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Bushes to stay at Dromoland

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

He will arrive at Shannon Airport on the night of June 25 and will be formally greeted by President Mary McAleese the next morning. Afterward, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and President Bush will hold the official EU/U.S. summit talks followed by a lunch at Dromoland.
Both men will afterward appear for a limited press conference. Officials expect to limit reporters to two questions.
Only lower-level EU officials will attend the meetings that are expected to focus on repairing U.S./EU relations.
Those hoping to get a glimpse of the president while he’s on Irish soil will have to content themselves with watching the visit on TV. Unprecedented security cautions have been taken to limit any access to the area during Bush’s brief stay.
According to officials, the traveling White House press corps is to be housed “20 minutes away,” with the exact location not yet revealed. TV reporters will be left to do their live shots or on-air appearances “down the road from the castle.”
The president will be accompanied by his wife, Laura. No details on Mrs. Bush’s plans for her short stay in Ireland have been made available. She has made solo trips abroad as first lady as well as accompanying her husband to summit meetings over the three years of his administration.
While on a visit to Germany in the spring of 2002, Mrs. Bush was asked about the protesters who turned up during that trip.
“I wish they would use their energy and their enthusiasm to help other people,” she told a reporter accompanying her at the time.
She and her husband will again have the presence of protesters during their short stay, although it is highly unlikely that they will personally encounter any of the planned protests by the Irish Anti-War Movement, the Peace Alliance, or any other groups.
An opinion poll conducted by the Dublin-based Sunday Business Post newspaper showed last week that just over 40 percent of respondents were in favor of the Bush visit.
Almost half of those polled expressed fear that the visit might encourage terrorist attacks on Irish soil, while close to three in five wanted to see an end to U.S. military planes being refueled at Shannon.

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