Linda Dorcena Forry breathes new life into Boston St. Patrick’s Day breakfast
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh chats with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny.
Linda Dorcena Forry’s bid last year for the 1st Suffolk Senate seat was certainly contentious enough, but once in office, she had to battle for control over one of the spoils of the seat — the right to host the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
Sunday, Dorcena Forry displayed the same mixture of tenacity, sharp elbows and wit that propelled her into office as she led the city and state’s most powerful politicians in the annual roast, which was held Sunday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Standing at the podium amid a sea of mostly white faces, it wasn’t Dorcena Forry’s kelly green dress and blue blazer that made her fit in with the celt-ocracy of Irish pols, it was her biting wit, which she used to good effect.
“Do not adjust your television set,” she said, speaking to the NECN simulcast audience. “There is nothing wrong with the picture on your TV. That is right, everyone. That’s right. I’m a woman!”
Not only is Dorcena Forry the first Haitian American and the first woman to lead the breakfast, she is also the first Dorchester resident as well. Her election to the seat represented a shift in the balance of power in Boston, where politics has long been dominated by the Irish and blacks have played a marginal role at best.
As the city’s Irish population rose in prominence in the 19th and 20th centuries, St. Patrick’s Day became one of the symbols of their political power. Using the day’s proximity to Evacuation Day, the date when Revolutionary War General Henry Knox assembled a battery of cannons on Dorchester Heights (now South Boston), forcing the British to evacuate and end their 11-month siege of Boston, politicians in 1901 created a Suffolk County holiday that did not violate the separation of church and state.
In the ensuing century, the Irish dominated politics in Boston and in the Commonwealth, electing mayors, governors, House speakers and Senate presidents. And South Boston has been the traditional seat of Irish political power.
Even after former 2nd Suffolk District Sen. Dianne Wilkerson re-drew the lines of the 1st Suffolk District to make it majority minority, the Irish continued to dominate, with Jack Hart holding the seat.
Dorcena Forry’s ascent to the seat was with a razor-thin margin of victory over Collins, who was handicapped in the Democratic primary by South Boston businesswoman Maureen Dahill.
After winning the election, Dorcena Forry squared off against City Council President Bill Linehan, who tried unsuccessfully to assert his right to lead the breakfast, even though that has historically been the duty of the 1st Suffolk District senator.
In the end, other South Boston politicians prevailed upon Linehan to back down. Linehan later accepted an invitation to attend a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Limerick, Ireland, where he spent the Monday holiday.
In her role as emcee, Dorcena Forry made light of it all, delicately maintaining a balanced mixture of sharp wit and respect for her former political foes.
State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry and Gov. Deval Patrick share a laugh during the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
“These Southie boys didn’t give this breakfast up without a fight,” Dorcena Forry said, adding that she and Collins had cut a deal.
“Nick’s going to be heading up this year’s Haitian American Unity Parade,” she said, displaying a photoshopped image of Collins at the head of the Mattapan-based parade.
Dorcena Forry’s stewardship of the breakfast provided much of the comedic relief for the event. Collins, Hart and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch all participated with Dorcena Forry in a video depicting the trio attempting to induct her into the culture of South Boston.
In the video, Lynch instructed Dorcena Forry on the use of lawn chairs as parking space savers. Hart took her to Irish step dancing classes. And Collins took her to Kelly’s, a South Boston fast food joint where Dorcena Forry ordered a tofu burger.
The warm, back-slapping humor took on a harder edge in the repartee between Collins and Mayor Martin Walsh, former political allies who parted ways after the state representative alleged Walsh covertly aided Dorcena Forry in her bid for the 1st Suffolk seat, despite his pledge to stay neutral in the race.
Joking about the increased diversity in the room, Collins quipped, “We’ve been serving Bud Light, Coors Light and, for Marty, O’Doul’s Light,” riffing off Walsh’s sobriety. Walsh reminded Collins that his predecessor, former Mayor Thomas Menino, was in office for 20 years.
Dorcena Forry saved her sharpest barbs for Counselor Linnehan.
“This year, he decided to take Evacuation Day literally,” she said, displaying an image of Linehan superimposed on the famous Gilbert Stuart painting of Washington standing on Dorchester Heights to the left of his horse’s rear-end.
“If you can’t see it clearly, that’s Linehan on the left,” she said.
The turnout in the room was more diverse than in years past, with Gov. Deval Patrick, Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, state Sen. Sonia Chang Diaz, state Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez and city councilors Ayanna Pressley, Tito Jackson and Charles Yancey among those seated at the dais.
“I think it really rings in a new era for the city of Boston,” said former state Rep. Marie St. Fleur. “We are a global city and the power structure is finally starting to reflect that.”
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny spoke at the breakfast, underscoring his nation’s commitment to helping Haiti rebuild after its 2010 earthquake, in a nod to Dorcena Forry’s Haitian roots.
Kenny also urged the elected officials present to work toward fixing the nation’s immigration policies.
“America would be the better for it,” he said.
Dorcena Forry elicited laughs with her own request for Kenney.
“There’s an American over in Limerick right now,” she said, alluding to Linehan. “Maybe you can keep him. Because he’s quite the diplomat.”
Political insiders gave Dorcena Forry high marks for her performance in the event, which in past years has lost some of its comedic luster.
“She’s done a beautiful job just being herself and honoring the Irish culture,” said former gubernatorial candidate and political activist Grace Ross.
“It is rare when one experiences a moment where you are keenly aware that a historical shift is occurring, but that certainly did happen this morning,” said Counselor Pressley. “Symbolism does matter, and it was powerful today.”
