    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [March 17, 1995]
    [Pages 371-372]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Saint Patrick's Day Reception
    March 17, 1995

        Is the microphone on? Now it is. Taoiseach and Mrs. Bruton, let me
    say again, welcome to the White House. Ceade mile failte.
        We have been breaking out the green for many years on St. Patrick's
    Day, but this is truly an historic St. Patrick's Day. For the first time
    we have invited leaders of all the major political groups from Northern
    Ireland to join us, and I am delighted that so many are here tonight.
    Those who take risks for peace are always welcome under this roof.
        President Kennedy, with his marvelous Irish understatement, once
    pointed out, and I quote, ``The observance of St. Patrick's Day is
    almost as old in America as the Irish themselves. And some say they
    arrived in the 6th century.'' Actually, the first recorded mention of
    St. Patrick in America was in 1636, when an Irish ship bearing that name
    sailed into, where else, Boston Harbor. It, however, did not receive a
    warm welcome. The Puritans were not well disposed toward the Catholics,
    but as history shows, it was only a temporary setback as--[laughter].
        During the Revolutionary conflict, George Washington even paid his
    own compliment to the holiday in 1776. On March 17th, he ordered that
    the password of the day be ``Boston,'' and the response, ``St.
    Patrick.'' By the way, the Colonies' general at that time was a
    Sullivan.
        A few months later, at least a dozen Irishmen signed the Declaration
    of Independence, and another, Mr. Dunlap of Philadelphia, printed the
    Declaration for the first time. He also lost the original copy.
    [Laughter] But that setback, too, was temporary because the Irish knew
    then how to back winners.
        The Irish first became a force in our politics in the 1790's when
    they supported Thomas Jefferson. To their eternal credit, many of their
    descendants have seen fit to back his Democratic descendants in the
    years since. Taoiseach, as you know, I am on my mother's side Irish; her
    name was Cassidy. What you may not know was that the decisive battle for
    the nomination for President in 1992 was in Illinois and Michigan on St.
    Patrick's Day.
        It is said that Ireland's greatest export is its people. No country
    has benefited more from that export, Catholic and Protestant, than the
    United States. These two traditions have been intertwined, and together
    have contributed immensely to our success as a nation and to our
    greatness as a people. More than a dozen Presidents descended from Irish
    ancestors, from Andrew Jackson, the son of immigrants from Carrickfergus
    near Belfast who was our first President of Irish-Protestant heritage,
    to John Kennedy, the great-grandson of a cooper who left County Wexford
    and was our first Irish-Catholic President. I might say we're honored to
    have his sister as our Ambassador to Ireland and his brother and two of
    his nephews in the United States Congress today. They're now seeking to
    expand their stranglehold; one of his nieces is the Lieutenant Governor
    of Maryland. The next thing you know they'll insist on a position on
    every city council in America. They have enough relatives to fill that.
    [Laughter]
        In the fight for our independence and in the fight to preserve our
    Union, there were Irishmen from both traditions serving side by side in
    all-Irish units. In both wars, they were among the most feared warriors.
    They put freedom over faction, and they helped to build our Nation.
        Finley Peter Dunne, the great Irish-American humorist, wrote that a
    fanatic is someone who is sure God would be on his side if only He knew
    all the facts. [Laughter] Today, with good humor but complete
    seriousness, I urge all our guests from Northern Ireland and all the
    parties concerned to put aside all extremism for the common good of
    peace.
        The Prime Minister of Ireland and the Prime Minister of Great
    Britain, at no inconsiderable risk to themselves, have paved the way to
    a new era of peace. I urge all of you to follow that path. The tough
    tasks of compromise still lie ahead. The hard, unending work of
    democracy is never easy. Even here, after all these years, two centuries
    of it, we still have our difficulties from time to time, living with
    those who differ from us. But as you work to forge a new future, free of
    violence, free of intimidation, with the participation of all the people
    of Northern Ireland, the United States will stand by you.
        American has received so many gifts from Ireland, so many people who
    have enriched our

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    Nation, people who continue to come to the present day. We perhaps have
    many to give back. Some are perhaps financial in nature, but maybe the
    most important thing we could give to Ireland and, indeed, to a very
    troubled world today is the example of what is possible when people find
    unity and strength in their diversity.
        We know from our own hard experience, from the blood we have shed on
    our own land, from the struggles we have been engaged in for a long time
    and the joys that we draw every day from the increasing diversity of our
    people, that strength can be drawn from differences, differences which
    are celebrated, respected, appreciated. That kind of strength can build
    a future worthy of all the people of Northern Ireland.
        Tonight our hopes and our prayers are with all the people of Ireland
    and especially with you, Mr. Prime Minister, and with your fine wife and
    your family. We loved having you here. We love every St. Patrick's Day,
    but this one especially we will remember above the rest.
        Thank you. Godspeed.

    Note: The President spoke at 10 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House.