A Summer Well Spent

Hope you had a great summer and enjoyed the fabulous weather all over the country. The weather was also wonderful in Ireland when I was visiting my family of six brothers and two sisters in Cork City in August.

At the end of June, I attended the U2 concert at Madison Square garden in New York City and just loved it. I, along with everyone else, had the time of my life and was so excited by their performance - I must have sang almost every song along with them! U2 are the best rock band I have seen since the Rolling Stones in their early years. Their music brought back many memories from the 70's when I played in a rock band. I am very proud to make U2 the lead feature of this issue and to show how well they represent Ireland all over the world, especially in the United States. Also in this issue are other interesting features, entertainment articles, interviews, and reviews, as well as exciting photographs and current news.

I also want to take the opportunity to gratefully acknowledge Irish Connections readers for their suggestions and correspondence. I hope you can see the wonderful improvements we are making with each issue, especially now that we have added a new editorial director and creative director to our team.

As I promised from the beginning, I will continue to make Irish Connections one of the best magazines in the world, a magazine that you, the reader, can be proud of and want to recomment to your friends!

Once again, I thank you for the support you have given us, it's most welcomed.

Paddy McCarthy - Publisher

As we go to press, our thoughts and prayers go out to the many victims and their families of the World Trade Center tragedy. We commend the brave men and women of the Fire Department, Police Department, all other rescue workers, medical personnel and volunteers that have given so much to help in the rescue effort. --- Irish Connections Magazine.