Obama to visit his ancestral homeland: Ireland
President Barack Obama departing Sunday evening on an European trip that will take him to Ireland, England, France, and Poland.
CBS News correspondent Bill Plante reports that the people of Ireland are particularly excited to have him, because, well, he's Irish.
While the president is obviously not a full-blooded Irishman, he is, like four other American presidents, Irish enough to make a stop in the ancestral homeland of tens of millions of Irish-American voters.
The official White House guidance says the trip is to "celebrate the relationship between our two countries and the contributions Irish-Americans make to our deep and broad ties."
"O'Bama" and his Irish rootsNowhere will they be celebrating more than in Moneygall - a tiny village in the central part of the country which discovered to its great good fortune that it's source of Barack Obama's Irish roots. His great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney left that part of Ireland for America in 1850, and Moneygall - freshly painted, prettied up and stocked with souvenirs - waits to greet the president tomorrow. He'll meet some distant relatives and drop by the local tavern.
Never mind the carnival atmosphere, this is no joke for Ireland, which is looking for a boost to its lagging economy.
This is the start of a six-day trip on which the president goes on to England, France and Poland to talk about issues like Libya, the Middle East and Afghanistan, and to attend an economic summit.
Obama's eighth trip to Europe as president, with a quick-moving itinerary that dips into four countries in six days, unfolds against the backdrop of the NATO-led bombing campaign in Libya and stubborn economic weakness on both sides of the Atlantic.
A priority for the president and his allies will be to more clearly define the West's role in promoting stability and democracy in the Arab world without being overly meddlesome and within tight financial limitations.
Obama, who departs late Sunday, will visit Ireland, England, France and Poland. Each is weathering an economic downturn that has forced European nations to adopt strict austerity measures. The U.S. has pushed its national debt to the limit, and Obama and congressional Republicans are in contentious talks about how steeply to cut spending.