US AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND RESOLUTION

WHEREAS the relationship between America and Ireland predates the founding of the United States; and

WHEREAS Ireland was one of the earliest supporters of American independence, causing General Washington to write after the revolution “Ireland, thou friend of my country in my country’s most friendless days, much injured, much enduring land, accept this poor tribute from one who esteems thy worth, and mourns thy desolation”; and

WHEREAS the United States has immeasurably benefitted by the contributions of millions of Irish Immigrants; and

WHEREAS more than ten percent of the United States population claims Irish Ancestry; and

WHEREAS the exchanging of Ambassadors is an internationally recognized practice of friendship and esteem; and

WHEREAS there has been no U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland since January of 2017; and

WHEREAS since January 2017, over sixty other ambassadors to other jurisdictions have been appointed and confirmed; and

WHEREAS the United Kingdom has decided to pursue Brexit, which has significant implications for the United States; and

WHEREAS the only land border between Britain and the European Union will be with the Republic of Ireland, and it is in the best interest of the United States to engage and work with one of its oldest partners as the map of Europe is transformed in a post-Brexit world; and

WHEREAS post-Brexit, the Republic of Ireland is the only predominantly English speaking state in the European Union and will be a natural base for American firms seeking to conduct business with the European Union making an official U.S. presence in Ireland essential; now be it therefore

RESOLVED that the Ancient Order of Hibernians call upon the President and Congress of the United States to appoint and confirm a qualified Ambassador to Ireland, acting with expedition in recognition of the special relationship between the United States and Ireland and the delay already incurred; that a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to the President of the United States, the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Republic of Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States; and that the text of this resolution shall be shared appropriately with the news media and posted on the national website.

Adopted in Convention and signed and witnessed this Fourteenth Day of July in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Eighteen, the two hundred and forty-second year since the founding of the American republic, and the one hundred and second since the Proclamation of the Irish republic.