can anyone help my Irish friend?

[CountAllVotes]

:hi:

I promised my male friend (age is 65 years) that I would try to help him. He is an American citizen and in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship as his father was born in Ireland.

He wants to move to Ireland permanently after he obtains Irish citizenship and has an Irish passport. Apparently the Irish Embassy is assisting him.

He is in pretty rough shape physically as he was drafted and served in the Vietnam war. I believe he is suffering the effects of Agent Orange poisoning personally but he doens't want to face this grim reality. :(

The last time I saw him both of his hands were of no use to him so he cannot type and can barely hold the telephone for longer than a few minutes when talking to him. He is disabled no doubt and the problem is rapidly getting worse it sounds like.

He was thinking (he was told this by a man from Ireland that used to work on his house that he no longer owns) that he can get health care in Ireland once he is a citizen. Is this true?

Does anyone know for certain?

Can anyone help my friend? I told him I'd give it my best shot and I'm hoping someone here on the DU might know (there is no better place for info. around than the Democratic Underground!). :D

For health insurance he has Medicare and also the V.A. available to him now. I don't believe he is using many drugs as they cannot help his condition and he tends to avoid doctors.

He is hoping to find a place to live in Ireland where he could get meals served being he cannot use his hands. I suspect it won't be long before his feet will be pretty useless too it sounds like. He has some money as he recently sold his house and he is using that money to live on and he gets a pension and social security (both of these benefits would be transferable to Ireland).

Any thoughts or ideas on places for him to contact would be most appreciated, especially places where he might be able to live (like a boarding house or apartment complex that serves meals). He is very interested in moving to county Donegal.

Thank you for you help and I will mail him copies of any advice. He is desperate and I truly fear for my friend. He just called me yesterday and I had not seen nor heard from his for close to two years.

CountAllVotes

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

1. I'll give one of my friends a call about this.

She was a public health nurse when she lived in Ireland and she might be able to give me a few leads for assisted housing, etc. I'll probably talk to her tomorrow.

Once he gets his Irish citizenship, he'll be entitled to health benefits.

Once I talk with my friend, I'll pm you with any details..

[CountAllVotes]

2. thank you!

I appreciate it so much and I'm sure my friend will too. He is in a state of panic and is now living in a hotel where they have meals served but it is costing him a lot of money and he really wants to get out of the country for good.

thank you! thank you!

[CountAllVotes]

3. well!

I went through all of this for my "Irish" friend. He was hoping for other to help him so I did. Seems his grandfather was not born in Ireland and he did not die when he was said to have died. Seems he left his wife w/kids and went elsewhere.

Because of this, he is not entitled to citizenship in Ireland. Oh well - so much for that idea I told my friend.

I guess he's going to move somewhere else, but where I don't know.

A lesson this was for not only him but others out there. Check the census first is the lesson (I found his grandfather in the 1930 census).