Within weeks of the removal of #1 Most Wanted person, he-who-should-not-be-named, Ireland is set to be the host for two of the biggest names – and no, I’m not talking about Beyonce, Lady Gaga or Take That.

The two headliners at the Irish “summer” festival visit are:

1. The Queen of England is coming to Ireland to see how the country is doing after is was handed over to the Irish several decades ago – almost as many years as the queen herself.  To be honest, the economy is dire and and we still eat spuds, so not much has changed since her last visit.  Many Irish still have forgiven the British for ruling them almost a century ago.  It’ll be a tough crowd for the Queen to please.  Why is she coming Well, one of my readers enlightened me.  Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip visited at the request of President Mary McAleese, in a spirit of acknowledgement of past history and mutual respect.
2. Mr Obama (US President for those less informed people) wanted to see where his Irish relatives comes from.  Many great American people have Irish roots, like Muhammed Ali, JFK, Grace Kelly, Gregory Peck, Charlie (winner) Sheen, Machine Gun Kelly and of course St. Patrick himself … I’m sure Arnie will make a claim to be Irish at some point too. That said, President Obama visited Ireland to primarily source his ancestry, but also to show his support to the Irish nation.  The speech in College Green was amazing and the crowd loved it.

This obviously requires a huge security operation, so it’s comforting that the local sheriff’s office predicts Armageddon in those days.

Ireland is not exactly a country that’s blossoming and the economy is shite at the moment.  Perhaps that’s why these two head of States are visiting – bargain travel deal.  But, because of the economy, there has been a lot of cuts, which has included the Irish Police Force.

Thankfully Mr. Obama brings along his own security task force, which will be of great assistance to the already stretched An Garda Siochana (Irish Police).  The US secret service has the coolest gadgets and vehicles, which will protect the President while driving on some or Ireland’s worst roads – worst in regards to potholes.

The security concerns are real and should not be underestimated.

• On one side you have an international terrorist organisation, Al-Qaeda, who just hates everybody, but primarily Americans.
• On the other side, you have RIRA (Real Irish Republican Army), who just hates anybody who tries to impose rules on Irish people – and in particular the British.

I only have a few comments about these groups – muppets!

Unfortunately, this is not a good combination for the upcoming visits.

As a result, the Irish Police worked on securing the inner city of Dublin for several weeks; lampposts, man-holes, electrical boxes, bins, sewer system, etc.  Everything is getting checked.

I’ve witnessed a few of these activities during those days.  All trainee police recruits were running around the streets of Dublin like headless chickens, sealing anything that was not welded shut or nailed down.  I even spotted one of the police divers jumping into the sewer – why?  I’m not sure.

Somehow I think it’ll be fairly peaceful event.  That said, I must admit that I too am a little apprehensive in regards to the security in Dublin for the 2 weeks up to, during and after these two visits.

The good thing is, both these visits will be VERY good for the Irish economy, and hopefully inspire many other people from around the World, to visit Ireland and find their Irish roots.

Lets face it, we all have Irish roots.  Welcome home 🙂

As the event took place in May, and again thanks to feedback from a reader, it is important to understand that both events were extremely successful – despite several bomb threats during the Queen’s visit.  Traffic and accessing Dublin City during the two weeks was mayhem.  It was almost impossible to get into work.

It was brilliant to have had to opportunity to witness and participate in these two massive events, and it is something that has been good for the Irish economy.