As Taoiseach Micheál Martin marched through the streets of Philadelphia as a distinguished guest of the St Patrick's Day parade, he made it his business to stop and speak to a few people along the bitterly cold, windy route.
One was a group of men dressed up as bishops. Another was a spectator whose mother the Taoiseach had recently met. Thirdly, the Kerrygold stand.
The final stop was a reminder that the Irish-US relationship is now built on trade as much as tradition, that what and how much Ireland exports and invests are now at the heart of those relations and its future.
This is why Mr Martin spent the weekend in Philadelphia, the first two days of his four-day visit to the United States, setting out his stall as to why Ireland should be celebrated rather than perceived as a target of ire.
He spoke about the past, present and future hopes of strengthening the bond between the two nations.
The past: He explored the deep history of Irish migration, in particular how the Irish built, framed and named the United States.
Cork-born Stephen Moylan's letter during the American War of Independence is the earliest known document to refer to the United States of America.
Wexford’s John Barry was a naval hero in the late 1700s and is now known as the 'father of the US Navy’.
Taoiseach arrives in Washington ahead of St Patrick's Day
The present: He spoke about the rich trade and investment between the two countries today.
The Taoiseach had two speeches over the course of the weekend and both had similar themes.
He stressed that the relationship between Ireland and the US is one of the most important for the country.
Ireland is now the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment in the US.
The US is Ireland’s largest trading and investment partner.
It is backed up with figures from Enterprise Ireland that Irish investment in the US has reached historic levels, close to €390 billion.
The future: All of these are strong talking points for when he meets those that have a hand in deciding the future in Washington DC this week.
There is a hope that these statistics and oodles of positivity will convince the Trump administration that this is not a one-way street.
However, the future may hinge on the vision that President Donald Trump sees, or wants to see.
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Mr Martin acknowledged challenges within those speeches.
He is an avid defender of what he called an open, rules-based trading system and declared at one point that globalisation isn’t over.
CNN’s veteran correspondent and presenter, John King told RTÉ’s This Week programme that the Taoiseach wants to focus on how it’s now a two-way street when it comes to investment.
He said that’s a very strong message for Mr Trump.
"The challenge is the two leaders disagree on just about everything else," he said.
"We know [the Taoiseach] is well prepared. The question is: What mood is Donald Trump in?" he pondered.
