‘Strong, less well-known’ US-NI links highlighted ahead of anniversary

The less well-known connections between Northern Ireland and the United States are being emphasised ahead of the 250th anniversary of US independence next year.

While in Washington DC for St Patrick’s Day, Communities minister Gordon Lyons said that he has been highlighting these connections ahead of the major anniversary next July 4.

He said that emigrants from what is now Northern Ireland travelled to the US and left “an incredible mark”.

“We’ve really strong links. I want to do what I can to exploit that,” he told PA on Thursday.

“I have been working on that, I had a previous trip to the US last year, and as a result of that engagement, we’ve made significant progress.”

Mr Lyons said the group in charge of planning the 250th commemoration is to draft a memorandum of understanding to “ensure the story of the Ulster Scots is properly told”.

He said that Northern Ireland will also have a “special role” at an international commemoration taking place at Mount Vernon next year, the residence of former US president George Washington.

“I think the story is really well known of the Irish migration that took place during and after the famine and the movements of people to places like New York and Boston and Philadelphia,” he said.

“What’s less well known is the story of what happened 100 years earlier, when the first migrant ship for America left from Larne in 1717, 200,000 Scots-Irish left at that stage, and they left an incredible mark on the US.”

He said the stories they were looking to emphasise included that of John Dunlap, from Co Tyrone, who printed the first copies of the Declaration of Independence the day after it was signed.

He said: “These are people from what is now Northern Ireland who made an incredible impact, but they’re stories that people don’t really know.”

He added: “In the discussions that I have had with the 250 commission, they didn’t know about a lot of these connections, and they’re genuinely really excited about them.

“This is about raising the profile of Northern Ireland. That’s what I’ve been about this week and in doing so, that’s where we get that extra interest.

“What about Northern Ireland? Is that a place to visit? Is that a place for us to invest? So that’s where the benefit comes from as well.”