St. Patrick’s Day Lunch Hosted by Speaker Boehner, Capitol Hill

Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr. President

Mr. Vice-President

First Minister Robinson and Deputy First Minister McGuinness

Secretary of State Paterson

Chairman King

Congressman Neal

Distinguished Members and guests

On behalf of Fionnuala and myself, and our delegation, I thank you most sincerely for the warm welcome which you have extended to us today.

I am very grateful also to President Obama and to Vice-President Biden for the gracious welcome they have extended to us this morning, and for joining us at this very special occasion.

I hear that it has been very busy here over recent weeks, and I hope that this American tradition, along with some Irish good luck, will inspire and guide you all in the challenges before you!

I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your recent election, and on the personal journey which led you to this distinguished Office.

Many of our predecessors have taken part in this unique occasion on Capitol Hill, since President Ronald Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill held their first St. Patrick’s Day lunch, bringing a unique bipartisan spirit to our National Day.

This year, we recognise the 100th birthday of President Reagan, another son of Illinois and a great Irish-American.

And we recall the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of his illustrious predecessor, another great Irish-American, President John F Kennedy.

Their achievements represent the pinnacle of the huge contribution of the Irish to America, and of America to the peace and prosperity of Europe and the world.

Their stories speak more eloquently for the strength and value of our relationship than I could ever hope to.

America has given so much to our country.

Leaders from North and South in Ireland know just how much we owe to the United States for the role which it has played in bringing peace to Ireland.

Our peace process serves as a true model for US diplomacy and leadership around the world. As you know, Mr. Speaker, it is a process that has been supported, through some very turbulent and difficult days, on a bipartisan basis, by President Obama and his predecessors and on both sides of the aisle here in the Congress of the United States.

Later this month, the Northern Ireland Assembly will have its final session before the democratic election to be held in May.

This will be the first time in the history of Ireland that a power-sharing administration, with full powers over a wide range of areas including policing and justice, will have run a full term.

That is a historic achievement that should inspire us all to believe that change is possible and the highest barriers can be overcome.

On behalf of all the people of Ireland let me again therefore say “thank you” for America’s role in bringing peace to Ireland.

Let me also recognise the continuing great work in our cause of the new Chairman of the Friends of Ireland, Peter King, as well as his predecessor, Richie Neal.

I would also like to send my best wishes to another esteemed member of the United States Congress, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, to her husband Captain Mark Kelly, and her family.

As we celebrate our shared democratic tradition, they are especially in our thoughts today.

Mr Speaker,

It was a moment of great pride for me to walk up the steps of this great Capitol building a few moments ago.

I know that I follow in the footsteps of successive Irish leaders, arriving here for the first time as Taoiseach.

I thought not only of the historic occasions shared by previous leaders, however.

I also carried in my heart the story of a man called James McGinley.

He was a lighthouse keeper on the Atlantic west coast of Ireland.

Cross the Atlantic, and he was the first and last Irishman, the first and last European.

Whatever the weather, he had to keep the light burning.

People depended on him for their lives.

James McGinley was my grandfather.

I think of him today, and I think of all of the ordinary hard-working people of Ireland and of America.

I think of the generations of Irish people who crossed the Atlantic to make a better life and who helped to build up this country.

I think of the hands, many of them Irish, that built – and rebuilt – this unique building which houses the House and Senate today.

I think of the debt we owe to them.

But most of all, I think of the responsibility we owe to this generation and to our children.

To keep them safe.

To guide them to a better place.

To give them a chance for a brighter future.

We know the setbacks that Ireland has suffered as country.

But the resilience of Irish men and women over the generations is well-known.

The resilience of this generation of Irish women and men is just as strong, and their determination just as fierce, as the generations who came here over the centuries to help shape America.

On my first week in office, on our national day, my fervent hope today is that by our actions, our new Government can match the ambitions of Daniel Webster, inscribed in this great building:

“ Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up
its institutions, promote all its great interests and see whether we also
in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered ”

I take great inspiration from your welcome and your friendship on this St Patrick’s Day.

It is immensely important for me to have this opportunity to visit the United States – our greatest friend – at this time and to say, and say again, that America will always have a true friend in Ireland.

Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Phádraig.

Happy St Patrick’s Day to you all.

Thank you.