Excitement builds as invites snapped up for home-town visit
By Eimear Ni Bhraonain in Moneygall
Friday May 20 2011
Henry Healy, Barack Obama's distant cousin, gets ticket 0001 for next week's US presidential visit to Moneygall
TICKETS to see Barack Obama and the first lady have been issued to people living in the US president's ancestral village.
Queues formed from early yesterday in Moneygall, Co Offaly, where only residents were asked to collect the coveted invites.
Mr Obama's distant cousin Henry Healy emerged first with ticket number 001. Complete with a gold-coloured border, the ticket states: "You are invited to celebrate the visit of the President of the United States of America Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama to the President's ancestral home of Moneygall, Co Offaly."
Mr Healy (26) has championed his village since he first heard it had a connection to the president in 2007. Throughout Mr Obama's election campaign, Mr Healy and Moneygall, with a population of 350, adopted the Kenyan-Irish-American.
The sun beamed down on the old Church of Ireland schoolhouse when villagers started to gather before 9am yesterday.
Also in the queue were those who travelled from as far away as Dublin and Longford in a desperate bid to get their hands on a ticket. However, the event is restricted to people living in the village and its immediate hinterland, with a small number held back for dignitaries.
"I'm delighted with how the whole thing is going," Mr Healy said. "I think people realise that the gardai and council had to go through a process with insurance and vetting and clearing.
"Lots of things delayed the process -- there were people who were collecting for their whole family -- but I'm happy to say I've yet to meet a local who has not received a ticket."
more...
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-visits/excitement-builds-as-invites-snapped-up-for-hometown-visit-2652814.html