Watching the Taoiseach (President) Get Grilled In Parliament

Today after our seminar on Irish Culture, a few of us found a cafe called Munchies and ordered soup with fresh bread! It was delicious and the perfect light lunch on this surprisingly delightful warm Dublin Day. 

A man that looked just like a statue! He looked even better standing, but I couldn't resist the photo with the pigeon!

Following lunch and a visit to Dublin's First Milkshake Bar, we went on our first mobile seminar to the Parliament building, called Leinster House. Luckily our program director is well connected in the city, so we were schedule to have a tour of the building by a docent, however today was the first day the Dáil was back in session and we got to sit in on the action. This session was relevant to what we are learning about Ireland's extreme debt that has caused the EU and IMF to take control of the Irish banking system and bail them out. Basically today the Taoiseach (President) Brian Cowen was under question by the opposition party because of seedy contact with the Anglo Irish Bank, an institution which has undertaken seedy practices and been responsible for furthering Ireland's economic recession. 

At this milk shake bar they put a whole candy bar in the shake! Sarah had Cadbury's milk chocolate and caramel...YUM.

The Taoiseach had a dinner, golf outting and conversation with the former chairman of  the Anglo Irish Bank, Seán FitzPatrick, and claimed to have not discussed any of Ireland's economic issues with Mr. FitzPatrick of this time. Mr. Cowen skirted the questions posed by Eamon Gilmore of the Labour Party and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and looked extremely at fault. He claimed to have not had conversations with the bank chairman during their meetings, and I thought one of the people questioning him raised an excellent point--if Mr. Cowen knew about the economic crisis and the importance the Anglo Irish Bank had to the nation, it was his obligation to speak about it. This was all very intriguing to watch, especially as a student of rhetoric. Mr. Cowen drank several glasses of water during the session, and his body language revealed his discomfort. It's hard to believe I sat in a room with some of the Republic's most important political figures as they discussed a matter that is near and dear to the hearts and wallets of Irish taxpayers. I can't wait to discuss this in our Political and Economic Climate of Ireland Seminar!

Leinster House--Irish Parliament

Tonight Sarah and I came home and ate leftover pasta and cheesecake for dinner. Excellent. Leftovers are a sight for sore eyes after making the long journey back to our apartment in the rain. Later we went to visit our Irish/British friends and watched a movie, then per usual, talked about our home countries/cultures/traditions/etc. I love our international friends, and will have one more tomorrow when our French roommate arrives!