Ireland's burgeoning reputation for booking big-name acts continues to grow. Last week the country welcomed the Queen, who wowed supporters with her ability to wear green, make small talk and resist the lure of Guinness.

This week the country has arguably gone one better, attracting US President Barack Obama, who will meet President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Obama will arrive in Dublin for his 24-hour trip, which will include a 45 minute visit to Moneygall, County Offaly, said to be home to some of his ancestors.

The village has been decked out with US flags ahead of Obama's arrival – make him feel at home, etc – and he will reportedly meet some of his distant relatives during his stay. First Lady Michelle Obama has made the trip too, and tonight the pair will return to Dublin, where Obama will deliver his set-piece speech in front of a crowd of 25,000 people in College Green.

Tomorrow, Obama's six-day European jaunt continues with visits to England, France and Poland, but today all the talk is of his presence in the Emerald Isle. Will he support Ireland's drive to improve the terms of the IMF/European Central Bank multi-billion euro bail out? Will he get on with his long lost relatives? Will he drink a pint of Guinness?

Find answers to those questions/some of those questions here.

Air Force One is down. Obama is in Ireland. Let the fun begin...

Obama's plane is stationary on the Dublin tarmac, the steps being wheeled towards the open door. It's raining and blowing a gale – which should add to the authenticity of the president's visit. Just waiting for the man himself to disembark now.

He's out! Holding hands with Michelle as they walk down the steps. Michelle's hair is being blown about all over the place.

The president is in a dark blue suit, with blue tie and what appears to be a pink shirt. Michelle is in a light dress with dark suit jacket. They meet Ireland's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore at the bottom of the steps, before trotting across the tarmac to a waiting helicopter. They will shortly be heading for central Dublin to meet Mary McAleese and Enda Kenny.

Our Ireland correspondent, Henry McDonald, will be tracking the US president's movements today. Henry writes that the Irish government has wisely "advised members of the public who want to see President Obama in the flesh not to bring any weapons to Dublin's College Green this evening".

Umbrellas (presumably and especially ones from Cold War Bulgaria) flags, banners, sharp objects and bags or backpacks are all banned from a secured area between Dame Street and the gates of Trinity College from 2pm on today. The advice to carry "no weapons" appears this morning in a government advertisement published in today's Irish papers. Meanwhile among those celebrities who will make appearances on various platforms around the President are sports stars like Brian O'Driscoll, fresh from Leinster's Heineken Cup triumph in Cardiff at the weekend; actors including Gabriel Byrne and Daniel Day Lewis and a host of pop and traditional music stars including the infamous X-Factor twosome Jedward. Meantime welcome to the Irish weather Mr President! Irish state weather organisation Met Eireann reports it will be wet, windy and stormy today.

Last week Andrew Marr, this week Jedward. Did Obama wrong someone in a previous life?

Still he's meeting Brian O'Driscoll as well, so every cloud.

Speaking of clouds, Obama's helicopter is just coming in to land at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland, under a big load of them.

"But what's being said on Twitter?" I hear you cry:

.

Henry writes from Dublin that "they are already queing close to Christchuch Cathedral for a chance to get into the cordon around College Green and hear Obama speak later".

His first port of call this morning will be a visit to President Mary McAleese at her home in Dublin's Phoenix Park. After that meeting he will hold talks with Irish Premier Enda Kenny at Farmleigh House, the Irish government guesthouse where the Queen and Prince Phillip stayed last week. During his discussions with the taoiseach the Irish government will seek to persuade the president to back Ireland's drive to improve the terms of the International Monetary Fund/European Central Bank multibillion euro bailout for the Republic's economy. While Kenny will ask Obama for outright backing, the taoiseach will explain why Dublin wants a lower interest rate in its payback plan to the global financial institutions. From Dublin Obama will take the presidential Marine One helicopter to Moneygall in County Offaly – the tiny village from where his Irish ancestors hail. The 300 villagers who live there have been issued with special access tickets for the 45-minute visit. His helicopter will land on a local gaelic sports pitch which is just across the county "border" in Tipperary. Following a visit to Moneygall he travels back to Dublin for his set-piece speech in front of a crowd of 25,000 people in College Green.

Obama is the sixth serving US President to visit the Irish Republic, Henry tells me.

Among other luminaries who have planted their feet on the "oul sod" has been JFK, Tricky Dick Nixon, Ronnie Reagan and George W Bush. An enthusiastic Obama has just shaken hands with President McAleese and told the welcoming party: "We are thrilled to be here." Surveying the sky above the President has said, optimistically, "the sun is coming out, I can feel it". Meanwhile up at Dublin Castle the high winds have led to masonry falling off the building.

Time.com has more on Obama's link to Moneygall (great-great-great-grandfather on his mother's side):

Although the links between the leader of the free world and the blink-and-you'll-miss-it village had come to light years ago, when Obama was a candidate in 2007, residents like Ollie Hayes' nephew Billy Hayes still can't believe that the "most important man in the world" is about to visit. Back then, local Anglican rector Canon Stephen Neill was central in finding the proof of Obama's ancestry in parish records. "A shiver went down my spine when I saw what was in front of me," he says. A U.S. researcher from genealogy website Ancestry.com had linked Obama's mother to County Offaly and had emailed Canon Neill asking him to search parish records. The rector discovered that the Kearney family were cobblers who helped the poor during the Irish potato famine, which lasted from 1845-1852. In 1850, Falmouth Kearney — aged just 19 — made the difficult journey across the Atlantic to lay claim to land. Looking for a better life in the U.S., he left behind a country devastated by a famine that left a million people dead and forced another million to emigrate. Kearney married and became a farmer in Indiana, raising seven children — including daughter Mary Anne, the great-grandmother of Obama's mother Stanley Dunham. Many former U.S. presidents have laid claim to Irish roots, including John F. Kennedy and Ronald Regan. But Obama's Irish connections make him unique as the "first African-American-Irish president" Canon Neill says.

The website also has a rather charming gallery of members of Obama's family tree.

Obama has just planted a tree in Phoenix Park, to rapturous applause. "What a great job!" exclaims Mary McAleese. (It wasn't that great a job).

Anyway Obama is now speaking to some Irish schoolchildren. "Everybody say cheese," he says, as the group turn for a photo. "That's what we say in America."

Henry writes that as the president shovelled the soil on to his tree, the children – including a pupil from Ireland's traveller community – sounded 'The Peace Bell'. "The peace bell was founded in 2008 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland," Henry says.

Below the line freedomisprofit writes: "Don't tell me, we are now supposed to believe Obama is from Ireland!" (I think we were supposed to believe that a while ago, actually).

"Talk about shameless electioneering playing to the white vote back home," they add.

liveschwarz replies:

Yes, there's a bit of shameless electioneering going on. So what? Obama wants to pick up the Irish-American vote (not as potent as it once was, but still there) and put to bed those pesky rumors that he is a Muslim. Before British people start mud-slinging or throwing around the Paddy jokes, please remember that a few weeks ago you shut down your country for a wedding.

Meanwhile, Roy Greenslade has linked to this video from the Corrigan Brothers on his blog:

Sample verse:

"2011 in the month of May,

In Moneygall town, a historic day

To his great, great, great grandfather's home

The president's back among his own."

Obama has arrived at Farmleigh,

the state guesthouse where the Queen and Prince Phillip stayed last week. He'll hold talks with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, once they're through the obligatory photo shoot.

Henry writes:

Although the Irish papers report that Enda Kenny will try to express Ireland's view that interest payments on the IMF/European Central Bank bail out loan to the Republic should be lowered, it is probable the US president won't be able to offer much practical help. He has no real clout over the IMF/ECB decision making. On other practical matters Obama might be able to offer hope to thousands of illegal Irish immigrants in the United States who are looking for legal status.

Henry writes from Dublin that it was "all beams and smiles" as Enda Kenny and his wife greeted the Obamas on the steps of Farmleigh House.

And no wonder from Kenny's viewpoint as this visit marks a momentous week in the first few months of his new government. After more than a year of horrendous global publicity due to the fiscal crisis and the recession the Republic has been enjoying seven days of positive publicity starting with the Queen and on to Obama's arrival. In between Leinster won the European Heineken Cup. Even the death of Dr Garret Fitzgerald - the one dark event in the last week - has at least reminded the Irish people that their country had produced statesmen respected both at home and abroad. There is definitely a "feel good factor" around Dublin today but whether it lasts is another question.

Our man Jon Henley is over in Ireland, bidding to reach Moneygall:

Rarely seen security like this. Exits 22 and 23 - the Moneygall junction - of the M7, the main motorway from Dublin to Limerick, have been coned off and are completely closed. Garda police in fluorescent jackets are stationed on every bridge and on the corner of every field. It's blowing a genuine gale - the car is rocking as I type this in a layby off junction 24, which is open, amazingly. The rain appears to have stopped for the time being. You can see Moneygall (briefly) from the motorway; 15 minutes ago it looked deserted bar the ubiquitous yellow fluorescent jackets. Apparently the 298 residents had to undergo house searches over the weekend and all those staying overnight in the village were issued with special passes. Am now going to try to get as close as I can on the back roads...

More on Jon Henley's valiant efforts to reach Moneygall – they've ended in a pub a couple of miles away.

I've just been turned back at a Garda road block between Toomevara and Moneygall, about 3km from the village. Remarkably patient police officer ("I haven't been home for a week, in between this and the Queen. And it's raining again.") advised me politely to turn right back round again, go back to Toomevara and watch the whole thing in the pub on the TV. "You won't get any closer that this," he said. But even he's not sure when Obama is due here - some say 1.30, apparently, others not till 3pm. So I'm off to the Tipperary Inn ("Great value - come on Inn").

Here's a look at the Irish papers today, courtesy of @davidmacAP on Twitter.

-

My colleague Lisa O'Carroll wrote on her Ireland business blog this morning that even if Obama doesn't endorse Kenny's bid to improve the terms of Ireland's IMF/EU bailout deal, "his visit will help the country's profit and loss account in the shape of tourist dollars".

With his eye on the Irish vote (35m claim Irish heritage in the US), Obama will surely oblige the evening bulletins across the US by doing what the Queen didn't do and sup a pint of Guinness. That photo alone will go a long way to help restore Ireland's image as a tourist destination (although the exchange rate won't make it any cheaper for those carrying dollars). If the coverage of Queen's visit last week is anything to go by, Obamamania will go worldwide. Analysis of the media coverage by Ireland's tourist board showed the Queens's visit to Ireland has featured in 11,629 articles across the globe. Press coverage by country UK: 4,868

USA: 3,819

Germany: 1,010

Spain: 835

Canada: 514

France: 376

Italy: 389 Total Articles 11,629

Northern Ireland's peace process provides a "ripple of hope" to people locked in other conflicts across the world, President Obama said following his meeting with Enda Kenny.

Henry McDonald has more:

The President stressed "how inspired we have been by the progress that has been made in Northern Ireland. Because it speaks to the possibilities of peace and people in long standing struggles being able to re-imagine their relationships". In a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny this morning, President Obama referred to the historic nature of the Queen's visit to the Republic last week. He said: "To see Her Majesty the Queen of England come here, to see the mutual warmth and healing that took place as a consequence of that visit, to know that the former Taoiseach Fitzgerald was able to witness the Queen coming - that sends a signal not just in England, not just here in Ireland but around the world. It send what Bobby Kennedy once said was a 'ripple of hope' that may manifest itself in a whole range of ways." The President also mentioned successive US administrations efforts to secure peace in the north of Ireland. "So to all those working tirelessly to bring about peace in Northern Ireland, to those who have been willing to take those risks we are grateful to them. We are proud of the part America played in getting both sides to talk and provide a space for that conversation to take place. We want you to know that we are there for you as that moves forward. " On the Republic's role on the world stage he said Ireland "punched above its weight" in terms of its military forces' role in UN peacekeeping and in particular at present peace-training projects the Irish Defence Forces were carrying out in Afghanistan.

While Obama is in Ireland, at least 89 people have been killed in Missouri, when a Tornado left 30% of the city of Joplin in ruins.

The White House has sent this update on how the president is staying abreast of the situation back in the US:

"The President received multiple updates on the tornado damage throughout the course of the flight. He instructed his staff to keep him updated and to stay closely coordinated with state and local officials going forward."

The White House has just sent out a full transcript of Obama's remarks following his meeting with Enda Kenny.

Believe it or not, the US president mentioned Irish Americans quite early on – specifically his fifth sentence. Snippet:

The friendship and the bond between the United States and Ireland could not be stronger. Obviously it is not just a matter of strategic interest, it's not just a matter of foreign policy; for the United States, Ireland carries a blood link with us. And for the millions of Irish Americans, this continues to symbolize the homeland and the extraordinary traditions of an extraordinary people.

Obama went on to say the US is "rooting for Ireland's success" in the country's bid to stabilise its economy. "We'll do everything that we can to be helpful on the path to recovery," he said.

The president went on to praise Ireland's peacekeeping work in Afghanistan and how "inspired" the US has been by the progress made in Northern Ireland.

Kenny, in return, said he had given a gift of three volumes of children's stories – based on legends of Hawaii – to Obama for his daughters Malia and Sasha. Obama described it as "an extraordinary gift".

Kenny also presented Obama with a hurling stick, which I'm sure the US president will get lots of use out of back home.

Below the line JewellyBird offers this counterpoint to some of the cynicism over Obama's Ireland jaunt:

I'm extremely pleased that the Irish Americans still value their connection with this country. When they no longer do, that will be a bad day for us, a huge loss. In any event, the cynicism is baffling. What on earth is wrong with Mr Obama visiting Ireland? What's wrong with a tiny village having a great festival on the basis that the most powerful man in the world has ancestors there? There are tons of Irish families who are aware of forebearers who went to America during the famine (including my own), an event which cemented the relationship between Irish and Americans, pretty much created the Irish community. I think it's a relevant, interesting and wonderful thing that a person who can trace his ancestory back to those terrible times can now come back and be celebrated.

My colleague Lisa O'Carroll reports that the so-called "beast" – Obama's huge armour-clad Cadillac limousine, which has been flown over for the visit – isn't invincible after all.

In a moment of melodrama, the beast got stuck on the way out of the American Embassy – causing a temporary hitch to plans to go to Moneygall. RTE reporter Katriona Perry said the low-slung vehicle appeared to get stuck on the security ramp at the embassy. The car was unable to move, with the President and Michelle Obama stuck for five or six minutes. About 15 uniformed and plain clothes police rushed to their aid and a minibus was quickly scrambled to block photographers' views. Perry, who climbed a tree to report, has just told Joe Duffy's talkshow, that a second beast came up from the underground carpark to rescue the president and his wife who are now believed to be on his way to Moneygall.

Henry McDonald, the Guardian's Ireland correspondent, has been mixing with the crowds waiting to see the president, and reports that "thousands are queueing patiently in the streets of central Dublin for a chance to see Obama in the flesh".

They will have to pass through security cordons controlled by sharply dressed Americans in sunglasses who are standing at airport style check out centres. The majority of those filing up towards the tented security area were children, young people and families including a group of secondary school pupils from St.MacDarat's school in Dublin who admitted they had bunked off their lessons today to see the President. American tourists currently on holiday are also taking the opportunity to see their leader address the crowds on the first day of his European tour. Outside Dublin City Hall Nancy Hayes from Texas said it was a "neat coincidence" that she was in Ireland at the same time. "It looks like everyone is really happy here, the people in Dublin are very excited that they will see him," she said. Security remains tight despite the festive atmosphere in the streets, with thousands of gardai deployed around a sealed off area from the south bank of the river Liffey up to the gates of Trinity College and beyond to Christchurch Cathedral.

Now then:

-

The Obamas are now on board their helicopter en route to Moneygall, birthplace of Obama's great-great-great-grandad. We'll have more when they arrive.

Obama has now landed close to Moneygall, where the weather looks blustery but sunny. The streets of the village are lined with revellers eager for a glimpse of the US president.

Barack and Michelle Obama are now speeding towards the village, population around 300. People have apparently had to apply for tickets to glimpse the US president today.

Obama has arrived! He and Michelle have just met a man purported to be Obama's eighth cousin, Henry Healy, who was hugged by both president and first lady.

The sun's out, and now the Obamas are wowing the assembled masses. Handshakes all round. They're going down well, taking their time and stopping to chat to residents.

Obama has just lifted a baby from the crowd and posed her for a photograph. The crowd goes wild. It's taking Barack and Michelle an age to say hello to everyone. He's going to be well ready for that pint.

When the Obamas arrived it was raining and overcast. It then became sunny for a short while, then back to overcast and is now absolutely pouring down.

No worries for the US president and first lady, however, as he has just entered his ancestral home – the home of great-great-great-grandad Falmouth Kearney. Before long they're back out again, popping into the local shop. (No word on what they're buying).

Obama is now in Hayes pub in Moneygall, chatting to locals/local dignitaries who've been shipped in.

I'm now handing over to Simon Jeffery.

The big development, or Moneygall shot if you prefer: Obama has drunk from a pint of Guinness in Hayes pub. Unfortunately the TV feed cut out before we could see if he finished it or if - indeed - he afterwards popped out for a cigarette.

After taking a few intensely-photographed gulps Obama popped some coins down on the bar, telling the pub "The president always pays his bar tab. That's how we do things". He then said the following words about his experiences of the Irish stout:

The first time I had a Guinness was in Shannon airport. We were flying to Afghanistan, it was the middle of the night ... it tastes better here than it does in the States. What I realised was, is that you guys are – you're keeping all the best stuff here

So great publicity for Guinness, not perhaps so great for Irish bar owners in the US and - in case you were wondering - Michelle had a half.

"News of what has been happening in Moneygall is filtering though to Dublin," says a BBC reporter on the ground in College Green, Dublin. To recap: Obama drank a Guinness (here's a Twitpic) in the village where his Irish ancestor Falmouth Kearney left for the US and is now on a walkabout with his wife, shaking hands with the locals.

"US President Barack Obama has departed Moneygall and will next appear at the public rally at College Green in Dublin City Centre," according to @AARoadwatch – the Twitter account of "Ireland's leading traffic and travel provider", which has today cornered the market in Obama-related road closure news. Closures now returning to Dublin included Merrion Square, Pembroke Street, Lombard Street and Pearse Street, it tweets.

So far the US television news networks have not been providing breathless coverage of Obama's visit, the awful tornado in Missouri taking up more airtime, naturally.

And for comedy value, for some reason hapless Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is about to announce to no one's surprise that he is a Republican presidential candidate. Excellent timing Tim.

This is Richard Adams in Washington, taking over live blogging duties from Simon and Adam. Fir seirbhís as we Irish say*.

* joke

Some colour from Obama's walkabout in Moneygall:

"You look a little like my grandfather," Obama said to one man. "We may be related to him as well. I'll have to check it out when I get back." Posing for pictures with his wife and several locals, he joked, "We got to get a good picture with everybody. Michelle squeeze in here….We got a family tree here and everything." At the bar, he ordered a pint of Guinness, then waited for the head to settle. "You tell me when it's properly settled, I don't want to mess this up," he said. "I've been told it makes a difference who the person behind the bar is, that people are very particular who is pouring the Guinness, am I right about that?" A chorus of "yeahs" from the crowd affirmed the point. He told of his discovery of Guinness during a refueling stopover at Shannon, Ireland, en route to Afghanistan. "It was the middle of the night, and I tried one of these and I realized it tastes so much better here than in the United States," he said. "You're keeping all the best stuff here."

Many thousands – tens of thousands according to CNN – are waiting at College Green in Áth Cliath. And it seems like the sun has come out, a miracle indeed.

And now America's First Family is on stage in Dublin.

"Today the 44th president comes home!" says Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, who is using the event for a rousing speech on the theme of the "Irish family" living in America:

We, your Irish family, are right here, to welcome you to follow your president home!

Kenny is now talking about Ireland's heritage, which can't be stored in banks – which is handy given Ireland's recent financial and fiscal woes.

Obama is looking happy, standing behind Kenny and with a hand on Michelle Obama's shoulder.

"The 44th president is different. He doesn't just speak of the American dream – he is the American dream!" says Enda Kenny, to huge applause.

Now Obama's speaking.

"Hello Dublin, hello Ireland. My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obama's. I've come home to find the apostrophe that we've lost along the way," says Obama, enjoying himself.

A wag shouts from the crowd: "I've got it here!". "Is that where it is?" says Obama, off the cuff.

Obama tries out a quick snip of Gaelic. "His Irish isn't as good as the Queen's," says my colleague Lisa O'Carroll. Fighting talk.

After joking that people become very interested in where you are born when you run for president, Obama says he wishes he'd known about his Irish roots when he was first running for office in Chicago, a heavily Irish city: "I told them it was a Gaelic name, but they didn't believe me."

He then recounts how he finally got to march in a St Patrick's Day parade in Chicago and had to go right at the back of the parade, just before the street cleaning crew. How things have changed.

Fox News is not showing Obama's speech in Dublin, prefering to show more "extreme weather centre" news. But given the disaster in Joplin, Missouri, that's not surprising.

CNN and MSNBC stick with Obama.

"There's always been a little green behind the red, white and blue," says Obama, who is turning in one of the big set-piece speeches he excels in.

Obama mentions the relationship between the great Irish liberator Daniel O'Connell and the former slave and anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass.

Lisa O'Carroll has a scoop: because of the threat of the ash cloud, Obama may not be staying overnight in Dublin. That suggests he may go straight to the UK instead tonight – and if so, there will be some frantic moves going on behind the scenes.

The schedule has Obama staying in Ireland and then flying to the UK tomorrow morning, but the Icelandic eruption could threaten flights between the two countries, although at the moment it's all clear. More on this as it emerges.

Obama is still speaking, and the crowd is loving it, based on what I'm seeing on TV.

Obama concludes his speech with: "Is féidir linn," being his 2008 campaign slogan "Yes we can" in Irish.

Lisa O'Carroll, our resident piece of Gaeltacht, observes: "Again, his pronunciation not as good as Betty's, tripped up slightly on the feidir, pronounced Fay-Jer (as in jerk)."

RTE, the Irish state broadcaster, is said to be reporting that Air Force One is likely to leave Dublin at 7.30pm tonight for London. If so, that's a big change of schedule forced by the threat of Iceland's volcanic ash cloud.

If it gets any worse, there is a possibility that the schedule for the rest of the trip could get changed.

The US cable news networks are confirming that Obama is leaving Ireland early tonight because of the ash cloud – he'll be going straight to London. But the word at the moment is that the rest of the trip remains unchanged.

McClatchy are reporting on the abrupt end to Obama's Ireland visit:

President Barack Obama will cut short a visit to Ireland and leave Monday evening as a plume of ash from a volcano in Iceland heads toward the British Isles, threatening to strand him on the ground. Obama's entourage,including Air Force One and a chartered plane carrying the White House press corps, had been scheduled to fly from Dublin, Ireland, to London on Tuesday morning. But the plume of ash from the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland was expected to cover Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern Britain by 6am Tuesday, according to reports in London. British authorities said late Monday that airspace would be closed at 7am Tuesday, local time, over Northern Ireland and Scotland. News reports in London said airlines already were grounding flights.

This is the second time an Obama visit to Europe has been affected by Icelandic volcano ash. Last year Obama had to abort a trip to Poland for the funeral of its president. Could we see a repeat this year?

ABC's Jake Tapper recollects that this is in fact the third time that Obama's travel plans have been affected:

Last November, President Obama had to cut short his visit to a different nation where he was having something of a homecoming: Indonesia, where he spent four years as a child. In April 2010, President Obama had to cancel a visit to Poland for the funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, killed in a plane crash with his wife and dozens of other Polish leaders. Those latter two incidents were the fault of Eyjafjallajokull. That pesky volcano also caused General Stanley McChrystal and his aides to spend more time with a Rolling Stone reporter than they had originally planned, with a whole other set of repercussions.

Some video of Obama's motorcade getting stuck on the hump outside the American embassy in Dublin earlier today. Listen for the nasty scraping sound after about 10 seconds. That's the sump gone. Or the muffler.

The crowd reaction is charming: "Nice bit of driving," shouts one local wag. "Need a push?" says another.

The full text of Obama's remarks in Dublin:

The President: Hello, Dublin, hello, Ireland! My name is Barack Obama – of the Moneygall Obamas. And I've come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way.

Audience member: I've got it here!

The President: Is that where it is? [Laughter.]

Some wise Irish man or woman once said that broken Irish is better than clever English. So here goes: Tá áthas orm bheith in Éirinn – I am happy to be in Ireland! I'm happy to be with so many á cairde.

I want to thank my extraordinary hosts. First of all, Taoiseach Kenny, his lovely wife Fionnuala, President McAleese and her husband, Martin, for welcoming me earlier today. Thank you, Lord Mayor Gerry Breen and the Gardai for allowing me to crash this celebration.

Let me also express my condolences on the recent passing of former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald, someone who believed in the power of education, someone who believed in the potential of youth, most of all, someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realized.

And most of all, thank you to the citizens of Dublin and the people of Ireland for the warm and generous hospitality you've shown me and Michelle. It certainly feels like 100,000 welcomes. We feel very much at home. I feel even more at home after that pint that I had. [Laughter.] Feel even warmer.

In return let me offer the hearty greetings of tens of millions of Irish Americans who proudly trace their heritage to this small island.

Now, I knew that I had some roots across the Atlantic, but until recently I could not unequivocally claim that I was one of those Irish Americans. But now if you believe the Corrigan Brothers, there's no one more Irish than me. So I want to thank the genealogists who traced my family tree.

It turns out that people take a lot of interest in you when you're running for President. [Laughter.] They look into your past. They check out your place of birth. Things like that. Now, I do wish somebody had provided me all this evidence earlier because it would have come in handy back when I was first running in my hometown of Chicago, because Chicago is the Irish capital of the Midwest. A city where it was once said you could stand on 79th Street and hear the brogue of every county in Ireland.

So naturally a politician like me craved a slot in the St. Patrick's Day parade. The problem was not many people knew me or could even pronounce my name. I told them it was a Gaelic name. They didn't believe me.

So one year a few volunteers and I did make it into the parade, but we were literally the last marchers. After two hours, finally it was our turn. And while we rode the route and we smiled and we waved, the city workers were right behind us cleaning up the garbage. It was a little depressing. But I'll bet those parade organizers are watching TV today and feeling kind of bad because this is a pretty good parade right here.

Now, of course, an American doesn't really require Irish blood to understand that ours is a proud, enduring, centuries-old relationship; that we are bound by history and friendship and shared values. And that's why I've come here today, as an American President, to reaffirm those bonds of affection.

Earlier today Michelle and I visited Moneygall where we saw my ancestral home and dropped by the local pub. And we received a very warm welcome from all the people there, including my long-lost eighth cousin, Henry. Henry now is affectionately known as Henry VIII. And it was remarkable to see the small town where a young shoemaker named Falmouth Kearney, my great-great-great grandfather, my grandfather's grandfather, lived his early life. And I was the shown the records from the parish recording his birth. And we saw the home where he lived.

And he left during the Great Hunger, as so many Irish did, to seek a new life in the New World. He traveled by ship to New York, where he entered himself into the records as a laborer. He married an American girl from Ohio. They settled in the Midwest. They started a family.

It's a familiar story because it's one lived and cherished by Americans of all backgrounds. It's integral to our national identity. It's who we are, a nation of immigrants from all around the world.

But standing there in Moneygall, I couldn't help but think how heartbreaking it must have been for that great-great-great grandfather of mine, and so many others, to part. To watch Donegal coasts and Dingle cliffs recede. To leave behind all they knew in hopes that something better lay over the horizon.

When people like Falmouth boarded those ships, they often did so with no family, no friends, no money, nothing to sustain their journey but faith: faith in the Almighty; faith in the idea of America; faith that it was a place where you could be prosperous, you could be free, you could think and talk and worship as you pleased, a place where you could make it if you tried.

And as they worked and struggled and sacrificed and sometimes experienced great discrimination, to build that better life for the next generation, they passed on that faith to their children and to their children's children – an inheritance that their great-great-great grandchildren like me still carry with them. We call it the America Dream.



It's the dream that Falmouth Kearney was attracted to when he went to America. It's the dream that drew my own father to America from a small village in Africa. It's a dream that we've carried forward, sometimes through stormy waters, sometimes at great cost, for more than two centuries. And for my own sake, I'm grateful they made those journeys because if they hadn't you'd be listening to somebody else speak right now.

And for America's sake, we're grateful so many others from this land took that chance, as well. After all, never has a nation so small inspired so much in another.

Irish signatures are on our founding documents. Irish blood was spilled on our battlefields. Irish sweat built our great cities. Our spirit is eternally refreshed by Irish story and Irish song; our public life by the humor and heart and dedication of servants with names like Kennedy and Reagan, O'Neill and Moynihan. So you could say there's always been a little green behind the red, white and blue.

When the father of our country, George Washington, needed an army, it was the fierce fighting of your sons that caused the British official to lament, "We have lost America through the Irish." And as George Washington said himself, "When our friendless standards were first unfurled, who were the strangers who first mustered around our staff? And when it reeled in the light, who more brilliantly sustained it than Erin's generous sons?"

When we strove to blot out the stain of slavery and advance the rights of man, we found common cause with your struggles against oppression. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and our great abolitionist, forged an unlikely friendship right here in Dublin with your great liberator, Daniel O'Connell. His time here, Frederick Douglass said, defined him not as a color but as a man. And it strengthened the non-violent campaign he would return home to wage.

Recently, some of their descendents met here in Dublin to commemorate and continue that friendship between Douglass and O'Connell.

When Abraham Lincoln struggled to preserve our young union, more than 100,000 Irish and Irish Americans joined the cause, with units like the Irish Brigade charging into battle – green flags with gold harp waving alongside our star-spangled banner.

When depression gripped America, Ireland sent tens of thousands of packages of shamrocks to cheer up its countrymen, saying, "May the message of Erin shamrocks bring joy to those away."

And when an Iron Curtain fell across this continent and our way of life was challenged, it was our first Irish President, our first Catholic President, John F Kennedy, who made us believe 50 years ago this week that mankind could do something big and bold and ambitious as walk on the moon. He made us dream again.

That is the story of America and Ireland. That's the tale of our brawn and our blood, side by side, in making and remaking a nation, pulling it westward, pulling it skyward, moving it forward again and again and again. And that is our task again today.

I think we all realize that both of our nations have faced great trials in recent years, including recessions so severe that many of our people are still trying to fight their way out. And naturally our concern turns to our families, our friends and our neighbors. And some in this enormous audience are thinking about their own prospects and their own futures. Those of us who are parents wonder what it will mean for our children and young people like so many who are here today. Will you see the same progress we've seen since we were your age? Will you inherit futures as big and as bright as the ones that we inherited? Will your dreams remain alive in our time?

This nation has faced those questions before: When your land couldn't feed those who tilled it; when the boats leaving these shores held some of your brightest minds; when brother fought against brother. Yours is a history frequently marked by the greatest of trials and the deepest of sorrow. But yours is also a history of proud and defiant endurance. Of a nation that kept alive the flame of knowledge in dark ages; that overcame occupation and outlived fallow fields; that triumphed over its Troubles – of a resilient people who beat all the odds.

And, Ireland, as trying as these times are, I know our future is still as big and as bright as our children expect it to be. I know that because I know it is precisely in times like these – in times of great challenge, in times of great change – when we remember who we truly are. We're people, the Irish and Americans, who never stop imagining a brighter future, even in bitter times. We're people who make that future happen through hard work, and through sacrifice, through investing in those things that matter most, like family and community.

We remember, in the words made famous by one of your greatest poets that "in dreams begins responsibility."

This is a nation that met that responsibility by choosing, like your ancestors did, to keep alight the flame of knowledge and invest in a world-class education for your young people. And today, Ireland's youth, and those who've come back to build a new Ireland, are now among the best-educated, most entrepreneurial in the world. And I see those young people here today. And I know that Ireland will succeed.

This is a nation that met its responsibilities by choosing to apply the lessons of your own past to assume a heavier burden of responsibility on the world stage. And today, a people who once knew the pain of an empty stomach now feed those who hunger abroad. Ireland is working hand in hand with the United States to make sure that hungry mouths are fed around the world – because we remember those times. We know what crippling poverty can be like, and we want to make sure we're helping others.

You're a people who modernized and can now stand up for those who can't yet stand up for themselves. And this is a nation that met its responsibilities – and inspired the entire world – by choosing to see past the scars of violence and mistrust to forge a lasting peace on this island.

When President Clinton said on this very spot 15 years ago, waging peace is risky, I think those who were involved understood the risks they were taking. But you, the Irish people, persevered. And you cast your votes and you made your voices heard for that peace. And you responded heroically when it was challenged. And you did it because, as President McAleese has written, "For all the apparent intractability of our problems, the irrepressible human impulse to love kept nagging and nudging us towards reconciliation."

Whenever peace is challenged, you will have to sustain that irrepressible impulse. And America will stand by you – always. America will stand by you always in your pursuit of peace.

And, Ireland, you need to understand that you've already so surpassed the world's highest hopes that what was notable about the Northern Ireland elections two weeks ago was that they came and went without much attention. It's not because the world has forgotten. It's because this once unlikely dream has become that most extraordinary thing of things: It has become real. A dream has turned to reality because of the work of this nation.

In dreams begin responsibility. And embracing that responsibility, working toward it, overcoming the cynics and the naysayers and those who say "you can't", that's what makes dreams real. That's what Falmouth Kearney did when he got on that boat, and that's what so many generations of Irish men and women have done here in this spectacular country. That is something we can point to and show our children, Irish and American alike. That is something we can teach them as they grow up together in a new century, side by side, as it has been since our beginnings.

This little country, that inspires the biggest things, your best days are still ahead. Our greatest triumphs - in America and Ireland alike - are still to come.

And, Ireland, if anyone ever says otherwise, if anybody ever tells you that your problems are too big, or your challenges are too great, that we can't do something, that we shouldn't even try, think about all that we've done together. Remember that whatever hardships the winter may bring, springtime is always just around the corner. And if they keep on arguing with you, just respond with a simple creed: Is féidir linn. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Is féidir linn.



For all you've contributed to the character of the United States of America and the spirit of the world, thank you. And may God bless the eternal friendship between our two great nations.

Thank you, Dublin. Thank you, Ireland.

According to the organisers in Dublin, the crowd at College Green to hear Obama topped 25,000.

What happens next? Obama is off to dinner at the residence of the US ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, for a dinner. And then it appears, off to London on Air Force One.

Several American journalists appear to be puzzled at the excitement generated by Jedward at the event on College Green, and it's explained to them that they are the Irish answer to Justin Bieber.

The Irish Times appears delighted with Obama's visit and his speech today:

To rousing cheers he introduced himself as: "Barack Obama, of the Moneygall O'Bamas. I am here to find the apostrophe that we lost along the way". Tá áthas orm a bheith in Éirinn. He also paid tribute to former taoiseach Dr Garret Fitzgerald, who died last week and discussed the economic crisis. "Thank you to the citizens of Dublin and Ireland for the warm and generous hospitality you have shown me and Michelle. It certainly feels like 100,000 welcomes. We feel very much at home. I feel even more at home after that pint I had. I feel even warmer," said Mr Obama. "In return, let me offer the hearty greetings of tens of millions of Americans who proudly trace their heritage to this small island.

RTE is now claiming that 100,000 people may have been in and around College Green for Obama's speech today.

The Belfast Telegraph sees hints of JFK's visit:

US President Barack Obama defied his strict security schedule to extend his electrifying Irish ancestral homecoming. In scenes evoking the 1963 visit of John F Kennedy, Mr Obama sparked a frenzy by breaking away from his entourage to embrace many of the hundreds who lined Moneygall's single street.

For the record, I had nothing to do with this headline:

Obama revels in the Erse amendment

The Associated Press reports that Obama passed the Guinness test, unlike some of his famous predecessors:

Downing a Guinness is a rite of passage for any visitor to Ireland, but too often the VIPs, including some US presidents, disappoint the Emerald Isle. Not President Barack Obama. He may be criticized for taking too long to make up his mind at times, but he didn't hesitate Monday when offered a pint of the dark brew. Obama downed it in four slurps and won cheers across Ireland for it. "The president actually killed his pint! He gets my vote," said Christy O'Sullivan, a government clerical worker who was taking a long lunch break to watch live TV coverage of Obama's visit to Moneygall, the tiny village where his maternal great-great-great grandfather lived and worked. "He's the first president I've actually seen drink the black stuff like he's not ashamed of something." Previous American presidents didn't fare as well as Obama. In 1984, Ronald Reagan rejected the Guinness and instead posed for photographers with a pint of Smithwicks, a locally brewed red ale. He didn't finish it. In 2006, George W. Bush, a recovering alcoholic who drinks non-alcoholic beer, wasn't asked to pose with a pint of Guinness at all. Many expected more from Bill Clinton, but ended up deeply disappointed. In 1995, Clinton stopped at a Dublin pub bearing his family's Irish name of Cassidy but barely sipped his stout. Aides said he didn't want to be photographed drinking anything alcoholic, but the resultant image was hardly an endorsement of the product. Clinton had abandoned his almost full half-pint.

With President Obama said to be en route to London, time to wrap up our live coverage. Thanks for reading.