Chicago Democratic politics is a blood sport. When a senior pol can feel the breath of opponents on his neck as they leak items to the gossip columns, it’s often whispered in the smoke-filled rooms and ward offices of the Windy City, “it’s time to bring in the Irishman.”
That Irishman is the Man from Roscommon, Cyril Regan.
We met back in 2015 during the Chicago Mayoral campaign. Cyril and I were helping our candidate, Cook County Commissioner and now Congressman Chuy Garcia, as we forced the incumbent, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, into a run-off election that I chronicled in my book, 'Nothin's on the Square'.
Cyril and I had been brought into the campaign to assist with the “Irish vote”. I’ll never forget Chuy remarking to me as we assembled in the lobby of the Chicago Hilton before the St. Patrick’s Day parade, “I can’t believe you guys don’t know each other!”
Well Congressman, we certainly know each other now.
With @RepChuyGarcia, of the Hispanic Caucus and a great friend of Ireland @HispanicCaucus
— Billy Lawless (@SenBillyLawless) September 15, 2019
Eira L. Corral Sepulveda and Cyril Regan in Chicago @OireachtasNews pic.twitter.com/JXlpne82ea
I’d watched that day as we ushered Chuy through the throngs of revelers along the parade route, while Cyril Regan, wearing shades, a black suit, and some kind of ear- piece (probably connected to the Clancy Bros.), assumed the role of “security” for the candidate. And it worked, when Cyril would push through the crowd with his Celtic authority, folks bought it. Cyril and Mayor Richard M Daley
We worked a variety of events leading up to our election night loss, drowning our sorrows as we watched the returns from The Billy Goat tavern a few blocks from the convention center. We had many laughs along the way. Most of our campaign stories are unprintable.
My favorite story of Cyril is when he was working advance for Chuy Garcia and our candidate was booked into Jesse Jackson’s Operation Push. The crowd that day wasn’t that familiar with the candidate. “Chuy was 15 minutes out and somebody had given me a call," recalls Cyril. "So I sneaked up the side of the church, up the aisle, and I went to see if the microphone was turned on and make sure everything was ready. As I’m coming down the center aisle, the audience broke into applause, chanting 'Chuy-Chuy-Chuy.'"
It was a white guy with a moustache, but the wrong white guy with a moustache!
“I said no, no, no, he’s not here yet. He’s 15 minutes out!” Josie and Cyril Regan, President Higgins, and David Regan
Cyril arrived in New York from the tiny village of Tulsk, County Roscommon in 1985. He’d been an HVAC apprentice in Ireland and got into the Heating & Cooling business across the NYC tri-state area.
He eventually returned to Ireland before he and his late wife Josie decided to settle in the Chicago area back in 1994. Here he established Regan Heating & Cooling, as well as a variety of other businesses, including a funeral home and J-1 Ireland bringing students out to Chicagoland every summer. "I came to Chicago and it was like the “wow” moment with the political stuff," he says.
He’s a staunch ally of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and he’s the go-to Democratic campaign consultant, particularly in the Irish American community. Cyril with President Obama
Cyril is a champion for Irish immigration and helped start the Chicago Irish Immigrant Support group (now known as Irish Community Services), where he was Chairman of the Board for 27 years. He and his pal, former Irish Seanad Senator Billy Lawless, put together Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform and helped pass the Senate’s historic immigration reform bill in 2013.
Cyril sez, “Billy’s been a great soldier on the immigration front for all these years… we got a lot of work done. Like the driver’s license bill in Springfield, for the undocumented, that was a huge, huge thing. It was the only state in the country that did it at the time. So a lot of other states followed through with legislation that we had put and passed in Springfield, and it was amazing. That was one of the biggest things that we did in the state of Illinois." Cyril and Josie with Enda Kenny
Cyril’s son David now works with him at Regan Heating . His wife Josie died March 20th of this year after a long illness. His latest business venture is thanks to her. He’d encountered difficulties, getting her to and from doctor appointments in her wheelchair, so Cyril bought a van himself all rigged out for handicapped folks.
Chicago Caregiver Nancy Bonds, who hails from Kerry, and Cyril are in partnership on their new transport business for the handicapped, called, aptly, ‘Josie’s Wheels'.
Across Chicago, for a new group in need of a helping hand, the call is still going out, "it's time to bring in the Irishman."
