Aloha kakou. If you are visiting this blog for the first time and have done so after hearing about our plight and being refused to land in Ireland, you may wish to first read the post Donaghy Saga In Ireland, which details our ordeal at Dublin immigration. Then read the posts above them after. We woke up this morning in Philadelphia with no news from Ireland. I will update this post later rather than creatinga new one in order to keep the primary post on this main page. Mahalo again to all for your efforts on our behalf and letters…
Meet The Family
I’ve talked about myself and my work in previous posts, but have neglected to introduce the other two individuals who are caught up in all of this. My wife Marie was born on Maui. We met through mutual friends and her younger sisters while we were both in high school, and she was actually my first date. I was close to her family, but romance did not bloom until nearly 10 years late, when we both were in our late-20s. We married in 1989, and our daughter Denyce Kathryn Malia Donaghy was born on Maui in 1991. Marie worked for…
No Joy Yet
It’s 10:30 AM EST and no word from the folks in Cork, I am hoping that they are busy paving the way for our return, or at least attempting to do so. Contacted the Irish consulate in NY this morning and was advised that they could look into the situation for us and advise a course of action, but not much else. My aunt who lives in Philadelphia is driving to pick us and our spirits up this afternoon, and take us back to Philly to be around family. We could use it right now. I’m hopefully that my plan…
New York, Day 3
I woke up at 4AM EST unable to return to sleep. Gee, I wonder why. As I looked over at my wife and daughter sleeping, I was filled with admiration for them. Both have handled this stressful event very well. My wife remained quite calm during our ordeal at Dublin immigration, allowing me to speak to the officer. Perhaps he would have been more receptive to her. While my daughter showed some signs of the stress she was under, she kept her wits about herself, and frequently offered ideas and questions to ask the officer. Most I had already asked…
Jumping The Que: My very bad, perhaps fatal, error?
It’s come to my attention that I committed a serious transgression of cultural protocol while waiting to be processed at the immigration bureau. Because of the large streams of people merging from several different flights, I got separated from my wife and daughter, who found themselves two or three groups ahead of me in the cue. There were no ropes, just a mass of people who organized themselves into lines in the middle of the room, and which merged as they got closer to the immigration officers’ booths. Once my wife and daughter got up to the immigration officer, I…
New York, Day 2
It’s been about 48 hours since our debacle at the Dublin airport, and feeling a bit under the weather this morning; probably due to the stress and lack of adequate sleep. I’ve received mostly positive feedback to my idea of coming back to Ireland alone, along with some suggestions. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the continuing responses from my friends and acquaintances in Ireland to our situation. Dave Winer, whose software I used for many years and whose writings I follow closely, has written extensively on “friendship” and how the term is bandied about somewhat loosely by netizens. I’ve never…
New Idea On Immigration Fiasco. Thoughts Anyone?
That I travel alone to Shannon or Cork early next week, Monday or Tuesday, if the situation is not cleared up by Monday, and leave my wife and daughter with relatives in Philadelphia or at the hotel in NY. Even the officer in Dublin stated I could enter but my wife and daughter could not. Not certain if the reason stated in his refusal letter could come back to bite me in the arse. I go to Cork and try to get my daughter into a school that is acceptable to immigration, and clarify their status with immigration there. Perhaps…
Clarification And Further Thoughts From NYC
I’ve been following the blog posts by my friends in Ireland, and the comments they have generated. To clarify on a couple of points: Regarding St. Aloysius’ and my possible disregard of immigration requirement of enrolling Denyce in a “private” school: I cannot find the specific correspondence, but I did contact UCC ISO (International Student Office) who I believe (this is the detail that I cannot find in my emails) ran our arrangement by immigration officers in Cork who found it acceptable. I am not completely clear on that last point, but know that I did discuss it with ISO.…
New York, Day 1
I woke up around 9AM, wife 11AM and daughter after 1PM. I had hoped to wake up realizing that it all had been a bad dream, but alas it wasn’t. I woke up in the same bed I went to sleep in at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Jamaica, New York last night. I can’t thank the many friends in Ireland who tried to help and those who are spreading the word enough. It’s hard not to be effusive with our thanks. I’m a quiet person by nature, non-confrontational whenever possible, and this is probably one of our downfalls. I expected…
The Donaghy Saga In Ireland
September 8, 2007 Aloha mai kakou (greetings to all) My name is Joseph Donaghy, and I am an Assistant Professor of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. Some of you may know me by my Hawaiian name Keola. It is not my legal name, but given to me in my youth by a Hawaiian family that I was very close to, and I have used it for many years. Late last year I applied to the Ph.d. program in ethnomusicology at University College Cork, and received my word of my acceptance early this year. I immediately contacted…