Police constable Joanne Jenkins, yesterday celebrated her 23rd birthday in the White House as the new face of the Northern Ireland Police Service.
Const Jenkins and her colleague, Const Ian Mairs, graduated from the PSNI's Police College last year as part of the first team of recruits trained after the passing of the RUC.
One a Catholic, one a Protestant, the two, along with the PSNI Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, were greeted by President Bush when they attended a function to mark St Patrick's Day.
"It has been an overwhelming experience and we are only here two days. We really have been having a ball," said Const Jenkins, who previously worked as a television camerawoman for Sky News and RTÉ.
"We have been showing to everybody that we are a new policing service, delivering quality and professionalism to our community," she said, shortly after she met Senator Ted Kennedy.
The PSNI officers and the Chief Constable were quick to emphasise repeatedly that the RUC's "sacrifices made over 30 years" would not be forgotten.
Questioned about their religious denomination, Const Jenkins replied: "I don't really think the Catholic/Protestant thing should be an issue at all. I will leave politics to the politicians."
She joined the PSNI "because I was working in television, I was attending scenes. I saw the enthusiasm and the love of the job shown to me by the men and women in the police."
Const Mairs also stressed the legacy left by the RUC.
Clearly delighted to be the first Northern Ireland Chief Constable to be invited to the White House, Mr Orde said it was a "very positive statement of support" for policing reform.
