Bush backs Bertie

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Saturday February 14, 2004 22:12 by R Isible

The Independent, Irish Times carry similar reports

Looks like a press release was obtained by the journalists at the IT and the Indo.

Bush is reported to be due for a state visit to Ireland sometime in the start of summer according to reports appearing today (Saturday 14th Feb, 2004)

There has long been speculation that Bush will be appearing in Ireland and it looks like the Taoiseach's advisors must have decided that the only thing that will help him win the next election is for him to be associated with an anti-european war-criminal.

The Independent's "Brian Dowling and Susan Garraty in Washington" spin on the story is that Bertie will get a "boost" in the polls as a result of the visit. The speculation is that the "EU-US" summit will occur outside of Dublin in a location with little or no public transportation. (Is this why the rail service has been decimated over the last decade?) and may be in the vicinity of Shannon, perhaps Ashford or Dromoland Castle. Certainly it is expected to occur _before_ June 11th when the local and European elections will be held.