A Message from Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Sean Fleming-

100 Years of US Ireland Diplomatic Relations to be celebrated in 2024  

Nearly a century ago, in October 1924, Ireland formally opened diplomatic relations with the United States of America when Timothy Smiddy (pictured here on the left) presented his credentials to President Calvin Coolidge. Following the Irish people’s long and painful struggle for independence, the U.S. was one of the first nations to recognise the fledgling Irish state earlier that year, and when Smiddy emerged from the White House, he had become Ireland’s first Minister Plenipotentiary (Ambassador) to any country in the World. It was very appropriate that Ireland’s first representative overseas should be dispatched to Washington D.C. for, while 1924 marked the beginning of formal diplomatic relations, the deep Irish-American connection dated back centuries. 

Today, nearly one tenth of Americans identify as being of Irish ancestry. Irish immigrants helped build the America we know today, not only the physical infrastructure - the skyscrapers of Manhattan or the transcontinental railroad - but also the political construct that is America. Irish people have made an enormous contribution to public debate and politics in America, from their local communities right up to the White House. President Biden’s Irish heritage is well known but more than twenty American Presidents claimed some Irish ancestry. But the influence of Irish America extends well beyond the Oval Office and the Capitol Building, to every state within the Union, most evident by the significant number of state legislators within the American Ireland State Legislators Caucus. 

Since Timothy Smiddy’s momentous audience in the Oval Office 100 years ago, a further eighteen Irish Ambassadors have presented credentials to U.S. Presidents, from Herbert Hoover to Joe Biden. Over this time, Ireland’s relations with the United States have evolved significantly. Smiddy, who represented an impoverished and internationally isolated state, scarred by years of conflict, could scarcely have imagined the transformation that has occurred in his homeland over the past century. While we live in turbulent times, Ireland today is at peace, economically prosperous and culturally vibrant.

This transformation is in no small part due to the support of friends in the United States, from the crucial role America played in brokering peace in Northern Ireland – culminating with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement– to the huge American economic investment in Ireland. There are almost one thousand US companies in Ireland, employing over two hundred thousand people directly. But what might have most surprised Smiddy, a Professor of Economics, is that our economic relationship is truly two-way; some one hundred thousand people are employed in the U.S. by over 650 Irish-owned companies, across all fifty states. Indeed, Ireland is now the ninth largest source of foreign direct investment in the US.  

The US-Irish relationship is a shining example of how ancestral ties, historical connections, cultural affinities, and shared values can create a foundation for enduring partnership and mutual prosperity. Irish American state legislators across the United States are playing a vitally important role in fostering this partnership and ensuring that it continues and flourishes for another century to come. I witnessed this first hand when it had the pleasure of meeting many of you at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Indianapolis in August. 

Some of you can trace your lineage to a specific town or parish on the island, indeed some of you were even born here or have relatives in Ireland. For others, your affinity with Ireland is not ancestral but founded on a deep connection with Irish culture, traditions and values, and a commitment to Ireland’s present and its future. For your personal investment in this relationship, for your friendship towards Ireland and for your pride in your Irishness, whatever form that may take, we sincerely thank you. 

December 2023

Minister Sean Fleming address the opening of the National Conference of State Legislatures Summit. The American Irish State Legislators Caucus, hold its annual meeting at the NCSL Summit each year.