taoiseach. mrs. kenny, ambassador anderson, dr. lowe, vice president pence. and distinguished guests. we gather here today in the white house to take part in the traditional shamrock ceremony and to celebrate the strong ties between the united states and a truly great country, ireland. i also want to extend a special welcome to a group of distinguished local, political, and society leaders. they are real leaders. with us from northern ireland, great people. including the mayor of belfast and the head of northern ireland civil service. that's a lot of power there. through malcolm mckibben.