布什会见爱尔兰首相对话(2008-03-17)

President Bush Meets with Prime Minister of Ireland Bertie Ahern

　　PRESIDENT BUSH: Taoiseach, welcome, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. It's always a joy to welcome the Taoiseach here to the Oval Office. And it's a reminder¹ of the unbelievably powerful influence the Irish have had on the development and prosperity of the United States of America. We're a richer country because of Irish Americans. And Mr. Prime Minister, Ireland is a great friend and ally, and I want to thank you for your friendship over these years.
　　We discussed a variety of issues. In particular, we talked about Northern Ireland, and the Taoiseach gets a lot of credit for showing a steady hand during a difficult period. And yet, as a result of perseverance² and hard work, Northern Ireland is a different place than it was last year. And we congratulate the leaders there. And I just want the folks to know what I told the Taoiseach is true, that the United States will continue to stay engaged and will be very supportive of helping³ the process move forward.
　　And there's more work to be done, we fully⁴ understand, in Northern Ireland. But also it's a really interesting chance for people from our country to see the investment opportunities available in Northern Ireland. And this May there's a Northern Ireland investment conference, which the United States will strongly support. And Taoiseach, like I told you, we'll send a strong delegation⁵ to look at the opportunities available there.
　　So thanks for coming. Thanks for your friendship. And once again, Happy St. Patrick's Day.
　　PRIME MINISTER AHERN: Thank you very much, President. And I want to thank the President, it's the eighth year that he's afforded us the opportunity of representing the Irish people here. And always, we've had a very fruitful discussion on a range of issues. And obviously important to me is the ongoing⁶ process in Northern Ireland. And the President and his people have been really helpful as we move now to the remaining issue, (inaudible) policing, which we've discussed.
　　And the investment conference which is just around the corner, is a -- I've said it several times before, the investment conference is really a one-off chance, an opportunity for Northern Ireland to bring some of the big investors⁷ of the world to see the opportunities that are there, the opportunities that they had not had a chance of being able to get any benefit from for the last 30 or 40 years, and now they have that. And I think it will show Northern Ireland is a place with well-educated people, hard-working people, people who are good at business if given half a chance.
　　And it is hugely important to us that in the organization of this that the President has helped both the British government and the Irish government to get this together. We've gone through that today, and I think the (inaudible) of the President to make sure that there's a high-powered delegation to United States is hugely helpful. I want to thank President for that.
　　And I always want to thank him for the assistance that he's given to us on a range of issues that we've had the opportunity of talking about. Thank you very much.
　　PRESIDENT BUSH: Thanks for coming.

1 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

2 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会