Ambassador Bruton:

I think a change is taking place in American public opinion. The figures I quoted were probably taken before "An Inconvenient Truth" appeared and the recent spike in oil prices. Those figures may be out of date as American opinion is changing. In his state of the union address, President Bush famously referred to the fact that the United States was addicted to oil. That is the beginning of something that may represent a change in opinion there.

Ambassador Bruton:

If I were to identify two issues on which the Administration might be able to work with the new Congress, the first would be citizenship and immigration, as President Bush's views are almost identical to those of the Democrats rather than the majority of the Republicans. He may find it easier to get naturalisation arrangements for undocumented immigrants through working with the Democrats than with the old majority. That could be good news for some Irish people. The second issue is possibly climate change and energy security. The Democrats will want to show they can work with the White House on certain issues for the good of their future but, equally, the Administration will want to show, for the purpose of President Bush's legacy, that it can work constructively on certain issues. It is possible the next two years could be a most productive period in terms of climate change, which Senator Finucane mentioned, immigration and possibly even other issues. Some problems will be difficult for them to deal with, for example, health care is a significant issue in the United States. The President attempted to deal with social security reform but had to abandon it due to lack of support. I do not think either of those issues will be resolved in the next two years but progress is possible on the issue to which Senator Finucane referred.