merrion street

Taoiseach Enda Kenny today attended a St Patrick's Day breakfast hosted by Vice President Joe Biden at the Vice President's Residence in Washington D.C.

At the breakfast, the Taoiseach said:

This year we are 120 years on from when the first immigrant arrived through Ellis Island…. Annie Moore from Cork.... It’s 14 years since the cross-party, cross-community, transatlantic effort that culminated in the Good Friday Agreement. What the much-missed Senator Ted Kennedy back in Derry called the ‘irresistible force that will make the immovable object move’. And if we remember that, who can tell us that anything is impossible for our future?

The Taoiseach also spoke of Ireland's economic recovery:

Yes, we have challenges in Ireland. But we are taking decisions and meeting these challenges head on as a nation. The road ahead is long. But we are resilient and we are equal to the journey. We’ve made steady progress in the last 12 months. Our economy is growing. Bank deposits are returning. Exports are doing well. We are re-asserting our place in the world. And, of course, our relationship with the United States is an integral part of our strategy for sustainable recovery and growth.

Read the Taoiseach's full speech here.