85R14962 JGH-D
By: Murphy H.R. No. 751
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Honorable Pat Breen, Irish minister of state for
employment and small business, is visiting the Texas Capitol on
March 13, 2017, and this occasion provides a welcome opportunity to
pay tribute to this distinguished guest and to celebrate the many
contributions that the people of Ireland have made to Texas over the
centuries; and
WHEREAS, Minister Breen began his career in public service as
a member of the Clare County Council, where he served from 1999 to
2002; since 2002 he has held a seat in the Dáil Éireann, the lower
house of the Irish Oireachtas, or parliament; Minister Breen served
as chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and
Trade from June 2011 to February 2016, and in May 2016 he assumed
his present post as a minister of state in the Department of Jobs,
Enterprise, and Innovation; and
WHEREAS, It is fitting indeed that Minister Breen's visit
occurs during the week of St. Patrick's Day; this iconic Irish
holiday is celebrated widely across Texas, a state that has drawn
many people of Irish descent and that has been profoundly shaped by
their endeavors; and
WHEREAS, Among the earliest Irish residents of Texas was Hugo
Oconór, who served as governor of Coahuila and Texas from 1767 to
1770 and who helped lay the cornerstone of Mission San José; in the
early 19th century, Irish-born empresarios James McGloin, John
McMullen, and James Power settled Irish families in South Texas and
along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Irish took up homesteads in
Stephen F. Austin's first colony; during the Texas Revolution, at
least 15 Irish-born soldiers fought at the Alamo, four Irishmen
signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and a hundred fought
with Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto, where they made up
one-seventh of his troops; and
WHEREAS, Immigration from Ireland increased dramatically
during the mid-19th century, and the new arrivals joined
established Irish Texans in helping to build the physical
infrastructure and develop the economy and social fabric of the
young state; prominent Irish natives included Samuel McKinney, an
early president of Austin College, and Father Michael Sheehan, who
established the first Catholic church in Austin; later in the
century, John William Mallet served as the first faculty chair at
The University of Texas, and the artist Henry Arthur McArdle
specialized in paintings based on Texas history, several of which
hang in the State Capitol; today, some two million Texans,
representing eight percent of the state's population, claim Irish
ancestry and are making their mark in both the private and the
public sphere; and
WHEREAS, Ireland remains a key friend of Texas and a strong
economic partner, with trade between the two currently valued at
about $2.2 billion; in recognition of the affinity between their
dynamic societies and of the potential for a further expansion of
economic relations, Ireland opened a consulate general in Texas in
2015; located in Austin, at Ireland House Texas, the staff of the
diplomatic mission is joined by representatives of two government
agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland; and
WHEREAS, The people of Texas share deep, historic bonds with
the people of Ireland, and it is a privilege to recognize those ties
and the immeasurable contributions of Irish Texans to the growth
and vitality of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
Legislature hereby welcome Minister Pat Breen of Ireland to the
Texas Capitol and join with him in celebrating the long-standing
friendship that exists between Ireland and this state; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Minister Breen as an expression of high regard by the
Texas House of Representatives.