The queue starts over there, Bertie

The White House has still made no announcement about the format of yet another year's observance of Ireland's national holiday by Irish politicians in Washington, DC. But the White House website does provide an interesting signal of where Dubya's team believes the global winds of change are blowing this year, and it ain't the ould sod:

President Bush will welcome Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, to the White House on March 16, 2005. The Cardinal is respected throughout Lebanon and around the world for his religious leadership and for promoting intra-communal harmony among the different faiths in his country, and as an important voice for Lebanese independence, freedom, and democracy.

We strongly suspect that if the Maronite Cardinal had asked for a time slot on the 17th, he would have gotten it. And who knows what events could impinge on Dubya's timetable between now and then. God forbid that the Irish politicians and hacks observe St Patrick's Day at home!

UPDATE: Bertie gets his invite. But only "civil society" leaders from NI. And Gerry might not even get a visa!