Unintended Consequences: The Story of Irish Immigration to the US Since 1965

Ray O'Hanlon was born in Dublin, is a graduate of University College Dublin, and worked with the Irish Press newspaper group before moving to the United States in 1987. O’Hanlon’s particular beat has long been the immigration issue and his 1998 book, The New Irish Americans, is considered a definitive account of the battle for immigration reform waged by the Irish Immigration Reform Movement and other Irish-American organizations in the late 1980s and early ’90s. The New Irish Americans was the recipient of a Washington Irving Book Award.

His new book, Unintended Consequences: The Story of Irish Immigration to the US and How America's Door was Closed to the Irish, will be published by Merrion Press in April 2021. It examines the impact of the 1965 Immigration Act on Irish emigration to the US, later struggles over immigration reform and the experiences of undocumented Irish.

In this episode, Scott and Liam speak with Ray about Irish American politics since the 1990s and look at how the political dynamics of "Irish America" have changed over the years.