Ireland Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Mayor Walsh
When Mayor Marty Walsh arrives in Ireland Friday, there’s potential he’ll be treated like a president — or even a pope. The country is that excited.
“While the President of the United States coming to Ireland is a very big thing, this is more personal,’’ Mayor Donal Lyons of Galway told The Boston Globe. “Here’s a laddie coming back to his roots.’’
Walsh was born in America, but his parents were born in Ireland and the mayor spent his summers there as a child.
In preparation for his 10-day trip, folks in his family’s village of Rosmuc are reportedly painting and mowing up a storm.
“They’re preparing as if it was the pope coming,’’ Maureen Senuta, an Irish immigrant who lives in Dorchester, told the Globe. “It’s a big thing. They’re very proud.’’
Walsh has been to Ireland nearly 30 times, but never as the mayor of Boston. His last visit was four years ago.
The September trip will include a mix of personal and professional engagements — one of which involves getting U2 to play at Fenway Park.
“I’m going to try to make that happen,’’ Walsh told The Boston Herald.
Maybe his appearance on an Irish late-night show (think Jimmy Fallon) will help him make his plea to Bono and the Edge. Boston U2 fans will have to wait to see if the mayor comes home humming, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.’’
Walsh will also visit places of his youth and his grandparents’ graves.
A closer look at Mayor Walsh‘s geneologist report.
Other items on Walsh’s agenda: meeting with Irish business leaders and politicians and promoting Boston tourism; stopping at museums and meeting the victims of the 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre; appearing at a Galway reception in his honor; making appearances in Donegal, Dublin, and Belfast (Boston’s sister city, per an agreement signed by Walsh).
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