Governor Healey’s Trailblazing Trip to Ireland
Governor Healey began her five day long trip to Ireland on Monday 6/26 and was welcomed as a “hero and a trailblazer.” On Tuesday the 27th, she gave her much anticipated speech to the Irish Senate. This speech highlighted the main points of her visit, solidifying Massachusetts-Ireland relations, honoring pride month, as well as lobbying for Massachusetts with various leaders in technology, science, education, and business. Massachusetts Secretary for Economic Development Yvonne Hao as well as Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper also traveled to Ireland with Governor Healey. While Healey is away, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll has been serving as Governor. Governor Healey’s trip wraps up on Friday 6/30, with several more political events for her to attend before.
The trip, taking place during pride month, celebrated the advances of LGBTQ+ rights in both the U.S. and in Ireland. The trip fell almost exactly on the 30-year anniversary of the legalization of homosexuality in Ireland. Both countries are also now celebrating 8 years of legalized gay marriage. The Chair of the Irish Senate, Jerry Buttimer, also a member of the LGBTQ+ community, recognized Governor Healey as a ‘person of firsts:’ first woman elected governor of Massachusetts, first LGBTQ+ person to be elected governor in the U.S., as well as the first Massachusetts governor to address the Irish Senate. Buttimer further reflected on the civil rights advances in both countries, as well as the importance of proper representation in government. Healey returned this praise for Ireland’s social progression, especially in recent years. While on this trip, Governor Healey will meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister.
Healey additionally recognized the civil rights progress that has occurred for women in Ireland. In 2018, a public vote resulted in the overturning of the Irish 8th amendment, which banned abortion and was one of the strictest bans in the European Union. This recent progress in Ireland draws light on the recent repeal of rights, specifically reproductive rights in the U.S., following the 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade. Irish Senator Anne Holey noted Healey’s efforts to ensure an excess of the abortion drug Mifepristone as well as the other recent moves made in Massachusetts to ensure safe and legal abortion access. Healey, along with several Irish senators, acknowledged the importance of protecting civil rights and the spaces in which more work is needed.
This trip is especially meaningful to Governor Healey, both due to her own Irish ancestry, as well as the large Irish population in Massachusetts. Governor Healery herself can trace her ancestry back to the Irish Counties of Cork, Kerry, and Galway where her grandparents immigrated from. The Commonwealth of Massachusettsis also known for its large Irish population, which emphasizes the importance of this visit. As of March 2022, 19.8% of residents in Massachusetts are Irish, double that of the U.S., where nationally only 9.7% of residents are. Massachusetts is second only in Irish population to New Hampshire. However, Massachusetts is more widely known for the Irish population and is even nicknamed the 33rd county of Ireland because of the state’s prominent Irish heritage.
These trade missions are an important part of building political and economic relations for the state of Massachusetts. Previously, the Weld-Celluci administration (1991-2001) traveled to Israel and China in the efforts to bolster trading relations. Along with the Economic and Environmental Secretaries, she is joined by UMASS President Marty Meehan and President and CEO Jay Ash of the Mass Competitive Partnership, for business development meetings with Irish leaders. While trade and maintaining economic relations is a centerpoint to this trip, it is also an important opportunity to establish diplomatic relations. As Healey herself put it, “economic success and opportunity is not mutually exclusive of our commitment to human rights or the advancement of social justice.”
Governor Healey’s trip to Ireland has served to affirm the Massachusetts-Ireland relations as well as to highlight and honor the progression of equality and human rights within both governments.
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