All the right boxes ticked despite cheesy chat-up lines
For Barack Obama it was another year, another exchange of pleasantries and the bowl of shamrock. Another handshake with the Taoiseach from a small island which has envied access to the White House.
He and Enda Kenny grinned at each other as they sat back into the comfortable armchairs of the Oval Office, and it was clear that it wasn’t just the emerald tie that the President had dusted down for the occasion. Ireland was a country that “punched above its weight” internationally, he said, as he reaffirmed the “strong ties” and — just as he said in 2011 — the “incredible bond” between both countries.
At this stage, he could do this setpiece in his sleep, knowing all the right boxes to tick to please Irish people, both at home and in the US in what is always a good-news day for both him and the Taoiseach.
This year’s meeting took place a few days later than normal. This “gave us an excuse”, the President said, “to spread out St Patrick’s Day for a couple extra days, which is always good.”
In the sort of publicity that any leader would relish, Mr Obama, complete with shamrock in his suit pocket, praised Mr Kenny for his leadership at a time when the economy needed to be steered in the right direction. And he said he “cherished” the opportunity of the annual meeting with the Irish head of government.
Despite the cheesy chat-up lines, obligatory at such occasions, this year’s meeting and the events surrounding it were a little more business-like. Mr Obama didn’t joke once about being Irish or refer to his ancestors, the shoemakers from Co Offaly.
And Mr Kenny kept clear of the usual emotional references he uses during his US visits. On his 2011 trip, the Taoiseach spoke movingly about his grandfather, the lighthouse keeper, who watched emigrants leave Irish shores for America. But in 2013, settled into office for two years, it was all about issues surrounding the rebuilding of the economy, Northern Ireland, and the efforts to finalise the proposed EU-US free trade agreement.
Whatever about all the weighty topics, the one question everyone wanted answered was whether the President would make a return trip to Ireland; whether the first family could give us that much needed mid-summer excitement by attending the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the JFK visit to New Ross in Wexford.
Mr Obama did not mention anything that would lead to speculation that he plans such a visit. He smiled politely as the Taoiseach said to a waiting press gathering that there was a “standing open invitation for President Obama to come back to Ireland whenever is convenient and whenever he wishes”.
“And maybe the next time, when our economies are moving in a morepositive direction, we might have time to take out the sticks on the golf course,” Mr Kenny said.
After the meeting, the Taoiseach emerged from the West Wing and updated journalists: “Will President Obama visit after the G8? His schedule is very complicated,” he said.
“I can say to you that he has reaffirmed that it is his intention to come back to Ireland. He enjoyed his last visit very much indeed. But I can’t give you a fix on that because of the scale of his agenda.”
It was then off to lunch with congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill, where the Taoiseach and Mr Obama appeared at ease in each other’s company sharing stories and laughter.
Mr Kenny will have a breakfast meeting this morning with Vice President Joe Biden before saying goodbye to Washington for the West Coast.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama jets off to Israel for one of the most important trips of his second term in office.
But the suspense is likely to grow over his second visit to Ireland. We may have heard his flattering words and cheesy chat-up lines before. But if he comes back to Ireland and says them all over again, no one will be complaining.
The Taoiseach presented a special bound copy of the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, to President Barack Obama yesterday.
The massive tome, edited by John Crowley, Mike Murphy and Willie Smyth and published by Cork University Press, was Enda Kenny’s personal gift to Mr Obama as part of the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington DC.
The book was bound in calf leather by Barbara Hubert Hand Bookbindery in Cork.
It includes 50 chapters, 463 illustrations and 211 maps, with contributions from over 60 scholars in the areas of the arts, folklore, geography, history, archaeology, cartography, Irish and English languages and literature.
The publication, which won the Best Irish Published Book of the Year Award at the Bord Gáis Energy Book Awards last November, was described as one of the most significant Irish publishing events of 2012.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
