[caption id="attachment_70470" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Old friends by now. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Barack Obama meeting in the White house Tuesday. "]
Taoiseach Enda Kenny was the toast of four cites during his packed St. Patrick's Day visit to the U.S. which culminated Tuesday when he met at the White House with President Barack Obama.
Kenny began his visit by taking part in the Chicago parade and marching alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel on St. Patrick's Day.
"My message to all those green shirts I see in front of me here is that our country is on the way back. We have had a difficult time, we've made a number of very difficult decisions, but our country is headed in the right direction. There is now a confidence and belief in ourselves that we know where our path lies, and we expect by the end of 2013, to exit from the program we are in and retrieve our economic sovereignty," Kenny told parade goers in one of the nation's most Irish of cities.
After Chicago, Kenny traveled to South Bend, Indiana and the campus of Notre Dame University where he honored
94-year-old Fr Theodore Hesburgh, the legendary former Notre Dame president.
The Fighting Irish will be heading for Dublin later in the year to play Navy in football and the taoiseach's touching down in the Indiana college was a precursor to what promises to be a huge sporting event.
On Monday, Kenny was in New York where he rang the opening bell at the Stock Exchange and gave a speech for the second Ireland Day Summit at the exchange.
From New York, the taoiseach flew to Washington D.C. for what was a whirlwind series of engagements and meetings, both seriously political and seriously social.
He met with President Obama and Vice President Biden, as well as congressional leaders to discuss a range of issues including possible Irish E-3 visas (see story, Page 3).
On Tuesday night, Kenny was guest of honor at the annual White House St. Patrick's Day reception, held a few days later than usual this year because St. Patrick's Day fell on a Saturday.
