Supporters of US Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley are launching a new group,“Irish Americans for O’Malley,” to coral support for the candidate among that community in the US.
The group will be launched at a reception on Thursday in Washington pub, The Dubliner, a Capitol Hill institution. The event will feature the ex-Maryland governor who is trailing former first lady Hillary Clinton and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in the polls.
Unveiling the new Irish-American support group, Mr O’Malley’s campaign team pointed to his proposals to introduce executive actions to help millions of illegal immigrants in the US, including thousands of Irish, and to overhaul a broken immigration system.
“Governor O’Malley has always taken pride in his Irish roots and enjoyed an enthusiastic response to his candidacy from Irish Americans in all of his races for elected office,” said a spokesman for his campaign.
“In his run for the presidency, Governor O’Malley has addressed the needs of Irish Americans by releasing the boldest, most inclusive immigration plan in the race. Our campaign is excited by the support Irish Americans are showing for new leadership.”
The campaign notice said that the event will feature a live band and step dancing, and will serve as a send-off before Mr O'Malley travels to South Carolina to participate in the first in the south candidates forum.
The former Baltimore mayor, whose great-grandfather emigrated from Maam in Co Galway, is a regular visitor to Ireland and has long-embraced his Irish ancestry. He is well-known for singing and playing Irish music as the frontman of his Celtic rock band, O'Malley's March.
As governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015, he hosted annual St Patrick’s Day parties at the governor’s mansion in Annapolis.
Just 90 days out from the first nominating contest in Iowa, Mr O'Malley is polling at 2 per cent nationally on average, well behind the party's frontrunner Mrs Clinton, who has support of almost 49 per cent, and Mr Sanders who has 27 per cent.
The launch of Mr O’Malley’s group higlights divisions among Irish-American Democrats in their support for the candidates.
Mrs Clinton has already received the backing of Irish American Democrats through the lobby group's Washington, DC-based president Stella O'Leary and New York-based vice president Brian O'Dwyer.
Both are long-term supporters of the Clintons and have cited her backing for the Northern Ireland Peace Process and immigration reform as reasons for the group's endorsement of her.
A spokeswoman for Mr O’Malley’s presidential campaign yesterday criticised Mrs Clinton for failing to put forward any immigration plan.
On Sunday Mr O'Malley chided the new Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan after he said he couldn't work with President Barack Obama on the issue of immigration reform.
Mr Ryan said that he didn't trust the president on the issue because he had bypassed Congress with executive actions to offer temporary relief from deportation for millions of undocumented Americans.
“Faced with the opportunity to lead - to bring 11 million neighbours out of the shadows to make the US stronger - @SpeakerRyan chose politics,” said Mr O’Malley in an online message posted on Twitter.
In July the former two-term governor held a round-table discussion to unveil the immigration proposals in his manifesto. Siobhan Dennehy, executive director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Centre on New York was among the panellists participating in that discussion.
Mr O’Malley has already received strong public backing from another Irish group.
Limerick-based band, the Corrigan Brothers, best known for their 2008 viral internet hit, There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama, earlier this year penned another in support of Mr O’Malley’s presidential campaign called “He’s Gonna Be President Martin O’Malley.”
