2023 -- H 6158

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CELEBRATING ST. PATRICK’S DAY AND THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOOD

FRIDAY AGREEMENT

     Introduced By: Representatives Kennedy, Craven, McNamara, Casey, Edwards,
Shekarchi, Blazejewski, McEntee, O'Brien, and Chippendale

     Date Introduced: March 16, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, On March 17th, during the annual celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick,

the Patron Saint of Ireland, Irish Americans join with people of all ethnic origins who, for one

day, are considered honorary citizens of Ireland as they celebrate Saint Patrick and a love of all

things Irish; and

     WHEREAS, Wielding the devotion of his faith like a great sword of righteousness, and

using the strength of his intellect and the power of his passions, Saint Patrick assimilated the

ancient pagan Irish myths into a Christian message, and in so doing, converted all of Ireland to

Christianity during his lifetime; and

      WHEREAS, Irish immigrants to Rhode Island helped to form the cultural foundation of

our State, and Rhode Islanders of Irish lineage today proudly sing of their roots in Ballinamore

and Ballinasloe, in Ennistymon and Enniscorthy, in Cahirciveen and Castlebarr, and in

Skibbereen and Skerries; and

     WHEREAS, The songs of Ireland are the tragic songs of love and the joyous songs of

battle: the nostalgic reveries of the sorrows and the glories that are the Emerald Isle; and the

lamentations of life's myriad travails and the odes to joy and the life eternal; and

     WHEREAS, The year 2023 marks the 25th Anniversary of The Good Friday Agreement

that largely ended the "Troubles,” three decades of violence that had racked Northern Ireland

since the late 1960s. It was signed on April 10, 1998, which fell that year on Good Friday in the

Christian Easter holiday; and

     WHEREAS, There are people alive in the Republic of Ireland today because of the

continuous bipartisan encouragement of the major political parties in the United States. The Good

Friday Agreement has had the support for 25 years of State Legislators from the fifty states,

successive United States Presidents, the United States Senate, United States House of

Representatives, and elected officials working in partnership with the Government of Ireland and

the Government of the United Kingdom; and

     WHEREAS, We honor the Good Friday Agreement also known as the Belfast Agreement

in 2023, the 25th anniversary of its ratification, as the framework for lasting peace in Northern

Ireland. The Agreement demonstrated a democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences

that recognize the British and Irish Governments ongoing support and implementation of the

Good Friday Agreement that has become the irrevocable foundation of the peace process; and

     WHEREAS, The year 2023 also marks the 175th anniversary of the first flying of the tri-

color Irish flag in County Waterford by Thomas Francis Meagher with the green representing

Irish nationalism; the orange, Ireland’s Protestant minority, and the Orange Order; and the white,

for lasting peace between the two. Meagher embodied the links between Ireland and the United

States of America first as a member of the Young Irelander Rebellion and later becoming a

Brigadier General in the 69th Regiment of the famous ‘Fighting Irish Brigade’ in America, where

he fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War including Fredericksburg

and Antietam; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

commemorates the celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick, the national Apostle of Ireland and

celebrates the flag of Ireland as a symbol of the link between the United States and Ireland in its

representation of peace; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the United States Senators and Members of the

House of Representatives from Rhode Island to enlighten them concerning the bipartisan

resolution in Congress regarding Ireland, the Good Friday Peace Agreement, and the Irish Peace

Process; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Chair of the American Irish State

Legislators Caucus, the Honorable Senator Mark Daly the 24th Chair of the Senate of Ireland,

and to the National co-chairs of the American Irish State Legislators Caucus, including

Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, New Jersey; Assemblyman Robin Vos, Wisconsin; Senator

Shannon O’Brien, Montana; Representative Brian Patrick Kennedy, Rhode Island; Assemblyman

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James Gallagher, California; Representative Fran Hurley, Illinois; and Representative Killian

Timoney, Kentucky.

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