If the residents of Moneygall need any advice on how best to welcome an American president, they might turn to their counterparts同行 in another small Irish village, Ballyporeen, which, in 1984 played host to the great grandson of a local man who emigrated to the US, President Ronald Reagan.
President Obama is following in the footsteps步上腳程, not just of President Reagan, but also of a wave of浪潮 presidents dating back追朔 to John F Kennedy. President Kennedy paid the first visit of a serving US president to Ireland in 1963, a four day trip which saw huge crowds turning out to greet him as he toured the country and visited his ancestral home祖籍. He was followed in 1970 by President Richard Nixon, whose family history was traced to 被曝 County Kildare.
President Bill Clinton made three visits to the island of Ireland during his two terms in office. His Irish legacy遺產 though resides in the crucial part he played in the Northern Ireland peace process, although he too can trace ancestry here, to County Fermanagh.
President George W Bush is thought to have Irish roots as well, in County Down. Like President Clinton, his visits were aimed at consolidating鞏固 the Northern Ireland peace process.
And now the people of Moneygall prepare to welcome their US president; all thanks to a son of the village who left for New York in 1850, at the tender age of nineteen.
The links between Ireland and America are forged on偽造 countless such stories, there are thirty six million Americans who claim Irish ancestry血統, according to US Census figures人口普查. Every year, thousands of Americans travel here to reconnect with their family heritage遺產.
Later on, in Moneygall, their president will do exactly the same.
Ruth McDonald, BBC News
this text comes from bbc learning english
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/05/110523_witn_obama_ireland.shtml
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