It's not a black holiday. It's a holiday for the people of America and the world. It was more appropriate in that Rose Garden setting.

We asked them to help us police the holiday. If people started to turn it into a day for bargain sales, we asked them to politely urge, in the name of Dr. King, not to make it a commercial day.

We don't celebrate it over there, really. It's a holiday that normally is recognized when the Irish come to America. That's the tradition, to celebrate all things IrIsh. I don't know hardly any Americans that aren't part Irish.

The Washington embassy is one of the biggest and best-equipped embassies we have in the world, and I would think that they could do a decent job if anybody could.

It's just a holiday gift to the residents and to all the visitors from throughout the world.

I can understand where people are coming from, but at the same time, this is America and we have freedom of speech. I have the choice if I want to go see something like this or not.