Mr. President, it is my great privilege to extend to you on my own behalf and on behalf of all the Members of Dáil Éireann — the Irish House of Representatives — and Seanad Éireann, a most warm Irish welcome, in terms of a hearty céad míle fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes to you, your charming wife, Hilary, and indeed all the members of your entourage.
You come to us as a true and valued friend of the Irish race, the illustrious leader of the greatest nation on earth, dedicated to peace and justice throughout the world and, to a large extent, carrying on your shoulders the burdens of suffering humanity. We are deeply honoured by your presence here today, my ardent hope is that your brief stay with us will be very happy and successful and that the warmth of this Irish welcome will remain with you and yours long, long after this great event has passed into history.
On a light note, Mr. President, I want very much to assure you that my role as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, i.e. Speaker of the Irish House of Representatives, is very much different from that of the Speaker of your House of Representatives. I have not yet been given the power to control the budget here or direct matters appertaining to health and welfare but I am learning fast, and hope springs eternal. In the meantime the Government here is quite safe.
By addressing our Parliament today Mr. President, you are following in the footsteps of two of your illustrious predecessors, the late President John F. Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan. You stand on the exact same spot in this Chamber as they did on those momentous occasions in 1963 and 1984, respectively, at which I had the honour to be present. These were occasions of immense pride of race, of blood and kinship, of achievement and great hope for the future. So this is not an ordinary occassion; it is for us one of a thousand poignant memories. It is an occasion unique as an event in Irish history and an international event of inestimable value in remembering the close bonds which exist between Ireland and America. America: "She of the open soul and open door with room about her hearth for all mankind", so beautifully summed up in the words of the American poet, J. R. Lowell.
You have come to us from your historic visit to Northern Ireland at a time, the first in 25 years, when the country as a whole has experienced peace for over the past 16 months. You, Mr. President, have taken upon yourself the role of peacemaker, not alone in Ireland but in many other parts of the world, and you have done so with great success. Your Herculean endeavours have won for you the praise and gratitude of all civilised people. God grant that your endeavours for peace and reconciliation in Ireland will be crowned with great success. Peace is a very delicate flower which needs to be nurtured and developed most carefully. Here I am reminded of the words of the late President, J. F. Kennedy: "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind". I deem it pertinent at this time to say that it was that same great Irish-American statesman, our beloved John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who also said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable". Such are the lessons of history.
In our quest for peace in Ireland, it is good to know that we have the support of the leader of the most powerful democracy in the world, President Bill Clinton, who is happily with us today. The Parliament and the people of Ireland salute you, Mr. President, and it is, therefore, with a heart full of gratitude and pride that I now invite you to address your eager audience.