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The faces and voices around the White House and Capitol Hill will be familiar this week.
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It's St Patrick's week and the influential doors are open.

I've been coming to this gig since 1995 and generally leave feeling puzzled why our politicians and pressure groups are given so much time.

This year will be no different.

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness will be in the White House not once, but twice, on St Patrick's Day.

Arlene Foster, Margaret Ritchie and Sir Reg Empey will also be around, so somebody better look after the big house on the hill at home.

Declan Kelly, the American envoy, assures me Sir Reg will be made very welcome by the administration - in spite of last week's difficulties over the devolution of policing and justice.

Interestingly, he also argues that Northern Ireland has a short window of opportunity to sell the economy. Other regions will inevitably be competing for attention in the future.

Hiliary Clinton will meet our leaders on Tuesday and Northern Ireland is a very important issue for her, so says Mr Kelly.

The victims sector is represented here. Alan McBride and Mark Kelly are part of human rights group lobbying for a bill of rights.

Their frustration over the slow pace of progress is obvious.

They say victims from the 1970s and 1980s are dying without receiving any help. They are taking their message to Capitol Hill and interestingly they are no fans of the victims' commission.

It promises to be an interesting week.

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