Immigration, Citizenship, and Culture Blog

Let’s welcome a new wave of young Irish to Montreal!

By Stephen Fogarty | March 17th, 2013

By Stephen Fogarty

A new wave of talented young citizens of Ireland aged 18 to 35 will be coming to Canada starting in April and May under the latest incarnation of the Working Holiday Program (WHP) through the International Experience Canada initiative between Canada and Éire, the Republic of Ireland.

The quota of places available to Irish nationals for Canada jumped by 1,000 up to 6,350 for 2013.  Even with this increase, demand was extremely high.  The WHP opened on-line at 3:30 P.M. Dublin time on January 29th, and less than 36 hours later, the quota was met.   On February 1st, Canadian officials announced that they would permit an over-subscription to allow for possible cancellations and refusals among the pool of applicants, but the demand continued to be so high that no new applications were permitted starting February 4th.  This situation contrasts sharply with the 2012 program which took until May 28th to fill the then 5,350 places. Read More »

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Stephen Fogarty appointed as
Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy of Ireland in Canada

By Christine Clarke | March 8th, 2013

Fogarty Law Firm is pleased to announce that the Irish Ambassador, His Excellency Dr Ray Bassett, has appointed Stephen J. Fogarty, member of the Bar of Quebec and of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), to the post of Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy of Ireland in Canada.  The appointment took place in Ottawa on 6th March 2013 at the offices of the Embassy.

Irish Ambassador to Canada Dr Ray Bassett signs appointment documents for Stephen Fogarty as Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy

Irish Ambassador to Canada Dr Ray Bassett signs appointment documents for Stephen Fogarty as Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy

Mr Fogarty will be providing advice to the Ambassador on a wide range of legal issues. Read More »

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Rachmaninov’s 3rd rocks Montreal’s Maison symphonique

By Stephen Fogarty | March 7th, 2013

Rachmaninov’s 3rd rocks Montreal’s Maison symphoniqueBy Stephen Fogarty

When the soloist was sitting down on Saturday night, I said to my concert companion, “He looks strong enough to break the piano!”  The soloist in question was Denis Matsuev and I would not be surprised to learn that he was also a judoka on the Russian Olympic Team.

So considering pure physicality, we knew we were in strong hands to perform what many claim to be the most demanding of all piano concertos, Rachmaninov’s 3rd.  This piece includes many forceful passages with the piano and orchestra playing simultaneously, as well as a number of dialogues between piano and orchestra sections, especially the brass.  You simply won’t hear the piano most of the time unless it is played vigorously. Also much of the piano’s work is set at a very fast pace.  The whole thing has the serious potential of flying apart in all directions. Read More »

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2013 brings important changes to Canadian Working Holiday Program for Irish citizens

By Stephen Fogarty | December 13th, 2012

By Stephen Fogarty

Montreal, December 13, 2012

2013 brings important changes to Canadian Working Holiday Program for Irish citizens

On-line applications are expected to open in January for the 2013 International Experience Canada / Working Holiday Program for Irish citizens aged 18 to 35 wishing to visit and work in Canada.  The launch date was to have been January 15th.  That has now been delayed due to administrative reasons since the entire application process is slated to be handled by officials inside Canada for the first time.  As in the past, successful applicants will receive their acceptance by email authorizing them to request their Open Work Permit upon arrival in Canada.

Read More »

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Maxim Vengerov gives a fascinating Violin Master Class in Montreal

By Stephen Fogarty | November 7th, 2012
Maxim Vengerov thanks audience following Master Class in Montreal. 26.10.2012.

Photo ©2012 Stephen Fogarty

About 120 violin students and classical music fans of all ages were privileged to attend a fascinating Master Class given by the Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov in Montréal on Friday, October 26.  Mr. Vengerov was in town performing in and conducting two concerts by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM).  The program notes mentioned that Mr. Vengerov now divides his time equally among playing the violin, conducting, and teaching.  His skills in the first two are universally acclaimed, and it was apparent only a few minutes into the Master Class that his skills as a teacher are on an equally high level.

The Master Class featured four Montréal area up-and-coming, young violinists each of whom would begin playing a work for some five to eight minutes.  Mr. Vengerov would then give a general overview of their efforts, followed by a review of particular passages to work on technique.  He often illustrated the points by playing on his own ex-Kreutzer 1728 Stradivari, and toward the end even played a duet with one of the students, Baptiste Rodrigues. Read More »

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