Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fionnuala and I appreciate the honour you bestow on the Irish people today and we are honoured to be here in the White House on this St Patrick’s Day.
I want to thank you for your hospitality to the Irish people, and those of Irish descent here in the United States, who are represented here this evening.
I want to thank you, President Obama, and Vice-President Biden, for your friendship and support for Ireland, North and South.
When we met in the Oval office this morning, we had the opportunity to discuss the progress that we are making in our economic recovery, through the perseverance and determination of the Irish people.
The United States remains our most important economic partner and the support of the US has been critical to the progress we are making.
The improvement that the US economy is making under your leadership is essential, not only to jobs and growth in the United States, but also to Ireland’s recovery and growth throughout the global economy.
I want to thank you in particular, Mr President for the work you are doing to achieve immigration reform and in particular for the Executive Actions you announced in November. The undocumented Irish represent a small proportion of the 11 million people affected by this issue across the United States.
But I can tell you that almost every family in Ireland is related to or knows someone who is caught up in this deeply distressing situation.
Any progress that will allow our undocumented to come out of the shadows and be free to travel home for family events, would be very welcome.
We also want to see a legal pathway for the future for Irish people to make their contribution here if they so choose. I can assure you this evening that we will continue to add our voice to the many calling on this Congress to pass immigration reform without further delay.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I also want to acknowledge and thank you for your ongoing support and engagement in our peace process. Northern Ireland has been transformed through the implementation of the Good Friday Peace Agreement.
Huge steps have been taken. But the work of building a shared future, bringing an end to sectarianism and division and ensuring that future generations grow in mutual respect and tolerance, is still a work in progress.
The Stormont House Agreement reached in December is a welcome further step forward and I want to publicly acknowledge the role of Senator Gary Hart as your representative, in helping the parties reach agreement.
As we have seen in recent days, implementation can be the hardest part of any agreement. I urge the Northern Ireland parties to do all they can to ensure that the current roadblock is overcome and that the agreement can be implemented in full.
We appreciate your ongoing engagement and support and that of all our friends in Irish America as we continue to build permanent peace and reconciliation on the island.
In your Selma speech you said that the march is not over. I agree with that sentiment. Nor can it be until democratically elected politicians decide to make decisions that are of benefit to all. As you said on the conclusion of the Stormont Agreement “where there is courage and a will” that these changes can happen.
In Ireland, we are in a decade of commemorations, marking the hundredth anniversary of the tumultuous events that resulted in our independence.
Next year we will commemorate the anniversary of the 1916 Rising in Ireland and around the globe, including a major festival here in Washington at the Kennedy Center.
This year is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great poet WB Yeats. We will be marking that in many events throughout the year in Ireland, here in the US and around the world.
To mark that anniversary, Mr President, this year the Shamrock bowl is engraved with one of his most famous and most beautiful poems, “He wishes for the Cloth of Heaven”
Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Phádraig daoibh go léir – Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.
ENDS