Joseph Robinette Biden and Micheál Martin

“ With each person vaccinated, we move closer to the day when people can meet each other, hug each other, and celebrate again. And I greatly look forward to you being able to visit Ireland as you have done so many times and, as you have said, so memorably before. I also hope it will not be long before I can visit the United States again. ”

“ And I think the idea that we — we talked about, about renewing our partnership and the All-Island Consortium — Cancer Consortium. The U.S.-Ireland and Northern Ireland — it’s a partnership that’s — that I think we can learn a lot from one another. It’s one of the things that, as President, Taoiseach, I am going to focus heavily on with our National Institute of Health: on dealing with — with cancer. We’ve all been victims of it, in terms of our families. We all know what it’s like. And we’re going to make major investments in NIH and cancer research and development. ”

“ And so, I think, you know, there’s a lot of folks here in Ireland — my — my friends from Ireland would always say the American Irish think they’re more Irish than the Irish. But the truth of the matter is that we have a great affection for the country and a great affection for the tradition. ”

“ They called for the good faith implementation of international agreements designed to address the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland. The President and the Taoiseach paid tribute to the late John Hume, whose life work was invaluable to the advancement of the peace process in Northern Ireland. Strengthening People-to-People Ties
The United States and Ireland are committed to broadening and deepening the breadth of people to people ties between the two nations, including through collaborative research projects, cultural programs, educational exchanges, and tourism. ”

“ The green shoots point to the brighter future that I know lies ahead. And building that brighter future will, of course, be part of what we discuss today. The policies of our — of our two governments are very closely aligned on the big challenges the world faces. ”

“ The two leaders pledged to strengthen efforts to address non-traditional security threats, including violent extremism, natural disasters, food insecurity, and humanitarian access, as well as to cooperate and build capacity in cyber space. Both leaders regard climate action as a critical issue. They committed to working together to implement strong domestic policies and international action designed to increase climate resilience. ”

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

“ There are so many areas where the Irish and American people are already working together, and we would celebrate some of them here today: a consortium through which our practitioners and researchers would improve their efforts to defeat cancer — that most pernicious disease that I know is very close to your heart in terms of dealing with that ”

“ And here in Ireland, people are make — 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. And they will do so in the hope that next year will be better, as I do believe it will. ”

“ And tonight, Taoiseach, I wish you — we hope you’ll be able to see it, at least remotely. We’re going to light up the — the White House in green. And we — to celebrate the deep, deep affection that the — we Americans have, particularly Irish Americans have for Ireland and the people of Ireland. And that includes millions of Americans like my — like my great-great-grandfather and my great-grandfather and my grandfather, all of whom were Irish Americans on both sides of the family. ”

“ We have all endured the most difficult year. But alongside suffering and the loss, we have seen immense compassion, care, and courage, especially from our head workers, our educators, and our volunteers. ”

“ And I was just, on the telephone, briefed by the Attorney General of the United States and the Director of the FBI. And the investigation is ongoing and the question of motivation is still to be determined.
But whatever the motivation here, I know that Asian Americans are in very — very concerned because, as you know, I’ve been speaking about the brutality against Asian Americans for the last couple months, and I think it’s a — it is very, very troublesome. ”