The Irish American Republicans, a coalition of Irish Americans in the Republican Party, have announced their 2012 Honorees for Outstanding Service to the Irish American community, the Republican Party, and the conservative cause.
 
The 2012 IAR Honorees are New York Saint Patrick's Parade Chairman, John Dunleavy; New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Chairman, Ray Martinez; and Kings County Republican Party Chairman, Craig Eaton.

The Irish GOP will also be presenting a lifetime achievement award to the Hon. Frank Duggan, Former Chair of the US National Mediation Board, and founding Chairman of the Irish American Republicans, for the re-founding of the IAR in the early 1990s.
 
The 2012 IAR awards Reception will be held on Wednesday, June 13th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, at the Women's National Republican Club, 5 West 51st Street, New York, New York.
 
John Dunleavy has been Chairman of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade for 17 years. He was born in the village of Coole in County Westmeath, and moved to America in 1963.

Just six weeks later, Dunleavy was drafted into the United States Army. He was first stationed at Fort Dix, where he trained with Ray Flynn, and was then assigned to the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. The NYC St. Patrick's Parade is the nations largest parade, with over 160,000 marchers and over 2 million spectators on Fifth Avenue.
 
Ray Martinez is currently the Chairman of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, in the administration of Gov. Chris Christie. Martinez has been a national Republican leader, serving as acting Chief of Protocol of the United States, during the administration of President George W. Bush, and New York Commissioner of Motor Vehicles in the administration of Gov George Pataki. Martinez also served as Counsel to the Long Island Power Authority.
 
Craig Eaton serves as Chairman of the Kings County Republican Party. He is a practicing attorney, and has taken Brooklyn from being a one-party Democratic fortress into a competitive two-party county. Eaton led the Brooklyn GOP to an unprecedented string of electoral wins, including two new Republican seats in the US Congress, two Republican seats in the NYS Senate, and a new Republican seat in the NYS Assembly.
 
The Irish American Republicans are presenting the Hon. Frank Duggan, with the first-ever IrishGOP "Lifetime Achievement Award." Frank Duggan served with distinction as Chairman of the US National Mediation Board, and currently serves as President of the Victims of Pan Am 103, Inc., the organization representing the families of those killed in the 1986 terror bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. An experienced Washington hand, and proud Irish-American, Frank Duggan coordinated the founding nationally of the Irish American Republicans, in the early 1990s, after the group had been dormant for several decades, and served as the first national Co-Chairman, together with retired Rear Admiral James Carey.