Well, it seemed a bit fishy to me and there was no video. And upon further investigation – Obamaphobes and dittoheads brace yourselves for a big disappointment – I can confirm that there was no gaffe by the president…

That was pretty clear: there was a teleprompter mix up and the fall guy was Cowen. Obama stepped in after Cowen’s five-minute speech to make a good-natured and well-received joke at the Irish premier’s expense.

Ironically, therefore, Obama was ad-libbing rather than mindlessly reading the wrong speech from a teleprompter…

It’s rubbish, of course, to argue that Obama cannot speak without a teleprompter. On the campaign trail, Obama often spoke off the cuff and did so remarkably well. Anyone denying that is not living in the real world and his political opponents are deluding themselves if they think he is not a good – at times, superb – speaker.