Montserrat premier pays tribute to George Irish
By Nelson A. King
Montserrat’s Premier Donaldson
Romeo was among
thousands of mourners Friday
night, March 1, paying their
last respects to Caribbean academic,
Montserratian-born Dr.
George Irish, who died on Feb.
12. He was 76.
“First and foremost, on
behalf of the Government
and the People of Montserrat,
wherever they may be, I would
like to express profound condolences
with wishes of peace
and consolation to the wife,
children, close relatives and
friends of the Right Hon. Professor
Dr. George Irish - son
and hero of our native land,”
said Romeo, who received a
standing ovation prior to giving
his tribute at the funeral,
dubbed “Celebration of Life,”
at the Bethel Gospel Assembly
in Harlem.
“I consider it a great privilege
to be allowed to stand
before you today to honor a
great Montserratian whose
life has left so many memories,
indelible footprints, in all
of our hearts,” added Romeo
at the three-hour-plus-long
funeral service. “He has left
enduring footprints in our civic
life and education, through
trade union activity, the credit
union, political activism and
speeches, through lectures,
sermons, classes and informal
chats.
“He has left his mark on
Montserratian culture. memories
of the University Center
packed with people: Arrow on
stage performing in his platform
shoes; Gus White singing
his heart out; Joe West playing
the role of Willie Bramble;
the newly-formed Community
Singers bringing national pride
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tears to our eyes, with ‘Oh,
Montserrat in the Carib Sea,’”
continued Romeo, stating that
Dr. Irish also impacted his own
home, particularly through his
mother, “a firm fan of his.”
In the “Black Power” days of
the late 1960s and early 1970s,”
the Montserrat premier said
“we all wore afros, and our
mother sewed up a storm of
dashikis for the whole family
for just about every occasion.
“More importantly, we were
taught to wear these symbols
of our African heritage with
pride, just as he did, as an
outward sign of an inner liberation,”
Romeo said. “For, as
sons and daughters of slaves,
Montserratians had long learnt
to be ashamed of our past, of
the culture that had grown out
of this past, of our so called ‘bad
English’, of our very selves.”
He said Dr. Irish’s enthusiasm
for “’Montserratianness’,
for our history, our stories,
our music, our jokes and our
twang, was contagious, and
made a priceless contribution
to a joyous sense of national
pride and celebration.
“He has left an imprint that
goes way deeper than activism,
deeper than clothes or cultural
events,” said Romeo, as several
mourners used tissues to dry
their tears. “He has left us a
legacy of freedom and dignity
that is encoded in the DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) of our
little Caribbean Rock.”
Caribbean American Congresswoman
Yvette D. Clarke,
told mourners that she, as well
as the entire Caribbean Diaspora
in New York, benefited tremendously
from Dr. Irish’s
work, as executive director of
the Caribbean Research Center
(CRC), at Brooklyn’s Medgar
Evers College, City University
of New York (CUNY), for over
30 years.
“I also benefited because
Dr. Irish was a man of God,”
said the representative for the
9th Congressional District in
Brooklyn. “It was his faith in
God that enabled many of us to
be who we are today.
“I could not miss this opportunity
to send our brother
home,” added Clarke. “I’m a
beneficiary of his works and
am humbled to be in your presence.”
Dr. George Irish’s eldest son, Dr. Ken Irish-Bramble, an adjunct
professor at Medgar Evers College, with three of his
children. Photo by Nelson A. King
Montserrat Premier Donaldson
Romeo addresses
mourners. Photo by Nelson A. King
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