For a man who has just celebrated his 60th birthday, the Taoiseach has been setting a blistering pace.
We’ve seen the schedule for his recent two-day visit to New York. On the first morning, he had an 8am appointment, followed by the annual Easter Rising ceremonies in Arbour Hill. He then went to the Dáil for Leaders’ Questions and the Order of Business. At Government Buildings he did an interview with CNBC TV, recorded a segment for the Six One News and did a quick photo shoot for The Irish Times.
Then he left for the US, landing in New Jersey at midnight, Irish time. He went straight to Ground Zero, where he conducted more interviews. After that, it was off to the Irish Consulate for five interviews on the trot. This was followed by a meeting with 300 community leaders before an 11pm meeting with the Industrial Development Agency.
The next morning he started at 7am with a breakfast television interview. Wall Street was next, where he held a series of meetings followed by more interviews and a QA session with businesspeople. Two more interviews. Then back to the Consulate for seven meetings with IDA clients. One more interview and then it was into the tux for the American Ireland Fund dinner, where he met Muhammad Ali.
And then it was on to the plane and home.
Is he on something? At a reception at Irish Distillers on Wednesday, he waxed lyrical about the properties of Irish whiskey. He had a chat about it on Capitol Hill with a senator as they stood on his balcony looking down at the Washington Monument, he said. There was a “magic element” in it, according to the senator.
When he got home to Mayo, Enda went into his garage, where he had a bottle of Midleton in a wooden box, and he parcelled it up and sent it to the senator. And the senator wrote by return that he was on his balcony, sipping a drop, “and I know that the magic is working and working for Ireland”.
After such an overdose of ham, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
