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Remarks by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the American Ireland Fund Gala, March 13

Speech by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the American Ireland Fund Gala, March 13

Introduction

Mr. Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m delighted to be with you tonight. It’s great to see so many friends of Ireland gathered in honour of our national day and St Patrick himself.

As we know every American-Ireland Fund Gala is special.

But I’m sure you’ll all agree that tonight’s is particularly so.

Because tonight we honour a great American, a great Irish man a magnificent friend to Ireland, Vice- President Joe Biden.

But before we do I’m delighted to bring good news from home.

Ireland’s Recovery

Since we met last year Ireland has made considerable progress.

In December we exited the EU/IMF bail-out. Ireland was the first country in Europe to do so. Today our economy is growing. Over 61,000 new jobs created in the past year alone.

In US terms, that would represent an increase of more than five million extra people at work in one year.

What’s more, we have hit our deficit-reduction targets on time every time.

While at the same time, we were able to put the country back on a solid, financial footing.

In January we raised €3.75 billion on the financial markets at a competitive rate

Moody’s decision to upgrade our credit rating sent another clear signal about confidence in Ireland.

Within a remarkably short time of ‘the shock of the fall’ the markets are looking at Ireland and liking what they see.

And that trend continues for us when we look at our competitiveness.

In three years we have regained the competitiveness we lost.

We have reclaimed our reputation as a stable location for investment and jobs.

As you know foreign-direct investment, in particular from the US continues to be a key driver for employment and growth.

In 2013 alone Twitter, EMC, eBay, Facebook, Symantec and Yahoo were among the companies to signal their faith in Ireland and announce major investments.

Yes, Ireland is certainly on the way back.

But this time we’re coming back with an economy based on the soundness of enterprise not the passing mania of speculation.

Tourism

But don’t take my word for it.

Take the example of the eight million people who came home for The Gathering and see for yourselves.

And yes Mr. Vice-President you can make it, eight million and one.

In fact your fellow Americans have been arriving in droves.

Last year over a million visitors from North America arrived across the Atlantic. Beating all previous records.

And there are many here tonight who supported The Gathering who believed in The Gathering and who gave to the Gathering heart and mind and soul.

And to you I say thank you. Go raibh maith agaibh.

We couldn’t have done it without you.

American Ireland Fund & immigration reform

Nor could we do much in many instances without the support of the Ireland Fund.

But it’s not just support, It’s understanding, It’s being, It’s love. Because Ireland’s story is your story.

Therefore it’s America’s story.

For centuries the Irish came here in every generation.

Today you live the future they dreamed of.

When they arrived starved of nourishment or freedom or opportunity they did something fraught risky, They dared to imagine.

And like I told the young graduates in Boston College. In their Commencement ceremony at the ‘Jesuit Ivy’.

It was imagination that made their forbears blind to the fact that it would take so many generations so many lives to make the single life the success, the opportunity you experience today.

To them ‘when’ that success would happen was largely immaterial.

What mattered was that they dared to imagine it would.

In the case of the Biden family, it most certainly did.

Because The Vice President of the United States of America comes from a family of dreamers.

From an island of intention and imagination.

And that same dream, that same intention, that same imagination, exists in the Irish who are making their home and futures here.

Yes, we know immigration reform is a politically-sensitive issue.

But if the world needs a vibrant, growing US economy to continue to lead the way in the 21stcentury, then the US needs those immigrants.

All of the independent surveys show that immigration reform will unlock growth and job creation.

And on the personal level it will help so many Irish immigrants forced to live in the shadows.

They have waited too long for their situations and those of the other 11 million undocumented to be resolved.

A reformed immigration system will drive growth and prosperity from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coasts and every business and town and city in between.

Conclusion

But tonight, we have our own and very special business to conclude.

And that is to celebrate the ties that bind and to honour Vice President Biden, and indeed every one of his family in all the generations that brought him and us to this place.

They are the links in the Human Chain of the late and magnificent Seamus Heaney.

I believe they would be proud of how throughout his career Joe Biden exemplifies the best of the Irish-American tradition.

The call to public service.

Mr Vice President, over the many decades, you have spent in the service of your various publics, you have been a true friend to Ireland.

Your love for the small Atlantic island of your forbears is seen in your commitment to peace and reconciliation among its communities its peoples.

And tonight, Sir, I say to you that with your help, we will reach our goal of a peaceful Ireland prosperous , economically, but equally in heart and mind and spirit.

I wish you, Joe Biden, and all your people, every blessing, happiness and success in the future.

Thank you.

Ends

Introduction

Mr. Vice President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m delighted to be with you tonight. It’s great to see so many friends of Ireland gathered in honour of our national day and St Patrick himself.

As we know every American-Ireland Fund Gala is special.

But I’m sure you’ll all agree that tonight’s is particularly so.

Because tonight we honour a great American, a great Irish man a magnificent friend to Ireland, Vice- President Joe Biden.

But before we do I’m delighted to bring good news from home.

Ireland’s Recovery

Since we met last year Ireland has made considerable progress.

In December we exited the EU/IMF bail-out. Ireland was the first country in Europe to do so. Today our economy is growing. Over 61,000 new jobs created in the past year alone.

In US terms, that would represent an increase of more than five million extra people at work in one year.

What’s more, we have hit our deficit-reduction targets on time every time.

While at the same time, we were able to put the country back on a solid, financial footing.

In January we raised €3.75 billion on the financial markets at a competitive rate

Moody’s decision to upgrade our credit rating sent another clear signal about confidence in Ireland.

Within a remarkably short time of ‘the shock of the fall’ the markets are looking at Ireland and liking what they see.

And that trend continues for us when we look at our competitiveness.

In three years we have regained the competitiveness we lost.

We have reclaimed our reputation as a stable location for investment and jobs.

As you know foreign-direct investment, in particular from the US continues to be a key driver for employment and growth.

In 2013 alone Twitter, EMC, eBay, Facebook, Symantec and Yahoo were among the companies to signal their faith in Ireland and announce major investments.

Yes, Ireland is certainly on the way back.

But this time we’re coming back with an economy based on the soundness of enterprise not the passing mania of speculation.

Tourism

But don’t take my word for it.

Take the example of the eight million people who came home for The Gathering and see for yourselves.

And yes Mr. Vice-President you can make it, eight million and one.

In fact your fellow Americans have been arriving in droves.

Last year over a million visitors from North America arrived across the Atlantic. Beating all previous records.

And there are many here tonight who supported The Gathering who believed in The Gathering and who gave to the Gathering heart and mind and soul.

And to you I say thank you. Go raibh maith agaibh.

We couldn’t have done it without you.

American Ireland Fund & immigration reform

Nor could we do much in many instances without the support of the Ireland Fund.

But it’s not just support, It’s understanding, It’s being, It’s love. Because Ireland’s story is your story.

Therefore it’s America’s story.

For centuries the Irish came here in every generation.

Today you live the future they dreamed of.

When they arrived starved of nourishment or freedom or opportunity they did something fraught risky, They dared to imagine.

And like I told the young graduates in Boston College. In their Commencement ceremony at the ‘Jesuit Ivy’.

It was imagination that made their forbears blind to the fact that it would take so many generations so many lives to make the single life the success, the opportunity you experience today.

To them ‘when’ that success would happen was largely immaterial.

What mattered was that they dared to imagine it would.

In the case of the Biden family, it most certainly did.

Because The Vice President of the United States of America comes from a family of dreamers.

From an island of intention and imagination.

And that same dream, that same intention, that same imagination, exists in the Irish who are making their home and futures here.

Yes, we know immigration reform is a politically-sensitive issue.

But if the world needs a vibrant, growing US economy to continue to lead the way in the 21stcentury, then the US needs those immigrants.

All of the independent surveys show that immigration reform will unlock growth and job creation.

And on the personal level it will help so many Irish immigrants forced to live in the shadows.

They have waited too long for their situations and those of the other 11 million undocumented to be resolved.

A reformed immigration system will drive growth and prosperity from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coasts and every business and town and city in between.

Conclusion

But tonight, we have our own and very special business to conclude.

And that is to celebrate the ties that bind and to honour Vice President Biden, and indeed every one of his family in all the generations that brought him and us to this place.

They are the links in the Human Chain of the late and magnificent Seamus Heaney.

I believe they would be proud of how throughout his career Joe Biden exemplifies the best of the Irish-American tradition.

The call to public service.

Mr Vice President, over the many decades, you have spent in the service of your various publics, you have been a true friend to Ireland.

Your love for the small Atlantic island of your forbears is seen in your commitment to peace and reconciliation among its communities its peoples.

And tonight, Sir, I say to you that with your help, we will reach our goal of a peaceful Ireland prosperous , economically, but equally in heart and mind and spirit.

I wish you, Joe Biden, and all your people, every blessing, happiness and success in the future.

Thank you.