This is most certainly the winter of our discontent; we have truly reached our lowest point. There are more deaths from the virus than ever. The vaccine rollout is an undisputed fiasco as the people at the top not doctors or any medical personal are making the decisions… I will say again and again they have to let the experts do their jobs and keep the politics out of this pandemic as it is a killer.
Now that I’ve got that off my mind, welcome again to the New Year of 2021 that we all hope will be a good one for all of us. It is fair to say that the Irish community have kept the tradition going during all this pandemic. They did it and are doing it by zooming and virtual press briefings with concerts, business meetings, talks, music, theatre, networking breakfasts and a lot more with updates on everything that is Irish. In the mean time Corey Johnson, New York City’s Speaker of the House has said that the Council is continuing to hold the de Blasio Administration accountable for its ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that is something.
On January 7, 2021, it was reported that President-elect Joe Biden has selected Walsh to serve as the United States Secretary of Labor in his administration. Now here is the best part: Walsh was born in Dorchester, Boston, to John Walsh, an Irish American originally from Callowfeenish, a townland near Carna,County Galway, and Mary (née O’Malley), from Rosmuc. County Galway, Ireland? Is everybody from Galway?
The couple emigrated to the United States in the 1950s and gave birth to Marty in 1967. Up yea boyo, Walsh grew up in the Savin Hill area of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. He was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma at age 7, forcing him to miss most of second and third grade and repeat fifth grade. At age 11, after going through years of chemotherapy, a scan revealed no traces of the cancer.
He went to high school at The Newman School and, in 2009, received a bachelor’s degree from the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston College. Walsh joined the Laborers’ Union Local 223 at age 21 and served as the union’s president until he became the mayor of Boston.
He was elected secretary-treasurer and general agent of the Boston Metropolitan District Building Trades Council, a union umbrella group, in the fall of 2010. In 2011, Walsh was named head of the Boston Building Trades, a position that came with a $175,000 yearly salary. Walsh resigned his post when he announced he was running for mayor in 2013.
Walsh resides in the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester with his long-time girlfriend Lorrie Higgins. He is a recovering alcoholic, with more than twenty years of continuous sobriety in a twelve-step program. Walsh has been a season ticket holder of football’s New England Patriots since franchise owner Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994. He is a Catholic. Now where would yea get it, good on yea Marty.
The Irish Business Organization will be having evening event on Tuesday, January,19th from 6:30 pm to 7:45 pm on Zoom. The guest speaker is none other than the Consul General of Ireland in New York Ciaran Madden. There is a big plus with the inauguration of the 2021 IBO Executive Board. You are asked to join them to kick off the new year with a keynote from the Consul General, the swearing-in of the new IBO board, a musical guest and more. For more information go to www.ibonewyork.org.
That is all the gossip that I have this week. See you when I am Out&About again.