Final arrangements were being made this week for President McAleese's first major overseas visits this summer. At the end of June she goes to Washington, New York and Philadelphia and will undertake State visits to Australia and New Zealand in the first two weeks of September and to Canada at the beginning of October.
If President Clinton is in Washington at the time, they will meet, but her visit is not a State one, (i.e. an invitation from one head of state to another which has all the trappings - from the 21-gun salute to the White House dinner). The problem is that the exact dates for Clinton's state visit to China have not yet been fixed. It gets top priority, as it will be the first trip by a US president since the Tiananmen Square massacre and is seen as one of the most important of his presidency.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that Bill may yet visit Ireland before Mrs McAleese goes to the US. While it is now highly unlikely he will travel to Belfast before the May 22nd referendum, because of Unionist misgivings, he may come before the Assembly elections on June 25th. He might also drop in to Dublin and even play the much-vaunted round of golf in Ballybunion, Co Kerry.
There is also talk that Hillary may go alone to Belfast to address a women's conference and do some discreet campaigning for the Women's Coalition, as she allegedly promised to Monica McWilliams on St Patrick's Day at the White House.
The US ambassador stakes are still open. Dick Riley, US education minister, Mark Gearan, head of the Peace Corps, Paul Quinn, Washington lawyer and Tom Donahue, former labour union leader, are all in the running. Although Jean Kennedy Smith doesn't leave until July, if President Clinton comes to Ireland he would probably want the appointment settled by then.