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How will Brexit affect U.S.-Irish relations? Are there any new insights into business ties between the States and Ireland? What issues are affecting the local Irish and Irish-American community?

These concerns and more are up for discussion Wednesday, February 17, in a virtual town hall meeting sponsored by the Irish Diaspora Center.

Ireland Consul General Ciarán Madden and U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5) will be on hand to answer questions in a discussion moderated by Professor Joseph Lennon of Villanova.

The town hall is an outgrowth of a conversation with Rep. Scanlon at last year’s open house for the Irish Diaspora Center in Havertown, according to center executive director Emily Norton Ashinhurst.

“We had our grand opening at the new center on March 1, and she came and joined us,” says Ashinhurst. “We talked about the potential for her getting a town hall going, to talk to the Irish community. She is part of the Friends of Ireland Caucus.”

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When it comes to anxiety, depression, addiction, self-harm—and even thoughts of suicide, the act of suicide or the emotional aftermath afflicting survivors—no one is immune. Any of those issues can affect anybody at any given time.

During the pandemic, this has been particularly true. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports “considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19.”

Research also reports higher rates of mental health concerns among Irish and Irish-Americans compared to other ethnic groups, says Emily Norton Ashinhurst, executive director of the Irish Diaspora Center in Havertown, Delaware County.

“I think that’s something that we all need to face,” Ashinhurst says, “and we need to recognize that getting help is not a failure. It’s actually setting yourself up for success.”

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