Caribou was the delicacy on the menu at Government House in Ottawa on Monday night for the formal state dinner in honour of the President, Mrs McAleese. A dish traditionally eaten by native Canadians and hunters in the northern wilderness, it now appears occasionally on expensive menus but doesn't now always come from the forests but from farms.
Not only was it a new culinary experience for the President and her party, but for some of the Canadians, too. It tasted like venison.
The dinner was hosted by the Governor General, Mr Romeo LeBlanc, and Mrs LeBlanc in the elegant carpeted ballroom of his residence. About 140 guests, politicians, academics, public servants and members of the Irish community, were served by 40 waiters.
A reception was held first in the tented room, a marble-floored former indoor tennis court with drapery hanging from the walls and ceiling.
Mounties in their distinctive hats guarded the entrance and guided guests to the receiving line, where Mrs McAleese and Dr Martin McAleese greeted them. The President wore a long black dress with a red brocade full-length jacket by Cork-born Deborah Veale.
Government House, where the President and her husband stayed for two nights, is called Rideau Hall, a name which occurs all over Ottawa, from the canal (built by many Irish) to shopping malls. It comes from the French for curtain and refers to the waterfall in the centre of the city.
Welcoming his guests, Mr LeBlanc said whether a connection existed or not, people wanted to be Irish, as the Irish had distinguished themselves in every field.
Mrs McAleese said the Irish were no strangers to Rideau Hall; four out of five governors general after confederation were Irish.
The earliest Irish landings in Canada, which may have been as early as the 6th century, were in Newfoundland, still the most Irish place outside Ireland. In 1861 the Irish were the largest ethnic group after the French.
Irish women, she said, should not be neglected and she was particularly taken with the story of Emily Murphy, a well-known journalist in Edmonton earlier this century, who led a campaign for female magistrates and who, although not a lawyer, became the first female magistrate in Canada.