US president Barack Obama has hailed the faith in God that Irish immigrants brought to America and praised the commitment of Irish people to the most vulnerable communities around the globe.Speaking to tens of thousands of people gathered in Dublin's College Green on Monday, Mr Obama recalled the Irish roots of his own forefathers who emigrated to the US.
They had ''nothing to sustain their journey but faith -- faith in the Almighty; faith in the idea of America.''
''And as they worked and struggled and sacrificed and sometimes experienced great discrimination, they passed on that faith to their children and to their children's children -- an inheritance that their great-great-great grandchildren like me still carry with them,'' he said to rapturous applause.
Highlighting Ireland's long history of charity and missionary work in the developing world, he said: ''A people who once knew the pain of an empty stomach now feed those who hunger abroad.''
With overtures of the evangelisation of the early Irish missionary movement, the president said Ireland's history was one of ''proud and defiant endurance. Of a nation that kept alive the flame of knowledge in dark ages; that overcame occupation and outlived fallow fields; that triumphed over its troubles -- of a resilient people who beat all the odds.''
Hope
His overriding message was one of hope: ''Our greatest triumphs -- in America and Ireland alike -- are still to come.''
The best response to the nay-sayers he told the exuberant crowd is ''a simple creed: Is féidir linn. Yes, we can.''
Mr Obama concluded his speech by saying: ''May God bless the eternal friendship between our two great nations.''
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