The top 25 who made a difference - celebrating the Irish Voice’s 25th Anniversary

Publisher Niall O’Dowd honors people who contributed to the Irish American community

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Celebrating 25-years of the Irish Voice

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Later in New York he co-founded the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and played a key role in setting up the U.S. peace process initiative, most notably the Gerry Adams visa.

ADRIAN FLANNELLY
AINE SHERIDAN

The Adrian Flannelly radio show has reached millions of Irish Americans over the years and continues to do so. An outspoken advocate for his community, Flannelly helped create the massive Irish push for Donnelly and Morrison visas and more recently he has played a ke y political role as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s trusted Irish advisor.

Aine Sheridan, long time producer of the show, has played a major role in bring the program to new media and made it America’s premier commercial Irish radio show and enterprise.

LORETTA BRENNAN GLUCKSMAN

She’s the first female head of the American Ireland Fund and the Worldwide Irish Funds.
Brennan Glucksman has revitalized and modernized the organization, created a hugely successful youth wing and continues to break all fundraising records for the philanthropic group, which passed its $100 million goal recently.

CHRISTINE QUINN

Likely to be the first ever Irish and gay mayor of New York City. The flame haired Quinn has done incredible work for the Irish community, spearheading the drive as City Council president to create a landmark new Irish Arts Center building on the West Side and providing access and political support to scores of Irish organizations.

DR. KEVIN CAHILL

Dr. Kevin Cahill is one of the pre-eminent physicians of his era, but much more than that, as director general of the American Irish Historical Society he has overseen a massive refurbishment of the Fifth Avenue mansion which is America’s greatest Irish building.

Single handedly he kept the society alive through tough times and has helped preserve a massive historical and community resource for future generations.

BRUCE MORRISON

The former Connecticut congressman made it possible for tens of thousands of Irish to emigrate legally to the United States via his Morrison visa legislation.

In addition he played a major role in securing the support of President Clinton for the Irish American initiative, which led to a visa for Gerry Adams and a huge breakthrough in the peace process.

PAULINE TURLEY

Vice Chair of the Irish Arts Center in New York, Turley has spearheaded a hugely ambitious and ultimately successful effort to create a massive new Irish Arts Center which has already secured over $20 million in funding.
She has also succeeded in linking both Gabriel Byrne and Liam Neeson to the center, both of whom have taken an active role in ensuring its success.

JOHN LAHEY

The president of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut is a former grand marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day in New York, but more importantly, will open North America’s first Irish Famine Museum this fall. Lahey has created an amazing on campus Irish presence at his university and has put Quinnipiac on the map for millions of Irish Americans.

STELLA O’LEARY

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