worldwide. She also served as its first President.
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More good news! If you worked in the U.S. in 2011 or anytime in the past 4 years, you may be due a tax refund. The average U.S. tax refund is $800.
Find out for free what tax you’re owed from your J1
Dear member
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Please read this issue’s article from our immigration attorney, Caro Kinsella:
Spouse and unmarried children of Lawful Permanent Resident:
- Siblings cannot petition for one another unless a sibling is a U.S. Citizen
- Parents cannot petition for their children if they are a Lawful Permanent Resident
- A Lawful Permanent Resident cannot petition for their parent (must be a U.S. citizen)
- A Lawful Permanent Resident can petition for their spouse and child (under 21 years). However the spouse/child will not be deemed to be an immediate relative, and thus must wait for a visa number to become current before being able to adjust their status. (August 2011 visa bulletin for all chargeability areas July 22, 2008 – visa current date for spouse and children; therefore a wait period of approximately three years)
- A Lawful Permanent Resident can petition for their unmarried son/daughter (21 years or older). They must also wait for their visa number to become current before being able to adjust their status. (August 2011 visa bulletin for all chargeability areas July 1, 2003 visa current date; therefore a wait period of approximately of eight years). Once you marry your Lawful Permanent Resident parent cannot petition for you.
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In the spirit of Failte 32’s principle of face to face contact, if you want to get in front of potential employers in the Irish American community, please come along to the following:
The New York Irish Center is offering a special discounted rate (half price!) to J1 visa holders for its upcoming ‘Guggenheim Grotto in Concert’, Saturday August 27th. See details at end of newsletter.
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Origin Theatre Company’s 1st Irish Festival, which runs from September 5th through October 3rd. 1st Irish is New York’s first and only all-Irish theatre festival.
For festival information and to learn how to vote for this year’s Audience Choice Award for Best Play, visit www.1stIrish.org\.
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For those of you back in Ireland, or in Ireland on vacation, don’t forget Tangible Ireland’s ‘The Ambassador’s Big Day Out!’ via the Ballyhoura Express on August 24th 2011. See link below for details.
http://tangibleireland.com/tangible-blog/blog/the-ambassadors-big-day-out.html
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Richard O’Donnell and Terry McLoughlin’s RendezVous353 www.RendezVous353.com, often referred to as the Irish Facebook, and some of its groups/members including Failte 32’s immigration attorney, Caro Kinsella, were recently featured on Today FM’s Sunday Business Show. Failte 32 is RendezVous353’s Ambassador here in NY.
http://www.todayfm.com/Shows/Weekends/Sunday-Business-Show/Podcasts/PodcastAudio.aspx
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We would like to take this opportunity to thank and bid farewell to two members of the Irish Consulate in New York, Alan Farrelly, Vice Consul, and Lorraine Christian, Press Officer, who have been very supportive of our efforts to help J1 visa holders find employment along the East Coast. Both will be heading back to Ireland to enhance their roles in the diplomatic core. We wish them both the best of luck.
Kind regards
Failte 32 Committee
Saturday August 27th, Doors Open 7.45pm Showtime 8.30pm SPECIAL OFFER Students/J-1 Visa Holders/Unemployed $11 click on the photo above for a music sample as Gaeilge Now that they’ve moved to live and write in Brooklyn, If you want to know more about the band,
Reg. Tickets $22 (this includes service charges),
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the New York Irish Center on…
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