US support mounts for Obama visit to Cork
Congressman Joseph Crowley, a six-term member of the US House of Representatives and co-chair of the house’s committee for Irish Affairs, said he is proud to support the initiative from Derry author Don Mullan and Cork’s outgoing Lord Mayor, Dara Murphy’s, to honour President Obama’s political hero, Frederick Douglass, on Leeside.
University College Cork has agreed to host an annual Frederick Douglass human rights lecture, which it is hoped will attract international speakers, and unveil a statue in his honour on campus.
The committee led by Mr Mullan and Mr Murphy will write to the White House within weeks extending an official invitation to President Obama to deliver the inaugural lecture and unveil the statue.
“I believe it is time that we commemorate the important role Ireland played in Douglass’s life – the contribution Douglass made to the Irish people,” Congressman Crowley said. “His visit to Ireland in 1845, at the beginning of Ireland’s Great Hunger, makes his friendship with Ireland even more significant.
“Douglass said that he saw parallels between his former slave days and the suffering of Ireland’s poor.
“Frederick Douglass retained a life-long affection for Ireland, and especially the city of Cork. The development of a memorial to Frederick Douglass in Ireland will be a testament to his lifelong commitment to justice, a symbol of international friendship and a buffer against all forms of racism and discrimination. I am proud to support this initiative.”
Congressman Crowley is a close friend of Mr Mullan, who at the age of 15 witnessed the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry.
His 1997 best-selling book, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, is officially recognised as an important catalyst that led to former prime minister Tony Blair’s decision in 1998 to establisha new Bloody Sunday inquiry
Before his election to the US Congress, Congressman Crowley served in the New York State Assembly where he worked with Mr Mullan to arrange for a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department and expert in ballistics, Robert Breglio, to travel to Ireland for research on the Bloody Sunday killings.
His research concluded that some marchers were fired upon from a height which suggested the killings were purposeful.
Mr Mullan said Congressman Crowley is among several key political figures in America who are working behind the scenes to ensure that President Obama accepts the invitation.
So far there has been a very positive reaction in Washington to the initiative.
The Douglass project is strengthened by the fact that Obama, the first African-American president, has publicly stated that Douglass is one of his primary political heroes.
Douglass, an abolitionist, orator and writer who fought against slavery and for women’s rights, was the first African-American citizen appointed to high ranks in the US government.
Many observers have also drawn parallels between Douglass’s skills as an orator and Obama’s inspirational campaign speeches.
Hopes are high that this will encourage President Obama to accept the invitation to come to Cork during an Irish visit he said he wants to make.
If he accepts the invitation, it will be the first visit of an American president to Cork since that of John F Kennedy in 1963.
The Cork committee working on the project includes property developer Owen O’Callaghan, UCC president Dr Michael Murphy, and funeral home owner Val O’Connor, who organised the Andrea Bochelli concert in Cork in 2005.
They have been working behind the scenes for several months. Congressman Crowley is spearheading a committee supporting the initiative in America.
Mr Mullan said: “The monument of Frederick Douglass would also serve to draw attention to a wonderful connection that exists between Ireland and the USA, and Irish America and African America – a connection that can be harnessed and cultivated to create greater understanding and fraternity between our respective countries and the historic and ethnic roots that shaped our identities,” he said.
Mr Mullan persuaded soccer legend Pele and his close friend, Bishop Desmond Tutu, to unveil a statue in England in 2008 to 1966 World Cup hero Gordon Banks.
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