Letters

Irish Kings of Boxing

Your article “Irish Kings of the Boxing Ring” (Dec./Jan. 2007) issue was very much enjoyed, with the following reservation. In your coverage of the documentary In the Green Corner, there was a glaring omission in the list of great Irish fighters. I didn’t see Tommy Loughran’s name on the list. On Tommy’s behalf I submit the following information:

Born in Philadelphia in 1902, Tommy had 174 recorded fights. He was one of the greatest light-heavyweight champions, and Ring magazine fighter of the year for 1929. He defeated both Max Baer and Jim Braddock (both later became heavyweight champions).

If Loughran wasn’t included in the documentary it was a gross oversight.

Patricia Dolan-Lloyd
Casa Grande, Arizona

Editor’s note: Thank you for highlighting the achievements of Tommy Loughran. Organizers of the Fighting Irishmen: A Celebration of Celtic Warriors exhibition confirmed that while Loughran was not featured in In the Green Corner, he was included in the exhibition. An autographed photograph was on display, and a DVD, which included film clips of Loughran, was available. Loughran was also included in the exhibtion poster by artist Pat Killian

Happy Flatley Fan

What a treat to read Debbie McGoldrick’s article (Dec./Jan. issue) on Michael and Niamh Flatley’s wedding. I felt like I was there. The wedding photo is beautiful. Thank you from a happy Flathead.

Sonja Marino Helena Received via e-mail

Down, But Not Forgotten

I have enjoyed your magazine for quite a few years, and I was particularly partial to the article by Troy Gilbert, “Nearly Lost, But Not Forgotten” (Dec/Jan. issue) about the monument to the Irish immigrants who died during the construction of the New Basin Canal beginning in 1832.

There has been much talk about water and canals in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which did change our city and much of the Gulf Coast, and Gilbert’s article brought to mind “Digging the Canals,” a poem I had scratched out several years ago when I was thinking about my Irish ancestors. The opening lines of which are as follows: No one cried/Find some hovel/Hand Mick a shovel.

John P. Reilly
Metairie, Louisiana

Gaining Irish Citizenship Through Descent

My name is Eric Hafner and I am an Irish-American.

Under Irish Nationality law created in 1956, anyone with a great-grandparent, grandparent, or parent who was born in Ireland was eligible for Irish citizenship by descent. However, in 1984 the law was changed and members of the Irish diaspora whose closest link to Ireland is a great-grandparent no longer qualified for citizenship.

I propose that the law should be reverted to allow citizenship by descent to be claimed by those with an Irish great-grandparent, and that the Irish government should explore the possibility of extending citizenship to all people with Irish ancestry.

Unless the law is reverted to what it was prior to the 1984 change, I myself will not be able to obtain Irish citizenship, despite the fact that I have lots of Irish ancestors. My closest link to Ireland is my great-grandmother who came to the U.S. as a child.

Why should someone from Poland be able to show up in Ireland tomorrow and start working and living there instantly, yet an Irish person from the USA doing the same would be an illegal immigrant subject to arrest and deportation?

Eric Hafner
Newark, New Jersey

Editor’s Note: As you correctly point out, right now there is no way you can apply for Irish citizenship. Great-grandchildren are only eligible for citizenship if a parent registered as a citizen of Ireland prior to their birth or before June 30, 1986. Also, to clarify: Polish people are allowed to work in Ireland because both Ireland and Poland are EU members and freedom of movement allows EU citizens to work in any member states without restriction. If it is any consolation, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment in Ireland is introducing a “green card” system for non-EU nationals as of January to attract highly skilled workers into the growing Irish economy.

Correction: In our Business 100 profile of Dennis Quinn (Dec./Jan. issue) we listed Dennis as the vice president of business development at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. In fact, Dennis is the executive vice president of business development. We also wrote that Dennis lives in Plainfield, New Jersey. While he is from Plainfield, New Jersey, Dennis now lives with his wife and children in Marietta, Georgia.