From the cheers and whoops that erupted when President Mary McAleese arrived in the crowded convention hall at Microsoft headquarters in Seattle, it was as if the Irish had taken over the world's most famous software company.
There are almost 200 Irish nationals employed by Microsoft in Seattle and all seemed to have turned up for the reception organised by Enterprise Ireland.
The event on Monday evening coincided with the 20th anniversary of the software company's initial investment in Ireland, where the number of employees has grown from 100 in 1985 to 1,200 today.
Introducing the President, Microsoft senior vice-president Jeffrey Raikes said that the recent establishment of a new research and development centre in Ireland confirmed that "we intend to grow our commitment to Ireland".
Mrs McAleese noted that at the time when many of those present left Ireland to come to Seattle, the economic prospects back home were not good. "Now the tide of emigration has been reversed," she said, "and the Irish economy continues to be one of the fastest-growing in the world."
The importance of the Microsoft connection was underlined, the President said, by the fact that more than half of Ireland's new entrepreneurs, at some time in their careers, had worked for a multinational software company, either in Ireland or abroad.
There was laughter when, in a slip of the tongue, she referred enthusiastically to the beneficial effects of "the huge investment that Microwave made in Ireland".
Peter Connolly, from Clontarf, Dublin, a producer in Microsoft's game studios, spoke afterwards about the knock-on effect on the Irish software industry through the Irish connection in Microsoft, Seattle.
As co-ordinator of "Irish Alias" in Microsoft, Mr Connolly maintains an internal distribution list of about 150 Irish, spread through Microsoft's vast headquarters campus. It was often cheaper for Microsoft "to get technology from one set-up that focuses on one piece of tech", he said, and the "Irish mafia", through its contacts, had helped small Irish tech companies get started.
Mrs McAleese is visiting the United States at the head of a trade mission that includes 29 companies. The mission is aimed at bringing US businesses together with senior executives from Irish companies within the aerospace, enterprise technology and telecommunications industries.
Frank Ryan, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, said: "We expect Irish companies to grow their sales and business partnerships in these key export markets as a result of the visit."
Mrs McAleese also visited the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's foremost philanthropic organisation, to highlight the efforts of the foundation and of the Irish Government to address the worldwide problem of HIV/Aids. Yesterday she visited the Matt Talbot Rehabilitation Centre in Seattle.