Cavan’s first responders to lead NYC Parade

Several dozen members of the emergency services in Cavan have travelled to the US this week where they will lead the Cavan representation taking part in this year’s New York St Patrick’s Day Parade.

More than 30 local first responders - from An Garda Siochána, the local fire service, and members of the National Ambulance Service - are being hosted across the Atlantic by the Cavan Protective & Benevolent Association.

They’ll also have an important honour of walking with their friends in the Big Apple in the upcoming St Patrick’s Day parade this coming Thursday, the largest of its kind outside of Ireland.

It’s a trip that should have happened in 2020 but was called off at the last minute as the world fell under the grip of the Covid pandemic. “We’ve 38 travelling over, and that includes first responders from across An Garda Siochána, the fire service, the National Ambulance Service, and the HSE,” explains Ray Slaughter, sub station officer, Belturbet Fire Service.

While there, the group will visit a fire station on the Upper East Side (Ladder Company 16 and Engine 39), a specialised and newly-built rescue centre in Brooklyn (Ladder Company 2), as well as being granted a tour of the harbour aboard the city’s state-of-the-art fireboats.

On Friday, the first responders have been invited to a social event at Rory Dolan’s on 890 McLean Avenue in Yonkers, and towards the end of the trip they’ll visit ‘Ground Zero’, where the World Trade Center’s two towers once stood prior to the 9/11 attacks. In total, of the 2,977 victims killed, 412 were emergency workers.

Each of the first responders taking part have been issued a special commemorative coin to mark the trip, and the group will make a presentation at each of the facilities visited.

Presentations will also be made to Michael O’Reilly, chair of the Cavan P & B; to proud Cavan supporter and international businessman, Connie O’Reilly, owner of Crover House Hotel and O’Reilly’s bars in New York; and to Kathleen O’Reilly, Bureau Chief of Transit in the NYPD, whose father is a native of Kilnaleck.

When taking part in the St Patrick’s Day parade, the travelling contingent will march behind a specially commissioned joint-organisation banner representing each of the first responder groups.

“It’ll be carried by all our personnel at some stage during the parade,” adds Mr Slaughter. “It’s a big honour being asked to come over, to be shown the hospitality we have been, and as well as that, to be asked to lead out the Cavan P & B when in the parade.”

The visit of the first responders is in lieu of any formal deputation from the County Council travelling over, and Noel O’Reilly, Chief Fire Officer, said it is a “proud moment” for the local organisation and its members to represent the blue and white of Cavan abroad.

“It’s a very valuable trip for all the personnel from all the agencies, from a personal and a professional point of view, to represent their county and to see how other first responders operate also.

“The trips to the different fire houses are very important, and to extend the hand of friendship to the wider Cavan community, the diaspora living in New York, who are very proud of their Cavan and Irish heritage.”

When the Celt spoke with Michael O’Reilly, chair of the Cavan P & B, he was travelling across the East River on his way to John F. Kennedy International Airport to meet the new arrivals.

It’s Monday and mid-afternoon across the Atlantic despite the darkening evening back home. “We’re very excited and we’ve a nice itinerary set up for them over the coming days. It’ll all start with a small reception for them later this evening.”

The Mullahoran man has been President of the Cavan P & B for the past six years, but earlier in 2022 was proudly appointed to the post of President of The United Irish Counties Association (UICA) in New York, an umbrella body supporting all county representations.

He says that Cavan P & B’s involvement in the New York St Patrick’s Day parade, as the oldest county association in the US, is “one of the highlights of the year” and an important opportunity to promote a positive image of the Irish across the Atlantic.

“This is our first parade obviously in three years and we’re so excited to be back on the Avenue. It’s wonderful also to have the first responders with us too.”

Not including the arrivals, upwards of 150 members of Cavan P & B and their friends will march behind the Cavan banner. Afterwards, as is tradition, they’ll decamp for refreshments in the basement room of the Unitarian Church of All Souls on Lexington. “We have to keep the Cavan colours flying,” assures Michael.