Warm Irish welcomes start to flow for Obamas
SCARCELY FIVE hours had passed since President Barack Obama announced he would visit Ireland, but already, in the reception line at the White House on Thursday night, the presidential couple were inundated with invitations.
John Hegarty, the provost of Trinity College, reminded the first couple that Bishop John Kearney, a presidential ancestor, held his job some 200 years ago. They might visit the bishop’s tomb in Kilkenny, but Hegarty really wanted the Obamas to come to Trinity College. “It would be tracing a long lineage in education,” he said.