Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

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Matt Morrison would not survive in an American immigration holding cell – he boarded a one-way flight to Dublin leaving behind a life he had built in the USA

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The numbers of people leaving the USA to live in Ireland (26 county bit) are increasing. All the numbers are here. 


Ireland and USA – More people emigrating from the USA to Ireland than the other way around – Central Statistics Office Numbers

I am guessing, but I think this may be the first time since records began that more people emigrated from the USA to Ireland than the other way around. It would be interesting to view population flows between the US and the 6 county bit of Ireland. Readers may wish to discuss changing times.

Far-right crazies such as Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are destroying the lives of of ordinary people everywhere.
Matthew Morrison’s personal story offers context.

John Meehan September 2 2025


‘The walls were closing in,’ says ex-IRA man who self-deported over ICE fears

Catherine Fegan, Belfast Telegraph, September 1st, 2025


Matthew ‘Matt’ Morrison said he wouldn’t survive in an American immigration holding cell.

“I wouldn’t have my medication,” the 69-year-old told the Irish Independent this week.

“They would take my brace off my legs. They would take my stick. The fact is 12 or 13 people have died this year alone [in US immigration detention centres]. So, you understand the type of fear I had.”

Morrison, a former member of the IRA, had been living in the US for almost 40 years when he decided to “self-deport” back to Ireland over fears that he might be picked up by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Matthew Morrison, with his wife Sandra Riley Swift, in 2025. Courtesy of Morrison Family

Originally from Derry, Morrison moved to St Louis, Missouri, in 1985 after spending 10 years in prison.

In 1976, he was imprisoned over attempted murder in an IRA raid on a British army barracks.

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