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Irish America Hall of Fame

Weekly Comment: 2016 Hall of Fame Speeches

By Irish America Staff
April 15, 2016

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Five feature speeches from the 2016 Irish America Hall of Fame. President Bill Clinton received Irish America's Lifetime Achievement Award and Col. Eileen Collins, America's first female space shuttle pilot; journalist, novelist, columnist, and commentator Pete Hamill; humanitarian Ed Kenney; and Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were inducted … [Read more...] about Weekly Comment: 2016 Hall of Fame Speeches

Bill Clinton’s 2016 Hall of Fame Speech

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Thank you very much. I’m delighted to be here. I thank you for the award. Ambassador Anderson, thank you for your kind remarks and for taking us all down memory lane a little bit. I want to congratulate the other honorees. General Martin Dempsey, I thank you for your outstanding service to our nation. Edward Kenney, thank you. Eileen Collins, thank you. I was actually … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton’s 2016 Hall of Fame Speech

Col. Eileen Collins’ Hall of Fame Speech

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Wow, that was amazing! Thank you Patricia and Judy Collins wherever you are. Oh my gosh! That was just beautiful, wonderful! I‘ve always wanted to be a singer, but I could not sing so—maybe in another life –I decided to go fly. You know, this is really great-- to be here…Before… I‘ll just make about five minutes of comments, but before I do that, I do want to recognize again … [Read more...] about Col. Eileen Collins’ Hall of Fame Speech

Pete Hamill in His Own Words

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Pete Hamill was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame in March 2016.  In his acceptance remarks, printed here, he talks about being "an alloy," and what he owes to other cultures. Like all the others here in this room—not simply the people winning awards but all of us-- I could not be here without the help of others, especially Anne Devlin from Madrid Street in the … [Read more...] about Pete Hamill in His Own Words

Edward Kenney’s 2016 Hall of Fame Speech

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I always thought that Patricia is my friend and so she put me up here following Bill Clinton, Pete Hamill and Eileen Collins. Fortunately, she has held General Dempsey till the end… Otherwise, I‘d be a dead duck here. And actually, when Patricia invited me to accept this honor, I said, ‘Well, you want me to speak?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, but it is not a big deal. It is just a … [Read more...] about Edward Kenney’s 2016 Hall of Fame Speech