Astonished members of the media watched President Bush divest himself of a regulation business suit at the weekend, writes Deaglán de Bréadún
The sign on the transit van at Dromoland Castle looked alarming. "Potus/Flotus baggage," it said. Had some mysterious and sinister characters infiltrated the Bush entourage, with unpredictable consequences?
All became clear when it emerged that "Potus" was nothing more than an acronym for President of the United States and "Flotus" stood for First Lady of the United States.
Fashion aficionados noted that Flotus was clad in pistachio green when she arrived at Shannon, while Potus wore a regulation business suit.
But as Bob Dylan, also in the west of Ireland at the weekend, once wrote: "Even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked".
Therefore, Potus, having walked briskly with Bertie Ahern through the grounds of Dromoland, retired to his bedroom for his usual early night. Incidentally, Bertie should be called "Fotus", for Friend of the United States.
Unfortunately for Potus, a strategically-located official camera was still running while he divested himself. An astonished media, back in the press centre at Ennis, had the spectacle of the world's most powerful man in his undershirt. Seasoned stills photographers were mostly too taken aback to "grab" the image.
Even Bill Clinton, nastily maligned by his enemies as "Lotus" or Lecher of the United States, had never been seen like this. Naturally, it caused ripples, or as one mandarin tactfully put it in official language, "There was a shared view that it shouldn't have happened". It was, in a word, "inappropriate".
Hitherto known as the Leader of the West, perhaps Potus should now be called Leader of the Vest (and star of "The Vest Wing"?). Mercifully, his wardrobe now includes an Aran sweater, presented as a gift by the Taoiseach, with a báinín cardigan for Flotus. You never know when they might need them. As the rain started to fall on Friday night, Potus told his accompanying Irish hosts: "I now know what you mean when you say you don't have a climate, you have weather."
Nothing deterred, Potus surfaced on Saturday morning for the official meetings, first of all with President McAleese who appeared less than wildly enthusiastic about having a photograph taken with her US counterpart.
In their meeting, Mrs McAleese made her views known with Ardoyne directness about the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. and Guantanamo. The Taoiseach was also concerned about the same issue, but in some other place nobody had heard of called "Guatajama".
Irish officials were blasé about raising the awkward issue of prisoners with the President. "He likes a bit of cut and thrust," they said. No problem. There was a problem for the media, however, when some of them got diverted on the way to Dromoland because of the anti-Bush protests. They had to sweat it out for half-an-hour before eventually getting through.
Meanwhile, Flotus was being entertained by the Inis Óg Céilí Band, playing "McHugh's Jig",
The Eurocrats appeared to be somewhat sidelined in the proceedings. Commission President Romano Prodi and Chris Patten, affectionately known in his Hong Kong governor days as "Fatty Pang", sat at a table by the lake, enjoying the morning sunshine.
Our Potus is what Texas folk would call a good ol' boy. In advance of the press conference, he joked with officials: "When they have finished telling me how much they hate me, what are they going to ask?"
