Niskayuna activist to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at White House
NISKAYUNA –Denise Murphy Mcgraw, a former Town Board member and self-proclaimed proud Irish Catholic, is headed to the nation’s capital to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the White House with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
The Niskayuna resident and Lady Hibernian, who also sits on the board of directors for the Irish American Heritage Museum and is a member of the Capital District Irish-american Association, is looking forward to the experience with other Catholic leaders from across the nation.
“What a completely unexpected surprise and honor,” Murphy Mcgraw stated in a news release. “While I have been to the White House previously for other occasions, I am not sure anything will compare to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with President Biden who cherishes his Irish Catholic heritage as much as I do mine.”
She also serves as the national co-chair of the organization Catholics Vote Common Good.
The group’s goal is to get Catholic voters excited about voting as well as candidates committed to improving the quality of life of all Americans and to engage those in that voting block who are concerned about social justice, immigration, climate change, and the scourge of White Christian Nationalism.
Murphy Mcgraw’s daughter Caroline is also politically active.
There are three remaining defendants in the lawsuit where the younger Mcgraw alleges she and her family were the subject of offensive tweets and defamatory statements that supposedly appeared on an anonymous Twitter account @niskyfails. The civil action alleges the tweets falsely accused her of plagiarism and chided her mother for not recusing herself from a vote on her daughter’s summer job with the town. The civil action seeks $1 million in damages.
The St. Patrick’s day festivities will include the traditional White House shamrock ceremony where Varadkar will present President Biden with a Irish-made Waterford Crystal bowl of shamrocks, a celebration that’s been around at the White House since 1952.