    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 16, 1993]
    [Pages 312-313]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the American Ireland Fund Dinner
    March 16, 1993

        Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for once again participating in
    the great American charade designed to convince people that the
    President has more authority than the Speaker of the House. Now, if I
    were a prime minister, I wouldn't have to worry about that. [Laughter]
    Mr. Prime Minister, it's a delight to welcome you to our Nation's
    Capital, and I look forward to our visit tomorrow. I want to
    congratulate Chairman O'Reilly. Let me ask you: Do you like the purple?
    [Laughter] I want you to understand that is not royal purple. That is a
    substitute, because he made the ultimate sacrifice; he gave his
    President the green.
        I want to thank all those who worked so hard to make this dinner
    successful. It's often remarked that on St. Patrick's Day we're all
    Irish, or we wish we were. I am actually part Irish, and I have often
    been accused of having a certain gift for blarney--[laughter]--although
    those were not the words used last year when that was said. I'm glad to
    see Senator Kennedy and Congressman Kennedy and Mrs. Smith in the
    audience. But, you know, President Kennedy was the first Irish Catholic
    to become President. But though a Baptist from Arkansas, I'm the first
    graduate of a Catholic university to become President. I'm glad to see
    Father O'Donovan out there, my president, of Georgetown. Thank you.
        As a younger man, I went through a period of intense uncertainty
    about whether I should pursue a career in music or a career in politics.
    I was happy to learn that the Prime Minister, whom you affectionately
    called the Taoiseach--you know, I want the Members of the Congress to
    learn that. I like that, the chieftain. It has a good feeling.
    [Laughter] He's been an exponent of one of Ireland's most popular forms
    of native music, country and western. I'm glad he pursued his political
    career in Ireland, because if he had chosen to come to Arkansas, he
    might have defeated me with that sort of background. [Laughter] You
    know, Irish music has made almost as much of a contribution to modern
    life as Irish politicians, from the Chieftains to Phil Coulter to Van
    Morrison to that wonderful group U-2 that played such a major role in
    trying to get the young people in America to go and vote. The first time
    I heard that their lead singer was named Bono, I asked what his last
    name was. Then I found out he didn't

    [[Page 313]]

    have a last name. Then, after I spent an hour with him, I discovered he
    didn't need one. [Laughter]
        You know, there are 44 million Americans of Irish descent, that is,
    those who are telling the truth and those who lie, which qualifies
    them--[laughter]--who have contributed immeasurably to every sphere of
    our life. In fact, the house that I now live in, which either makes me
    the resident of America's finest public housing or, as some of my
    critics say, the crown jewel of the Federal penal system, was designed
    by James Hoban, a famous Irishman who designed the White House based on
    a model of a magnificent house in Ireland.
        I thought I would tell you this, for those of you who don't know,
    since President Kennedy once said at a dinner of Nobel laureates that it
    was the most distinguished array of brainpower ever gathered in the
    White House since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone. [Laughter] James
    Hoban defeated Thomas Jefferson for the design of the White House.
    Jefferson submitted anonymously a design for the White House, and the
    people making the decision, basically George Washington and a few of his
    friends, concluded that Hoban was superior to Jefferson. [Laughter]
        President Kennedy said that ``Here on Earth, God's work is truly our
    own.'' Whenever I'm asked to speak in a church I say that. It captured
    for me, more than anything else, what the essence of public service is
    about. The American Ireland Foundation embodies that phrase as well as
    any group of Americans: offering hope and opportunity to all the people
    of Ireland; promoting peace, reconciliation, and common enterprise
    between Catholics and Protestants, nationalists and unionists; and
    promoting cultural activities, community development, employment
    opportunities in health care and counseling. I am absolutely delighted,
    I must say, that the Government of Ireland is now providing a site, an
    historic castle, for the new Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children
    with life-threatening diseases. I'm glad to see Paul Newman and Joanne
    Woodward here tonight, and I can tell you that Hillary and I visited the
    Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut a couple of years ago, and I
    was moved beyond words by what I saw there. And I thank everyone who is
    responsible for giving the children of Ireland this remarkable
    opportunity.
        The American Ireland Fund is doing in Ireland what we are trying to
    do here in the United States: to offer opportunity, to encourage
    responsibility, to reknit the social fabric badly frayed by the
    pressures of modern life, and to restore a sense of community without
    which it is difficult for people to proceed with their individual and
    family lives. I'm proud to support your work because it's important,
    it's an inspiration, it's a lesson for all of us, not only for those who
    are Irish all year long but for those who are just Irish for 24 hours a
    year.
        I thank the Irish Americans who have worked with me, particularly in
    the last 16 months, to try to help me learn more about Ireland, as well
    as about the problems and promise of Irish Americans here at home, and I
    look forward to working with all of you in the days and weeks and years
    ahead. I hope that we will always be able to bring to our labors the
    remarkable spirit I sense in this room tonight, and never lose the sense
    of humor which has become so associated with this wonderful holiday.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:43 p.m. at the Capital Hilton. In his
    remarks, he referred to Anthony J.F. O'Reilly, chairman, American
    Ireland Fund.