Shamrock Summit

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The Mulroneys with President and Mrs. Reagan in Quebec, Canada, March 18, 1985, the day after the two leaders famously sang "When Irish Eyes are Smiling".

The Shamrock Summit was a name given to the 1985 meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Held in Quebec City, it was so-named because of the Irish background of the two leaders, and because it was held on St. Patrick's Day.

Mulroney showed a more deferential approach towards the American presidents than former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau had long maintained.

The most famous event of the summit was when Reagan and Mulroney, who both had Irish heritage, engaged in a duet of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." Commentator Eric Kierans observed that "The general impression you get, is that our prime minister invited his boss home for dinner." ^[1]

Canadian historian Jack Granatstein said that this "public display of sucking up to Reagan may have been the single most demeaning moment in the entire political history of Canada's relations with the United States."

As well, at one point during the summit, Reagan is rumoured to have mistakenly referred to Mulroney as "Byron Muldoon". This became Mulroney's regular nickname in Frank Magazine for the remainder of his term in office.

The meeting was prelude to Mulroney's efforts to create far closer links between Canada and the United States culminating in the 1988 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.