A hundred Irish and United States flags have been hoisted over the Obama's ancestral home of Moneygall, County Offaly.
The flags were raised simultaneously by local children as part of an official ceremony. Moneygall is officially open to receive its most famous son next week.
Canon Stephen Neill from Cloughjordan, who carried out the initial research into President Barack Obama's links with Moneygall, told RTÉ News he hoped the President's visit would leave a lasting impression on the people of the community.
The town is run ragged with preparation for the arrival of Obama next Monday. Ollie Hayes the proprietor of Hayes' bar, where it is expected that Obama will take a drink has been dealing with tourists, journalist sand the US security staff for weeks. Now he wants to get a chance to serve the man himself.
Hayes plans to open the bar especially for the President on Monday. Speaking to Reuters he said "He can have whatever he wants…Since President Obama said he was coming to visit, it's just been mad."
The "men in black" arrived shortly after St. Patrick's Day, when Obama announced he intended to visit Ireland. The town which has not restaurants, cafes or even public toilets simply does not know what has hit it.
Julia Hayes, the energetic 80-year-old bar landlady of Hayes' pub said "Only for Obama, I'd have retired on my birthday two weeks ago but the visit would give you a bit of life again."
Another local Mary Fanning opened a souvenir shop two weeks ago which sells everything from Barack Obama fridge magnets to plastic lighters. She said "It's wonderful, everyone here is bursting with enthusiasm…But it's great for the country too. It makes people forget about the recession and lifts the spirits even if it's just for a little bit."
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Tourists forced out of Obama’s ancestral village of Moneygall due to lack of toilets or food
Obama’s Irish cousin lands new role as television star
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8 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.bunkerhill | May 18, 2011, 04:50 PM EDT
Why ask me what I think if it is going to be censored.
bunkerhill | May 18, 2011, 04:44 PM EDT
I really want to know why my comment was not put on the blog.
mrkennedy | May 18, 2011, 02:29 PM EDT
I just had to run to the bathroom to release my disgust with this story!!!!!!!!!!!!
McNamara31 | May 18, 2011, 02:28 PM EDT
John5319 ..How does it feel to demean a person on no just grounds. You quoted a verse : In the lat days "there will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" Are you referring to Newt, or Limbaugh or Trump with their many wives, broken families and lust for greed and power or possibly, Rudy Giuliani who after marring his third wife thought it was purely ok to walk to the head of the line in St. Patrick’s Cathedral and receive communion from the Pope? But rather, you chose to denigrate a man still married to his one and only wife, who loves his children so much he moved his mother in law into the Whitehouse to take care of their daughters, a man who tried to stand up to corporate greed in America and give this country healthcare for all, and a man lastly, who picked himself up got and education and achieved the American dream and after all that isn’t good enough for the likes of you..
John5319 | May 18, 2011, 12:01 PM EDT
Where are the flags over his birth-fathers home in Kenya?
John5319 | May 18, 2011, 11:58 AM EDT
The "soul" of Obama is NOT one of a "Christian" for he COVETS THY NEIGHBORS GOODS". His "soul" is EVIL by his Godlessness. In the lat days "there will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of GOD,..." 2Timothy 3:2-4. Obama is "abusing children" with his theft of their future earnings with his government borrowed spending. He is Evil "loaded down with sin and are swayed by ALL kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the Truth". His "folly will be clear to everyone". His Evil is his narcissism, deceit, manipulation, and destruction of the Constitution in violation of the "oath of office".
McNamara31 | May 18, 2011, 09:32 AM EDT
As every true Irishman knows, being Irish is not in the "looks" but in the soul. It’s what has made our words so memorable, and our music world renowned. I’m sure it was Obama's Irishness that helped to give him the strength to overcome and achieve greatness. After his trip to Ireland he will return to America even a better man.
colkelley | May 18, 2011, 09:27 AM EDT
Please keep him...forever.