February 15, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN – Tony Blair is set to score an historic double by becoming not only the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the Dail and the Seanad but also the first person who is not a head of state to speak to both houses in simultaneous session.
The Labor leader said he was honored to accept the taoiseach’s invitation to address both houses of the Oireachtas in the autumn.
“I am honored and privileged at the thought of an invitation to address the houses of parliament. It would be a particular honor for me to do so and I hope very much, subject to the procedures, that I will be able to do that.”
The invitation came before Bertie Ahern and Blair had talks in Dublin – the first time they had met since the negotiation of the peace deal – about developments in Northern Ireland and European issues.
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