Bertie's Big Speech

WHEN outgoing Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern addresses a joint session of Congress this Wednesday, April 30, he is unlikely to match the drama surrounding the joint session address by war hero General Douglas Mac Arthur, after he was relieved of his command by President Harry Truman in 1951.

MacArthur concluded his speech before Congress with the immortal lines, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

Congressman Dewey Short of Missouri was so moved that he cried out, "We heard God speak here today! God in the flesh! The voice of God!"

Despite his own popularity among American politicians, Ahern is unlikely to draw the same response. He will also be hoping to avoid the embarrassing fate of Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, when the diminutive monarch addressed the joint session behind a podium which left only the top of her head visible to most in the chamber.

There have been 105 joint session speeches to Congress, the most recent by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last November. Ahern will become only the fifth person ever to address joint sessions of Congress and the British Parliament.

Taoisigh (Prime Mini-sters) Liam Cosgrave, Garret FitzGerald and John Bruton have all spoken before Congress, while two presidents, Eamon De Valera and Sean T. O Ceallaigh, have also been accorded the honor.

Surprisingly, given the party's dominance of Irish politics, Ahern will be the first Fianna Fail taoiseach to make the address.

Of the Irish addresses, it was de Valera's speech, on May 28, 1964, that made the most impact. The aging president was visiting the U.S. soon after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, with the extraordinary images of the latter's visit to Ireland in June 1963 still fresh in the public memory.

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Nster.com