Popes Visit?

[Ringo]

The Sun is claiming the pope will visit Ireland after his trip to the UK Next Year. Nothing in any of the Irish papers yet.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2651718/Pope-Benedict-to-visit-Britain.html


It'll be very diffferent to Pope JP II, if it comes off.

[prince20]

The Sun is claiming the pope will visit Ireland after his trip to the UK Next Year. Nothing in any of the Irish papers yet.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2651718/Pope-Benedict-to-visit-Britain.html


It'll be very diffferent to Pope JP II, if it comes off.

Sure if its in the sun it must be true so;)

[Aberdonian Stu]

Well, all the politics aside, it is about due timewise. I would however be surprised if it was done on the end of a UK visit.

The logistics will prove fascinating (yeah I know everyone will want to discuss other factors but you might actually find this non-controversial element interesting) as I remember my Dad telling me about the stewarding on the last one. It was a completely different era in terms of transport infrastructure, security tactics, and crowd management (there wasn't really any of the first and third of those).

Now while there is a better than good chance the crowds won't be as big as 30 years ago (in fact I'd stake a month's wages on it), the crowd will still be substantial enough to be a huge headache to manage.

Oddly it might have a negative impact on the pub and restaurant trade in Dublin if he visits the Phoenix Park, not just because of the pioneers for any smart-alecs. Remember the protests at the EU accession event in the Phoenix Park a few years back, the city centre was very quiet that evening as many people stayed at home to avoid the hassle. I could well see that again.

[Mr A]

Probably the first time this pope has been part of plans to visit these islands since the summer of 1940.

[Lionel Ritchie]

Probably the first time this pope has been part of plans to visit these islands since the summer of 1940.

Achtung! Indianer!!! :D