Full house for 16th annual Irish Labor Awards

13 new Irish Labor Ambassadors were saluted at the annual Echo event recognising the contribution of the Irish to the American trade union movement.

Hailing from Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and the Tristate area, the honorees were hailed for their life-long commitment to the cause of Ireland and their enduring commitment to Ireland.

And for the first time, the awards were addressed by an Irish trade union leader. Ethel Buckley, Deputy General Secretary of SIPTU, Ireland's largest union which has its roots in James Connolly's ITGWU, told the gathering of almost 300 trade unionists that transatlantic cooperation between workers was essential to battle global corporate oligarchs.

SALUTE: Ray O'Hanlon, Editor of Irish Echo, with Mary Kay Henry, former President of the Service Employees International Union (left) who presented the Ambassador Award to Michelle Healy of Boston

That theme was echoed by Gerry Adams (below) who appealed to Irish American labor leaders to maintain pressure on the British Government to ensure the "full implementation" of the Good Friday Agreement. "For 16 years," he added, "the Irish Echo Labor Awards have celebrated the hard work and essential contribution of the American labor movement in defending the rights of workers."

New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who carried every country in the Empire State in the June Democratic Primary and faces another electoral test against a Republican opponent on 3 November, was guest speaker at the 16th annual awards gala. Praising the essential role of the labor movement in protecting the middle class, he also reiterated his pledge to invest public pension funds in the North or Ireland in order to boost the peace.

Other special guests at the awards were Katie Daughan, Deputy Consul General of Ireland in New York, Marty Bellew, President Grand Council of United Emerald Societies and Jim Sweeney, President of the IUOE North Central States Conference, Chicago.