President Obama, the First Lady and their daughters Sasha and Malia are greeted by Joan Christie, the Queen’s official representative in Northern Ireland, upon their arrival at Belfast International Airport
****
FLOTUS to students: "I don't just see a bunch of teenagers, I see the people who will be moving our world forward in the years ahead." #G8
—
Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 17, 2013FLOTUS to students: "Leadership is about stepping out of your comfort zone, exploring new ideas." #G8 #Belfast
—
Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 17, 2013
President Obama and his wife Michelle, pictured with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
****
Snippets of Pres. Obama’s speech:
“Hello, Belfast. Hello, Northern Ireland. Well, now you know why it’s so difficult to speak after Michelle. She’s better than me.”
“I want to thank two men I’ve hosted at the White House on many a St Patrick’s Day for their warm welcome – First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.”
“I spend the whole year trying to unite Washington around something, and they come visit on St Patrick’s Day and do it in a single afternoon,” Mr Obama says.
Mr Obama said he only found out a few years ago that his great-great-great-grandfather was born in Ireland. “When I was first running for office in Chicago, I didn’t know this. I wish I had,” he said.
“But in Chicago, it worked out okay – they’d look at my last name and say, ‘oh, look, there’s an O’Bama from the homeland running on the South Side – but what kind of name is Barack?”
The president says that while in Moneygall, County Offaly, he met his eighth cousin, Henry, known affectionately as Henry the Eighth.
