US-Ireland Alliance head Trina Vargo may or may not embrace the irony, but after taking swipes at the influence, or lack thereof, of Irish Americans in recent years she needs a bit of an Irish American shoulder at the wheel now that the State Department has pulled its funding for the Alliance-run Mitchell Scholarship Program.
Vargo, who has raised hackles over her views that there is no meaningful Irish American vote, ergo Irish issues are now way off in the margins, is not shy when it comes to speaking her mind.
Fair enough, and she may well be correct in a macro sense in that the "Irish vote" is generally seen these days as being part of the "white Catholic" voting bloc.
In a micro sense, however, that part of Irish America that takes an interest in Irish issues can be a force in certain circumstances. There is more that circumstantial evidence to suggest that former attorney general Dick Thornburgh had his U.S. Senate ambitions in Pennsylvania scuttled some years back after the AOH decided that his record in regard to the Joe Doherty case wasn't up to scratch.
Department of State funding for the Mitchells is not a macro issue, but there's more than a handful of Irish Americans out there who hold an opinion on it one way or another.
With an online petition underway in an effort to restore State funding, Vargo might be hoping that she was a little off the mark in her earlier negative assessment of Irish American influence.
TAPS FOR PAT QUINN
Every day of the 31 months that Pat Quinn spent in a North Korean prisoner of war camp was an eternity. But Quinn, with a lot of prayers heading skyward, got through his ordeal and returned to his adopted home city of Chicago. And it was there that Pat died just a few days ago after a long battle with cancer. He was 87.
Quinn's story has been told in these pages before. His survival was an extraordinary tale, one that began when he was captured by the Chinese. What followed was something akin to a death march to a camp near the Chinese border with every day in that camp a grim struggle for survival.
In his years as an Irish Chicagoan, Quinn was a prominent community member, a familiar face at Gaelic Park and a tireless activist on behalf of fellow veterans. Not long ago, and thankfully, he released an e-book memoir of his Korean War experiences entitled "POW Korea: A Memoir." His name on the cover is Patrick V. Quinn. It can be purchased on amazon.
JERE GOES FOR TWO
New Jersey's Jere Cole is seeking re-election as national director of the Ancient Order of Hibernians at this week's national convention in Verona, New York. And why not. Cole, first elected to the post at the 95th annual convention in Cincinnati a couple of years ago, is one of the most active and familiar AOH figures at events in the tri-state area.
A retired detective in the Essex County Sheriff's Department, Cole is one of six national directors for the Hibernians. He represents members in New Jersey, New York and the New England states. In addition, he serves as the Catholic Action chairman for the organization. Cole has been a member of the Michael L. Delahunty Montclair Local Division 9 for more than 20 years.
Born in Brooklyn, Cole traces his Irish heritage to County Cork on his mother's side. His family moved to West Caldwell when he was seven. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal. Cole should be a shoe-in.
DOES HE GET
FREE PENCILS?
Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen is footing the bill for a €50,000 executive course in California, according to reports. Cowen is in the middle of a six-week course in Stanford University. The course is entitled the "Executive Education Program" and costs €47,000.
Cowen is no longer a TD, but is yet a young man so a resumed career as an executive of some sort would make sense.
At the same time, being head of government is an executive position, supposedly at any rate. Guess the Offaly man reckons he still has stuff to learn and, indeed, may have some knowledge to impart to fellow students at Stanford. Lesson one: Recognize a bubble before it blows up under your political rear end.
That one must be worth a few grand.
