Bill Clinton: “We are in the grip of the day, aren't we? [Laughter] Thank you so much. Prime Minister and Mrs. Reynolds and to all our…”

“We are in the grip of the day, aren't we? [Laughter] Thank you so much. Prime Minister and Mrs. Reynolds and to all our guests tonight, a warm welcome. Ceade mile failte. Tonight we sought to honor the Prime Minister, his wife, and his family, and his family of fellow Irish men and women, in a way inspired by the warm and convivial hospitality of the Irish themselves that they have brought to our shores now through the ages. There was a grand party in this house a long time ago, in 1829, when the first Irish-American was inaugurated as President of the United States. Andrew Jackson was the only President in our Nation's history whose parents were both immigrants to America. They came from Carrickfergus, a little town near Belfast. And their son grew up to be a great Democrat and a man of the people. When ``Old Hickory,'' as he was called then, opened this house to his people, so many came that the furniture was crushed in the excitement. That's probably why so many of you have to stand tonight. [Laughter] The crowd squeezed so closely around the new President in the Blue Room just down the hall that he had to escape by jumping out a window. Mr. Prime Minister, we will try to control ourselves better this evening. [Laughter] We promise that neither you nor I will be jumping out of any windows. I wish I could recognize everyone here this evening of Irish descent. But perhaps I would do better to recognize everyone here who is not of Irish descent.…”