Pence pays tribute to grandfather at Ireland Fund dinner
The Vice President of the United States paid tribute to his Tubbercurry grandfather in an emotional speech at a gala dinner in Washington last Wednesday night.
Pence is the grandson of Richard Michael Cawley who emigrated from Tubbercurry in 1923 to become a bus driver in Chicago.
Mr Pence said at The Ireland Fund dinner: “All the I am, all that I will ever be and all the service that I will ever give is owed to my Irish heritage.
“As I serve the people of this country I will do so with the faith, the determination, the cheerfulness, the humility and the humour that is characteristic of the great people of the Emerald Isle.”
There was controversy last November when members of Sligo County Council wanted to invite Pence to Tubbercurry for a visit with LGBT activists angered due to Pence’s previous support for ‘ conversion therapy’ for gay people. The Council later said the controversial VIce- President would not be invited.
When asked about what he was thinking as he stood on stage at the inauguration, Pence told the Gala dinner: “I just keep thinking of that day in April 1923 when Richard Michael Cawley stepped off the boat in Ellis Island. I can’t imagine what the sight of the statue of liberty meant to him that day. The torch of freedom,” he said.
He continued: “As I stood on that inaugural stage I just kept thinking of that Irishman. I kept thinking of what he would be thinking about looking down.
“One, knowing me as well as he did, he’d be extremely surprised, And two, I have to think he just thought he was right. He was right about America. He was right to summon the courage as generations did before and since to come here and follow their dreams.”
He was presented with a special award by The Ireland Fund and a copy of the Tubbercurry National School enrolment book that contained his grandfather’s name.