cigalechanta

Kerry spent his young years vacationing at the family home in Brittany. His cousin is mayor of a town there . This cousin also ran for prsedent twice under the Green party and was a founder of the green organization. Kerry was schooled in Switzerland in his teens.

wojazz3

ttt

khepps

I just read in an irish news release that Pres. Bush is due to arrive late afternoon of June 25th, and depart for the NATO summit in Turkey by early afternoon on the 26th. Probably staying at Dromoland. This is key to us as we arrive in Shannon on June 27th. We hoped to have lunch at Dromoland on the 27th. Hope this helps anyone worried about the protesters etc.

SiobhanP

At the moment the word is Dromoland which suits me fine. People in the area though are getting pissed off as they are being asked names dates times of all visitors to there homes during this period. He may not even spend the night. Dromoland is better for security and less disruptive than staying in Dublin which was the original plan.

O'Reilly - RE: airforce I did ask my partner about baldonnell and I think its a base but he said there is no airforce (And he was in the FCA/Reserves). It coukld be government planes or a handful. I don't think its enough to qualify as an airforce or it has stopped. Just found out we have a navy last week....with 2-3 ships. Pretty sad for an island nation.

When Clinton was over it was a different polital climate but it was much more open. I queued for 2 hours to see him at college green and we all went through metal detectors and there were sharp shooters on top of Trinity and Bank of Ireland. Secret Service were everywhere but it wwas not aggressive. By placing him in Dromoland he can leave quickly and not create as much chaos in the city. There will still be protestors as there have been at SHannon airport since the Gulf War. It technically is against the Irish constitution to have planes land here to re-fuel for Iraq as we are a neutral country. I don't have all the technical mumbo jumbo but you get the idea and its a sore spot for many Irish people.

mealdridge

As we were leaving from Shannon on May 22 our taxi driver talked about the upgrades that are being made to security at the airport because of Bush's visit. She said the fences at the airport were built intending "to keep out stray cattle and drunk Irish"! She also said that some families in Newmarket-on-Fergus will actually have to vacate their homes for a period of time. What a mess!

mitchrc

A little perspective please. I can't remember the last time terrorists tried to fly planes into your financial capital's tallest buidings, your capital building, your military headquarters, and your PM's residence.

Perhaps if other countries took security a little more seriously trains wouldn't get blown up and foreign ministers wouldn't get assasinated in department stores.

SiobhanP

What do you call the troubles in Ireland over the past 30 plus years? What do you call the Dublin/Monaghan bombs (You probably have no idea what this is and we are onlky getting to the bottom of it 20 years later) or even Omagh where many innocent mothers and children died doing their Saturday shopping. Don't get so ethnocentric you that you don't see the world has its individual political and social problems as well. I saw the street in Omagh a few months after the bomb and it sickened me. Madrid, NYC (My hometown has streets that lost several husbands and fathers in the WTC) all of us feel their suffering.

nevcharlie

Neil_Oz.....Substitute London for Canberra and your message pretty nearly describes our experience when Dubya visited our fair city.

mitchrc

I'm not trying to be ethnocentric. I'm simply pointing out that in a post 9/11 world this is the level of security that will now surround our President, be it Bush or anybody else. Surely if any nation can recognize the effects of terrorism and the response to it, it's Ireland.

Airlawgirl

"Perhaps if other countries took terrorism a little more seriously..."

Your last comment strongly implies that other countries don't, only the US does. One could turn that statement on its head and say, perhaps if the US had taken terrorism a bit more seriously 9/11 would never have happened.

As Siobhan said, don't get so ethnocentric (or more to the point, Americentric)- other countries, particularly in Europe, have been dealing with terrorism and its after-effects for decades.

Neil_Oz

nevcharlie, I did see coverage of the London visit and sympathised. Interesting that the UK and Australia were the only two countries that joined in the initial military assault on Iraq. Now both our prime ministers' political futures are looking grim.

mitchrc is right - of course we have to expect heightened security provisions these day. But my point stands - a lot of the nonsense attending GWB's Royal Visit here, and seemingly in London, appeared designed to save him from the disorientation he could suffer from seeing and hearing expressions of dissent. It's my government that I'm angry with for going along with such a travesty.