Remarks at a Saint Patrick's Day Reception

The President. Thank you very much. Every time Al Gore has a crowd like this, he always says, "Thank you for the standing ovation." [Laughter] Taoiseach, Miss Larkin, to all of our guests, all the ambassadors here, all the Members of Congress, distinguished guests from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and all across the United States.

There are so many Americans here who love Ireland and long for peace, I hesitate to mention any, but I must mention two: First, I would like to thank our distinguished Ambassador, who has just announced her resignation a few months hence, Jean Kennedy Smith. Thank you, ma'am, for everything you have done. And I have to thank one other person who is in his present position because on one late, very sad night in 1994, my legendary powers of persuasion fell flat, and I was unable to persuade George Mitchell to run for reelection. He is still trying to determine whether, as a consequence, I bestowed upon him a blessing or a curse. [Laughter] It's why I always tell him it is, after all, in his hands. Thank you, Senator Mitchell, for what you are doing. We appreciate that.

In his inaugural address, President Kennedy proposed a new approach to the cold war when he said, "Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those which divide us." He eloquently insisted civility is not a sign of weakness. If that was true for two great, distant, often alien superpowers like the United States and the Soviet Union, surely it is true for neighbors in Ireland.

Tonight we have here in this room representatives, leaders of all the parties to the peace talks. It is a great night. I was thinking in sort of my impish way that I almost wish I could give them a perfectly harmless—perfectly harmless—3-day cold, which would require them all to be quarantined in the Green Room. [Laughter] It's not a very big room, the Green Room— [laughter]—and we have a lot of parties to the talks. So in just 3 days of getting over a cold together, I think all these problems would be solved.

Well, the peace talks won't be that easy, but all of you, you have to seize this historic moment. Just think, in just a few weeks, you could lift this enormous burden from the shoulders of all the children of Ireland.

It has been said that St. Patrick's Day is the day when the entire world wishes it were Irish. Well, when lasting peace finally comes, the entire world will rejoice. When I heard the wonderful songs up here and Frank's wonderful reading, and all the eloquence of Irish passion and pain and joy came flooding out of the performers, young and old, I was reminded of that great line from Yeats: "In dreams begin responsibility." All the Irish are dreamers. In the next few weeks, if Irish responsibility measures up to Irish dreams, this next year's celebration here will be the greatest in the history of this great house.

God bless you.

[At this point, the First Lady introduced Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland, the Taoiseach, who then made brief remarks.]

The President. We're about to leave. I feel duty bound, because there are so many people from Massachusetts here today—[laughter]—to tell you that in Massachusetts this is a dual holiday. This is also the day when over 200 years ago the British left Massachusetts, so it's called Evacuation Day. [Laughter]

Now, that means that you must evacuate the White House. [Laughter] I have to say that so State Secretary Mowlam doesn't think I made an anti-British slur here. [Laughter] But you needn't leave until 11:59 p.m.—[laughter]—because it will still be Evacuation Day. [Laughter]

Enjoy. We love having you here. Thank you.