President In A Box

No one much cared about the Queen's visit to Ireland. She's just someone's Gran, when you get down to it. Just a nice old lady in a hat.

The President of the United States, however, is another matter altogether.

He has real power. He's the leader of the free world, the head of the world's one remaining super-power.

And he's called for Israel to return to its original borders. Will he make the same demand of England, that they yield the Six Counties back?

People genuinely want to see and hear him speak, which creates a nightmare for security operatives. But there is a way for Mr. Obama to be seen as he addresses the Irish people in College Green.

He'll be put under glass.

In a manner of speaking.

He'll be delivering his address from behind a plexiglass screen, all bulletproof and bomb-proof. Anyone arriving to hear him will have to go through a metal scanner, but in general, the speech will be open to the public.

If you want to see him, you'll have to be quick. According to the time schedule, he's to speak for twenty minutes before boarding a helicopter which will touch down in Moneygall, County Offaly. He'll pop into the local, maybe sip a pint, and then it's off to the airport with a brief stop, time permitting, at Glasnevin for a photo-op wreath-laying.

Not to worry if he's running late. There'll be plenty of music and entertainment at College Green prior to the speech.

Then Mr. Obama can box up the goodwill and take it home, a souvenir of his trip when there's no time budgeted for shopping.

He may have need of his box when he returns to Washington, however. Bullet-proof plexiglass will come in handy when he's deflecting the barbs that the Republicans will be throwing during the debt reduction debates.