Taoiseach’s Opening Remarks for Meeting with President Biden

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Mr President,

I know that St. Patrick’s Day is very special to you, as a proud son of Ireland.

Equally, the people of Ireland are so proud of your election as President of the United States of America.

I can think of no better day for me to have the great pleasure to extend to you their warmest greetings.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort – Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

It feels strange to have to celebrate apart.

As you know well, Irish people love to come together to celebrate our heritage and culture with song, with dance, with parades, and with pride.

This year, because of the pandemic, it simply isn’t possible.

Here in Ireland, people are marking the occasion in their homes, but they will be thinking especially of their loved ones around the world, and sending them best thoughts and wishes.

They will do so in the hope that next year will be better, as I believe it will.

With each person vaccinated, we move closer to the day when people can meet each other, hug each other, and celebrate again.

I greatly look forward to you being able to visit Ireland – as you have done so many times and so memorably before. I also hope it will not be long before I can visit the United States again.

For now, the bowl of shamrock in front of you is a symbol of the undying friendship between our two countries – a symbol of the good times we have shared and the challenges we have endured, always at each other’s side.

The green shoots point to the brighter future that I know lies ahead.

Building that better future will be part of what we discuss today.

The policies of our two governments are very closely aligned on the big challenges the world faces.

I look forward to exploring how we can defeat the COVID-19 virus – working together urgently to increase the supply of vaccine for our own people, and for people around the world.

We should share notes on our plans for recovery, gaining back the ground lost to the pandemic.

Both the United States and Europe have put funds of unprecedented scale in place to support this vital work, to build a sustainable and inclusive future – supporting the digital and green agendas; promoting open, fair and rules-based trade; delivering greater equality and opportunity.

Mr President,

The world has rightly taken great heart from the steps you have already taken to bring the US back to centre stage –on global health, on climate, and on human rights.

We want to work with you to promote our shared values and interests in the world, including at the United Nations Security Council on which we are currently serving.

We want to work with you on climate action – which becomes ever more urgent – as we approach COP26 later this year.

Today, I especially want to thank you for your unwavering support for the Good Friday Agreement. It has meant a lot and it has mattered, including as we negotiated Brexit.

With a new trading relationship now in place between the European Union and the United Kingdom, and a Protocol that protects peace and avoids a hard border on this island, I want to move forward with a positive relationship with the United Kingdom.

That means standing by what has been agreed and working together to make a success of it.

That, in turn, can help maintain peace and promote greater reconciliation on our shared island - goals that I know you support.

There are so many areas where the Irish and American people are already working together, and we will celebrate some of them here today.

The Consortium through which our practitioners and researchers will pool their efforts to defeat cancer, that most pernicious disease.

The new initiative to share our poetry and bring it to new and younger audiences, that we will announce today.

Mr President,

Like you, I am fundamentally an optimist.

We have all endured the most difficult year.

But, alongside the suffering and the loss, we have seen immense compassion, care and courage – especially from our health workers, our educators and volunteers.

We have seen the world’s best scientists come together to deliver treatments, vaccines and hope, at extraordinary pace.

Let the same spirit of cooperation now speed and guide our recovery in the year ahead.

Thank you.