US-Ireland Alliance

The following is a response US-Ireland Alliance president Trina Vargo sent to Fianna Fail Senator Mark Daly in response to his attack on the US-Ireland Alliance.

March 25, 2012

Dear Senator Daly,

I am writing to you regarding comments that were attributed to you in an online article on IrishCentral.com.  If the article’s reporting is not accurate – which I know is possible given my previous experience with this website – I apologize for any mischaracterization of your views, and I request that you please set the record straight.  In light of the article’s hostile, inflammatory, and false claims made about me and the organization that I lead, the US-Ireland Alliance, I am compelled to respond. 

--  No Irish Government funds have been spent on the Mitchell Scholarship program in about a decade. We are prudently raising an endowment and have not been spending any of the money previously contributed by the Irish Government, except for the audit expenses required annually by the Irish Government.

--  Before you suggest that I appear before a committee, I think that it would be helpful to read the audit reports, which are provided to the Minister of Education.  These reports are available to all members of the Oireachtas.  The reports confirm that we are not spending the Irish Government’s contributions to the Alliance, and, therefore, it is obviously impossible for us to be mis-spending these funds.

--  As would be clear from the above, but just to emphasize to you, the Irish taxpayer does not pay my salary.

--  I have spent my career advocating for Ireland, including being heavily involved in the peace process.  The mission of the US-Ireland Alliance is to help build a deep and meaningful relationship between the United States and Ireland that draws on the strengths of both countries in culture, business, and politics.  The Mitchell Scholarship program has hugely and positively raised the profile of Irish universities in the United States, and the Mitchell Scholars and staff of this organization have visited hundreds of universities in this country to promote studying in Ireland.  The graduates of the Mitchell Scholarship program are successful in various walks of life – including government, medicine, business, academia, and media, to name just a few prominent areas.  As they continue to mature in their careers, they will increasingly become an asset to the U.S.-Irish relationship, helping to achieve our mission of deepening the ties between our countries. 

--  The Alliance runs an annual event in Los Angeles that has resulted in extensive positive coverage of the Irish entertainment industry – a rare “good” story for Ireland.  We held this year’s event with no support from the Irish Film Board or Culture Ireland.  Our event, held in February, has generated nearly $3 million of positive media stories for Ireland as well as numerous important introductions for Ireland’s actors, animators, filmmakers and musicians.  I could go on with more examples of the Alliance’s contributions to Ireland, but I think that these are sufficient to make the point. 

--  According to the article on IrishCentral.com, your criticism of me and of the Alliance is based on your objection to one of my recent blog postings.  I find it disturbing that you suggest that my job is to only wear the green jersey.  I am apparently allowed to praise Ireland and promote Ireland, but never criticize it.

--  It is well documented that Niall O’Dowd has waged an obsessive campaign to smear me, the Mitchell Scholarship program and the Alliance since 2007.  In that year, I wrote an opinion piece in the Irish Times that noted that the U.S. Government would not enact a special immigration deal for the Irish illegally in the United States.  My statements on this issue were accurate, as time has shown.  Mr. O’Dowd resented my article, and he has been on a mission to silence me ever since.  I received over 150 emails in support of that piece, including from former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald.  The handful of emails I received in the negative included mainly racist comments.

--  Furthermore, as you are well aware, I have regularly made myself available to any member of the Oireachtas to answer any questions they may have about the US-Ireland Alliance and, up to now, you have never raised a single question with me. You and every member of the Oireachtas also regularly receive updates on the program and the Alliance and all of our contributions to the US relationship with Ireland and Northern Ireland.

--  I find it interesting that over the years Mr. O’Dowd’s activities have received Irish Government funding, and yet while he weekly attacks any sitting Taoiseach, the President of the United States, and a host of others, no one questions his funding or objects to his views.  Perhaps there is a different standard for men and women being permitted to state their opinions.

-- This demand that people keep quiet and never raise questions is one reason Ireland is in the situation it now finds itself.  I created the US-Ireland Alliance as the antidote to the shamrocks and leprechaun nonsense, and I have no intention of apologizing for that.  There is a rightful place for sentimentality, but it will not help contribute to the cultural, economic, and political well being of our two countries.  Given the current dire state of the Irish economy, including the real suffering of many Irish, Ireland needs more from Americans than a toast of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day.  I expressed this opinion in my recent blog post, and anyone who saw my comments as insulting to Ireland completely missed the point. 

--  I, and the board of the US-Ireland Alliance, have long kept quiet while O’Dowd has attacked me and this organization for the last five years.  He clearly feels that this organization and the people hearing my views threaten his position as the self-appointed spokesman for Irish Americans.  I am an Irish American, I love Ireland, and I have as much right to state my opinions as Mr. O’Dowd.  The difference between us is that my comments are based in fact and are accurate.

--  Your views, if accurately reflected in the article, impugn my character and this organization’s integrity.  There is no evidence of any mismanagement of funds because there is none.  The Alliance, in addition to providing the Irish Government with an annual audit, reports quarterly to the U.S. Department of State and to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.  Charity Navigator, an independent body that examines non-profit organizations, gives us its highest rating. 

--  The article on IrishCentral.com continues Mr. O’Dowd’s malicious campaign against the US-Ireland Alliance, and I regret that you have been drawn into this web of false accusations and personal attacks.  I welcome your interest in the US-Ireland Alliance, and I remain committed to building a deep and mutually beneficial relationship between our countries. 

Sincerely,

Trina Vargo

President

US-Ireland Alliance