2008 President's Letters

December 5, 2008
A Letter from Seamus Boyle to
Congressman Richard Neal

The Honorable Richard Neal
300 State St Suite 200
Springfield MA 01105

Dear Congressman Neal;

Warm greetings from your many friends in the Ancient Order of Hibernians. We are all very grateful for your many years of service to the Irish people both here and in Ireland.

As you are no doubt aware Congressman, March has been proclaimed as Irish American Heritage Month by presidents of both parties since 1991and by numerous resolutions of the House and Senate. Unfortunately, many of our public and private institutions do not recognize Irish American Heritage Month, though these same institutions go to extensive efforts to recognize other heritage months throughout the year. In our estimation this is a grave injustice to the many contributions that have been made by Irish Americans to this great Nation of ours.

The issue with presidential proclamations, though a great honor, is that they are transitory and lack continuity; they are only proclaimed and have effect for a specific year. Despite the fact that there has been a presidential proclamation for each of the past 18 years, it appears that some of our public institutions appear to be taken by surprise each time March is proclaimed Irish American Heritage Month, and therefore do nothing to honor the role that Irish Americans have played in forming our country. We feel that what is needed is to permanently establish Irish American Heritage Month in law, so there can be neither confusion nor justification for the continued neglect in recognizing the role that those of Irish American heritage played in the history of this country.

In order to achieve proper recognition on a more permanent basis we ask you and your colleagues in the Friends of Ireland Committee to offer a Bill in the New Congress to permanently establish by law, that March of each year be designated as Irish American Heritage Month.

Once the bill is established, we will assist you, through our nationwide network of membership, appealing to individual members of Congress in their respective areas to co-sponsor and support this Bill.

On behalf of our membership we wish to thank you in advance for your time and effort in this necessary legislation.

Sincerely,
Seamus Boyle
National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America