Madam, – A lot of people have the notion that the visit of President Obama to Ireland is going to be the panacea the tourist business has needed for many years. It is difficult to see how that can be. The idea that there are millions of Americans so lacking in wit and imagination that they must rely on the head of state to give them some ideas of where to spend their holidays is absurd.
At present President Obama is on an official state visit to Chile, Brazil, and El Salvador, so following that logic millions of Americans will be heading south of the equator on vacation this summer. As his visit to Ireland also includes a wider European trip, taking in Britain, France, and Poland, it is hard to see how Ireland is going to gain any additional publicity for its leg of the trip.
It appears to me that those making most noise about the benefits of the trip are mainly councillors and other public representatives who seem to be angling for invites to a party. – Yours, etc,