Bound by country and religion

Damian Collins MP | Issue 3 | Politics

From the Archive

Biden-Kennedy

As the torch passes to the second Irish Catholic president, how do Joe Biden and JFK compare, asks Damian Collins

Nearly six years ago, I attended the first ever meeting of the Global Irish parliamentary diaspora, a gathering in Dublin of elected officials from national assemblies all around the world, each with Irish ancestry in common, and for most of us sharing the Catholic faith. My father was born in Dublin and as a child moved to England with his family in the 1950s. During this gathering, I was asked by Mark Daly, a member of the Irish Senate, whether I was related to the former revolutionary leader Michael Collins. I gave my usual answer that I was not aware of any direct connection. ‘Let me stop you right there,’ Mark replied with a laugh. ‘The correct answer is to say that you are distant cousins.’

Given that around one in ten citizens of the USA identify as Irish Americans, it’s not surprising that many Presidential candidates find that long lost link to Ireland. Even Barack Obama discovered a great-great-great-grandfather from Moneygall in County Offaly and quipped in a 2011 visit to Ireland that he’d ‘come home to find the apostrophe we lost somewhere along the way.’ However, for the Irish American Catholic Joe Biden, his ties to the old country are bound tighter. While he was not with us for that gathering in Dublin, he more than qualified through the direct links of his Irish American maternal grandparents, Ambrose Finnegan and Geraldine Blewitt. In 1850 Patrick Blewitt …

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.



If Burnham wants growth, he must start by backing AI and Tech founders and risk-takers, says Liam Houghton

Mace | July 23, 2026

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has an opportunity to make Britain the best place to start and scale a business, argues CEO Liam Houghton.

The continuing political Whydunnit of the murder of Ann Widdecombe

Mace Magazine | July 23, 2026

The strangely guilty way that the media, and some politicians have reacted to Widdecombe’s shocking death shows the double standards that can operate when a politician of the

The King of the North Takes Downing Street: Burnham’s Great Purge

Mace Magazine | July 21, 2026

The ruthlessness of Andy Burnham’s purge has taken the country back to Macmillan's Night of the Long Knives. Media reaction has been predictably partisan, with the choice of

Reform’s international policy: Farage looking to balance ideals with new foreign policy advisor

Jonathan Singh | July 16, 2026

To date, Reform is yet to appoint a foreign affairs spokesperson. Jonathan Singh looks at Reform's new approach to international affairs with the appointment of Dr Alan Mendoza

Ann Widdecombe Devon hamlet murder mystery continues as tributes make her a political saint

William Cash | July 16, 2026

The death of Ann Widdecombe raises serious questions about the security of high-profile politicians. The shocking episode seems out of Midsomer Murders with the former Tory minister being turned into

Kemi is right to lift the white, Oxbridge fatwa and purge the Conservative party of non-Tories

William Cash | July 10, 2026

Overhauling the Tory candidates list is a shrewd political move which will allow her to put her own stamp on the party, and more importantly, shape its future,

Communication: The real engine of Burnhamism  

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | July 9, 2026

Before he has even begun, Burnham has incisively communicated his plan for the country. As MPs are scrambling for positions in cabinet, his comms team are assembling. 

Farage’s bombshell resignation: Strategy or hubris? 

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | July 7, 2026

Farage says ‘the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions’, but is this his most reckless move yet?  

UK’s £4.7 billion Defence black hole: Dan Jarvis is inheriting a defence settlement Britain can no longer afford

Mace Magazine | July 1, 2026

Britain cannot afford to fall behind its NATO allies on defence spending, writes Jasset Harlech.

Flint lobbyist James Purnell set to become Burnham’s chief of staff, causing unease in some Labour ranks

Mace Magazine | June 26, 2026

Flint Global CEO James Purnell's expected appointment as Andy Burnham's chief of staff is just the latest Westminster merry-go-round job move from Public Affairs back into Downing Street.