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The speaker of the house, 81, was attending the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, where she recited the poem for guests in attendance, including PresidentJoe Biden.
“I got this message this morning from Bono,” Pelosi said of theU2frontman, before noting, “Most of us, whether we’re in Ireland or here, whatever it is, Bono has been a very Irish part of our lives.”
Then, reciting Bono’s poem, Pelosisaid, “Oh Saint Patrick, he drove out the snakes with his prayers, but that’s not all it takes. For the snake symbolizes an evil that rises and hides in your heart, as it breaks.”
“And the evil has risen my friends from the darkness that lives in some men. But in sorrow and fear, that’s when saints can appear, to drive out those old snakes once again,” she continued. “And they struggle for us to be free, from the psycho in this human family. Ireland’s sorrow and pain is now the Ukraine, and St. Patrick’s name now Zelenskyy.”
(One legend about St. Patrick is that he banished snakes from Ireland.)
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U2 — who hail from Ireland — previously wrote about the Russian invasion of Ukraine in an Instagram post last week, in which the group praised the Ukrainian people’s resilience.
“The Ukrainian people are teaching the rest of the world what freedom looks like, what freedom feels like, and most importantly what freedom acts like,” the bandwrote. “The bully in the neighborhood will not prevail. Bless your poetic souls. We keep you in our prayers.”
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During the Friends of Ireland event, Biden, 79, delivered remarks about his own Irish heritage.
“Irish Americans think they’re more Irish than the Irish. And — but that’s kind of how I was raised, like so many Americans of Irish heritage – like other people of other heritage as well,” Bidensaid. “I was — it was imbued in me to be proud of — proud of my heritage.”
RELATED VIDEO: As Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Continues, Citizens Around the World Still Manage to Uplift Each Other
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin, 69, insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy, 44, vowed not to bend. “Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
