It’s about time! 👋 🌍

So, What’s the Craic?

Well, this is. This weekly newsletter (and podcast) is brought to you by the founders of the Shift app (yep, you heard that right). Every week we’ll bring you the latest craic from the mother land, sprinkling in stories, events and profiles of us Irish in America, and beyond. To keep the Sisters happy, we’ll even help you brush up on your Gaeilge, and a wee bit of Irish history too… Now if you enjoy this newsletter, please tell your real Irish friends and the Plastic Paddys too: Head over to thecraic.us to sign-up for the weekly email. Sure there’s one for everyone in the audience!

News from Home

The 13 Billion Euro Question. The EU has forced Apple to pay Ireland €13B ($14.4B) in back taxes, and now everyone and their granny is discussing how the government should spend it. “Solve the housing crisis!” say the pragmatists. “Let’s buy Bulgaria!” say the optimists/nutters.

Or They Could Build a Few Bike Sheds. The government has also been criticized for allowing the building of a (small) bike shed at the site of Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) that cost the taxpayer €330K. We aren’t experts on bike sheds, but it does look like they have been shafted.

The Presidential Race Across the Atlantic. Have you heard who’s thrown their hat into the octagon to be Irish President? Yep, Conor McGregor. The UFC star divides opinion back home, but he is seen as an outside chance of getting the big job. Thankfully, it’s a ceremonial role.

There May Be a Book Burning. Not really, but there was an uproar over a new textbook that depicted Irish people as river-dancing-Aran-jumper-wearing-top-o-the-morning farmers. Some saw the funny side; others didn’t. The book got banned this week.

The Weekly Curadh

This week, we salute the Irish Paralympic Team. Thirty-five athletes headed off to Paris to compete in the 2024 games, coming home with 6 medals in total. Katie-George Dunlevy, Róisín Ní Riain and Orla Comerford all climbed the podium in Paris. Congrats to them and the rest of the team. And if you’ve got some spare change love, you can support the Irish Paralympians here.

Blast from the Past

Would you believe it? Christy Moore’s album Ride On was released forty years ago, this year! This iconic album was recorded in April 1984 and hit the record stores around September. The album contains classics like Vive la Quinte Brigada and of course, The City of Chicago. Thanks Christy, you’re a legend. Enjoy!

Cúpla focal

Beidh ceol, caint agus craic (We'll have music, chat,* and craic). Where else could we start for our inaugural newsletter, but to highlight the word “craic” itself. It’s quintessential Irish, and it’s the name of this bleedin’ newsletter. It’s borrowed (well, stolen, but c’mon now…) from the older English term “crack” (a loud noise or bang). We changed a couple of letters to make it our own, and that we did. Popularized in 1960s Ireland, it’s come to mean anything: have the craic (have a good time), bad craic (a terrible situation), what’s the craic? (how are you?). It’s the art of conversation, dancing, fun, drinking, sometimes making an eejit of yourself – all a bit of craic.

And One Last Thing….

And so it is that our two nations, divided by distance, have been united by history*.” The words of John F. Kennedy during his speech to the Irish Parliament in June 1963. Kennedy, enchanted by his ‘homecoming,’ promised he would be “back in the spring” and, of course, he never made it. His speech that day is considered one of the greatest ever given on Irish soil. You can watch it here.

The Craic is brought to you by the lads from the Shift app. Shift is a social network for the Irish everywhere, launching in 2025: GetTheShift.app.