The Government is disappointed that Bill and Hillary Clinton are starting their last foreign trip here next week and ending it in London. It would much prefer if they did it the other way round, so the farewell fanfares could be in Dublin. Nonetheless, it is delighted the couple is coming. Next week's one-day visit will be the last big occasion for US ambassador Mike Sullivan. A change of administration in Washington, even in the now unlikely event of it staying Democratic, means ambassadors hand in their resignations.
Only career diplomats have a chance of being re-appointed, and so Sullivan, a popular former lawyer from Wyoming, will probably be gone by the spring. Ireland, it is known, is not high on the priority list of George W. Bush. Before the US election, several hopefuls for Sullivan's job, mainly Democrats, were expressing an interesting and some even viewed the splendid Phoenix Park residence on visits here. Mostly they were the same candidates as last time round - Dick Reilly, who will be here next week, Paul Quinn, Mark Gearan, Tom Donahue, John Sweeney, Bruce Morrison and Elizabeth Frawley-Begley. Republicans have been thinner on the ground, as Bush's Irish-American connections are virtually non-existent. There is a fairly active Irish-American Republican group but it has no high profile names, so Sullivan's job will probably go to some big campaign contributor from the business world or even, as with Republican presidents in the past, a retired supporter.
The Clintons and their daughter, Chelsea, will be accompanied on Air Force One to Ireland on Tuesday by a huge entourage, including Hillary's mother, Dorothy Rodham, cabinet ministers, the media and the inevitable and overbearing secret service. Seanad Eireann invited Hillary Clinton to address the house but she said she was not yet a US Senator and was travelling as First Lady, but that she would do it some other time. Now the Seanad hopes to have her in the spring. In the meantime, it has the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, addressing the Upper House in February. The outcome of this weekend's Nice summit could determine what sort of welcome any senior Eurocrat gets in Dublin.