Welcoming the Appointment of First Minister for the Diaspora.
Historic appointment of Minister for the Diaspora – “a massive step forward”
Irish in Britain has welcomed the appointment of the first Minister for the Diaspora, Jimmy Deenihan. CEO, Jennie McShannon said he has a unique opportunity to take the aspirations of the Irish Diaspora to the heart of Government.
“For Irish organisations around the world, this is an enormous challenge”, she said. “We need to match the Taoiseach’s bold vision with a commitment to forge a lasting partnership, to work together and be even better at what we do best.
We have written seeking an early face–to–face meeting with the Minister and pledged to assist him to reach out and engage with the whole community. “Jimmy Deenihan has been a regular visitor and will always be welcome in Britain”, she said.
When it is pointed out that the Minister has only a short 20 month window between his appointment and the next general election at home; Jimmy Deenihan says “I will have to move fast”. Jennie McShannon says: “We welcome his intention to act swiftly and I hope his determination to make progress and deliver results will be recognised and met by a ready response from this side of the water.“
We have been campaigning for the appointment of a Minister with this portfolio for some time now and look forward to developing a strong partnership with the new Minister.
Working together, our action plan has to be audacious and seen to be a practical programme to deliver results. We have developed a 10–point plan which we want to discuss with the Minister to achieve some historic goals during his term as the first ever Minister for the Diaspora.
You can read the Ten Point Plan for diaspora engagement here.
Read our initial welcome to the Minister upon hearing about his appointment here
Find out about Minister Deenihan’s comments on Seanad votes for the Diaspora here
Take a look at a snapshot of what twitter and the web had to say about the appointment