The Mayor of Galway Cllr Padraig Conneely is “100 per cent sure” that if US President Barack Obama comes to Ireland, he will make Galway city one of the places he must visit.
Mayor Conneely was one of a select group of people who enjoyed a private audience with President Obama in the White House for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Some 400 people attended the celebrations at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and of them, only 40 were permitted to privately meet Mr Obama.
“I was able to meet him and his wife Michelle, have my photo taken with him, and speak with him,” Mayor Conneely told the Galway Advertiser, over the phone from Washington DC. “I haven’t washed my hands since, well I’ve only washed the left one.”
What impression did the charismatic US president make on the Mayor of Galway?
“He has the X factor. He’s got the Wow factor,” says Mayor Conneely. “He’s got it in abundance. He’s not as tall as you would think from looking at him on the television. In conversation he was pleasant and down to earth. His wife was the same.
“He said, ‘I like your chain of office. We don’t have those things here.’ He took the chain in his hands to examine it. He liked the crest on it, asked about it, and about the Claddagh ring. I also brought two Claddagh ring pennants for President Obama’s two daughters. I also gave them a plaque of the city.
“I spoke to him about inviting him to Galway. He’s very much aware of Ireland and said he would like to ‘follow in the footsteps of President Kennedy’ and see where some of his mother’s ancestors came from. I said to him, ‘Why not visit Galway?’ He said ‘I’d love to come to Galway. Why not?’”
Mayor Conneely was obviously impressed with President Obama, but what did the US president make of Mayor Conneely?
“I don’t know,” he laughs, “but I can say it was the highlight of my term as Mayor and the highlight of my life.”
How did Mayor Conneely manage to get a private audience with the most powerful man in the world?
“You know the way I operate,” he replies. “I know the Mayor of Chicago Mayor Daley. He is a big supporter of Obama and he said he could get me into the White House for St Patrick’s Day. I never thought though that I would get to meet the president personally.”
While in Washington, Mayor Conneely also met US vice-president Joe Biden, who told him: “I was in Galway.” The mayor also met Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton, who recalled being made a Freeperson of Galway in 1999.
“She said: ‘I remember being made a Freeperson by that lovely lady mayoress in Galway’. That was Angela Lupton,” says Mayor Conneely. “I told her Angela passed away a few years ago and Mrs Clinton asked me to pass on her sympathies to her family.”
During his St Patrick’s Day speech, President Obama said he would like to visit Ireland and Mayor Conneely is confident that when he does, he will take time to visit Galway.
“I would be confident as Mayor Daley is very, very friendly with President Obama. Obama is from Chicago and I have no doubt that when he comes to Ireland and if Mr Daley is still mayor he will say ‘You have to stop off in Galway’. I’m 100 per cent sure of it.”
