For a decade and more, Irish American Bostonians Mayor Marty Walsh and his chief corporate counsel, Eugene O’Flaherty, have been inseparable.

They served together first in the Massachusetts State House, Walsh representing the fiercely Irish Dorchester area, his fellow Democrat the strongly working-class Chelsea district. But when Walsh stepped down from the State House to fight the 2013 mayoral election, O’Flaherty moved in lock-step with him.

And, after a barnstorming campaign and when the son of Connemara immigrants moved into the mayor’s office in Boston City Hall, O’Flaherty, whose Kerry roots define him, went along for the journey as Chief Corporation Counsel to the City of Boston.  

So close was their professional and political relationship, that the Boston Globe dubbed O’Flaherty as “Walsh’s Rock."

As well as overseeing the rise and rise of Boston during the Walsh tenure, the pair pioneered links to Ireland including the inking of a sister city agreement with Belfast.

Now, as Walsh swaps the title of mayor for that of United States Secretary of Labor in the Biden administration and boards the Amtrak train for Washington D.C., he is likely to find his compatriot in the next carriage and also heading to the capital -  though this time their paths will part.

For today (Wednesday), John Ballard Partners, one of the top lobbying firms in the U.S., will announce that Eugene O’Flaherty is joining their team.
He will serve alongside a roster of former high-ranking Democratic officials in the Ballard Washington office — a sign of the changing priorities in D.C.

“Gene’s leadership role with the City of Boston, his knowledge of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and his outstanding service as a top legislator in the Massachusetts House of Representatives significantly expands our firm’s reach and capabilities,” said Brian Ballard, the firm’s founder.

“I fully plan on bringing the principles and priorities I’ve championed since 1997 in the Massachusetts Legislature and at Boston City Hall with me to this new role in Washington, D.C. and that has at the top of the list the partnerships we’ve forged with Ireland and Irish America,” O'Flaherty told the Echo.