O’bama earns the apostrophe, but green tie was for Chicago. Full stop

WHEN President Barack Obama met the press on Tuesday morning to discuss his budget proposals, he was sporting a green tie to mark St Patrick’s Day. “Green tie, not bad, huh?” he began.

Standing beside the president was Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He was not wearing any green.

“Conrad didn’t get the memo!” the president joked. It was a normal working day in Washington. An American president could go a whole year without hearing about Ireland, but for one day each year Irish-Americans make themselves felt with major St Patrick’s Day parades in places like Boston, New York, Savannah, Chicago, and San Francisco.