As a Bronx Assemblyman from 1973 to 2002, John Dearie secured passage of the MacBride Principles through the New York State Legislature in 1986, in the teeth of a well organized opposition campaign.
Dearie's tactic of targeting key members of the State Senate paid off, as did the considerable personal effort he put in.
He organized "Irish-American Presidential Forums" in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. Candidate Clinton's strong commitments made during the 1992 forum concerning Northern Ireland, are viewed as significant contributions to the peace process. Dearie was born and raised in the East Bronx. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame having received a full basketball scholarship.
He went on to earn an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate Business School at Northwestern University, and graduated from New York University School of Law. He and his wife, Kitty, have two sons, John, 6 years old, and Michael, 4.
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