Tánaiste Simon Harris: Good morning, everybody. Good morning, there we go. Well, happy St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a great honor to be here, to be here in New York, to be here in Gracie Mansion as the deputy prime minister, the Tánaiste of Ireland, to wish you all a very happy St. Patrick’s Day. Thank you so much for joining us as we celebrate our national day.
I want to thank Mayor Adams for once again opening up his official residence to the Irish and, indeed, to the Friends of Ireland, because today we have people who are Irish, people who are Irish-American, and people who wish to be Irish. And you’re all very welcome to our Irish family as well.
This is a city, an incredible city, one of the greatest cities on earth, and it is a city in which Irish people have and continue to play such a major, major role. This is a diverse city, it is a proud city, and it’s a city with so many diaspora groups from all around the world. I want to thank you for taking time this St. Patrick’s Day morning, a tradition that millions in this city, both those with Irish heritage and those with close affinity to Ireland, have come to enjoy.
As the deputy prime minister, the Tánaiste, I’m so proud that you here in New York City recognize the wonderful contribution that successive generations of immigrants from Ireland and from every other country in the world have made to this great city.
New York, perhaps more than most cities in the world, has been the chosen home of the Irish going back generations. And I know that both the ancestors of those first immigrants and all the way through to the Irish who have just arrived are doing their part to positively contribute to this city.
So mayor, people of New York, it’s my honor to bring warm greetings from the government of Ireland and the people of Ireland to everyone gathered at this wonderful home today and to the people of New York. I’m truly looking forward to marching up Fifth Avenue in just a few hours in what is one of the oldest and most iconic parades in the world.
A wonderful opportunity for the people of this great city to come together and celebrate what it is to be Irish, Irish-American, and what it is to be a friend of Ireland. We’re so proud of our welcome, our céad míle fáilte, that you’ve given us here today. I’m so proud to be joined by many mayors and many councilors from local government across Ireland. I welcome each of them and I want to say a word of thanks to everyone in this room and especially to all the leaders of community organizations who’ve been committed to sharing our common Irish heritage, making it inclusive and open to all.
This is a community and a city that continues to protect and uplift one another. As we say at home, ar scáth a cheile a mhaireann na daoine, we live in each other’s shelter and we must never forget where we come from. So Mr. Mayor, thank you for hosting us this morning. [Speaks in Irish.]
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much. It is such a pleasure to be here and I keep trying to tell the announcer over and over again, it is O’Adams, O’Adams. You know, happy St. Patrick’s Day. When you think of March 17, 1862, when the first parade took place here in New York, it has grown into the largest parade in our country.
This is really the Emerald Isle of America right here in New York City. Two million people will be watching, 150,000 participants here, really showing the pride and energy of the Irish people here in New York City. And when you think about it during this day, I’ve learned when I was in Ireland that this is just liquid sunshine.
We continue to march and enjoy the beauty of the seven shades of green right here in New York City. This is important for us because the Irish community is the bedrock of New York City. Look at our bridges, our subways, look at all of the major edifices and towers that you see. The Empire State Building, which is a symbol of our resiliency after the Great Depression.
Little over one year, that entire building was built and it still stands there to let us know what the contributions are and will continue to be from this community. You are part of our Department of Sanitation, the Police Department, the Fire Department, the teachers, all those things that make us great in the first place is right here in this room as a symbol of who we are and what we are. I’m so proud to march in this parade each year.
I look forward to being here at Gracie Mansion. You grace us with your presence and I cannot tell you enough while we watch strife all over the globe. It is going to be the spirit of the Irish people, the various immigrant groups that came here and showed that this is the greatest city on the globe in the greatest country on the globe because of our diversity. It’s the mixture of all of our different ethnic groups and culture that give us the quality that we look for and we should never take that away. I love this country and I love the people who are part of it.
As a member of the New York City Police Department for 22 years, when you put on a bulletproof vest and protect the children and families of the city, you have a different love affair with them that can never go away no matter what happens and I believe, truly, when we sing our song and we state the rockets red glare of the bombs burst in the air gave proof through the night that our flag is still there, and it will always be still here because of the people that are part of this great city in this great country and that is emblematic to all that we see today. Congratulations. Thank you for your contribution. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
March 17, 2025 NY City Hall , Mamhattan New York
Souirces: NYC.gov , Midtown Tribune
Big New York news BigNY.com
Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM7gQj5XyFM