Flag going up

Lawrence, Massachusetts, is an exceptional American town. A former mill town built by the Irish, it is now rebuilding itself to meet the economic challenges of the 21st Century.

Its now a majority Latino town though the Mayor Willie Lantigua has a great grá for Ireland and sponsored a reception in the State House (when he was a State representative) for the Shankill-Falls economic mission which visited Massachusetts in 2007.

If my memory serves me, Lawrence was the first US city to recognise the Republic declared by the First Dáil.

Tomorrow, when Mayor Córa Harvey and the Donegal delegation visits Lawrence, they will be receive a warm welcome from Mayor Lantigua who has ordered that the flag of Ireland be raised outside City Hall in her honour.

Meanwhile, here's the Mayor presenting to Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Charles Murphy and I'm pictured with Rep Charles Murphy and Marc Lawrence of Heartsine, who has responsibility for marketing the company's portable defibrillators across the US.