Bill Text: TX HR65 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Welcoming Mayor James Collins of the City and County of Limerick, Ireland, to the Texas Capitol on January 16, 2019.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-01-16 - Reported enrolled [HR65 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HR65-Enrolled.html

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H.R. No. 65

R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Honorable James Collins, Mayor of the City and
County of Limerick, is visiting the Texas Capitol on January 16,
2019, and this occasion provides a welcome opportunity to pay
tribute to this distinguished guest and to celebrate the many
contributions that the people of Ireland have made to Texas over the
centuries; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Collins is visiting Texas to establish a
formal relationship between the City of Austin and Limerick City
and County Council, and he is accompanied by representatives from
the University of Limerick, the Limerick Institute of Technology,
the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, the Limerick
Chamber of Commerce, the Limerick Gaelic Athletic Association, and
other senior business and community leaders from Ireland; and
WHEREAS, Among the earliest Irish settlers to Texas was Hugo
Oconór, who served as governor of Coahuila and Texas from 1767 to
1770; in the early 19th century, Irish-born impresarios James
McGloin, John McMullen, and James Power settled Irish families in
South Texas and along the Gulf Coast, and a number of Irish took up
homesteads in Stephen F. Austin's first colony; at least 15
Irish-born soldiers fought at the Alamo, four Irishmen signed the
Texas Declaration of Independence, and a hundred fought with Sam
Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto; and
WHEREAS, In the mid-19th century, new arrivals from Ireland
helped to build the physical infrastructure and develop the economy
and social fabric of the young state; prominent Irish Texans
included Samuel McKinney, an early president of Austin College, and
Father Michael Sheehan, who established the first Catholic church
in Austin; later in the century, John William Mallet served as the
first faculty chair at The University of Texas, and the artist Henry
Arthur McArdle specialized in paintings based on Texas history,
several of which hang in the State Capitol; today, some two million
Texans, representing eight percent of the state's population, claim
Irish ancestry and are making their mark in both the private and the
public sphere; and
WHEREAS, Ireland continues to be a key friend of Texas and a
strong economic partner, with trade between the two at record
levels; Ireland is among the top 10 foreign investors in the United
States, and Irish and Irish-Americans play leading roles in
community investment and job creation across the Lone Star State;
in recognition of these economic, social, and cultural links, the
Irish Government opened a consulate general in Texas in 2015, and it
remains the only European Union member with a diplomatic mission
located in the state capital; and
WHEREAS, The people of Texas share deep, historical bonds
with the people of Ireland, and it is a privilege to recognize those
ties and the immeasurable contributions of Irish Texans to the
growth and vitality of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
Legislature hereby welcome Mayor James Collins of the City and
County of Limerick and the delegation from Ireland to the Texas
Capitol and join with them in celebrating the long-standing
friendship that exists between Ireland and this State; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for Mayor Collins as an expression of high regard by the
Texas House of Representatives.
Murphy
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 65 was adopted by the House on January
16, 2019, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House