Mr. Richard Neal:

Whether it was the Guildford case or Bloody Sunday - I talked to those families on the day that then British Prime Minister David Cameron apologised on the floor of the House of Commons - or whether it was Birmingham or the Raymond McCord case, campaigners on which have been to my office to ask that America intervene on behalf of his son, we need to know, along with the Finucane family as well.

I thank Senator Daly for the invitation he extended but as he lobbies, he always brings these issues up as well. Let me personally conclude with something I have thought a lot about. But for the rhythms of history, I might be sitting where Senator Daly is today, representing County Kerry, Ireland. Knowing all of the Senators here and what happens in America, a lot of them would be sitting in Congress, I know that. Together, we celebrate an ancient culture whose devotion to learning, always acknowledging that words matter, and with a special regard for the printed and spoken word, helped to lift the aspirations of millions of descendants of this island. The Gaels might have moved west but they took with them the values and resolve that people like today's Senators taught in earlier generations. Anniversaries are very important in Irish history, more so as we commemorate the centenary of the Irish Republic.

We also applaud a very small country that has given so much to world civilisation. Any anthology offers competing narratives but through conquest, subjugation, occupation, famine, risings, revolutions and civil war, there was always an unbreakable spirit marked by optimism. For such a country to have produced James Joyce, on the 100th anniversary of Ulysses, the great writers, the monks who saved the ancient scrolls in the Dark Ages, as well as contributions to art, music, literature, theatre and civilisation is remarkable. In the diaspora, we never forget the candle in the window of the President's residence that we witnessed again this morning and that always welcomes back the emigrants. Yeats simply described it as the "indomitable Irishry". I would remind all, as Yeats did, that "Though the leaves are many, the root is one". Thank you from the United States of America.