MAYOR GIULIANI PROCLAIMS IRISH HERITAGE MONTH; PHIL COULTER ENTERTAINS AT CITY HALL CEREMONY
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today proclaimed March as Irish Heritage Month in a ceremony in the Public Hearing Chamber at City Hall. In the proclamation, which the Mayor presented to St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal John L. Lahey, the Mayor paid tribute to the significant contributions that Irish immigrants had made to the development of New York City and took note of the l50th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine of the mid-1800s.
Several hundred guests also heard a special musical program presented by composer and singer Phil Coulter, one of Ireland's most popular entertainers. He was accompanied by oboist David Agnew of the RTE Radio Symphony in Dublin. Mr. Agnew was filling in for flutist James Galway, who missed the program because of a plane delay in Europe.
"The relationship between this great City and the Irish and Irish-American community is a very special one which we celebrate during the month of March every year, culminating with the St. Patrick's Day Parade up Fifth Avenue," Mayor Giuliani said. "This year we also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Irish Famine in which l.5 million Irish men, women and children died of starvation and millions of others emigrated to foreign lands."
"New York City's greatness is tied directly to the millions of immigrants who have come here to build a better life for themselves and their families," the Mayor said. "In doing so they have helped build a great city where we celebrate diversity as the common thread that binds us together. That immigration continues today and it enables us to renew and reinvigorate our City. We will continue to fight the anti-immigrant provisions recently enacted in Washington and we will continue to get the message out that immigration is good for America."
Also speaking at the ceremony were Marcia Rock, a filmmaker and NYU professor whose documentary on the women of Northern Ireland was seen on PBS last week, newly appointed Irish Consul General Barrie Robinson, broadcaster and immigration activist Adrian Flannelly and Grand Marshal Lahey, who is President of Quinnipiac College.
In his remarks, Dr. Lahey thanked the Mayor for highlighting the special contributions of the Irish and Irish-American communities and for designating March as Irish Heritage Month.
The Mayor also welcomed the visiting Mayor of Limerick, Kieran O'Hanlon, the writer Dennis Smith, Professor Robert Scally, the President of Glucksman Ireland House at NYU, and John Dunleavy and Jim Barker of the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee.
The Mayor has an active Irish Heritage Month schedule, including receptions he is hosting at Gracie Mansion on St. Patrick's Day morning and on the evening of Monday, March 24. The Mayor has already marched in St. Patrick's Day parades in Far Rockaway and Staten Island and will march in the Brooklyn Irish-American Day Parade on Sunday, March l6 and in the St. Patrick's Day Parade up Fifth Avenue on Monday, March 17. He has met with Limerick Mayor Kieran O'Hanlon and is also scheduled to meet with Bertie Ahearn, the leader of Ireland's Fianna Fail party. In addition, the Mayor received the "Pro Deo et Patria" award on March 7 at the annual dinner of the New York City Board of Education Emerald Society.
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