[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 11 (Monday, March 24, 2008)]
[Pages 390-391]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of 
Ireland

March 17, 2008

    President Bush. Taoiseach, welcome, and happy Saint Patrick's Day. 
It's always a joy to welcome the Taoiseach here to the Oval Office. And 
it's a reminder of the unbelievably powerful influence the Irish have 
had on the development and prosperity of the United States of America. 
We're a richer country because of Irish Americans. And, Mr.

[[Page 391]]

Prime Minister, Ireland is a great friend and ally, and I want to thank 
you for your friendship over these years.
    We discussed a variety of issues. In particular, we talked about 
Northern Ireland. And the Taoiseach gets a lot of credit for showing a 
steady hand during a difficult period. And yet, as a result of 
perseverance and hard work, Northern Ireland is a different place than 
it was last year. And we congratulate the leaders there. And I just want 
the folks to know, what I told the Taoiseach is true, that the United 
States will continue to stay engaged and will be very supportive of 
helping the process move forward.
    And there's more work to be done, we fully understand, in Northern 
Ireland. But also, there's a really interesting chance for people from 
our country to see the investment opportunities available in Northern 
Ireland. And this May, there's a Northern Ireland investment conference, 
which the United States will strongly support. And Taoiseach, like I 
told you, we'll send a strong delegation to look at the opportunities 
available there.
    So thanks for coming. Thanks for your friendship. And once again, 
happy Saint Patrick's Day.
    Prime Minister Ahern. Thank you very much, President. And I want to 
thank the President. It's the eighth year that he's afforded us an 
opportunity of representing the Irish people here. And as always, we've 
had a very fruitful discussion on a range of issues, and obviously 
important to me is the ongoing process in Northern Ireland. And the 
President and his people have been really helpful as we move now to the 
remaining issue, the evolution of policing, which we've discussed.
    And the investment conference, which is just around the corner--it's 
a--I've said it several times before: The investment conference is a--
really a one-off chance, an opportunity for Northern Ireland to bring 
some of the big investors of the world to see the opportunities that are 
there, the opportunities that they had not had a chance of being able to 
get any benefit from for the last 30 or 40 years. And now they have 
that. And I think it will show Northern Ireland is a place with well-
educated people, hard-working people, people who are good at business if 
given a half a chance.
    And it is hugely important to us that in the organization of this 
that the President has helped both the British Government and the Irish 
Government to get this together. We've gone through that today, and I 
think the--[inaudible]--of the President to make sure that there's a 
high-powered delegation to United States is hugely helpful. I want to 
thank the President for that.
    And I also want to thank him for the assistance that he's given to 
us on a range of issues that we've had an opportunity of talking about.
    President Bush. Thank you, Bertie. Thanks for coming.

Note: The President spoke at 11:10 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.