US President Barack Obama will welcome Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to the White House on March 19 for annual St Patrick’s Day festivities.
Obama will welcome Kenny to the Oval Office for talks and then the pair will take part in an annual lunch on Capitol Hill, before returning to the presidential mansion for a reception, officials said.
The president will also see Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein next Tuesday to dicuss progress on reconciliation in the province.
It will be the fifth time that Obama has presided over St Patrick’s Day festivities in the White House, which started under president Harry S Truman.
Last year on St Patrick’s Day itself, Obama hopped into his limousine and supped on a pint of Guinness in an Irish pub in Washington and reminisced about his trip to Ireland in 2011.
Obama to meet Ireland's Kenny, Northern Ireland leaders
