John Fitzpatrick: A man of the people

Irish American of the Year: John Fitzpatrick

 

 

 

And you in turn support the Irish through your foundation –

 

 I have to say, how that all started was a little bit selfish. When Mum died, it was a huge shock to us. Dad was very successful but he wouldn’t have been a success without Mum. She was a great mother but she also helped him with the business. Where did I learn about interior design? I used to follow Mum around the hotel. Everybody knew Dad, but I was afraid as the years went on it would be all about Paddy Fitzpatrick and Mum wouldn’t be remembered. So I said, we’re going to do a memorial fund in honor of Mum.

 

I started with Corporation Ireland and did something small in the north, and then the American Ireland Fund approached me and said, look, your golf tournament’s becoming successful, would you not come in with us? I said, listen, guys, you’re raising millions, and I fear that the limited dollars we raise will be lost in the shuffle. I want to be able to touch it, feel it, and especially when people donate money [to the memorial fund] I insist that they know where it’s going. And they said, we have created  a donor advisory board where you can pick different projects and 100 percent of the money that you raise goes straight to [that project]. So I went to Barrettstown where they bring seriously ill kids to enjoy normal activities like horseback riding, canoeing and such. It gives them the confidence they need to stay positive and fight [the illness]. And I visited the Corrymeela Reconciliation Centre up in Ballycastle, whose mission is to promote reconciliation between groups that were formerly divided. The weekend I was there I saw Catholic and Protestant children playing to-gether for the first time and it was a great sight. It is a beautiful place.

 

I knew that the Corrymeela center and Barrettstown were projects that were making a difference and that I could support. The one thing I insist is that my mother or father’s name [Paddy passed away in 2001] – not mine – must appear on any commemoration. But it has to be discreet; I don’t want a big gold plaque. And they’ve done a fantastic thing at Corrymeela. We helped build the main house, and carved into the wooden mantle over the fireplace is “Eithne Fitzpatrick Memorial.” Unless you get up close to it you don’t see it.

 

 

 

In terms of Northern Ireland, you had groups from both communities staying at your hotel during the peace process.

 

This was long before the Good Friday Agreement, it was all done very quietly. I would get a call from Bill Flynn [then chairman of Mutual of America and a leading Irish-American peacemaker] and he would say, “John, we have a few of them coming in. We don’t have resources, will you do it for me?” and I would say, “of course.” They all stayed here. Quietly, no one knew. We’ve come a long way, and it doesn’t have to be kept quiet anymore.

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