Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen,
A chairde.
The last time I was at this dinner – in March 2020 – you may recall, I was called away suddenly to receive the terrible news that an oncoming storm had hit Ireland, a pandemic that was about to engulf this country as well as the entire world. The next day, from the steps of Blair House, I announced that schools would close and Ireland would begin to go into lockdown. A lot has happened since then, many people have suffered. Still, it is good to be back in person and hopefully, I’ll get to stay for the whole evening this year.
Thank you, Caitriona, for your kind words, and thank you Kaitlin for hosting tonight’s dinner.
I want to begin tonight’s speech by quoting from Hamilton. Not Alexander, but Edith, the American classical scholar whose grandfather was an Irish migrant to the US and whose works inspired President Kennedy and his brother, Robert, through some of their most difficult times.
Learning from ancient history, Edith Hamilton observed that the light of freedom shone brightest when it was threatened with extinction by the forces of darkness.
Another of your former Presidents, Ronald Reagan, shared a similar understanding of why we fight every day to preserve our freedom and the freedom of others. He liked to remind his listeners that the greatest lesson from world history was that those ‘who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again’.
In the United States these principles are self-evident and transcend any political division.
It is why we join tonight to honour two people who bring these values to their work in the House and in the Senate - the Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and the Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer.
Thank you for all that you do promoting the great partnership between our two countries, one that goes both ways and which brings multiple benefits to our people, our economies, and our societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
A special welcome also to the new US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs. In Joseph Kennedy III we have a friend who understands how fragile and precious peace can be, and the courage and vigilance that is needed to make it last.
We are also joined tonight by the former President of Ireland, and Chairperson of the Elders, Mary Robinson, who does so much to raise awareness in the fight for the future of our planet. We must be the generation that turns the tide against climate change and biodiversity loss.
The team at the Ireland Funds deserve a massive thank you for staging this wonderful event every year. Tonight I want to salute the Funds President and CEO, Caitriona Fottrell, the Vice Chairperson, Shaun Kelly, as well as Susan Davis and everyone else involved.
As you know, this dinner has been at the centre of the celebrations of Irishness in Washington DC for over 30 years and has helped turn St. Patrick’s Day into an entire week! Know that your work encourages, celebrates and strengthens the bonds between Ireland and the United States.
Ireland is a country transformed and you have helped make that transformation possible, by advancing culture, education, and community development on the island of Ireland, and among Irish communities around the world. And, most importantly of all, your steadfast support for peace and reconciliation.
I believe that no organisation has been as effective as the Ireland Funds in harnessing the deep sense of connection and kinship among Irish-Americans and most importantly translating this special commitment into practical support and real outcomes.
600 million dollars, 3,200 organisations, and hundreds of thousands of lives improved. You are making a real difference for Ireland, North and South. Providing new hope and freedom from fear.
Ukraine
Others in the world are not so fortunate. This year, when we celebrate St Patrick’s Day in Ireland we do so with 75,000 Ukrainians who have fled the war and are with us in communities, homes, workplaces and schools throughout the country.
Our empathy for Ukrainian people is shaped by our own traumatic history. We are a small country, but we will always be a beacon for liberty because we know that an attack on the freedom of one, is an attack on the freedom of all.
We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Because it is the right thing to do, and because it is true to our history and our values.
In the last century, America stood against fascism and then communism. In this century, once again, America leads the free world in the battle to defend democracy and freedom in Europe against imperialism. Thank you for that.
Tonight we also recognise the immense sacrifices the people of Ukraine are making in their brave defence of liberty and democracy and we honour their courage in the fight between freedom and tyranny.
We will work with the international community, including our partners here in the United States, to make sure that those responsible for Russia’s brutal and immoral war are defeated and held to account.
Brian Donnelly Tribute
Friends, A chaired, I don’t want this evening to pass without paying tribute to someone who was one the founding Friends of Ireland, and who died recently, Congressman Brian Donnelly.
We remember and honour Brian’s contribution to the Northern Ireland Peace Process, and for giving so many young Irish people the chance to live and work in the United States.
In Ireland, his name will forever be associated with the fondly remembered ‘Donnelly visa’. And I know some people in this room were beneficiaries of that scheme.
Tonight, we send our thoughts to his family as we honour his patriotism, his life of public service, and everything he did to advance Irish-American relations.
Good Friday Agreement
As you know, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a moment when the island of Ireland agreed to create a new future based on peace, powersharing and respect.
This remarkable achievement took real political leadership – and a vision that was not afraid of compromise - and it allowed us to break the cycle of violence that had ravaged the island of Ireland for 30 years. A new generation of young people were given the freedom to dream big dreams for the first time.
It would never have been possible without the support of our friends here in the United States, including some of the people in this room. In many ways, America is the thirds co-guarantor of the Agreement.
Twenty-five years on, Northern Ireland is a very different place. It has its problems and has yet to live up to the full promise of Good Friday 1998 but it is unquestioningly a much better place than it was and there are so many opportunities available to young people that were unimaginable for too long.
We want to build on these achievements, and create a permanent legacy of prosperity, freedom and hope.
This noble mission is helped significantly by the work of the Ireland Funds.
We have more to do. Many communities still live apart – separated by enormous ‘peace walls’ in some instances – and many children are educated in schools where they rarely meet anyone from a different community. We made the peace, and now we have to make it real and enduring by building new communities of hope that interact much more.
Despite all the progress, key institutions under the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland – the Assembly, the Executive and the North/South Bodies are still not meeting.
I welcome and endorse the recent agreement between the EU and the UK, the Windsor Framework which amends the protocol to make life easier for citizens and businesses in Northern Ireland.
As people give careful thought and reflection to their response, I hope that they take the path that leads towards the restoration of the institutions.
People in Northern Ireland want the people they elected to office, working to find solutions to the most pressing matters – health, housing, the cost-of-living, economic development.
I believe that Northern Ireland is well-positioned to take advantage from the unique position it finds itself in of having access to the UK as well as the EU Single Market.
Conclusion
In this St. Patrick’s Week, let us remember that peace in Northern Ireland is one of the greatest and most significant success stories in American foreign policy.
At critical junctures, the intervention of the United States drove the process forward – sometimes with words of encouragement, sometimes with a more assertive shove!
Support from both sides of the aisle was equally strong and robust.
Whatever the crisis, whenever the help of the United States was requested, it was given.
I believe the best way of celebrating a quarter of a century of peace on the island of Ireland, is by seizing this opportunity to make it a shining example to the world of what can be achieved when hope overcomes fear.
Your ongoing commitment - from Congress, and from the White House to the State House - is transforming lives in Northern Ireland.
With the Ireland Funds, you are protecting peace and promoting equality and opportunity on the island of Ireland.
We are writing the story of peace together.
But instead of thinking about finding an ending, let’s work to create a new beginning. One of many for all our people. A new freedom. A new peace. A new hope.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh go léir.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.
And thank you.
ENDS.