Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny received the Graduate School of Political Management's first Making Democracy Work award and delivered the Paul O'Dwyer Lecture to a crowd of about 100 in the State Room at 1957 E Street on March 18, 2013. He spoke about the responsibilities that democratic nations have to help spread peace and prosperity and his efforts to work collaboratively in the European Union to pull Ireland out of its economic quagmire.
Mr. Kenny has been prime minister, or Taoiseach, since March 2011, and has also held the Council of the European Union's rotating presidency spot since January.
"I was told we were coming to a university, where everybody understands all the languages of the world, so..." he said, launching into rapid Irish as the audience laughed.
"I'm personally honored that the George Washington University should bestow upon me their Making Democracy Work award," Mr. Kenny said. "Was it not George Washington who said, 'Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages'? Here in the United States and in Ireland, we have the privilege, on too many occasions and for too many people, to take our democracy for granted. It is precisely because we do have democracy that makes our duty to all those countries and people struggling to assert their democratic rights all the more urgent and, indeed, all the more sacred."
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