Lol! ;-> Here is the media coverage of the Irish media ... the ones that accompany the PM when he travels. This story also posted in today's edition of the Times Union.
They're the dozen members of the Irish press corps covering Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on his U.S. visit this week.
They listened to Harry McGee of The Irish Examiner deconstruct Albany's gritty past, as gleaned from the novels of William Kennedy. "I'm a huge Kennedy fan. I hope I've got time to get downtown and see if some of those old places still exist," he said.
The Irish reporters -- men and women from the print and broadcast media -- were struck by the size of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's security detail -- a phalanx of Secret Service, State Police and Albany officers -- compared to Ahern's public appearances in Dublin.
"Bertie has none of this security," McGee said. "He goes down to the local pub on weekends. He's a man of the people."
But Irish officials are reviewing security procedures for political leaders following the fatal stabbing this month of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in a Stockholm store, McGee said.
Ahern's working-class roots and common man's touch have been his greatest political assets, the reporters said. He was re-elected in 2002 to a second five-year term. "With the economy sputtering, he's struggling now, but he's still popular," McGee said.
John Downing of the Irish Daily Star described Ahern's style as "very blokey" and said the 52-year-old prime minister loves nothing better than "having a pint with his mates at the pub."
As of Jan. 1, 2004, they won't be able to enjoy a smoke with their Guinness. That's when a new smoking ban, modeled on New York's smoke-free legislation, takes place. It's a controversial law supported by Ahern as a way of improving public health, especially for pub workers.
Critics consider it a nail in the coffin of Ireland's famous pub culture.
"Bertie got the support of bar owners and that got it through," McGee said.
Now he's floating a so-called fat tax, Downing said: "He's made noise about fighting obesity by taxing junk food. He put it out in August. That's our silly season when the politicians send a lot of kites flying to see what happens."
Things have also changed for the boyos on the bus. "The days of alcohol and partying by the press have passed," McGee said. "It's just a lot of soda water now."
-- Paul Grondahl