Hopes high that Obama will visit Galway in May

Date Published: 10-Mar-2011

By Dara Bradley

Hopes are high that US President Barack Obama will stopover in Galway City when, as is likely, he visits Ireland this May.

An official announcement about Mr Obama’s impending trip to Ireland, which has attracted widespread speculation in recent months, is expected this St Patrick’s Day when new Taoiseach Enda Kenny visits the White House Thursday for the annual Irish reception in Washington.

Mr Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will be on a state visit to Britain from May 24-26 and they will be in France on May 26 and 27 for a G8 summit in Deauville – there is speculation he will travel to Ireland on dates either after leaving France or before arriving in Britain. Queen Elizabeth is also visiting Ireland in May and her three-day trip is expected either side of Mr Obama’s visit to London.

City Councillor Pádraig Conneely, who met the President and first lady during a St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House in 2009 when he was city mayor, said he is extremely hopeful that Mr Obama will come to Galway if a stopover in Ireland during the European tour is confirmed next week.

At the White House, Cllr Conneely formally invited Mr and Mrs Obama to come to Galway. The Fine Gael Cllr also has since had several contacts with officials from the US Embassy, including its charge d’affaires, Robert J. Faucher.

Officials from the US Embassy then visited Galway City, spoke to Cllr Conneely at City Hall and took photographs of Eyre Square and other locations in order to compile a report for the US State Department, which would ‘feed into’ any decisions on the President’s international itinerary.

“When I met him in the White House I handed him a letter inviting him to Galway and he said ‘why not, I’d love to visit Galway’. He is very aware of the visit of one of his heroes, President John F Kennedy, who came to the city on June 29, 1963.

"I think if he is coming to Ireland it will be announced on St Patrick’s Day and we are hopeful that he will retrace JFK’s steps by visiting Eyre Square,” said Cllr Conneely.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.