JEAN KENNEDY SMITH

To all of us, Dad was Number One in our house.

On behalf of all Americans, I would like to congratulate Michelle Smith on her dedication and determination which have made her a wonderful role model for all young athletes in Ireland and around the world.

I'm one of nine children, and I have a lot of pictures.

I think I'm fairly demanding, probably. You have to feel that when you're appointed to a job you have to do the job.

I don't ever remember a dinner party, a cocktail party in our house ever. It was always family.

I happen to like children and I happen to like the arts.

I always thought it is a bit of a balloon, how rich we are.

I can say without reservation that I do not remember a day in our childhood without laughter.

We cannot give up hope. It's our most important gift.

While I cannot comment in detail about the inter workings of the State Department, it is a matter of public record that I recommended a visa for Gerry Adams to visit the United States. I believe then, and I continue to believe now, that this step did help to advance the peace process in Northern Ireland.

To tell the truth, I don't feel the pressure of fame. I don't have the problem of being a celebrity in terms of recognizability.

I don't know why people always think of the Kennedys as a Boston family.

I tried to explain in 'The Nine of Us' how we grew up with politics. At meals we talked about what was in the newspaper. We talked politics non-stop! Campaigning for our brothers was a part of our lives.

In Bronxville, New York, we went to public school there, before London. Mother had a great belief in public school. She said it was very good for us to meet all the neighborhood kids.

I never sat down and said, 'Now I must make a contribution, that one person can make a difference.' But I felt I was in a position where I could contribute. I never thought of it in the light of history or my brothers. I just felt I had an obligation.

As I've grown older, I have begun to marvel... at how much of my life I have spent among ghosts. These are no malevolent presences... Rather, they are such restless spirits as only the strange twentieth-century cocktail of celebrity, technology and collective memory could produce.

But I believe Ireland is getting more European, and the young are looking toward Europe for jobs - just as there are a lot of Europeans coming to Dublin.

When I looked at my mother, I always saw a bit of Ireland. And I suppose when I look to Ireland, I see a bit of my mother - her faith, her wit, her endurance.

Our Family is deeply honoured to see the Irish Government taking this enormous interest in the development of the Kennedy Homestead Visitor attraction.

I have always encouraged open and frank discussion among embassy employees and the expression of dissenting views, because this is the best way to maintain morale among embassy personnel and to arrive at sensible decisions which are in the best interests of the United States.

I think coming from a big family, it helps you to keep your sense of humor about certain things... even politics.

I'm not in public life except by accident.

Mother and Dad were destined to have a gaggle of children. We would not have been complete if they had stopped at two or four or even six. Nine of us we had to be.

I don't buy from any one special designer.

I feel I was very fortunate to be in the position to do something positive, to make a contribution to change. It gave me terrific satisfaction.