Clinton to possibly be in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day

Secretary Clinton said today, during remarks with Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin (above), that she might be in Shannon, Ireland, for an hour on St. Patrick’s Day, when she is en route to Moscow. She said:

And I’ll actually spend, we hope, about an hour in Shannon tomorrow night celebrating St. Patrick’s Day en route to Moscow. That’s our goal. I believe that may be a first for me, which I will proudly claim."

Moving on to more serious matters, she praised the Northern Ireland peace process, saying:

[T]his year’s [St. Patrick’s Day] commemoration and celebration comes at a particularly auspicious time. On March 9th, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to complete the process of devolution, an important step toward realizing the promise of the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrews Agreement, and achieving a full and lasting peace for the people of Northern Ireland. Foreign Minister Martin and his government played a vital role in helping the parties come together to take this step. I know for a fact that he was there for long days and sleepless nights during the Hillsborough negotiations because I spoke to him during the 2 -to-3-hour a.m. period during one of those nights." 

(Note that Clinton does take those 3 a.m. calls!)

She also praised Ireland on security issues:

Ireland is a valued partner. Ireland was among the first nations to accept and resettle detainees from Guantánamo Bay, which was an important step and vote of confidence in President Obama’s policy to close Guantánamo. We continue to honor the service of Irish troops in Afghanistan and the very considerable role that Ireland has played in helping move our policy there forward."