Madam, - I wonder if any significance may be deduced from the difference in emphases employed by President Obama and the Irish TV and radio commentariat respectively when pronouncing the name of President Obama's ancestral home. The President seemed to emphasise the two initial syllables of Moneygall. However, the local pronunciation places the emphasis squarely on "gall". What a contrast! - Yours, etc,
CONOR FARNAN,
Skryne, Tara,
Co Meath.
Madam, - President Barack Obama is going to have a busy time between now and the next United States presidential election, due to be held on Tuesday November 6th, 2012, if he is to work the birth-places of his remaining 15 great-great-great grandfathers.
He could do with one in this part of the world. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL COLLINS, BE MIEI,
Narowal,
Punjab,
Pakistan.
Madam, - We didn't know Enda had it in him. Uplifting and great to see himself and Barack proclaiming the good news. Free from the dead hand of money. Free at last. - Yours, etc,
FRANK KAVANAGH,
Hillside Road,
Greystones, Co Wicklow.
A chara, - I regret that my experience of President Obama & Co at College Green was significantly ruined due to a lack of communication between the American security forces and our own gardaí. Queuing for six hours to undergo a quick search by the CIA was ill-managed by an Garda Síochána, who failed to usher the queues that began at Christ Church. I spent two stagnant hours between Dublin Castle and the security marquee while a constant flow of people in the row beside me moved along swiftly. To add to my dismay, gardaí decided it necessary to leave a 200-metre gap between the main event and those of us held back at Anglesea Street because we "hadn't been searched".
It is a great pity that the Irish authorities must once again learn from their follies before getting things right. It seems that No, we can't. - Is mise,
AILBHE NIC CÁBA,
Tudor Grove,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath.
Madam, - Will Guinness now be called "a pint of the Barack stuff" ? - Yours, etc,
TOM GILSENAN,
Elm Mount,
Beaumont,
Dublin 9.
Madam, - Barack Obama's limousine can withstand bullets, grenades, rockets and bombs, but one hour on our Irish roads was too much for it. - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'CONNOR,
Grange Park Road,
Raheny, Dublin 5.
Madam, - President Obama spoke eloquently and inspirationally on Monday about the possibility and potential inherent in the Irish people. Unfortunately, if Morgan Kelly's account is correct, the actions of Timothy Geithner last November will have an effect on the Irish people much deeper than the words of President Obama today. "Is féider linn' rang loudly, but regretfully hollow. - Yours, etc,
CARL CULLINANE,
Pembroke Square,
Dublin 4.
Madam, - While lauding everyone involved with the spectacular success of welcoming our international guests, I must question why our male dignitaries insist in such sartorial uniformity. Our Irish tweed, with its striking colours, which reflect the heathers, the grasses, the reeds and the soft brown palette of the bog would showcase the industry and add a manly distinction to all who wear it: instead, the ubiquitous dark, dun lounge suit! - Yours, etc,
NOREEN P WHELAN,
Sycamore Road,
Carlow.
Madam, - What a contrast! After all the bowing, scraping and yes Your Majesty, no Your Majesty of the visit of the British Queen and her consort we have a smiling, waving, hand-holding happy couple, the elected head of the richest, most powerful country on earth arriving in Ireland.
The friendliness and humanity of the couple was obvious to all.
Who can forget the scenes in the little sraidbhaile of Moneygall when President Obama and his wife Michelle walked the length of the village shaking hands, holding and kissing babies, and chatting with the people. The scene in Hayes's pub where the President and his wife were photographed with his distant relatives and while drinking a pint of Guinness will, I am sure, go down in the history of the town, never to be forgotten.
It can be truly said of President Obama that he is one of us. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN P O CINNEIDE,
Essenwood Road,
Durban, South Africa.
Madam, - Queen Elizabeth's visit was about acknowledging and bowing to the past. President Barack Obama's visit was about the future - mostly his own. If this is Monday it must be Ireland. - Yours, etc,
MARGARET GOODE,
Rosebank, Douglas,
Cork.
Madam, - It is not particularly insightful or controversial to say that the main, indeed only, objective of Barack Obama's visit to Ireland was to garner support from the Irish-American vote in the upcoming US election. Such is modern politics. Ireland's part in all this was something quite different. Watching a nation, from the highest office in the land to the man and woman on the street, strip itself of all dignity was downright embarrassing. - Yours, etc,
RICHARD DELANEY,
Parnell Street, Dublin 1.
A chara, - Watching Micheál O Muircheartaigh introduce our sports heroes to the crowd gathered in College Green in honour of President Obama's visit, you'd think that very few women in Ireland play sport! - Is mise,
JENNY MULVEY,
Ballinrobe,
Co Mayo.
Madam, - As far as I am concerned, the Queen and Obama visits seemed to have been one long free commercial for Guinness. Is Ireland now run by Diageo? - Yours, etc,
KEITH NOLAN,
Caldragh,
Carrick-on-Shannon,
Co Leitrim.
Madam, - President Obama's visit to Ireland - unforgettable; shoddy crowd management at College Green - unforgivable. - Yours, etc,
MAIRÉAD GALLAGHER,
Ballymurphy,
South Innishannon, Co Cork.
Madam, - The Obama visit to Dublin was spoilt by utterly shambolic crowd control. We queued from Fishamble Street for hours.That was okay .
What was not okay was to see two previously empty gated areas opened and a crowd sweep past us into the security check while we in the middle group just got more and more squashed. As small children fought for air, our cries and boos got louder.
The private security people seemed stunned that people had turned out to see Mr Obama.
At one point we were told that they "just didn't expect a crowd like this". The gardaí seemed nervous and arrogant - more interested in working out how to spend that overtime? Well done to the one garda who was overheard informing his colleagues that "these people in the middle have been here hours, we'll have to do something".
Yes, they very nearly lost control; yes, I know the US Secret Service were there; yes, when finally let through we were stopped again, only to squint at two distant screens while bored security people wandered in acres of empty space. Yes, we can - do better, much better, than this debacle. - Yours, etc,
PETER JAMES,
Georgian Hamlet,
Baldoyle,
Dublin 13.
Madam, - I just looked at the RTÉ coverage of the Obama visit, I just wish Irish people knew how bad it is to be governed by him before they welcomed him so warmly. He spends money we don't have, creates higher taxes, apologises for foreign policy, not to mention the fact that he believes in the killing of the unborn. Is it 2012 yet? - Yours, etc,
AEDAN O'CONNELL,
Tilmont Avenue,
Baltimore,
Maryland,
US.
Madam, - It was with absolute pride and admiration that I watched An Taoiseach Enda Kenny welcome President Barack Obama to Ireland. It was a welcome abundant with warmth,friendship and respect while keeping the Irish agenda to the fore.
An Taoiseach delivered a superb speech which exuded passion, commitment, optimism and confidence that our country is a country looking with hope and courage to a better future.
An Taoiseach has represented Ireland impeccably to a worldwide audience. With this inspiration and in the words of President Obama "Is feidir linn"! - Yours, etc,
RHONA LARKIN,
Castlehacket,
Belclare,
Co Galway.
Madam, - It was ironic that President Obama should refer to the trials of recession in his speech delivered at the Bank of Ireland on College Green, an institution partly responsible for our recession. The former Houses of Parliament are, as we have seen again, the appropriate location for events of national celebration. It is time that the bank, which has to date received over €5 billion from the State, should show some decorum and return that magnificent historic building to the Irish people, to whom it is indebted for survival. - Yours, etc,
FRAN O'ROURKE,
Roebuck Park,
Dublin 14.