Yesterday:
Bush to attend European Union summit
WASHINGTON -- President Bush used a St. Patrick's Day ceremony today to announce he will go to Ireland in June for a summit with the European Union.
Today:
Govt urged to cancel planned Bush visit
Irish MEPs Patricia McKenna and Pronsias de Rossa have called on the Government to cancel US President George W Bush's planned visit to Ireland in June.
The Green Party and Labour Party MEPs said the EU-US summit that Mr Bush is due to attend should be held in Brussels rather than in Ireland.
Breslin today:
And she said, "I mean in June in Dublin. Can you imagine? They're bringing Bush over. That's when we start stamping our feet something fierce in front of the world. He'll have the whole country up from the ground protesting."
Bush goes to Dublin to speak at a meeting of European nations. The size of Ireland makes any corner of the country easy to reach by protesters. The Bush government has been discussing places for safe meetings in the empty west of Ireland. The people around Bush feel any unfriendly crowd is a frontal assault that requires the 10th Mountain Division to defend. The Bush people think that the west of Ireland will be friendly. They are that out of touch with Ireland. The people will go anywhere to protest against Bush and his war. A corner of Mayo, or Grafton Street in Dublin, are equally good. The mails in my office and house have been filled with notices of war protest marches coming up in New York. The murmur of New York runs all over the world.
The Irish Herald newspaper printed that Bush will have 700 people with him, and the American security people have asked for immunity for anybody who shoots and kills a protester. This could be a standard request, but it looks like hell to see it in print in Ireland.
Considering how bad it went for Bush when he visited London last fall, I can't see this being a public relations success for him, either internationally or in the U.S. I'm frankly surprised he's going. Will be on the lookout for the protest preparation web sites that are sure to be coming...