In the News

As locals celebrated with Irish nationals at the 72nd St. Patrick’s Parade Sunday, questions about trade and tariffs loomed over bagpipe music, Irish dancing and toasts.   Ireland and the United States have shared trade and tourism boosting both economies for years, said Geraldine Byrne Nason, ambassador of Ireland to the United States. But she said cooperation could be disrupted… Read more »

Amber James has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for over two decades.   When she learned last week that Louis DeJoy, postmaster general, is working with the Department of Government Efficiency, the new federal agency that oversees government spending, on plans to cut jobs and funding from the USPS budget, “it was one of the worst days in USPS history,” she… Read more »

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order, dismantling the Department of Education.   The Trump Administration has signed an executive order shuttering the Department of Education even after 21 Democratic Attorneys General filed a lawsuit last week deeming the elimination of the department unlawful.   The Department of Education was established by President Jimmy… Read more »

It’s not always easy to put faces and names to the impact that congressional budgets have on a particular populace. By visiting Riverside Industries in Easthampton on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal tried to do just that.   Neal, whose district in Massachusetts includes the cities of Easthampton, Holyoke and Springfield as well as several other communities in Hampshire County, took… Read more »

This 250th anniversary of the American Revolution — the opening shots of Lexington and Concord rang out in April 1775 — is a major business opportunity for the state’s $23.6 billion-a-year travel and tourism industry.   “We’re going to have, starting in April, a great 250th celebration,” Gov. Maura T. Healey told reporters Tuesday after the first day of the Governor’s Conference on… Read more »

The federal budget, under President Donald Trump, shows plans to cut over $130 billion worth of funding targeting things like food assistance programs. Congressman Richard Neal told us this is something everyone should be concerned about in Massachusetts and beyond. “America is a land of great bounty. The idea you’re going to balance the federal government by cutting nutrition is… Read more »

The idea has been floated before, but this time it has the backing of key members of Congress.   Friends of Ireland Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Richard E. Neal (MA-01) and Congressman Mike Kelly (PA-16), along with Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and bipartisan members of the Caucus, have introduced legislation to establish a commission to study the creation of a National… Read more »

Big US companies with operations in the Republic of Ireland will protect their interests in Ireland, even if they will try to avoid public clashes with US president Donald Trump, a leading congressman has said.   Much of the big corporations’ attitudes will remain publicly unspoken for now as they try to calibrate how to deal with the Trump White House, the long-serving… Read more »

The new class will see 30 emerging leaders from across Northern Ireland and Ireland venture state-side this summer, as part of the unique transatlantic leadership and peace-building program.   Co-hosted by WIP and Ulster University, the special event saw WIP Founder Carol Wheeler conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her outstanding contribution to peace and… Read more »

Donald Trump has been urged to appoint a special envoy to Northern Ireland as US lawmakers warn of “genuine concern” over the future of American investment in the region.   Leading Irish-American members of Congress said naming a representative was needed to protect US interests in Northern Ireland amid anxieties over rocky politics and rising trade… Read more »