Brendan Boyle could make a future US Presidential bid

Congressman Brendan Boyle, the son of a Glencolmcille man, has not ruled out contesting a US Presidential election in the future.

The 46-year-old was re-elected to represent Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district last November. He leads the Democrats on the House Budget Committee and was first elected to Congress in 2014.

Mr Boyle delivered the John Hume Lecture at the 2023 MacGill Summer School on Thursday night. Mr Boyle appeared virtually from the United States.

As part of a Q&A after his address, Mr Boyle, a strong supporter of US President Joe Biden who has risen swiftly himself, was asked of his own aspirations in relation to a Presidential bid.

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“I would make history if I became the first Presidential candidate to announce it at the MacGill Summer School,” Mr Boyle said, stressing that he remains a very strong supporter of President Biden ahead of the next election in late 2024.

“Once we go beyond this election, I don’t rule anything out for the future.

“If I have learned anything about American politics over the last 15 years or so. . . . Think about it:  who was predicting 20 years ago when George W Bush had won re-election, that the very next President would be an African-American with the middle name Hussein?

“And who was predicting that, eight years later, he would be succeeded by a failing reality tv star (Donald Trump) who was such a bad businessman that he couldn’t make money running a casino?

“I will not rule anything out about my future. I am a big believer in just doing the job I’m doing and doing it well and those other opportunities naturally arise.”

A section of the crowd at the MacGill Summer School on Thursday. (North West Newspix)

His father, Francis, left Glencolmcille at the age of 19 in 1970 and worked a janitor on Philadelphia's rail transit system while his mother’s roots are in Sligo and Mayo. Prior to leaving Glen, one of the last works assignments Fancis Boyle had was as a teenage labourer on the construction of the Glencolmcille Folk Village.

Mr Boyle and his father had hoped to return to Donegal this summer, but a family obligation necessitated their stay in Philadelphia.

“As a proud descendant of Donegal myself, just how proud i am that such a robust organisation exists in Glenties, Donegal,” he told the MacGill Summer School.

Mr Boyle outlined his pride in his south west Donegal roots.

The well travelled Congressman noted how he has been to around 30 counties, but said: “I will take the beach and the Strand in Glencolmcille and put it against anywhere in the world in terms of beauty.”