Dewy-eyed O’bama raises a glass to Irish heritage

Almost a year may have passed since he wiped a Guinness moustache from his upper lip and hugged his eighth cousin, but it would appear Barack O’bama’s love of the auld sod isn’t waning.

The great-great-great grandson of Famine-period emigrant Falmouth Kearney yesterday declared March 2012 “Irish-American Heritage Month”, and praised “the sons and daughters of Éireann”.

He is calling upon all Americans “to observe this month by celebrating the contributions of Irish Americans to our nation” — but not before paying the kind of dewy tribute to the Irish that only an American could muster.

“Over hundreds of years, Irish men, women, and children left the homes of their ancestors, watching the coasts of Donegal and the cliffs of Dingle fade behind them,” he said in his “Proclamation”. “Boarding overcrowded ships and navigating dangerous seas, these resilient travellers looked to the horizon with hope in their hearts. Many left any valuables, land, or stability they had behind, but they came instead with the true treasures of their homeland — song and literature, humour and tradition, faith and family.”