Irish News & Events

Mayo Society Of New York

48-45 63rd Street • Woodside, New York 11377

132nd Annual St. Patrick’s Ball
to be held on
Saturday, March 12, 2011

Antun’s, 96-43 Springfield Boulevard • Queens Village, N.Y. 11429

Honorees
Fr. Tom Basquel, Aughagower, Co. Mayo
Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue, Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo

January 23, 2011

The Mayo Society of New York will pay tribute to two outstanding Mayo people at our society’s 132nd Annual St. Patrick’s Ball on March 12, 2011. Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue will be honored as our Mayo Woman of the Year and Thomas Basquel, C.S.Sp. as our Mayo Man of the year. This event will take place at Antun’s, 96-43 Springfield Blvd, Queens Village, NY. Cocktails are at 7.00pm followed by dinner and dancing at 8.00pm. Noel Henry’s Irish Show Band featuring vocalist Kevin Prendergast will provide the music for this evening’s celebrations.

Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue, A native of Tourmakeady, Co Mayo, Noreen arrived in New York City in 1963, and began a long career of community service benefiting friends and strangers both far and near. Noreen combines hands-on service with leadership and lobbying. She founded the Woodlawn chapter of The Irish Immigration Reform Movement in 1987, and is a co-founder and now Executive Board member of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center’s (EIIC) in 1988 Woodside, Queens, And the Woodlawn office in 1993. She takes great pride in their success in providing a wide range of services to the community. Her commitment to the Irish-American community is evident, not only through her work with the EIIC, but with her membership in The Mayo Society of New York, The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Tarrytown, Div 11; her participation in The American-Irish Association of Westchester, Make-a- Wish Foundation: her passion for set dancing, traditional Irish music, instruction in the Irish language, in which she is fluent.

Thomas Basquel, C.S.Sp. The son of Michael and Kathleen Basquel, Tom is from Aughagower, near Westport in County Mayo. One of nine brothers and four sisters, Tom entered the Holy Ghost Congregation after high school. As part of his preparation for the priesthood, Tom spent two years in Nairobi, Kenya where he returned after his ordination in 1976 at St Patrick’s Church in Aughagower. According to legend, the last person to be ordained there was St Patrick! Tom held several positions in London and Dublin before heading to New York in 1996. Tom moved to the Brooklyn diocesan after a year and became a participant in the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, attending meetings in Washington, Philadelphia, the Bronx and Woodside. In 2001, Bishop Daly asked the Holy Ghost Fathers to take over St. Mary’s Parish in Woodside, and appointed Fr. Tom as Parochial Vicar. He immediately embraced the Irish community, celebrating all milestones of life. In 2006, Tom was appointed Superior and Provincial Delegate of the Irish Holy Ghost Fathers in America. He now visits eight states, checking on the wellbeing of all his confreres.

Tickets are $85 per person or a table of ten for $850.
For reservations, please contact Rita Lydon Lenz, 718-565-9251.

For additional information, please contact Journal Co-Chairs:
Mary Lydon at 718-728-7924
or Jim Lombard at 646-263-1733.

Rita Lydon-Lenz & Michael S. Regan Mary P. Coyne
Dinner Dance Co-Chairs President

PRESS STATEMENT

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Name: Sheila Gleeson
Tel:  617-987-0193

J-1 Students Traveling to the United States

The Irish Centers across the United States are hearing from hundreds of students who say that because of the depressed economy in Ireland they are planning to spend their summer working in America. The Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers and Irish Centers in the USA are advising J-1 students who are traveling to America in 2010 that they may find it more difficult to get a job this year. “It is very important that students prepare for their trip prior to arriving in the United States” said Sheila Gleeson the Coalition’s Executive Director. “While the economy has improved here jobs are still difficult to find and accommodation costs continue to be high especially in the cities.

The Emerald Isle Immigration Center and the Aisling Irish Center in New York are just two of the Irish Centers who are making plans to help the hundreds of students that will come to their offices seeking assistance. They are advising every student to have access to at least $2,500 – $3,000 to allow them enough time to get a job and to pay the up front costs of renting an apartment. It is important to realize that securing a job will take time so having enough money is essential. Anyone who has friends and families in the USA are advised to contact them in advance and ask for assistance to find jobs and accommodation. Students should also consider travelling to popular vacation destinations where seasonal work is available.

Irish Centers throughout the United States provide information and support to thousands of J-1 students. They help to orient them to the local areas, to find jobs and accommodation and to resolve any problems that they encounter during their stay here. Siobhan Dennehy, Executive Director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center says that “we help hundreds of students every year to have a successful experience in the US, this year we have had enquiries from a large number of students who are planning to travel to New York”.

J-1 students who will be close to the Southern border with Mexico should be aware of the continuing violence in border communities in Mexico. While many people safely visit Mexico each year it is important to know that violence in the country has increased significantly. Most of the violence is near the US border, including in Tijuana, and reports of warfare and shoot out’s in the streets among Mexican drug cartels are a regular occurrence. To find out more about the risks of travel to Mexico read the latest warnings/alerts from the US State Department.