when did barack obama visit ireland

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

• Temperature Check
• The Stardust Inquests
• Inside The Newsroom
• Climate Crisis
• International

Obama’s Irish visit: A timeline

TODAY THE PRESIDENT of the United States begins his first ever visit to Ireland, which will include an address to thousands on College Green in Dublin and a trip to the home of his ancestors in Moneygall, Co Offaly.

TheJournal.ie brings you a timeline of the day’s events as they happen:

19.03 – Now that the Obamas are leaving the country – via dinner with the US ambassador – we are wrapping up this timeline on the visit. Thanks for being with us and remember: Is Feidir Linn.

To review the day, look at the visit in pictures here , in Tweets here , and read the irrepresible (Not) Cardinal Brady’s liveblog on the Dublin concert and speech here .

18.59 - The White House has confirmed that Michelle and Barack Obama are flying to London tonight. Gardai have ensured the safe dispersal of most of the crowd on College Green by removing barriers from side streets as soon as Obama left the stage.

18.23 – RTE’s David Davin Power has been tweeting that it is expected Barack and Michelle Obama will NOT stay the night in Dublin but will have to fly to London tonight in case he gets stranded here by the ash cloud. Ah go on, Barack, stay on a while.

18.19 - And it turns out that Ireland, ‘IS FEIDIR LINN!’ Oh yes, we can. The crowd goes wild.

18.05 – Barack Obama’s cupla focail went down well at the start of a strong speech about the dreams of forefathers, emigration, creating a new country and returning home. See the highlight quotes on @TheJournal_live .

17.49 - Of course in the meantime, Taoiseach Enda Kenny will get to speak for ten minutes. He has just introduced Barack and Michelle Obama on stage.

17.42 – We will also be tweeting the best bits of Barack Obama’s speech on our live Twitter account – click through to here if you’re interested in keeping an eye on that>

17.32 – We hand over to the hilarious (Not) Cardinal Brady for the next while as he liveblogs for TheJournal.ie from backstage at College Green… Click through to here to read his liveblog>

17.27 – Imelda May, Westlife, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson, Ryan Tubridy – they’ve all been on stage at College Green already to honour Barack Obama. (Who’s not there yet).

16.32 - …Aaaaand, they’re back at the Moneygall GAA pitch to hop on Marine One and chopper it to Dublin. Gardai are now warning in Dublin that the area around College Green, Lord Edward Street and Christchurch are filled to capacity and that people who are not already there should NOT make their way into town for the concert.

16.15 – After enjoying their drink, Barack and Michelle are back out onto the street for hugs, handshakes and, yes, a third baby-holding session.

15.59 - Obama reveals that it is not his first pint of Guinness. He tells Ollie Hayes that he had one during a stopover at Shannon on the way to Afghanistan.

15.56 – Diageo score a second publicity coup in a week – Queen Elizabeth II didn’t drink her pint of Guinness but Barack goes straight in for the kill. Michelle isn’t far behind with a glass.

15.51 – A short speech by Obama in the pub about the influence of Irish culture on America is greeted by ‘Shush!’, shortly followed by ‘Yahoo!’. A trad music session kicks in. He poses for a group family photo with all his Moneygall relatives.

15.47 - The floor inside Hayes’s pub has been buffed to a high shine by the look of things. Obama is invited to inspect the parish records of Shinrone and Moneygall, which show details of his ancestors. Canon Stephen Neill, who helped uncover the US president’s Irish roots, looks proudly on.

15.36 - Barack Obama goes off-road again to shake some more hands before he heads into Ollie Hayes’s pub.

15.31 - The rain ends what the US secret service guys couldn’t as shower sends Michelle and Barack Obama away from their epic meet-and-greet and into the old homestead of Barack’s ancestor Falmouth Kearney (Or at least, the house that stands on the site where the original home stood). And then onto ‘An Siopa Beag’.

15.20 - The president reaches to take a second baby from the crowd. The baby is less impressed this time and cries before he’s given back.

15.17 – The couple take their time moving along the street, hugging and shaking hands with the locals.

15.16 - Is he… could he be… Yes, Barack Obama, President of the United States, has posed with a baby.

15.12 - The sun has made a reappearance, Barack and Michelle Obama both greet Barack’s cousin Henry Healy with a warm hug. The couple then go on a meet-and-greet with locals. Someone is smiling down on Moneygall.

14.58 – Michelle Obama pulls her raincoat a little tighter around her as the pair tread carefully across Moneygall GAA field. A ‘drop’ of rain is now pelting locals lining the streets. The presidential couple will get into another car and drive up the main street.

14.47 – Marine One is about one minute to land. It’s hovering over the Moneygall GAA pitch. Time to try out that hurley?

14.35 – The sun is out in Moneygall. The presidential helicopter is going to land on the Co Tipperary side of the village – according to a Tipperary man…

14.30 – The excitement is building in Moneygall as locals watch television footage of a US helicopter take Barack and Michelle Obama from the Phoenix Park. They had a bit of a glitch getting there when their car got stuck on a ramp at the US Embassy. Oops:

13.50 – It has just started raining again in Moneygall. The village silently prays.

12.06 – The presidential motorcade takes off to the US embassy for a private lunch.

12.05 – The President is presented with a hurley as he leaves the Áras. He wields it with with some skill as he turns to the assembled American media and jokes “if Congress don’t behave”..

11.55 – Obama said he and his wife were “extraordinarily grateful” for the welcome they’d received in Ireland, and said the “friendship and bond of the two countries could not be stronger”, adding it was not “just a matter of strategic interests, but of a shared bloodline and a respect for “the extraordinary traditions of an extraordinary people”.

He spoke of how “inspired we have been by the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland because it speaks to the possibility of peace and people in longstanding struggles being able to reimagine their relationships.”

He also alluded to the “mutual warmth and healing that took place” as a consequence of the Queen’s visit; “to know that the former Taoiseach FitzGerald was able to witness the Queen coming here, that sends what Bobby Kennedy would have called ‘a ripple of hope’ around the world.” He finished by saying he was grateful to all of those who had worked tirelessly to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

11.50 – Obama and Kenny make brief speeches before the assembled press from the fireside at Farmleigh. The Taoiseach speaks of the “palpable excitment” of the Irish people, and says the two leaders had discussed a “range of issues”, including the economic crisis, and the seriousness of our intent in dealing with it; the Northern Ireland Assembly; the Queen’s visit, and the implications and consequences of it; the US President’s recent speech on immigration at El Paso; the close relationship between Ireland the USA; the fact that there would be “no change” on Shannon. Kenny finished by telling his US counterpart they had unfinished business – “next time, you’d better bring your golf clubs.”

11.10 – They stand for a picture, before entering Farmleigh.

11.09 – Obama greets Taoiseach Enda Kenny like an old friend. Fionnuala Kenny and Michelle Obama hug and kiss, while Kenny immediately corners Obama for a chat. The country quietly prays he’s not asking for a loan. They stand on the steps for a few moments, shaking hands for a second time, and laughing.

11.08 – The presidential motorcade pulls up.

11.06 – The sun’s back out as the Taoiseach and Fionnuala Kenny wait on the steps of Farmleigh for the US President and Michelle Obama.

11.01 – The sun’s definitely come out. Oh, it’s gone in again.

11.00 – Obama exchanges a word and a joke with the US Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, before climbing into the presidential motorcade for the short journey to Farmleigh.

10.59 – They emerge from the Áras. President and Dr McAleese bid a warm farewell to this visitors. Hopefully, she’s now retiring inside for a long bath after a busy week.

10.43 – The sun has come out. The country breathes a sigh of relief. The two Presidents and their partners return inside the Áras. The visit’s clipping along at a mighty pace.

10.40 – The three schoolchildren who rang the peace bell for only the third time in its history (the second time was by the Queen last week) come forward to meet the US President. “How are you sweetie, it’s nice to see you?” Michelle says, greeting the children. They stand for a photograph. “Let’s say cheese – that’s what we do in the United States of America,” Barack Obama invites the beaming children.

10.38 – Robert Norris, head gardener at the Áras shakes the hand of the President at the site of the tree-planting. The lucky tree is an upright Irish oak. Kind of Barack Obama to do a spot of digging.

10.37 – The two Presidents emerge from their meeting into the gusty gardens at the Áras.  Dr McAleese seems to be in animated discussion with Michelle Obama, who’s still struggling with her hair and that damn wind.

10.35 – Assorted US and Irish dignitaries begin to assemble on the lawns outside the Áras.

10.34 – The private meeting with Mary McAleese is going on for much longer than the planned two minutes.

10.30 – Right about now, Taoiseach Enda Kenny is arriving at Farmleigh, ahead of his meeting with Barack Obama later in the morning. Mysteriously, his aide-de-camp is carrying a hurley.

10.09 – The President of Ireland and the United States retire for a short private meeting.

10.09 - The Obamas sign the visitors’ book. He declines to answer his first question from a journalist.

10.07 – The Obamas are greeted by President Mary McAleese . Obama says: “We are thrilled to be here”. President McAleese apologises for not “organising better weather”. He issues his first declaration on the Irish situation: “Actually this is not too bad. This is Chicago weather.” He tells the awaiting press: “The sun’s come out now.” The country takes a deep intake of breath at his enduring positivity.

10.02 – The convoy takes off.

10.01 – The couple step into car… Obama gets out of car. After a moment of confusion, he gets back in.

10.00 – The Obamas step off helicopter. Michelle struggles with her hair as the wind gusts across the Phoenix Park.

09.59 – Helicopter touches down in the grounds of Phoenix Park.

9.56 – The rain stops.

9.48 - The helicopter departs for the Áras an Uachtaráin.

9.42 – The Obamas climb into the Marine 1 Nighthawk helicopter.

9.36 – President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama step off plane.

9.28 - Airforce One  touches down at Dublin Airport.

See also: #PotusIE: What Twitter is making of Obama’s visit >

In photos: obama’s visit to ireland >.

Additional reporting by Jennifer Wade and Susan Daly

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation..

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

To embed this post, copy the code below on your site

600px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/obamas-visit-timeline-141680-May2011/?embedpost=141680&width=600&height=460" ></iframe>

400px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/obamas-visit-timeline-141680-May2011/?embedpost=141680&width=400&height=460" ></iframe>

300px wide <iframe width="600" height="460" frameborder="0" style="border:0px;" src="https://www.thejournal.ie/https://www.thejournal.ie/obamas-visit-timeline-141680-May2011/?embedpost=141680&width=300&height=460" ></iframe>

• Defamation Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel.
• Racism or Hate speech An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs.
• Trolling or Off-topic An attempt to derail the discussion.
• Inappropriate language Profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, or slurs.
• Spam Advertising, phishing, scamming, bots, or repetitive posts.

Create an email alert based on the current article

Watch CBS News

Obama visits Ireland, his ancestral homeland

May 23, 2011 / 5:07 AM EDT / CBS/AP

DUBLIN - President Obama opened a four-country, six-day European tour when Air Force One touched down in Ireland on Monday, where his largely ceremonial visit will highlight America's deep ties with the Irish.

Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made their way down the plane's steps through the driving wind and rain to be greeted by Irish officials on Dublin airport's tarmac.

The couple quickly climbed aboard the Marine One presidential helicopter for the onward journey to Irish President Mary McAleese's official residence in Dublin, where the Irish leader was to formally welcome Mr. and Mrs. Obama to the Emerald Isle.

The centerpiece of Mr. Obama's 24-hour stop on the Emerald Isle will be a visit to Moneygall, the tiny village where the president's maternal great-great-great-grandfather was born. Residents in the town of 350 eagerly anticipated Obama's arrival and the chance to raise a pint with the American president who shares their roots.

"O'Bama" and his Irish roots

CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports that, while the president is obviously not a full-blooded Irishman, he is, like four other American presidents, Irish enough to make a stop in the ancestral homeland of tens of millions of Irish-American voters.

His great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, left Moneygall for America in 1850, and the village - freshly painted, prettied up and stocked with souvenirs - was charged in anticipation of his arrival. He was to meet some distant relatives and drop by the local tavern.

The White House said the trip was to "celebrate the relationship between our two countries and the contributions Irish-Americans make to our deep and broad ties."

Mr. Obama will meet also meet with Irish leaders and deliver a speech in the center of Dublin that is expected to celebrate Irish culture.

From Ireland, Mr. Obama will travel to England, France and Poland.

More from CBS News

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Rediscovering Obama’s Irish Roots

By Chris Colin

During the eighteenth century, a wigmaker in Ireland could expect to have a prosperous career. Wigs were popular among the aristocracy, and useful in a pre-shampoo era. But the eighteen-hundreds brought a cold reappraisal of artificial hair. In the tiny village of Moneygall, on the border of Offaly and Tipperary, the Kearney family turned to shoemaking. By the arrival of the Great Famine, they’d joined millions of fellow-citizens who were hungry for a restart. When, in 1850, the Kearney family learned that a relative in America had bequeathed them a parcel of land, Falmouth Kearney, then nineteen years old, set out from his twelve-and-a-half-foot-wide house for Liverpool. There, he boarded a New York-bound coffin ship, so named for the high mortality rate among passengers. From New York, Kearney, an intense-looking man with a pressed-down mat of dark hair, made his way to Ohio, and married an Ohio woman named Charlotte Holloway. They had children and resettled, eventually, in Indiana, where Kearney worked as a farmer. Their youngest daughter had children of her own, and those children had children, and those children had children. One of the little Irish babies was Barack Obama.

The Irish roots of America’s first African-American President have a way of registering perpetually as a news flash. But it was back in 2007 that the world, and Obama himself, first learned about great-great-great-grandfather Falmouth. That year, a genealogist from Ancestry.com pieced together the family story with the help of a rector in Ireland who had access to church records from the nineteenth century. For the young senator from Illinois, this newfound heritage became occasional campaign-trail fodder; it was a hoot, and didn’t hurt with Irish-American voters.

Henry Healy was watching the news with his mother one evening in 2007 when the newscaster mentioned a familiar-sounding name. Healy was twenty-two, and had lived all his life on Moneygall’s central thoroughfare. He recalls glancing at his mother and saying, “Did he just say ‘Kearney’?” The Kearneys had married into the Healy family in the eighteenth century; Henry had been interested in family trees since his father’s death, thirteen years earlier. As word spread that Obama had a skinny, white eighth cousin—several, in fact—in a rural Irish village with a population of three hundred, reporters poured in. In Henry, a tall man with glassy blue eyes and ears bordering on the prominent, they found a spokesman for the Healy line.

Obama was not the first American politician to discover a lurking Irishness; in the past half-century, finding one’s Celtic roots has been something of a Presidential tic. Ronald Reagan learned that his great-grandfather hailed from Ballyporeen. Bill Clinton learned that he might have family from County Fermanagh. Richard Nixon and the Bushes claimed Irish heritage. John F. Kennedy, America’s first Irish-Catholic President, once told the citizens of Limerick, “This is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection.”

A cross-Atlantic courtship began between Obama and Moneygall. In early 2009, Healy and Stephen Neal, the rector who found the old records, corresponded with the president of the Irish American Democrats. Soon after that, the acting ambassador travelled to the village, the Irish Prime Minister phoned Healy, and the public-affairs director of the U.S. Embassy paid a visit. Finally, the new ambassador gave Healy the message that would spark the longest period of insomnia he had ever known: Barack and Michelle Obama were coming to Moneygall.

If you live in a city or a good-sized town, or really any place that people visit of their own volition, you must strain, much as Moneygallers strained, to comprehend the effects of what happened next to their generally overlooked village. A donation of thirty-five thousand litres of paint was secured, from Dulux, to touch up every house; the company also provided a color coördinator’s services. Every pothole was repaired, planters were hung in windows, and a ticket system was devised to accommodate all those who wished to join the reception on Main Street. No conceivable “O’Bama” souvenir went unrealized: placemats, teapots, hats, key chains, “Yes We Can” T-shirts written in Gaelic, “What’s the craic Barack?” coffee mugs. Brack, a kind of fruit loaf, became “Barack’s brack.” Soon the Secret Service began the painstaking process of insuring that the most excited people in Ireland did nothing foolish.

On May 23, 2011, Healy sat at Ollie Hayes Bar, Moneygall’s main pub (the other one sits on the other side of the road), watching live footage of Marine One landing nearby. He was a wreck. The son of a farmer, he worked in accounts at a local plumbing company. Now his local bar had been equipped with fourteen phone lines, and soon he’d be part of the inner circle hanging around with the President of the United States. “Someone offered me a brandy, but I didn’t want the President’s first impression of an Irishman to be one who smelled like alcohol,” Healy told me, this past fall. “I had a pint of water.”

The Obamas' first stop was to a low, drab-looking house toward the south end of Main Street. It was the ancestral home—the place that Falmouth had left, a century and a half earlier, for America. The President could’ve just nodded appreciatively, one Moneygaller told me. But he wanted to check it out. Healy and Hayes were with him, and reported later that he seemed genuinely moved there in the living room. He stomped on the floorboards where his people had walked, pored over an artist’s impression of how the house had once looked, and then relayed what he had learned to the First Lady when she walked in.

Then they went to the pub. In photos, ruddy locals beam over the couple’s shoulders, unable to contain their palpable joy. Healy is seen seldom more than a foot or two from the first family, and not looking remotely nervous. Ollie Hayes, Healy’s uncle and neighbor, stands nearby. By all accounts, the atmosphere verged on euphoric. “You’re keeping all the best stuff here,” Obama declared at one point, talking about how Guinness tastes better in Ireland than abroad. The quote, sounding like a broader endorsement, was later memorialized on a sign outside the pub. “We are going to talk about this day forevermore as the day that Moneygall made history,” Hayes said. Healy told a journalist that it was “the greatest day this village has ever had, ever will have.”

The Obamas left the pub to find all of Moneygall waiting outside, along with a few thousand visitors. The plan was for the first family to say a few hellos and then get in a limo. But, as locals tell it now, something came over them, and they walked the entire length of the village, shaking every hand. Lengthwise, it’s said to have been the longest Presidential handshake session in modern history. And then they left. The Obamas left, the Secret Service left, the media left. Everybody left except the Moneygallers themselves.

Preparations ahead of Obama’s visit to Moneygall. *PHOTOGRAPH BY JULIEN BEHAL / PA WIRE / AP *{: .credit}

The first thing you notice about Moneygall is that you’ve accidentally driven through it. In the northeast, you quickly find yourself in Irish countryside: ash trees, low stone walls, thick-walled homes hunkered down against the chill. On a recent morning, the local radio station aired a segment on the proper installation of flue liners.

But zip out of Moneygall from the southwest and you arrive at the gleaming, glassy Barack Obama Plaza, rising in thrilling disharmony from the cows and hills and green. The multimillion-dollar complex opened on the outskirts of town three years after the visit. Only technically is the futuristic-looking structure just a rest stop. Inside, diners can find proper Irish meals, in addition to fast food, and a spacious dining room with actual silverware. Upstairs, there’s a suite of meeting rooms, should anyone need to conduct a meeting. Down the hall, an extensive visitors center showcases all things Obama-plus-Moneygall. There’s an exhibit on other famous locals, a bust of Obama, a giant photo of Healy shaking the President’s hand.

Having been put on the map by Obama’s visit, Moneygall intended to remain there. The plaza is the most elaborate of the village’s monuments to its historic significance; for a while, there was talk of building a hundred-and-fifty-room Barack Obama Hotel. The Obama Café opened on Main Street, and the village’s official Web site began promoting an Obama-themed bike ride around the region. Visitors can attend the annual Obama Country Fest; stroll through the nearby cemetery, where the President’s ancestors are buried; or snap selfies outside the church they likely attended. And, of course, they can pop into Ollie Hayes Bar, itself a mini museum of Obama photos, memorabilia, and another bust of the President. The sign out front has been modified to incorporate a blown-up photo of Obama drinking Guinness.

On a brisk Wednesday evening this fall, three middle-aged men sat on stools in the pub watching a cooking show, while Hayes, who is fifty, and the fourth generation of landlords, scrolled idly through his phone. In the half-decade since the Obamas’ visit, Hayes and Healy were amazed to find that their relationship with the first family did not simply fade away. Healy got to bring his mother to the White House, and has made two trips to Washington, D.C., with Hayes, the first on an invitation from Obama. The second time, not wanting to trouble the President, they attempted to attend his Second Inauguration as members of the public. Soon after arriving in the States, however, they received an e-mail from the White House, and were invited to the Inaugural Ball, the Inauguration itself, and another private function. “Cousin Henry!” Michelle exclaimed when she saw him, and everyone hugged everyone.

Healy and Hayes estimate they’ve met with Obama ten times. Their days of getting nervous before each encounter are over. During one visit, tooling around Washington with the President in his limo, Healy and Hayes realized with mortification that they’d been talking at length about septic-tank regulation in Ireland. Obama, for his part, seemed fascinated. Recalling this and other evidence of Obama’s character, Hayes turned solemn. “A sound man,” he said.

The Obama connection still draws out-of-towners to the bar. “We’ve all become tour guides,” Hayes said. “It’s brought everyone together. Just one of the ways everything changed that day.”

But hope and change can snag. Mary Murray, who runs Moneygall’s sole bed-and-breakfast, told me that not all the transformations have been positive. Economically, the village struggles like never before, she said, pointing to the Obama Café, a short walk down Main Street. Fourteen American flags hang outside, and the front door is flanked by potted plants inscribed with “Welcome” and “Obama,” but most prominent is the sign in the window: “For Sale or Lease.” The antiques shop has also closed; the hardware store has closed. The art gallery moved to a bigger town. Mary Bergin, who runs Moneygall’s convenience store and post office, told me, “When I first opened, there were five shops on the street. It was busy all day. I’m the last one left, and I’m barely hanging on.” Down the road, the old Kearney home is no longer open to tours, a pursuit that didn’t bring much income. The owners began renting it out to peat farmers from Lithuania. One morning, I camped out on a stretch of Main Street sidewalk for an hour. The only human I saw was the mail carrier. I would have wondered where everyone was, but, of course, I knew.

When I got to the Barack Obama Plaza, it was packed, as it was every time I visited: travellers, a visiting school group, a meeting of school teachers in one of the community rooms. Outside the gift shop, I spotted Henry Healy, looking friendly in a power tie. He still lives in town, though no longer with his mother, and he still tweets regularly about Obama, and U.S. politics in general. (“Anything to be said for four more beers? #ElectionDay,” he tweeted, on November 8th.) When his plumbing-company job vaporized shortly after the President’s visit, he was besieged with offers. Now he is the operations manager at the rest stop. When a child got sick near the Papa John’s, I watched him approach with statesmanlike purpose.

The response to the plaza has been divided. Certainly it has created jobs and raised the local profile. But it has also siphoned business away from Main Street, amplifying a problem that began when the nearest motorway was rerouted to bypass the village. With so many necessities available under a single gleaming roof, visitors to the old shops have all but vanished. Bergin called the plaza “the last nail in the coffin for us.” Maybe there could be no better tribute to the President than an unresolved squabble in his name.

In the dining area, families were eating late lunches, kids were climbing under tables, and a boy in a Black Sabbath jacket was stealing glances at an older girl. It looked like a town square. With only a little reaching, it was possible to imagine a future President paying a visit to the place decades, even centuries, from now. “My ancestors worked right there at the Papa John’s,” he or she might say, or, “You’re keeping all the best stuff here.”

By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By Sally McGrane

By David Remnick

By Jill Lepore

By Marie Howe

Visits to Ireland by U.S. presidents

The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.

Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Padraic Halpin and Jan Harvey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Police in Amsterdam gave the all clear after briefly closing off the central Rokin metro station to the public on Sunday due to what they had said was a suspicious situation.

Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou left on Monday for an 11-day trip to China where he is expected next week to have his second meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a time of simmering tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

I went to Ireland's bizarre Barack Obama-themed service station, complete with a museum and statues that make it as otherworldly as it sounds

• Ireland has a highway service station dedicated former US President Barack Obama.
• The site is a nice place to rest on your journey and grab food and gas, but it's also a bizarre themed site that has branded mugs, Obama's name on trash cans, and a whole floor as a free museum.
• Located on Ireland's M7 highway, Barack Obama Plaza opened in 2014 in tribute to Obama's 2011 visit to the birthplace of his great-great-great-grandfather.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Since 2014, one of Ireland's main highways has had a bizarre service station dedicated to former US President Barack Obama.

The justification for its existence is that Obama visited Moneygall, a nearby village, back in 2011 after learning that his great-great-great-grandfather was from there.

But that doesn't make the Barack Obama Plaza any less strange.

I am Irish and have been many times. Like every other Irish person I've spoken to about it, I have something of a love-hate relationship with the site. It's a very nice rest stop on a boring highway that has a widely stocked store, nice places to eat, friendly staff, and comfortable seats.

But there's something deeply embarrassing about it, and I really hope that tourists, particularly American tourists, don't take it too seriously — and don't think that we do either.

The branding, artwork, and statues — as well as the museum that has things like Obama badges, a Guinness glass Obama may or may not have drunk out of, and histories of other American presidents that had Irish heritage — all make for a truly confusing rest stop experience.

This is what it's like to visit:

Along Ireland's M7 highway, which connects the cities of Limerick and Dublin, there's a strange place — a service station dedicated to former US President Barack Obama.

The Barack Obama Plaza, as it's called, is a gas station with multiple food outlets, a shop, and, bizarrely, a museum dedicated to Obama and the US-Ireland connection.

It's a heavily branded wonder that equal parts loved by Irish people as a pleasant and useful place to stop and a source of national embarrassment that this place exists.

Obama Plaza was built and named after Obama visited the nearby town of Moneygall in 2011 during his trip to Ireland. A genealogist had learned that Obama's great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, was from the town and had emigrated to the US in the 1800s.

Obama visited a pub in the town, where he and his wife, Michelle, famously had pints of Guinness and he said: "I feel even more at home after that pint that I had."

This is the outside of the pub today — with Obama's face now displayed proudly on its sign.

You start to see signs for the Barack Obama Plaza as you drive along the highway.

As well as signs for Moneygall, which present it as a tourist site and describe it as "President Obama's Ancestral Village" rather than an actual place that people live.

Drive a bit farther and you see it: Obama's name lit up, the gas station, the restaurants.

Walk in, and one of the first things you see is a life-size cutout of Barack and Michelle. I steeled myself to take a photo for this article, and then had to burst out laughing when an employee adjusting Christmas decorations made an (inaccurate) joke about me being American. I didn't correct him, because it was much less embarrassing than saying I was an Irish journalist.

You're also hit by screens for the upstairs visitor centre.

As well as the meeting room you can book. This seems like a very sensible addition, as it means people can hold meetings at roughly a middle point between many of Ireland's major cities.

But first I wanted to explore the downstairs more. There's a host of restaurants, including Irish burger chain Supermac's and a Papa John's pizza (and, when I was there, Christmas decorations).

I've spoken enthusiastically of Supermac's , the small Irish chain that won a major naming rights victory over McDonald's.

But just when the place starts to feel normal, the Obama branding rears its head again in places like the carpet.

I ordered a tea and it came in normal cup, but then they stuck an Obama sticker on top.

The branding makes its way to the most bizarre places. I'm sure the former president is honored to have his name on this trash can.

There's something bizarre about seeing Obama's name plastered on regular old service-station signs. They were advertising an upcoming "Christmas Wonderland" when I was there. Sadly I had to return to Business Insider's UK office before it kicked off.

It was nice to see that the plaza even sponsors a local sports team.

The strangest thing about the place is that it is used by regular people who want to grab a quick coffee or bite to eat during their commute. Very few people, and certainly almost no locals, would come here because of any connection to Obama.

The dining area is largely devoid of any reference to US presidents.

It's easy to go to the shop and view it as a regular store filled with regular Irish products.

Until you take a closer look at some of what's on sale.

There's also a whole host of Obama Plaza merch for sale in the café — as well as a mug that was the only reference to President Donald Trump that I noticed.

The place itself is certainly aware of its political connections — as well as how Obama is vastly more popular in Ireland than Trump. Just before the 2016 election result, it jokingly asked its Facebook followers what it should do about changing its name.

But it wouldn't make sense to rename the place unless it was after another president with a connection to Ireland. That is, after all, the point of its (free) museum upstairs.

Before you go up, you can play with a claw machine, or get yourself a souvenir coin featuring Obama's — or John F. Kennedy's — face.

The museum is an odd place. It's home to *another* bronze statue of Obama.

And a "Hollywood star" for him on the floor.

The museum has some items that clearly came from government officials.

And other stuff that might be out of circulation now but are just preserved everyday objects.

It has dedicated areas for former US presidents who had Irish ancestors, including Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Kennedy.

It turns out that the list of US presidents with Irish ancestry is long and spans from the seventh US president, Andrew Jackson, all the way to Obama. It includes the likes of George W. Bush (who the display says is actually related to "two of the most notorious villains in Irish history.")

But it's not just the US — the museum highlights the Irish people who went all over the globe and their now famous ancestors, from revolutionary Che Guevara to Henry Ford.

Ireland has a unique global position as waves of emigration, including during the famine in the 1800s, mean that the Irish diaspora is now made up of around 80 million people, while the country's population is under five million.

The museum is filled with quotes from Obama's visit to the country, including the speech he gave in Dublin.

And some similar platitudes from Kennedy.

And there's history on the Irish famine, which is what drove so many Irish people to America.

It also features artworks of other US presidents like Kennedy.

More Obama art.

And artifacts that symbolize the US-Ireland relationship. This is a replica of the bowl that Ireland's then prime minister gave to Obama with shamrocks in it for St. Patrick's Day 2013 as part of a longstanding tradition. The museum didn't say where the original was.

And just in case you forget where you are, you can look out the window to see the road again.

There's also Obama memorabilia, donated by Americans. Here's a pin badge from Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

And the stairs shows a large image of a Moneygall woman preparing for Obama's visit with a comically big American flag, which I couldn't decide if I found embarrassing or endearing.

There's an Obama-era White House Christmas card.

And a guest book, which seemed to be signed mostly by Americans.

The Barack Obama Plaza is a place where photos of Obama, of the gas station, and general tourist information exist in a strange harmony.

Overall, despite my reservations, it's a pit stop I have to recommend.

Whether you want food, a break from driving, some free education about Ireland and America, or just want to be entertained, the Barack Obama Plaza is worth taking a break on your journey.

• Main content

President Barack Obama’s Irish Ancestry .

President Barack Obama’s Irish links to Moneygall, Co. Offaly came to light in 2007 following research conducted by Megan Smolenyak.

In 2008, Eneclann researchers, Fiona Fitzsimons and Helen Moss, researched President Obama’s Irish ancestry back from Falmouth Kearney, Obama’s 2nd great-grandfather to Obama’s 7th great-grandfather, Joseph Kearney born ca. 1698.  They also traced close kinship – probably a brother – with the family of Michael Kearney, peruke maker, in Dublin.  Read more about the Kearney Family.

In May 2011, Eneclann’s researchers announced that they had identified President Obama’s closest living Irish relatives in Ballygurteen, Co. Tipperary – Dick Benn and Tom Donovan. The story of the discovery was broadcast on RTE 1′s Nationwide programme on 20th May –  watch the Nationwide programme on the Benn Family now .

You can also find out more about the research, led by Fiona Fitzsimons and Helen Moss, in their account of  the Benn Family History .

On 17 June 2013 Michelle Obama and her two daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha, took part in a private genealogy event about the President’s Irish ancestors at a special exhibit at the Long Room in the Old Library in Trinity College Dublin. This very personal event was co-ordinated and presented by Fiona Fitzsimons with Helen Moss of Eneclann.  View our image gallery  from the event. Read about:

Obama’s Kearney family history

Obama’s Benn family history

Discover your family history .

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Credit card rates
• Balance transfer credit cards
• Business credit cards
• Cash back credit cards
• Rewards credit cards
• Travel credit cards
• Checking accounts
• Online checking accounts
• High-yield savings accounts
• Money market accounts
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Car insurance
• Home buying
• Options pit
• Investment ideas
• Research reports
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Tourists have plenty of questions after discovering Ireland's 'Barack Obama Plaza': 'Is there a reason?'

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

One of the last places you would expect a grand tribute to a U.S. president would be in the middle of Ireland; as it turns out, the country has an entire rest area plaza dedicated to former President Barack Obama .

TikToker Naomi Hogan was vacationing in Ireland and shared a video documenting her visit to Barack Obama Plaza. The Irish comedy folk song “There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama” plays in the background throughout the clip.

11 ways women can shrink the gender pay gap to better achieve their financial goals

As Hogan explores the service plaza, she highlights American-themed memorabilia scattered in the area. She shows a vintage car with an Obama-themed license plate and a bronze statue of Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama holding hands.

American viewers were shocked and amused by Ireland’s striking declaration of love and appreciation for President “O’Bama.”

“I’m sorryyy?!??? LMAOOOOOOO,” a TikToker commented.

“WHAT DID OBAMA DO IN IRELAND,” someone questioned.

“Is there … a reason?” another wrote.

TikTok user @buckydeservedbetter10 posted another video displaying more features of Obama Plaza, specifically the Obama-themed decor inside the rest stop’s main building.

Highlights of the building include: a cardboard cutout of Obama Photoshopped onto a soccer player, an Obama-themed souvenir coin machine, magnets of various former U.S. presidents and life-size cutouts of Barack and Michelle Obama. The building also has a museum dedicated to Obama’s life and the U.S.-Ireland diplomatic relationship.

TikTok users who have also visited the Obama Plaza commented to share their experiences.

“When I went, our tour guide was OBSESSED. He spoke higher of Obama than he did of the queen of England,” a TikToker commented.

“When I visited in December, that was the first place I was taken to on the drive back from the airport ,” another wrote.

Why is there a Barack Obama Plaza in the middle of Ireland?

The Barack Obama Plaza is in the middle of Ireland’s M7 highway, which connects two major cities within the country: Dublin and Limerick. However, just a short distance from Barack Obama Plaza is the rural town of Moneygall, where a genealogist traced the former president’s great-great-great-grandfather’s origins.

According to an article by Insider , Obama even visited a pub in Moneygall in 2011; his gracious attitude toward the village residents cemented him as a popular public figure for the Irish people. After learning of his Irish lineage, Moneygall now proudly labels itself as “President Obama’s ancestral village.”

TikToker Ariel Viera also shared this informational clip on how Barack Obama Plaza came to be.

“[It] goes to show that sometimes, a very big name could just visit any random town and suddenly becomes a tourist destination,” Viera said.

The post Who knew Ireland had a Barack Obama Plaza? Why the Irish love the former president appeared first on In The Know .

More from In The Know:

Afro-Indigenous TikToker sets record straight about the history of 'affluent' Martha's Vineyard

Students hand college president Pride flags at graduation to protest school's anti-LGTBQ policy

Barbie went to space to encourage more girls to pursue STEM

What is 'bloke core,' and who started it?

Recommended Stories

Nfl mock draft: trades galore as one of the best qb prospects slides outside the top 10.

Charles McDonald and Nate Tice's latest mock draft has five quarterbacks off the board in the top 13, a big-time weapon for Aaron Rodgers and some steals in the second half of the first round.

March Madness: Zach Edey calls out Tennessee's Rick Barnes among his doubters: 'Can't do that anymore'

Edey was a three-star recruit with limited offers. How was the 7-4 All-American overlooked?

Longtime ESPN anchor John Anderson says he's retiring from 'SportsCenter:' 'The operation has changed'

Anderson has been hosting "SportsCenter" since 1999.

Draymond Green ejected less than 4 minutes into Warriors vs. Magic after arguing with official

Stephen Curry appeared to fight tears as he reacted to the ejection.

Tesla’s $25,000 car means tossing out the 100-year-old assembly line

Tesla has a plan to fend off cheaper competition from China with a $25,000 electric car. But first it has to overhaul a 100-year-old manufacturing process pioneered by Henry Ford.

ESPN broadcast tips Dodgers pitches vs. Cardinals during in-game interview with Kiké Hernandez

Hernandez's PitchCom speaker was broadcast for all the world to hear.

Stocks just had their best first quarter in 5 years — here's where strategists think the market is headed

With stocks off to their best start in five years, many strategists on Wall Street still make a case for the S&P 500 to keep chugging higher.

Mets pitcher ejected for throwing behind Brewers' Rhys Hoskins a day after heated exchange

Rhys Hoskins had a big day for the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, continuing his grudge match against the New York Mets.

One fateful decision summed up North Carolina's Sweet 16 demise

Jae’Lyn Withers shot UNC's most important 3-pointer of the game when he had no business firing away. And now the No. 1 Tar Heels are going home.

Is UConn beatable? Here's how the 3 other remaining Final Four men's teams stack up

Which team can topple UConn in this year's men's Final Four? The better question is which team can keep up.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

White House memo

Obama Feared a ‘One-Term Presidency’ After Passing Health Care Law

A set of oral histories released on Friday documents the behind-the-scenes drama of President Barack Obama’s drive to pass the Affordable Care Act, his most important legislative achievement.

By Peter Baker

Peter Baker covered Barack Obama’s presidency for The Times.

By the time his ambitious health care legislation was introduced and carved up and cursed and left for dead and revived and compromised and passed and finally signed into law, the whole process had taken a toll on President Barack Obama.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act would be his signature legislative achievement, but it propelled Republicans to a sweeping midterm election victory and control of the House. And Mr. Obama thought he might be the next to pay the price at the ballot box. “This is shaping up to be a one-term presidency,” he told an aide in late 2010.

He turned out to be wrong, but the fatalism Mr. Obama expressed privately that day captured the weighty consequences of one of Washington’s most high-wire legislative battles in modern times. A new set of oral histories released on Friday , on the eve of its 14th anniversary on Saturday, documents the behind-the-scenes struggle to transform the nation’s health care system to cover tens of millions of Americans without insurance.

The interviews of key players in the drama were conducted by Incite, a social science research institute at Columbia University, and were made public as the second tranche of a yearslong effort to document the eventful times under the nation’s 44th president. The transcripts posted online on Friday included recollections from 26 members of the White House staff, his cabinet and Congress as well as activists, interest group figures and a handful of Americans who made their voices heard, but not from the former president himself or, for that matter, his Republican opponents.

The oral histories chronicle Mr. Obama’s journey from an uninformed candidate embarrassed by the banalities he found himself spouting on the campaign trail to a besieged president gambling his political future on all-or-nothing legislative brinkmanship. They also flesh out a portrait of Mr. Obama as a steady-as-she-goes, hyper-disciplined but not especially warm, policy wonk who scrolled the Brookings Institution website for ideas and had to overcome his own political mistakes.

The story of the Affordable Care Act in some ways started at a candidate forum on health care in 2007 when Mr. Obama was running against Senators Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Joseph R. Biden Jr., among others, for the Democratic presidential nomination. “Senator Obama was terrible,” remembered Neera Tanden , who worked for Mrs. Clinton at the time. “He was vapid. He had no facility with the issue, so he kept talking about, ‘This is why we need to come together.’”

Mr. Obama knew he had done badly, and it drove him to take the issue more seriously, she said. “I honestly think if he did not have his butt kicked that he would not have put out such a detailed plan,” Ms. Tanden said.

After Mrs. Clinton lost and Ms. Tanden joined the Obama campaign in 2008, she said, “a lot of his advisers were like ‘We should just drop this health care thing.’ He said very clearly, ‘I am doing health care when I’m president. You guys have to figure out how we succeed in the campaign to build a mandate, but I’m doing it.’”

Upon taking office in January 2009, Mr. Obama tackled a challenge that had vexed presidents of both parties, most recently Bill Clinton, whose first term nearly collapsed after his own failure to pass sweeping health care legislation. Mr. Obama’s advisers were determined to learn from the mistakes of the past.

By developing their own plan in public and involving major players with stakes in the issue like insurance companies and congressional chairmen, the Obama administration hoped to build support rather than simply springing a plan crafted in secrecy on Congress as the Clintons had done in the 1990s.

“The Clinton administration was focused inward on the perfect policy — and I was part of that, so I don’t want to sound ‘otherworldly’ about it,” said Nancy-Ann DeParle , a Clinton administration veteran who became director of Mr. Obama’s White House Office for Health Reform. “The Obama administration was the opposite. It focused much more on stakeholders and people and getting Congress to do the work of debating the policy and passing a bill.”

But Mr. Obama made his own misjudgments. Ms. Tanden, who became a senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services and admired Mr. Obama’s determination to pass sweeping reform, said his team nonetheless spent “an inordinate amount of time” on smaller issues rather than systemic questions and did not initially anticipate the “big problem” abortion would become.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel , a special adviser on health care, who likewise appreciated that Mr. Obama “never wavered,” said the White House should have sent members of Congress home for their summer recess in 2009 with a slide deck to describe the plan to constituents. “We did not do our work, and I think that was a big mistake,” Dr. Emanuel recalled. “They needed better tools to explain it to people.”

Peter R. Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, got a taste of the misunderstandings and distortions of the plan while vacationing that summer in Maine, where he saw signs in front of shops falsely warning about “death panels” that supposedly would be created by the legislation.

“That was probably the first time it really hit me,” he said, “just seeing sign after sign after sign about things that — you can see why people might think that that’s where it would go.”

Hopes of gaining Republican support all but evaporated after that, leaving Mr. Obama to work only with Democrats. He was deeply involved in the haggling. Kathleen Sebelius , then secretary of health and human services, recalled a key meeting in January 2010 to reconcile different versions of the plan. “The president led those negotiations from start to finish,” she said. “He was negotiator in chief.”

Eventually it would pass, but not without painful concessions and legislative machinations. Ms. Sebelius recounted the champagne celebration on the Truman Balcony at the White House the night that it passed. Mr. Biden, then the vice president, told her, “This is the most important thing that the president will do for the international community.”

She asked what he meant. “The world will now know when this young president says, ‘I will do something,’ that he will do it,” Mr. Biden answered.

Still, Mr. Obama was not sure how much time he would have to do something more. Ms. DeParle was the aide who remembered Mr. Obama musing about having only a single term while trying to persuade her to stay at the White House after health care.

“That’s OK with me,” he said of a possible four-year presidency, “as long as we’re able to get the things that I think are important to get done.” But Ms. DeParle found his comment “very surprising” and thought to herself, “Gee, this is my fault.”

Ms. DeParle offered some of the most personal observations of the ascetic president. Among other things, she said, he refused to eat in public and only ate at his set times each day. When he did eat with his staff, “you ate with him silently” while he sat reading or preparing for his next event. And his meal was almost always the same — either salmon or dry chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli.

“Trust me,” she said. “That was it.” His only nod to taste? “Lemon juice on the side, or something lemon.” And never dessert. “Food to him, it’s like putting a coin in the meter,” she said. He would not even eat pie, even though he said he liked pie. “He has no weaknesses that I can tell,” she said.

Ms. DeParle found him a mystery and only came to understand Mr. Obama when she accompanied him to his home state of Hawaii. “The waves come in, and they go out,” she said. “He has a calm demeanor that’s like that to me. He doesn’t get too upset about anything. And the fact that he was located in a place that was as close to Tokyo as it was to New York — he’s got an international vantage point,” she added. “He sees the world differently than many American presidents have.”

As it turned out, of course, he had two terms to do so after all. And the Affordable Care Act, for all of its birth pangs and flaws and the Republican efforts to repeal it, remains the law of the land.

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

Obama-produced film 'Leave the World Behind' did not show Baltimore's Key Bridge | Fact check

The claim: obama-produced netflix movie featured baltimore bridge that collapsed.

A March 27 Facebook post ( direct link , archive link ) shows a person viewing the wreckage of a collapsed bridge through a window.

"For those of you that don’t know, the Francis Scott Key bridge is the same bridge that was shown in the Netflix movie 'Leave the World Behind,'" the post's caption reads. "The production company is owned by the Obamas. Open your eyes people."

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

The post was shared more than 2,000 times in two days.

Fact-check roundup : Baltimore bridge collapse sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: False

The image in the post is not from the 2023 Netflix film produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. It's a digitally manipulated March 26 photo of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The bridge is not shown in the movie.

Photo shared by Maryland volunteer firefighter association

The image in the post includes an edited photo of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed into the Patapsco River after being struck by a cargo ship on March 26. The original photo was shared on the Facebook page for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Services Association and circulated by news agencies such as the Washington Post and Reuters .

The image in the post purports to show the collapsed bridge outside a window, but it has clear indications of digital manipulation, including spots where the outside image overlaps the window frame and where the frame has jagged white space around it from sloppy image manipulation.

The supposed freezeframe is not from the 2023 apocalyptic thriller " Leave the World Behind ," which was executive produced by the former president and his wife and backed by their Higher Ground production company. A USA TODAY review of the film found no scenes that show the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. There are also no scenes that show a ship striking a bridge.

Fact check : No evidence of cyberattack in Baltimore ship collision, officials say

The movie follows two New York City families as they navigate a mysterious blackout, according to Netflix , the film's distributor.

USA TODAY has debunked an array of false claims involving the collapse of the Baltimore bridge, including claims that footage shows "dynamite" detonating during the collapse, that a cyberattack caused the ship to crash into the bridge and that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the collapsed bridge was "racist."

The Facebook user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Our fact-check sources:

• Harford County Maryland Fire & EMS Association, March 26, Facebook post
• IMDb, accessed March 28, " Leave the World Behind "
• Higher Ground Productions, accessed March 28, " Leave the World Behind "
• Netflix, accessed March 28, " Leave the World Behind "
• Washington Post, March 26, Six people presumed dead after Baltimore Key Bridge collapses, Coast Guard says
• Reuters, March 26, Baltimore bridge collapse sends vehicles tumbling into water

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here .

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama-produced film 'Leave the World Behind' did not show Baltimore's Key Bridge | Fact check

President Barack Obama And First Lady Michelle Obama Visit Ireland

The President and First Lady traveled to Ireland May 23, 2011, attending events around Dublin and also traveling to Moneygall, the President's ancestral home.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pose for a photograph with Irish President Mary McAleese and Dr. Martin McAleese, center, and Ambassador Daniel Rooney and Patricia Rooney, left, upon their arrival at the President’s residence in Dublin, Ireland, May 23, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

• next &rsaquo

3 presidents, celebrity performances and protester interruptions at Biden campaign's $26M fundraiser

President Joe Biden was joined Thursday by two of his Democratic predecessors for a star-studded fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall that his campaign said brought in more than $26 million.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton participated in the event in New York with more than 5,000 supporters in attendance — including several protesters who interrupted the program when the three presidents were speaking.

Actor and comedian Mindy Kaling hosted the program, which ended at around 10 p.m., and late night host Stephen Colbert moderated a conversation with Biden, Clinton and Obama. Special guests include celebrities like Queen Latifah, Lizzo , Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele.

During the nearly hourlong moderated conversation, Colbert joked that the moment was historic because “three presidents have come to New York, and not one of them to appear in court,” taking a jab at former President Donald Trump’s criminal indictments and civil trials.

Clinton also took a swipe at Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, arguing that he "had a good couple of years because he stole them from Barack Obama.”

But the discussion was interrupted at least five times by protesters. Colbert acknowledged one protester and asked Biden about the U.S. role in ensuring a peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Biden said more needed to be done to get relief into Gaza but added that Israel's very existence was at stake.

"There has to be a train for a two-state solution," Biden said. "It doesn’t have to carry today. There has to be a progression. And I think we can do that."

His response was met with a standing ovation and chants of "four more years."

Obama sternly addressed a protester when he was interrupted, saying, "You can’t just talk and not listen."

"That’s part of democracy," Obama added. "Part of democracy is not just talking. It’s listening. That’s what the other side does, and it is important for us to understand that it is possible to have moral clarity and have deeply held beliefs but still recognize that the world is complicated and it is hard to solve these problems."

The crowd erupted in applause.

Biden’s team has taken steps to minimize disruptions , including making events smaller and withholding exact locations longer than usual, after a speech in January when pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted him about a dozen times.

Outside the New York venue Thursday, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters chanted slogans like “Biden, Biden, you’re a liar,” and waved Palestinian flags and signs with anti-war messages.

The group Abandon Biden encouraged people to protest the president during his visit over the White House’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

“We cannot idly sit by as our president aides and abets genocide in Gaza,” the group’s New York co-chair Mosaab Sadia said in a statement. “The movement to Abandon Biden is only just beginning.”

Inside Radio City Music Hall, the novelty of having three presidents in the same room was not lost on attendees.

Earlier in the program, Kaling joked about having Biden, Obama and Clinton in the same room, saying that when someone shouts “Mr. President,” three people turn around.

Ticket prices started at $250, but the largest contributions shot up to half a million dollars. Some of the biggest donors were to have their pictures taken with all three presidents by photographer Annie Leibovitz.

First lady Jill Biden called the program “the fundraiser to end all fundraisers.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also delivered remarks.

For the three presidents, the fundraiser capped off a day of mobilization efforts that included sitting for an interview with the podcast "SmartLess," which the White House said would be available at a later, unspecified date.

They also sat for a discussion with Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, which was streamed to grassroots donors. The presidents talked about re-election efforts — both Clinton and Obama served two terms — as well as lighter topics, like favorite ice cream favors.

"You're all part of an incredible team we're building, and we're just getting started," Biden said in his closing message during the discussion. "So let's keep going. Let's win this November."

The trio arrived at Radio City Music Hall together in "The Beast" — the president’s car in the motorcade.

Biden also invited Obama to ride in The Beast after he landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where they enjoyed catching up on their personal and professional lives, an aide to Obama told NBC News.

The show of unity among Biden, Clinton and Obama stands in stark contrast to Trump, who faces opposition from members of his own administration , including former Vice President Mike Pence , as he seeks a return to the White House in November.

Former President George W. Bush — the only other Republican former president — declined to support Trump in 2020.

The Trump campaign has not held a major event since March 16. Earlier Thursday, Trump attended the wake for a New York police officer who was shot and killed in Queens on Monday.

Biden and Trump are polling neck-and-neck, with 46% of voters supporting Trump and 45% supporting Biden, according to a March poll by CNBC . That poll, however, had Trump leading Biden by 30 percentage points when respondents were asked which candidate was the best on economic issues.

During Thursday's moderated discussion, Colbert asked Clinton what he would say to voters who do not feel like the economy is strong. Clinton answered that the 2008 recession and Covid are still affecting voters and that Trump did not sustain economic growth spurred by Obama. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have methodically "put Humpty Dumpty back together again," Clinton said.

"We should not make 2016's mistake again," he added, referring to when Trump defeated his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Mike Memoli is an NBC News correspondent. 

Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Barack Obama and the Queen to visit Ireland during its time of despair

Strange times in Ireland; a British queen and an American president staging back-to-back visits this week and next. But what is everybody talking about? It's the economy, stupid.

Yes, the economy is really the only topic on the front pages, on the TV, on the lips of the subdued window-shoppers up and down Dublin's Grafton Street in turbulent May sunshine and showers.

The Queen, who is said to love facts and figures, may or may not learn on her visit that Ireland has 14% unemployment, that its economy will grow by only 0.6% this year, that house prices have fallen 12% this year and 40% since the 2007 peak, with the decline accelerating. She may or may not discover that Ireland has suffered the biggest decline in educational standards of any developed nation in the last decade or that it has the highest-paid civil servants in Europe.

Ireland's rollercoaster ride from brash Celtic tiger prosperity to bankruptcy has created an officer class of economic commentators whose status is akin to that of celebrity chefs. Unlike Jamie, Gordon and Heston, however, their recipes can be hard to swallow, induce nausea and create bitter arguments over the ingredients. Chief of this tribe is Morgan Kelly, an academic who specialises in the impact of the plague on 14th-century Europe and was virtually a lone voice in identifying Ireland's property bubble in the last decade. He has just delivered a devastating summary of Ireland's future.

"With the Irish government on track to owe a quarter of a trillion euros by 2014, a prolonged and chaotic national bankruptcy is becoming inevitable," he wrote in the Irish Times . "By the time the dust settles, Ireland's last remaining asset, its reputation as a safe place from which to conduct business, will have been destroyed. Ireland is facing economic ruin." He bewailed Ireland's "credit-fuelled Ponzi scheme" economy of the last decade and accused fellow economist Patrick Honohan, the central bank governor, of committing "the costliest mistake ever made by an Irish person". This was his "miscalculation" of the losses of six privately owned Irish banks, which led to the "suicidal" policy of taxpayers repaying the banks' €100bn-plus debts.

Kelly's recipe for recovery is to walk away from the European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout and for the government to bring its budget into balance immediately, necessitating a 30% cut in government spending.

Strong medicine, home truths and compelling argument written with passion and anger but most of the leading economists surveyed by the Irish Times broadly agreed with his arguments.

The debate rages on. You wouldn't think that an historic milestone in Anglo-Irish relations was about to be reached, with the first state visit of a British monarch to Ireland since its independence. Eoghan Harris, a former senator in the Irish parliament and one of Ireland's leading opinion formers, says the arrival of the Queen, followed by that of Barack Obama, will provide some "distraction from the misery", but not enough.

"The country is so preoccupied with the financial crisis. I don't know anyone who isn't suffering," he said. "There's no passion about the Queen's visit, but there's a benign affability. She is regarded like an eccentric aunt who should have called in a long time ago but didn't because of a family row, the origins of which have been long forgotten. There'll be a bit more passion about Obama, but not much. There'd be more interest in Angela Merkel arriving with a bailout."

Writer Colm Tóibín is preoccupied with his new play when we meet in a cafe near his Georgian townhouse. The award-winning novelist may not live in an ivory tower, but there is a sense of detachment from his country's troubles. Perhaps that's just his professional, coolly appraising eye. Maybe a feeling, too, that he has earned his success honestly.

Apart from the house in central Dublin, – an object of almost pornographic desire in the boom years – there is a holiday home down the coast and a place in Spain. He recalls that when he bought the townhouse he was initially refused a mortgage by the staid Bank of Ireland – one of the now infamous zombie banks dragging the country over the precipice – because they were afraid he might develop writer's block. Six years later when he bought his holiday retreat, "I had no problem at all getting the money – there had been a change in attitude. There are people responsible for that change of attitude. They are sitting in the European Central Bank and they should be fired."

Tóibín is a writer, not an economist, but his decision to blame others for Ireland's ills is common. Blaming the people who lent you the money rather than yourself for taking the money, even though you knew you probably couldn't afford to, is a popular refuge. "It's an old peasant thing," Tóibín winks. "You fool the bank manager to get the money to buy a holiday home. Here or in Bulgaria. And 'Maybe I'll not use it that much but I will own it for ever', that's why buying shares was never as popular as property. That idea arose in a society that never had much before. There's something slightly Russian about it. If you have a country that is so incredibly poor, what are you going to do with money? So you do have an element of shame about what's happened; this country is not as developed in its bourgeois habits as some of its European neighbours are."

Equally, the character of Ireland has stalled any violent reaction to the meltdown. It would be hard to imagine the French, for example, meekly accepting terms dictated by foreigners to pay off massive bank debts. Yet Ireland's protests so far amount to little more than a pensioner throwing an egg during a bank's shareholder meeting. "Nobody wants to get involved in a conflict with the guards [police], the country's too small," says Tóibín. "The guard would be somebody's brother-in-law. They are not armed and there's a very close relationship to them. It's the same with the banks. My relationship with my bank is very warm. I know them at my bank, I like them. Those things are very intimate here. Someone asks in James Joyce's Ulysses , 'What's a nation?' And the answer comes back, 'A nation's the same people in the same place.' There's very much a sense of that. So because the country's so small you have to be careful who you throw a stone at."

On a recent book-reading tour of Germany Tóibín couldn't resist asking people what they thought of Ireland's predicament. "They would say, 'We are not going to pay for your party.' That was the phrase they used, over and over again," he laughs. "They think Ireland is innocent and fun and we are always drinking. The thought of bailing out feckless Catholic countries is too much for them."

If Ireland is serious about making amends, Stephen Donnelly gives a glimpse of the future. He is one of 19 independent TDs – members of the Dáil – elected in February's general election. That is the same number of seats now held by Fianna Fáil, the party that has been in charge for most of this young country's history.

"I don't know why there isn't more anger about what's happened and what's going on, but this is what I've done: I've come here to fight it," says Donnelly, who quit his job as a management consultant for politics. It is a measure of the political upheaval that a 36-year-old with no party machine behind him won a Dáil seat.

"It boils down to this: for every euro being spent on job creation, €250 is going to failed investors in banks registered in Ireland. I would challenge anyone to call that fair," he adds. "I had just had enough. My country was being flushed down the toilet by incompetent leadership. And it's going to get worse."

He accuses European leaders of bullying Ireland down a path "which is disastrously, morally and politically wrong" and condemning taxpayers to carry the burden of a "total systemic failure". He wants the new coalition government to toughen up, to recognise it has a strong bargaining position and to negotiate a new deal. He thrusts a copy of the memorandum of understanding that forms part of the bailout plan into my hands. It spells out in painstaking detail the steps the Irish government must follow if it is to receive "quarterly disbursement of financial assistance from the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism".

The memorandum was presented on the same day Donnelly and fellow TDs were celebrating mass at the gravesides of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, who were executed by the British. "Imagine in one day going from their graves to having to read that," says Donnelly. "Can you imagine the reaction in your country if Cameron had signed that? If the French were told to pay €80,000 per household of private sector, mainly foreign, losses, wouldn't they burn down the Champs Elysées?"

For his part, Tóibín thinks that all economists are mad. But he can agree with Philip Lane, professor of international macroeconomics at Trinity College Dublin. The two certainly share an explanation of the public mood, this sense of confusion and despair that is not being converted into street protests. According to Lane, shame is at the root of the Irish reaction. "There was sufficiently wide participation in the property market for there to be a collective shame for what went on," he said. "A hangover follows a big party." Hungover people do not go out and riot.

• Ireland bailout
• The Observer
• Colm Tóibín
• Irish Times

Most viewed