After much anticipation, President Barack Obama made a triumphant visit to Moneygall, Ireland, the home of his ancestor, Fullmouth Kearney.
RTE presenters were thrilled to see him and the first lady spending 45 minutes walking the length of Moneygall shaking hands and kissing babies of the 300 residents of the County Offaly village. "These pictures will be seen throughout the world tonight," they swooned. They dreamt of the tourists who might come over this summer as a result.
But news is always ruled by timing and unfortunately the main story on our news pages, websites and early morning shows today was the devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri.
A short wrap-up and photo of Obama drinking a pint of Guinness was on page 6 of The New York Times. The evening news featured only about 30 seconds about the Irish visit. Not enough coverage to see how the Irish, who have been on their knees in this recession, were finally given something to be proud about.
There was no coverage of Taoiseach Enda Kenny's powerful speech in Dublin introducing Obama to a crowd of more than 25,000 in College Green. This was hardly recognizable as the same Enda Kenny who was shielded from opening his mouth too much in the recent elections and debates.
President Obama told the crowd, "Is feidir linn," in Irish, "Yes, we can." It was a day that gave the Irish something to cheer about, which they haven't had in several years.
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