Irish-Americans gather to meet Clintons, help Hillary `carry the torch in Congress'

It was cead mile failte to the Clintons on Tuesday night. Some 200 New York Irish-American Democrats gathered in Fitzpatrick's Manhattan Hotel to thank President Clinton for breaking what Niall O'Dowd, editor of the Irish Voice, called a 220-year tradition of US non-intervention in Irish affairs. And to help send Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she put it, "to carry the torch in Congress".

Tickets were $1,000. No frills, just drinks and canapes and a long wait for a President delayed two hours by radar failure in Louisville, Kentucky.

And then a long wait in line as both Clintons shook hands and had their pictures taken with everyone.

No complaints, this was a debt of honour, paid by a group of people who also have genuine affection for this embattled couple.

"People said I was nuts," the President recalled of his advisers when he insisted he wanted to get involved in the peace process. "But I told them I would."

Mr Clinton said he had made a promise to a number of people including Mr Bruce Morrison, a member of the House and an old college friend, and they had started on "an odyssey".

He thanked his audience for standing by him at a "rather difficult time".

Many of them had been among the 800 who attended a reception on the White House lawn during the impeachment process.

Not forgetting the business at hand, he also paid warm tribute to his wife. "She will be a fabulous senator," he promised.

Ms Patricia O'Dwyer, widow of the lawyer and Irish-American campaigner Mr Paul O'Dwyer, heads the Hillary 2000 campaign in upstate Orange County and was in the crowd. Of the Clinton legacy, she said "we can never say `thank you' enough".

Senator George Mitchell was there and paid tribute to Mrs Clinton's contribution to the North, particularly in recognising and promoting the distinct contribution of women to the search for peace.

Actor Gabriel Byrne showed up, as did Sean Macken, a leading light in Friends of Sinn Fein, though insisting that his presence reflected a personal commitment.

Writer Frank McCourt introduced the First Lady, admitting "I don't do much in the political line, but I'm addicted to this cause."

She spoke to familiar themes, of the need to continue the work that had brought the good times, of fiscal responsibility, of relieving financial discrimination against married couples. And perhaps best received was the call for tax relief for college costs.

She said her husband had taken risks for peace but "we had a great time doing it", recalling the Christmas 1995 trip to Belfast as a "most extraordinary experience".