D.C. tribute to Martin McGuinness

The late Martin McGuinness

 

By Irish Echo Staff

Martin McGuinness was remembered at a Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan back on April 24.

He will be remembered again on Tuesday, July 25 when members of the congressional Friends of Ireland and others gather for a memorial service at St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill.

The service is set to begin promptly at 8 a.m. and will include a eulogy from Congressman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) co-chair of the Friends of Ireland.

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The service is to be followed by what is being described as an informal reception.

McGuinness, who passed away in March, was a central figure in the Northern Ireland peace process and his death prompted an outpouring of praise from across the political spectrum for the Derry man’s efforts for peace.

McGuinness, of course, was once a top IRA leader but it was his background at the very heart of militant republicanism during the Troubles that ensured his decisive influence when it came to the IRA twice (and ultimately permanently) ending its armed campaign in the 1990s.

The second and final cessation of that campaign occurred exactly twenty years ago this month.

The New York Mass in April saw a packed St. Patrick’s being addressed by a number of individuals headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, architect of the Good Friday Agreement, who delivered the eulogy.

 

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