George Irish

{{Short description|Montserratian academic (c. 1942 – 2019)}}

{{sources|date=February 2019}}

James Alfred George Patrick Irish, generally known as George Irish or J. A. George Irish ({{c.}} 1942 – February 12, 2019),{{Cite web|url=https://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2019/2/2019-02-22-nk-george-irish-passes-cl.html|title=Caribbean academic Dr. George Irish passes|website=Caribbean Life|first= Nelson A.|last= King|date=21 February 2019 |access-date=Feb 26, 2019}} was a Montserratian academic, musician, composer of the national song, community leader and social engineer.Skinner, Jonathan (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=T3fOE2QT9U0C&dq=%22George+Irish%22+%22west+indies%22&pg=PA164 Before the Volcano: Reverberations of Identity on Montserrat], Arawak Publications ({{ISBN|978-9768189219}}).

Irish was a graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the first recipient of that institution's Ph.D. degree in Spanish. He taught at UWI, where he headed the Department of Spanish, in the Dominican Republic at the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), and in the United States at the City University of New York (CUNY) where he was Professor of Caribbean and Latin American Studies.

Irish also headed the Caribbean Research CenterMcAllister, Jared (16 June 1996). [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/ny_local/1996/06/16/1996-06-16_groups_push_to_aid_needy_in_.html GROUPS PUSH TO AID NEEDY IN MONTSERRAT], Daily News (New York), Retrieved December 7, 2010 ("George Irish, Executive Director of the Caribbean Research Center and pastor of Spiritual Awakening Ministries")McKenna, Sheila (24 December 1994). [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104151817/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/101903164.html?dids=101903164:101903164&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+20,+1994&author=Sheila+McKenna&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=NEW+YORK+NEWSDAY+BROOKLYN+PROFILE+George+Irish&pqatl=google NEW YORK NEWSDAY BROOKLYN PROFILE George Irish], New York Newsday, Retrieved December 7, 2010 and the Office of International Programs at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York (part of CUNY).[http://www.mec.cuny.edu/continuing_ed/ext_prgms/centers/contacts.asp The Centers at MEC Caribbean Research Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614222024/http://www.mec.cuny.edu/continuing_ed/ext_prgms/centers/contacts.asp |date=2010-06-14 }}, Retrieved December 7, 2010 (listing Irish as executive director) He was Editor-in-Chief and founder of the scholarly journal of Caribbean studies, Wadabagei,[http://www1.cuny.edu/events/cunymatters/2001_summer/wadabagei.html Wadabagei: City University Window On the Caribbean and Its Diaspora], CUNY Matters (Summer 2001), retrieved December 7, 2010 and President of the Caribbean Diaspora Press Inc. and Caribbean American Research Foundation Inc. in New York.

He was co-founder and Chancellor of the Universidad Popular de Desarrollo Sostenible de Las Americas (UNIPOP) and founding Board member of the International Center for Sustainable Development (CIDES) in Panama.

He authored/edited thirty two (32) books including:

• Visions of Liberation in the Caribbean, 1992 ({{ISBN|978-9768039064}})
• Life in a Colonial Crucible, 1991
• Growth of a Revolutionary Consciousness, 1990
• Evolution of a Global and Diasporic Vision
• Discourses from Alliouagana and the Diaspora