Thursday, March 13, 2008

No name delegation

The annual White House announcement of junketeer extraordinaire Bertie Ahern's visit --

In keeping with a decades-old tradition, the two leaders will participate in the "Shamrock Ceremony," symbolizing the deep cultural roots and close ties of friendship between the United States and Ireland. The President and the Prime Minister ("Taoiseach" in Gaelic) will meet before the ceremony to discuss a range of issues.

More interesting is the reference to the Northern Ireland contingent --

After their meeting, President Bush and Prime Minister Ahern will greet U.K. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward and representatives of Northern Ireland's political leadership, civil society, and business community who are leading the way in promoting a new chapter in Northern Ireland's history built on peace, reconciliation, and economic prosperity.

So Shaun Woodward, who doesn't even take a salary for what is any case a diminished job with Sunningdale devolution up and running, gets billing ahead of any of the locals. The backlash against the Chuckle Brothers routine continues.

UPDATE: Bush's St Patrick's Day greeting comes with no indication that's it's actually observed on the 17th and not today, the 14th.

No comments: