The Irish President

Irish-Americans have a rich tradition in USA politics, and the list of Presidents with Irish ancestry is lengthy. The current President has, of course, discovered the Celt within in the last few days, as Stuff reports:

Beaming before an exultant sea of people, President Barack Obama revelled in his distant Irish ancestry, offering spirited thanks from tens of millions of Americans who trace connections to Ireland.

Far away from divisive Washington politics, Obama stood with his wife, Michelle, and said: "We feel very much at home."

In a speech devoted as much to personal pride than overt politics, Obama told roughly 30,000 people gathered in central Dublin that he had come to reaffirm "the bonds of affection" between the United States and Ireland. "There's always been a little green behind the red, white and blue," he said to cheers.

Obama's buoyant trip to Ireland, however, was to be even shorter than planned. Concerns over a dense, shifting ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano were prompting him to fly to London instead of spending the night in Dublin.

On a busy day of stops, Obama got splashes of rain and sunshine as he soaked in the kind of atmosphere more familiar from his first days as president.

Obama's speech came after he had downed a pint of Guinness in tiny Moneygall, the small Irish village where his great-great-great grandfather once lived and worked as a shoemaker. It was an improbable and memorable pilgrimage for America's first black president into his Irish past, and Obama soaked it in.

It's been a pleasant diversion from President Obama, although with the tragic tornado in Joplin, Missouri, he's probably looking forward to getting home as quickly as possible, having dined with the Queen this morning (NZ time).

But it makes us wonder; in the wake of all the publicity over Obama having finally discovered his birth certificate proving him to be American-born, is he suddenly going acknowledge his Irishness and change his name - to President Barack O'Bama?