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Irish Prime Minister Celebrates St. Patrick's Day in US

   VOA News  March 17, 2011
   The  Chicago  River is dyed green Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 ahead of the
   St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago

Photo: AP

   The  Chicago  River is dyed green Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 ahead of the
   St. Patrick's Day parade in Chicago

   Irish  Prime  Minister Enda Kenny is in Washington Thursday as part of
   traditional events marking St. Patrick's Day.
   Kenny  will  meet  with  U.S.  Vice  President  Joe Biden at his Naval
   Observatory  residence  before  joining U.S. President Barack Obama at
   the  White  House.   He  will  also attend a luncheon with members of
   Congress on Capitol Hill.

   In  the  evening,  Kenny  will  return  to  the  White House for a St.
   Patrick's  Day reception, where he will present the president with the
   traditional bowl of shamrocks.
   St.  Patrick's  Day  is  a holiday that honors Ireland's patron saint.
   Many ancestors of Irish-Americans traveled to the U.S. in the 1840s to
   escape Ireland's great famine.

   Ireland's  Foreign  and  Trade  Minister Eamon Gilmore traveled to the
   U.S.  with  Kenny  on Wednesday and will attend New York City's annual
   St. Patrick's Day parade on Thursday.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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