http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/nyreg ... 4iris.html

May 14, 2006
Sunnyside/Woodside
A Flag Not Everyone Is Rallying Around
By SAKI KNAFO
At Paddy Duggans Pub, a snug drinking spot on Greenpoint Avenue in Sunnyside, Queens, a clutch of middle-aged men sat at a corner of the bar on a recent evening nursing bottles of American beer and pints of Guinness. Between sips, an Irish carpenter named John Murphy swept his hand toward a row of empty stools.

"In the last three years," he said in a heavy brogue, "this place is dead for the Irish."

Mr. Murphy was referring not only to the bar but also to the Celtic enclave of Sunnyside. Like many Irish immigrants, he has recently seen droves of friends leave the United States, something that he attributes not only to a now-prosperous Ireland but also to the hardships facing illegal immigrants in this country. But when he was asked about the large immigration rallies in Queens this month, his angular face took on a dour expression. "They're turning people against us," he said bitterly.

Nearly two weeks ago, tens of thousands of immigrants in New York, along with those nationwide, demonstrated against proposed legislation that aims to toughen measures against illegal immigration. In a gesture of solidarity, many immigrant shopkeepers closed their businesses for the day. But within the Irish community, these tactics met with overwhelming disapproval.

"We don't know how many times you have to put people out in the streets to make a point," said Niall O'Dowd, chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and publisher of The Irish Voice. "The backlash is a very real notion."

The marches in New York were dominated by Latinos, as are many commercial stretches in the traditional Irish strongholds of Sunnyside and neighboring Woodside, which have seen an influx of immigrants from Central and South America in the last two decades. The local demographics reflect a global story: a booming Irish job market is drawing Irish immigrants back home, while some Latin-American economies are faltering.

On Roosevelt Avenue, in the shadows of the elevated platform for the No. 7 train, Colombian cafeterias and Argentine bakeries sit next door to Irish pubs and grocery stores. Yet the proximity of these businesses only accentuates the lack of solidarity between the different groups of immigrants who run them and frequent them. On May 1, for example, the day of the protests, Paddy Duggans was serving the usual Guinness, while the Mexican restaurant beside it had its doors bolted shut.