A South Jersey Assemblywoman who is the driving force behind the New Jersey Ireland Trade Commission says building bridges between the Garden State and the Emerald Isle is in her DNA.
State Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, whose great-grandfather was born in Ireland — "I missed the (citizenship criteria) by one generation" — founded the Trade Commission after visiting Ireland with an official NJ business delegation in 2023. She believes the key to the Commission's success is its bipartisan nature. "I'm a moderate," says Asw. Murphy. "I am happy to cross the aisle and in the Trade Commission, everyone is welcome. Everybody's represented. Doesn't matter what party you're affiliated with if you're a friend of Ireland."
Asw. Murphy says a St Patrick's Day card from Ireland, which offset the glum of the COVID lockdowns of March 2020, provided the spark for the Commission. "I got a St Patrick's Day card from Senator Mark Daly (Chair of the Irish senate, Seanad Éireann) and was just thrilled that someone from Ireland was writing to me," she says. "So when the National Foundation for State Legislatures had a chance to travel abroad the following year, I suggested we go to Ireland - which they did."
That was the Assemblywoman's first opportunity to meet face-to-face with Senator Daly and to learn more about his crusade to set up an Irish caucus and a Ireland Trade Commission in every state in the Union.
"I am so happy to see so many other states following through (with Trade Commissions)," says Asw. Murphy. "Mark has been a tireless advocate for getting folks on board and I've been delighted to talk to a few other States with him to encourage them to get involved."
In 2023, the Assemblywoman led a group of NJ legislators on a trip to Ireland which took them to Dublin and Belfast. At a meeting with Queen's University Belfast during that trip, Asw. Murphy said she was enthused at the prospect of increasing student exchanges between the Garden State and Irish third-level institutions.
But the primary focus of the Commission remains trade and investment - bringing Irish businesses to the U.S. and helping American businesses get a foothold in Europe.
"Ireland is the gateway to Europe," explains Asw. Murphy. "Once we get into Ireland, and we start building up those connections, everybody's going to be envious of us. But New Jersey also has a lot to offer, we are an economic powerhouse."
The South Jersey pol., who is also Chair of the State Irish Caucus, says she feels intimately bonded to Ireland. And that affinity only deepens her resolve to develop the work of the Commission. "On its establishment, I insisted the Commission had the right to fundraise because I realised it had to have the resources to ensure we can continue to visit and build on these relationships to the benefit of both Ireland and New Jersey."
And Assemblywoman Murphy says working with Irish partners is second nature to her.
"I feel very connected to its people," she concludes. "I feel at home there; They're my people."
