Even before his switch, Ireland had worn his party ties so loosely that Speaker Tip O'Neill mused that Ireland "wasn't much of a Democrat anyway." Future Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, who was a staffer in Ireland's office at the time and switched parties soon after his boss, said that he and Ireland were classic examples of Reagan Democrats who became Republicans–"a southern conservative and a young northeastern ethnic Catholic who no longer felt comfortable in the party of their heritage."
Before his shift, Ireland had tied himself so loosely to the Democratic Party that Speaker Tip O'Neill thought "Ireland wasn't much of a Democrat." Ed Gillespie, who worked for Ireland at the time and switched parties shortly after him, considered them examples of Reagan Democrats–"a southern conservative and a young northeastern ethnic Catholic who no longer felt part of their heritage party."