I'll admit I laughed when House Speaker Nanci Pelosi introduced the "THAY-shock" (LOL - Bloody Democrats) Bertie Ahern as "His Excellency"? Lucas! Heh! I'm still laughing. Bertie? But seriously, is Bertie not excellent? of course he is!
"His Excellency" proceeded to give the greatest speech of his career, one of his presumed final acts on the world stage. He hailed ties between Ireland and the United States and looked back on the peace he helped craft in Northern Ireland. "After decades of conflict, I am so proud to be the first Irish leader to inform the United States Congress that Ireland is at peace," he said.
Bertie spoke at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives, he said Ireland and the United States have a relationship forged by generations of Irish immigrants. "To be an Irishman among Americans is to be at home," he said.
[Left: Lt.Colonel "Whopper" Creedon listening intently as living history is made]
Bertie is widely credited with helping to achieve the Good Friday peace accord of 1998 for the neighboring British territory of Northern Ireland and for overseeing the longest economic expansion in Ireland's history.
The Taoiseach was to meet President Bush on Wednesday afternoon as well. That visit comes barely a month after he was last in the White House to meet the Commander In Chief for St. Patrick's Day.
Bertie also will be guest of honor at a congressional lunch hosted by the Friends of Ireland group in the House of Representatives.
Source: AP
10 comments:
Didn't C.J. Haughty insist on his staff calling him, "Your Excellency" after he went into retirement?
Hmmm is that what intently looks like?
I still like the Gift Grub's "Wet Taoiseach" (pronounced T-Shock) competition.
The guy behind Bertie looks remarkably like Palpatine.
"I love democracy..." and all that
You're right Sithy, This site is getting kinda tired. Lt.Col, put some pep in your step and pick up the pace, your public demands it!
Lt. Colonel, Just a wee comment on the photo of you "listening attentively to Bertie" it looks more like you were constipated waiting in line at Gorbys!!!!! :-)
Wait a minute. No, no, no, no, no.
No!
You cannot blame Nancy (spelled with a y) Pelosi because she can't pronounce Taoiseach. You also can't blame it on the Democrats. Proper names are all we have in America to decode Irish. And that is an opportunity swiftly going down the drain as long as names like "Shawn" and "Conner" are surviving.
We won't mention the Aoife's, RoisÃn's and Darragh's then will we? It wouldn't have hurt her to verify how to pronounce the Man's title and Surname though, quite unprofessional on her part i thought. Bertie A...hern indeed..... it's A like cat not A like Pay....
Pints, lay of Connie it's not her fault that Americans can't speak the Queen's English as well as the Irish. Not even the English can match our mastery. ;)
No, you're right. As a regular citizen, I wouldn't expect Nancy to know better. But, as Speaker Pelosi, she really should have asked. I mean, second in line to the Presidency and all. I just lost my wits - all those sleepless nights worrying that we might get another Republican in office...
I'm sure that Tip O'Neill would have known the proper pronunciation. Oh! and we actually have a Darragh Street here. And here, "Dara" is girl's name.
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