14 Aib 2023, 09:16
President Biden, Taoiseach, Tánaiste, Minister Ryan, Opposition Party and Group Leaders, Secretaries of State, Blinken and Vilsack, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, Members of Both Houses, MEPs, MLAs, MPs, Members of the Biden Family and Distinguished Guests.
A Uachtaráin Biden, tá fáilte mhór romhat go Teach Laighean, ionad ár bparlaiminte náisiúnta. Is lá stairiúil agus lá mór bróid dúinn go léir an lá seo.
President Biden, you are most welcome to Leinster House, the home of our national parliament. This is a very proud and historic day for us all.
It is a day we have looked forward to since your election as the 46th President of the United States just over two years ago.
Today, you do us the honour of addressing our Joint Sitting. The fourth time the Houses have been addressed by a US president.
Almost sixty years ago, on the 28th June 1963, in a very different world and a very different Ireland, the late President John F. Kennedy addressed the Houses and inspired our people. It is particularly fitting therefore that you should address us so close to that anniversary.
Today we acknowledge the presence in Ireland of his grand-nephew Joseph Kennedy III, the new US economic envoy to Northern Ireland and we wish him every success in his important role of supporting peace and prosperity.
While all previous Presidential addresses have been of major significance, today’s is like no other because amongst an extensive list of distinguished guests we are joined by:
our former President Mary McAleese;
former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement;
former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, a fellow Mayo man and a close personal friend of yours.
Joining us also is the former President of Sinn Fein and a former Member of this House, Gerry Adams, who played such a key role in the Good Friday Agreement negotiations.
From north of the Border we also welcome:
Alex Maskey, Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly;
Michelle O’Neill, the Northern Leader of Sinn Fein;
Colum Eastwood MP, Leader of the SDLP and a successor of the great John Hume, Noble Peace Laureate and an initiator of the Good Friday Agreement; and
Naomi Long, Leader of the very progressive and growing Alliance Party.
I extend a special welcome to Ms Marie Devlin, whose late husband Seamus Heaney is a favourite poet of yours Mr President, and of ours, a Noble Prize winner and one of our great literary treasures. Seamus would have been 84 today and I’m sure he is looking down on us with his glasses nestled between his fingers and a hint of a smile.
From the Diplomatic Corps I warmly welcome:
US Ambassador Clare Cronin and
her Irish counterpart in Washington, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason;
two outstanding women who have done our two countries proud.
We are joined too by:
the Dean of the Diplomatic Corp, the Moroccan Ambassador to Ireland.
The representatives of the European Commission and Parliament, Jonathan Claridge and Fionnuala Croker;
our dear friend and near neighbour Paul Johnson, Ambassador of the United Kingdom.
May I extend a very special welcome to the much admired Ukrainian Ambassador, Larisa Gerasko, who above all else represents the nearly 80,000 displaced Ukrainian citizens now resident in Ireland.
With the greatest of respect Mr President, I must say you sure can draw a crowd! Perhaps afterwards you might give me some hints on how to ensure such a good attendance around here on Thursday afternoons!!!!
President Biden, today you are amongst friends because you are one of us.
You often speak of your Irish roots with great pride and affection especially your ancestors from Louth and Mayo. The story of Ireland is inextricably linked to emigration and in many ways, you personify it.
From the Famine times through to today, so many people left these shores in search of a better life in the United States and a remarkable 33 million Americans now claim Irish ancestry.
The signatories of the 1916 Proclamation said that this very Republic came into being with the support of “its exiled children in America”. And how true that was.
Down through the years our exiles supported Ireland economically and politically, and never forgot the families they left behind.
All through your political career, Mr President, you too have been a faithful and supportive friend of Ireland. You have been there, to quote the well-known song, “in sunshine or in shadow”. So, on this historic occasion — your Homecoming — we warmly welcome you back to your roots. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for all you have done, and continue to do, for us here in Ireland.
The Ireland you are visiting this week is a multicultural, progressive nation benefitting enormously from an inflow of immigrants who have arrived on our shores from across the world. They enrich our society and help us grow our economy, just like the Irish did in the United States in years gone by. They also challenge all of us to be better then we are and better than we think we can be.
Our two countries enjoy a warm, close and mutually beneficial relationship. It has been an enduring relationship built on shared values and shared economic interests, as well as a passion for politics and a love of culture.
Economically, Ireland has benefitted immensely from US investment which supports over 370,000 jobs. As a result, we now have thriving technology, healthcare and financial services sectors.
Less spoken about are the 650 Irish companies that operate across all 50 US States, employing 100,000 people and the fact that Ireland is the ninth largest source of foreign direct investment to the United States. Long may this bilateral investment continue. Ar Scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
Mr President, two years ago on a cold January day in Washington DC you spoke of the importance of unity and hope. As we gather in this Easter week, we recognise that the world is in need of hope.
Hope for those affected by war, hope for those suffering from hunger and hope in the face of the existential threat of climate change.
On this island your visit to Northern Ireland is an important statement of hope and support for building a better and continued peaceful and prosperous future for all. We thank you for your unstinting and constructive support for the Good Friday Agreement over the last 25 years and for your continued close engagement which you demonstrated so powerfully this week.
Friends and colleagues, politics is a noble profession, and we are fortunate today to welcome not just a very fine politician but a true international Statesman.
President Biden, in life you have demonstrated unshakeable faith, deep resilience, and the ability to bring people of diverse and often conflicting views together.
Above all, to quote the memorable words of the iconic Seamus Heaney, you challenge us to believe that the “farther shore is reachable”.
I invite you now to address these Houses.