Irish President Michael D. Higgins made the first ever state visit to the UK by an Irish head of state today.
Higgins was there to there to accept an award in his honor, but what may be more important is why an Irish head of state hadn't been there before.
As detailed briefly in this article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26883211
The UK and Ireland have a had a rocky history to say the very least.
In terms of US news outlets covering this story, when searched in google, a US news source covering it was the last result on the page. For a story like this, it makes sense for UK and Irish news outlets to be the first results, but it still makes me wonder a bit. How much do American people know English-Irish history? How much do American people know about the histories of other countries in general? Is this just a flaw in our education system or is something else going on? The US news can lead you to believe things that are going on are all-American all the time.
Dredging up the overwhelming negative past between these two countries is the only way to show that Higgins' trip was a very positive step.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26883211
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-26932969
http://www.thejournal.ie/michael-d-higgins-state-visit-queen-windsor-1405410-Apr2014/
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