Keith Duggan

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Keith Duggan

Cliona Ward, the Irish citizen and US green card holder who has been held in an Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre since returning from a family visit to Ireland, will have a court hearing in Seattle on Wednesday morning. Family members, work colleagues and friends of Ms Ward will gather in solidarity with community and labour allies of hers outside the Northwest Detention Centre in Tacoma, Washington State, before the hearing, which is scheduled for 8.30am local time.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Keith Duggan

It was his first trip to Washington as Canada’s new prime minister and for Mark Carney, the task could not have been more straightforward: to go to the White House to explain to the United States president why his country is not for sale. There were good signs, such as the Maple Leaf flag fluttering proudly above Blair House, where the Canadian entourage waited to be summoned.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Keith Duggan

At around 11.30am US time on Tuesday morning, Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, will make the short motorcade drive from Blair House to where US president Donald Trump will be waiting at the doorway of the West Wing. Their meeting, from the opening handshake on, will stress-test the current state of what the visitor called “the greatest friendship between two countries the world has ever seen”. It will make for a riveting encounter.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Keith Duggan

There is no turning back now. The United States has passed the symbolic 100-days-in-office touchstone of Donald Trump‘s second term. As of this weekend, the countdown clocks will show that there are just 1,357 days of Trump’s presidency remaining. Neither Trump’s fervent Maga base nor the May Day crowds who gathered across the country to protest against the administration can reasonably guess as to the state of their nation when the day-counter hits zero, and the 48th presidentinaugurated.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Keith Duggan

For green-card holders and the estimated 10,000 undocumented Irish who have made lives in the United States, the harrowing experience of Cliona Ward must have sent a cold chill as summer approaches. The Cork woman, who has lived in the US since the age of 12, was arrested by immigration officials after returning home to California following a routine visit to Ireland.