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Mayor trying to persuade President Obama to visit Limerick
MAYOR Kevin Kiely has said he would be doing all in his power "to get President Barack Obama to come to Limerick", if as expected he announces on St Patrick's Day that he will visit Ireland this summer
The mayor and city manager Tom Mackey flew to Boston on Wednesday to have a St Patrick's Day breakfast live on TV with an audience, the mayor said, of six million people.
The St Patrick's Breakfast in Boston this Sunday has already been sold out with 1,500 guests due to attend.
"All the talk here in the States is that President Obama will announce his visit to Ireland on St Patrick's Day. I will be making strong representations to Tim Murray (Lt Governor of Massachusetts] to get the president to stop off in Limerick after he flies into Shannon, on his way to Moneygall, the home of his ancestors," said Mayor Kiely.
Mr Murray is a close confidant of the president and Mayor Kiely hopes he can influence him to visit Limerick.
"We received an invitation from Senator Jack Hart, who told us that this event is live on television with coverage also later on CNN," said Mayor Kiely, who added that they will be using the occasion to promote Limerick and the Mid-West region.
"It will be a bit of a rush as we will be coming back to Limerick for St Patrick's Day. There are a number of reasons we are going and one is because businessman Billy Higgins is being honoured at the event.
"Billy has been a great supporter of Fr Joe Young and the parish of Southill over the years. He was back in Limerick a few week ago and made another substantial contribution to the Southill community, with the money going to the local school," said Mayor Kiely.
Mayor Kiely said that because of economic restraints they resisted the opportunity to bring a full delegation from the City Council to Boston.
Meanwhile, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell has urged President Obama to "keep with the tradition" of his predecessors and put Limerick on his itinerary if he does decide to visit Ireland this summer, writes Mike Dwane.
The US Embassy in Dublin this Thursday said in response to reports a three-day visit was on the cards in June that nothing had been confirmed.
"If there is going to be a visit, he would be very much in keeping with former US presidents if he were to visit Limerick and he would obviously be very welcome here," said Deputy O'Donnell.
Democrat presidents John F Kennedy (1963) and Bill Clinton (1998) in the past spoke before huge crowds in Limerick city centre. Republican president Richard Nixon flew into Shannon in 1970 but did not visit the city, instead spending a night with his wife Pat at Kilfrush House in Hospital, then the home of multi-millionaire and Nixon supporter Jack Mulcahy.
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Weather for Limerick
Thursday 09 February 2012
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