There is little doubt in Galway but that the US First Lady, Hillary Clinton, is indeed running for the Senate in New York - even if she won't declare until after her Florida holiday. She received the freedom of the city and an honorary degree from UCG amid great disruption, which didn't go down too well in certain quarters, but it was the fuss over her speech that led observers to conclude that she has a serious agenda in mind.
Her unremarkable address had to be cleared by White House staff before copies were released. The "cleared" version was not faxed over until a remarkable 22 hours after she had left the city - and after all the newspapers had gone to press. Maybe someone in the White House doesn't approve of Hillary's solo run.
But painful memories are not just confined to the press; some on Galway Corporation are still smarting over what they regard as a "snub" to the mayor, Councillor Angela Lynch-Lupton, in relation to protocol for the visit. UCG denies that any was intended and says relations are good.
All is not well within the campus, however. Students who were forced into local hotels for their exams are still complaining about the disruption, and questioning the timing, and several academics are distressed at the comparisons with last week's millennium lecture by the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson. Not only was this lecture relegated to a less important venue on the campus, according to some staff who wish to remain nameless, but they say that Robinson, a native of the west, should have been the first woman to receive the freedom of the city.
Meanwhile, the Garda is still searching for the 6 foot 7 inches, 12 stone, bog oak monument valued at £10,000 which was lent to the university by a local businessman. He had borrowed it from the priest who made it, to be the centrepiece in the conferring hall. After the ceremony it was left at a doorway for removal. Despite the 200 extra security people on campus it appears to have been removed by the wrong people.