[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Pages 455-456]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Remarks at the Speaker's Saint Patrick's Day Luncheon
March 17, 1999
Well, I'd like to say, first of all, Mr. Speaker, thank you for
inviting us here, for a wonderful lunch. We welcome all of our friends
from Northern Ireland and the Republic--[inaudible]--welcome them home.
Father, we thank you for your invocation and for the plug for the
town of my roots. You should know that after--I'm convinced that the
chamber of commerce there encouraged this, because after the invocation
he came over to me and said, ``Don't you ever come back to Ireland
without going there.'' [Laughter] So I thank you.
Taoiseach, Secretary Albright, Secretary Daley, and to all the
Members of Congress. I congratulate Senator Kennedy on his award from
the American Ireland Fund.
The Speaker said something I'd like to pick up on. You know,
normally, at this time of year, for the last several years, John, David,
Gerry, Seamus--somebody's come here and thanked some American for
supporting the Irish peace process. But the truth is that we should all
be thanking you, because it's only when you come here that you bring us
all together--[inaudible]--add to that, to your citation. [Laughter] But
we're very grateful.
Let me also say that we look forward to the day when this will be a
total celebration. What a different year we had this year, Taoiseach,
because of the Good Friday accords. We're grateful that Senator Mitchell
was able to take a leading role--[inaudible]--all you have done. We know
not only in Ireland but, indeed, in other places, that the closer you
get to peace, the more desperate the enemies of peace become. And we
have seen the tragedy of the Omagh bombing. We have seen the tragedy of
the murder of Rosemary Nelson. We just had another loss last night--
[inaudible].
This is perfectly predictable. It happened in the Middle East. I've
seen it happen all over the world. Whenever people in responsible
positions stick their necks out, there's always someone who knows the
best way to rekindle a sense of mistrust necessary to destroy the peace
is to kill someone and focus on violence.
Your presence here today is a strong commitment to the peace process
and therefore gratefully noted. And all I can say is, I think I can
speak for every Member of Congress in this room without regard to party,
for every member of our administration--you know that we feel,
Taoiseach, almost an overwhelming and inexpressible bond to the Irish
people. We want to help all of you succeed. It probably seems meddlesome
sometimes, but we look forward to the day when Irish children will look
at The Troubles as if they were some part of mystic Celtic folklore, and
all of us who were alive during that period will seem like relics of a
bygone history.
We hope we can help you to achieve that. And believe me, all of us
are quite mindful that it is much harder for you--every one of you here
in this room who have been a part of this--than it is for us. We don't
mean to meddle, but we do want to help.
And we've had a lot of great Speakers of the House who were Irish:
McCormack, O'Neill, Foley. I think we ought to rename the Speaker
``O'Hastert'' after--[laughter]--his words today, because they were
right on point.
So you know that across all the gulfs of American politics, we join
in welcoming all of our Irish friends. And right now, I'll ask Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern to take the floor and give us a few remarks.
Thank you, and God bless you.
[[Page 456]]
Note: The President spoke at approximately 12 noon in Room H207 of the
Rayburn House Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to Father
Sean McManus, who gave the invocation; Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of
Ireland; Social Democratic and Labour Party leader John Hume; Ulster
Unionist Party leader David Trimble; Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams; and
Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon, Northern Ireland Assembly.