Cuirim fáilte roimh an cathaoirleach of the Congressional Friends of Ireland and of the Ways and Means Committee in the US House of Representatives from the great state of Massachusetts via Ballyferriter, Congressman Richard Neal. I welcome the United States ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Claire Cronin. I also welcome the congressional delegation, Congressman Kevin Brady from Texas, the co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Ireland, Congressman Mike Kelly from Pennsylvania, Congressman Dan Kildee from Michigan, Congressman David Joyce from Ohio, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon from Pennsylvania, Congressman Vern Buchanan from Florida, Congressman Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania and Congressman Ron Kind from Wisconsin.
On this, the 100th anniversary of Seanad Éireann, I welcome Congressman Neal, the first ever Member of the United States Congress to address this House in our 100-year history. In the words of one of our Senators, from that first great Senate, W.B. Yeats, "There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met yet." Congressman Neal you are no stranger to Ireland and I know you will leave our shores with many more friends.
The support for Ireland from the United States of America is well known. The United States was there for Ireland 100 years ago during our struggle for independence. The only country referred to by name other than Ireland in the 1916 Proclamation is the United States, where it says, "supported by her exiled children in America". The United States of America was there for Ireland just under a quarter of a century ago during the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement. The United States is still there for us now as we deal with the challenges of Brexit and the threat it poses to the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process. Congressman Richie Neal is the embodiment of that support for Ireland in the United States.
As the United States has been there for Ireland in our hour of need, Ireland was there for America in its hour of need. George Washington, the leader of the American Revolution, acknowledged that in his Continental Army, over a quarter of his soldiers had Irish heritage. He said of them, "Ireland, thou friend of my country in my most friendless days." When America finally prevailed in that most bloody struggle for independence, Lord Mountjoy admitted to the British Parliament that it had lost America through the Irish. In 2026, on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence of which nine signatories had Irish heritage, we look forward to celebrating with all Americans that document which not only inspired the world but changed the world and is still changing the world.
Congressman Richie Neal was first elected to the city council in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1978 and became mayor of Springfield in 1984. As we all know from the words of another great Irish American politician, all politics is local. Congressman Neal has the honour of hailing from County Kerry. Like many in Springfield, his connections are in west Kerry, which his grandmother left to make a new life in America. Congressman Neal was elected to the House of Representatives in 1989 and I am glad to say that the people of Massachusetts have chosen wisely to keep electing him to Congress.
Congressman Neal and many others were involved in the search for peace long before the Good Friday Agreement. He was involved in the search for peace when it was unimaginable. Congressman Neal's involvement and contribution have not only been extraordinary, they have been vital. In his position as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, the committee which will decide any future trade agreement between the United States of America and the United Kingdom, Congressman Neal has been consistent in telling the UK Government that there will be no trade agreement between the United States and the UK if anything the British do undermines the Good Friday Agreement or the peace process on this island.
On a personal level, Congressman Neal and I have worked on a number of projects together, some small and some quite large, including when in 2016, Congressman Neal installed a garden of remembrance in his home city of Springfield. The garden of remembrance initiative was a concept supported by the all-party consultation group on the decade of commemorations. Those gardens honour the service and sacrifice of the men and women who fought for the ideals of the 1916 Proclamation. The garden of remembrance in Springfield was the first installed outside Ireland and is one of 365 gardens installed that year.
Congressman Neal was also involved in another project to get a replica of the 1916 Proclamation installed inside the Washington Monument. As an indication of how big an achievement that was, only 16 countries have plaques inside the Washington Monument and the last time permission was given to install a plaque inside the Washington Monument was when Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959. All other requests made since have been refused. Yesterday in the GPO, the Congressman unveiled a plaque, a replica of the one inside the Washington Monument. Having worked with Congressman Neal and the Congressional Friends of Ireland, I am proud to say that now among the immortal words written in stone in monuments throughout Washington DC are the words, "Irishmen and Irishwomen".
The project I am most proud of was working with Congressman Neal on the establishment of the American Irish State Legislators Caucus. In the Congressman's own words, this is an initiative in "building the bench", which is a baseball term, meaning ensuring having more players than will ever be needed. He and we want to exchange Irish American influence at all levels of government.
Just before St. Patrick's Day last year, Congressman Neal was the guest of honour at the 40th anniversary celebration of the American-Irish Legislators Society of New York, one of four such caucuses throughout the United States at the time. We worked together on building the American Irish State Legislators Caucus across the United States. There is now leadership in all 50 states. The official launch took place last October in the Round Room of the Mansion House, where Irish democracy took its first steps. On that occasion there were state senate presidents and majority leaders from 27 US states to launch that caucus. Like the Congressional Friends of Ireland in Washington, the American Irish State Legislators Caucus is a bipartisan organisation, which is open to everybody: those who have Irish heritage and those who are supporters of Ireland. The American Irish State Legislators Caucus will ensure as legislators go from state legislators to Members of Congress and to members of the Congressional Friends of Ireland, that they are aware of the issues around the peace process, the issues in Ireland, and the issues affecting the Good Friday Agreement.
Last year we saw the 40th anniversary of the Congressional Friends of Ireland. I can think of no one better than Congressman Richie Neal to lead that vital organisation at this moment in history. Congressman Neal is carrying on a tradition of the work of great Irish Americans who have gone before him; those who founded the Congressional Friends of Ireland. It is appropriate that we remember them at this time: Senator Edward Kennedy, Governor Hugh Carey, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Speaker Tip O'Neill. I am honoured to ask my good friend, and a great friend of Ireland, Congressman Richie Neal to address Seanad Éireann.