During his recent visit to New York City, Lord Mayor of Belfast Máirtin Ó Muilleoir took time to visit to Gracie Mansion where he endorsed Irish American mayoral candidate Christine Quinn’s campaign to become the next mayor of New York. 

“We think that every city needs an Irish mayor. And New York has had a series of wonderful mayors and we think it would be wonderful in the days ahead, in the short time ahead, if New York had an Irish-American mayor again,” Lord Mayor Máirtin Ó Muilleoir told Politicker this morning. 

As he posed for photographs with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn by his side, Ó Muilleoir told the press, “The generosity of Irish Americans  – which is wonderful for us back in Ireland – and also the ability of the Irish to make connections, to win people over, those are great qualities in a mayor. So we’re fairly hopeful that we will have an Irish-American mayor soon,” he said, referring to Ms Quinn whose grandparents on both sides of the family immigrated to America. Her maternal grandmother, Nelly Callaghan, was one of the few female passengers in the steerage of the Titanic to survive its fate in 1912. 

Ó Muilleoir may get his wish yet as Mayor Bloomberg was seen to praise Ms. Quinn at a recent press conference which discussed the building of new guidelines to better protect residents from future mayor storms. Mayor Bloomberg praised Ms. Quinn, saying: “I’ve said this 1,000 times: I don’t agree with her on some things, I violently disagree with her on some things, but she has been a very good speaker who has, by and large, kept the City Council voting on those things that are important and directing them on the best interests of the city,” he said.