Obama visit will be hot on queen’s heels

BACK-TO-BACK state visits will take place at the end of May, with US President Barack Obama likely to arrive on the 21st — just a day after the Queen of England departs.

Hopes are high that the US president will come to Cork as part of what is expected to be a two or three-day visit in which his wife Michelle will meet children at a number of schools around the country.

As details of the presidential trip are worked out by governments both sides of the Atlantic, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she would “love to” accompany the president if her schedule allowed.