One person we can expect to hear of again at the beginning of September is former Tanaiste Dick Spring, who has been keeping a low national profile since the rainbow government left office more than a year ago. The Labour deputy for Kerry North had arranged for President Bill Clinton to go to Ballybunion during his 1995 Irish visit and the much promoted round of golf was set up. Unfortunately for Kerry, the president had to rush away to see US troops off to Bosnia and the golf was dropped. Ballybunion has not let Clinton forget it. Placards reminding him of his promise followed him around Ireland and were later seen in Washington. The new Government, of course, controls the event now and the word reaching Quidnunc is that the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, as its most senior golfer and former captain of the Oireachtas Golf Society, will be on hand for a round with Bill. However, it is highly likely that Dick, who played with Clinton at Martha's Vineyard, will make up the fourball. Suggestions are they will be joined by Kerry Group MD Denis Brosnan, who is president of the club, and possibly the pro, Darren Clarke.
Not only is there jockeying for a place on the course on the day - probably Sunday, September 6th - but competition for the gig is already fierce among the caddies. Everything, though, including a stop-off point or two on the road to Kerry, is being overseen by the White House advance party which arrived in Ireland on Thursday and is already at work on the very precise schedule. The former Tanaiste may have been relatively unseen of late but he has been busy enough. He is party spokesman on foreign affairs, and sits on three boards: Fexco in Killorglin, Sisco in Cork and the wonderfully named Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo in the US, which entails a fair bit of travel. He delivered a series of lectures in Harvard in the spring and accepts the odd speaking engagement. Generally, however, after five years of hectic travelling with the Department of Foreign Affairs, he is spending a huge amount of time in Tralee. Indeed, he was overheard saying that nowadays he likes nothing better than to hitch his daughter's horsebox to the Volvo and drive her around the constituency.