Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin presented President Donald Trump with a shamrock bowl at the White House on Tuesday, St Patrick’s Day, to carry on a long-standing tradition.
Martin presented Trump with the bowl of shamrock during an East Room ceremony in the early evening, after the pair spent the day together, beginning with a bilateral meeting in the morning and followed by a Friends of Ireland luncheon at the U.S. Capitol. Martin said:
Today, I will present this bowl of shamrock in memory of all the brave Irish men and Irish women who came here and who believed in the American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, in tribute to all that they contributed and built here, and in celebration of all that we will do and achieve together in the next 250 years.
In his remarks, Martin said the ceremony symbolizes the friendship between Ireland and the United States, adding that the 250th anniversary of the United States makes the ceremony especially noteworthy.
“The people of the United States inspired the world with their determination to build a nation on the timeless ideals of liberty, democracy and equality. For Irish people, both here and back home, these were noble ideals to which they rallied to in incredible numbers,” he said, noting that more than one in four soldiers in the Continental Army in the American Revolution were Irish.
Speaking before Martin, Trump hailed “Irish-American patriots” for their contributions to the country.
“Americans of Irish heritage gave us the steamboat, the modern submarine, the Model T automobile, and many, many other things,” he said.
“They designed the White House – that I didn’t know – the Empire State Building –that I didn’t know – and the New York City subway system, which is—when it’s operated properly—the best in the world,” he added to laughs.
Trump went on to call Irish Americans “fighters and thinkers and doers and winners.”