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Color Me Irish

St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny (The Prime Minister of Ireland) has come and gone, but for the 33.3 Americans of Irish descent that live in the US, the spirit lives on.

“We’ve had a wonderful, exhilarating day. The sun is shining. Every door has been opened to us in Washington, and the welcome could not have been warmer,” said The Ambassador of Ireland Anne Anderson at a reception in honor of An Taoiseach and Mrs. Kenny at the historic Willard Hotel on St. Patrick’s Day.

“I think you all know the Taoiseach’s CV already: His four decades in political life. His extensive experience as minister. His leadership of his party since 2002. Of course, what is most important is the Taoiseach’s leadership of the country over the past four years – such an extraordinary journey, and the unique, extraordinary relationship between our two great countries.”

Mr. Kenny is proud of the growth of his country and pointed out the differences that have occurred over the past four years. “Let me say to you I came here to Washington just over four years ago when our country was in a very bad situation economically. We were blocked out of the markets, the banks had gone over the edge, we lost 300,000 thousand jobs, immigration was hemorrhaging our system, and we’d lost our integrity and our credibility. That’s all in the past. It was a difficult time. We made difficult decisions. Because of the sacrifice of the people, we’re now in a better place. We’re actually in a situation where unemployment is falling from 15% down to 10%. Exports are booming. Investment is very strong in the country. Irish companies are being set up that are growing globally and exporting, which is great. We’ve had almost 90,000 new jobs created in the last 3 1/2 years, expecting to get 40,000 more jobs.”