Eastchester Parade Grand Marshal, Sean Mackin
By Ray O’Hanlon
Sean Mackin has enjoyed an American life.
More so because it was hard won. Very hard won.
This Sunday, March 12, Mackin and his family will celebrate their American lives in the finest way as the Belfast man leads the 13th annual Eastchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade as its grand marshal.
As such, Mackin will be a VIP on the day with the local police keeping an eye out for him.
It wasn’t always that way.
Sean Mackin came of age in the Troubles.
Who he was and where he came from would in significant part determine the course of his early years.
It was still an early year when he found himself in the ranks of the republican movement. He was only 11.
What followed was a pattern that would be all too familiar to so many young men and women of his age in Northern Ireland.
Mackin would arrested and imprisoned, though never actually convicted on any charge.
Such was the way of things then.
In 1978 Amnesty International cited Mackin's story as one of the five most serious cases of torture in Northern Ireland.
Following his release from prison, he met and married Philomena Devine.
Next stop, New York.
Shortly after his making landfall in New York in 1983, Mackin was detained at the behest of the British government.
According to a release by organizers of the Westchester County parade, “After an eight-year legal fight, the Mackin family won a landmark decision.
“His wife and daughter became the first Irish women to be granted political asylum in the United States. Mackin’s deportation order was denied and he went on to become an American citizen.
“He has been very involved in the Irish peace process and has worked with elected officials in Washington D.C. promoting peace and justice in Northern Ireland.”
What happened was that a federal immigration court granted Mackin and his family asylum in the U.S. in January, 1992, in what was hailed at the time as a groundbreaking case.
Mackin had faced deportation for overstaying a tourist visa from 1984.
Attorney Pat Finucane, whose 1989 murder by loyalists in Belfast was investigated for evidence of police collusion by Canadian judge Peter Cory, was an expert witness for Mackin at a court hearing in November 1988, three months before he (Finucane) was killed.
Mackin would return to his native place in the new time of peace.
But some there had long memories.
On a visit to Belfast in 2004, Mackin was apprehended by police on the Grosvenor Road and held under the Terrorism Act of 2000.
The Echo reported at the time: “Sinn Féin demanded the immediate release of Mackin and contacted the U.S. consulate in Belfast to protest his arrest.
“Mackin’s niece witnessed the arrest and told her mother Roisin, Mackin’s sister. When she contacted the police, according to Sinn Féin, they denied they had him in custody.
“When a lawyer contacted the police some time later, they confirmed they had Mackin in custody in Antrim. Sinn Féin said there was outrage in the area at Mackin’s arrest. A spokesman said he was a frequent and open visitor to the area and had never been arrested before.”
In the end, Mackin was released without charge and returned to the United States where he has worked hard over the years in establishing himself as a successful businessman and community activist.
Mackin, again according to the Eastchester Parade release, is the owner of Preferred Mechanical Inc. and Preferred Sprinkler Corp.
He is co-founder and chairman of the New York Irish Center (in Long Island city, Queesn) known for its outstanding services to the senior Irish generation and suicide prevention assistance for the Irish community.
In 2014, Sean was honored by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform for his work on behalf of undocumented Irish.
He is president of the County Antrim Society of New York, a member of AOH Division 3 New York County, and was named one of the top 100 Irish Americans of the 20th Century by Irish America magazine.
Mackin and his wife have been members of the Eastchester Irish American Social Club (EIASC) for 18 years.
Sean and Philomena have three children, Jenifer, Sean Og, and Ciaran, and four grandchildren, Gavin, Tyan, Ella and Pierce. They all live in Eastchester, Westchester County, New York.
