Ed Koch not popular with many Irish during his career -- Late NY Mayor defended British role in North after Irish trip in 1988
By: Niall O'Dowd | Published Friday, February 1, 2013, 9:31 AM | Updated Friday, February 1, 2013, 9:31 AM
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| Ed Koch celebrating St. Patrick's Day |
I never had much time for Ed Koch, the mayor of New York from 1978 to 1989. The mayor died today.
He was a blusterer who early on in his career stopped listening and began pronouncing and never stopped.
I remember interviewing him and seeing that familiar politician’s fault where questions were answered with the same familiar soundbite, year after year.
Read More: Ed Koch, sage of the city, calls New Yorkers to kick the bums outHe was New York. Larger than life, for better and for worse, and often I felt the latter more than the former.
He was in power too long, somewhat like the current mayor Michael Bloomberg, and had become a poor imitation of himself by the time he stepped down.
On Irish issues he was captive to whomever he last spoke to.
Sure, he wore his big Irish sweater every St. Patrick’s Day and loved being photographed at the parade but at the height of the Northern Ireland "Troubles" he contributed very little to the American role.
Read More: Ed Koch endorses Christine Quinn for New York Mayor Indeed, his most famous
faux pas as far as Irish Americans were concerned occurred in 1988 after he went on a five-day visit over there with his frequent bosom buddy John Cardinal O’Connor.
Here is how his trip was reported on AP:
“Mayor Edward Koch says Irish-Americans who ''beat up the British'' for their role in Northern Ireland are taking the easy way out" ran the headline.
The story ran “The mayor, back at City Hall on Tuesday, defended remarks he made in Dublin earlier in the day at the end of his five-day pilgrimage for peace in Ireland with Cardinal John O'Connor.”
In Dublin, Koch had praised the ''good attitude'' of the British, saying ''I do not believe that they deserve the castigation that any of us, myself included, have heaped upon them. I do not believe that the British are occupying forces.''
Read More: Saved by Jackie Onassis Kennedy Grand Central celebrates 100 yearsWell that went down well in The Bronx and Flatbush and Koch never quite regained his equilibrium with the Irish as a result.
Hardly surprising.
34 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Seanmor | Feb 06, 2013, 05:31 PM EST
Koch never seemed strongly supportive of G.B's role in the North of Irelnd, at least nearly as much as were successive governments in Dublin, who often caused the Nationalists to be totally abondoned.
RedBranch | Feb 04, 2013, 08:45 PM EST
Really Niall I would of thought you would have liked the man as he was gay, but I suppose the green trumps pink or rainbow any day for you and yours...
Seanmor | Feb 03, 2013, 12:52 PM EST
When Kock said in Dublin that he didn't believe the British were "occupying forces" [in the North], many, if not most, in his audience fully agreed with him. I remember Mayor Kock attending Irish Solidority Day a few times in the '80s and indicating his support for human righs and social justice in the Northern part of our homeland, when the powers in Dublin showed NO concern for those beleaguered Nationalists
seanomelb | Feb 02, 2013, 09:55 PM EST
Poor disallusioned Portia.
WoundedKnee | Feb 02, 2013, 12:23 PM EST
"Is there really any evidence for the claim that Koch was "not popular with many Irish"? xwvutsrqponml, I believe O'Dowd is right. I lived in Manhattan when Koch was Mayor, and subsequently when Dinkins took over. As mayor, Koch was far better than Dinkins, but any Irish (American) person I knew--including myself-- loved Dinkins and didn't like Koch.
WoundedKnee | Feb 02, 2013, 12:19 PM EST
Portia, you dope: You can't "build" olive trees. It is, however, possible to plant them, though if you plant them in|Palestine they are liable to be poisoned by the Israeli military or its settler gangs.
pilib04 | Feb 02, 2013, 10:39 AM EST
Niall, thanks for the commentary. We always knew the poor man had "problems." May he rest in peace.
Portia_O'Neill | Feb 02, 2013, 05:40 AM EST
Niall's piece on Mayor Koch compares with thousands of posts on politics.ie given to anti-Israel, Judeophobic rants. Niall probably won't write a column on Irish children who are sent into the streets by their teachers to beg for donations to build olive trees in Palestine because the ,"Jews are evil."
Smyrnian | Feb 02, 2013, 03:28 AM EST
Zyx - don't you know yet, ALL IC headlines are Niall's opinions!
falconflash | Feb 02, 2013, 01:36 AM EST
Rebelforce: the Germans were reacting to what they saw happened to the Russian people at the hands of the Boshiviks...learn truth, don't absorb propaganda
zyxwvutsrqponml | Feb 02, 2013, 12:19 AM EST
Is there really any evidence for the claim that Koch was "not popular with many Irish"? Or is this more of a feeling that Niall has personally? I don't think such a definitive statement should be used, especially in a headline. Give us your impression of the man's relations with the Irish community but don't make sweeping claims that can't be backed up with some reasonable evidence.
hughaed | Feb 01, 2013, 11:43 PM EST
Kicking a corpse when he's down is not a good idea. One should always speak well of the dead. "Ta se faoin bhfod anois", as my father would say. "He is dead and buried now". Though he may have had some good points one grew weary of his posturing. His time had come, which is not so bad for those of us who did not want to know him better.
hughaed | Feb 01, 2013, 11:42 PM EST
Kicking a corpse when he's down is not a good idea. One should always speak well of the dead. "Ta se faoin bhfod anois", as my father would say. "He is dead and buried now". Though he may have had some good points one grew weary of his posturing. His time had come, which is not so bad for those of us who did not want to know him better.
Joe Glackin | Feb 01, 2013, 11:19 PM EST
I lived in New York for a number of years,when he was Mayor. He used the Irish Patriotic feelings for self interest. This was an insult to our intelligence and disrespectful towards Ireland. I rem the Clown coming to Gaelic Park and his Republican chants. I hope he is at peace in all respect
seanomelb | Feb 01, 2013, 08:43 PM EST
The end to a sad and dismal human being. A true hater of the middle classes.
CaoimhinMc | Feb 01, 2013, 07:54 PM EST
padraiginrua your right, Ireland was not his responsibility, nor was it his responsibility to support the British army in Northern Ireland therefore he should stayed out of Irish affairs.
anglo-norman | Feb 01, 2013, 07:29 PM EST
RIP... He was a character.
peggydf | Feb 01, 2013, 07:29 PM EST
Ouch. I find the timing of this article very distasteful. Let the poor man rest in peace for a while, and history will sort out the truth in due time. JMO.
padraiginrua | Feb 01, 2013, 07:01 PM EST
He was Mayor of New York and did his job well. Ireland was not his responsibility. O'Dowd, you may not have had much time for him but I'll bet he had less for you. He was the quintessential New Yorker, something a blow-in like you doesn't get
ladygregory | Feb 01, 2013, 06:41 PM EST
Niall your ignorance really pours out with this article. Plenty of Irish loved Mayor Koch but more important the people of New York did. The world doesn't just revolve around the Irish so open up your eyes & narrow mind & take a look at the whole picture for a change.
irishpjk | Feb 01, 2013, 05:59 PM EST
wtf. The Irish loved the liberal Ed but when he took office and became his own man they turned on him. I fought fires for NYC our union supported him for office because we often had to wait for our checks while the City scraped the money together to cash the checks they wrote. Fact; Ed Koch turned that around another fact is when our union went to City hall and said we helped put you in this office we need a contract they were told I made no promises to anyone negotiate through the proper channels “my job is to do the right thing for the city of NY” he gave us respect but no handouts, I respect a man like that. Sure I disagreed with him on almost everything but he spoke his mind.
CaoimhinMc | Feb 01, 2013, 03:50 PM EST
People on your side of the pond [USA] may or may not have supported Ed Koch for what he done for New Yorkers or the US. If there is one thing in Irelands 800 years struggle for freedom & liberty that sticks out like a sore thumb it was supporters of British oppression on a Freedom loving people. Support for the British especially from powerful nations such as US and there politicians within only prolonged the suffering of the Irish people. Imagine for a moment that the American struggle for freedom happened in early 1900’s and in the aftermath the British put a border around a part of the US where they had strongest support lets say NY, armed them to the teeth and declared it separate from the rest of US and kept on oppressing non supporters well into the 20th Century. Well what do think would be the outcome ?. Remember we are a small nation. Koch in my opinion should have kept out of Irish politics and any Irish who were coned by his Aran sweater and false rantings well enough said. On the other hand an American politician with balls did challenge the British statuesque much to there disapproval at the time and the rest is history. Peace.
chicksooze | Feb 01, 2013, 02:26 PM EST
Yeah yeah. He never gave a crap about Ireland.
Smyrnian | Feb 01, 2013, 02:10 PM EST
Chickooze - you sound like a vile and insensitive jerk. Go back to your chickens--t.
Smyrnian | Feb 01, 2013, 02:07 PM EST
Typical unbalanced, inaccurate, incomplete and unfair IC article. I remember distinctly hearing Koch say "England, get out of Ireland" on several occasions.
WoundedKnee | Feb 01, 2013, 01:54 PM EST
That's quite unfair. Koch may have "defended British role", but then so did the Irish consulate, Irish politicians, and the likes of Moynihan and Carey.
Rebelforce | Feb 01, 2013, 01:33 PM EST
Ed Koch was a character that will not soon be forgotten. My recollection is that Mayor Koch enjoyed strong support among Irish-American voters in NY and he acknowledged it. Koch understood ethnic politics in New York. He was supportive of the Irish-American goal of peace with justice in a United Ireland (probably much more so than most of the employees at the Irish consulate in NYC during the 1970s. Clearly, Koch's enthusiasm for Irish politics didn't came close to matching his zeal for Israeli politics, but that can easily be understood. He was a proud Jewish-American afterall who grew up during a time when Jews in Europe were being systematically murdered in Nazi death camps. But I can distinctly remember Ed Koch on his popular radio program (long after he was running for any political office) demanding that President Clinton keep his campaign promise and give Gerry Adams a visa to come to the US to advance the Irish peace process. In that inimitable voice of his he bellowed into the microphone, "Let him in Mr President!"
falconflash | Feb 01, 2013, 12:48 PM EST
From what I remember the Irish did continually vote for Ed Koch... While he had differances with the Church he always did so with respect. Can't say the same about Bloomberg who despises the Church....Eddie was a good New Yorker and gave us a cetain amount of pride.
chicksooze | Feb 01, 2013, 12:13 PM EST
So long Koch, buh bye!! you won't be missed. Kind of like the current mayor, when is he leaving anyway? Schlomo is talking out of his ass, Irish and jews get along pretty well. Koch was an idiot who had NO idea what was going on over in Ireland, nor did he care. So I didn't despise him for his "honesty" I despised him for "not having a CLUE what was going on in Ireland, nor not even wanting to know". Yet spewed garbage out of his mouth regarding the situation. He was a horrible mayor. Thanks for this article Mr. O'Dowd, and moreover, thanks for being honest, and not hailing him as a hero (which people like to do when people pass on) when he was the furthest thing from it.
like2tweet | Feb 01, 2013, 10:29 AM EST
so we can't say what we mean about people Handsome, what a strange little world you must live in
slainte9 | Feb 01, 2013, 10:14 AM EST
Schlomo must not be from New York. My recollection is that Irish and Jews got along pretty well, at least better than most groups. What I did not like about my grandmother's neighbor Mrs. Goldberg was that my father always wanted to go visit her in the middle of a televised Yankees game. My reluctance to visit Mrs. Goldberg had to do with me being 14 and a rabid Yankees fan, not some Irish-Jewish thing. She was a very nice lady. But hey, I'm not Irish anyway. Based on the infinite wisdom of the US government and the power of "any", I'm Hispanic thanks to my ancestor the shipwrecked Spanis Armada sailor.
slainte9 | Feb 01, 2013, 09:55 AM EST
The ghost of Roger Casement is beating at the door.
handsome68 | Feb 01, 2013, 09:43 AM EST
Mr. O'Dowd, I dare you to say what you wrote at the funeral of Mayor Koch. I too was not a fan of the mayor, but kicking a corpse is regarded, in many circles at least, as bad form.
Schlomo | Feb 01, 2013, 08:49 AM EST
RIP Mayor Koch. You were a true American hero. Defending America in WW-II and as Mayor of NYC. later in your life. The Irish didn't like you for several reasons. Probably the biggest reason was that you were a Jew, and the Irish are definitely not enamoured of Jews. Mayor Koch also spoke his mind and most his opinions didn't agree with the Liberal Irish mindset. So reather than respect him for his honesty they dispised him for his lack of hypocracy.I for one think your contribution to America was phenomenal!