Moneygall needs Obama to return — as the president

For many residents of Moneygall, the Irish ancestral home of Barack Obama, they are not just hoping he is re-elected — they are relying on it.

On May 23 last year, the US president and his wife Michelle spent a few hours in the village during a whirlwind visit to Ireland.

An amateur genealogist had traced Obama’s ancestors back to Moneygall, where his great-great-great-great grandfather was a shoe-maker in the 19th century.