ST PATRICK’S season is almost upon us.

The trans-Atlantic calendar kicks into gear, and Ireland prepares for its annual global moment. Plans for the coveted March exodus from Ireland’s leaders are already in full swing.

Although many a Taoiseach, their team and engaged advocates have been welcomed into the White House since 1952 for the presentation of the Shamrock, Irish influence and impact have since widened in recent years. Ireland’s unlikely but growing cordial footprint can undoubtedly be found beside the upholstery inside ‘The Oval’.

What began in the 1970s with eventual Nobel Laureate John Hume lassoing the soft power of Irish-America through Ted Kennedy and Speaker Tip O’Neill has now developed into a full-blown engagement worth its weight in political, cultural and economic capital, equal to each of those transatlantic air-miles spent en route.

Taoiseach Micheál........

© The Irish Post