Why do so many US presidents like to say 'I'm Irish'?
This Is Why
Sky News
4.0 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2023
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Some 45 million Americans claim Irish heritage, 10 times more than the population in Ireland. The two countries have been politically aligned for decades, so why is their relationship so enduring?
On the Sky News Daily Sky's senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins with political journalist Aoife Moore are in Belfast to explore what's in it for both countries. Plus David speaks to Dr Richard Johnson, senior lecturer in US policy at Queen Mary about the countries special relationship.
Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Philly Beaumont
Transcript
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| 0:56.7 | legacy to find out how. If you were to go into any house in County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland, |
| 1:07.1 | it wouldn't be unusual to still find a picture of the Pope on the wall. And alongside |
| 1:13.2 | him, a picture of the former US President John F. Kennedy. |
| 1:18.9 | I am proud to be the first American president to visit Ireland. My presence and your welcome, |
| 1:23.9 | however, only symbolise the many and the enduring links, |
| 1:28.5 | which have bound the Irish and the Americans since the earliest days. |
| 1:31.9 | Wexford is where the Kennedys came from, and they were a family who made it from Ireland |
| 1:36.9 | to the White House in the space of one generation. |
| 1:40.2 | But it's not just the Kennedys. |
| 1:42.1 | Every American president with an Irish connection has made a huge deal of their Irish roots and are keen to capitalise upon them. |
| 1:50.9 | Ireland is important to America because of the diaspora and it's best illustrated, I think, by the huge St. Patrick's Day parades in New York and Boston. |
| 2:02.2 | In fact, they celebrate St Patrick's Day more than we do here on the island of Ireland. |
| 2:07.1 | After all, it was the Irish who built the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. |
| 2:11.8 | It was the Irish who helped build the White House in Washington. |
... |
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