A glance at the week that was
We now know
Ireland will accept a small number of Guantánamo detainees after the closure
This season’s Formula 1 championship will be won by the driver who wins most races rather than scores most points
Google is taking panoramic “street view” pictures of five Irish cities for Google Earth
Is feidir linn
Every week brings some new adventure for Brian Cowen, and this week it was a St Patrick's Day trip
to Washington to meet President Barack Obama. They seemed to get along well, with the Taoiseach getting a lot of time with the leader of the free world. However, there was a bit of a glitch when he started to read Obama's speech from the teleprompter before recovering to say, "that's your speech".
Obama laughed it off and then went on to charm the Irish population by having a go at “Is féidir linn”.
Sunny parades
Meanwhile, across the country, the sun shone, the crowds came out and the St Patrick’s Day parades lifted the spirits for the day. There were about 70 in all around the island.
In Cork, a 140ft dragon was the highlight of a parade led by a US astronaut. 60,000 came out to see the parades in Galway and Limerick. In Dublin, an estimated 675,000 lined the 2.5 km route for a parade based on the theme of “the sky’s the limit”.
With 2,000 performers, there were marching bands from Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and even Ireland.
The numbers
$165bnThe value of bonuses paid out to AIG executives – after a $170 billion US government bailout
$1.2 trillionThe amount the US Federal Reserve is to inject into the US economy
40%Rise in the Irish birth rate compared to 1999