Rapturous welcome for the real star of the show
FROM early doors, there was an air of excitement around Leinster House yesterday. Just like when your mammy is expecting a fancy visitor, every floor was hoovered within an inch of its life and bunches of flowers appeared where they usually wouldn’t be.
After all, it’s not every day one of the most influential figures in the world visits your workplace, and shortly after 12.30pm the VIP quietly slipped into the Dáil chamber and caused all heads to pivot their way.
Bono, the lead singer of U2 and north Dublin’s finest, was gracing the elected few with his presence.
A steady hum of whispers rippled around the chamber as TDs and senators, past and present, alerted each other to the great one’s presence.
Fingers pointed in his direction to mark out exactly where he was perched in the visitors’ gallery, conveniently situated just a handful of steps away from the Taoiseach’s seat.
Officially, they had gathered to hear America’s third most powerful legislator impart her words of wisdom, but it became pretty apparent who the real star in the room was – and that Nancy Pelosi’s thunder had
been well and truly stolen.
Accompanied by his glamorous wife Ali Hewson and wearing his trademark blue-tinted frames, Bono rubbed shoulders with Attorney General Séamus Woulfe, who was sitting close to the pair.
Former taoiseach Enda Kenny, once labelled a chieftain by the singer, warmly engaged with Bono as he entered.
Surprisingly, the star’s regular pen pal Leo Varadkar managed to slip past the U2 frontman without appearing to glance in his direction.
If the headline act was upset at being upstaged, she hid it well. Halfway through her approximately 23-minute address, she drew attention to the star who happened to be seated close to her husband. She hailed Bono and U2 as being modern purveyors ‘of the word from Ireland’ and one of the country’s ‘most beloved exports’.
Initially offering a bashful wave to the room, Bono then gave a shy bow before the gushing praise continued.
‘I take pride in saying that I am one of the members of Congress who has been to more U2 concerts than anyone. Now he’s in the audience,’ Ms Pelosi exclaimed, as she thanked him for gracing those in attendance with his presence.
Long after Ms Pelosi made a quiet exit towards the members’ restaurant, a long queue wound around the top of the chamber as dozens of TDs and senators clamoured to press the flesh of the real star of the show.
Some of the more seasoned Fianna Fáil members appeared to chuckle from the sidelines as colleagues from across the House strained to meet him.
An observer in the press gallery remarked that there was a hint of hypocrisy in the room, as the Taoiseach was recently subjected to intense slagging for writing a letter to Australian pop star Kylie Minogue.
Pot. Kettle. Bono.